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Gaurishankar Udayshankar, Gaurishankar, or Gaga Oza (21 August 1805 – 1 December 1892) was chief minister of
He helped to establish the Rajkumar College at
History of Bhavnagar
at MapsOfIndia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Udayshankar, Gaurishankar 1805 births 1892 deaths Administrators in the princely states of India Indian dewans People from Gujarat Bhavnagar People from Bhavnagar district
Bhavnagar
Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...
state in Kathiawar
Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...
, India from 1850 to 1879. He was very well known and well respected for his keen statesmanship.
Life and Career
He was born into a family of Vadnagara NagarBrahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s from Ghogha
Ghogha is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the state of Gujarat, India. It is situated on the mid-western bank of the Gulf of Khambhat. It was an important historical commercial port on the Arabian Sea until the development of nearby Bha ...
near Bhavnagar.
He rose from being a revenue officer to state minister in 1847. On the death of the reigning chief, in 1870, he was appointed joint administrator in concert with a British official.
During his tenure, many improvements were introduced. The land revenue was based on a cash system, the fiscal and customs systems were remodelled and tree planting was encouraged. The Gowrishankar Waterworks was completed in Bhavnagar, on which six lakhs of rupees were spent. The Bhavnagar state began construction of a network of railway lines over the peninsula of Kathiawar. The British government acknowledged Gowrishankar's many services with the distinction of Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:
# Knight Grand Commander (GCSI)
# Knight Commander ( KCSI)
# Companion ( CSI)
No appointments ...
in 1877.
Charitable and religious works
He helped to establish the Rajkumar College at Rajkot
Rajkot () is the fourth-largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Surat, and is in the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Rajkot is the 35th-largest metropolitan area in India, with a population of ...
, for the education of native princes, and also the Rajasthanik Court, which, after settling innumerable disputes between the land-owning classes and the chiefs, has since been abolished. In 1879 Gowrishankar resigned office, and devoted himself to the study of the higher literature of that Vedanta
''Vedanta'' (; sa, वेदान्त, ), also ''Uttara Mīmāṃsā'', is one of the six (''āstika'') schools of Hindu philosophy. Literally meaning "end of the Vedas", Vedanta reflects ideas that emerged from, or were aligned with, t ...
philosophy which through his whole life had been to him a solace and guide. In 1884 he wrote a work called ''Svarupanu-sandhan'', on the union of the soul with Deity, which led to a letter of warm congratulation from Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
, who also published a short biography of him. In 1887 he put on the robe of the Sanyasi
''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' As ...
or ascetic, the fourth stage, according to the Hindu Shastra
''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...
s, in the life of the twice-born man, and in this manner passed the remainder of his life, giving above ten hours each day to Vedantic studies and holy contemplation. He died, revered by all classes, in December 1892.
Legacy
On December 20, 1959 - a biographical play was broadcast onAll India Radio
All or ALL may refer to:
Language
* All, an indefinite pronoun in English
* All, one of the English determiners
* Allar language (ISO 639-3 code)
* Allative case (abbreviated ALL)
Music
* All (band), an American punk rock band
* ''All'' (All a ...
. This was authored by Jitubhai Mehta.
References
Further reading
*External links
History of Bhavnagar
at MapsOfIndia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Udayshankar, Gaurishankar 1805 births 1892 deaths Administrators in the princely states of India Indian dewans People from Gujarat Bhavnagar People from Bhavnagar district