Biography Ram Brahma Sanyal

1 biography

1.1 initial years @ zoo
1.2 publication of handbook , other writings
1.3 recognition
1.4 final years

biography

r. b. sanyal born in village of mahula in murshidabad district of present-day west bengal in 1858. son of baidyanath sanyal, passed entrance examination baharampur college. came calcutta studies, , joined calcutta medical college, in 1870. gave studies on recommendation of doctors developed eye problems. among influences on career of dr. george king, noted botanist , superintendent of indian botanical gardens in shibpur (then royal botanic gardens), faculty @ calcutta medical college.

initial years @ zoo

sanyal joined alipore zoological gardens inception in winter of 1875 - 1876 casual worker, due influence of george king, member of honorary managing committee. in first few months, responsible both upkeep of animals, , looking after needs of visitors zoo. hard work paid off, , september 1876 made head babu (head assistant) wages of rupees forty (a significant sum of money in days).

in january 1877 managing committee decided start daily register noting animal habits , behaviour in zoo on day day log book basis. sanyal chosen assist 3 europeans including carl louis schwendler, 1 of honorary governors donated animals menagerie form zoo s nucleus. sanyal took lot of notes , referred existing literature of time, t. c. jerdon s animals of india , birds of india. of sanyal s duties lightened when additional gardener recruited during period.

meanwhile, zoo management looking new superintendent, , in spite of sanyal s prowess, keen on appointing european post. minutes of managing committee meeting held on 19 july 1877 document that:

babu r. b. sanyal unfit have job of management of garden , necessary approve european head keeper ...

the committee was, however, forced give him superintendent status due lack of qualified european candidate.

at juncture, besides writing daily register, sanyal had keep daily account of number of animals fed, quantity of food fed, , cost of food on , above other duties among feeding (sometimes handfeeding) every animal in zoo 3 times day.

meanwhile, sir alfred croft, director of public instruction, visited gardens regularly , got acquainted sanyal. impressed abilities, offered sanyal job sanyal accepted, handing in resignation zoo on 25 july 1878. zoo management, loath let sanyal go in view of impending expansions zoo, refused accept resignation on grounds in government service, though sanyal s job not pensionable.

additional duties sanyal on next few years included supervision of new construction @ zoo, , overseeing project (starting 1883) interbreeding australian cattle native stock improve quality of stock, both of sanyal performed efficiently.

publication of handbook , other writings

upon 10 years of keeping daily register, honorary secretary of management committee requested sanyal write series of english articles on basis of logs kept. new lieutenant governor of bengal, sir steuart colvin bailey requested in annual report of 1888 - 1889 records of superintendent published handbook aid other individuals , zoological gardens. findings of sanyal published handbook of management of animals in captivity in lower bengal in 1892.

the work groundbreaking in field, , divided 2 parts - 1 observations on mammals , 1 observations on birds. in all, work looks @ 241 kinds of mammals , 402 kinds of birds. reviewed scientific journal nature in issue dated 4 august 1892, , caused sanyal become known first time outside indian zoological community. handbook caught eye of vice president of zoological society of london w. t. blanford. nature published favourable review of book, stating that:

... on whole must allow volume remarkable production, considering circumstances under has been prepared , author deserves great credit pains bestowed on composition , valuable information contained within

during period, sanyal wrote significant number of popular science articles in mother tongue of bengali in children s magazines of sakha (18 articles in period 1887 - 1890) , mukul (18 articles in period 1895 - 1900). further followed second book hours nature, published in 1896 target audience of schoolchildren. sanyal published notes based on observations @ zoo in journal of asiatic society of bengal.

recognition

dedication frank finn in garden , aviary birds of india, 1915

with recognition of sanyal in zoological community, published in quite few scientific journals , attended conferences , part of trips other zoos in different parts of india , world.

among sanyal s notable scientific publications 3 scientific papers published in proceedings of london zoological society in years 1893 - 1895:

notes on hybrid between semnopithecus phayrei blyth , s. cristatus, november 1893 pp. 615 – 616
notes on cynogale bennetti gray, march 1894, pp. 296 – 297
on moulting of great bird of paradise brief notes upon habits in captivity, june 1895, pp. 541 – 542

in 1894, sanyal visited zoological park jijamata udyan (then victoria gardens) @ mumbai (then bombay) based on invitation secretary bombay municipal corporation. submitted report authorities @ zoo suggesting improvements.

sanyal took project of analysis of snake venom, possibility of discovering antivenom dr. john anderson in period 1895 - 1896. later continued research alone in final years of life in around 1905.

sanyal sent europe in june 1898 first-hand @ great zoological gardens of europe, , attended fourth international congress of zoology in cambridge, england in august. made several important observations , built significant network of peers on these travels.

on return india, sanyal made rai bahadur. sanyal presented detailed report on housing, feeding , treatment of animals in european zoos. 1 of notable aspects of work highlight reasons success in captive breeding in european zoos species had failed reproduce in captivity in calcutta.

sanyal made associate member of asiatic society in calcutta. presented live demonstrations , gave lectures @ society s monthly meetings, , placed scientific papers in society s well-known journal.

final years

sanyal became known in zoological circles on account of work , publications. travelled yangon (then rangoon) plan zoo facilities there. in june 1902 sanyal made member of honorary committee. failing health caused sanyal ask retirement january 1906. replacement nominated post of superintendent indian - pasupati mitra. however, in late 1905, mitra called department, causing zoo authorities extend sanyal s stay in office couple of years. sanyal continued office duties despite failing health - including hazardous , strenuous duties working on snake antivenom, , conducting autopsies on dead animals ascertain cause of death.

in final years in office, sanyal outlined plans of acquiring animals other places south india , africa, based on system of exchange , purchase. died while holding office, on 13 october 1908.