Natabara Samantaray (A Reader)

After matriculating from Puri Zilla School Natabara Samantaray (1918-2000) moved to Queen's College, Benaras in 1939, where he studied English, Sanskrit, Mathematics, Greek history and Geography. He returned to Odisha, studied Sanskrit and Mathematics for his BA (1941) at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and later received a DEd from the Radhanath Training School. He started his professional career as a teacher of mathematics at a school in Bhubaneswar before being appointed as Inspector of Schools at Daringbadi, located in the highlands of Odisha. He obtained an MA degree in Odia from Utkal University in 1948 and became a lecturer in Odia at a college in Baripada in 1949. His doctoral dissertation was on the history of modern Odia literature, which appeared in book form as Odia Sahitrara Itihasa ( I X403-1920) [History Odia Literature (1803-1920)1(1963) which remains his best-known book. He was soon known fbr his relentless archival research, leading to publications on many of the canonical writers of Odisha: Sarala Das, "Panchasakha", Upendra Bhanja, Brajanath Badajena, Radhanath Ray, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Gangadhar Meher, Gopabandhu Das, the progressive writers of Odisha, to name a few.

Natabara. Samantaray's passion for studying the epistemic shifts in colonial Odisha has remained unmatched till date.

**Contents and Sample Pages**