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'''Susil Kumar Rudra''' (7 January 1861 – 29 June 1925) was an Indian educationalist and associate of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] and [[Charles Freer Andrews|C F Andrews]] who served as the first Indian principal of [[St Stephen's College, Delhi]].

== Early life and family==
Rudra was a second generation [[Christianity in West Bengal|Bengali Christian]] from a large land holding family of Bansberia in the [[Hooghly District]] of [[Bengal]]. His father Pyari Mohun Rudra converted to Christianity in 1860 under the influence of the Scottish missionary [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]] and his mother followed suit the following year. His father subsequently became a missionary working with the [[Church Mission Society]] in [[Calcutta]] and in rural [[Bengal]]. Rudra graduated from the [[University of Calcutta]] and left for [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]] where he became a member of staff of St Stephen's College in 1886.<ref>{{cite book|last=O Connor|first=Daniel|title=A Clear Star: C F Andrews and India 1904 -1914|year=2005|publisher=Chronicle Books|location=New Delhi|pages=37|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1wJ3zXnSr0C&q=Sushil+Kumar+Rudra&pg=PA37|isbn=9788180280238}}</ref>

Rudra married Priyobala Singh in 1889 who died of [[typhoid]] in 1897. The couple had three sons, the youngest of whom, [[Ajit Rudra|Ajit Anil Rudra]], was one of the first Indians to receive the King's Commission in the [[28th Punjabis|Punjab Regiment]], going on to become a [[Major General]] in the [[Indian Army]].<ref name="VisvanathanSusan">{{cite journal|last=Visvanathan|first=Susan|title=S. K. Rudra, C. F. Andrews, and M. K. Gandhi: Friendship, Dialogue and Interiority in the Question of Indian Nationalism|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=24 August 2002|pages=3532–41}}</ref>

== At St Stephen's College ==
Rudra worked at St Stephen's College from 1886 until his retirement in 1923 where he variously taught English, economics and [[logic]]. In 1906, he became its fourth, and first Indian, principal and served in that post until his retirement in 1923. It is thought that Rudra might have been the first Indian to hold that post in any missionary institution in India. Under Rudra, the college grew both in size and reputation and became a largely [[residential college]]. Along with C F Andrews, Rudra drew up a constitution for the college that helped Indianise it, gradually moving administrative control away from its founders, the [[Cambridge Mission to Delhi|Cambridge Brotherhood]]. It was also under him that a policy of equal pay for staff irrespective of race was adopted at the college.<ref name="VisvanathanSusan" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Footprints on the Sands of Time|url=http://www.ststephens.edu/archives/history3.htm|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref>

== Gandhi's associate==
Rudra was a close friend and associate of Gandhi and of [[Charles Freer Andrews|C F Andrews]]. On Gandhi's maiden visit to [[Delhi]] after his return from South Africa, he stayed with Principal Rudra at his official residence on the College premises in [[Kashmere Gate (Delhi)|Kashmere Gate]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bapu's tryst with Delhi|url=http://www.news24online.com/BlogDetail.aspx?blog_id=116,60|publisher=News24Online|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref>
Later, the draught for the [[Non-Cooperation Movement]] and an open letter to the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]] outlining the [[Khilafat]] demand were also prepared at this house.<ref>{{cite news|title=When Bapu stayed at St Stephen's College|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/When-Bapu-stayed-at-St-Stephen-s-College/Article1-272609.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130125100412/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/India/When-Bapu-stayed-at-St-Stephen-s-College/Article1-272609.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 January 2013|access-date=24 December 2012|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=29 January 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Stephen's row: Sandeep Dikshit forms new alumni body|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-17/delhi/29784625_1_alumni-association-sandeep-dikshit|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126114525/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-17/delhi/29784625_1_alumni-association-sandeep-dikshit|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 January 2013|access-date=24 December 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=17 July 2011}}</ref> While Gandhi revered him as a 'silent servant', he was reluctant to stay with him after the declaration of the anti-Rowlatt Satyagraha fearing it would compromise Rudra and expose the college to unnecessary risk. Gandhi's demurrals were however rejected by Rudra who saw this hospitality as only 'a little service to his country'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Fernando|first=Leonard|title=Christianity in India: Two Thousand Years of Faith|year=2004|publisher=Penguin Books|location=New Delhi|pages=170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dgYjLCSa0wC&q=Sushil+Kumar+Rudra&pg=PA169|isbn=9780670057696}}</ref>

Rudra held a close friendship with Andrews who joined St Stephen's College in 1904. Andrews turned down the job of Principal in 1906 to enable Rudra to become the college's first Indian principal.<ref>{{cite web|last=Guha|first=Ramachandra|title=Searching for Charlie|url=http://ramachandraguha.in/archives/searching-for-charlie-the-telegraph.html|publisher=The Telegraph|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref> In 1911, Rudra helped [[Lala Hardayal]], a Stephanian who headed the [[Ghadar Mutiny|Ghadar Movement]] leave the country. Inspired by Rudra, Andrews and Rev William Pearson left for South Africa in 1914 to persuade Gandhi to return to India and lead the [[India's freedom struggle|country's freedom struggle]]. Andrews was also responsible for bringing together Rudra, [[Rabindranath Tagore]], Gandhi and [[Sarojini Naidu]] in memorable friendships. It is believed that Tagore finalised the English draft of the [[Gitanjali]] while staying at Rudra's residence when he visited St Stephen's College in October 1916.<ref>{{cite web|title=St.Stephen's College – Handbook 2012|url=http://www.ststephens.edu/Handbook%202012.pdf|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref>

== Death and commemoration==
Rudra retired to [[Solan, Himachal Pradesh|Solan]] in Himachal Pradesh on his superannuation from St Stephen's College in 1923. He died there, aged 64, on 29 June 1925 and is buried at the English Chapel in Solan. In an obituary Gandhi wrote in [[Young India]], he called Rudra and Andrews his revisionists and described Rudra as a silent but deeply interested spectator in the happenings of the national struggle.<ref name="VisvanathanSusan" /> Rudra left a sum of {{INR}}1,000 to St Stephen's College whose interest would serve to host an annual dinner for the College's servants. The event, called the Rudra Dinner, held on 12 February every year commemorates the death anniversary of Mrs Priyobala Rudra and the birth anniversary of C F Andrews both of which happen to fall on the same day.<ref name="VisvanathanSusan" /><ref>{{cite web|title=In memory of an Indian Principal|url=http://www.coolage.in/2012/02/25/in-memory-of-an-indian-principal/|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref> Rudra was also one of the founding members of the [[Modern School (New Delhi)|Modern School]] in Delhi where since 1928, the Rudra Prize has been instituted in his honour.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|title=A Dream Turns Seventy Five: The Modern School, 1920–1995|year=1995|publisher=Allied Publishers|location=New Delhi|pages=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2y2gvqv2xsEC&q=Sushil+Kumar+Rudra&pg=PA153|isbn=9788170234999}}</ref> Andrews' works ''[[North India]]'' (1908) and ''[[Sadhu Sundar Singh]]'' (1934) are dedicated to Rudra.<ref>{{cite web|last=Vepa|first=Arvind|title=St Stephen's College – A History|url=http://ase.tufts.edu/chemistry/kumar/ssc/html/sschis.html|access-date=24 December 2012}}</ref>

== References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudra, S. K.}}
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:1861 births]]
[[Category:1925 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:Gandhians]]
[[Category:People from Hooghly district]]
[[Category:Educators from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Indian Christians]]

S. K. Rudra - Revision history

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