Gunabhiram Barua

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Gunabhiram Barua
Born 1837
Died 1898
Occupation Dramatist, historian, essayist, social reformer
Language Assamese
Nationality Indian
Citizenship India
Spouse(s) Bishnupriya Devi
Children Swarnalata Devi
Karunabhiram Barua
Jnanabhiram Barua

Gunabhiram Barua (Assamese: গুণাভিৰাম বৰুৱা; 1837-1894) was an enlightened Assamese intellectual who ushered in new ideas about social reform in the early years of colonial rule in Assam.[1] He was deeply influenced by the intellectual opinions of the Bengal Renaissance. He was among the first few Assamese who formally entered the Brahmo Samaj and propagated the liberal ideas of Brahmoism through his writing.

Brief life

Barua completed his college education from Presidency College, Calcutta. He joined government job in 1860. He serviced as an assistant commissioner under the ruling British Government for 30 years.[2]

After his first wife's death, his marriage with a Brahman widow, Bishnupriya Devi, created a sensation in the orthodox society of Assam. Bishnupriya and their daughter Swarnalata Barua[3] were encouraged by him to write and publish their work.[2]

Barua advocated the cause of women's education and also took the bold step of sending his daughter Swarnalata Devi to a boarding school in Calcutta when he was working in the small town of Nagaon in Assam as an Extra Assistant Commissioner.[2]

His son Jnanabhiram Barua was a well known Bar at Law who participated in India's freedom struggle along with Satyanath Bora and Hemchandra Goswami. Karunabhiram Barua, another son of Gunabhiram, edited is the Lara Bandhu (Friend of Boys) the first children's magazine in the Assamese literature.[4]

Gunabhiram Barua was a cousin of Anandaram Dhekial Phukan. Barua was inspired by Phukan a lot.[1]

Literary works

The first social drama in Assamese - Ramnabami-Natak - was written by Gunabhiram in 1857 and published as a book in 1870.[5] The play tells the tragic story of a young widow and her lover Ram, both of whom were compelled to commit suicide because of social disapproval of their relationship.[6][7]

Gunabhiram himself is remembered as a historian and a biographer. He also wrote regularly on issues such as women's education and marriage reforms in the first Assamese journal Orunodoi, started by the American Baptist missionaries in 1846. He wrote a complete biography of Anandaram Dhekial Phukan in 1880.[2] Kathin Shobdor Rohasyha Bakhya is a humorous work by Barua, it was published in 1912, after a long time of his death. He published another historical book Assam Buranji in 1875.[8]

Gunabhiram Barua published and edited the 'Assam-Bandhu' magazine during 1885-1886.[9] He was a regular writer in that magazine.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Empire’s Garden: Assam and the Making of India - Jayeeta Sharma - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Gunabhiram Barua - Pioneers of modern Assamese literature and language". Onlinesivasagar.com. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  3. ↑ A History of Indian Literature 1911-1956: Struggle for Freedom: Triumph and ... - Sisir Kumar Das - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  4. ↑ Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  5. ↑ Ramnabami-Natak: the story of Ram and Nabami - Gunabhiram Barua, Guṇābhirāma Baruwā, Tilottoma Misra - Google Books. Books.google.com.au. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Handbook of Twentieth-Century Literatures of India - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  7. ↑ vnh - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  8. ↑ Becoming a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Identity in Colonial ... - Sanghamitra Misra - Google Books. Books.google.co.in. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
  9. ↑ enajori.com. "Asam Bandhu, First issue (1885), Editor: Gunabhiram Barua". enajori.com. Retrieved 2013-06-22. 
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