Ashutosh Mukherjee
Encyclopedia
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, CIE
(1864–1924) was a prolific Bengali
educator and the first Indian Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
from 1906 to 1924. Perhaps the most emphatic figure of Indian education, he was a man of great personality, high self-respect, courage and towering administrative ability. He became the first student to be awarded a dual degree (MA in Mathematics and Physics) from Calcutta University and received the prestigious Premchand-Roychand scholarship.
Mukherjee was responsible for the foundation of the Bengal Technical Institute in 1906 and the Calcutta University, College of Science in 1914. The Calcutta Mathematical Society
was also founded by Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee in 1908 and he served as the founder president of the Society during 1908 to 1923. He was the first president of the inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress in 1914. Ashutosh Mukherjee was knighted in 1911. For his intransigence attitude with British Govt., high self-respect, courage and academic integrity he was known as the "Tiger of Bengal". He was the father of famous Syama Prasad Mookerjee
the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh
.
. These meetings were a source of major inspiration. In 1879 when he was just fifteen, he passed the entrance exam of the Calcutta university. He stood third and received a first grade scholarship. In the year 1880, he took admission in the premiere College of Kolkata, Presidency College
. Luminaries like P.C. Ray
, Narendranath Dutta (later Swami Vivekananda
) were his classmates. In 1885, he completed his M.A. degree with major in Mathematics. In 1886, he did his masters in physical science. In the same year he married to Jogomaya Devi. In 1883 he came first in the BA examination at Calcutta University and was awarded the Premchand-Roychand scholarship to complete a postgraduate degree in mathematics. Two years later he also acquired an MA in physics, making him the first student to be awarded a dual degree from Calcutta University. However, he turned down an offer of a job in the Department of Public Instruction in favour of completing his Bachelor of Law degree. Nevertheless, he continued to publish scholarly papers on issues in mathematics and physics. At the age of 24, Ashutosh Mukherjee became a Fellow of the Calcutta University and soon transformed it from an examining body into a great teaching and research centre in Indian subcontinent. He was Vice-Chancellor from 1906 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1923 but dominated the University affairs throughout his life. He has an eye for talent and among his "discoveries" were Dr. C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
He defied the request of Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, on the strength of his fathomless devotion for his mother. Lord Curzon made a request to Sir Ashutosh to pay a visit to England so that the Britons could see a glimpses of the scholars produced by British education in India. As his mother would not allow her son to cross the seas, Ashutosh had to decline the request of the Governor-General of India. At this Lord Curzon wrote: "Tell your mother the Viceroy and Governor-General of India commands her son to go." Asutosh didnt show slightest trace of fear. He replied: "Then I will tell the Viceroy and Governor General of India that Ashutosh Mukherji refuses to be commanded by any other person except his mother, be he Viceroy or be he somebody higher still."
The French scholar Sylvain Lévi
once commented :
in 1904. He approached different people to raise funds for the establishment of the Calcutta University College of Science, which became the foremost institute of scientific education and research in the country. In 1906 he was appointed Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. He died in 1924 near Patna high court, after being defeated by the Shia Bihari Barrister Syed Hasan Imam
, one time president of the Congress party and descendent of the private tutor of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb
.
, Hindi
, Pali
and Sanskrit
. The diverse range of subjects offered by Calcutta University is largely a result of his labor. Scholars from all over India, irrespective of race, caste
, and gender
, came to study and teach there. He even persuaded European
scholars to teach at his university. He was one of the first persons to recognize the worth of Srinivasa Ramanujan
.
Lord Curzon's education mission in 1902 identified the universities, and Calcutta University especially, as centres of sedition where young people formed networks of resistance to colonial domination. The cause of this was thought to be the unwise granting of autonomy to these universities in the nineteenth century. Thus in the period 1905 to 1935 the colonial administration tried to reinstate government control of education. In 1923, when Lord Lytton tried to impose conditions on his reappointment as Vice Chancellor, Mookerji indignantly refused the post. For his intransigence and academic integrity he was known as the Tiger of Bengal. For his contribution to education, the Govt. of India issued a stamp on him in 1964.
, which inquired into the state of Indian education. He was three times president of the Asiatic Society
,and in 1910 of the Imperial (now National) Library
Council. He donated his entire personal collection of 80,000 books to the Library and it is arranged in a separate section. He was the president of the inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress
in 1914. He was learned in Pali, French and Russian, and was awarded the titles of Saraswati and Shastravachaspati by the pandits of Bengal for his service to Indian education. Mukherjee was knighted
in 1911.
The epitaph
beneath his marble bust at the Ashutosh Museum of Arts at the University of Calcutta reads:
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
(1864–1924) was a prolific Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
educator and the first Indian Vice Chancellor of the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
from 1906 to 1924. Perhaps the most emphatic figure of Indian education, he was a man of great personality, high self-respect, courage and towering administrative ability. He became the first student to be awarded a dual degree (MA in Mathematics and Physics) from Calcutta University and received the prestigious Premchand-Roychand scholarship.
Mukherjee was responsible for the foundation of the Bengal Technical Institute in 1906 and the Calcutta University, College of Science in 1914. The Calcutta Mathematical Society
Calcutta Mathematical Society
The Calcutta Mathematical Society is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and education in India...
was also founded by Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee in 1908 and he served as the founder president of the Society during 1908 to 1923. He was the first president of the inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress in 1914. Ashutosh Mukherjee was knighted in 1911. For his intransigence attitude with British Govt., high self-respect, courage and academic integrity he was known as the "Tiger of Bengal". He was the father of famous Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply....
the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's largest political parties...
.
Early life
Ashutosh Mukherjee's father was the well known doctor Ganga Prasad Mookerjee, who was also the founder of South Suburban School in Calcutta. He was born on June 29, 1864 at Bowbazar, Kolkata and showed an early aptitude for mathematics. Brought up in an atmosphere of science & literature at home, young Asutosh went to the Sisu Vidyalaya at Chakraberia, Bhowanipore. When he was young, he met Pandit Ishwar Chandra VidyasagarIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar CIE , born Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyaya , was an Indian Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance....
. These meetings were a source of major inspiration. In 1879 when he was just fifteen, he passed the entrance exam of the Calcutta university. He stood third and received a first grade scholarship. In the year 1880, he took admission in the premiere College of Kolkata, Presidency College
Presidency College, Kolkata
Presidency University, Kolkata, formerly Hindu College and Presidency College, is a unitary, state aided university, located in Kolkata, West Bengal. and one of the premier institutes of learning of liberal arts and sciences in India. In 2002 it was ranked number one by the weekly news magazine...
. Luminaries like P.C. Ray
Prafulla Chandra Roy
Prafulla Chandra Ray was a Indian academician, a chemist and entrepreneur. He was the founder of Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals, India's first pharmaceutical company...
, Narendranath Dutta (later Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
) were his classmates. In 1885, he completed his M.A. degree with major in Mathematics. In 1886, he did his masters in physical science. In the same year he married to Jogomaya Devi. In 1883 he came first in the BA examination at Calcutta University and was awarded the Premchand-Roychand scholarship to complete a postgraduate degree in mathematics. Two years later he also acquired an MA in physics, making him the first student to be awarded a dual degree from Calcutta University. However, he turned down an offer of a job in the Department of Public Instruction in favour of completing his Bachelor of Law degree. Nevertheless, he continued to publish scholarly papers on issues in mathematics and physics. At the age of 24, Ashutosh Mukherjee became a Fellow of the Calcutta University and soon transformed it from an examining body into a great teaching and research centre in Indian subcontinent. He was Vice-Chancellor from 1906 to 1914 and again from 1921 to 1923 but dominated the University affairs throughout his life. He has an eye for talent and among his "discoveries" were Dr. C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.
He defied the request of Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India, on the strength of his fathomless devotion for his mother. Lord Curzon made a request to Sir Ashutosh to pay a visit to England so that the Britons could see a glimpses of the scholars produced by British education in India. As his mother would not allow her son to cross the seas, Ashutosh had to decline the request of the Governor-General of India. At this Lord Curzon wrote: "Tell your mother the Viceroy and Governor-General of India commands her son to go." Asutosh didnt show slightest trace of fear. He replied: "Then I will tell the Viceroy and Governor General of India that Ashutosh Mukherji refuses to be commanded by any other person except his mother, be he Viceroy or be he somebody higher still."
The French scholar Sylvain Lévi
Sylvain Lévi
Sylvain Lévi was an orientalist and indologist. Born in Paris on March 28, 1863, his book Théâtre Indien is an important work on the subject. Lévi also conducted some of the earliest analysis of Tokharian fragments discovered in Western China.-Biography:Sylvain Levi passed the agregation...
once commented :
Career in law
Mukherjee dabbled in politics while practicing law, but gave it up when he was appointed as a judge of the Bengal High CourtCalcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court...
in 1904. He approached different people to raise funds for the establishment of the Calcutta University College of Science, which became the foremost institute of scientific education and research in the country. In 1906 he was appointed Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. He died in 1924 near Patna high court, after being defeated by the Shia Bihari Barrister Syed Hasan Imam
Syed Hasan Imam
Syed Hasan Imam born in year 1871, was an Indian politician who served as the President of the Indian National Congress.He was the fourth Muslim to become the President of Indian National Congress. One of his ancestors was the private tutor to Aurangzeb. Hasan Imam's father was a professor of...
, one time president of the Congress party and descendent of the private tutor of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
.
Contribution to education
Ashutosh Mookerjee had a vision of the kind of education he wanted young people to have, and he had the acumen and courage to extract it from his colonial masters. He set up several new academic graduate programs: comparative literature, anthropology, applied psychology, industrial chemistry, ancient Indian history and culture as well as Islamic culture. He also made arrangements for postgraduate teaching and research in BengaliBengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
. The diverse range of subjects offered by Calcutta University is largely a result of his labor. Scholars from all over India, irrespective of race, caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
, and gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, came to study and teach there. He even persuaded European
European ethnic groups
The ethnic groups in Europe are the various ethnic groups that reside in the nations of Europe. European ethnology is the field of anthropology focusing on Europe....
scholars to teach at his university. He was one of the first persons to recognize the worth of Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srīnivāsa Aiyangār Rāmānujan FRS, better known as Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan was a Indian mathematician and autodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions...
.
Lord Curzon's education mission in 1902 identified the universities, and Calcutta University especially, as centres of sedition where young people formed networks of resistance to colonial domination. The cause of this was thought to be the unwise granting of autonomy to these universities in the nineteenth century. Thus in the period 1905 to 1935 the colonial administration tried to reinstate government control of education. In 1923, when Lord Lytton tried to impose conditions on his reappointment as Vice Chancellor, Mookerji indignantly refused the post. For his intransigence and academic integrity he was known as the Tiger of Bengal. For his contribution to education, the Govt. of India issued a stamp on him in 1964.
Other positions held
Mukherjee was a member of the 1917-1919 Sadler Commission, presided over by Michael Ernest SadlerMichael Ernest Sadler
Sir Michael Ernest Sadler KCSI was a British historian, educationalist and university administrator. He worked at the universities of Manchester and Leeds. He was a champion of the public school system.-Early life and education:...
, which inquired into the state of Indian education. He was three times president of the Asiatic Society
Asiatic Society
The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones on January 15, 1784 in a meeting presided over by Sir Robert Chambers, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the Fort William in Calcutta, then capital of the British Raj, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. At the time of...
,and in 1910 of the Imperial (now National) Library
National Library of India
The National Library of India at Belvedere, Calcutta is the second largest library in India after the Anna Centenary Library in Chennai and India's library of public record....
Council. He donated his entire personal collection of 80,000 books to the Library and it is arranged in a separate section. He was the president of the inaugural session of the Indian Science Congress
Indian Science Congress Association
Indian Science Congress Association is a premier scientific organisation of India,started in the year 1914, with Headquarters at Kolkata.. It meets annually in the first week of January every year.-Introduction:...
in 1914. He was learned in Pali, French and Russian, and was awarded the titles of Saraswati and Shastravachaspati by the pandits of Bengal for his service to Indian education. Mukherjee was knighted
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1911.
The epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
beneath his marble bust at the Ashutosh Museum of Arts at the University of Calcutta reads: