Nathan Brown (missionary)

Rev. Nathan Brown
Rev Nathan Brown
Born	(1807-06-22)June 22, 1807 New Ipswich, New Hampshire,
Died	January 1, 1886(1886-01-01) (aged 78) Yokohama, Japan
Nationality	American
Other names	Assamese: ৰেভাৰেণ্ড নাথান ব্ৰাউন
Occupation	American Baptist missionary to India and Japan
Known for	Works for Assamese language, grammar and Script, Bible translator

Nathan Brown (Assamese: নাথান ব্ৰাউন; 22 June 1807 – 1 January 1886) was an American Baptist missionary to India and Japan, Bible translator, and abolitionist. He is noted for his works on Assamese language, grammar and script. In around 1843, based in Sibsagar in Assam, with the help of a local Assamese priest converted to Christianity, Atmaram Sharma, he took a key role in translating and publishing the New Testament as 'Amaar Traankorta Jisu Christor Natun Niyom' (আমাৰ ত্ৰাণকৰ্তা যিশুখ্রীষ্টৰ নতুন নিয়ম) in 1848. In 1854, he published another book titled খ্রীষ্টৰ বিবৰণ আৰু শুভ বাৰ্তা meaning (roughly) 'Jesus Christ and his Holy Messages' in 1854. He also translated some prayers to Assamese with his other missionary colleagues. His contribution to Assamese language, 'Grammatical Notes of Assamese Language', published by the American Baptist Missionary Press in 1848. In 1846, with colleague Cutter he published 'Arunodoi' অৰুনোদই, the first Assamese magazine. He also contributed to publishing of works of various contemporary Assamese scholars, to name a few 'Axom Buranji' (History of Assam, অসম বুৰঞ্জী) by Kashinath Phukan in 1844, 'Mathematics' in two parts by Bokul Kayastha in 1845, 'Chutia Buranji' (চুতিয়া বুৰঞ্জী) in 1850 etc. The people of the Indian state of Assam consider him a pioneer in their native language, Assamese and its literature.^[1]

Early life and missions to Burma and Assam

Eliza Brown, Wife

Born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, he attended Williams College, where he graduated first in his class. He and his wife, whom he married in 1830, went on to serve as missionaries in Burma. Brown's original intention had been to translate the Bible into Burmese, but he soon found himself pulled into a mission along with Oliver Cutter and Miles Bronson in the Indian region of Assam.

In 1848, Brown published an Assamese grammar, followed by an Assamese translation of the New Testament in 1850. The language regained recognition in part due to Assamese publications edited by him, and his association with Hemchandra Barua.

During British India, it imposed Bengali Language over Assamese as it took over Assam. The period for which Bengali Language was imposed is known as The Dark Age of Assamese Language, i.e., Bengali Language eclipse over Assamese.

Nathan Brown was widely regarded as one among the rescuers of Assamese Language from Bengali Language eclipse over Assamese.

Abolitionism

in 1850 Brown returned to America to join his brother William in the growing abolitionist movement. In his satirical work Magnus Maharba and the Dragon, an account of the battle against slavery, Rev. Brown used the pen name Kristofer Kadmus. This shows that he truly identified with the character in Greek Mythology that his life so paralleled. Cadmus was best known as a traveller and vector of culture and ideas. His journey in search of his lost sister Europa led to importation of the idea of alphabet into Greece. In myth, Cadmus killed a dragon that prevented mortals from reaching a sacred spring. He planted the dragon's teeth on the spot; they sprouted into armies that fought nearly to death, with the survivors building the city of learning.

The "haystack missionaries", including Nathan Brown, associated the account of the introduction of the Greek alphabet with the New Testament creation, and the idea of creating local alphabets for every language was an important first step towards the goal of a Bible translation for every language. The printing presses and schools of these missions also became a vehicle for empowerment of local language and culture.

Following his return from Assam to New England in 1848, Nathan Brown joined the abolitionist movement, delivering anti-slavery sermons in Boston. This struggle eventually resulted in the American Civil War. Many proponents of the anti-slavery movement had to deal with the bloody results of their efforts in a personal struggle of conscience. Rev. Brown dealt with the question of violent means in Magnus Maharba.

Missionary to the Japanese

After the war, in 1868, Brown turned his attention to the newly accessible Japan, at first by interacting with the students that Japan was sending to the Bridgeport Academy and Princeton University for education in Western world culture and technology. This cultural exchange was a two way process. Rev. Brown published another satire showing America as seen through the eyes of one of these Japanese students, which was sharply critical of New England's materialism, in place of spirituality. One exchange student, for whom Nathan Brown wrote a letter of reference to the Bridgeport Academy, eventually became an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Brown's first wife died in 1871, and in 1872, having married again, he returned to overseas missionary work, this time traveling to Japan to join Jonathan Scobie, the first Baptist missionary to that country. The two collaborated to construct the first Japanese Baptist church (First Baptist Church of Yokohama) in 1873. Brown also worked with Japanese scholar T. Kawakatsu to produce a Japanese-language Bible based on what were then the oldest known Greek manuscripts; he would go on to print thousands of Hiragana copies for distribution print versions (with the goal of access to the Bible by less educated persons who might not understand Kanji). Brown died in Yokohama in 1886.

References

External links

• The Life of Nathan Brown, Early American Missionary at the Wayback Machine (archived August 22, 2007)
• Nathan Brown's contributions to Assam