Radhakumud Mookerji

Radha Kumud Mukherjee (25 January 1884 – 9 September 1963), commonly published as Radhakumud Mookerji, was an Indian historian, academic, and nationalist who made pioneering contributions to the study of ancient Indian institutions, maritime history, and Hindu civilisation. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957.

Early Life and Education

Mookerji was born in Berhampore, in the Murshidabad district of Bengal. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Calcutta in 1905 and was awarded the prestigious Premchand Roychand Studentship, for which his thesis on Indian shipping formed the basis.

Career

In 1906, Mookerji joined the newly established National Council of Education, teaching Indian history at the Bengal National College in Calcutta, where he held the Hemchandra Basu Mallick Professorship. After 1915, he held academic appointments at the Banaras Hindu University, the University of Mysore, and Lucknow University.

His scholarly interests were remarkably broad, spanning the political, economic, and cultural history of ancient and medieval India. He was among the first Indian historians to systematically study Indian maritime history, local self-government in ancient India, and the achievements of Hindu civilisation as a whole.

Major Works

Mookerji was a prolific author whose works include:

• Indian Shipping: A History of the Sea-Borne Trade and Maritime Activity of the Indians from the Earliest Times (1912)
• A History of Indian Shipping and Maritime Activity from the Earliest Times (revised edition, 1957)
• Local Government in Ancient India (1914)
• Nationalism in Hindu Culture (1921)
• Men and Thought in Ancient India (1924)
• Asoka (1928)
• Hindu Civilization (1930)
• The Fundamental Unity of India (1937)
• Chandragupta Maurya and His Times (1943)
• The Gupta Empire (1943)

Legacy

Mookerji’s Indian Shipping was a groundbreaking work that, for the first time, brought together the scattered evidence for Indian maritime enterprise from Sanskrit, Pali, Tamil, Persian, Chinese, and classical sources. His broader body of work contributed significantly to the recovery of India’s ancient institutional and cultural history during the nationalist period. He was the brother of the sociologist Radhakamal Mukerjee.