Panchanan Karmakar

Last updated
Panchanan Karmakar
পঞ্চানন কর্মকার
Born
Jirat, Hooghly, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died1804

Panchanan Karmakar (Mallick) (died c. 1804) was an Indian Bengali inventor, born at Tribeni, Hooghly, Bengal Presidency, British India, hailed from Serampore. He assisted Charles Wilkins in creating the first Bangla type. [1] [2] His metal Bengali alphabet and typeface had been used until Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar proposed a simplified version. [3] Apart from Bangla, Karmakar developed type in 14 languages, including Arabic, Persian, Marathi, Telugu, Burmese and Chinese. [1]

Contents

Early life and career

Book cover of A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778) first printed Bengali book using Bengali font. A Grammar of the Bengal Language.png
Book cover of A Grammar of the Bengal Language (1778) first printed Bengali book using Bengali font.

Karmakar was born in Tribeni. [4] His ancestors were calligraphers; they inscribed names and decorations on copper plates, weapons, metal pots, etc. [1] One of Panchanan Karmakar’s ancestors was known for carving designs on swords, shields and armours for one of the nawabs of Bengal, Alivardi Khan. He received the title of Mullick. [2]

Andrews, a Christian missionary, had a printing press at Hughli. In order to print Nathaniel Brassey Halhed's A Grammar of the Bengal Language, he needed a Bangla type. [1] Under the supervision of English typographer Charles Wilkins, Karmakar [5] created the first Bengali typeface for printing. [6] [7] [8]

In 1779, Karmakar moved to Kolkata to work for Wilkins' new printing press. [1] In Chinsurah, Hooghly. In 1801, he developed a typeface for British missionary William Carey's Bangla translation of the New Testament. [9] In 1803, Karmakar developed a set of Devnagari script, the first Nagari type to be developed in India. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Islam, Sirajul (2012). "Panchanan Karmakar". In Islam, Sirajul; Hossain, Ayub (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  2. 1 2 Datta, Rangan (18 March 2025). "How a blacksmith from Serampore created the first Bengali typeface 250 years ago". The Telegraph. My Kolkata. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  3. ↑ Ghulam Morshed. "Vidyasagar, Pundit Iswar Chandra". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ পঞ্চানন কর্মকার. onushilon.org. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  5. ↑ Greenspan, Ezra; Rose, Jonathan (September 2003). Book History - Ezra Greenspan, Jonathan Rose. ISBN   0271023309 . Retrieved 2015-06-02.
  6. ↑ Works [ed. by E.R. Rost]. - Horace Hayman Wilson -. 1865. p.  273 . Retrieved 2015-06-02– via Internet Archive. charles wilkins.
  7. ↑ পঞ্চানন কর্মকার, তাঁর হাতেই ছাপার হরফ পেল বাংলা. Ei Samay Sangbadpatra (in Bengali). Retrieved 2024-06-10.
  8. ↑ Sarkar, Krishna Kumar (2024-01-01). "Bangla Haraf Nirmata Panchanan Karmakar". Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad.
  9. ↑ TNN (February 9, 2012). "Flower power resurrects Carey legacy". The Times of India. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.