Hemchandra Barua (Hêmsôndrô Bôruwa), also known as Hem Barua was a prominent writer, social reformer of Assamese of the 19th century. He hailed from Dergaon, Golaghat district of Assam. Barua was known by pseudonym Bhaxar Oja for his immense contributions towards foundation of modern Assamese language.

Early life

Barua was born on 10 December 1835 to Muktaram Barua and Rupohi Devi at Rajabahar village of Dergaon in undivided Sibsagar district. He was oldest among his siblings.

Literacy works

He was the compiler of the first exhaustive Assamese dictionary Hemkosh, where spellings based on Sanskrit were first introduced. It was the second dictionary of the Assamese language. It was published in 1900 after his death under the supervision of Capt. P. R. Gordon, ISC and Hemchandra Goswami. Some of his other works are listed below: He was also an editor of Assam News published from Gauhati (1883–85).