Sardar Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar (, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royal family, royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other Aristocracy (class), aristocrats. It ha ...

Dyal Singh Majithia (1848–1898) was an Indian businessman, banker, philanthropist and activist. Majithia established ''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *''Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) * ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *''Kokomo Tribune' ...

'', an English language

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1881, and later, he became the founder

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Punjab National Bank Punjab National Bank alias PNB is an Public sector banks in India, Indian government bank based in New Delhi. It was founded in May 1894 and is the List of banks in India, second-largest public sector bank in India in terms of its business volum ...

, which was established in 1894. Majithia was noted for his wealth, which he had earned through his business interests. His

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

and

trusts A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common law, the party who entrusts the property is k ...

donated much of the properties, land holdings and assets he owned to educational institutions.

Early life and background

Born in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or 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 tradition of I ...

, Dyal Singh Majithia was the son of General Lehna Singh and a member of the Majithia family of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. His grandfather, Desa Singh Majithia, had served

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

, the Sikh Emperor, as a general and later as the Governor of Mandi and Saket. By the time of Majithia's birth, his family had administered the affairs of the

Golden Temple The Golden Temple is a gurdwara located in Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the pre-eminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the Holy place, holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, Pakistan, ...

for over 30 years. Majithia was initially educated by a British

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

, later attended the Christian Mission School in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, and independently studied various religions.

Business career

In 1881, Majithia founded the English-language newspaper ''

.'' Majithia also made a considerable fortune through his real estate interests. In his real estate business, he would design and build houses in areas occupied by senior civilians and rent the houses to senior bureaucrats. Through auctions, he would purchase prime real estate for his building projects. Majithia also monitored the prices of houses and land, selling those with poor yields and reinvesting the proceeds from the sales. Majithia was also successful trader of

jewellery Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

and

precious stones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

. Majithia would leverage his knowledge of Punjab’s ruling families to track and acquire valuable precious stones and jewellery, often through discreet agents, securing them at low prices and reselling them for a profit. His knowledge of jewllery and precious stone was noted by even the professional jewellers in

. In 1894,

(PNB) was co-founded by Majithia, who became the Chairman of PNB, Lala Harkishen Lal, an industrialist who became the Secretary of the Board, and other individuals. The first meeting of PNB's

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

took place in Majithia's house. Initially, 25% of PNB's shareholding was owned by Majithia and he was the chairman of the bank until his death. PNB was the first Indian bank to be founded with capital contributions from Indians and to be owned and managed by Indians.

Philanthropy and activism

Majithia was the first president of the Indian Association of Lahore and held the position until his death. He was a founding member of the

Sadharan Brahmo Samaj The Sadharan Brahmo Samaj or Universal Brahmo Samaj is a division of Brahmoism formed as a result of schisms in the Brahmo Samaj first in 1866 and then another in 1878. Due to ideological differences, Keshab Chandra Sen, one of Brahmo Samaj ...

, a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

social reform movement. A prominent member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Majithia had also financially donated to the organization. Majithia's philanthropy, through his

and

, extended to educational institutions and libraries, including Government Dayal Singh College in Lahore, Dyal Singh Memorial Library in Lahore, Dyal Singh College in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, and Dyal Singh College in

Karnal Karnal () is a city located in the state of Haryana, India and is the administrative headquarters of Karnal District. The city is well connected as it lies on National Highway 01, in the south of the city lies the cities of Panipat and Sonipa ...

. Majithia was also a supporter of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

Personal life

Majithia had initially intended to marry a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Brahmo Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as un ...

woman; however, this did not take place and Majithia later married Rani Bhagwan Kaur. He had residences in

, Amritsar and

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

. Majithia died in 1898. Majithia had died issueless and he had bequeathed his ancestral properties to his cousin, who later sold the properties to contest the validity of Majithia's will.

Legacy

''The Tribune'', is a leading English daily newspaper in Northern India. The Tribune Trust has also published

Punjabi Tribune ''Punjabi Tribune'' is a Punjabi-language daily newspaper owned by The Tribune Trust, published in the Punjab, India. It was launched on 15 August 1978 and became online on the internet in August 2010. Jyoti Malhotra is the editor-in-chief of ...

and

Dainik Tribune ''Dainik Tribune'' () is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper that is being currently published from Chandigarh, New Delhi, Jalandhar and Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administ ...

from 1978. Punjab National Bank, which was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

in 1969, is one of India's largest banks. After his death, funds from the sale of Majithia's Karachi property were used to buy land where a campus of

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

was later established.

Early life and background

Business career

Philanthropy and activism

Personal life

Legacy

References

External links