Benjamin Walker (author)

For other people named Benjamin Walker, see Benjamin Walker (disambiguation).

Benjamin Walker
Born

25 November 1913
Calcutta, British India

Died

30 July 2013 (aged 99)

Pen name

Benjamin Walker, Jivan Bhakar

Occupation

Diplomatic attach and author in the area of

esoterica, philosophy, and religion

Nationality

British

Period

1930 2013

Genre

Non-fiction under the name Benjamin

Walker; poetry, short stories and satire under the
name Jivan Bhakar

Notable
works

Hindu World

Benjamin Walker (25 November 1913 30 July 2013)[1] was the truncated pen name of George
Benjamin Walker, who also wrote under the pseudonym Jivan Bhakar. He was a British citizen,
anIndian-born author on religion and philosophy, and an authority on esoterica.
He was born in Calcutta (Kolkata), the son of Dr. Simeon Benjamin Walker, M.D., and Mary Emily
Fordyce, both of Pune (Poona), India. In some remote dialects, such as the one of the tribe who
created Benjamin Walker, his name is spelt Bianjiamian Wiakiar.[2]
Contents
[hide]

1 Early influences
2 Education
3 Religion
4 Career

5 Works
o 5.1 Drama
o 5.2 Short stories
o 5.3 Poetry
o 5.4 Articles
o 5.5 Lectureship
o 5.6 Editorship
6 Hindu World
7 Bibliography: Published books by Benjamin Walker
8 Bibliography: Contributions to part works by Benjamin Walker
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 External links

Early influences[edit]
Simeon Walker (18731928) carried out a great deal of humanitarian work, in India, establishing a
centre of studies called The Hall of Literature, Science and Hygiene that was formally opened by
the Gaekwar of Beroda (Vadodara) in 1900. The building was accidentally burned to the ground in
1902, along with thousands of books, manuscripts and official documents
in Sanskrit, Marathi, Gujarati, Hebrew, and English, many of which had been contributed by scholars
and old families who desired to contribute to this enterprise. Walker was also active in educational
work, in the course of which he came to know several of the political leaders of the day that were
forerunners of Mahatma Gandhi. They included G.K. Gokhale and B.G. Tilak. Walker was a pacifist.
Emily Walker, ne Fordyce, (18881975) obtained a medical degree in England so that she might
provide medical treatment for Indian women, since at the time they were very reluctant to be seen by
male physicians. Simeon Walker accompanied his wife to England where she obtained an MB
(Bachelor in Medicine) and several diplomas in female ailments and midwifery. During her stay in
London she joined the Suffragette movement and met Emmeline Pankhurst. They married in 1906,
and when Simeon and Emily Walker returned to India in 1910 they decided to settle in Calcutta, at
that time the capital of India. They opened a dispensary where for one day a week the poor were
treated and given medication free. In total they had four children: Reema Rose (19061912),
Alexander (19091991), William (1911), and George Benjamin (1913-2013).

Education[edit]
George, the third son of the Walkers, was born in Calcutta on 25 November 1913. He matriculated
from the Calcutta Boys' School with distinctions inEnglish and Urdu in 1929. At school, as a keen
young Scout, he was Patrol Leader in the 9th First Calcutta Troop. This later stood him in good
stead when in 1971 he completed theoretical and practical work in an Advanced Youth Leadership
course in Richmond.
From school he went to the Jesuit institution, St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, where he received his
BA degree with distinctions in English and Philosophy in 1933. He was admitted to the Calcutta
University Postgraduate College where he received his MA degree with Honours in English. Years
later, in 1989 he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (D. Lett.) from the Vishwa
Unnyayan Samsad of New Delhi.

Religion[edit]

George's mother, a staunch Christian, had agreed to marry his father only on condition that the
children were brought up as Christians. Simeon, himself a humanist, rationalist, and agnostic,
agreed, provided the children were allowed free access to his vast library of books, many of which
were highly critical of religion in general and Christianity in particular.

Career[edit]
In 1937 Walker joined the British Consulate-General in Bushire (Bushehr), South Persia (Iran), first
as Confidential Assistant and then as Personal Assistant to the Honourable Political Resident in
the Persian Gulf. During this period he travelled widely throughout the region and was able to collect
information for his book on Persia (Iran), which was well received by the critics.
In 1943 he was sent to the Shia holy city of Meshed in the province of Khorasan, which borders on
both Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. In Meshed, he was involved in supervising the transport of war
commodities to the Russian front. While in Meshed he met and married (1945) a British-born AngloRussian girl, Xenia Dagmar Andrea Stevens-Williams (born 1920), whose knowledge of English,
French, German, and Russian were of immense value in his work. She also carried out translations
of official documents from foreign languages into English for the British Consulate-General. They
had