Banikanta Kakati

Banikanta Kakati Biography

Banikanta Kakati was a prominent writer, critic and scholar of Assamese language. He has also published a few books in English. He belonged to Barpeta of Assam, born in the year 1894. His contributions to Assamese literature, linguistics, cultural anthropology and comparative religion are really huge. Assamese: Its Formation and Development (1941), Purani Axhomiya Xhahitya (1940), Life and Teachings of Shankardeva and Kalita Jaatir Itibritta are his prominent works. He and another eminent writer Dr. Bani Kanta Kakoti were born in the same calendar year 1894.

He was a child prodigy who could memorize ancient Sanskrit works at a younger age. He memorized the whole Panini during his childhood days and for the same reason his Sanskrit teachers used to give him more than the maximum marks for exams. He was University topper in matriculation. He also stood first in the intermediate exams from Cotton College, Guwahati. He completed Master’s in English Literature from Presidency College, Kolkata in 1918. After studies Kakati joined Cotton College in 1918 as a professor of English. He became the principal of the College in 1947. But the next year he joined Gauhati University as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Head of the Department of Assamese.

He started his research works on literature as soon as he joined Cotton College. He researched on Saint Sankardev and a few classic Assamese works. But it invited controversies between two schools of Assam Vaishnavism. Later he completed M.A. in English Language group in 1923 from Calcutta University. He completed the thesis ‘Assamese: Its Formation and Development’ to obtain his doctorate in 1935. He was the first Assamese to obtain a doctorate degree from the Calcutta University. He also made an intensive study of the Kalita caste. He passed away in 1952 soon after the demise of his beloved wife, heartbroken.

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Updated: September 24, 2014