In Memorium: Dr. P. B. Pandit

Summary

P. C. Das Gupta’s brief obituary commemorates Dr P. B. Pandit (1923–1975), a linguist and scholar of old Gujarati and Prakrit manuscripts. Born on 13 June 1923 in Valabhi in Saurashtra, Pandit came from a family with a strong Prakrit scholarly tradition; his father Bechar Das Jivraj Doshi and mother Ajwali Bhan Doshi were both associated with Jain education. After early schooling in Valabhi and Ahmedabad, Pandit obtained a Master’s degree in Comparative Philology from Bombay University in 1946 and later earned his Ph.D. in England under the guidance of the noted linguist Sir Ralph Turner. He subsequently returned to India and taught phonetics and linguistics at several universities, eventually becoming Professor and Head of the Linguistics Department at Delhi University in 1966. Pandit’s research covered phonetics, historical linguistics and Gujarati philology; he produced editions and studies of medieval Gujarati manuscripts and worked to preserve rare linguistic sources. He also served as President of the Linguistics Section of the Indian Oriental Conference at Gauhati in 1964 and received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his Gujarati book in 1957. In later years he was a visiting professor at Cornell University and participated in international seminars on comparative phonology. The obituary depicts him as a patriotic Indian and a humanist whose scholarly output and personal warmth earned him the respect of colleagues and students. He passed away on 17 November 1975, leaving behind a body of work that advanced the study of Indo‑Aryan linguistics and Gujarati literary history.