Chandra Kumar Agarwala

Chandra Kumar Agarwala Biography

Chandra Kumar Agarwala was an eminent writer, poet and journalist from Assam. He was fondly called ‘Pratimar Khonikor’ in Assamese literary circle. He was a founder member of Oxomiya Bhaxa Unnati Xadhini Xobha, a literary organization of Assam. He also served as the first editor and financer of the Jonaki magazine. He along with the popular writers, Lakshminath Bezbarua and Hemchandra Goswami were known as "Trimurti of Assamese literature". They three were friends who started Oxomiya Bhaxa Unnati Xadhini Xobha and the trio has given outstanding contributions to Assamese modern literature. His brother Ananda Chandra Agarwala and nephew Jyoti Prasad Agarwala were also noted names of Assamese literature.

He was born on 28 November 1867 in Brahmajan, of Sonitpur district, Assam. He was born into a rich business family and he was the second son. His schooling was done at Tezpur and later he continued his education at Kolkata. But he returned home without completing graduation. He is regarded as a pioneer in the journalism movement of Assam. He was a founder member of Asamiya Bhasar Unnati Sadhini Sabha (Assamese Language Developing Society) and it was formed by a few talented students from Kolkata. In 1889 the organization started their mouth piece – Jonaki, a weekly magazine. He also served as the first editor of the magazine.

He returned to Assam and brought out an Assamese weekly called Asamiya from Dibrugarh in 1918. He later shifted it to Guwahati. Pratima (1913), Bin-baragi (1923) and Chandramrit (1967) are the poetry collections published by Agarwala. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of Jonaki Era in Assamese literature.

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Updated: September 05, 2014