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'''Amalendu De''' (1929 - 16 May 2014) was a professor of Indian History at [[Jadavpur University]], where he specialised in the history of the [[Indian independence movement]] and [[Muslim Politics]]. He served for some time as President and as General Secretary of the [[Asiatic Society]] and in 1992 was President of the [[Indian History Congress]] at its meeting in [[Aligarh]].

== Early life ==
Prof. De was the son of a lawyer, born at [[Madaripur]], [[Faridpur district]], [[Bengal]] [[British India]] (now in [[Bangladesh]]) in 1929. From the age of 16 he was educated in [[Calcutta]], ultimately studying at post-graduate level at the [[University of Calcutta]]. He taught at [[Uluberia College]] and [[Murlidhar College]] before joining the faculty at Jadavpur University.<ref name="toiobit">{{cite news |work=The Times of India |title=Historian Amalendu De passes away |date=19 May 2014 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Historian-Amalendu-De-passes-away/articleshow/35321426.cms |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>

== Career ==
De was appalled that his country had been [[Partition of India|divided on religious lines]].<ref name="mainstream">{{cite news |work=Mainstream |volume=LII |issue=28 |date=5 July 2014 |title=Lest We Forget |url=http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article5033.html |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> He was a [[Marxist history|Marxist historian]]<ref name="rediff">{{cite news |work=Rediff.com |title=West Bengal and the expanding radical space |first=Anirban |last=Ganguly |date=28 October 2014 |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/column/west-bengal-and-the-expanding-radical-space/20141028.htm |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> and a [[humanism|humanist]], promoting the ideals of a society without communal divisions. He supported closer ties between India and China, and was general-secretary of the [[West Bengal]] branch of the [[Indo-China Friendship Society]].<ref name="toiobit" /><ref name="Barta" /> A Hindu, he married Nasima Banu, a Muslim and the granddaughter of [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]], after completing his post-graduate studies. The inter-religious nature of the marriage made it difficult for them to obtain accommodation at that time.<ref name="mainstream" />

De served for some time as President and as Secretary of the [[Asiatic Society]] and in 1992 was President of the [[Indian History Congress]] at its meeting in [[Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name="Barta">{{cite news |title=Remembering Historian Amalendu De |first=Pranotosh |last=Banerjee |work=Janoswartho Barta |others=Chatterjee, Garga (trans.) |url=http://alalodulal.org/2014/05/27/amalendu-de/ |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>

Awarded a [[D. Litt.]] by Javavpur University,<ref name="Barta" /> De was involved with [[Calcutta University National Integration Centre]], the [[Dara Sikoh-Ram-mohan Society]], and other organisations through which he voiced his desire for communal harmony.<ref name="mainstream" /> He was also involved with the state heritage commission, the road renaming committee and some other bodies.<ref name="toiobit" /> His work led to the discovery in [[Sodepur]] of the grave of [[Begum Rokeya|Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain]], a pioneering Indian [[Rationalism|rationalist thinker]] and human rights activist.<ref name="Barta" />

A [[festschrift]] in honour of De was published in 2009, titled ''Reflections in History: Essays in Honour of Professor Amalendu De''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reflections in History: Essays in Honour of Professor Amalendu De |first1=Amalendu |last1=De |first2=Keka Dutta |last2=Roy |first3=Chitta Ranjan |last3=Misra |publisher=Raktakarabee |year=2009 |oclc=650771886 |url=http://www.worldcat.org/title/reflections-in-history-essays-in-honour-of-professor-amalendu-de/oclc/650771886 |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref> He died on 16 May 2014;<ref name="Barta" /> his wife died a few weeks later, on 3 June.<ref name="mainstream" /> His remains were donated to [[R. G. Kar Medical College]].<ref name="toiobit" />

== Works ==
De wrote the first book documenting the 1938 visit of an Indian medical team to China. Among his other writings were books about the [[Anushilan Samiti]], the origins of separatism in 19th-century [[Bengal]],<ref name="toiobit" /> and a history of the [[Khaksars|Khaksar movement]] titled ''History of the Khaksar Movement in India, 1931–1947'' (2009).

Aside from his books, De contributed to scholarly journals.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Social Thoughts and Consciousness of the Bengali Muslims in the Colonial Period |first=Amalendu |last=De |journal=Social Scientist |volume=23 |issue=4/6 |date=April–June 1995 |pages=16–37 |doi=10.2307/3520213 |jstor=3520213}}</ref> His 1994 monograph on the subject of the growth of [[Islamic fundamentalism]] in India, titled ''Prasanga Anuprabesh'' (''Essays on Infiltration''), was subject to much criticism from supporters of Communism and other [[Left-wing politics|left-wing ideologies]], as well as from [[Jihadism|Islamic radicals]]. He argued that the rise of small pockets of jihadists around the border with Bangladesh might eventually lead to major security problems and he was in particular critical of the rise of unregistered [[madrassa]]s. He had to settle for publication by a small publisher and was accused by his opponents of facilitating the [[Hindutva]] agenda of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] in [[West Bengal]].<ref name="rediff" /> He continued to speak on the topic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amalendu De Talks on the Mismatch between the Expectations & Achievements of Bangladesh |url=http://www.voabangla.com/content/a-16-2005-12-17-voa5-94365574/1387373.html |date=17 December 2005 |publisher=VOA |access-date=2016-01-13}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoPiFEKQfSw Interview with De, conducted in 2012] by the [[Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation]] project.
*{{worldcat|id=lccn-n82107888}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:De, Amalendu}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Historians of India]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Jadavpur University faculty]]
[[Category:Presidents of The Asiatic Society]]
[[Category:People from Faridpur District]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist historians]]

Amalendu De - Revision history

>Citation bot at 04:30, 20 March 2021