Barrister Mukandi Lal (14 October 1885 - 10 January 1982) was an Indian advocate, judge, freedom fighter, politician, writer and art critic hailing from Chamoli Garhwal, British India.

Early life

Mukandi Lal was born in Patali village, Malla Nagpur patti in

Chamoli Chamoli district is a district of the Uttarakhand state of India. It is bounded by China's Xizang Autonomous Region to the north, and by the Uttarakhand districts of Pithoragarh and Bageshwar to the east, Almora to the south, Pauri Garhwal to ...

, Garhwal of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His early education was in

Pauri Pauri is a town and a municipal board in Pauri Garhwal district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttarakhand. Pauri is the seat of the Divisional Commissioner of the Garhwal Division. Geography Pauri is located at . It i ...

and

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

, followed by higher education in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. As a student of Muir central college,

, Lal accompanied

Lala Lajpat Rai Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 — 17 November 1928) was an Indian revolutionary, politician, and author, popularly known as ''Punjab Kesari (Lion of Punjab).'' He was one of the three members of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He died of severe tra ...

in his tour of Kumaon and Garhwal during the famine of 1913. He studied law at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. His education at Christ Church College, Oxford was sponsored by Ghanananad Khanduri, a local philanthropist.

Career

Lal was an advocate in the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

beginning in 1919 and served as a Judge of the High Court in Tehri-Garhwal State. He was the founder and editor of the newspaper ''Tarun Kumaun'' (''Young Kumaun''). In 1921, Garhwali and Kumaoni youth rallied against the coolie beggar system and Lal met Garhwali students from Varanasi on the issue.

Activist

Lal represented Kumaon along with Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant in the Convention of the United Provinces Congress in November 1920, prior to the Nagpur session during which it was decided that the propaganda for

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

would also be carried out in Kumaon. Lal represented Garhwal. Mukandi Lal was the legal counsel of the soldiers of 39

Garhwal Rifles The Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became "The Royal Garhwal Rifles" as part of the British Indian Army, and after the Inde ...

accused of mutiny during the Peshawar Incident ( Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre) in 1930, when they refused to open fire against unarmed satyagrahis of Khudai Khidmatgar protesting the unlawful arrest of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He is credited for saving the 'Hero of Peshawar' - platoon commander Chandra Singh - from death-penalty.

Art Critic

Lal became the definitive authority on the Garhwal School of Miniature Painting and the genre's most prolific artists - Mola Ram. He authored the book ''Garhwal Paintings'' widely regarded as the maxime momenti on the subject, published by the Indian Department of Publications in 1968. He was awarded the fellowship of State Lalit Kala Akademi, Uttar Pradesh in 1972 and his work was recognised by the All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society in 1978.

Books

1. Garhwal Painting

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lal, Mukandi People from Chamoli district 1885 births 1982 deaths Himalayan studies