Subodh Chandra Mallik

{{Short description|Indian nationalist (1879–1920)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}

{{Use Indian English|date=May 2016}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Raja Subodh Chandra Basu Mallik

| image =Raja Subodh Mallick.jpg

| alt = Raja Subodh Chandra Basu Mallik

| caption =

| birth_name = Subodh Chandra Basu Mallik

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1879|02|09|df=y}}

| birth_place = Calcutta, India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1920|11|14|1879|02|09|df=y}}

| death_place = Calcutta, India

| nationality =

| other_names = Raja Subodh Mallik

| occupation = Indian Nationalist

| years_active =

| spouse =

| children =

| mother =

| father =

| family =

| known_for = Indian independence movement

| notable_works = National Council for Education

| organization =Jugantar

}}

{{Anushilan Samiti}}

Subodh Chandra Basu Mallik (9 February 1879 – 14 November 1920), commonly known as Raja Subodh Mallik, was a Bengali Indian industrialist, philanthropist and nationalist. Mallik is noted as a nationalist intellectual who was one of the co-founders of the Bengal National College, of which he was the principal financial supporter. He was close to Aurobindo Ghosh and financed the latter's nationalist publications, including Bande Mataram.{{Harvnb|Chakrabarti|Chakrabarti|2013|p=292}}

Life and works

File:House of Raja Subodh Mallik.jpg

Mallik was born in Pataldanga suburb of Calcutta to Prabodh Chandra Basu Mallik.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} He graduated from St. Xaviers College Calcutta and Presidency College Calcutta before enrolling at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1900.{{Cite book |last=De |first=Amalendu |author-link=Amalendu De |year=1996 |title=Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times |location=Calcutta |publisher=National Council of Education, Bengal |page=51 |oclc=37696489}}

File:Subodh Kumar Mallik.jpg

He returned from England before completing his university studies, and immediately delved into the nationalist movement. His palatial house in what was then Wellington Square in Calcutta became a major hub of political activity.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} In 1906, Mallik was among a group of leading luminaries of Bengal, including Satyendranath Tagore, who founded the National Council for Education to promote science and technology in higher education as part of a swadeshi industrialisation movement.{{Cite book |last=De |first=Amalendu |author-link=Amalendu De |year=1996 |title=Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times |location=Calcutta |publisher=National Council of Education, Bengal |page=70 |oclc=37696489}} He donated Rs 100,000 to support the new Bengal National College.{{Cite book |last=De |first=Amalendu |author-link=Amalendu De |year=1996 |title=Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times |location=Calcutta |publisher=National Council of Education, Bengal |page=82 |oclc=37696489}} He also founded the Life of Asia Insurance Company.{{Cite book |last=De |first=Amalendu |author-link=Amalendu De |year=1996 |title=Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times |location=Calcutta |publisher=National Council of Education, Bengal |page=177 |oclc=37696489}} Mallik's political activities earned him the ire of the Raj, and he was deported in 1908 in the wake of the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy.{{Cite book |last=De |first=Amalendu |author-link=Amalendu De |year=1996 |title=Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times |location=Calcutta |publisher=National Council of Education, Bengal |page=158 |oclc=37696489}} Mallik's nationalist work and generous support of the movement earned him the colloquial title of Raja from his grateful countrymen.

File:SubodhMallikHouse.jpg

In independent India, Wellington Square, the site of his palatial residence, was renamed Raja Subodh Mallik Square, while the road housing Jadavpur University, which emerged from the Bengal National College, is now called Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik Road.

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{Citation

| surname1 = Chakrabarti

| given1 = Kunal

| surname2 = Chakrabarti

| given2 = Shubhra

| year = 2013

| title = Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis

| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield

| isbn = 978-0-81-085334-8

}}