Akshay Kumar Datta
| Akshay Kumar Datta | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Akshay Kumar Datta 15 July 1820 Bagerhat, Bangladesh |
| Died | 18 May 1886 (aged 65) Kolkata |
| Nationality | Indian |
Akshay Kumar Datta (also spelt Akshay Kumar Dutta) (Bengali: অক্ষয় কুমার দত্ত) (15 July 1820 – 18 May 1886) was born in Chupi in Purba Bardhaman. Son of Pitamber Dutta, he was one of the initiators of the Bengal Renaissance.
After studying in the Oriental Seminary under the special care of Hardman Jeffroy, he had to give up studies because of the death of his father and go job-seeking. However, that could not put an end to his yearning for learning. At the Sovabazar Rajbari library, he studied and mastered Calculus and Geometry. He had learnt Sanskrit and Persian, and read the Hindu scriptures at school. He acquired proficiency in French, German and various Indian languages. He composed the poetry-book Anangamohan at the age of 14. While a youngster he used to translate news items and features for Iswar Chandra Gupta's Sambad Prabhakar. He even studied in Medical College for some time to gain knowledge of botany, zoology and chemistry.
In 1839, he joined the Tattwabodhini Sabha and soon became its assistant secretary. He was appointed a teacher of the Tattwabodhini Pathsala the next year and in 1843, Tattwabodhini Patrika was published as mouthpiece of both the Tattwabodhini Sabha and Brahmo Samaj. He was the first editor of the journal and contributed substantially towards the development of prose writing in Bengali. He was the first Bengali writer to seriously work for the propagation of a modern scientific outlook, writing books on Physics and Geography in Bengali. He also wrote profusely on astronomy, mathematics and geology. The students of Hindu College used to make fun of Bengali writing and some even felt that nothing worthwhile can be written in the Bengali language. However, whenever, Tattwabodhini Patrika came out they not only read it seriously but even brought it to the attention of one another.
Akshay Kumar Datta was the first person in the Brahmo Samaj to boldly proclaim that the Vedas were not infallible. He succeeded in convincing Debendranath Tagore in this respect and ultimately Brahmo Samaj adopted the thinking that while it respected all religious scriptures it did not consider any as infallible. It was in this perspective that Debendranath Tagore wrote Brahmo Dharma.
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