Banaili Roots to Raj continued--Srinagar

Srinagar Raj (Branch)

Kumar Rudranand Singh

Kumar Rudranand Singh was the younger son of Raja Dular Singh. He was the stepbrother of Raja Bedanand Sinha. After the death of his first and second wife, Dular Singh married again and Rudranand was born of this union. He was the only son of Raja Dular Singh and Rani Bholeswari Devi. Rudranand Singh was born around 1796 A.D and was 25 years old when his father died in 1821.
Rudranand was tall and handsome in his youth. He was a fine horseman and an expert in pig sticking. He had made many friends among the rich European indigo planters of the nearby areas and moved in their company. As a result, Rudranand had cultivated European tastes and liked to dress up like an Englishman.
Soon after the death of his father relations began to deteriorate between him and his elder stepbrother, Bedanand. This led to property disputes and finally Rudranand filed a partition suit against his stepbrother. Subsequently, the estate of Raja Dular Singh was partitioned in two equal parts and Rudranand got in his share, an estate that gave an annual income of 3.5 lakhs.
There are many anecdotes related to this partition of the estate. It is said that Rudranand was little interested in the Zamindari works and spent most of his time in the company of his European friends. Bedanand, being the Karta of the family, managed the estate. Once, when he was away from home for some managerial work, Rudranand wanted to inspect the Toshkhana (store room where gold, silver and other precious articles were kept). Although he was handed over the keys by the Dewan of the Palace, he was asked to wait and take permission from his elder brother, when he selected a piece of Kimkhab[1] cloth for his dress and ordered the tailor to cut it accordingly. Rudranand was very angry and hurt. On the advice of his Planter friends, he decided to seek a partition of all movable and immovable properties. Having no money or resources, he filed a Pauper’s case.
Both the brothers lived in separate quarters of the same house in Calcutta, while the partition suit was going on. One morning when Bedanand was performing his daily Pujas, he overheard a piece of conversation between his own lawyer and the lawyer of Rudranand. They were conspiring to complicate and stretch the partition case as far as possible for their own financial gains. On hearing thus, Bedanand immediately summoned his younger brother, explained him about the treacherous lawyers and talked him into a compromise.
The Srinagar branch of Banaili has supplied these two stories to me. When I made an enquiry of it, I could neither find any written document to support it, nor did any member of the other branch confirm it. Yet, in those days, such incidents were not uncommon in similar circumstances, especially when it involved a fortune of the size of Raja Dular Singh’s estate.
After the partition of the estate Raja Rudranand Singh[2] and Raja Bahadur Bedanand Sinha continued to live at Banaili. Rudranand Singh got in his share the old palace at Banaili. Jharkhandi Jha writes in his Bhagalpur-Darpan that Rudranand shifted his abode to Srinagar. This is not true. It was his son who founded Srinagar and came to reside there.
Raja Rudranand Singh had four wives[3]. During the lifetime of Dular Singh, Rudranand was married to a daughter of Babu Ugra Singh Thakur of Bhaur. She was the stepsister of the wives of Sarbanand and Bedanand. She had no issues. Later, Rudranand married the daughter of Shyamu Thakur of Betiah.[4] She came to be known as Rani Rudravati Devi who gave birth to three sons- Keshavanand, Modanand and Srinand. The elder two brothers died in infancy and the youngest Kumar Srinand Singh went on to live and become famous as the founder of Srinagar-Raj.
The third and fourth wife of Rudranand [5] died issueless.
Raja Rudranand Singh did not live long[6]. He died in an accident. While riding a horse he fell near the gates of his palace and died.

Kumar Srinand Singh

Kumar Srinand Singh was born in 1845-46. He was very sickly as a child. His native village, Banaili had become a prey to the fatal visitations of malaria. Surrounding areas were ravaged by the floods and Banaili became unfit for healthy habitation. Around the year 1852, conditions became such that the entire village except the palace, which was situated at the highest point, was submerged in the floods and the waters did not recede for a long time. An epidemic followed which took a heavy toll of life. It is said that only six male members survived within the royal household. Srinand was one of them. He was also suffering from jaundice and was extremely weak. Srinand had already lost his father when he was two years of age and now, having lost his two elder brothers in the epidemic, he was the lone male descendent left. Srinand was then, barely 6 years old.
His three widow aunts- namely- Hassan, Badan and Khelan Daijees[7], were his only guardians, who in order to save themselves and the male line of their father decided to leave Banaili for good.
They left Banaili, crossed the river Saura and set up a temporary residence at a place called Basgaraa. Later, they moved further west and chose a site, where some ascetics lived and advised the Daijees to make a Deorhi for Srinand Singh. It is said that the entire royal establishment continued to put up in tents for a few years after which a Pukka house was constructed of Lakhouri[8] bricks. This village was named Srinagar after the name of its young master and later developed into the capital of Raj Srinagar, a branch of Banaili.
The mango grove at Baasgara, called Rajmata-bari and the Garh-banva ghat on the river tells us of the difficult times faced by the royal house at the time of migration to Srinagar.
The old Palace at Banaili fell to ruins. I went to Banaili in 2001 to inspect the old Palace grounds. Nothing of the building is left except remains of one of the Palace walls. However, the elevated palace grounds and a number of adjoining tanks speak of the old grandeur.
The Garhi of Srinagar was a fine example of a Zamindari-Residence of the period. Though it was smaller than the Garhi of Champanagar and Garh-banaili, it had all the salient features of a typical palatial set-up of Banaili.
Although, Srinand Singh was never awarded the title of Raja by the government, he was always addressed as a Raja and the Panjee-Prabandh records his name with the title of Raja.
Baburaiya Jha the maternal cousin of Rudranand was the chief manager of Raja Srinand Singh. It was with his influence, that the village Koilakh was purchased by Srinand.
Raja Srinand Singh had three wives. The first wife was the daughter of Murli Jha of Mangrauni and was named Rani Srirama[9]. Rani Srirama gave birth to a daughter named Singheswari and died in childbirth. The second wife was Rani Jairama of Naahar[10]. Rani Jairama had one son, Kumar Nityanand Singh and a daughter named Bisweswari. But this second marriage was not to the liking of the Raja, who married again, this time, according to his own choice.
He chose the younger sister of Late Rani Srirama to be his new bride and sent feelers to his former father-in-law. It is said that Murli Jha was then, under acute financial crunch. Srinand agreed to help him only on the condition that the latter gave away his younger daughter to him in marriage. Murli Jha agreed and the marriage was solemnized.
This, Rani Jagrama gave birth to two sons namely Kumar Kamalanand Singh and Kumar Kalikanand Singh. When the elder Kumar was only five years old, Raja Srinand Singh died on 17-10-1880, at the young age of 34.
Two widows, three sons and one daughter survived him. All his children were very young (Nityanand was barely 10years old). Raja Srinand Singh possessed ill health throughout his life. His digestive system had become very weak.
Relations were very sour between Rani Jairama and Rani Jagrama and it became very difficult for the smooth sailing of the affairs of the estate. Consequently the estate was first put under the charge of the District Judge of Purnea and later declared Court of wards. At that time the annual income of the estate was calculated at Rs.268000/-.
Shyamu Thakur, the maternal Grandfather of Srinand Singh, was a reputed Yogya and held the Paanji ‘Mahadeo Jha’ this Mahadeo Jha Paanji is given high status among the Shrotriyas, but it is not so high among the Yogyas. According to the levels given to the Paanji of Non-shrotriyas, by Maharaja Rameshwar Singh, ‘Mahadeo Jha’ has been placed lower to ‘Parmanand Choudhary’. Thus Raja Srinand Singh could not hold the high Paanji, ‘Parmanand Choudhary’ but had to be satisfied with the lower Paanji ‘Mahadeo Jha’.
Pandit Parmeshwari Dutt Thakur who was a scholar of Sanskrit flourished in those times, was patronized by Srinand Singh who also decorated him with the title of Vedmurti.


Kumar Nityanand Singh

Nityanand Singh was born in the year 1870. When he became a major in 1891, he got his estate released from the court of wards. But relations with his step mother Rani Jagrama being far from satisfactory, Nityanand could never free himself from domestic troubles. As a result the Estate was partitioned. Nityanand Singh shifted his abode to a new place, about 1km south of Srinagar and named it Taranagar. A small Deorhi was constructed at Taranagar.
Kumar Nityanand Singh was married to the daughter of Fuddi Jha of Ujaan. Fuddi Jha was a Shrotriya. Rani Nityarama[11] and Raja Nityanand had only one issue, a daughter; Siddheswari. She was married to Gobardhan Jha, of Abaam. Unfortunately, she became a childless widow at a very young age of eight.
Nityanand Singh was a devotee of Tara, one of the ten manifestations of Shakti. He followed the leftist stream of Tantra, and practised the prescribed rituals with great devotion. His Tantrik pursuits resulted in the establishment of a temple of Tara, near the cremation ground of Taranagar. The idol of Tara was installed amidst detailed Tantrik rituals and it is believed that even human sacrifices were made at the Alter, before the installation ceremony. By a deed of endowment, some landed property was set aside for the upkeep of the temple. Every year, on the no moon night of Kartik, the annual Puja of the deity was performed amidst elaborate festivities. Nityanand Singh started a small Mela on the occasion which attracted quite a large gathering of people.
This temple was badly damaged during the earthquake of 1934 and has been recently rebuilt. Even today a small Mela takes place at the annual Puja and the name of Nityanand Singh is remembered thereby.
Nityanand Singh was a benevolent Zamindar. In 1892 Sir Charles Alfred Elliot, the then Lieutenant Governor of Bengal put up a plan to help the peasants of Bhagalpur, during famine, by giving more and more employment through relief works. Kumar Nityanand Singh and the Raja of Banaili initiated jointly to undertake some improvements on their estates, which would serve as relief works and would cost them Rs. 7200/-.
Kumar Nityanand Singh was very extravagant. Very soon his estate was heavily encumbered with debt. Absence of a male heir and the unfortunate, untimely, widowhood of his only daughter had made him lose interest in worldly affairs. He started spending recklessly and soon ended up in a very difficult financial position. By 1903 his estate was laden with debt to such an extent that it was to be put up for sale. But Kamalanand Singh decided to purchase this section with all its encumberences to save the prestige of his family.
Nityanand advised his step-brothers, against the purchase of his own estate. He told them that it would be ruinous to buy such an indebted estate, but the young Kumars of Srinagar were not wise enough to understand what Nityanand could foresee.
Nityanand left for Benaras, never to return. At Benaras, he lived like an ascetic. He had become poor. It is said, that during his last years his one time Misterss, Nonibala took him to her own house (this house had been gifted to her by Nityanand during his youth) and took care of him. She was so devoted to Nityanand, that after his death in 1919, she gifted back the above mentioned house to Nityanand’s daughter, Siddheswari (Bhul Daijee).
The Deorhi of Taranagar fell to ruins. Some land marks like the Tara Mandir, the adjacent tank, and the plots of land called the ‘Rani Khand’, reminds one of the bygone days of the Raja.


Abhinav-Bhoj, Kavi-kul-chandra, Sahitya-saroj, Raja Kamalanand Singh

Kumar Kamalanand Singh was born in 1875. He received his basic education at Bhagalpur Zila School. From his very childhood, he developed keen interest in Hindi literature. During his school days at Bhagalpur, he came in contact with Pt. Ambika Dutt Vyas who was the head Pandit of Hindi and Sanskrit at the Zila School. Pt. Vyas took an instant liking for the young prince and accepted to be his tutor and guide. It was under his able tutorship that Kamalanand developed his tastes in poetry and prose writing.
He began his literary pursuits in 1896 at the age of 20. He started with poetry. In most of his poems, both “Braj bhashaa” and “Khari Boli” has been used but there is a general trend of shifting from the former to the latter. Most of his works is found in poetry as prose was only a secondary interest to him. Kamalanand started prose writing as late as 1903.
He made good use of both “Braj bhashaa” and “Khari Boli” in his literary works. Several pieces of English and Bengali literature were very successfully translated into Hindi by him. Kamalanand made the first Hindi translation of the famous novel of Bankimchandra Chattopadhaya named ‘Anand Math’. Anand Math was regarded as one of the first literary expressions of the movement of independence in India. Making a translation of such a novel which presented before the people a strong feeling of patriotism and independence, was indeed a work of courage, in the days of British rule. This novel had already been pin-pointed by the British as a carrier of the seeds of revolt and was later banned. Kamalanand’s translation was undoubtedly a task that involved great risks against his own prestige and position, especially because he was a leading Zamindar under the British regime.
Among his other Hindi translations were several poems of Ravindra Nath Tagore who was a friend of the Raja. Kamalanand had also translated Tagore’s ‘Raja Rani’ in Hindi.
Among the main works of Kamalanand was Mithila-chandrasta. This was published in 1899 and is a small booklet of poems. It contains condolence and tribute on the death of Maharaja Laxmeshwar Singh of Raj Darbhanga. In addition to the poems of Kamalanand, the book also contains poems of Pt. Narnath Jha (Anand kavi), Jaygovind Kavi, Pt. Mahadev Upadhaya (Shubh kavi) and Raj Kavi. Another poetry book named “Vyas Shoka Prakash” was published in 1910. This is the Raja’s poetic tribute to his guru Pt. Ambika Dutt Vyas. This also includes poems of several other poets of his Durbar. Among the other creations of Kamalanand Singh ”Dushyant ke Prati shakuntala ka Prempatra”, ‘Aalochak aur Aalochana’, “Mahamahopaddhyaya Kavivar Vidyapati Thakur”, “Veeraangana Kavya”, “Vote Pacheesee”, “Edward Pacheesee” and “Haija Stotra” are quite popular.
When Kamaland was presented with a book on poetry called “Sukavi Saroj Vikas” by his Guru Pandit Vyas, he expressed his acknowledgement by making a generous gift of an elephant along wish Rs.2000 in cash and a silken robe, to his Guru. Srikant Mishra wrote “Saamba Kamalanand Kulratna” in honour of the Sahitya Saroj and his forefathers. When he was presented with this book, which contained 1000 Sanskrit Shlokas, he rewarded the poet, Srikant Mishra with a generous gift of Rs.3000 which was calculated at the rate of Rs.3 per Shloka. Poet Lachhi Ram was also awarded with an elephant. In 1902, on the occasion of Kartik Vrata Udyaapan performed by Rani Jagrama, the mother of Kamalanand, hundreds of learned men were invited from all over the province and a conference was held. Here, Pandit Apoochh Jha[12] was declared a winner after several rounds of religious debates held under the presidentship of Pandit Khuddi Jha and Pt. Srikant Mishra. Apoochh Jha was awarded with a sacred thread and a medal of gold[13]
Chintamani Ghosh of Kashinagari Prachaarini Sabha started the publication of the monthly ‘Saraswati’ from Allahabad under the editorship of Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi. In the beginning it attracted few readers and the magazine ran a loss for consecutive two years. Finally it was announced that the publication would be closed under such circumstances. On reading this announcement, Raja Kamalanand Singh wrote a letter to the editor requesting him not to close down and that he was willing to bear the expenditure necessary for the continuance of the magazine.
Chintamani Ghosh and Acharya Dwivedi were moved to find such an avid reader of their magazine. It gave them enough courage to go on with their ‘Saraswati’ even without the prince’s monitory help. However, he requested Kamalnand to co-operate by finding new subscribers for the magazine, which the latter did with great zeal and enthusiasm. Hundreds of subscribers were made within one year and in this way, Kamalanand saved the magazine from untimely death. This incident brought him in close contact with Dwivedi.
Acharya Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi was closely associated with Kamalanand as the latter was the only author who represented Bihar during the beginning years of the 20th century[14]. Dwivedi wrote his biography which was published in June 1903 in the magazine Saraswati.
Kamalanand was not only an ardent scholar of Hindi literature but also made valuable contributions towards its development and upliftment by giving encouragement and motivation to a wide range of poets and authors. A major portion of his personal finances were spent towards the cause of promoting their literary works and providing maintenance to them. His durbar became an ideal place for the confluence of eminent literary figures of those times. Among them were 1 Mahavaiyakaran Khuddi Jha, 2 Srikant Mishra, 3 Janardan Jha ‘Janseedan’[15], 4 Jyotishi Parmeshwar Dutt Mishra, 5 Shrikrishna Mishra{Bowaa Jee},6 Jagannath Das Ratnakar, 7 Pt. Ambika Dutt Vyas, 8 Shitla Prasad And 9 Ram Narayan Mishra. Probably it was due to the presence of the above mentioned nine gems of his court that he was compared with the mythological Raja Bhoj. He was decorated with the title of Abhinav {Dwitiya} Bhoj by the contemporary Kavi Samaj. He received a similar title of Kavi-kul-chandra from Bharat Dharma Mahamandal but the most widely known was Sahitya-saroj which was conferred upon him by the Rasik-kavi-sabha of Kanpur.
It is a matter of great misfortune that the palace at Srinagar caught fire and was almost destroyed in the year 1932. In this destructive fire the entire library which contained priceless collections besides all the manuscripts of the works of Kamalanand and his court poets, was reduced to a heap of ashes. It is for this reason that most of his works are not available today.
Kamalanand provided patronage to several other publications. He gifted his palace at Bhagalpur to the Christian Missionary to be used as their school.[16] Kamalanand Singh also donated a large sum for the construction of Kasturba Water works in Munger.
Being more inclined towards literature and other fine arts Kamalanand found little time for works related to Zamindari and other business. Besides, prose and poetry, which was his chief engagement he spent most of his time in dance and music which was a daily feature of his evenings. Entertainment through dance and music was the fashion of the well to do in those days. These were provided mostly by professional female singers and dancers. In fact there was a special class of such singers and dancers called the Tawaifs. These Tawaifs were hired on money to sing for enthusiastic listeners, who not only relished their singing and dancing acumen but also their feminine beauty and sexual appeal. These Tawaifs formed an institution which promoted poetry through their singing.
Poetry, in those days was associated with these Tawaifs in a special way. It was sung by them and thus kept alive in their Ghajal, Thumri, Khayal, Geet and Nazm.
In course of his association with these professional singers, he came in contact with many beautiful and talented women and took a liking for a couple of them whom he kept as his mistresses.
Among them, one was Rajeshwari, who was kept at the palace at Munger and served the Raja during his visits. It is said that Rajeshwari accompanied Kamalanand to selected gatherings, banquets and balls where she was introduced as the Rani of Srinagar.
But, the love of his heart was the damsel called Shahzaadi. She possessed not only exquisite beauty and singing talents but also was a poetess in her own capacity. It is said that Raja Kamalanand was in love with this woman. But for the fulfillment of other obligations that were expected of him he would have preferred to have her in his company all the time. Nevertheless, he had made a bungalow especially for her near the Garhi where she lived close enough to join him as and when opportunity was available. But, Shahazaadi had a very short life. When she died[17] after a short illness, it is said that the Raja locked himself in a room and was about to commit suicide but his courtiers came to learn of his intentions. They succeeded in breaking through the door and seized the gun from his hands.
Kamalanand Singh was married to the daughter of Thither Jha of Kakrour [18] and his wife came to be known as Rani ‘Satyarama’. They had three sons Kumar Ganganand, Kumar Ambikanand and Kumar Achyutanand and three daughters Raseswari, Brajeshwari and Sureshwari.
The eldest Raseswari alias Bouwa Daijee was married to Pandit Ramanand Jha, a Shrotriya of Lohana[19]. Brajeshwari alias Punee Daijee was married to Parmanand Jha of Dhakjari and Sureshwari alias Benee Daijee was married to Yogendra Kishore Jha of Betia. Both, Parmanand Jha and Yogendra Kishore Jha[20] were Yogyas and this was the first instance in four generations that a Non-Shrotriya son-in-law was procured for the house of Alaybar-baigni.
Raja Kamalanand passed away in April 1910 after a short illness. Although he could serve the course of Hindi literature for a very short period yet he made such valuable contributions that his name has been immortalized in the annals of Hindi literature as Sahitya-Saroj which means the lotus of literature. He also used ‘Saroj’ as his name in his works.


Financial Difficulties –
Srinagar Raj, which was under the management of the Court of Wards since the death of Srinand Singh, was released in 1891. At the time, it was handed over to Kumar Nityanand as the Karta of the family, the Estate was free of all encumbrances and there was a huge amount of cash balance.
Nityanand Singh who had a 1/3 share in the Estate, was so extravagant that within a short period of time he was laden with debts. On 6/3/1899 he borrowed Rs.3½lacs from the 9annas Estate of Banaili, which was then represented by Rani Sitabati. Story goes that he personally went to Deorhi Champanagar to request his aunt for a loan and came back triumphant, with bags of money Laden on Elephants. But Rs.3½ lacs could last him barely for 3½ years after which he was again broke. It is said that his palace in Calcutta (3 Beadon Street) had to be sold to pay of his expenses of Holi celebrations, which were held at a grand scale between 1900 and 1903.
In the meantime, in the year 1897, Kamalanand Singh and Kalikanand Singh who had finished their education at Bhagalpur (and Calcutta) came to reside at Deorhi Srinagar.
The unfortunate history of the long chain of debts of Raj Srinagar started in 1900-01 when Kamalanand Singh and Kalikanand Singh took a loan of 3½lacs from Darbhanga Raj, and executed a mortgage bond. At that time Mr. Weatherall was the manager of Srinagar. He advised the Raja to cut down his expenditure and to abstain from taking a loan for the purpose of making a Palace. But his advice fell on deaf ears and Babu Lakshmi Prasad who later became manager of Raj Srinagar approached the Darbhangar Raj through Mr. Meyer, its manager at Purnea and the loan was taken. (Mr. Meyer was, then managing the Indigo factory and other Zamindari properties of Darbhanga Raj, at Purnea).
About the year 1902-03, the Estate of Nityanand Singh was about to be auctioned for repayment of debt. Kamalanand Singh decided to buy the decree against the encumbered Estate because he saw it as a loss of family prestige. Although he was advised against it by his step brother he was sanguine about the long time benefits of the purchase. At that time the Estate of Nityanand Singh yielded an annual income of one lac. But Kamalanand and his brother Kalikanand ran a great risk by investing about 8lacs which had to be arranged as loan to buy the said decree.
So they purchased the mortgage bond decree of Rs. 4, 57159/12/6 from Raj Banaili, which the latter had obtained against Nityanand Singh on 11/3/1902. This purchase was made on 12.9.1903 and they executed a fresh mortgage bond in leau of the consideration which they promised to repay before 12.9.1903.
The Financial difficulties of Srinagar Raj surfaced in 1904 when, in order to pay the loans of Banaili and Darbhanga a huge amount of loan was taken from the Raja of Munger-Rajbati on 18.7.1904 after mortgaging the rights of the Srinagar Raj in the villages of Tappa Gogari Jamalpur, Nawhatta and Dhaphar in the Districts of Bhagalpur.
Although, Kamalanand had been trying to settle an easy payment of loan through Sadhauaa-patauaa with the Maharaja of Darbhanga, he died in April 1910 before anything could be finalized.
Now, to pay up the dues to its various creditors, Srinagar Raj borrowed more from Banaili and executed a fresh bond of Rs.657000/- on 29/4/1910.
Next, they borrowed seven lacs from Raja P. C. Lal of Nazargunj with the intention to pay back Banaili. But only a small sum was used to pay back the loans of Banaili.
Thus began a period of litigation where every creditor [21]moved to court for the repayment of various loans and subsequent attachment of properties.
When Raja P.C.Lal of Nazarganj obtained a decree sale of mortgaged properties of Srinagar on 28.6.1920 the suit was valued at 965206/-.
In the meantime, the loans of Munger Raja had multiplied and Raja Kamleshwari Prasad Singh filed a suit for recovery of 16lacs from Srinagar on 19.12.1914. Finally the Srinagar properties were sold in 1924 against a decretal amount of Rs.32,00,000. The properties were purchased by the decree holder’s son Raja Raghunandan Pratap Singh.
By 1926 the loans taken from Darbhanga had multiplied to about 10lacs. It was only after the death of Kumar Kalikanand Singh in 1930, that the Maharaja of Darbhanga agreed to take the properties of Srinagar on sadhauaa-patauaa system of recovery.
The loans taken from Raj Banaili (9 annas) was a very complicated affairs due to incessant borrowing, several agreements, suits and compromises, yet it is clearly established that they were one of the chief creditors. How much could be repaid to them is not clear. But they were undoubtedly the biggest losers among all the creditors as nothing was left[22] to be taken by them after all the outsiders could be satisfied.

Kumar Kalikanand Singh

Kumar Kalikanand Singh, the younger brother of Kumar Kamalanand Singh, lived jointly with his elder brother and continued to shoulder the responsibilities of the Karta of the joint family even after his brother’s death in 1910. Throughout life he had to stay entangled in a never ending chain of legal proceedings to ward off the numerous creditors who were clamouring for the recovery of their money that they had advanced to Srinagar Raj. These loans had been taken, mainly to fulfill the extravagant demands of Kamalanand Singh. In spite of being, responsible to a very little extent, for the consequent, financial miseries of his family, he had to spend most of his life in making schemes to buy more and more time in order to save his family from the inevitable jolt of bankruptcy, till all his children were grown up and properly educated. He fell ill with cancer of the jaw and died on 24.7.1930, a completely broken man.
In his youth, Kalikanand was a fine horseman and could gallop his way to Purnea in barely 45 minutes. He bought the first motorcar of the district in 1906 and opened a motor garage at Srinagar, where proper training was imparted upon aspirant drivers and mechanics. Here it must be mentioned that he was a fine car mechanic, himself. During his period a small Factory that manufactured scissors and Sarautaa was run by the Srinagar Raj at Madhubani.
He was a lover of classical music and could play the Tabla fairly well. It is said that during his period Vilatu Khan the father of the famous Shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan, used to perform daily Naubat at the gates of Deorhi Srinagar.
Kumar Kalikanand Singh was the Vice-president of Maithil Mahasabha which was held at Madhubani in 1910. He was also very instrumental in the establishment of ‘Mathili printing works’ at Madhubani in Darbhanga. He played a key role in securing the acceptance of Maithili as a language of study in the Calcutta University. It was a result of his co-operation with his cousin Kirtyanand Singh, friend Tankanath Chaudhary and close associate, pleader Brajmohan Thakur that ‘Maithili’ as a language, started being taught in India through the Calcutta University.
He continued to extend his patronage to the learned literary personalities like ‘Jansidan’ who visited Srinagar since the days of his late brother. Once while he was giving some orders regarding car repairs to his men, he spotted the young son of Jansidan, (who later became famous as the Maithili writer ‘Harimahon Jha’) and asked him to recite something in ^Anupraasha^ then and there. The young Harimohan immediately recited “ Sarkaar ko darkaar hai parkaar motorcar ka” and was rewarded well. It was only after Kalikanand’s death, that these writers and poets failed to receive due attention and recognition from his successors that the same Jansidan wrote down some verses to express his frustration and disgust.
Kumar Kalikanand Singh’s wife, Rani Sasirama Devi, was the daughter of Buddhi Jha of Koilakh. Buddhi Jha came from the house of Pabauli-bariaam and held the Paanji ‘Bachhru Mahadev Jha’
Kalikanand and Sasirama had six sons and one daughter- Kumar Abhayanand Singh alias Narayanji, Kumar Bijoyanand Singh alias Mohanji, Kumar Ghananand Singh alias Damanji, Kumar Divyanand Singh alias Jaswantji, Kumar Pramodanand Singh alias Baba Sircaar and Dakshineswari Daijee alias Kusum.


Vishwa-vidya Vachaspati, Mahopadhyaya[23] Kumar Ganganand Singh

Kumar Ganganand Singh was born on 24/9/1898, as the eldest son of Kumar Kamalanand Singh.
From his very childhood he lived among scholars, who were an essential part of his father’s Durbar. The literary aura of Deorhi Srinagar provided a very congenial atmosphere for the academic growth of the young prince. Ganganand or ‘Dhundiraj’ (as he was nick named by his father and uncle) began his studies at a very early age of 3½ years, when he was made to hold the writing chalk by Pt. Vaiyakaran Kuddi Jha at a family ritual called Akshararambh. He was sent to Munger Zila School in 1904 but had to be later shifted to Purnea Zila School, following the sudden death of his father in 1910.
Kamalanand Singh died after a short illness, just a few days before the date fixed for the Upanayan ceremony of ‘Dhundiraj’, which had to be postponed for a full year.
Now, under the caring and careful guardianship of his uncle Kumar Kalikanand Singh, Ganganand completed his schooling in 1915 and joined The Presidency College of Calcutta for higher studies.
On 22.4.1918 Ganganand was married to Rani Sidhirama, with great pomp and show at a lavish ceremony at Deorhi Taranagar. Siddhirama was the daughter of Vaidyanath Jha of Koilakh, who belonged to Khoware-naahas Mool.
After graduating in the first division in 1919 he successfully completed his degree in M.A. in 1921. His subject was ‘ancient Indian history and culture.’ He also did some valuable research work under the direction of Dr. Hemchandra Barua, which came to be well known as the ‘Barhut inscriptions’.
Many of his essays were published by The Asiatic Society of Bengal, Bihar Research Society, Royal society of Great Britain and Ireland and Oriental Society. The ones that became very popular were. ‘The place of Videha in ancient medieval India’, and ‘Maithili dramas discovered in Nepal’.
His academic thirst, led him to join the Belgium brussels psychology foundation for a degree in M. A. through its correspondence course. He made a similar Endeavour through ‘The centre of personal institute of correspondence studies’. His subject was “for the scientific development of mind and memory”. He also joined the ‘law collage’ but could not complete his studies because of urgent summons from his dying uncle who desperately wanted him at his bed side, in order to entrust him with difficult family obligations.
He left his studies as well as political pursuits, and ran home to his ailing uncle. Kumar Kalikanand Singh had been suffering from Cancer for long and was now on his death bed. He took his favorite nephew into his confidence and requested him to accept the responsibility of managing all the affairs of the Srinagar Raj and family, in the capacity of Karta of the joint family.
It is said that he handed over to Ganganand, a typed note which had been written earlier, imploring him to come to the rescue of the family.
It read thus “You were only ten years old when your father Kamalanand Singh (my brother) passed away. I am proud that I fulfilled my promise, made to him on his death bed. But today I am asking you to make a promise to me. I have been fighting our creditors only for the sake of buying some time, so that the children may complete their education. It is not my intention to cheat them and I know that you have no such traits either. I met the Maharaja of Darbhanga at Patna. I found him to be quite sympathetically inclined. I feel that you children are fortunate to have the Maharaja’s good-will. Go to him and surrender. Even if he does not spare a farthing, don’t leave him. Somehow try to win his good will, because he will be the only help to you all.
You may have to leave the Congress for the above. You have put an end to all our desires and dreams, by joining the Congress, yet I never asked you to leave it. I have always respected your knowledge and wisdom. I have faced all the troubles and have never asked you for anything. But now, look after the children, when I will not be there----------------etc.”
After the death of his uncle, Ganganand Singh took upon his shoulders the entire burden of managing the Srinagar Raj which was over-laden with debts of various kinds and had reached an almost irrecoverable stage.
It was at this critical juncture that Kumar Ganganand Singh came into contact with Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga.
The Maharaja had agreed to accept the invitation to attend the first Round Table Conference to be held in London, where he was invited to represent the Zamindar class of India. On hearing this news, Kumar Ganganand Singh, who was the president of the ‘Hindu-sabha’ wrote a letter to the Maharaja. Kumar Saheb requested him to stand for the cause of India, to oppose any motion that could go against Hinduism, and never to forget that he was a Hindu in the first place.
Kameshwar Singh was so moved by this letter that he in turn requested Ganganand to accompany him to London and be by his side for proper advice and counsel.
In those days, traveling across the seas was held, contrary to the norms of Sanaatan Hinduism and Kumar Saheb was quite aware that he would have to face severe social opposition by traveling across the ocean to London. Yet he decided to accept the Maharaja’s invitation and accompanied him to London.
Actually, Ganganand’s cousin Kumar Abhayanand Singh had already gone to London to pursue higher studies and the family already anticipated social boycott on his return. Ganganand’s voyage would bring no further harm. On the contrary, there was every hope of overcoming the social boycott in this special case where the social head of Mithila, the Maharaja himself was going to break the rule. Kumar Saheb may have speculated a safe return with his cousin and be exempted from all social disgrace, along with the Maharaja, who would never be ousted, for long, being the highest manifestation of Maithil society. Lastly Kumar Saheb decided to follow the advice of his uncle, who had clearly suggested that joining hands with their chief creditor, the Maharaja, was the most advisable thing to do.
Kumar Ganganand went to England and to other Europeon countries as a companion of Maharajadhiraja Kamewshwar Singh of Darbhanga. It was during these traveling days that he became a close associate of the Maharaja who not only held him as an elder brother but also came to learn about his financial troubles at the domestic front.
The Maharaja became sympathetically disposed towards the Kumar and held a helping hand towards him which the latter eagerly clutched with both his hands, securing the last ray of hope for his estate and family.
On their return to India, Ganganand Singh was offered the post of the private secretary to the Maharaja, by the Maharaja himself. But he declined the offer as his conscience did not allow him to receive a salary from anyone. Himself being a Zamindar, he could not stoop so low as to receive a pay from another. On the other hand, his finances were so low, by that time that he was not in a position to let go of the offer.
Maharaja, sensing his difficulties and mental dilemma, made another consideration. He promised to keep him as an elder brother and companion and convinced him to receive a monthly allowance, instead of a salary. His name would be entered in the allowance register of the Darbhanga Raj along with other members of the Royal family of Darbhanga. After all, it was a matter of great prestige to the Maharaja to have a scion of the Banaili family to work for him.
So Kumar Ganganand Singh joined as the private secretary of the Maharajadhiraja. The latter, fulfilled his other promise by agreeing to take the indebted properties of Srinagar on a ‘Sadhauwa Patauwa’ lease, whereby the entire property would be returned to the proprietors after paying up the loan from the income derived from it.
This was a turning point in the history of Darbhanga and Banaili families. At long last, the family of Darbhanga succeeded in subjugating and bringing under its hold, an important branch of the family of its long time rivals, “the Banaili family”.
Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh emerged as a savior of Srinagar Raj family. He not only kept Kumar Ganganand Singh as his private secretary and one of the closest associates, but also offered bread to the rest of the Royal family. Ganganand’s younger brother, Achyutanand was employed as a circle manager of the Darbhanga Raj. His cousins, Kumar Bijoyanand and Kumar Ghananand were also given employment in the Raj.
In this way, Kumar Ganganand Singh bartered his intellectual profile and royal presence, with the financial safety of his family, at the doorsteps of another Zamindar of Mithila, who had been till then the only competitor to his own house ie Banaili.
Naturally, the rest of Banaili, did not appreciate this move of his. They felt cheated by the defection of this branch to the rival’s camp. The Raja of Banaili had always tried to support the Srinagar branch by, forwarding huge sums as loan. They had never put up any property of their poor cousins, for sale for payment of debt and had to eventually forget and forgo huge amounts of money, given to Srinagar as loan. The Banaili branch felt disgusted to see their financial sacrifice, help and co-operation to be rewarded in this way. Subjugation before the Maharaja of Darbhanga, was something they could not even think of.
Rani Satyarama, mother of Ganganand, and a proud lady of Banaili, could also never reconcile with the fact that her son had become a sub-ordinate of Darbhanga. She expressed her quiet displeasure by refusing to accompany her son, ever, to Darbhanga. She preferred to be confined within her dilapidated palace at Srinagar.
The European tour of Maharajadhiraja was looked upon, as a direct violation of the norms of Hinduism. Consequently he had to face strong opposition and social boycott from the conservative sections of the Shrotriya community. This time, his power and position as the head of the Maithil Brahmin society, could not save him from being openly criticized by the conservatives who led an open confrontation against him. Within a short span of time, this social unrest spread to the masses and was transformed into a social movement throughout Mithila against the voyagers and their supporters. This social unrest came to be famous as the Vilayati-swadeshi movement of Mithila. The entire community of Mithila was divided into two camps, one of the voyagers and their supporters and the other of the conservative Shrotiryas and their supporters who completely boycotted the voyager camp, holding them responsible for having committed a grave crime by crossing the oceans. They were shocked to find this violation, made by the very Superintendent of their society, and foresaw a grave danger to their Dharma and culture by the growing western influence.
During this social upheaval, several Shrotriyas left their home in Tirhut, and migrated to Nepal, where they were welcomed by the ruling clan who helped them to settle down and gave them agricultural as well as homestead land, free of cost.
Raj Banaili, was in the conservative group, obviously. It was during this period that many Shrotriyas moved to Banaili, where they were warmly welcomed with free gifts of land and money.
Naturally, Srinagar Raj, with Kumar Ganganand Singh as its Karta was also held equally responsible as the Maharaja and was completely boycotted by the conservative camp. Most of the Brahmin inhabitants of Srinagar, deserted their home-steads and fled to conservative areas. Kumar Ganganand had to face the onslaughts of this social outburst for quite a period of time before the movement was finally controlled, after the Maharaja had to formally repent for his voyage, at a ritual called Praayaschit prescribed by Mahamahopadhhyaya PanditRaje Misra.
But Kumar Saheb’s troubles were not over yet. The most severe blow came to him and his family, when the grand palace at Deorhi Srinagar caught fire and was reduced to a heap of ashes, on 10.4.1933. There had been earlier occurrences of fire accidents. In 1910, one of the Haveli houses had caught fire but the rest of the palace could be saved. But not this time. A burning spec of dry grass came flying in the fierce western wind, from the adjoining dry grass jungles that had caught fire, and hit one of the cloth curtains of the western Verandah of the main palace. Within minutes the fire spread into the nearby room where petrol and kerosene stocks were kept. Once the highly inflammable materials caught the spark, the fire became completely out of control and devoured the entire palace. With the fire, almost everything, including the priceless library of Kamalanand, and the valuable antique collections, of several centuries, from the times of Mahamahopadhyaya Gadadhar to Raja Dular Singh Bahadur and Kumar Kamalanand Singh was destroyed for ever. The glory of Srinagar Raj was lost.
Nevertheless, the shining star of Srinagar shone in its glory and fame during the years to come, not to be perturbed by the material losses which came one after the other. These were:-
Sale of Zamindari properties, against realization of debt.
The devastating fire of 1932.
The earthquake of 1934 which claimed the palace at Purnea and the already burnt palace of Srinagar.
Kumar Ganganand Singh entered public life, quite early. He made his valuable contributions as:-
1. 1925-- President of Zila Shikshak Sangh Purnea.
2. 1929-- President of Behar Prantiya Hindustani Seva-dal.
3. Member of the Provincial war committee.
4. Leader of District national front, Darbhanga.
5. 1930-- Elected member of Chamber of commerce Bihar and Orissa.
6. 1930-31---Member of Arrow club of India, Burma and Ceylon.
7. 1932--Director of Labourers Union Bank ltd Purnea.
8. 1934--Minister of Bihar provincial cow protection association.
9. 1933-34---Minister of Goraksha Sangh under the president-ship of Pt. Madanmohan Malviya.
10. Founder of Hindu Mahasabha, Patna.
11. Member of All India Hindu Leaque, Lucknow.
12. Member of All India Bengal Hindu political conference.
13. from1943--Chief member of Benares Hindu University court.
14. Vice-president of Bihar Sanskrit council.
15. President of Bihar Sanskrit Parishad.
16. 1944--connected with Indian agricultural society and All India public body.
17. Member of the Senate and Syndicate of Patna University, for many years.
18. 1944--Trustee of ‘Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust’.
19. President of the provincial committee of the above trust.
20. 1946--Nominated member of All India fine arts and crafts society, Delhi.
21. 1946--Directorship of ‘Bihar pictures limited producers, distributors and exhibitions’.
22. 1948--Member of the visitor’s board for the improvement of District government Hospital, Darbhanga.
23. 1954 onwards- Member of ‘District development committee’ Purnea.
24. 1956--Nominated member of ‘Bodhgaya Temple Advisory Board’. Later he was made president of above.
25. 1962--President of ‘State Counsel for Women Education’.
26. Chief Commissioner of ‘Hindustan Bihar Scout’.

Kumar Ganganand Singh entered active politics, as early as 1923, soon after his college days. From 1923 to 1926 he was a ward commissioner of Purnea municipality and from 1924 to 1930, a member of the District board Purnea.
He was elected as a representative member of Purnea, Bhagalpur and Santhaal Parganas in the Indian Vyavasthaapikaa Sabhaa (constituent assembly) in1923.
In the days of the formation of the Indian constitution, there was a tussle for the president-ship of the Constituent Assembly, between Vitthal Bhai Patel of congress and Dewan Bahadur Sri Raghavacharya, who was a candidate from the side of British government. Ganganand Singh held the only vote, which would be decisive for the victory of either. It is said that the government tried to win him over by offering him a seat in the executive committee of the viceroy, and also the title of ‘Raja Bahadur’. But Kumar Sahib gave a wonderful example of his bravery and patriotism by voting Vithalbhai Patel to victory, completely ignoring the bribes of the British Government. Indeed it was an act of courage for a Zamindar to go against the wishes of the government. He repeated the example set by his worthy father who had dared to translate and publish the novel “Anand Math”.
He was again elected a member of the Constituent assembly in 1926 but later resigned in 1930, along with other eminent men like Motilal Nehru, Madanmohan Malviya, Satyamurti, Anne Sahib and Neelkanth Das. Soon after in 1930 he was elected as member of the assembly from Saaran- champaran but resigned once again, on the inspiration of Malviya.
Ganganand remained the president of Purnea district congress from 1925 to 1929. In 1928 he became a (minister) of the Akhil Bhartiya Congress.
In 1937 Ganganand Singh was elected member of the Bihar legislative council as an independent candidate from Darbhanga and Saaran. Again in 1946 he was elected for the above as an independent candidate from Bhagalpur and Munger. Once again he was elected as a candidate of Hindu Mahasabha and nationalist league by defeating his strong congress rival Satyanarain Singh.
When the Second World War started in 1939 the Hindu Mahasabha started a drive to encourage maximum enlistment of Hindus in the Army, with an aim to lead the country towards the establishment of a Hindu Nation through militarization. Kumar Ganganand Singh who was the president of Prantiya Hindu-sabha, toured throughout the province and encouraged more and more young men to join the army. Next he led the famous Prantiya Hindu Sammelan at Rosera in 1941 where he was welcomed by a procession of 21 elephants and a huge crowd of about a lac. Here, among other things it was decided that the next annual conference of All India Hindu Mahasabha would be held at Bhagalpur in the month of December next. But before he could leave by train for Bhagalpur to attend the proposed meet on 24/12/41, he was put under house-arrest by the British government. In spite of being prevented from leading the conference he succeeded in circulating printed pamphlets of the presidential and other speeches among the huge crowd of people who had gathered for the conference. Several resolutions were also passed successfully. Later, when he was released along with the other workers of the Mahasabha he went to Bhagalpur and a massive procession was taken out in the city. But the most memorable was the conference held at Champaran which he inaugurated and was led through the town in a procession of 33 elephants.
In 1952 he joined the congress once again. He became a nominated member of the Bihar legislative council in 1954. Again in 1960 he was elected to the Bihar legislative assembly. He became the education minister of Bihar in 1962 under the chief minister ship of Dr. Sri Krishna Singh. During this period the Bhagalpur and Ranchi University was established and the head-quarters of Bihar University was shifted from Patna to Muzzaffarpur. He opened a multipurpose middle school on the lines of the Neterhat School in Srinagar for which he made a donation of 90 bighas of good land, adjacent to the Garhi. The Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University of Darbhanga was established by his special efforts made in the direction and with the co-operation of the Maharaja. He also opened a Sanskrit high school in Srinagar.
Kumar saheb will always be remembered in the history of the legislative council of Bihar for his various rulings made as its nominated chairman from 1964 to March 1965.
Apart from the above, Kumar Sahib will always be remembered for his efforts made in the direction of the establishment of Maithili as a recognized language of India. Along with Raja Kirtyanand Sinha, Raja Tankanath Chaudhary of Maldwar and Babu Brajmohan Thakur, pleader of Purnea, he made valuable contributions to begin the study of Maithili in Calcutta University.
It was with the efforts, and advice of Kumar Sahib, that the Maharaja of Darbhanga established ‘The News Paper Ltd’ at Patna. Under this the two dailies “Aryavarta” and ‘The Indian Nation’ flourished for several decades and were established on the top of the list of newspapers of the province. ‘Mithila Mihir’, a monthly Maithili magazine was also started under the same organization. Ganganand Singh wrote for the above papers in the name of ‘Vrihaspati’.
Kumar Ganganand Singh will be mainly remembered for his literary works. He wrote poetry as well as prose with great acumen. In the field of prose he wrote, stories, plays, novels, and essays related to research, language and archeology. All his works are precious material for the archives of Indian literature and poetry.
His first story, “Eucalyptus” was published by the magazine ‘Saraswati’ in 1910. Some of his other articles in Hindi were :-1 Dwitiya Bhoj Saahitya-Saroj Kavi-Kul Chandra Srinagar Rajyaadhipati Raja Kamalanand Singh (Ganga, Bhagalpur)
2 Bharatendu-Smriti (Mithila Bharati)
3 Maharajaadhiraj ke sath ganga-Pravaah 5.3.1931
4 Baalmiki ka apne Kavya me Atmaprakaash (Hindi sahitya aur Bihar, Part 3)
5 Vidyapati ke Kavya ka Bkaktipaksha (Akashvani) etc.

But it was in his mother tongue Maithili that we find most of his creations. Some of them were:-
play (one act)=Jeevan Sangharsh
stories= Aamak Gaachhi, Panch-Parmeswar, Pandit-Putra, Manushyak Mol, Bihaair and Vivaah.
Novel= Agilahee, a novel dealing with child psychology.
Poems=Aahwaan,~ this was a poetic speech rendered by him as the president of Maithili Mahasabha, at Bousi Bhagalpur.
Essays=Nibandhak pragati, Maithili Saahityak Vikas, Raastriya Ektaak Mahatva, Satraham o athaaraham Shataabdeek Maithili Naatak, etc.
Apart from the above, Ganganand Singh’s Introduction of Chandraabharan, Foreword of Pranamya Devta and Maithili me Bihari and Preface of Subhadra-Haran was quite acclaimed. He successfully edited Adarsh Maithili Gadya Padya Sangrah and Mithila Geet Sangrah.
In May 1966 he became the vice-chancellor of the Kameshwar Singh Sanskrit University of Darbhanga and continued on this post till his death on 17-1-1970.
Dr. sacchidanand Sinha had written about him ‘Ganganand will be the last specimen of Aristocracy in Bihar’.
Being on a constant swift switch-over between the introvert, academic career of a writer, to the extrovert, political drives in the country was typical of Kumar Ganganand Singh.
[1] Cloth woven with gold and silver threads (brocade)
[2] Kumar Ganganand Singh by Suredra Jha “Suman” Pg 16-Rudranand is addressed as RAJA
[3] Mool Panjee-Courtesy Panjeekar Mohan Jha
[4] Shyamu thakur belonged to Khandwala Behat Mool.
[5] They were the daughters of Bhawnath Jha of Sarisava Khangur Mool and Shobhan Jha of the house of Mander.
[6] His descendents maintain that he died at the age of 34, so did his son Srinand and grandson Kamlanand. If this is to be taken as true, then Raja Rudranand Singh may have died in 1830. But this is impossible as his son Kumar Srinand Singh was born in 1845-46. We have the accurate date of Srinand’s death (He died on 17. 12. 1880), Now if he lived only 34 years, he must have been born in 1846. Pt. Ramanath Jha is also of the same opinion (Alayee Kul Prakash pg137). Accordingly, Rudranand should have been born around 1816. But, his father Dular Singh, was 66 years old in 1816. So I feel that, the belief of every ancestor living up to 34 years is incorrect as far as Rudranand is concerned. It is more probable and possible that Rudranand Singh died around 1848 at the age of 52.
[7] It was customary to address a Princess as DAIJEE
[8] Thin bricks used for construction in those days
[9]Murli Jha belonged to the house of Sodarpur kanhauli and held the Paanji called “Narpati Jha”.
[10] She was the daughter of Panjeekar Jagaddhar Jha of Sarisab Mool and held the Paanji of “Gonu Misra”
[11]Rani Nityarama was the grand daughter of Vaidik Chandra Dutt Jha. She came from the house of ‘Parihat Sankararhi’.
[12] son of Mahamahopaddhyaya Srinath Jha of Sirsia in Araria
[13] Janou- two and half tolas and medal- five tolas of gold. Following lines were inscribed on the medal “lqlnfl rdZ fopkjs tf;us·n% ikfjrksf"kda inde~@U;k;fons gpiwNk; Jhuxjs’kkS O;rkfj"Vke~ A”
[14] His works were published in saraswati between 1901-05
[15] Poet Janseedan was the private secretary to the raja.
[16] This is the C.M.S. School of today.
[17] Shahzaadi was buried near the Garhi. Her grave exists even today.
[18] ThitherJjha was from the house of Mander Jagour. And held the Panji Bhaiyan Jha
[19] Ramanand Jha belonged to Darihare-ratauli.
[20] Parmanand was of Pabouli-mool and Yogendra was from the house of Khouwal
[21] There were four major creditors- 1 Raj-Darbhanga 2 Raj-Banaili 3 Raja of Munger 4 Madhoram Sand of Benares.
[22] The Kumars of Srinagar let their Raiyati rights be auctioned against rent, allowed a decree to be executed against themselves and purchased the decree through their wives.
[23] in 1967 he was decorated with the title of mahopadhyaya, by university (pratisthan) Bombay and the title of vishwavidya- vaachaspati by international Sanskrit university, delhi, kala vidha in 1968