Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/127

Rh to make them better known among the people of Bengal.

In the cause of medical and charitable relief the Maharaja was no less generous. He established charitable dispensaries at Burdwan and Kalna and gave temporary aid freely in all cases of need throught [sic] his estates. To his tenants and numerous dependents he was especially open-handed and in all cases of epidemics and famine he was ever ready to help, to the utmost of his power. In the severe famines in Orissa and Behar he rendered Government invaluable aid, placing all the resources of his great wealth at its disposal. To the Madras Famine Fund he made the magnificent donation of Rs. 1,50,000. The religious endowments made by his ancestors at Kalna and elsewhere he maintained in their entirety.

Among his other varied interests, the Maharaja spent much time and money in establishing a Zoological garden at Burdwan, which is still maintained by the present head of the family. He was also one of the earliest and most liberal supporters of the Zoological gardens at Calcutta, which are to-day so great a feature of the Capital. Again in the development of Darjeeling as a hill station he played a leading part. He was quick to see the great future that lay before it, once popular attention had been drawn to it and once the idea of a summer head-quarters for the Bengal Government among