Krishna Kanta Handique - Scholar, Educator, And Philanthropic Visionary

He pursued studies at Cotton College, Sanskrit College, Calcutta, and Calcutta University before earning his M.A. in Modern History from Oxford University in 1923. He furthered his studies in Paris and Berlin, absorbing European languages and classics. 

He is well known for his munificence to literary and educational foundations. He bequeathed his massive personal library to Guwahati University making available to the public rare and valuable books in 11 languages of the world. He also gave the copyright of all his books to Deccan College PG & Research Institute, Pune; The Jaina Samskriti Samrakshaka Sangh, Maharashtra and Prakrit Test Society, Ahmedabad.

Multilingual Mastery & Scholarly Pursuits
A polyglot fluent in 13 languages—including Greek, Latin, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Pali, and Prakrit-Handique's linguistic expertise defined his scholarship.

Academic & Institutional Contributions

• Founder-Principal of J.B. College, Jorhat (1930–48), the first non-government college in Assam—he devoted 17 years to its growth.

• Became the first Vice-Chancellor of Gauhati University (1948–57), laying the academic foundations of Northeast India's premier university.

• Founded the Hemalata Handique Memorial Institute in Jorhat (1962), in memory of his wife.

• Generously donated his personal library of rare multilingual books to Gauhati University and transferred copyrights of his works to respected institutions like Deccan College (Pune), Jain Samskriti Samrakshaka Sangh (Maharashtra), and Prakrit Text Society (Ahmedabad).

Civic Engagement & Honors

• Served as President of Asom Sahitya Sabha at age 39 (1937) and held prominent roles in the All India Oriental Conference in 1951 and 1961.

• Honored with Padma Shri (1955), Padma Bhushan (1967), and posthumously awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award (1985) for his essay collection Rachana Sambhar.

• A commemorative stamp was issued in his honor by India Post in 1983, and the Krishna Kanta Handique Memorial Award was established by the Assam government to honor his contributions to Sanskrit and literature

Major Works
Handique's significant scholarly works include:

• Naiṣadhacarita of Sriharṣa (1934)

• Yaśastilaka and Indian Culture (1949)

• Pravarasena’s Setubandha (1976)