Gagan Chandra Biswas

Babu Gagan Chandra Biswas
Born	1849 Madhavpur, Nadia district, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died	1936 Calcutta, Bengal Province, British India
Education	Krishnagar Government College Presidency College
Alma mater	B. E. College, Shibpur
Occupation(s)	Engineer, Industrialist, Social reformer
Spouse	Sarbosundari Debi
Family	Biswas Zamindar Family of Madhavpur

Babu Gagan Chandra Biswas (1849–1936), was a Bengali industrialist, engineer and social worker. He was also involved in the political movements of Bengal, he was one of the earliest leaders of the Indian independence movement. Being among the premier early members of the Indian National Congress from Bengal, he attended many sessions of the Congress centred around Bengal. As an engineer, he built numerous landmarks and drew plans for multiple buildings of the contemporary era. He also had substantial contributions in social works in his native district of Nadia.

Early life

Gagan Chandra Biswas was born in 1850 in the village of Madhavpur near Krishnanagar in Nadia district in an aristocratic Mahishya family to Pandit Srimanta Biswas and Nanibala Debi. His father was a great scholar in Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. Gagan Chandra was the only son of his father. He was the son of a very prominent Mahishya Zamindar family of Nadia district of Bengal. Their family was one of the few families titled by the Nawab of Bengal. The Nawab bestowed upon them the title of "Biswas". Gagan Chandra displayed extraordinary academic talent from childhood. In childhood, he got a scholarship from the village school, passed the entrance examination from Krishnanagar Government College, being the first in his class and subsequently received a scholarship. He passed the F.A. examination from Presidency College, Calcutta and studied engineering in the B. E. College in Shibpur. He was part of the first batch which graduated out of B. E. College. He was one of the most meritorious students of University of Calcutta of the time, securing second place in the engineering examination and became a great favorite of Professor Satcliffe of Presidency College. His classmate and close friend was Sir Rajendra Nath Mookherjee.

Career

After completing his education, Gagan Chandra worked as a chief engineer in the office of the Matin Burn Company founded by Sir Rajendra. After passing his engineering degree, after serving two years of apprenticeship as per government rules, he established the Standard Engineering Company himself in Hooghly district. He can be called a pioneer in the engineering industry of Bengal. His company won a tender of 9 lakh rupees at that time for the construction of a railway bridge over the Jalangi River in Krishnanagar. During the construction of the bridge, he protested the insulting behavior of a high-ranking British officials who came on behalf of the government, and as a result, he became a victim of a conspiracy. As a result of the conspiracy, the British official damaged the bridge. He admitted immense loss and demolished the bridge and rebuilt it at his own expense. To compensate for this loss, he had to sell his house in Kolkata, the tea garden in Jalpaiguri and some properties in Nadia. Journalist Shishir Kumar Ghosh mentioned this incident in Amritbazar Patrika and highly praised Gagan Chandra's bright and strong character. He built a bridge over the Jalda Teesta Jaldhaka River using screw piling, and he also designed the building of Surendranath College. He was the architect of the Radha Gobind Jiu Temple in Agarpara. He was the first Bengali to establish a tea garden on a commercial basis. He also, established an English-medium school in his native village of Madhabpur, called the M. I. School, which was attended by revolutionary Basanta Kumar Biswas. He donated land and money for the development of the Badkulla area of Nadia. He was a colleague of Surendranath Banerjee, Bhupendra Nath Bose, Jatramohan Sen, Ambica Charan Mazumdar, etc. in the early era of political movements in Bengal. He was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council for 30 years.

Personal life

Gagan Chandra married Sarbosundari Debi, the daughter of a famous Zamindar, Parbati Charan Bakshi of Nadia district. They had 5 children together, three sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Dr. Lalit Mohan Biswas, went on to become one of the most famous doctors of Bengal Presidency and an associate and a close friend of Bidhan Chandra Roy. He also later on assumed the position of the Chief Medical officer of the Calcutta Corporation. Another son, Jatindranath Biswas was a great freedom fighter and a member of Anushilan Samiti. He studied engineering and following his father's footsteps, was involved in building many monuments and landmarks contributing towards the growth of the country. He was also the first president of All India Forward Bloc of Subhas Chandra Bose.

Death

Gagan Chandra Biswas died on 1935 in Calcutta, in the house of his eldest son Dr. Lalit Mohan Biswas.