Raja Rampal Singh (22 August 1849 – 28 February 1909) was a

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the instr ...

Kalakankar Kalakankar is a village in Pratapgarh district of Indian state Uttar Pradesh. Kalakankar was a Taluqdari in British India. The famous Hindi poet Sumitranandan Pant lived here. Kalakankar estate Kalakankar was an estate (taluqdari) of Oudh. Th ...

estate of

Oudh The Kingdom of Awadh (, , also Oudh State, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the Br ...

(Now in

Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh Pratapgarh, also called Belha or Bela Pratapgarh, is a town and municipality in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Pratapgarh district, part of the Prayagraj division, formerly known as Allahabad. ...

) from 1885 to 1909. Rampal Singh was a Congress sympathizer. He was one of the founding member of

Indian National Congress Party 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 ...

. In consequence,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

and other congress leader used to visit him quite frequently. Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya had very intimate relations with Raja of Kalakankar. The Raja Saheb of Kalakankar had started a Hindi weekly, Hindusthan, in 1883 to spread the message of freedom. His father

Lal Pratap Singh Lal Pratap Singh was a member of the Bisen Rajput dynasty of Kalakankar. He was prominent leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was killed during the 1858 Battle of Chanda. The Government of India issued a postage stamp on 17 December 2009 ...

, was a revolutionary during the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

and was killed in the Battle of Chanda.

Publication of Hindosthan

The Hindusthan was started by Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar. Even though, from the point of view of communications, this place was hardly suitable for publishing a newspaper, the Raja was fond of it and had it connected telegraphically. The only son of his father, Rampal Singh was ambitious. He learnt Hindi, English and Sanskrit, and became an honorary magistrate at the age of eighteen. He went to the United Kingdom, along with his wife. After two years she died and he came back to India with an English wife. He again returned to Britain. In August 1883, he started the monthly Hindosthan from the UK. This was in English and Hindi. Its Urdu edition was also brought out for some time. Later, it became a weekly. The articles in Hindi and Urdu were the Raja's own, those in English of Mr. George Temple's. He returned to Kalakankar in 1885, and started the country's first Hindi daily newspaper Hindosthan. Hindosthan Published by Raja Rampal Singh and was edited by none other than the founder of the Benaras Hindu University, Madanmohan Malviya. Malviya joined work on two conditions: Raja would never meet him in an inebriated state and would not influence the newspaper’s editorial policy.

Personal life

Raja Rampal Singh married firstly, to Rani Subhag Kunwar, who died about 1871 in London, and married secondly, Princess Alice (an English lady). He married thirdly, Rani Radha (a Muslim).

Other

He was president of

Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha, also known as All India Kshatriya Mahasabha, was founded in the year 1897. The organization was formed to promote, protect, and fight for rights and interests of the Rajput community of the Indian society. Ea ...

for year 1899. In 1905,

Sir Chhotu Ram Ram Richpal Ohlyan (born 24 November 1881 – 9 January 1945), better known as Sir Chhotu Ram, was a prominent Indian politician, agrarian reformer, and ideologue in British India's Punjab Province. He was known for his advocacy for the right ...

worked as the assistant Private Secretary to Raja Rampal Singh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Rampal 1849 births 1909 deaths People from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh Indian royalty Indian National Congress politicians Indian newspaper founders