UpdateBot at 15:06, 12 June 2022

2022-06-12T15:06:57Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Krishna Kumar Mitra
| image = Krishna Kumar Mitra.jpg
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1852
| birth_place = Baghil, [[Mymensingh district]], [[Bengal Presidency]]
| death_date = 1936
| occupation = Indian freedom fighter, journalist and leader of the Brahmo Samaj
| spouse = Lilabati Devi
| nationality = Indian
}}
'''Krishna Kumar Mitra''' (1852–1936) was an [[Indian freedom fighter]], [[journalist]] and leader of the [[Brahmo Samaj]]. He is remembered for his contributions to the [[Swadeshi movement]] through his journal '''''Sanjibani''.'''

== Early life and education ==
Krishna Kumar was born in the village of Baghil in the [[Mymensingh district]] (now [[Tangail district]]) of [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] in what is today [[Bangladesh]] in 1852.{{Citation needed|date= June 2022}} He was a Hindu [[Kayastha]] by birth and his father Guruprasad Mitra was a landholder who led an agitation against oppression by British [[indigo]] planters.<ref name="banglapedia">{{cite book |last=Mohanta |first=Sambaru Chandra |year=2012 |chapter=Mitra, Krishna Kumar |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mitra,_Krishna_Kumar |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref>

Krishna Kumar was educated at [[Mymensingh|Mymensingh's]] Hardinge Vernacular School and the Zilla School and obtained a [[bachelor's degree]] from the [[Scottish Church College]] in 1876. Subsequently, he studied law at the [[University of Calcutta]] for a while.<ref name="banglapedia" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Kopf |first=David |date=1979 |title=The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUcY_IRKDHQC&pg=PA100 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Archives Publishers |pages=100 |isbn=9780691031255}}</ref>

== Brahmo leader ==
Deeply influenced by his father who was a local Brahmo leader and his schoolteacher Girishchandra Ghosh, Krishna Kumar was inducted into the Brahmo faith in 1869 at the age of 17.<ref name="banglapedia" /> He became a member of the [[Sadharan Brahmo Samaj]] and his journal ''Sanjibani'' became the Samaj's principal mouthpiece.<ref>{{cite web|title=Glossary And Index Of Proper Names In Sri Aurobindos Works|url=http://www.sriaurobindoashram.com/Content.aspx?ContentURL=_StaticContent/SriAurobindoAshram/-09%20E-Library/-01%20Works%20of%20Sri%20Aurobindo/-01%20English/-02_Other%20Editions/Glossaary%20and%20Index%20of%20Proper%20Names%20in%20Sri%20Aurobindos%20Works/-23_Glossary%20and%20Index%20Page%20274%20to%20289.htm|publisher=Sri Aurobindo Ashram|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> He was elected president of the [[Sadharan Brahmo Samaj]] in 1918.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kopf |first=David |date=1979 |title=The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUcY_IRKDHQC&pg=PA358 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Archives Publishers |pages=358 |isbn=9780691031255}}</ref>

== Career as a journalist ==
Mitra launched his [[Bengali language|Bengali]] journal ''Sanjibani'' in 1883. In 1886, he published a series of articles on the condition of the Indian workers in the [[Assam tea|tea plantations of Assam]] based on investigations by Dwaraknath Ganguly forcing the government to provide legal protection to tea garden workers.<ref name="banglapedia" /><ref>{{cite web|last=Joshi|first=P.C.|title=Notes on the Bengal Renaissance|url=https://archive.org/stream/notesonthebengal035527mbp/notesonthebengal035527mbp_djvu.txt|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> The second floor of Mitra's 6, College Square residence served as the office and press for the journal. His nephew [[Aurobindo Ghosh]] stayed here during 1909-1910 before escaping to [[Pondicherry (city)|Pondicherry]].<ref name="aurobindo">{{cite web|title=Mitra Krishnakumar|url=http://www.aurobindo.ru/persons/00083_e.htm|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref><ref name="sriaurobindoashram">{{cite journal|title=A Conversation with Sriman Aravinda Ghosh|journal=India|date=18 September 1909|url=http://www.sriaurobindoashram.org/research/show.php?set=doclife&id=20}}</ref>

== Teaching career ==
Mitra taught at the [[Ananda Mohan College|AM Bose School and College]] (under the [[University of Calcutta]]) in [[Kolkata]] from 1879 to 1908 when he resigned from his post as superintendent and professor of history following the colonial government's threat to cancel the college's accreditation if he continued to be associated with the swadeshi movement.<ref name="banglapedia" />

== Political life ==
Mitra joined [[Surendranath Banerjee|Surendranath Banerjee's]] [[Indian Association]] in 1876 and became its joint secretary and Banerjee and Mitra traveled across [[northern India]] to popularise their political ideas. Mitra was also associated with the [[Indian National Congress]] since its inception and was part of its 'moderate' faction in Bengal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chandra|first=Bipan|title=Modern India|year=2000|publisher=NCERT|location=New Delhi|pages=194}}</ref> In 1890 he joined the indigo cultivators' agitation.<ref name="banglapedia" />

== Swadeshi movement ==
Opposed to the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|partition of Bengal]] and influenced by colleagues like [[Ananda Mohan Bose]] and Kalishankar Shukul, Mitra joined the anti-Partition Swadeshi movement. He used his journal ''Sanjibani'' to rouse public opinion against the partition and on 13 July 1905 he openly called for the boycott of foreign goods through the journal. He attended the Bengal Provincial Conference at [[Barisal]] in 1906 where he condemned police atrocities against Swadeshi activists. The same year the Bengal government issued a circular banning the singing of ''[[Vande Mataram]]'' in any procession or public meeting. Mitra became president of the Anti-Circular Society that was formed to oppose the ban.<ref>{{cite book |last=Majumdar |first=A. K. Bas |date=1993 |title=Rabindranath Tagore: The Poet of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5Up306hrBIC&pg=PA78 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Indus Publishing Company |pages=78 |isbn=9788185182926}}</ref>

For his involvement in the Swadeshi movement, Mitra had to resign from his job as a professor of history and in 1908 was deported from Calcutta for two years by the British authorities.<ref>{{cite news|title=INDIAN SEDITION. Suspect's House Raided|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10453497|accessdate=19 January 2013|newspaper=The Argus|date=18 August 1910}}</ref>

== Family ==
Mitra married Lilabati Devi, the fourth daughter of [[Rajnarayan Basu]] in 1881. At their wedding, conducted in accordance with Brahmo rites, [[Narendranath Dutta]] sang two songs that were composed by [[Rabindranath Tagore]] for the occasion.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kolkata Notebook|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=409070&catid=84|accessdate=19 January 2013|newspaper=The Statesman|date=7 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Mondal|first=Haripada|title=Rishi Rajnarayan Basu|url=http://www.midnapore.in/people/rishi_rajnarayan_basu.html|accessdate=19 January 2013}}</ref> Mitra was the maternal uncle of [[Aurobindo Ghosh]] and [[father in law]] of [[Sachindra Prasad Bose]] who unfurled the [[Calcutta Flag]] at the Parsi Bagan Square in Calcutta in 1906.<ref name="aurobindo" /><ref name="sriaurobindoashram" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=K.V.|title=Our National Flag|year=1991|publisher=Publication Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India|location=New Delhi|pages=22–23}}</ref>

== Social reformer ==
Krishna Kumar Mitra was a dedicated social reformer opposed to [[idolatry]], [[Caste system in India|caste system]] and the social and religious prejudices in Bengal. He formed a Nari Raksa Samiti to work for the protection of women's rights. He was also an advocate of [[temperance movement|temperance]] who strongly criticised the government's decision to establish public drinking houses.<ref name="banglapedia" />

== Books ==
Besides his journalistic pieces in the ''Sanjibani'', Mitra also authored several books including ''Mahammad-Charita'', ''Buddhadev-Charita'' and ''Bauddhadharmer Sangksipta Bibaran''.<ref name="banglapedia" /> He also wrote an autobiography, ''Krishna Kumar Mitrer Atma Charit''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kopf |first=David |date=1979 |title=The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUcY_IRKDHQC&pg=PA378 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Archives Publishers |pages=378 |isbn=9780691031255}}</ref>

== Death and commemoration ==
Krishna Kumar Mitra died in 1936. The [[Assamese language|Assamese]] writer [[Padmanath Gohain Baruah]] included a short biography of Mitra in his ''Nithikatha'' which he wrote as a textbook for school children to "show respect" to "a selfless patriot and deeply religious man [who] Through Sanjibani, a paper which was run and edited by him, the bad luck of the tea garden coolies of Assam were slightly changed".<ref>{{cite book |last=Banerjee |first=Dipankar |date=2006 |title=Brahmo Samaj and North-East India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GE2o4QQV7UgC&pg=PA112 |publisher=Anamika Publishers |location=New Delhi |pages=112 |isbn=9788179751763}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitra, Krishna Kumar}}
[[Category:1852 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mymensingh District]]
[[Category:Scottish Church College alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:Indian social reformers]]
[[Category:People from Tangail District]]
[[Category:Bengali writers]]

Krishna Kumar Mitra - Revision history

UpdateBot at 15:06, 12 June 2022