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In late 1921, Sylvain Lévi (1863-1935), Professor of Sanskrit Language and Literature at the Collège de France and the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE – Practical School of Advanced Studies), arrived in Bengal with his wife Désirée Lévi at the invitation of the poet and intellectual Rabindranath Tagore. It was Sylvain Lévi's second visit to Asia; the first was in 1897-1898, taking him from India to Japan by way of Nepal. Lévi stayed mainly in Santinketan (Bengal), where Tagore had just created the new Visva Bharati University. He taught Sanskrit there, along with Chinese, Buddhism and Ancient Indian history. Among his audience was a student of Indian history who had just graduated from the University of Calcutta, Prabodh Chandra Bagchi (1898-1956). A brilliant pupil, he had started to learn Chinese and Japanese and study Jainism and Buddhism. So Sir Asutosh, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calcutta, sent him to Santiniketan to study with Sylvain Lévi.
During the four months that the Lévis stayed with Tagore, Bagchi learnt Tibetan and Chinese with Sylvain Lévi and French with Désirée Lévi. They both became fond of Bagchi. Perceiving his pupil's potential, Lévi suggested that he accompany him on the rest of his journey, to Nepal. Lévi went there in search of Sanskrit manuscripts and new material on Nepalese history and religions.
Bagchi's correspondence with his uncle ("Bagchi-Levi in Nepal" published by M. B. Bhaduri) implies that this four-month stay was highly instructive: "To tell you frankly, the more I am with this old Savant the more my eyes are being opened." It confirmed his desire to research and better understand the history of India, as well as of Asia and Buddhism. Following his master's advice, he envisaged doing so in interaction with Chinese, Tibetan and Central Asian documents. Hence, he learnt palaeography and took part in daily work sessions with Sylvain Lévi on the many manuscripts conserved at the Durbar Library in Kathmandu. A photograph taken in the library also bears witness to the collaboration between Nepalese, French and Bengalis. It depicts Sylvain Lévi and P.C. Bagchi beside Rajguru Hemrāj Śarman and Kaiser Shumsher, the Nepalese Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahādur Rānā's third son. Bagchi worked at drawing up an inventory of the library's Tantric works and its Chinese and Tibetan collections. He also prepared manuscripts for publication, including a 5th-century Chinese–Sanskrit dictionary, and created an index of Chinese words used in translations of Sanskrit Buddhist texts. He accompanied the professor on his visits to temples in search of inscriptions and, on the latter's instructions, studied Nepalese iconography, the life of the sage Goraknath and the cult of Bhimasena. They both started learning Newari.
Thanks to a grant from the University of Calcutta, Bagchi was able to accompany the Lévi couple on the rest of their travels in Asia, taking in Saigon, Angkor, Hanoi and Yunnan. Lévi's idea was to put Bagchi in contact with the civilisations of Southeast Asia that had been subject to Indian influence and introduce him to researchers from the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO – French School of the Far East), including Louis Finot and Georges Coedès. Their travels then took them to Japan, looking for Buddhist texts in university libraries and temples.
In 1923, Bagchi joined the Lévis in Paris. He stayed there for three years, the time it took him to prepare a doctoral thesis under Sylvain Lévi's supervision, titled The Buddhist Canon in China, Translators and Translations. He was taught by Paul Pelliot, Henri Maspero, Jules Bloch and Antoine Meillet. He also joined forces with other Indian students in Paris to found the Association des Étudiants Hindous de France (Association of Hindu Students in France).
Following his return to India, Bagchi's relationship with Lévi, which had become something of a father-and-son affair, continued through letters (see Sylvain Lévi's letters published in India and Asia: P.C. Bagchi centenary volume). Lévi corrected the work that Bagchi sent him, made sure it was published in France by the Libraire Geuthner, encouraged his work on the Tantras, worried about his health, etc. Bagchi returned to Nepal in 1929, an opportunity for Lévi to ask him to send him copies of manuscripts. Hence, his research on the history of cultural relations between India, China and Central Asia, as well as on the history of Buddhism, helped continue Lévi's own work.
Lecturer in history at the University of Calcutta, Bagchi also taught at Visva-Bharati University's Department of Chinese (Cheena Bhavana, created in 1937) in Santiketan, becoming its director in 1945. In 1947-48, he was visiting professor at the National University of Peking. In 1954, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Visva-Bharati University and is still recognised as the founder of Sino-Indian and Tibetan studies in India.
Published in april 2024
