Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari

2021-12-19T09:56:52Z

2409:4060:E92:EF84:0:0:13CB:E906:

{{Short description|Known for introducing football in India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari
|native_name = নগেন্দ্র প্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারী
| image = Nagendra-Prasad-Sarbadhikary.jpg
| nationality = [[India|Indian]]
| alma_mater = [[Hare School]]<ref name="sportycious.com">{{Cite web|title=Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari: The Unsung Face Behind Indian Football|url=https://sportycious.com/nagendra-prasad-sarbadhikari-959391|access-date=2021-02-02|website=sportycious}}</ref>
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1869|08|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1940|01|17|1869|08|06|df=yes}}
}}

'''Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikary'''<ref>{{cite news|title=Legends Of Indian Football : The Pioneers|url=http://www.thehardtackle.com/2012/legends-of-indian-football-the-pioneers/|access-date=2 July 2014|publisher=The Hard Tackle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Passion Play in Kolkata|url=http://forbesindia.com/printcontent/31062|access-date=9 July 2014|publisher=Forbes India Magazine}}</ref> ([[Bengali language|Bengali]]: নগেন্দ্র প্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারী) is known as the '''''Father of Indian Football''''' for his role in founding the first Indian football organizations after introducing the sport to his fellow classmates at [[Hare School]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref>{{cite web|title=FOOTBALL IN BENGAL|url=http://ifawb.com/archives.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306042849/http://www.ifawb.com/archives.php|archive-date=6 March 2016|access-date=14 January 2021|publisher=The [[Indian Football Association]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Football|url=https://wbsportsandyouth.gov.in/football|access-date=14 January 2021|publisher=West Bengal Youth and Sports Department, Government of West Bengal}}</ref>

It was Nagendra Prasad who taught the game to his classmates at the Hare School compound in 1877,<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=History in Timeline of Indian Football|url=https://www.the-aiff.com/history|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308124507/http://www.the-aiff.com/history|archive-date=8 March 2020|access-date=2021-02-15|website=All India Football Federation}}</ref> after he observed British soldiers playing the game nearby in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]].<ref name="sportycious.com"/> Attracted by the enthusiasm of the boys in the school, the European teachers of the school and adjacent colleges encouraged Nagendra Prasad and his companions to promote the game among other students in and around [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]. The Boys' Club, founded by Nagendra Prasad around this time, was the first Indian initiative to create a football organization.<ref>P.L.Dutt, Memoir of ‘Father of Indian Football’ Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary (Calcutta: N.P.Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1944) (hereafter Memoir); and Saurindra Kumar Ghosh, Krira Samrat Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikary 1869–1940 (Calcutta: N.P. Sarbadhikary Memorial Committee, 1963) (hereafter Krira Samrat).</ref>

Later, he formed a string of sporting clubs in Calcutta in the 1880s, one of the first being the Wellington Club in 1884. Moni Das was one of the first members to be inducted by Nagendra Prasad to the Wellington Club, but the other members of the club protested about playing with this man as he was from the lower caste. Sarbadhikary said that a sporting ground is beyond any prejudice, but after the members' continued protest, he chose to dismantle the Wellington Club. Soon after, 500 members left and Nagendra Prasad founded the Sovabazar Club, which would become one of the leading sports institutions of colonial India. The first member of this new club was Moni Das. Das later captained the [[Mohun Bagan A.C.|Mohun Bagan Athletic Club]], yet another legendary institution of sports in India, colonial and post-colonial. Thus a man from the lower caste, through footballing process and sport broke into the upper echelons of the Hindu society.

==Birth and family==
Sarbadhikari was born on 27 August 1869 in [[Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]]), [[India]] into the renowned ''[[Sarbadhikari]]'' family originally hailing from [[Radhanagore|Radhanagar]] ([[Khanakul]]) situated in [[Hooghly district]].<ref name="ghosh461" /><ref name="Abhidhan">Subal Chandra Mitra, [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B73V76n-xz5zeE53cHJkU2NjTWc/view?usp=sharing "Saral Bangla Abhidhan" Bengali Encyclopaedia 7th ed, p1285-1286"], ''New Bengal Press'', 1936. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref> His father was Brigadier, Rai Bahadur Dr. Surya Coomar Sarbadhikari (1832–1904),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sangbadekalavya.in/2020/01/golondaj-footbal-bio-pic.html?m=1|title=প্রথম যে বাঙালি ফুটবলে 'কিক' মেরেছিলেন- তাঁর বায়োপিকে দেব}}</ref> a surgeon who served during the Sepoy Mutiny or [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] against the rule of the [[East India Company]].<ref>Amrita Lal Sircar, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CdlXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=rai+surya+kumar+sarbadhikari&source=bl&ots=7XYxqk5Uh0&sig=bmCaMqH4GTjR1SoD24QGtFfu1Oo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAWoVChMIqYPplP7xxwIVx0WICh2gwA6h#v=onepage&q=rai%20surya%20kumar%20sarbadhikari&f=false "The Calcutta Journal of Medicine: Vol. 24 Issue 2"], ''P.Sircar'', 1905. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref>

The Sarbadhikari family was founded during the early 15th century by ''Sureshwar Bosu of Choa'' ("Choa" is a village situated in [[Murshidabad district]] of present-day [[West Bengal]]), who was appointed Governor of Orissa province with the hereditary title of "[[Sarbadhikari]]" by the Imperial Court of Delhi.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/secondsupplement00luckrich#page/16/mode/2up "Second supplement to Who's who in India [microform] : brought up to 1914"], ''Newul Kishore Press'', June 1914. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref>

He had 7 brothers and 2 sisters. Of the brothers, the names of '''Sir Deb Prasad Sarbadhikari''' who became Vice Chancellor of [[Calcutta University]] (1914-1918),<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/secondsupplement00luckrich#page/122/mode/2up "Second supplement to Who's who in India [microform] : brought up to 1914"], ''Newul Kishore Press'', June 1914. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref> and [[Suresh Prasad Sarbadhikari]] (1866–1921), an eminent surgeon of British India who organized the Bengal Ambulance Corps to serve in the Mesopotamia War during World War I, and managed the Carmichael Medical College & Hospital, Calcutta (now R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital) with [[Dr. Radha Gobinda Kar]]<ref name="Dadoo">[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2415221/?page=1 "Suresh Prasad Sarbadhikari, B.A., M.D., C.I.E"], ''British Medical Journal'', publication_June 11, 1921, p 878. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref><ref>Heike Liebau et al, [https://books.google.com/books?id=TgNh2MQu0R0C&pg=PA360# "The World in World Wars"], ''Brill Publishers'', publication_2010. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref><ref>K. P. Thomas, [https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B73V76n-xz5zSEM4QndJd2xwX1k "Dr. B. C. Roy" p130], ''Atulya Ghosh'', 1955. Retrieved 9 Oct, 2020.</ref><ref name="ghosh461">Birendra Ghosh, [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B73V76n-xz5zV3ZkeEZJUmJFU0E/view?usp=sharing "Suresh Prasad Sarbadhikari"], ''Bharatbarsha - Bengali Magazine - Year 18, Volume II, Issue 3, p461-466'', pub.1930. Retrieved 9 Oct 2020.</ref> can be mentioned.

He was married to the daughter of ''Ananda Krishna Deb'' belonging to the [[Sovabazar Raj|Sovabazar Raj family]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://banglaamarpran.in/the-untold-story-of-father-of-indian-football-nagendra-prasad-sarbadhikari|title=ভারতীয় ফুটবলের জনক তিনি,আমরা কি মনে রেখেছি নগেন্দ্রপ্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারীকে?}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
A Bengali film titled ''[[Golondaaj]]'' directed by Dhrubo Banerjee and produced by [[Shree Venkatesh Films]] was released on 10th October, 2021, based on the life of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, with Bengali film superstar [[Dev (Bengali actor)| Dev]] playing the part of Sarbadhikari.<ref name=an>{{Cite web|title=সামনে এলেন নগেন্দ্রপ্রসাদ|url=https://www.anandabazar.com/entertainment/dev-s-new-look-as-nagendraprasad-in-upcoming-movie-golondaj-1.1104579|access-date=20 February 2021|website=Abandabazar Patrika}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=‘Golondaaj’ Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari: the father of Indian football|url=https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/nagendra-prasad-sarbadhikari-father-of-indian-football|access-date=2021-08-06|website=Olympics.com}}</ref> [[The Times of India]] gave the movie a 4.5 out of 5-star rating.<ref>{{Cite web|title=নগেন্দ্র প্রসাদ সর্বাধিকারীর জীবনের জানা-অজানা কাহিনী লেন্সবন্দি|url=https://eisamay.com/entertainment/film-review/golondaaj-movie-review-superstar-dev-gives-brilliant-performance-as-father-of-indian-football-nagendra-prasad-sarbadhikari/moviereview/86925875.cms|access-date=21 October 2021|website=Times of India Bengali}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://ifawb.org/nagendra-prasad-sarbadhikari/ Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari - IFAWB]
* [https://archive.org/details/sp-sarbadhikari/mode/2up?view=theater/ SP Sarbadhikari]
{{Football in India}}
{{Kolkata topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarbadhikari, Nagendra Prasad}}
[[Category:History of football in India| ]]
[[Category:Sport in West Bengal]]
[[Category:Sport in Kolkata]]
[[Category:History of West Bengal]]
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1940 deaths]]
[[Category:Hare School alumni]]
[[Category:Bengali sportspeople]]

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Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari