Pandit Nilakantha Das (5 August 1884 – 6 November 1967) was an Odia politician, writer, and educator. He was active during the period when Odia political leaders were seeking a separate Odisha province and recognition for the Odia language.
Das served as headmaster of Satyabadi Bana Bidyalaya, a school founded by Gopabandhu Das, and later served as a member of the legislature. He participated in the Indian independence movement and was a contemporary of Mohandas Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, and Rajendra Prasad.
Odisha Province was established in 1936, the first province in India to be formed on a linguistic basis. Das was among those who advocated for its creation in the central legislature.
He also conducted research on the history of the Odia language. Odia was later granted classical language status in India, becoming the sixth language to receive this designation and the only Indo-Aryan language other than Sanskrit to hold it as of 2024.
He is referred to by some as Utkala Guru.
Life history Early life and education (1884–1911)
Nilakantha Das was born in the village of Sri Ramachandrapur, near Puri, Odisha, on 5 August 1884, into a Brahmin family. His grandfather had been a landowner and village headman but died at the age of 28, and the family subsequently lost their property under the Sunset Laws imposed by the British government for tax collection. As a result, his father, Ananda Das, was unable to pursue higher education.
After completing middle school in his village, Das attended Puri Zilla School and briefly studied at Ravenshaw Collegiate School. He completed a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and Philosophy from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack, and later studied for an MA in Literature and Philosophy in Calcutta. He also undertook legal studies but did not complete the degree. His education was funded through scholarships.
Influence of Pandit Gopabandhu Das
During his high school days, Nilakantha came under the strong influence of Pandit Gopabandhu Das, whom he always respected deeply and regarded as his mentor. Along with Acharya Harihara and another friend, he took a vow with Gopabandhu on the banks of river Bhargavi near Puri, not to accept any jobs under the British Government, and to dedicate their lives for the service of their motherland. They worked together on relief efforts in several flood and cholera-devastated areas, both in Nilakantha's student days and afterwards. Throughout Gopabandhu's lifetime, Nilakantha sought his advice before taking any major step, and worked as his right-hand man - trying to translate Gopabandhu's visions into reality.
Headmaster of Satyabadi School (1911–1918)
Gopabandhu Das established the Satyabadi Bana BidyalayaDas P. C., Dr. ( Sep-Oct 2007). "Satyabadi High School - The Man Manufacturing Factory": Orissa Review: 70-74 in 1909, and Nilakantha Das travelled to Calcutta to study for his MA before joining the school. The school was modelled on the ancient gurukula tradition and set in a forested area. It opened in 1911 with 19 students, with the 27-year-old Nilakantha Das serving as headmaster, or kulapati. Acharya Harihara Das and Krupasindhu Mishra were among his colleagues, and Godabarish Mishra later joined as a teacher.
The school admitted students regardless of caste or economic background, and children of different backgrounds lived and studied together on campus. This drew opposition from some orthodox Brahmins in the area, who burned the school building. Classes subsequently continued outdoors in the surrounding Bakula Bana until a brick building was constructed. The school was affiliated with Calcutta University and held its first matriculation examination in 1914. The period from 1911 to 1921 is referred to as the "Satyabadi Era" in Odia cultural history. Nilakantha Das left the headmaster position in 1918 and remained associated with the school until 1920.
Sir Ashutosh Mukherji, Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, visited the school and subsequently offered Nilakantha Das a position as professor of Oriya and Comparative Philosophy at Presidency College. He took up the post in September 1920 but left after three months to participate in the Indian independence movement and in efforts to unite Odia-speaking regions into a single province.
The legislator and litterateur (1921–1964) After leaving the professorship at Calcutta University, Nilakantha started his work in Sambalpur in January 1921. Under the leadership of Gopabandhu, he aimed to observe the conditions of local people, encourage their spirits, and help and unite them in various ways. He stayed in Sambalpur for nine months, helped dealing with an outbreak of cholera there, and published a magazine called "Seba" (Service). He established a very good High school there with the help and cooperation of many prominent local leaders. Moreover, Nilakantha led grass-root efforts to bring other bicchinna or annexed Odia speaking regions in Bihar with frequent trips to those areas as well.
Gopabandhu Das soon realized the lack of strong Odia representation in Delhi Central Legislative Assembly to champion Odia causes. On his advice, Nilakantha contested and was elected to the Central Assembly from Odisha in 1924, with three main objectives:
To amalgamate (unite) all the Oriya-speaking tracts under one province To bring all-around development of Odisha and India, and To fight British Imperialism from within.
In no time, he established himself as a powerful legislator in the Central Assembly in Delhi, and introduced many bills on behalf of Odisha, including the bill to repeal the Salt Tax on its people, and several bills for the formation of an independent Odisha Province. He worked tirelessly, with an undaunted spirit, on these issues. He also worked on improving the wages and living standards of labourers in various fields.
He retired from the Central Assembly and came to Odisha in 1945, and from 1945 to 1951 devoted his time primarily to literary pursuits. Later he joined as a legislator and speaker of the Odisha Assembly, and continued till 1961. He wrote his autobiography in 1963, for which he received India's Central Sahitya Akademi award in 1964. He died on November 6, 1967, at Cuttack.
The following sections elaborate the specifics of Nilakantha's work in the arena of his state and his country.
Formation of independent Odisha
The context for the creation of an Independent Odisha (then known as Orissa) province is as follows: During the Nineteenth century and first part of the Twentieth century, the once-proud Odisha, which did not come under a full British takeover until 1803, was subsequently dismembered and annexed by the British to four neighboring states, namely: Bengal, Bihar, Central Province (Madhya Pradesh) and Madras, and governed by the corresponding British presidencies. Originally, only the coastal districts, namely: Balasore, Cuttack, Puri, and areas nearby made-up Odisha, which was placed under Bihar/Patna jurisdiction.Map of Amalgamated Odisha with Bihar before 1936 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar_and_Orissa_Province) (The map in this section shows the amalgamated Orissa, outlined in red, before 1936.) Because of their linguistically minority status, the Odias in the annexed regions faced discrimination in jobs and academics and their children were not taught Odia in schools, which stifled the self-identity of Odias, and resulted in the drainage of financial resources of Odisha as well. So, for a long time, from 1880s, many prominent and concerned Odias wanted to amalgamate all Odia speaking regions under one administration.Choudhury, Janmejaya (Jan 2005). "The Utkal Sabha and Indian National Congress." Orissa Review: 1-2. Madhusudan Das made it a prime issue for Odias through his Utkala Sammilani.
Nilakantha was greatly inspired by Madhusudan Das's goal for the amalgamation (unification) of all Odia speaking regions under one administration by first attending his Utkala Sammilani in 1903 and then meeting directly with him in 1904. In 1917, Nilakantha presided over the Manjusha session of Utkala Sammilani and greatly helped in strengthening the demand for amalgamation of scattered Odia-speaking tracts including undivided Koraput, Ganjam, Paralakhemundi etc. of that time. This proposal is not the same as having an independent Odisha province, for which the proposed state must be financially independent. That requirement could not be fulfilled by Odisha, especially since the annexed areas were quite underdeveloped and poor. So Madhusudan and other prominent leaders of this movement (such as: Maharaja Shri Krushna Chandra Gajapati of Paralakhemundi), were willing to just put the cash-stripped amalgamated Odia-speaking regions as a sub-province under a single governing state, preferably Madhya Pradesh.Sahoo, Shridhar Charan, Dr. (April 2007). "Pandit Nilakantha & Formation of Orissa Province": Orissa Review: 20-28.
But Nilakantha was not satisfied with a sub-province status for Orissa, where it would still be subordinate to the governing state. After being elected to the Delhi Central Assembly in 1924, he became instrumental in creating the current independent Odisha Province, not just an amalgamated region or sub-province, in the important ways described below.
Introduction of legislative bills When Nilakantha, as a member of the Congress party, first tried to introduce the legislative bill informally for creating an independent Odisha Province, he did not get much support from top leaders in the Congress party. Pandit Motilal Nehru, due to other priorities, opposed its presentation to the British Government. So Nilakantha organized mass processions in Calcutta and other places denouncing this attitude of the Congress party.
Then Nilakantha bypassed many other hurdles in the Central Assembly and finally moved a resolution there in 1927, which asked for All Oriya-speaking tracts to be put under one local administration, in the form an independent, linguistically-based Orissa Province, claiming that "otherwise Odias won't be satisfied and agitations would continue."
He also reintroduced the resolution in All India Congress session in 1929 in spite of opposition at central level, and rejected an offer of Sir title by Alexander Muddiman, Finance Secretary, Government of British India, to accept Odisha as a sub-province.Ray, Lila (1985). Pandit Nilakantha Das: Life and Achievements. OCLC Number: 14214246Padhy, Kishore Chandra Dr. (1989). Utkala Guru Pandit Nilakantha (http://odishaarchives.nic.in/node/191165 ) Nilakantha also wrote several articles in The Statesman and The Bombay Chronicle on the formation of separate provinces on linguistic basis.Mishra, Anita (May 2012). "Pundit Nilakantha's Atmajivani: A Glimpse into Odishan Life and Struggle of an Era", Odisha Review: 27-31. Finally, Mahatma Gandhi mediated on the subject so that the bill was forwarded for further consideration in the Round Table Conference and by the British Parliament.
Inclusion of southern Odisha regions Nilakantha Das was responsible for the inclusion of southern regions, including Koraput, Paralakhemundi and Ganjam up to Chilika, in Odisha when it was formed on April 1, 1936. Until then those regions were under the Telugu-speaking part of the Madras State. A meeting was arranged by the "Andhra Eastern Culture Research Committee" on 16 June 1927 at Mukhalingam, where the committee wanted to establish the cultural root of those areas in the Telugu region and keep it in Madras. But Nilakantha presented historical facts and concrete evidence to the contrary, based on his in-depth research on the cultural heritage of the Southern Odisha regions, which the Andhra committee could not refute and was forced to relinquish its claim once for all.
Formation of language-based Odisha Province