Elected Fellow 1949
BASANTA KUMAR DAS
was born in Gangoor, a small village in the district of Burdwan, West Bengal on 21 November 1895. His father Nobin Charidra Das and mother Sukharani Devi moved t o Allahabad, UP and settled down there when Basanta Kumar was hardly a year old. Nobin Chandra joined the Pioneer Press, the then well known European English daily, in the job department with a poor salary. Due t o deplorable financial condition, Nobin Babu had to approach Sir P C Banerjee, justice Allahabad High Court and Pandit Ram Charan Shukla, a well known land-lord of Allahabad for help. With the generous assistance of these two dignitaries the education of Basanta Kumar, the bright boy, could be continued.. ,
SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
Basanta Kumar was educated a t the Government High School and then a t Muir Central College, Allahabad. In 1918 he passed the MSc Examination in Zoology from Allahabad University and secured the first position. As a recognition of his exceptional merit and proficieilcy in research activities, Basanta Kumar was awarded two UP State Government Research scholar- ships which he was allowed t o enjoy simultaneously. During this time Basanta Kumar came in close contact with Dr W N F Woodland, the distin- guished Professor of Zoology, a t the Allahabad University, who inspired, guided and moulded the career of Basanta Kumar as a promising research investigator. In 1920, he became Lecturer in Zoology at Allahabad Univer- sity and served the same upto 1923.
Basanta Kumar received the UP State Scholarship for stiidy abroad and joined the Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University towards
the end of 1923. He had the privilege of working under Professor EW MacBride, FRS, the eminent British Zoologist of that time. Professor M a o ~ r i d e " was highly impressed with Basanta Kumar for his research
Biographical Memoirs
aptitude and deep insight in the subject mat,ter of his investigation. Basanta Kurnar worked on the biononiics of certain air-breathing fishes of India together with an account of the development of their air-breathing organs.
He completed his research work within two years and six months and merited the DSc degree of London University in 1926. The outstanding results of his study were publislled in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London and this earned an international reputation for Basanta Kumar.
Dr Basanta Kumar Das showed exceptional brilliance in dissection and preparation of air breathing organs so much so that all these were taken f o r permanent exhibition in the galleries of the British Museum. As a recognition of the best and distinguished research in Natural Sciences in 1931 he was honoured with the coveted Huxley Memorial Prize which comprised Huxley Gold Nl edal and a research microscope. At the success of his student, Profe- ssor h4acBride (1931) wrote to Dr Das, "I am extremely delighted that you have been anv-rded the prestigious Huxley Memorial Prize
... ...
I wish t o see you as FRS. You are the Pride of my heart". F J W Roughton, FRS ofCambridge, UK also remarked that the contribution of Dr Das is unique and
"it is a Veritable Zoological Classic". Dr Munro Fox, FRS, Professor of Zoology, London wrote to Dr Das, "Your candidature for the Fellowship of the Royal Society will never be forgotten". I-Iowever, the works of Dr Das on the air-breathing fish have been incorporaled in some text boolis on Zoology and Physiology.
In 1926, Dr Das returned to India and was appointed as the Professor of Zoology in the University of Calcutta. Sir J C Rose in his convocation addressed to the Allahabad University in 1927 stated, "ii is one of your stu- dents of the University who did exceptionally brilliant work in the University of London". The said student was none but Dr Das and Sir J C Bose had also "the privilege to obtain for him the post of Professor in the University of Calcutta". After joining Lhe University of Calcutta, Professor Das made sincere efforts for the expansion of teaching and research facilities in the
Department of Zoology.
After working f o r five years Professor Das left the University of Calcutta and he was subsequently brought to the notice of Sir Akbar I-Iydari, the then Prime Minister of erstwhile Nizam Government of IJyderabad, by late Pandit Mohanlal Nehru, a distinguished citizen, an old friend and well wisher of the family of Professor Das and late Sir Tez Bahadur Sapru, an eminent lawyer and statesman, both of Allahabacl. Professor Das was thus appoint
as the Professor and Head of the Department of Zoology, Osmarlia Uni sity in 1931. He built up the Zoology Department with great zeal
produced a galaxy of good zoologists in Osmania University. He set up an excellent Zoological Museum which will ever remain as a living monument of his sincerity of purpose and organising ability. At the appointment of Dr Das in the Chair of Zoology, Osmania University, E S Goodrich, FRS, Professor of Zoology, Oxford University wrote (in 1931) t o Nawab Shirajyar Jung, Justice Hyderabad High Court, "I was glad that Dr B K Das has joined the Osmania University. I know Dr Das very well. He is the most eminent figure in Indian Zoology".
I n 1935, Professor Das represented India at the International Zoological Congress held in Lisbon and was elected as one of the Vice-Presidents. He was also elected the President of the Zoology Section of Indian Science Con- gress held in Madras in 1940. Professor Das was the Chief Architect of crea- tion of the Fisheries Department of Hyderabad, (Deccan). At the suggestion and comprehensive plan of Professor Das, the Hyderabad Fisheries Depart- ment came into existence in 1941. Professor Das was the Honorary Adviser and Dr M Rahimullah was the only Officer in the said department. Professor Das did not accept the hozlorarium of Rs 125/- per month because he wanted t o serve the country with a spirit of sacrifice in addition to his full time job in the University. However, in 1953 he joined the Fisheries Department. as a full time Research Director after his retirement from the University in 1952.
Furthermore, the present Nehru Zoological Park and the Indira Garden also owe their inception to the Master Plan submitted by Das to the erstwhile Nizam Government.
On April 6, 1957, Professor Das died after a brief illness at Secunderabad, leaving behind his beloved wife, two daughters and two distinguished brothers, Shri P Das, a hockey international, who represented India in many inter- national tournaments and Shri A K Das, a Fishery Scientist in the field of biochemical aspects of fish and a UNO Fellow.
Professor Das was indeed one of the greatest Zoologists of India. He was a very modest and a kind person. To commemorate his eminence and contribution to Zoology, the Zoological Society of India instituted the Dr B K Das Memorial Gold Medal to be awarded to an Indian Zoologist every five years for his outstanding work in the lield of Zoology. This is how the Indian Zoologists paid a tribute to the great teacher, outstanding researcher and an able organiser.
The author of this memoir gratefully acknowledges the help rendered by Shri A K Das and Shri P Das both the brothers of Professor B K Das.
N C DATTA
Biographical Memoirs
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1920. Note on persistent oviducts and abnormal testes in a male Rana tigrina. J. Proc.
Asiatic. Soc. (Bengal)., 16.
1922. On truncated umbilical arteries in some Indian mammals. J. Anat. London, 56, 325-332.
1924. On the intra-renal course of the so called "Renal Portal" veins in some Indian birds. Proc. 2001. Soc. (London), 397-437.
1927. The bionomics of certain air-breathing fishes of India together with an account of the development of their air-breathing organs. Phil. Trans. Royal. Soc.
(London) (B), 216, 153-219.
1931. Observations on the malformations in the common Bengal toad, Bufo melanostictus (Schneid). Anat. Anzeiger. Bd. (Germany). 71, Nr. 7/9.
- Observations on the "Renal Portal" Perfusion in etherized birds. J. Morphol.
Physiol. Philadelphia. 51.
- On the bionomics, life history and anatomy of a less common tree lizard, the much-dreaded, so called "Tokkhaksamp" of Bengal, Gecko verticilatus, Laurent. Part - 11. Observations on the Ductus botalli ( D . arteriosus) Anar.
An/eiger. Bd. Gern~arzy. 72 Nr., 619.
- On the probable coalescence of the curiously modified cisterna magna and the lymp-hearts in a common Indian bull frog, Rana tigrina (Daud). Anat. Aazeiger.
72, Nr. i/3, Germany.
1933. Making whole mounts of vertebrate skeleton. Nature, 131, 171.
-
Helminth parasites froin certain fresh water fish of India. Curr. Sci., 1.- On the bionomics, structure and physiology of respiration in an estuarine air- breathing fish, Pseudapocryptes lanceolntus (Bloch and Schneider) with special reference to a new mode of aerial respiration. ibid, 1 (12).
- On certain helminth parasites from "Chandrabora" or "Russell's Viper"
(Vipera russelli) obtained from the Nizam's dominions. ibid 2(5).
- Contributions to our knowledge of habits of a scorpion Buthus acutecuvirzus obtained from Nizam's dominions. J. Osmania Univ. Coll., 1.
1934. The habits and structure of Pseudapocrtyptes lanceolatus, a fish in the first stages of structural adaptation to aerial respiration. Proc. Royal Soc. (London) 115.
- The Alizarin-KOH method of staining vertebrate skeletons. Nature, 134, 464-465.
- On the trematode infections in certain Indian fishes. Curr. Sci., 2(5).
1935. On the biology, ecology and bionomics of the fauna of the Hyderabad state (H. E. H. the Nizam's dominion). Part-IV : A preliminary summarized report on the fresh water fishes obtained from Hyderabad, with reference to their parasites and economic importance. J. Osmania Univ., 3.
1936. Remarks on certain hitherto unknown characters in the family Notopteridae.
Bull. Soc. Portug. des. Sci. Naturalles Tome 12(1:8).
- Observations on confluence of the median fins in an air-breathing cat-fish
"Maroof" (Clarias batraclzus, Linn.) Ibid. 12(20).
-
On ecology and bionomics of an air-breathing loach, Lepidocephalus guntea (Ham. Buch.) with a review on air-breathing fishes. Proc. XZI Intern. ZOO].Cong. (Lisbon).
- On the fauna of the state of Hyderabad and its principal types. ibid. (Lisbon).
1940. Nature and causes of evolution and adaptation of the air-breathing fishes (A resume). Presidential Address 27th Indian. Sci. Cong.
- The study of marine zoology in India. Curr. Sci.
