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KN. DAVE, was born in 1884 in Panna, then a princely State and now in Madhya Pradesh. He had his schooling in Sagar and took the B.Sc. degree from Allahabad; then he taught Chemistry at St. John's College, Agra, simultaneously studying Law. He practised at the Bar, served as a Civil Judge in C.P. and Berar, and later joined the newly created Income Tax Department, retiring as an Assistant Commissioner in 1940. After Independence, he was a Member of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission from 1948 to 1953. Dave had a keen interest in Indian literature since 1904, and in Nature Study from a very early age. Birds and bird behaviour fascinated him ever since he started keeping birds as pets, a hobby he continued throughout his life. An expert ornithologist, and a scholar of eminence in the Vedas, Purāṇas and classical Sanskrit works, Dave devoted nearly two decades to systematic research with a view to identify birds described in Sanskrit literature by relating the details of their habitat, coloration and various characteristics to modern scientific observations, and to the names current in Hindi and other languages and dialects of the country. At the time of his death in November, 1983, the author was working on a further major research contribution on "The Mystic Cult of Honeyed Soma and Symbolic Victims of the Veda". It is a matter for deep regret that he could not live to complete that work. However, it is hoped that a brief monograph prepared by him earlier will soon be made available to scholars who may wish to delve deep into the Vedic mysticism uncovered by Dave.
