Gajendra Thakur | |
---|---|
Born | Bhagalpur, Bihar, India | 30 March 1971
Occupation | Writer · Historian · Educationist |
Nationality | Indian |
Period | 20th–21st century |
Genre | Literary critic, historian · Novelist, Dramatist, Poet · Lexicographer |
Notable works | Sahasrabadhani Sahasrashirsha Shabdashastram Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par Genome Mapping- 450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panji Prabandh Videha-(Edited) 127 volumes |
Spouse | Preeti Thakur |
Children | Aum Thakur Astha Thakur |
Gajendra Thakur (born 1971) is an Indian author. He writes in the Maithili language, a language spoken in Northern Bihar (of India) and South-Eastern Nepal. He is an author, lexicographer, historian (of Mithila- ancient Videha and of Maithili); and palaeographer, he has deciphered ancient and medieval palm leaf inscriptions in Tirhuta script of Maithili Language (Mithilakshar script). These panjis are genealogical records of Maithil Brahmin community of Mithila region and contain details of around 100 inter-caste marriages. Besides it provides written historical records of people and personalities, hitherto considered mythical ones. Besides he deciphered scripts inscribed on temples/ dilapidated buildings throughout the length and breadth of Mithila.
He has also compiled an English-Maithili Computer dictionary. He has helped in preparing Unicode application for Mithilakshar (Tirhuta) script. His English-Maithili Dictionary is only such dictionary.
He has also contributed in social development work.
He wrote KuruKshetram Antarmanak, a work in Maithili Language -in seven volumes (Vol.I- Literary Criticism, Vol. II- a Novel- Sahasrabadhani- translated into English by the name The Comet, Vol.III Poetry collection- Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par, Vol.IV- Short Story Collection- Galp Guchh, Vol.V- Play- Sankarshan, Vol.VI- two long epic-verses (geet prabandh)Tvanchahanch and Asanjati Man, Vol-VII- Children's literature- grown-ups literature- Balmandali-Kishor Jagat). Thereafter his transcribed 11000 palm-leaf inscriptions were published in a single volume with an explanatory introduction as “Genome Mapping −450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panji Prabandh”.; later its sequel "Geneological Mapping-450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panji Prabandh vol.II" was released. [1] [2] He also compiled "Maithili-English Dictionary" and "English Maithili Dictionary". The English-Maithili Dictionary was particularly notable as it included computer terminology, so far unavailable in any other dictionary.
He is editor of Videha, a fortnightly Maithili e-journal.
Traditional Mithilakshar, i.e., Tirhuta Script of Maithili language: He was pioneer in standardisation of Mithilakshar script. The Unicode encoding applicant (now the ISO has approved encoding of Tirhuta as Unicode) has acknowledged his contribution. [3] and has included in the references as well. [4] [5]
He has also translated from Maithili into English. He has translated poems and stories into Maithili from Kannada (Of Ashok Hegde), Telugu (of N. Aruna, Sheikh Muhammad Sharif, Annavaran Devender), Oriya (of Basudev Sunani, Bharat Majhi) and Gujarati (of Babu Suthar, Ajay Sarvaiyya, Rajendra Patel, Hemang Ashwin Kumar Desai) through English.
He is a member of Maithili Lekhak Sangh, the organisation of authors of Maithili.
English-Maithili Dictionary
Maithili-English Dictionary
Genome Mapping- 450 AD to 2009 AD- Mithilak Panjis Prabandh: (11000 palm leaf manuscripts containing genealogical records)
Videha:sadeha:1 Devanagari
Videha:Sadeha:1: Tirhuta
Videha:Sadeha:2: Videha Prabandh-Nibandh-Samalochna
Videha:Sadeha:3: Videha Katha
Videha:Sadeha:4: Videha Padya
Videha:Sadeha:5: Videha Maithili Vihani katha (Videha Maithili Seed Stories)
Videha:Sadeha:6: Videha Maithili Laghu katha (Videha Maithili Short Stories)
Videha:Sadeha:7: Videha Maithili Padya (Videha Maithili Verse)
Videha:Sadeha:8: Videha Maithili Natya Utsav (Videha Maithili Stage and Drama)
Videha:Sadeha:9: Videha Maithili Shishu Utsav (Videha Maithili Children Literature)
Videha:Sadeha:10: Videha Maithili Prabandha-Nibandha-Samalochna (Videha Maithili Research Papers/Essays/Criticism)
Braille Maithili: (his novel Sahasrabadhani- Ist Maithili book in Braille).
222 issues of Videha Ist Maithili Fortnightly e Magazine- ISSN 2229-547X
KurukShetram Antarmanak- a seven volume work in Maithili Language:-
His works are available in translation.
His works have been translated into English ( 1.Maithili Novel Sahasrabadhani as "The comet" and 2.Maithili collection of poems Sahasrabdik Chaupar Par as "On the Dice-board of the Millennium". The readers of English translations of Maithili Novel "sahasrabadhani" and verse collection "sahasrabdik chaupar par" has intimated that the English translation has not been able to grasp the nuances of original Maithili. Therefore, the Author has started translating his Maithili works in English himself. After these translations are complete these would be the official translations authorised by the Author of original work) and others (Some Maithili short-stories as "The Science of Words" by the author himself). His novel Sahasrabadhani has been translated into Konkani Language (by Seby Fernandes), Tulu language, Kannada (Pramila B.J. Alva), Sanskrit and Marathi Language. His short-story collection "Galp Guchchh" has been translated into Sanskrit. Some of his stories have been translated into Hindi by Subhash Chandra Yadav and Vinit Utpal.
Ulkamukh, play about the caste system ISBN 97893-80538-50-1 Prabandh-Nibandh-Samalochna vol.II, (a collection of research papers/ essays/ criticism ISBN 97893-80538-54-9); Dhangi Baat Banebaak Daam Agoobaar Pene Chan, (a collection of Maithili Ghazal/ Rubai/ Kata ISBN 97893-80538-51-8); Shabdshastram: (a collection of Maithili short-stories ISBN 97893-80538-52-5); Jalodip: (three Maithili Children Plays ISBN 97893-80538-50-1); Naarashanshi: (thought in verse ISBN 978-93-80538-58-7); Sahasrajit: (anthology of poems ISBN 978-93-80538-59-4); Aksharmushtika: (Children short stories ISBN 978-93-80538-60-0); Bangak Bangaura: (Children songs ISBN 978-93-80538-61-7); Genealogical Mapping:vol.II (transliteration/ decipherment of ancient age-old manuscripts ISBN 978-93-80538-62-4); Jagdish Prasad Mandal: Ekta Biography (Biography of Sh. Jagdish Prasad Mandal ISBN 978-93-80538-68-6).
A constructed writing system is a writing system specifically created by an individual or group, rather than having evolved as part of a language or culture like a natural script. Some are designed for use with constructed languages, although several of them are used in linguistic experimentation or for other more practical ends in existing languages. Prominent examples of constructed scripts include Korean Hangul and the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Mahajani is a Laṇḍā mercantile script that was historically used in northern India for writing accounts and financial records in Marwari, Hindi and Punjabi. It is a Brahmic script and is written left-to-right. Mahajani refers to the Hindi word for 'bankers', also known as 'sarrafi' or 'kothival' (merchant).
The Tirhuta or Maithili script was the primary historical script for the Maithili language, as well as one of the historical scripts for Sanskrit. It is believed to have originated in the 10th century CE. It is very similar to Bengali–Assamese script, with most consonants being effectively identical in appearance. For the most part, writing in Maithili has switched to the Devanagari script, which is used to write neighbouring Central Indic languages to the west and north such as Hindi and Nepali, and the number of people with a working knowledge of Tirhuta has dropped considerably in recent years.
Pau Cin Hau is the founder and the name of a religion followed by some Tedim, Hakha in Chin state and Kale in Sagaing division in the north-western part of Myanmar.
The Tākri script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. It is derived from the Sharada script formerly employed for Kashmiri. It is the sister script of Laṇḍā scripts. It has another variant Dogra Takri employed in Jammu region. There are numerous varieties present throughout Himachal Pradesh. Until the late 1940s, the adapted version of the script was the official script for writing Dogri in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Throughout the history, different kingdoms of what now forms Himachal Pradesh used their own variety to maintain their records. The Takri script used in the Sirmour in Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar-Bawar region has some distinction.
The Śāradā, Sarada or Sharada script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. The script was widespread between the 8th and 12th centuries in the northwestern parts of Indian Subcontinent, for writing Sanskrit and Kashmiri. Originally more widespread, its use became later restricted to Kashmir, and it is now rarely used except by the Kashmiri Pandit community for religious purposes.
Siddhaṃ, also known in its later evolved form as Siddhamātṛkā, is a medieval Brahmic abugida, derived from the Gupta script and ancestral to the Nāgarī, Assamese, Bengali, Tirhuta, Odia and Nepalese scripts.
Multani is a Brahmic script originating in the Multan region of Punjab and in northern Sindh, Pakistan. It was used to write Saraiki, often considered a dialect of Lahnda group of languages. The script was used for routine writing and commercial activities. Multani is one of four Landa scripts whose usage was extended beyond the mercantile domain and formalized for literary activity and printing; the others being Gurmukhi, Khojki, and Khudabadi. Although Multani is now obsolete, it is a historical script in which written and printed records exist. It was also known as Karikki and as Sarai.
Coptic Epact Numbers is a Unicode block containing old Coptic number forms.
Khudawadi is a Unicode block containing characters of the Khudabadi script used by some Sindhis in India for writing the Sindhi language.
Mahajani is a Unicode block containing characters historically used for writing Punjabi and Marwari.
Modi is a Unicode block containing the Modi alphabet characters for writing the Marathi language.
Pau Cin Hau is a Unicode block containing characters for the Pau Cin Hau alphabet which was created by Pau Cin Hau, founder of the Laipian religion, to represent his religious teachings. It was used primarily in the 1930s to write Tedim which is spoken in Chin State, Myanmar.
Siddham is a Unicode block containing characters for the historical, Brahmi-derived Siddham script used for writing Sanskrit between the years c. 550 – c. 1200.
Tirhuta is a Unicode block containing characters for Brahmi-derived Tirhuta script which was the primary writing system for Maithili in Bihar, India and Madhesh, Nepal until the 20th century.
Multani is a Unicode block containing characters used for writing the Multani alphabet, a Brahmic script used in the Multan region of Punjab and in northern Sindh in Pakistan. The script is now obsolete, but was historically used to write the Saraiki language.
The Pau Cin Hau scripts, known as Pau Cin Hau lai, or Zo tual lai in Zomi, are two scripts, a logographic script and an alphabetic script created by Pau Cin Hau, a Zomi religious leader from Chin State, Burma. The logographic script consists of 1,050 characters, which is a traditionally significant number based on the number of characters appearing in a religious text. The alphabetic script is a simplified script of 57 characters, which is divided into 21 consonants, 7 vowels, 9 final consonants, and 20 tone, length, and glottal marks. The original script was produced in 1902, but it is thought to have undergone at least two revisions, of which the first revision produced the logographic script.
Zanabazar's square script is a horizontal Mongolian square script, an abugida developed by the monk and scholar Zanabazar to write Mongolian. It can also be used to write Tibetan and Sanskrit.
The Elymaic alphabet is a right-to-left, non-joining abjad. It is derived from the Aramaic alphabet. Elymaic was used in the ancient state of Elymais, which was a semi-independent state of the 2nd century BCE to the early 3rd century CE, frequently a vassal under Parthian control, in the present-day region of Khuzestan, Iran (Susiana).
Elymaic is a Unicode block containing characters for the Elymaic alphabet, used in the ancient state of Elymais.