Draft:Amiyakumar Bandyopadhyay

Amiyakumar Bandyopadhyay (1 January 1916 – 10 September 1988) was an administrative officer and a scholar of Bengali architecture, archaeology, and museums. He is best known for his book Bankura Jelar Purakirti (Antiquities of Bankura District).

Early Life and Education
Amiyakumar was born in Barisal district of Undivided Bengal. His father Bipinbihari Bandyopadhyay was the Headmaster of Nabadwip Hindu School. Amiyakumar was an excellent as a student, ranking 8th in the State in his Matriculation examination. Afterwards, he obtained Bachelors and Masters in Economics from the University of Calcutta.

Professional life
Ranking 3rd in the West Bengal Civil Services examination, Amiyakumar joined the State Civil Services and progressed through the ranks in record time to become an IAS officer. His last assignment was as the Secretary in the Ministry of Information & Cultural Affairs (West Bengal) from which he retired in 1974. While working in the department, he published several updated versions of the West Bengal District Gazetteer.

Bankura Jelar Purakirti and Its Legacy
In 1969, the Minister of the West Bengal Public Works Department, Subodh Banerjee set up a committee to publish books on Bengal archaeology under the presidentship of eminent historian Ramesh Chandra Majumdar. Under the recommendation of the committee it was decided to create a series of books titled Jela Purakirti Granthamala [Antiquities of the Districts of Bengal].

In 1971, the first book of the series, Bankura Jelar Purakirti, was written by Amiyakumar. The publisher was the West Bengal Purta or Puratattva Bibhag (Antiquities Department). This was later renamed as Pratnatattva o Sangrahalaya Adhikara (Directorate of Archaeology and Museums). R.C. Majumdar wrote an introduction to the book. This was an exemplary work that set the standard for the subsequent books in the series. Amiyakumar went on to become the general editor of the series and encouraged many scholars to contribute to the project. During his tenure as the editor, the scholar Narendranath Bhattacharya (professor of Ancient Indian History, University of Calcutta) wrote Hugli Jelar Purakirti (Antiquities of Hooghly District) (published in 1983); and the local historian and folklorist Tarapada Santra wrote Purakirti Samiksa Medinipur (Medinipur: an archaeological survey) (published in 1987).

Other Books and Research Work
Amiyakumar's book first book Dekha Hoy Nai [The Unseen] is an anthology of essays mainly on the built heritage of Bengal but also on a wide range of folk and art-historical topics such as the clay-toys of Krishnanagar, Tribla Santhali frescos, and various indigenous recipes. He also wrote concise histories of several museums such as Gurusaday Museum of Behala, Anandaniketan Kirtishala of Bagnan, Amulya Pratnashala of Rajbalhat, and Sahitya Parishat Sangrahashala of Bishnupur. Amiyakumar, along with his friend Tarapada Santra, are considered pioneers in the field of museology in Bengal and India.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, Amiyakumar worked very closely with Tarapada Santra, Hitesranjan Sanyal, and David McCutchion to survey and document the hundreds of early-modern brick monuments of Bengal scattered across the southern districts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The photographs taken by Amiyakumar, his field notes, and the innumerable essays written by him in literary magazines and academic journals are an invaluable source of information to modern researchers.

Selected Bibliography

 * Dekha Hoy Nai (Kolkata, Ananda Publishers, 1947)
 * Bankurar Mandir (Kolkata, Sahitya Samsad, 1964)
 * West Bengal District Gazetteers, Bankura (1968)
 * West Bengal District Gazetteers, Hooghly (1972)
 * West Bengal District Gazetteers, Howrah (1972)
 * Bangalakshmir Jhapi
 * Rupaboti Nagari
 * Chokher Aloye Dekhechilem