Romesh C. Dutt

Romesh Chunder Dutt (1848–1909) was an upper-caste Bengali historian, economist and civil servant who became only the second Indian to enter the Indian Civil Service. Educated at University College London and called to the Bar in 1871, he dedicated his retirement to translating classical Indian epics — including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata — into English verse. Driven by an era of growing self-determination under British rule, Dutt sought to demonstrate that Sanskrit literature rivaled the foundational works of Western civilization. His accurate, poetic renderings remain a landmark political act of cultural parity and a cornerstone of global Indian literature.