Research in India IV

Today we went to the Bengal National Library and had a big find. There are two Kedar Nath Dattas! Both worked as Magistrates for the British! One was born in 1838 and the other in 1840. We pulled the service records for Kedar Nath Datta and came up with 2 of them. I can hardly believe this, but it’s true. This explains (perhaps) some things we found in London. I found 6 new books published by Kedar Nath Datta which were previously unknown. Perhaps they are by the 1840 Kedar Nath Datta instead of our TBV (1838). More investigation is required. Apart from discovering a second 1840 KND we now have the service record of our TBV. This is a big find. This in itself makes the trip worth it. The next thing that is required is to search the West Bengal Government Archives for details of TBV’s legal judgments. This will take some time to get access because it is a restricted governmental archive and foreigners are not allowed. That will have to wait for the fall. I expect this to be very revealing of TBV’s personality. We might also find his superior’s comments about his work performance. It is very exciting to discover these things. Photographing TBV’s own original manuscript of the Jivani was an unbelievable experience. That was tremendous. Krishna has been very kind to us. All doors have been opened for this research.

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