Bhagwandas Bagla was the first Marwari

Shekhawati Shekhawati is a semi-arid historical region located in the northeast part of Rajasthan, India. The region was ruled by Shekhawat Rajputs. Shekhawati is located in North Rajasthan, comprising the districts of Jhunjhunu, parts of Sikar that lies ...

millionare A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

(crorepati). He was a very wealthy timber merchant and owned several Saw Mills. Bhagwandas''ji'' was originally from Churu,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

but proceeded his business to

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

and eventually settled in

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military governme ...

. He proceeded his business to Burma during

King Thibaw Thibaw Min, also Thebaw or Theebaw ( my, သီပေါ‌မင်း, ; 1 January 1859 – 19 December 1916) was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His ...

’s time. During the Anglo-Burmese War he became a big Military Supplier and Contractor, he built several roads, bridges etc. in Burma. He owned thousands of acres of Paddy lands facing Rangoon Harbour. He was a Banker, Landlord and Merchant, owned considerable properties in Rangoon, Mandalay, Moulmein and several other cities in Burma. He was awarded with the title of "Rai Bahadur" by the British Raj in February 1890. In the 1960s, the Burmese military regime nationalized almost every business in the country. They seized the property of hundreds of thousands of Indians and forced them to leave the country Bhagwandas Bagla's family being one of them. Sethani ka Johra (The Reservoir of the Wealthy Lady) was built by his wife which is some 3 km west by the Ratangarh road, as a relief project during the terrible ‘Chhappania Akal’,

Indian famine of 1899–1900 The Indian famine of 1899–1900 began with the failure of the summer monsoons in 1899 over Western and Central India and, during the next year, affected an area of and a population of 59.5 million. The famine was acute in the Central Provinc ...

''(vikram samvat 1956)'' The water attracts birds and mammals such as ‘

Nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest Asian antelope and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus ''Boselaphus'' and was described by Peter ...

’ (blue bull – a large antelope). The village elders in Churu say that the water in the Johra has never dried up till date. A well-known story relates the manner in which Bagla made Rossogolla /

Rasgulla Rasgulla, also known as rasagola, rosogola or rosogolla, is a syrupy dessert popular in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. It is made from ball-shaped dumplings of chhena and semolina dough, cooked in light sugar syrup made of sug ...

popular in and around

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. One day Bhagwandas Bagla, an opulent businessman, stopped at

Nobin Chandra Das Nobin Chandra Das (1845–1925) was a Bengali confectioner, entrepreneur, businessman and Bengali cultural icon in the second half of 19th and early 20th century. Widely known as the creator of the iconic Bengali sweetmeat " Rosogolla", a popul ...

's shop while driving by. His grandson was thirsty. Bagla asked the helper-boy of Nabin's shop to fetch a glass of water. As was the custom of the day, the boy offered

sweetmeat Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

along with water. It was the special ' Rossogolla' of Nobin Chandra's shop served on a dish. His grandson was delighted to taste this unique sweet. Seeing this, Bhagwandas Bagla himself tasted the ' Rossogolla' and was fascinated. Soon, the fame of this special sweet spread like wildfire and within a short span of 6/7 years, Rossogolla won the hearts of millions in and outside

. Bhagwandas Bagla believed in giving back to the society and serving the community. He contributed with open hands and was instrumental in setting up various Hospitals/Schools/Temples in his hometown Churu,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

and in

.Sri S K Bagla, Bangalore and Sri P K Bagla, Kolkata - great grandsons of Bhagwandas Bagla Just before his death in 1895 he provided Rs. 4.50 Lakhs for building a 60 bedded Hospital (popularly known as The Marwari Hindu Hospital) in Calcutta opposite to his house on Harrison Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road) and also gave Rs. 1 Lakh to the Maharaja of Bikaner to establish a 60 bedded Hospital at Bikaner, Rajathan and two Hospitals of 30 beds each for ladies and gents at Churu, Rajasthan. The "Bagla School Road" in his hometown Churu was named in his honour by the

Government. In India *Shri Satyanarayan Temple, Churu, Rajasthan *Shri Shivalaya, Churu, Rajasthan *Shri Sheetala Mata Temple, Churu, Rajasthan *B D Bagla High School, Churu, Rajasthan *Bagla Girls High School, Churu, Rajasthan - started in 1895 ''(vikram samvat 1960)'' *Hospital with 30 beds each for Ladies and Gents in the Garh (Fort), Churu, Rajasthan - started in 1895 *Hindu Burning Ghat (Cremation Ground), Churu *Hospital with 60 beds at

Bikaner Bikaner () is a city in the northwest of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is located northwest of the state capital, Jaipur. Bikaner city is the administrative headquarters of Bikaner District and Bikaner division. Formerly the capital ...

, Rajasthan - started in 1902 *Bhagwandas Bagla Marwari Hindu Hospital, M.G.Road, Calcutta *Various Dharamshalas at

Rameshwaram Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 ki ...

, Mokamah,

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

, Kodambeshwar (Rajasthan),

Brindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childhoo ...

Benaras Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tra ...

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the ri ...

*Various Pathshalas at Churu, Brindavan, Benaras, Haridwar In Burma *Shri Satyanarayan Temple in Pabedan Township, 29th Street, Rangoon *Vishnu Temples in Mandalay and Mormin, Myanmar *Bhagwandas Bagla Dharamshala, 29th Street, Rangoon *Lakshminarayan Bagla Dharamshala, 30th Street, Rangoon *Hindu Burning Ghat, Kemendine Road, Rangoon *Shri Satyanarayan Temple,

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

*Hindu Burning Ghat (Cremation Ground), Mandalay *Shri Durga Bari,

Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at t ...

*Hindu Burning Ghat (Cremation Ground), Moulmein

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagla, Bhagwandas Indian merchants Businesspeople in timber People from Rajasthan Indian desserts Bengali desserts Year of birth missing Year of death missing