Bhupendra Nath Bose
(1859-1924)
President - Madras, 1914

Bhupendra Nath Bose was born at Krishnagar (Bengal) in 1859. His father was a clerk in a local zamindar's estate. This Kayastha family earned little and lived simply.

Bhupendra Nath obtained his first degree from the Presidency College in Calcutta in 1880. Then he took the Master's in 1881, followed by the Bachelor of Law degree in 1883. He was also a scholar in Persian and Sanskrit. In 1907 he went to England as a delegate pleading for the annulment of the Partition decree. Ten years later, in 1917, he went to England nominated as a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India. In 1922 he represented the Indian Government at the Labour Conference in Geneva. His political compatriots were men like Surendranath Banerjea, Bipin Chandra Pal, Abdul Rasul and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

He was a member of the Bengal Legislature for six years, from 1904 to 1910. During those years he also worked for the nationalist movement. In 1905 he presided over the Bengal Provincial Conference held at Mymensingh, joined the anti-partition agitation and toured throughout Bengal calling for a boycott of British goods. In 1910 he opposed the passing of the Press Act. In 1914 he was the President of the Indian National Congress at Madras. As the nationalists moved towards extremism. Bhupendra Nath moved away and closer to the Government. In 1917 he became a member and under-secretary in the Council of the Secretary of State for India. He remained in that position till 1923 when he was made a member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Bengal. When he died in 1924, he was working as the Vice-Chancellor of' the Calcutta University.

Bhupendra Nath was closely associated with education and politics in Bengal. He was an active worker in the National Council of Education. In his earlier years he was also connected with the Calcutta Corporation as a Municipal Commissioner. His standing in Bengal politics was fairly high. He ranked next to Surendranath Banerjea as a moderate leader.

He supported the Age of Consent Bill 1891. He was in favour of western education. Above all, Bhupendra Nath was a nationalist and wanted self-government for India. He fought the Government but from within and not outside.

- Uma Das Gupta

India wants a higher life, a wider sphere of activity and usefulness. India wants that her Government should be consistent with her growing self-respect and intellectuality.

From the Presidential Address - Bhupendra Nath Bose
I.N.C. Session, 1914, Madras.