Madhusudan Das

When we remember Madhu Babu, a quotain come into mind ” Patha Padhibi, Kalia Ghoda Re Chadhibi, Madhu Babu sange Ladhibi “.

The pride of Orissa Madhusudan Das was born on 28th April in the year 1848 in Satyabhamapur which is about just 20 km from Cuttack of Orissa. The main thing about him that he was the first graduate of Orissa and the first advocate of Orissa. So he was awarded with a prestigious name that “Utkal Gourav”. So the name of Madhusudan Das became Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das.

Choudhury Raghunath Das is the father of Madhusudan Das. Parbati Debi is the mother of Madhusudan Das. The childhood name of Madhusudan Das was “Gobindaballabh”. But after some years his father and mother changed his name and his name became Madhusudan Das. He had one younger brother whose name was Gopalballabh and two older sisters.

Madhusudan Das belonged to an old aristocratic family whose material fortunes were on a decline. Yet his landed property and other assets were sufficient to meet all household needs of Choudhury Raghunath Das and his family which enjoyed respect from all quarters because of their benevolence and leadership.

Educational Career of Madhusudan Das

Madhusudan Das started his primary school career from his village school. After the completion of his primary school career he started his High School career in Cuttack High School which is known as Ravenshaw Collegiate School now in the year 1864. After the completion of his high school career he gave an entrance and started his higher secondary education in Kolkata University of Kolkata. He stayed there about fifteen years. In the year 1870 he became the first graduate of Orissa. After getting the bachelor degree he continued his study to complete his master degree and also his B.L. degrees. So he was a scholar student of Orissa.

After the completion of his B.L. degrees he returned to his birth place Orissa in the year 1881 and started his legal practice.He became a popular person among Oriya peoples. Many common people of Orissa called his as “Madhu Babu”. He was not only a lawyer but he was also a social reformer and a patriot.

He was also the first Oriya who was the member of Legislative Council and also in Central Legislative Assembly. He was the first Oriya to sail overseas and also the first Indian Minister. He was also a best Oriya writer who have been written many famous articles and poems in both Oriya and English language. The famous poems of Madhusudan Das are : Jati Itihash, Utkal Santan, Jananira Ukti etc.

Stirring Feelings

Nineteenth century Kolkata was emerging as a city that was nourishing and floating liberal ideas of French Revolutionthrough the works of Ram Mohan Roy and Henry Derozio. David Hare had become a myth of selfless dedication to the cause of the helpless and deprived. Madhusudan Das tried to imbibe the cultural values of ‘Bengal Renaissance’, and dreamt of such a regeneration in Orissa.

Utkal Tannery

A visit to the Utkal Tannery in 1918 in which he invested his life’s earnings showed his Christian strength and fortitude. He gave his all for the sake of his countrymen. He did not lay aside even a single rupee for himself. Till the very last moment he had undying faith in his Saviour, and when the end came after 86 years, he gave up his spirit. It was a calm, peaceful end. In his case, it may truly be said, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

Madhusudan started the tannery because he saw that raw skins and hides of reptiles and animals were exported cheaply to Calcutta and abroad and the finished product returned to Orissa for which Oriyas had to pay dearly, apart from a neglect of their workmanship. Madhusudan Das sought to rectify this state of affairs with the result that Utkal Tannery started producing finished leather goods, specially lizard skins, which earned revenue and fame and was also able to showcase the craft of the Oriya people encouraging them to build their self esteem. Gandhi said that the tannery was a practical step towards solving the problem of untouchability. However, fame alone could not save Madhu’s pet tannery; finance was hard to come by.

Fight For Own Language, Oriya

For historical reasons Oriya speaking territories were under different administrative units for a long time. For this dismemberment, Orissa and Oriyas have had a lot to pay. Madhusudan Das realized that if all Oriya speaking territories could be brought together in one place, then it would help in the strengthening of the Oriya people as well as their language and script. Madhusudan had realized this early in life in his experience at the Cuttack High school. Oriya people could not take part in political movements of the state because of their vivisected condition. He made a clarion call for the recognition of Oriya language in the administrative and educational institutions and demanded unification of all scattered outlying Oriya speaking tracts under one administration. He was helped in this venture by Bichitranand Das and Fakir Mohan Senapati who realized the ambitious plans of Madhusudan to raise the linguistic, cultural and political level of Orissa.

While he was a student in the B.A. class of Calcutta University, he had to fight with Rev. K. M. Banerjee to establish his rights as an Oriya. As per the provision of the University, a student could answer the Sanskrit paper either in Bengali or in his mother tongue. As an examiner of this paper, Rev. K.M. Banerjee did not know Oriya. He did not allow Madhusudan Das to write the answer of his Sanskrit paper in Oriya. Though yet a student, Madhusudan Das fought a relentless battle to establish his right as an Oriya student, placing his career in danger. In the long run, he won and Calcutta University allowed him to answer his Sanskrit paper in English.

So great was Madhusudan’s love for the Oriya language that he equipped himself with all its details insomuch that Grierson, during his linguistic survey of India, invariably consulted Madhusudan Das in all matters of Oriya and Oriya speaking people.

Utkal Sabha

After his arrival at Cuttack in 1881, Madhusudan Das felt that a socio-political organization was the need of the hour, because a platform was necessary through which the Oriya people could voice their grievances to the British Crown. With this goal in mind, he and Gourisankar Ray made efforts to establish the Utkal Sabha in 1882. This is the organization which later functioned as the branch of the Indian National Congress. It remained the nodal organization to fight for the National Cause for many years. It also prepared the people of Orissa to participate in local self-government. The Utkal Sabha took up the problems of poverty and backwardness and Madhu Babu was happy to solve some of them. Though discouraged by his compatriots, Madhusudan Das was never tired of involving the Utkal Sabha in the task of reconstruction of this backward state of India. In a way he infused the idea of All India National Integration in Orissa and Orissa Association, the Utkal Sabha, acted in furtherance of all India movement.

Utkal Sammilani

After working as Vice-President and President of Utkal Sabha, Madhusudan Das felt that Orissa will have to suffer until it was united. He had recognized early that Orissa, tied to the tail ends of three separate administrative divisions of three different Presidencies, speaking different languages had no hopes of redemption, until all the Oriya-speaking tracts were united under one administration and in a separate province of its own. From this feeling came the urge to unite all Oriyas in a bigger platform. Utkal Union Conference or Utkal Sammilani was the fulfillment of this urge. Utkal Sammilani spearheaded the agitation for the unification of all Oriya speaking territories under one administration under the leadership of Madhusudan Das.

The death of Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Das in Odisha

Madhusudan Das died on 4th February, 1934 when he was 85 years old. The contributions and dedications are really appreciable. He had contributed many more in his life time for the development and improvement of the state and the country. This would be a source of motivation for the youth and all peoples in future.