Page:The Life and Work of Sir Jagadis C. Bose.djvu/16

2 now outside that of jute cultivation, so that its old character may still be seen. The Mahommedan population is considerable; but for Hindus it is interesting as rich in traditional culture, even in sacred associations; and of course fifty years ago it was much more so. Vikrampur is included in the Dacca district; and the village of Rarikhal in Vikrampur is the family home of the Boses, this being about 35 miles west of Dacca city. Jagadis Chunder Bose was born on November 30, 1858, and his early childhood was mainly spent at Faridpur, which is the centre of the next district, 35 miles farther west again. These distances are as the crow flies; to get from one place to another the communication was by river and thus circuitous.

Vikrampur has from very ancient times been famous as a seat of learning. From surrounding districts, even from distant provinces of India, youths were wont to come to the 'Tols'—Sanskrit schools kept by Brahmins of the old type and learning: in fact we may think of Vikrampur as till lately a University centre of the type of bygone ages. Of this a good deal was surviving fifty years ago, and something lingers to this day. Tradition is extant of there being a Man Mandir or astronomical observatory where transit of stars and planets were observed. Why this localisation? As so commonly throughout India, definite historic records are lacking, though oral traditions of saints and sages used to be rife. Moreover the evidence of surrounding monuments, and yet more numerous ruins, proves Vikrampur to have been a peculiarly rich and active centre of Buddhist culture: hence it is but natural that the Hindu revival which followed this should have been active here, and so strike deep and firm roots in its turn.

These ancient cultures, then, have their influence in producing a population interested in education, afEected by ideas and ideals: hence it is not solely for Bose's individual sake that a new and ambitious school is at present being founded in his ancestral village to bear his name, but also as an expression of the old cultural interest, here