Krishna Kanta Handique

Krishna Kanta Handique
Born	(1898-07-20)20 July 1898 Jorhat,Assam
Died	7 June 1982(1982-06-07)(aged 83) Dibrugarh,Assam
Occupation	Professor, Vice-Chancellor
Language	Assamese
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Cotton College Sanskrit College and University Calcutta University Oxford University Paris University Berlin University
Notable awards	Padma Shri(1955) Padma Bhushan(1967) Sahitya Akademi Award(1985)
Children	Bijoy Krishna Handique Promila Gogoi Ohoilia Gogoi

Krishna Kanta Handique(20 July 1898 – 7 June 1982) was aSanskritscholar, anIndologistand philanthropist fromAssam.He was a recipient of the civilian honour of thePadma ShriandPadma Bhushan.

Biography

Krishna Kanta Handique was born on 20 July 1898 in aTai-Ahomfamily inJorhattown ofAssam,to Rai-Bahadur Radha Kanta Handique. He was educated atCotton College, Guwahati(1913–15),Sanskrit College,Calcutta(1915–17),Calcutta University(1917–19),Oxford University,Paris UniversityandBerlin University(1920–27).He also studied and learned many languages like Latin, Greek, French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish. He is known to have known 13 languages: 8 European languages and 5 Indian languages including Pali and Prakrit.

Handique was the founderVice-ChancellorofGauhati Universityfor nine years (1948–57). Prior to this he was the founder Principal of J.B. College, Jorhat (1930–48) and established the Hemalata Handique Memorial Institute in Jorhat. He is well known for his munificence to literary and educational foundations. He bequeathed his massive personal library to Guwahati University making available to the public rare and valuable books in 11 languages of the world. He also gave thecopyrightof all his books toDeccan College PG & Research Institute,Pune; The Jaina Samskriti Samrakshaka Sangh, Maharashtra and Prakrit Test Society, Ahmedabad.

Krishna Kanta Handique was the President ofAsam Sahitya Sabhaduring the Guwahati conference in 1937 at the young age of 39, President of Classical Sanskrit Section, XVI All India Oriental Conference, Lucknow in 1951 and was elected the general President of the Srinagar Session of the same in 1961.

The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Dept. issued a commemorative stamp in honor of Handique on 7 October 1983.The Govt of Assam has instituted the prestigious Krishna Kanta Handique Memorial Award in his honour in the field of promotion of Sanskrit language and literature.

Handique was posthumously awarded theSahitya Akademi Awardin 1985 for his bookKrishnakanta Handiqui Rachana Sambhar,a collection of 20 critical essays. For its critical insight and analytical approach, the work has been regarded as a significant contribution to contemporary Assamese literature.

Works

Handique, theSanskritscholar is known for his three major works:

• Naisadhacarita of Sriharsa,1934
• Yaśastilaka and Indian Culture1949 (onYashastilaka)
• Pravarasena's Setubandha1976