Tarachand Chakraborty
Tarachand Chakraborty (c. 1806-57) was one of the leaders of ‘Young Bengal’. He was a brilliant student of the Hindu College and a scholar of English. In 1822 he was engaged to assist Raja Rammohun Ray for his work in the Calcutta Journal of translating from the Chandrika and the Koumudi. Tarachand also actively helped Wilson for the English translations of Sanskrit literary works. He was the Headmaster of David Hare’s Pataldanga School (Hare School) for some time. He compiled an English-Bengali dictionary for the Calcutta Book Society in 1827. Tarachand published in several volumes an annotated English translation of Manu Samhita along with Biswanath Tarkabhusan, father of Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay. In 1828, Tarachand was appointed the first secretary of the Brahma Samaj.
Tarachand Chakraborty
For some time Tarachand was a Munsef in Jahanabad (Hoogly district), but following a conspiracy, he had to resign. Around 1837 he started a business venture with Pyarichand Mitra. In 1838, Tarachand became the permanent president of Sadharan Jnanoparjika Sabha. Since he was a leader of the New Bengal, the English newspapers humorously referred to that outfit as ‘Chakraborty faction’. In April, 1842, Tarachand joined the Bengal Spectator as one of its main writers. Under his leadership, the new group established the British India Society with the patronage of George Thomson. When the Bengal Speactator wound up, he began editing the Quill. For some time, Tarachand also served as a minister under the Maharaja of Burdwan.
[Translated from Bharat Kosh, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad]
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