Shoshi Mukhi Das | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1868 Sylhet, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Died | August 1921 Sylhet, Bengal Presidency, British India |
| Occupation | Calvinistic missionary, teacher and nurse |
| Years active | 1870s-1921 |
| Employer | Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church |
Shoshi Mukhi Das (1868 – August 1921) was an Indian missionary of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, teacher and nurse.
Early life and family[edit | edit source]
Das was born in Sylhet, Bengal Presidency, British India, in 1868.[1] Her mother, Mary Das (née Grose), was raised in the orphanage of Welsh Calvinistic missionary William Pryse (1820–1869) and converted to Christianity.[2][3] Her father Babu Gour Charan Das had worked for the Welsh Mission in India and the police force.[1][3] There were seven children born to the family, including her sister Shushila Das (1870–1924).[2]
In 1891, Das' sister Shusila's fiancé was arrested during conflict in Manipur in the course of the Anglo-Manipur War. He was executed by beheading without a trial.[2]
Missionary work[edit | edit source]
As teenagers, Das and her sister Shushila worked at the zenana mission Girls School. In 1891, Das began medical training in Calcutta.[1]
In 1892, Das' father paid for her to travel to Britain to undertake formal medical training in Glasgow so that she would qualify for medical missionary work.[1] In May 1893, the General Assembly of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church accepted her into the service of the Welsh Mission.[4] While in Britain, Das also gave public lectures about the history and culture of her country to Methodist audiences. She would wear a sari and sing hymns in Bengali.[1]
Das returned to India in 1894.[1] For her missionary work, Das taught in the morning as a schoolteacher, visited the zenanas in the afternoon and practiced medicine in the evenings.[2] In 1896, her home in Karimganj burned down, then in 1897 an earthquake struck and malaria and cholera spread in the area of Sylhet.[1][2] Das caught malaria, suffered from dysentery and developed rheumatism, was nursed by her sister Shushila until she could resume her missionary work.[1] In 1904, Das wrote a report about the zenanas missionary work for the periodical The Friend of the Women of Bengal.[5][page needed]
In 1913, Das was granted furlough from her missionary work due to ill health and travelled from Calcutta to Wales.[1] During her furlough, Das lived at Oregon House in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, received medical treatments at the Royal Infirmary,[3] and gave talks to Welsh Methodists about her missionary work.[6] She lived in Wales until February 1915.[3] Das returned to India and resumed her missionary work in Sylhet until September 1918. She died in August 1921 in Sylhet.[1]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Singer, Rita. "DAS, SHOSHI MUKHI (1868 - 1921), missionary, teacher and nurse". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Rees, David Ben (2002). Vehicles of Grace and Hope: Welsh Missionaries in India, 1800-1970. William Carey Library. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-87808-505-7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Jones, Aled Gruffydd (2013). "lechyd ac iachawdwriaeth: meddygaeth, y corff a'r drefn foesol ym Mengâl drefedigaethol 1840-1935". Gwerddon (in Cymraeg): 15. doi:10.61257/hioz1764. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
- ↑ "The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists". Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald and North and South Wales Independent. 19 May 1893. p. 8.
- ↑ Nag, Sajal; Kumar, M. Satish (7 August 2023). Encounter and Interventions: Christian Missionaries in Colonial North-East India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-92713-9.
- ↑ "Hindu lady's speech. Interesting missionary meeting in Swansea". Cambria Daily Leader. 27 January 1914. p. 8.
External links[edit | edit source]
- 1913 photograph of Das at People's Collection Wales