Rajat Kanta Ray

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Rajat Kanta Ray (Bengali: রজত কান্ত রায়; 6 May 1946 – 6 August 2025) was an Indian historian of South Asian history, specialising in Modern Indian history.

Background

Ray was born on 6 May 1946, the son of Kumud Kanta Ray, ICS who was a Home Secretary of West Bengal in the 1960s. His grandfather, Kamakshya Ray, a contemporary of Rathindranath Tagore, was one of the first four students of Patha Bhavana of Santiniketan.

He completed his schooling at Ballygunge Government High School, Calcutta, and his B.A. (Honours) in History at Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was a student of Ashin Dasgupta. He then completed his Ph.D. under the supervision of Anil Seal at the University of Cambridge. After returning from Cambridge, Ray briefly taught at IIM, Calcutta, before moving to Presidency College, where he taught for more than three decades, and alongside his substantial academic output, is largely remembered as a teacher par excellence.

Ray died on 6 August 2025, at the age of 79.

Career

Ray was an assistant professor of history at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. From 1975 to 1982, he was Reader, and then from 1982 to 2006, he was the Professor and Head of the Department of History at Presidency College, Calcutta. He was one of the longest serving professors of the college. From 2006 to 2011, he was the Upacharya of Visva-Bharati. From 2012, he was Professor Emeritus of history at Presidency University. His autobiographical novel Eka Eka Nimalu was highly acclaimed in the literary community and was honoured with Narsingha Das Memorial Award in 1995.

Bibliography

References