Madhusudan Das

Madhusudan Das
Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das
Born	(1848-04-28)28 April 1848 Satyabhamapur, Cuttack district, Bengal Presidency, British Raj
Died	4 February 1934(1934-02-04) (aged 85) Cuttack, Bihar and Orissa Province, British Raj
Occupation	Lawyer, social reformer, minister, industrialist
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Odia
Education	M.A, B.L.
Alma mater	Calcutta University
Period	1848–1934
Spouse	Soudamini Devi
Children	Sailabala Das, Sudhanshubala Hazra

Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was the first graduate and advocate of Odisha. He was born on 28 April 1848 in a village called Satyabhamapur, 20 kilometres from Cuttack, Odisha.^[1] He is known as Kulabruddha (କୁଳବୃଦ୍ଧ) which means Grand Old Man and Utkal Gourab (ଉତ୍କଳ ଗୌରବ) which means Pride of Utkal and was referred to as a poet and freedom fighter.

Family

He was born to a Zamindari family from father Choudhury Raghunath Das and mother Parbati Debi. They had initially named him Gobindaballabh. Later they changed his name to Madhusudan. He had two elder sisters and a younger brother named Gopalballabh. Gopalballabh was the Magistrate at Bihar Province and the father of Ramadevi Choudhury. Madhusudan had adopted two Bengali girls; Sailabala Das and Sudhansubala Hazra. Sailabala was an educationist who had trained from England and in whose name the famous Shailabala Women's College of Cuttack was founded.^[2] Shailabala was a Bengali, and her parents had left her in the care of Madhusudan Das and his wife Soudamini Devi at Calcutta. Sudhansubala Hazra was also a Bengali and she was the 1st female lawyer of British India. Madhu babu was the house teacher of Ashutosh Mukherjee, the former Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University in Calcutta^[3] and Janakinath Bose, father of Subhash Chandra Bose at Ravenshaw College.

Early life and education

Born on 28 April 1848 from his father Mr.Raghunath Das in the village of Satyabhamapur, Cuttack, he was converted to Christianity that caused him boycotted in the village which he had to quit to erect a small house at the end of the village. This house was known as Madhukothi or Balipokharikothi, later on used as the State Office of the Kasturuba National Memorial Trust, in a part of which was running the Anganbadi, Balbadi. In 1864 he passed Matriculation Exam, from Cuttack and thereafter he was inclined to teachership at Baleswar for three years. The year 1866 was the year of acute famine in Orissa, called the “Naanka Durvikhya” when more than one lakh people died of hunger. In 1866 he passed F.A. This year he converted himself to Christianity and changed his name as Madhusudan Das from his earlier name of Gobinda Ballav Choudhury.^[4]

Madhusudan Das had his early education in the village school. He had studied many subjects, including Persian, from a Maulvi. After his early education, he moved to Cuttack High School (later known as Ravenshaw Collegiate School) which offered English education. In 1864, he passed the entrance examination and went to Calcutta University. In spite of uttermost challenging conditions he lived in Calcutta for almost fifteen years, from 1866 to 1881. In 1870, he became the first Odia to complete his B.A.^[5] He continued his studies there to complete his M.A. in 1873 and B.L. degree in 1878, thus becoming the first ever scholar from Odisha to achieve these feats.

Professional life

Statue of Madhu babu

After returning to Odisha from Calcutta in 1881, he started his legal practice. His insight knowledge on this field helped him to earn sufficiently and spend for the common man. He was a source of inspiration for the lawyers in Odisha and in India. His birth anniversary is observed to be a Lawyers' Day in the State.

Political career

Known as 'Madhu Babu' by the common people, he worked for the political, social and economical upliftment of the people of Odisha and served his motherland as a lawyer, social reformer and patriot. He founded Utkal Sammilani which brought a revolution in the social and industrial development of Odisha. By his long political fight he united Odisha & modern Odisha took birth on 1st April 1936. This day is celebrated as Utkala Dibasa.

He has been admired as a legislator and journalist. He was the first Oriya to become a member of both the legislative council and the Central Legislative Assembly of India. He was the first Indian Minister. He was also the first Oriya to sail overseas.^[6]

He founded the Utkal Tannery in 1905, a factory producing shoes and other leather products. In 1897 he founded the Orissa Art Ware Works. With his support, the Tarakasi(filigree) work of silver ornaments achieved commendable feet.^[7]

Contribution to literature

As a writer and poet, patriotism was always at the fore and it reflected in all of his literary works. He penned a number of articles and poems in both English and Odia. Some of his important poems are "Utkal Santan", "Jati Itihash" and "Jananira Ukti" etc. He was also an influential speaker in Oriya, Bengali and English.

Last years

He sacrificed his whole life for the welfare of his country and people. He spent all his wealth for the sake of the country and declared himself as an insolvent. He died on 4 February 1934.^[8] Mahatma Gandhi described him as a great Indian patriot who wore himself out in giving shape and reality to various nation-building schemes.

References

External links

• Madhubabu – The Great Personality by Dinakrishna Joshi
• Madhusudan Das Bio