Nalinaksha Dutt (1893–1973), was an Indian scholar of Buddhism, professor ofSanskrit andPali at theUniversity of Calcutta and chairedThe Asiatic Society, among other representative functions, as vice-president of theMaha Bodhi Society.

He was also a politician who served asMember of Parliament, representingWest Bengal in theRajya Sabha theupper house ofIndia's Parliament representing theIndian National Congress.

He is the author of numerous books on Buddhism.

Nalinaksha Dutt was born on 4 December 1893. He did his undergraduate studies atChittagong College and thePresidency University, Kolkata. Initially interested in mathematics and physics, he was a student ofAshutosh Mukherjee, before discovering the Sanskrit and Pali languages with scholarSatish Chandra Vidyabhusan who also introduced him to Indian and Tibetan Buddhist texts. After graduation, he became a professor of Sanskrit and Pali at Judson College (which later, in 1920, became part of theUniversity of Yangon). But Ashutosh Mukherjee, as a wise educator, perceived Dutt's real abilities and persuaded him to return to Calcutta in order to deepen his studies on Buddhism from the Sanskrit source texts, because at that time, most of the known Buddhist texts were translations from Tibetan. He met the scholarSarat Chandra Das and the Tibetan translatorKazi Dawa Samdup and they worked together.^[1]

In appreciation of Dutt's researches in both the schools of Buddhism, Calcutta University awarded him thePremchand Roychand Scholarship award and the doctor's degree. Then he went to London, being admitted to the School of Oriental Studies, to prepare the D. Littérature, specialty Buddhism in Sanskrit. However, in the absence of a British Sanskrit scholar able to direct his work, the Belgian IndologistLouis de La Vallée-Poussin took on the task. Thus Dutt lived most of his time in Brussels, near his research master.^[1]

He defended his thesis in 1930, entitled:Aspects ofMahayana Buddhism and its relationship with theHinayana, before renowned Western scholars, includingLionel Barnett,Fyodor Shcherbatskoy, who praised his work. His later works will be the subject of publications (the main ones are listed in the rest of the article), which will make him, withLokesh Chandra, one of the main Indian scholars in Buddhism.^[1]

He has held many official positions: President (1959–1961), and vice-president ofThe Asiatic Society, vice-president of theMaha Bodhi Society (1959–1973).^[1]

He was not only a scholar of Buddhism, but also a politician. He was aMember of Parliament, representingWest Bengal in theRajya Sabha theupper house ofIndia's Parliament representing theIndian National Congress.^[2][3][4]

He died on 17 November 1973.^[1]

Here are some of Nilanaksha Dutt's works (non-exhaustive list):^[5]

• Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its relation to Hīnayāna, foreword by ProfessorLouis de La Vallée-Poussin, Luzac & Co, Collection Oriental series n°23, 1930 (reprinted 23 times until 1984).^[6]
• Bodhisattvabhūmiḥ (based on the works ofAsanga), in Sanskrit with introduction in English, Pāṭaliputram, 1966 (reprinted 11 times until 1978), 340 p.^[7]
• Buddhism in Kashmir, with a foreword by Harcharan Singh Sobti,^[8] Eastern Book Linkers, Delhi, India, 1985, 68 p.^[9]
• Development of Buddhism in Uttar Pradesh, Published by Government of Uttar Pradesh, Vārāṇasī : Bhargava Bhushan Press, 1956, 435 p.^[10]
• Early monastic Buddhism, Calcutta oriental series, n° 30, 1941 (reprinted 33 times until 1981), 311p.^[11]
• Gilgit Manuscripts (3 volumes), in Sanskrit, préface and introduction in English, Srinagar, Kashmir, 1939–1943.^[12]
• Mahayana Buddhism, Calcutta, Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay, 1973, 304 p.^[13]
• The Pañcaviṁśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, in Sanskrit and English, Luzac & Co, Collection Oriental series n°28, 1934, 269 p.^[14]
• Saddharmapundarikasutram, with N.D. Mironov, in Sanskrit, introduction in English, Calcutta, Asiatic Society, Collection Bibliotheca Indica, 1953, 400 p.^[15]

• 1893 births
• 1973 deaths
• 20th-century Indian historians
• 20th-century Indian linguists
• Indian scholars of Buddhism
• Indian Buddhists
• Translators from Tibetan
• University of Calcutta people
• Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal
• Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal
• Academic staff of the University of Calcutta

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