Aziz-ul Haque
Reverend Dr Nathan Brown played a very significant role in the history of Assamese language and literature. It will be worthwhile to remember him as we celebrate his 201st birth anniversary tomorrow. Nathan Brown attended the Newton Theological Institute in order to prepare himself for missionary work and graduated in 1832. The American Baptist Missionary Union appointed him as a missionary to Myanmar in 1833. Having greatly contributed to the literary and spiritual life of the people in Myanmar within a short period, he headed for Assam on the request of Captain Francis Jenkins, the Commissioner of Assam. With the establishment of the first printing press in Assam, Brown’s arrival ushered in a new literary development in the region. Due to inadequate assistance from the Mission and tribal aggression in Sadiya, Brown had to shift his base to Jaipur in 1839 and then to Sivasagar in 1843. He found Sivasagar to be the most suitable place for his missionary work. There, making his base on the bank of the Dikhow river, he worked until 1855. Towards the end of 1844, Brown travelled on foot from Sivasagar to Guwahati, visiting villages to study personally the characteristics of diverse culture and racial elements of the people. He along with two other missionaries, Miles Bronson and Cyrus Barker, organized and founded the first Baptist church at Panbazar in Guwahati on January 25, 1845. Brown also pioneered in establishing schools in different parts of the State.Brown was a linguist par excellence. Very soon he could master Assamese and appreciated the beauty of this language. He was deeply involved in teaching, translating and preparing books in Assamese. He translated and published a catechism in Assamese. A good number of his translated hymns are still sung in many churches in Assam. In 1848, he published Grammatical Notes of the Assamese Language, which served as the first Assamese grammar book. Brown was a pioneer in writing school books. He wrote books on elementary arithmetic such as Pratham Ganana (1845) and Dutio Ganana (1855), and on geography such as Bhugulor Biboran (1851), which were much superior to Bengali books used in schools at that time. He translated John Bunyan’s famous work Pilgrims Progress into Assamese. Brown’s wife, Eliza, opened boarding school for girls. She was also actively involved in literary work. She translated a dozen tracts into Assamese and wrote arithmetic and story books for children.The magnum opus of Brown was Orunudoi. It was the first news magazine in Assamese published from Mission Press, Sivasagar, beginning from January 1846. Brown was the editor of this magazine till he left for the US. This magazine with illustrative articles on science, geography, astronomy, history and many other topics soon found an encouraging readership among the Assamese intelligentsia and thereby paved the way for Assamese journalism. Many Assamese scholars like Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, Gunabhiram Baruah and Hemchandra Baruah contributed articles to this magazine that became a launching pad in the struggle for restoration of Assamese language. Following the example of Orunudoi, several newspapers and magazines were published in Assam in the second half of the 19th century. Prominent among these were Asam Bilasini, Asom Darpan, Asam Bandhu, Asam Deepika, Jonaki and Assam News.Brown was also a pioneer in the unearthing of old manuscripts and in editing and publishing them. Under his able editorship, Orunudoi published history by bringing out the texts of old chronicles in properly edited form such as Chutia Buranji, Purani Asom Buranji and Kamrupar Buranji. Modern prose style in Assamese literature to a great extent is credited to the work of Brown and other missionaries. The currently prevalent standard of Assamese has its roots in the language of Upper Assam, particularly of Sivasagar. Since the initial printing and literary activities occurred in Upper Asam, this language was introduced in schools, courts and offices, and thus came to be formally recognized as standard Assamese.Due to ill health and certain problems in Home Mission, Brown, after 20 years of successful service, left Assam on February 13, 1855 for the US. His farewell note said: ‘‘One of the hardest partings I ever experienced. If God in mercy restores my health so that I can again be useful, I will return and labour for them till life ends, with all my heart.’’ The people of Assam would ever remain greatly indebted to Brown for his unparalleled contributions to Assamese language and literature at a very crucial time of its history.
(The writer is Pastor, Guwahati Baptist Church) Source: sentinel assam
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