Born on the 10th of November in the year 1848 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the Indian state of West Bengal, Surendranath Banerjee was one of the most prominent and first politicians of the country, who led to the foundation of the Indian National Association—one of the very first political associations of India.
Later, he became one of the senior leaders of the Indian National Congress party, and became popular with the title of “Rashtraguru,” which when translated into English, means “Teacher of the Nation.”
As a child, he had ideologies and essence of liberalism as well as progressive thinking inculcated in his mind from the roots of his family and he pursued his graduation degree from the University of Calcutta, before moving to England to sit for the Indian Civil Service tests. Given his intellect, he cleared the tests, however, due to a confusion with his date of birth, he was not allowed to pursue the stream.
In the year 1871, he once again cleared the exams and was appointed as an assistant magistrate at Sylhet, but it too was short lived as due to matters of racial disparities, he was sacked from the job.
He developed keen interest in philosophy and came to be known as the “Indian Burke.” He was a strong leader who opposed the partition of Bengal and became a mentor for the then upcoming leaders such as Sarojini Naidu and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He passed away on 6th August, 1925.
