Madhusudan Das

For others, see Madhusudan

Madhusudan Das
File:Madhusudan Das.jpg Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das
Born	(1848-04-28)28 April 1848 Satyabhamapur, Cuttack district, Bengal Presidency, British Raj
Died	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. He is known as Kulabruddha (କୁଳବୃଦ୍ଧ) which means Grand Old Man & 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 to 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.

He married to Soudamini Devi, daughter of Dr. Jadunath Chatterjee of Calcutta. 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. 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 and Janakinath Bose, father of Subhash Chandra Bose at Ravenshaw College.

Early life and education

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.He passed High School Examination in 1864 and joined as a teacher in a School at Balasore . 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. 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 as the first Graduate, the first Post-Graduate, the first Law Degree Holder and the first Lawyer of the State.

Professional life

File:Madhusudan das statue.jpg

Statue of Madhu babu

After returning to Odisha from Calcutta in 1881, he started his legal practice in the District Court. His insight knowledge on this field helped him to earn sufficiently and spend for the common man.Soon after Madhu Babu got acclimatised with various problems of the Odias, he channelised his legal profession towards upliftment of the socio-economic conditions of the Odias. In this process, he could firmly establish the glorious identity of the Odias through the establishment of the separate State. His dedication and determination made his “Champion of the Time” and his Advocacy got recognition amongst all, leading to famous nick-name “Madhu Barrister”. He was a source of inspiration for the lawyers in Odisha and in India.Madhu Babu’s skill as a Lawyer was best manifested in Puri Mahunta Case in which he took up a poor Rayat’s side against the mighty landlord who had engaged all the leading Advocates, save and except Madhu Babu for an eviction prayer and Madhu Babu got a decree for his pauper client, to whom he did not forget to pay from his own pocket money to return home. To Madhu Babu nobility of profession was not money-making. The second land mark case is famous Jagannath Temple Case. The British Raj under Lt. Governor Sir Richard, Temple conspired to transport Thakur Raja Sri Sri Divyasingha Dev to Andaman and take over temple administration. The Queen was deprived of all the rights and privileges. Madhu Babu’s brilliant Advocacy restored nine year old ‘Yuvraj with all pride. Lord Jagannath’s righty and ritual vis-à-vis King’s relation was kept up. His birth anniversary is observed to be a Lawyers' Day in the State. In the year 1897, he visited London as the first Odia and placed grievances of the Odias before Sir W.Waidegbourn, an administrator in charge of Indian office in London for establishing separate State of Orissa.

Political career

For the upliftment of Oriyas in all spheres, he organized students in Ravenshaw College and convinced ‘Utkal Sabha’ on 16th of August, 1882. He was elected as life long President of the Sabha. Indian independence was not out of his mind. He joined Independence Movement and National Congress in 1886. He participated in Calcutta and Madras National Congress sessions as an elected active member. It is worthwhile to mention here that in the year 1925, Mahatma Gandhi accepted the invitation of Madhu Babu and visited Orissa. 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.

He organized Odia Artists and activated the special fine art such as filigree, ivory work, handloom etc. He established Utkal Tannery’s a shoe factory at Cuttack in the year 1905.

Madhu Babu’s contribution to Orissa, amongst all was his effort to create a separate state for Odias, on the basis of language. He convened ‘Utkal Sammellani’ on 31st of December, 1903. His patriotic speech galvanized the people of Odisha. Till his last breath on 4th of February, 1934, he continued to strengthen that organisation, which ultimately succeeded in carving out ‘Orissa’ as a separate province on 1st of April, 1936.

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. Mahatma Gandhi described him as a great Indian patriot who wore himself out in giving shape and reality to various nation-building schemes.

External links

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