ColumbusCoffman at 14:59, 31 December 2025

2025-12-31T14:59:04Z

>Deepangshu Dasgupta at 04:49, 8 January 2021

2021-01-08T04:49:40Z

New page

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harish Chandra Mukherjee<br/>হরিশ্চন্দ্র মুখোপাধ্যায়
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = 24 July 1824
| birth_place = [[Kolkata]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1861|06|16|1824|07|24}}
| death_place = [[Kolkata]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British India]]
| occupation = Journalist
| spouse =
| nationality = [[British India]]
}}

'''Harish Chandra Mukherjee''' () (24 July 1824 – 16 June 1861), was an [[India]]n [[journalist]] and [[Patriotism|patriot]], who fought for the indigo cultivators (and against the indigo planters) and forced the government to bring about changes .<ref name= "Bose">Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), 1976/1998, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, {{in lang|bn}}, p853, {{ISBN|81-85626-65-0}}</ref>

==Early life==
Son of Ramdhan Mukherjee, the family hailed from Sridharpur in Purba Bardhaman district but he was brought up in his maternal uncle’s place at [[Bhowanipur]] in [[Kolkata]]. As per the custom of the day, his father had three wives. Harish Mukherjee was son of the third wife Rukmini Devi. He was a free student at Union School but had to give up studies because of poverty. He started working in a small firm but later found employment, through competitive examinations, as a clerk in the office of the Military Auditor General. He gradually rose to a high position in that office and worked there all his life.<ref name = "Sastri">Sastri, Sivanath, ''Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj'', {{in lang|bn}}1903/2001, pp129-130, New Age Publishers Pvt. Ltd.</ref>

In 1852, he became a member of [[British Indian Association]] and soon became one of the members of its think-tank. He was one of the founders of the [[Sambhunath Pandit#Bhowanipur Brahmo Samaj|Bhowanipur Brahmo Samaj]].<ref name = "Sastri"/>

==Hindu Patriot==
A self-taught person he attained proficiency in history, politics, law and English. He severely criticised the government in such newspapers as ''[[Hindu Intelligencer]]'' edited by [[Kashiprasad Ghosh]] and ''[[The Bengal Recorder]]'' edited by [[Ramgopal Ghosh]]. He was associated with the ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]'' right form its start in 1853. In 1855, he secured the ownership and became the editor of the newspaper. [[Sambhunath Pandit]] used to write articles on legal matters in it.

When the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 struck, the political reaction in Bengal was not well defined. "There were, however, bold adventurers who could perceive dimly the inevitable trend in India’s political evolution."<ref>Sengupta, Nitish, ''History of the Bengali-speaking People'', p285, UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd., {{ISBN|81-7476-355-4}}.</ref> He wrote in the ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]'', "The time is nearly come when all Indian questions must be solved by Indians. The mutinies have made patent to the English public what must be the effects of politics in which the native is allowed no voice."<ref name= "Bose"/>

After his death in 1861, [[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]] was badly in want of resources, when [[Kaliprasanna Singha]] bought the magazine and saved it from extinction. Kaliprasanna initially handed over management of the magazine to [[Shambhu Chandra Mookerjee]]. ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]'' was edited for 23 years by [[Kristo Das Pal|Krishnadas Pal]].<ref>Sengupta, Subodh and Bose, Anjali, p104.</ref>

==Revolt of indigo cultivators==
[[Indigo dye|Indigo cultivation]] had been greatly increased from the 18th century. The cultivators were forced to undertake indigo cultivation for which they hardly got anything in return. The oppression gradually increased and when the cultivators could no longer bear it they revolted and refused to undertake indigo cultivation. It was then that the intelligentsia in [[Kolkata]] took up the matter. Harish Mukherjee played a vital pioneering role in that movement with his brilliant writing in the ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]''. His writing roused public opinion and finally [[Dinabandhu Mitra]] came out with his play ''[[Nil Darpan]]'' in 1860.

The indigo planters wanted to throttle the ''[[Hindoo Patriot|Hindu Patriot]]'' first. The case fell through because Bhowanipur was outside the jurisdiction of the English Supreme Court then functioning in Kolkata. So great was the wrath of the indigo planters that even after his death, they wanted to punish his widow with court cases. Subsequently, James Long was jailed but the net benefit was the setting up of an Indigo Enquiry Commission by the government that went into the entire problem. It did not solve the problem but put in some checks on the untold misery.<ref name = "Sastri"/>

The fallout of overwork during the period killed Harish Mukherjee in 1861. He died aged 37.<ref name= "Bose"/> A sad song circulated in those days:

::''Neelkarerā Sonār Bānglā korle ebār chhārkār''
::''Asamay Harish morlo'',
::''Long-er holo kārāgār''
::''Chāsīr ebār prān bānchāno bhār''.<ref name= "Bose"/>

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{cite book |last=Choudhury |first=Nurul Hossain |year=2012 |chapter=Mukherjee, Harishchandra |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mukherjee,_Harishchandra |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}

{{Bengal Renaissance}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukherjee, Harish Chandra}}
[[Category:Writers from Kolkata]]
[[Category:People from Purba Bardhaman district]]
[[Category:Brahmos]]
[[Category:Bengali people]]
[[Category:1824 births]]
[[Category:1861 deaths]]
[[Category:Journalists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]

Harish Chandra Mukherjee - Revision history

ColumbusCoffman at 14:59, 31 December 2025

>Deepangshu Dasgupta at 04:49, 8 January 2021