Bangalnama by Tapan Ray Choudhuri [Hardcover]

Not an autobiography or a historical account, Bangalanama is a story of the social life of Bengal. It is a different kind of memoir penned by the renowned author, famous for Romonthon. The narrative offers an intense description of a lost gray world or the vanishing times. The memoir begins in 1926, the year of the author's birth, and spans until the present day. The eighty years that have passed show a rapidly changing time, the author's childhood and adolescence in Eastern Bengal, forgotten people and lost ways of life, the Oxford of the 1950s, and today's Western Nalanda. The book also covers the author's travels across continents and his long years of living abroad. From start to finish, Bangalanama is a chronicle of a life full of wisdom and charm, recounting the journey of a traveler.

Tapan Raychaudhuri:
Professor Tapan Raychaudhuri (born 1926) is a distinguished academic in Indian history and civilization. He served as a professor at Oxford University and was a Fellow of St. Antony’s College. In the early part of his career, he taught at the University of Calcutta. Later, he held significant academic positions, including Assistant Director at the National Archives, Head of the Department of Economics and Professor of Economic History at the Delhi School of Economics, and Professor of History at Delhi University. Additionally, he has served as a visiting professor at various universities, including Harvard, Pennsylvania, and California, and in countries like Australia, Mexico, and France.

Professor Raychaudhuri is regarded as one of the leading scholars in the field of Indian economic and social history. Some of his well-known works include Bengal under Akbar and Jahangir, The History of Trade in the Coromandel, Jan Company in Coromandel, Europe Reconsidered, and the Cambridge Economic History of India, which he co-edited with Professor Habib. Europe Reconsidered won the Rabindra Puraskar in 1987. Romonthon is his first book written in Bengali.

Professor Raychaudhuri's academic journey began at Barisal District School and continued through Scottish Church College, Presidency College, and Balliol College at Oxford. He was recently awarded a D.Litt degree by Oxford University.