Tapan Roy Choudhury was one of the most notable historian and author of 20th Century Bengal, whose literary contributions enriched the light-hearted, humoristic representation of the British Indian history, history of Indian economy, and the history and evolution of Bengali society and culture. Born on 8th of May, 1926 in Kumilla district of undivided Bengal, Tapan Roy Choudhury completed his B.A. in history from Presidency College, and then worked under the supervision of Sir Jadunath Sarkar at Calcutta University to complete his first D.Phil. Degree, followed by the second D.Phil. from Balliol College, Oxford. He served in several prestigious and scholarly positions, including the role of deputy director at National Archives of India, director of Delhi School of Economics, and professor of economic history at University of Delhi. He was also appointed as lecturer and professor in various universities worldwide.
Tapan Roy Choudhury’s literary works were true examples of the admixture of humour with historical facts, and an insightful interpretation of the evolutionary phases of different historical phenomena. His autobiographical works like “Romanthan othoba Bhimrotipraptor porchorit charcha” (1993) and “Bangalnama” represented a genuine social documentation for the waning Jamindaar culture of East India (presently Bangladesh) and their gradual sociocultural alterations. His last work was a compendium of selected essays under the title “Prabandho Sangraha” which included a diverse variety of topics ranging from the culinary tradition of using green leafs at the time of Mughal dynasty of Akbar to the literary evaluation of the works of Sukumar Sen. Tapan Roy Choudhury passed away on 26th of November, 2014 at the age of 88 years.