Shridhar Venkatesh Ketkar was a sociologist, historian and novelist from Maharashtra, India. He is principally known as the chief editor of Maharashtriya Jnanakosha, the first ever encyclopaedia in the Marathi language.
His first appointment in India was as a Professor of Economics, Science of Administration and Universal Jurisprudence at Calcutta University. In 1920, Ketkar married Edith Kohn, who joined him in Pune. Edith's name was changed to Sheelavati Ketkar after the wedding. Mrs Ketkar has written a memoir about Ketkar's peculiarities, their two adopted children and family life. Mrs Ketkar had translated Moriz Winternitz's 'A History of Indian Literature' from English into German for her husband's private use; however, this was later published due to the encouragement of Prof Winternitz himself. Ketkar served as the president of two Marathi literary conventions, namely the Sharadopasak Sammelan in 1926, and the Maharashtra Sahitya Sammelan in 1931. Ketkar, who was a diabetic, died in Pune of a gangrenous wound. A biography has been written by D. N. Gokhale.
Sociological and historical works
His doctoral thesis was later published as The History of Caste in India, which determines the date of Manusmriti and comments on the nature of caste-relations in that period. He later wrote a sequel to this work, titled An Essay on Hinduism, which discusses, inter alia, the genesis of the caste system in India. In 1914, he published two more treatises, namely An Essay on Indian Economics, and Hindu Law and the Methods and Principles of the Historical Study Thereof. Ketkar's political opinions may be gleaned from his Nishastranche Rajkaran and Victorious India. After nearly a decade of study, he wrote an historical work called Pracheen Maharashtra: Shaatvahan Parva.
The encyclopaedia
Ketkar's work on the encyclopaedia occupied him approximately from 1916 until 1928. He was not only the originator and the editor, but also the accountant and the general manager of the entire project. An account of his experiences about this project is contained in his book Maze baara varshanche kaam, urf jnanakosha mandalacha itihas .
Novels
Ketkar also wrote the following novels in Marathi.
Gondavanatila priyamvada ani gharkutte gharanyacha itihas
Ashavadi, athava eka pravahapatiteche charitra
Gaavasasu
Brahmanakanya
Bhatakya
Vichakshana
The novels may be called "novels of ideas" in a broad sense of the term. They evince little interest in conventional character development; on the other hand, they contain much information about various tribes and societies, coupled with several strikingly blunt ideas about sociological reform. Critical studies of the novels have been published by Gokhale. and Bhagwat.
