The American Institute of Indian Studies is very grateful to the officers and trustees of the Taraknath Das Foundation for the donation of the Foundation’s endowment assets. AIIS is committed to carrying out the mission of the Foundation—which is now dissolved–to support the research of Indian graduate students in the U.S. and to promote greater understanding between India and the U.S. The substantial gift is the second largest dollar donation ever made to AIIS.
The Foundation funds will be used to establish an annual junior fellowship in honor of Taraknath Das, to be awarded to an Indian graduate student pursuing a doctoral degree at a university in the United States, to carry out dissertation research in India. The first Taraknath Das Memorial Fellowship recipient will be announced this year. Additional funds can be used to support the promotion of understanding between the US and India, to support the study of Indian languages, or for other purposes that would further the vision of the Foundation.
Taraknath Das
Taraknath Das (1884-1958) was a journalist, political activist, teacher and philanthropist. He taught political science at Columbia University and was a visiting faculty member at several other universities. Born in Bengal, he left India in 1905 to avoid repercussions from British colonial authorities for his activities supporting independence—first going to Japan and then to North America; because of his activism he served time in the federal prison at Leavenworth. He became a research fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, eventually earning graduate degrees from the University of Washington and the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. With his wife Mary Keatinge Das, he established the Taraknath Das Foundation in 1935, to promote educational activities, to foster cultural relations between the US and Asian countries, and to provide financial assistance to Indian students. For many years the Taraknath Das Foundation, housed at Columbia University, made annual grants to Indian graduate students studying in the US, as well as awards to persons or institutions that have contributed to understanding between India and the US. It also supported the Taraknath Das Research Centre at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, created at the time of the Swadeshi movement in the early twentieth century, and for which Taraknath Das had a special attachment.
AIIS is delighted to be entrusted with carrying forward the vision of Taraknath Das and the aims of his Foundation through its fellowship programs and other scholarly activities.