Author talk:Manmatha Nath Ray Chowdhury

Sources for death

 * The Times (London, England), Monday, Apr 03, 1939; pg. 16; Issue 48270. — Sir Manmatha Chowdhury.

SIR MANMATHA CHOWDHURY

Sir Manmatha Nath Ray Chowdhury, M.L.C. Maharaja of Santosh, whose death on Saturday is reported from Calcutta, was a public spirited zamindar of Bengal.

He was educated at hare School, St. Xavier's College and the Presidency College, Calcutta, and succeeded to the considerable ancestral estates in 1910. From 1925 he was a member of the Bengal Ministry, having charge of the local self-Government, the Public Works, and the Excise portfolios. On the retirement in 1927of Sir Evan Cotton (whose death occurred less than a month ago) the Raja became the first elected President of the Bengal Legislative Council. Before and after occupying the chair he was the leader of the Progressive Party in the Legislature. Keen on motoring and riding, he did much to encourage athleticism among Bengal youths, and was the first president of the Calcutta Football league and the Indian Football Association, being elected on six successive occasions to those offices. A collection of his essays and speeches has been published, and he also wrote a detailed account of the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Calcutta. he received the honour of knighthood in 1930, and in 1936 was given the particular distinction of Maharaja. he left three sons and three daughters.

Biography here.

Sources for birth
"Kumar Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury is the descendant of one of the most aristocratic families in Bengal, from which came Maharaja Pratapaditya and Raja Basanta Roy of Jessore. His ancestors migrated from Jessore, the Capital of the Maharaja, and setteled at Santosh in the begining of the 17th Century, since when they have owned properties yielding an income of several lakhs rupees, and family is now among one of the richest Kayasthya houses in the province. During the time of the Mughal Emperors they excersised exclusive rights over their estates, and were, in fact, the absolute rulers of the people in that part of the country. The many religious and charitable instituitions which owe their existence to the munificence and liberty of this historic family bear testimony to the fact that it has always lived for the benefit of others.

"Kumar Manmatha Nath, who is only twenty-five years of age, upholds the traditions of the family in a praiseworthy manner. Besides maintaining, for the welfare of his tenantry, a first-class hospital established by his late father, a High English School and a Girl's School (both of which owe their existence to the munificence of the Kumar's mother during his minority), he supports a large number of Middle English Schools and Middle Vernacular Schools, as well as Charitable Dispensaries, in several parts of his vast estate, and his lately personally inaugurated in his own Sub-division a College containing a fully-equipped laboratory and a good library. There is a competent staff of teachers, and spacious and comfortable boarding-houses have been erected for the free accomodation of the students, the object being the spread of high education in a locality where such is not within easy reach of the people.

"The hospital, an illustration of which is given in the chapter devoted to the district Mymensingh, has both out-door and in-door departments; a competent Assistant Surgeon is in charge of the instituition, and medicines and wholesome diet are given free to all patients. Altogether, the hospital is one of the best of its kind. The Kumar has also undertaken to erect a building, solely at his own cost, for the District Board Veterinary Hospital in the town of Mymensingh.

"Besides these permanent instituitions, of which any wealthy house might well be proud, the Santosh family has recently estanlished, at considerable expense, a Dharmashala on the banks of the river Saraju, in the holy city of Ajudafa, where thousands of pilgrims find shelter. An Atit-Shala, i.e., a rest-house for pilgrims and travellers, has also been founded at Santosh, where food and shelter are given to all. The magnificent building which had been erected for this noble purpose, adds to the beauty and grandeur of the palatial residence of the Kumar.

"Gifts of landed property made by the Santosh family from time to time for religious endowments and charities, are still in enjoyment of the spiritual preceptors, priests and kindreds of the house to whom they were presented, and yield an annual income of nearly twenty thousand rupees. One of the brightest featutes if the charities of the present family is that it has provided foundations for many permanent instituitions, without taking into account the charities of the Kumar's ancestors. After the death of the (p.72) late incumbent, and during minority of the Kumar, the Santosh estate spent some five lakhs of rupees for public and charitable purposes. The private gifts of the Kumar need not be mentioned here, but it is with a free hand that he gives to all useful and deserving moments.

"The Kumar is not only a benevolent but a cultured member of India Society. Gifted with rare talents, he knows how to use them when the occasion demands. Of graceful address, he expresses his thoughts extempore with a fluency of speech which always commands attention and admiration, and in this connection it may very truly be said that he quite electrified the vast assemblage which met together at the Town Hall in Calcutta, in December, 1902, to do honour to the name of the late Sir John Woodburn, by his short, but eloquent tribute to the memory of one of the best Lieutenant-Governors Bengal has ever known. He is a well-read man, and his splendid library bears testimony to his good taste in the collection of books. He received his early training in Calcutta, at St. Xavier's College, and his Umiversity education at Hare School and the Presidency College. His published writings show him to be an accomplished and thoughtful writer with natural resources of no mean order.

"The Kumar has discharged many arduous duities; on public occasions of considerable importance he has excersided responsible functions, and has craved out for himself a prominent position among the intelligent counsellors of his country; in fact, he is better known as a public man than as a wealthy and philantropic zemindar. His speeches and literary contributions on the educational problem have not only gained for him the admiration of his educated countrymen, but placed him among the few who are credited with having given considerable thought and attention to this most important of national questions. In the field of education, besides maintaining Colleges and several Schools in his own zemindari, he has also made a forcible appeal to the Hindu community, in a speech delivered at a conference of some of its leading members, to inaugurate in Calcutta a Girls' School on purely national lines, and to which an influential Anglo-Indian commercial paper, referred in the following terms: "The Hindu world moves. The speech of Kumar Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, of Santosh at the conference held in his town residence, on the subject of Hindu female education, marks the dawn of an epoch in the social life of the Hindu Society."

"In recognition of his services in this different directions he was appointed Secretary of the Education Committee of the Bengal Landholders' Association. The Indian Mirror had the following lines in reference to one of the Kumar's publications concerning the Educational question : "The author of the book is a young man who is an honour to the territorial aristocracy of Bengal." The opinion which his countrymen entertain of him can be gathered from the following, which appeared in connection with the Landholders' Association in the columns of the Bengalee: "Kumar Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury is wealthy zemindar, who combines with riches the higher honours which belongs to the aristocracy of intellect." The Hindu Patriot (which is associated with the name of the late Kristodas Pal, one of India's best sons) also wrote on the same subject:- "......then we have in the Association one or two aristocratic youths who had already guven sufficient proofs od their future greatness, and they are an acquisition to it. Prominent among them stands the name of Kumar Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury, a young aristocratic scion, gifted speaker and writer who needs no introduction".

"In similar terms most of the respectable and influential journals have expressed their opinions regarding the attainments and services of the Kumar, who, it is interesting to note, is also a strong advocate of technical education, and has sent, at his own expense, a young Bengalee to Japan to learn there some of the useful arts.

"Among matters of public importance which have engaged Kumar Manmatha Nath Roy Chowdhury's serious attention is Temperance. He has not only delivered speeches and written essays and pamphlers(p.73) on this and the education questions, but has done something practical. The Kumar is universally known as a staunch advocate of Temperance, and he practically demonstrates it in his own life. The purity of his character is known to all, but more so to his personal friends, by whom he is held in great respect.

"The Kumar's loyalty is unimpeachable. His handsome donation of Rs.50,000 towards the All-India Victoria Memorial Fund, besides liberal contributions for the Coronation Drinking Fountain in the Zoological Garden, Calcutta, to the Delhi Coronation Exhibition Fund, and to the Calcutta Coronation Festivities Fund, with the services he has rendered in that connection as a member of the General Committee, and also as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer of the Sub-Committee, mark him out as one of His Majesty's most layal and devoted subjects.

"As a zemindar the Kumar is very popular among his tenants, his kind treatment of those who have been committed to his care having endeared him to all, both Government and ryot alike. During the scarcity, in 1901, he helped his distressed tenants and advanced a sum of Rs.30,000, to enable them to tide over their difficulties. He throughly understands zemindari management, and all his officers work under his direct control and supervision with mathematical exactitude; in fact, business, philanthropy, amiability and ability, inosculate in Kumar Manmath Nath Roy Chowdhury in a degree which is as remarkable as it is estimate. He is still a young man, and should continue, for many years to come, to occupy, with brilliance and ability, the position which is his by birthright. His future career will be followed with the deeper interest by all who know him and have already been impressed by his remarkable abilities. (p.74)"

Glimpses Of Bengal, A Comprehensive, Archaelogical, Biographical, and Pictorial History of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, by Arthur Claude Campbell, Vol.-l, 1908, Campbell & Medland, 3 & 4, Hare Street, Calcutta, pp. 72-74.