Publishing · Sanskrit literature · English readership
Life and work
1842–1895 · Publisher of the English Mahabharata[1]
Pratap Chandra Ray, also written Pratap Chandra Roy, was a Calcutta bookseller and publisher associated with bringing Indian classics to a wider readership. He undertook the publication of a complete English prose Mahabharata, which appeared in instalments between 1883 and 1896.[2]
The enterprise joined Ray’s work as publisher with the translation of Kisari Mohan Ganguli. Ray published the first fourteen parvas, or books; after his death, his widow, Sundari Bala Roy, published the remaining four. The publisher’s preface to a later edition explains how Ganguli’s initial anonymity led some editions to credit the translation incorrectly to P. C. Roy. Recognising both men’s roles preserves the achievement of the publisher and the authorship of the translator.[2]
His place in this community collection has a direct historical source. In Hindu Castes and Sects (1896), p. 158, Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya identifies “Pratapa Chandra Ray” as a Suta Aguri and praises his enterprise as a publisher. The passage connects Aguri history with a major undertaking in nineteenth-century literary publishing.[3]
Dutta also discusses Pratap Chandra Roy of Sanko among the community’s notable cultural figures (p. 313). His account provides a further scholarly reference for Ray’s place in Aguri history; the publication record cited above distinguishes Ray’s publishing work from Ganguli’s translation.[4]
Read about Bhattacharya’s account ↗ · See the original reference on p. 158
