Anandaram Dhekial Phukan

Anandaram Dhekial Phukan Biography

Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, often called as "Father of Assamese prose" was a pioneer of Assamese literature in the 19^th century. He made significant contributions to nourish Assamese literature. He was one of the first Assamese to possess a modern and progressive outlook. He served as an Assistant Commissioner at Nagaon. He wrote articles in Arundoi. Asomiya Lorar Mitra and Aien Aru Bebastha are his noted literary works. His role to protest against placing Bengali as the state language of Assam is praiseworthy. He played a significant role in placing Assamese as the State Official Language.

Phukan was born in 1829 at Guwahati. His father was a writer and publisher who contributed for the Bengali magazine 'Samachar Chandrika’. Anandaram Dhekial Phukan’s childhood days were spent in Guwahati, where he completed his education. He also studied at Hindu College, kolakata for three years. Once he returned back, he learnt Sanskrit and Urdu languages too. He got married in 1846 and joined government service the following year.

He started writing at the age of 17. Since then he dedicated his full life for the development of Assamese language and literature. Englandor Biwaran and Asomiya Lorar Mitra are his early published books. He authored an English book - A few remarks on Assamese language in 1955. Through this book he exposed the bad effects of imposing Bengali language in the state of Assam. He also started working on two dictionaries, Assamese to English and English to Assamese, though not completed. He passed away at a comparatively young age of 40. He belonged to the progressive Orunodoi era of Assamese literature.

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Updated: September 05, 2014