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'''Maharaja Nandakumar''' (also known as '''Nuncomar''') (1705 – died 5 August 1775), was an Indian [[Dewan|tax collector]] for various regions in what is modern-day [[West Bengal]]. Nanda Kumar was born at [[Lohapur#Bhadrapur|Bhadrapur]], which is now in [[Birbhum district|Birbhum]]. He was the [[List of people who died by hanging|first Indian]] to be executed by [[hanging]].{{fact|date=August 2021}} Nandakumar was appointed by the [[East India Company]] to be the dewan (tax collector) for [[Burdwan]], [[Nadia]] and [[Hooghly district|Hoogly]] in 1764, following the removal of [[Warren Hastings]] from the post.<ref name=raj/>

In 1773, when Hastings was reinstated as governor-general of Bengal, Nandakumar brought accusations against him of accepting or giving bribes that were entertained by Sir [[Philip Francis (English politician)|Philip Francis]] and the other members of the Supreme Council of Bengal. However, Hastings overruled the council's charges. Thereafter, in 1775, he brought charges of document forgery against Nandakumar. The Maharaja was tried under [[Elijah Impey]], India's first Chief Justice, and friend of Warren Hastings, was found guilty, and hanged in Kolkata on 5 August 1775.

Later Hastings, along with Sir [[Elijah Impey]], the chief justice, was [[Impeachment of Warren Hastings|impeached by the British Parliament]]. They were accused by [[Edmund Burke|Burke]] (and later by [[Thomas Macaulay|Macaulay]]) of committing judicial murder.{{fact|date=August 2021}}

==Early life==
Nandkumar was born in a Brahmin family. He held posts under [[Nawab of Murshidabad]]. After the [[Battle of Plassey]], he was recommended to [[Robert Clive]] for appointment as their agent to collect revenues of [[Burdwan]], [[Nadia district]] and Hooghly.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kolkataonwheels.com/hanging-of-nanda-kumar/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=2018-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190206200233/https://www.kolkataonwheels.com/hanging-of-nanda-kumar/ |archive-date=2019-02-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The title "Maharaja" was conferred on Nandakumar by [[Shah Alam II]] in 1764.<ref name=raj>{{cite web|title=The Kunjaghata Raj family|url=http://murshidabad.net/history/history-topic-kunjaghata-raj.htm|publisher=Murshibad.net|accessdate=10 June 2013}}</ref> He was appointed Collector of Burdwan, Nadia, and Hugli by the East India Company in 1764, in place of Warren Hastings. He learnt [[Vaishnava|Vaishnavism]] from [[Radhamohana Thakura]].<ref name=raj/><ref name=lion>{{cite book|last=Lion Feuchtwanger und Bertolt Brecht|first=Lion Feuchtwanger|title=Kalkutta, 4. Mai: drei Akte Kolonialgeschichte|year=1927|publisher=Dr.PLISCHKA Hans Peter|page=12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZjKHoSCAKsC&pg=PA12}}</ref>

===Charges against Hastings===

Maharaja Nandakumar accused Hastings of bribing him with more than one-third of a million rupees and claimed that he had proof against Hastings in the form of a letter.<ref name=east>{{cite book|last=Barbara Harlow|first=Edited by Mia Carter|title=From the East India Company to the Suez Canal|year=2003|publisher=Duke Univ. Press|location=Durham, North Carolina [u.a.]|isbn=9780822331643|page=132|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13pyxO8o4moC&q=maharaja+nandakumar+hanging&pg=PA132}}</ref><ref name=lion/>

==Hanging==
[[File:Nandakumar's execution place in Hastings 12.jpg|thumb|The execution well of Nandakumar at Hastings]]
Warren Hastings was then with the East India Company and happened to be a school friend of Sir Elijah Impey. Some historians are of the opinion that Maharaja Nandakumar was falsely charged with forgery and Sir Elijah Impey, the first Chief Justice of Supreme Court in Calcutta, gave a false judgement to hang Nandakumar.<ref name=asim>{{cite book|last=Bhattacharya|first=Asim|title=Portrait of a Vancouver Cabbie|year=2010|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|location=USA|isbn=9781456836078|page=141|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CoV_Ps9ep6QC&q=maharaja+nandakumar+hanging&pg=PA143}}{{self-published source|date=December 2017}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=December 2017}}{{better|date=August 2021}} Nandakumar's hanging has been termed a judicial murder by certain historians.<ref name=asim/> Macaulay also accused both men of conspiring to commit a judicial murder.<ref name=asim/> Maharaja Nandakumar was hanged at [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], near present-day Vidyasagar Setu, on 5 August 1775.<ref name=memorial>{{cite news|last=Mandal|first=Sanjay|title=History that hangs fire – Nandakumar neglect|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051109/asp/calcutta/story_5443875.asp|accessdate=10 June 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph (Calcutta)|date=9 November 2005}}</ref> During that period the punishment for forgery was hanging (as mandated by the [[Forgery Act 1728]] passed by the [[Parliament of Great Britain|British parliament]]), although some legal scholars have said that the law was only applicable in Britain and not British territories in India.<ref>The History of Court by Prof. Pithawala</ref><ref name=lion/>

== Books ==
* Sir James Stephen, ''The Story of Nuncomar'' (2 vols., 1885)
* H Beveridge, ''The Trial of Nanda Kumar'' (Calcutta, 1886).

==Legacy==
* A school in his honor, Bhadrapur Maharaja Nanda Kumar High School, was established on his birthplace at Bhadrapur village on Birbhum District.
* A temple was established by him on Akalipur Village near Bhadrapur village. The temple was built for Hindu deity Ma Kaali.This is a very popular temple and thousands of visitors came by. It is situated near the banks of the [[Brahmani River (Birbhum)|Brahmani River]].
* A college in his honor, Maharaja Nandakumar Vidyalaya, was established in purba medinipur in 2007, and the college is affiliated with [[Vidyasagar University]].<ref name=vidya>{{cite web|title=Affiliated Colleges |url=http://vidyasagar.ac.in/affiliated_colleges/affiliated_colleges.html |publisher=Vidyasagar University |accessdate=12 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225200459/http://vidyasagar.ac.in/affiliated_colleges/affiliated_colleges.html |archivedate=25 February 2012 }}</ref>
* A road in [[Baranagar]], Kolkata is named Maharaja Nandakumar Road.<ref>{{cite web|last=Your local guide|title=INDRANI DUTTA KALA NIKETAN IN MAHARAJA NANDAKUMAR ROAD|url=http://www.bharatdesi.com/kolkata/yellowpages/dance-and-music/classical-dance-schools/indraniduttakalaniketan-in-maharaja-nandakumar-road/179-27994.html|publisher=Bharat Desi|accessdate=12 June 2013}}</ref>
* Nandakumar is also the name of a locality in the West Bengal district of East Midnapur.<ref>{{cite news|title=Floods result in epidemic threat|url=http://www.thestatesman.net/news/20694-floods-result-in-epidemic-threat.html|accessdate=22 October 2013|newspaper=The Statesman|date=20 October 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060248/http://www.thestatesman.net/news/20694-floods-result-in-epidemic-threat.html|archivedate=23 October 2013}}</ref>
* {{stnlnk|Nandakumar}} was established in Tamluk–Digha branch line of Kharagpur railway division.
[[File:Akalipur gujjya kali temple.jpg|thumb|Akalipur Kali Temple (Gujjya Kali)]]
[[File:The turban of Nanda Kumar.jpg|thumb|The turban of Nanda Kumar-Now it has been kept at Victoria Memorial-Museum]]

==External links==
*[http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cdl;cc=cdl;view=toc;subview=short;idno=cdl417 ''The story of Nuncomar and the impeachment of Sir Elijah Impey''] Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection. {Reprinted by} [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1429741287/ Cornell University Library Digital Collections]
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Nuncomar}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090702/http://www.bopcris.ac.uk/bop1688/ref1191.html Charges against Sir Elijah Impey]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nandakumar, Maharaja}}
[[Category:People executed for forgery]]
[[Category:Executed Indian people]]
[[Category:People executed by British India by hanging]]
[[Category:1775 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]

Maharaja Nandakumar - Revision history

imported>Quoyloo at 20:22, 29 August 2021