Contribution of the Missionary to the Bodo La...

Contribution of the Missionary to the Bodo Language and Literature

Author Name : Prasanta Boro

ABSTRACT

Linguistically the Bodos include a large group of people who are the speakers of the Tibeto-Burman speeches of the North and East Bengal, Assam and Burma. The period starting from 1797 down to 1959 has been described as the Missionary age of the Bodo Literature by many writers and thinkers. The activities and contributions of the Christian Missionaries towards the growth of Bodo Literature in early period, research works on the Bodo Language and Literature had been undertaken by the Missionary workers and writers. In 1846 B. H. Hodgson used the Bodo word in his writings for the first time. Contribution of Rev. S. Endle towards the growth of Bodo Language and Literature in greater than any other writer or contributor of the Christian Missionary. In his “An Outline of the Kachari Grammar (1884)”, he discussed widely about the Bodo Language of the Boro Kacharis of Darrang District. He also described vividly about the Bodo Culture in his book – “The Kacharis (1911)”. In 1889 Rev. L. O. Skrefshrud brought out his “A Short Grammar of the Mech of Bodo Language”.

In this paper, an attempt has been made to study activities and contribution of the Missionary towards the growth of Bodo Language and Literature.

Keywords: Missionary, Contribution, Bodo Language and Literature.