Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only a ...

Taraknath Palit (1831–1914) was an Indian lawyer from West Bengal and a philanthropist. He was associated with the

Swadeshi Movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It ...

during the Partition of Bengal and was one of the key figures behind the establishment of Ballygunge Science College of the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

and

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University is a public state university located in Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established in 1905 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into Jadavpur University in 1955. In 2022, it was ranked four ...

Early life

Taraknath was born in 1831 in

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

, the only son of millionaire, Kalisankar Palit. He was brought up in Amarpur in

Hooghly district Hooghly district () is one of the districts of the Indian state of West Bengal. It can alternatively be spelt ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli''. The district is named after the Hooghly River. The headquarters of the district are at Hooghly-Chinsura ('' ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

Education

Taraknath graduated from college at the Hindu School, Kolkata and then he studied law in England. During his stay in England, he came in contact with the first

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

ese graduate and

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatan ...

Anundoram Borooah Anundoram Borooah ( as, আনন্দৰাম বৰুৱা; 1850–1889) was an Indian lawyer and scholar of Sanskrit. He was both the first graduate and member of the Indian Civil Service from the state of Assam. Literary works Sanskr ...

Career

In 1871, Taraknath returned to India and established a legal practice.

Philanthropy

Taraknath Palit was instrumental in the founding of the National Council of Education (NCE) of India, "a stout supporter of nationalism and national development and attempted to nationalize education." He was one of the main figures behind the foundation of

Bengal Technical Institute 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 ...

at the height of

, along with

Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandy Maharaja Sir Manindra Chandra Nandy (29 May 1860 – 12 November 1929) was the Maharaja of Cossimbazar Raj from 1898 to 1929, a philanthropist and reformist during the period of Bengal Renaissance. Family Manindra Chandra Nandy was born ...

, Bhupendra Nath Bose,

Nilratan Sircar Sir Nilratan Sircar M.A. M.D. D.Sc. (1 October 1861 – 18 May 1943) was an Indian doctor, educationist, philanthropist and swadeshi entrepreneur. He was awarded honorary DCL by University of Oxford & LL.D by University of Edinburgh. He was a ...

and Rashbihari Ghosh. It was established on 25 July 1906 and was the direct predecessor of

. In June and October 1912, he executed two trust

deed In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferrin ...

s for

, donating Rs 1.5 million. His donations helped fund the 27 March 1914 creation of the University College of Science and Technology. He was knighted by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

on 1 January 1913.

Death

He died on 3 October 1914.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palit, Taraknath 1831 births 1914 deaths 20th-century Indian educational theorists Indian philanthropists Indian Knights Bachelor Hindu School, Kolkata alumni 19th-century Indian educational theorists Scholars from West Bengal Indian educators Indian lawyers Indian scholars Indian social workers 20th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian educators 19th-century Indian scholars 20th-century Indian scholars Social workers from West Bengal Educators from West Bengal Founders of Indian schools and colleges