Rahul Sankrityayan was born on April 9, 1893, in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, as Kedarnath Pandey. He may not be as well-known as he deserves, but he was important in history, philosophy, literature, and politics. People called him ‘Mahapandit’ because he was excellent in almost 30 languages, including English, French, German, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Pali, Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Tamil, and Russian. However, his impact on Hindi literature is unforgettable.
Even with just a middle school education, Sankrityayan’s life was full of thinking and writing. He wrote about 140 books on different topics by the time he died in 1963. One of his big works, “Madhya Asia Ka Itihas” (History of Central Asia), won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958. He decided to study Central Asian history because there wasn’t much in Hindi about it, showing how much he cared about filling gaps in knowledge.
In his early life, Sankrityayan was Ram Udar Das Sadhu, a wandering religious person exploring Hindu scriptures. He traveled a lot, learning about national politics through newspapers like The Hindu. Later, he became a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka and helped save and rebuild lost Buddhist manuscripts.
While exploring Kashmir, Ladakh, Nepal, and Tibet, he found many lost manuscripts. He wrote smart explanations and edited these manuscripts to keep them safe. He’s also known as the first person to write Hindi travelogues, setting an example for others.
Sankrityayan didn’t just care about writing; he was also active in politics. He spent three years in jail for going against the British, and he joined the Communist Party when it was not allowed. He even taught at Leningrad University and Vidyalankar University in Sri Lanka.
Rahul took the teaching job in Sri Lanka, where he got very sick with diabetes, high blood pressure, and a mild stroke. After that, he started losing his memory and eventually died in Darjeeling in 1963.
Rahul Sankrityayan’s legacy lives on through his important writings, especially “Volga Se Ganga,” a collection that looks at human society from 6000 B.C. to 1942. His work earned him the Padma Bhushan, and in 1993, the Indian government made a stamp to remember his 100th birthday. But, even with these honors, Indian universities haven’t created a position in his name or fully recognized his big impact.
