Krishna Kumar Mitra (1852-1936) [ pic-2], Sri Aurobindo’s [ pic-1] maternal uncle, Mesho in
Bengali, i.e. mother’s sister’s husband.
He was born in the village of Baghil in the Mymensingh
district of Bengal. His father was Guruprasad Mitra.
Krishna Kumar was educated at Mymensingh’s Hardinge
Vernacular School and the Zilla School and obtained a bachelor’s degree from the
Scottish Church College ( then General Assemblies Institution} , Calcutta in 1876. Subsequently he studied law for a
while. He taught at the AM Basu School and College in Calcutta from 1879 to
1908, when he resigned from his post as superintendent and professor of history
following the colonial government’s threat to cancel the college’s accreditation
if he continued to be associated with the swadeshi movement.

Krishna Kumar was the editor of Sanjibani since 1883 in the first page of which was written three words Samya, Maitree, pragati, the three motto of French Revolution , and a
prominent leader in the anti-partition agitation. he was one of the pioneers of the movements of workers in Inhdia. He wrote a book aty book titled " Justice Murdered in India" Lastly a joint movement succeeded in implementing a " Tea law" in 1893. He became the president of Anti-circular Society. Besides his journalistic
pieces in the Sanjibani, Mitra also authored several books including
Mahammad-Charita, Buddhadev-Charita and Bauddhadharmer
Sangksipta Bibaran. He also wrote an autobiography, Krishna Kumar Mitrer
Atma Charit.
During trial, Krishna Kumar find lawyer, Chittaranjan
Das, and begged him to take the defense of Sri Aurobindo up.
Krishna Kumar played a conspicuous role in developing the
volunteer movement and was closely connected with the Anusilan Samiti of
Calcutta. In December 1908 the Criminal Law Amendment Act allowed a special
court of three judges without a jury to accept evidence not valid under ordinary
law, and their decision was final. The nine Bengali leaders — among them Krishna
Kumar Mitra — were so deported without even knowing the charges against them and
were not released until February 1910.
In May 1909, after his release, Sri Aurobindo went to
house of Krishna Kumar, 6 College Square, the north Calcutta, where he lived
till February 1910. Sri Aurobindo became the head of a household that included
his aunt Lilavati, and his cousins Kumudini, Basanti, and Sukumar. The family of
Krishna Kumar resides downstairs, while the office of his journal
Sanjivani is located upstairs. In two rooms here, Sri Aurobindo does his
writing work and speaks to those who come to see him.
Basanti Chakravarty, recounts: “Father was in jail in
Agra. Mother, always sickly, became very sick with worry. Their doctor, Dr. Col.
U.N. Mukherji, Surendranath’s son-in-law, advised Lilabati to have a daily bath
in the Ganges. Somebody always went with her. She seemed to prefer her nephew.
Na-masi would come up to Auro-dada when he was writing an article for the Dharma
or the Karmayogin and say, «Auro, please come along with me, let’s go for a bath
in Ganga.» At once Auro-dada would put down his pen and leaving the writing in
the middle, accompany her.”
The house was watched From police report: “Aurobindo
spends most of his day in study of religious books and in writing. He is said to
be accessible to almost anyone, known or unknown, who goes to call on him. His
principal associates, whom he visits and is visited by are Babu Ramananda
Chatterji, Gispati Kabyatirtha, Lalit Mohan Das, Prasanna Kumar Bose, Jitendra
Nath Banerji, Gyan Chunder Roy; C.R. Das, Barrister-at-law; B.K. Das,
Barrister-at-law; B.C. Chatterji, Barrister-at-law; S.N. Halder,
Barrister-at-law; and P. Mitter.”
In the beginning of February 1910, the nine deportees
were released. On the eleventh, Sri Aurobindo was at the station when his uncle
Krishna Kumar Mitra returned from the North.
dear sir,
ReplyDeleteim researching on Sri Krishna Kumar Mitra and kumudini mitra. it is written somewhere - Suprabhat, a Bengali monthly edited by Kumari Kumudini Mitra, now further- Nanak Charit by Krishna Kumar Mitra, the first instalment of which is given in this issue, commands interest both by its subject and the name of its writer. The two chapters given are full of interesting details of Nanak’s birth and childhood and promise an attractive biography of one of the greatest names in religious history. any source or where i can find about Nanak charita book. thanks