Nabagopal Mitra
Encyclopedia
Nabagopal Mitra (1840–1894) was an Indian playwright
, poet
, essayist, patriot
and one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism
. Along with Rishi Rajnarayan Basu he founded the Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism
. Mitra also founded National Press, National Paper, National Society, National School, National Theatre, National Store, National Gymnasium and National Circus, earning him the sobriquet 'National Mitra'.
Kayastha
family residing at Shankar Ghosh Lane, near Cornwallis Street in Kolkata
. The year of birth is disputed. While most historians agree that he was born in 1840, in some sources his year of birth is recorded as 1841. From his early days he was very close to the Tagore family
. Satyendranath Tagore
and Ganendranath Tagore
were his classmates at the Hindu School. Gradually he became a close associate of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore
, the leader of the Adi Brahmo Samaj and Tattwabodhini Sabha
. Maharshi Debendranath was conservative in outlook in comparison to Keshab Chandra Sen's ultra-reformist stand. While Keshab Sen's philosophy was rooted in universalism, Maharshi Debedranath believed in reforms from a nationalist perspective. Nabagopal Mitra was heavily influenced by Maharshi Debendranath's thinking.
and maintained that for the Hindus the basis of national unity has been the Hindu religion
. He also attempted a definition of the Hindu nation. According to him, "Hindu nationality .. is not confined to Bengal. It embraces all of Hindu names and Hindu faiths throughout the length and breadth of Hindustan; neither geographical position nor the language is counted as a disability. Hindus are destined to be a religious nation."
,. Even being the chief editor, Mitra purposefully never used grammatically correct English
in his columns. If somebody pointed out any grammatical error, he used to justify it by explaining that as English was not his mother tongue, there is no harm if his article had any grammatical mistakes. According to him, it would be enough for someone if he is able to express himself in English, even though it may not be grammatically correct. Mitra's disdain and contempt for the language of the oppressors, essentially a trait inherited from his mentor Maharshi Debendranath Tagore
, had to reflect in the media, and that remained a key deciding factor in the choice of the language when then weekly was launched.
. Inspired by this booklet Nabagopal Mitra founded the Hindu Mela and the National Society.
He requested Jyotirindranath Tagore
to recite poems he composed at the Hindu Mela.
Young Narendranath
used to visit the Hindu Mela.
at his own residence, which he named National Gymnasium. It became very popular and within a few years the school produced a number of physical education teachers. In the early 1870s the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal George Campbell formulated a new educational policy. According to this new system, European style gym
nasiums were set up in the government schools and colleges. The gymnasium of the Hindu College
was equipped with parallel bars, horizontal bar
, trapeze
etc. The eldest son-in-law of Nabagopal Mitra was the instructor. Mitra, realising the usefulness and necessity of the European equipments, attempted to assimilate them within the Indian tradition. So, at the National Gymnasium, while the emphasis was more on physical exercises, wrestling
, sword fighting and stick wielding, gradually modern equipments like bars and trapeze
were introduced. Mitra even employed a British
trainer to train the Bengali Hindu pupils in European style gymnastics.
Apart from the physical training, the institution was also instrumental in imparting the first lessons of nationalism to the future leaders of India. The foremost amongst them were Bipin Chandra Pal
, Sundari Mohan Das and Raj Chandra Chaudhuri. Swami Vivekananda
too, in his early life had joined the National Gymnasium. Once a British
sailor was hit by the toppled pole of trapeze at the gym and became unconscious. Many of the onlookers fled but young Narendranath
and his friends took courage and nursed the sailor for a few days until he was revived.
. Ram Chandra Chatterjee
, the pioneer balloonist and parachutist began his career as an acrobat at the National Circus.
Mitra founded the National Circus in June, 1881 at 10-2, Cornwallis Street.
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essayist, patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and one of the founding fathers of Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
. Along with Rishi Rajnarayan Basu he founded the Hindu Mela, the pioneer institution behind the genesis of Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
. Mitra also founded National Press, National Paper, National Society, National School, National Theatre, National Store, National Gymnasium and National Circus, earning him the sobriquet 'National Mitra'.
Early life and influences
Nabagopal Mitra was born into a Bengali HinduBengali Hindu
Bengali Hindus are an ethno-linguistic group, belonging to the Indo-Aryan family and are native to the Bengal region of the Indian Subcontinent. The Bengali Hindus along with other related ethno-linguistic groups constitute the vast majority of Hindus...
Kayastha
Kayastha
Kayastha or Kayasth or Kayeth is a caste or community of Hindus originating in India. Kayastha means "scribe" in Sanskrit, and has traditionally denoted members of the writer caste....
family residing at Shankar Ghosh Lane, near Cornwallis Street in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. The year of birth is disputed. While most historians agree that he was born in 1840, in some sources his year of birth is recorded as 1841. From his early days he was very close to the Tagore family
Tagore family
The Tagore family, with over three hundred years of history, has been one of the leading families of Kolkata, and is regarded as a key influence during the Bengal Renaissance...
. Satyendranath Tagore
Satyendranath Tagore
Satyendranath Tagore was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service. He was an author, song composer, linguist and made significant contribution towards the emancipation of women in Indian society during the British Raj.-Formative years:...
and Ganendranath Tagore
Ganendranath Tagore
Gagendranath Tagore was a musician and theatre personality, and contributed substantially to nationalist discourse. One of the first students to pass the Entrance Examinations of Calcutta University, he was the founder-secretary of Hindu Mela.-Family:Dwarkanath Tagore, the founder of Jorasanko...
were his classmates at the Hindu School. Gradually he became a close associate of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore was one of the founders in 1848 of the Brahmo Religion which today is synonymous with Brahmoism the youngest religion of India and Bangladesh....
, the leader of the Adi Brahmo Samaj and Tattwabodhini Sabha
Tattwabodhini Sabha
The Tattwabodhinī Sabhā was a group started in Calcutta on 29 September 1839 as a splinter group of the Brahmo Samaj, reformers of Hinduism and Indian Society...
. Maharshi Debendranath was conservative in outlook in comparison to Keshab Chandra Sen's ultra-reformist stand. While Keshab Sen's philosophy was rooted in universalism, Maharshi Debedranath believed in reforms from a nationalist perspective. Nabagopal Mitra was heavily influenced by Maharshi Debendranath's thinking.
Career
Nabagopal Mitra contended unity to be the fundamental criterion of nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and maintained that for the Hindus the basis of national unity has been the Hindu religion
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. He also attempted a definition of the Hindu nation. According to him, "Hindu nationality .. is not confined to Bengal. It embraces all of Hindu names and Hindu faiths throughout the length and breadth of Hindustan; neither geographical position nor the language is counted as a disability. Hindus are destined to be a religious nation."
National Paper
In 1865, Nabagopal Mitra started an English weekly called National Paper. It was financed by Maharshi Debendranath TagoreDebendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore was one of the founders in 1848 of the Brahmo Religion which today is synonymous with Brahmoism the youngest religion of India and Bangladesh....
,. Even being the chief editor, Mitra purposefully never used grammatically correct English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
in his columns. If somebody pointed out any grammatical error, he used to justify it by explaining that as English was not his mother tongue, there is no harm if his article had any grammatical mistakes. According to him, it would be enough for someone if he is able to express himself in English, even though it may not be grammatically correct. Mitra's disdain and contempt for the language of the oppressors, essentially a trait inherited from his mentor Maharshi Debendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore
Debendranath Tagore was one of the founders in 1848 of the Brahmo Religion which today is synonymous with Brahmoism the youngest religion of India and Bangladesh....
, had to reflect in the media, and that remained a key deciding factor in the choice of the language when then weekly was launched.
Hindu Mela
In 1866, the National Paper published the Prospectus of a Society for the Promotion of National Feeling among the Educated Natives of Bengal by Rajnarayan BasuRajnarayan Basu
Rajnarayan Basu was a writer and intellectual of the Bengal Renaissance. He was born in Boral in 24 Parganas and studied at the Hare School and Hindu College, both premier institutions in Kolkata, Bengal at the time. A monotheist at heart, Rajnarayan Basu converted to Brahmoism at the age of...
. Inspired by this booklet Nabagopal Mitra founded the Hindu Mela and the National Society.
He requested Jyotirindranath Tagore
Jyotirindranath Tagore
Jyotirindranath Tagore was a playwright, a musician, an editor and a painter. Endowed with an outstanding talent, he had the rare capability of spotting talent in others...
to recite poems he composed at the Hindu Mela.
Young Narendranath
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
used to visit the Hindu Mela.
National Gymnasium
At the Hindu Mela, Nabagopal Mitra laid much emphasis on gymnastics, wrestling and other traditional sports. In 1868, he opened a gymnastic schoolGym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
at his own residence, which he named National Gymnasium. It became very popular and within a few years the school produced a number of physical education teachers. In the early 1870s the Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal George Campbell formulated a new educational policy. According to this new system, European style gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasiums were set up in the government schools and colleges. The gymnasium of the Hindu College
Hindu College
-India:*DRBCC Hindu College, Chennai*Gobardanga Hindu College, West Bengal State University, Gobardanga Dist., West Bengal*Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh*Hindu College, University of Delhi...
was equipped with parallel bars, horizontal bar
Horizontal bar
The high bar, also known as the horizontal bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in Artistic Gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a system of cables and stiff vertical supports. Gymnasts typically wear leather...
, trapeze
Trapeze
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...
etc. The eldest son-in-law of Nabagopal Mitra was the instructor. Mitra, realising the usefulness and necessity of the European equipments, attempted to assimilate them within the Indian tradition. So, at the National Gymnasium, while the emphasis was more on physical exercises, wrestling
Pehlwani
Pehlwani or Pahlavani or Kushti is a Persian style of wrestling popular in Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It was developed in the Mughal era through a synthesis of Indian malla-yuddha and Persian Varzesh-e Bastani....
, sword fighting and stick wielding, gradually modern equipments like bars and trapeze
Trapeze
A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances...
were introduced. Mitra even employed a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
trainer to train the Bengali Hindu pupils in European style gymnastics.
Apart from the physical training, the institution was also instrumental in imparting the first lessons of nationalism to the future leaders of India. The foremost amongst them were Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal was an Indian nationalist. He was among the triumvirate of Lal Bal Pal.-Early life and background:...
, Sundari Mohan Das and Raj Chandra Chaudhuri. Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
too, in his early life had joined the National Gymnasium. Once a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
sailor was hit by the toppled pole of trapeze at the gym and became unconscious. Many of the onlookers fled but young Narendranath
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
and his friends took courage and nursed the sailor for a few days until he was revived.
National School
In 1872, Mitra founded the National School in the premises of the Calcutta Training Academy at 13, Cornwallis Street. The institution was set up for the cultivation arts, music and physical training. The courses at the National School were overtly technical including drawing, modelling, geometrical drawing, architectural drawing, engineering and surveying. Shyamacharan Srimani became the chief teacher of the arts curriculum. Kalidas Pal, the founder of India's first art journal 'Shilpa Puspanjali' too joined the National School as a faculty.National Theatre
Nabagopal Mitra was instrumental behind the formation of National Theatre in 1872. The name National Theatre was first suggested by Mitra. On 7 December 1873 the group staged their maiden play Nildarpan. The staging was hailed as 'an event of national importance' by Mitra in the National Paper.National Circus
Mitra had utilized his entire assets for the establishment of the pioneering national institutions. Finally he mortgaged his residence in order to raise money for the National Circus, the pioneer institution that spread the culture of acrobatics, gymnastics and physical culture in India and acted as the precursor to the highly renowned and successful Great Bengal Circus founded by Priyanath BosePriyanath Bose
Priyanath Bose was a 19th century Indian Bengali entrepreneur and the pioneer of Indian Circus acts.-Personal life:Priyanath Bose was born to Monomohan Bose, a resident of Jagulia in North 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Not much is known about the personal life of Priyanath Bose apart from that the...
. Ram Chandra Chatterjee
Ram Chandra Chatterjee
Ram Chandra Chatterjee was an Indian acrobat, gymnast, balloonist, parachutist and patriot. He was the first Indian to fly in a balloon and land in a parachute. He was also the first Indian to take up ballooning as a profession...
, the pioneer balloonist and parachutist began his career as an acrobat at the National Circus.
Mitra founded the National Circus in June, 1881 at 10-2, Cornwallis Street.