Banikanta Kakati (1894-1952) contributed to various fields like literature, linguistics, cultural anthropology and comparative religion. He is known to have established the independent character of the Assamese language. He is known as one of the eminent linguists of India. He was born in Barpeta in Assam. His articles like Sahityat karun rasa, reveal how quotations and references have been used lavishly. His later works show development of critical understanding. He was a profound scholar in Western and Oriental learning. His crystallized prose proves his profundity. He popularized aesthetic criticism thereby opened a new vista of scholarship and critical study.

His other works are Purani Asamiya sahitya (1940), Purani Kammpar dharmar dhara (1955). His style reflects versatility and positive thought. His Kalitajatir itibritta (1943) is a scholarly sociological study of the Kalitas. The other impressive work is Mother Goddess Kamakhya (1948) that deals with socio-religious issues which was prevalent in Ancient Kamarupa. He is considered as one of the greatest critics that India has produced. Purani Asomiya Sahitya appreciates Vaishnavite literature of medieval Assam. He was the most capable interpreter of religious mysticism in the poetry of the Nam Ghosha.

He was a scion of the Romantic age. He had sketched the critical background for the twentieth century Assamese romantic literature. In the post-war decade he wrote on the contemporary situation which showed that a great age was over and another was yet to be born. In English he wrote: Assamese: Its formation and Development, Mother Goddess Kamakhya, Life and Teachings of Sankardeva and Vaishnavite Myths and legends. In Assamese he wrote: Purani Kamrupar Dharmar Dhara, Purani Asamiya Sahitya, Kalita Jaatir Itibritta, Sahitya Aru Prem and Pakhila.

In 1918 he was the professor of English in Cotton College. Thereafter he became the principal of the College in 1947. In 1948 he joined Guwahati University as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Head of the Department of Assamese.

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