Raja Shyama Sankar (1837 to 1893) was the Zamindar of Teota Estate of East Bengal.[1][2] He was a capable landed aristocrat who invested in the development of agriculture and research.
Biography
editSankar was born in 1837 in Teota Zamindar Family of Manikganj.[3] His father was Tarini Sankar Chaudhuri was the Zamindar of the Teota Estate.[3] He completed his education in Dhaka.[3]
Sankar invested significant resources in improving agriculture and planting new crops.[3] The investment came at significant financial cost to him and was contrary to the practices of his contemporary zamindars who were generally apathetic to the agricultural practices in their estates.[3] In Dinajpur District, he tried to grow Ramie plant for its fiber but that ended in failure.[3] His estate lost 20 thousand rupees in that experiment.[3] He tried to farm a variety of sugarcanes.[3] According to the District Magistrate and the Dacca gazetteer his experiments was usually met with indifference by the farmers.[3] He and Parbati Sankar Roy Choudhury were known to be generous and considerate towards their tenants.[3]
Sankar was a contributor and the Vice-President of the Theosophical Society.[3] In the 1877 Delhi Durbar he was awarded the title of raja or Roy Bahadur by the Viceroy of India, Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton.[3] He served as a member of the executive committee of the Indian Association from 1876 to 1877.[3]
Sankar died in 1893.[3]
References
edit- ^ Sengupta, Kalyan Kumar (1974). Pabna Disturbances and the Politics of Rent, 1873-1885. People's Publishing House. p. 100.
- ^ "বাংলার জমিদার বাড়ি সমগ্র - ০৫ - qshohenq's bangla blog". m.somewhereinblog.net. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Roy, R (18 June 2021). "Ray Bahadur, Raja Shyama Sankar". Banglapedia. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Retrieved 2022-04-06.