Bhudev Mukhopadhyay

He introduced the idea of Bharat Mata (Mother India), a national personification of India as a mother goddess.

• Name — Bhudev Mukhopadhyay • Honorific Suffix — CIE • Born — 22 February 1827 • Birthplace — Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India) • Died — 15 May 1894 • Place of death — Calcutta, Bengal Presidency • Occupation — * Educator • Writer • Education — Aliah University (then known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta)

He was born at Calcutta, Haritaki Bagan Lane in North Kolkata on 22 February 1827 to Pandit Biswanath Tarkabhusan, a renowned Sanskrit scholar. His ancestral village was Natibpur (Khanakul) in Hooghly District. He was a student of Sanskrit College and Hindu College, studying at the same time as other Bengal Renaissance figures such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt. After completing his education at Hindu College, Bhudev became the headmaster of the Hindu Hitarthi School in 1846. He later founded Chandannagar Seminary and taught there. In 1848, he joined Calcutta Madrasa (Madrasa 'Aliya) as English teacher. In 1856, he was selected for the post of Principal of Hooghly Normal School through a competitive examination for which his former class-mate Michael Madhusudan Dutt was also a candidate.

In 1862 he was appointed Assistant Inspector of Schools. He was appointed as the first Indian headmaster of Howrah Zilla School. He was later appointed Inspector of Schools and served in the states of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Recognizing his services, Mukhopadhyay was awarded the CIE (Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire) in 1877 by the British. In 1882 he was appointed as Director of Public Instruction and was also nominated to the Lt.-Governor's Council and the Education Commission later that year. Mukhopadhyay retired from public service in 1883. He was also involved with several educational journals including Shiksadarpan O Sangbadsar and the Education Gazette, which he edited. This involvement lasted from 1868 until his retirement. His sense of nationalism was so strong that the English principal of Presidency College once noted, "Bhudev with his CIE and 1500 a month is still anti-British."

• Paribarik Prabandha (1882) - essay • Samajik Prabandha (1892) - essay • Achar Prabandha (1895) - essay • Prakrtik Bijnan (in two parts, 1858 & 1859) - Book • Purabrttasar (1858) - Book • Englander Itihas (1862) - Book • Romer Itihas (1862) - Book • Banglar Itihas (3rd Part, 1904) - Book • Ksetratattva (1862) - Book • Puspanjali (1st part, 1876) - Book • Anguriya Binimoy (1857) - Novel • Aitihasik Upanyas (1857) - Historical Novel • Svapnalabdha Bharatbarser Itihas (1895) - Novel