Pandurang Vaman Kane was born on May 07,1880 at Ratnagiri district in
Maharashtra.
He joined SPG Mission English School at Dapoli from here he obtained his
matriculation in 1897. He obtained his BA, MA in English and Sanskrit
Literature from Wilson College, Bombay and LLB and LLM in Law from Government
Law College, University of Bombay.
He joined the Education Department and worked as Sanskrit Teacher at Government
High Schools in Ratnagiri (1904 - 1907) and Bombay (1907 - 1911).
He enrolled as an Advocate in 1911
and served the Appellate bench of Bombay High Court (1911 - 1947). After Independence he served as the Vice
Chancellor of University of Bombay with distinction (1947 - 1949).
He was President of the Indian Oriental
Congress at Bombay (1949) and Leader of Indian Delegation to International
Congress of Orientalists (1949 - 1953)
He was nominated Member of
Parliament in Rajya Sabha (1953 - 1959). He was the National Research Professor
of Indology (1959 - 1972).
He died on April 18, 1972 at Bombay at the age of 92.
Indologist & Sanskritist
He published the magnus opus History of Dharmasastra in 5 volumes (1930 - 1962) . The 6500 pages treatise on the socio legal code and conduct in
ancient and mediaeval India is based on various religious and legal manuscripts
compiled over several centuries.
He was President of the Indian History Congress at Waltair session in
1953.He was President of Indian Oriental Congress at Nagpur (1946) and Bombay (1949).
He was Leader of Indian Delegation to International Congress of Orientalists
held at Paris (1948), Istanbul (1951) and Cambridge (1954).
He was Vice President and Editor of Journal of Royal Asiatic Society at
Bombay and President of Marathi Granthasangrahalaya and Marathi Brahmanasabha
He was member of Central Sanskrit Board.
He was elected Member of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Deccan College
Research Institute.
He was Lecturer (1913 - 1915), Assistant Professor (1915 - 1916) and
Professor (1916 - 1917) at Department of Sanskrit in Wilson College, Bombay.
Jurist
An authority on Indian Civil Law he practiced as an Advocate at Bombay High
Court for over 5 decades and also served as Senior Advocate at the Federal
Court of India in Delhi.
He
was Professor of Law (1917 - 1923) and Law Member in Senate (1919 - 1928) at University
of Bombay.
He was instrumental in the framing and passing of the Hindu Marriage Act,
Hindu Adoption Act and Hindu Succession Act during his tenure as Member of Rajya
Sabha.
Awards
He received the
Kendriya Sahitya Akademi award in Sanskrit for his magnum opus - History of
Dharmasastra in 1956. The Government of India honoured him with Bharat Ratna in
1963 for his contribution to Indology.
Titles
The Government of British India conferred the title Maha Mahopadhyaya or
MM – The greatest among the great teachers on him in 1942 in recognition his
exemplary dual role as teacher of Law and Sanskrit.
Fellowships
He was elected Fellow of Asiatic Society, Bombay and London, London School
of Oriental and Anglo Studies, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
Doctorates
He received Honorary
Doctorates from the Universities of Allahabad (1946) and Poona (1960) for his
life time contribution to Law, Education and Literature.
Publications
His magnum opus
History of Dharmasastra is an encyclopedic authoritative treatise of ancient Indian
religious and civil laws. He produced several articles and books on law,
education and literature in 3 languages - English, Sanskrit and Marathi
spanning over seven decades and running over 15000 pages. His notable works are
Kadambari, Harshacharita, Uttararamacharita and History of Sanskrit Poetics.
Resources
The Royal
Asiatic Society at Bombay established the Dr PV Kane Institute for Post
Graduate Studies and Research in 1973 and instituted the MM Dr PV Kane Gold Medal
and Memorial Lecture on Indology in his honour. The triennial medal is awarded to
a scholar for outstanding contribution to the study of Vedic, Dharmashastra or
Alankara Literature.
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