Rai Bahadur Rai Bahadur (in North India) and Rao Bahadur (in South India), R.B., was a title of honour bestowed during British rule in India to individuals for outstanding service or acts of public welfare to the Empire. From 1911, the title was accompani ...

Sir Sunder Lal was born in

Jaspur Jaspur is a developing town and a municipal board in the Udham Singh Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is located at , 45km from Ramnagar and 210km east from New Delhi. It has an average elevation of 320m (1050ft), and is th ...

, near

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

, on 21 May 1857. In 1876, he joined

Muir Central College Muir Central College in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) in northern India was a college of higher education founded by William Muir in 1872. It had a separate existence to 1921, when as a result of the Allahabad University Act it was merged into U ...

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 ...

then led by Augustus Harrison. While an under-graduate Pandit Sunder Lal passed the Vakil's Examination of the High Court in 1880 and was enrolled as a Vakil on 21 December 1880. He practiced in

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 ...

. In 1896 the High Court raised him to the rank and status of Advocate. The distinction of '

' was conferred on him in 1905. He was appointed a CIE in 1907. In 1909 he accepted a seat on the Bench of the Judicial Commissioner's Court at Lucknow for a few months and in 1914 for brief periods officiated as a Judge of the Allahabad High Court. Appointed Member, Council of Law Reporting, Allahabad; Member of the Board of the Allahabad Court to represent Vakils, 1893; enrolled as Advocate, 1893; Fellow Allahabad University, since 1888 Member of the Syndicate, 1895, represented University in U.P. Legislative Council, 1904; and 1906–1909; one of the Secretaries of the MacDonnell Boarding House, Allahabad; Offg. Additional Judicial Commissioner, Oudh, 1909; Vice-Chairman, U.P. Exhibition, 1910–11; acting Judicial Commissioner for 5 months; Judge, High Court, N.W.P.. 1914; owner of the largest private library in the Province; prominently connected with the establishment of the University School of Law and the Hindu University, Benares; nominated as an Additional Member, Imperial Legislative Council, 1915: resigned his seat in the U.P. Legislative Council, 1915. Address: Allahabad. In 1906, he became the first Indian Vice Chancellor of

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

. He was reappointed to that office in 1912 and 1916. In 1916, he was named the founding Vice Chancellor of

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

(BHU). The Sir Sunderlal Hospital of the Institute of Medical Sciences on the BHU campus is named in his honor. On 21 February 1917, Sunder Lal received a knighthood. He died in Allahabad on 13 February 1918 at age 61.

References

1918 deaths 1857 births Vice-chancellors of Banaras Hindu University Indian Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Rai Bahadurs 19th-century Indian lawyers Scholars from Varanasi 20th-century Indian lawyers Lawyers from British India {{India-law-bio-stub