Krushna Chandra Gajapati KCIE (26 April 1892 – 25 May 1974), also known as Captain

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

Sri Sri Sri Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayana Deba KCIE, was a key personality and regarded as the architect , founding father of an Independent

Odia Language Odia (, ISO: , ; formerly rendered Oriya ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the official language in Odisha (formerly rendered Orissa), where native speakers make up 82% of the population, and it is also ...

speaking state

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

. He was a scion of

Paralakhemundi Estate Parlakhemundi estate was a Zamindari of Odisha in the British Raj period .Before odisha province formation it was under Madras Presidency.The state was ruled as an independent kingdom till 1769.The royal family belong to the Krishnatreya gotra ...

(then Ganjam district of

and Srikakulam taluk of

Andhrapradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a States and union territories of India, state in the south-eastern Coastal India, coastal region of India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state by area covering ...

)and the owner of Delanga estate of

Puri district Puri district is a coastal district of the Odisha state of India. It has one sub-division, 11 tahasils and 11 blocks and comprises 1722 revenue villages. Puri is the only municipality of the district. Konark, Pipili and Nimapara are the thre ...

of Odisha. His family belonged to the great

Eastern Ganga Dynasty The Eastern Ganga dynasty also known as Purba Gangas, Rudhi Gangas or Prachya Gangas were a large medieval era Indian royal dynasty that reigned from Kalinga from as early as the 5th century to the mid 20th century. Eastern Gangas ruled much of ...

. He was the first Prime Minister of Orissa. The present-day

Gajapati District Gajapati district is a district of Odisha State in India. It was created from Ganjam District on 2 October, 1992. Gajapati district was named after Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb, the King of the Paralakhemundi estate and the first Prime ...

of Odisha was named after him.

Early life and education

Krushna Chandra was born on 26 April 1892 to the

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

Paralakhemundi Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. Majority of the people in the town speak Odia. The city and the Distri ...

, Goura Chandra Gajapati and his wife Radhamani Devi. He received his elementary education at the local Maharaja High School of Paralakhemundi and then went to

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

in Madras for higher studies. During his studies in Madras, he lost his father. After the completion of his education he returned to Paralakhemundi and in the year 1913 married the princess of

Kharsawan State Kharsawan State, also spelt Kharsua or kharaswan, ( Odia:ଖରସୁଆଁ)was a princely state in India during the era of the British Raj. The state had a privy purse of 33,000 Rs.It was one of the Odia Princely states of India during the p ...

. In the same year he succeeded as the next zamindar of his estate on 26 April 1913.

Role in the formation of Independent Odisha State

Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati, Utkal Gourav

Madhusudan Das Madhusudan Das (28 April 1848 – 4 February 1934) was an Indian lawyer and social reformer, who founded Utkal Sammilani in 1903 to campaign for the unification of Odisha along with its social and industrial development. He was one of the main ...

, Utkalamani

Gopabandhu Das Gopabandhu Das (1877–1928), popularly known as ''Utkalamani'' (''Jewel of Utkal'' or Odisha), was a social worker, reformer, political activist, journalist, poet and essayist. Early life Gopabandhu Das was born on 9 October 1877 in Suando ...

, Fakir Mohan Senapati and other eminent members of

Utkal Sammilani Utkala Sammilani ( or, ଉତ୍କଳ ସମ୍ମିଳନୀ)is an Indian social and cultural organization. It was founded in Odisha in 1903 by Madhusudan Das and continues in present times. History Utkal Sammilani was founded by Madhusuda ...

demanded a separate Odisha state with an amalgamation of Oriya speaking areas in the then Orissa-Bihar-Bengal province. Finally, with the efforts of this

, the separate state of Odisha was formed on 1 April 1936. From that day, 1 April is celebrated by the Odia people as Utkal Divas. His estate in Vizagapatam district was partitioned into two – with the capital and major parts coming under Orissa whereas the remaining Telugu-majority areas remained in the Madras Presidency. In 1937, the first Governor of Odisha, Sir John Austin Hubback invited Krushna Chandra to form the cabinet. He became the first Prime Minister of Odisha from 1 April 1937 to 18 July 1937, elected again for the second time from 24 November 1941 to 30 June 1944.

Social and philanthropic services

He was instrumental in the establishment of the Utkal University, the

SCB Medical College Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital is a public medical college in Cuttack in the Indian state of Odisha, named after Srirama Chandra Bhanja. It is one of the oldest centers of medical teaching and training in India. It is lo ...

, the famous Central Rice Research Institute in Bidyadharpur, Cuttack and later MKCG Medical College & Hospital in Berhampur. He set up many hospitals, schools, colleges, industrial institutions, modern agricultural farms and provided a record number of 1281 irrigation sagars or water-tanks in his agriculturally dominant native taluk. For this reason, the undivided Ganjam District was given the title 'the rice-bowl of Odisha'. Under Gajapati, scholarships were awarded to thousands of poor and meritorious students in humanities, science, agriculture, medicine, and engineering, among others. Apart from these, Maharaja was a well-known patron of the arts and research scholars in various fields. He supported the historical research of Padmasri Dr.

Satyanarayana Rajguru padmasri Satyanarayana Rajguru (1903-1997) was an Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian. He was a curator and epigraphist at the Odisha State Museum and was a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, ''Bharati Bhushan'' award, Ganjam Sahity ...

and the recordings of renowned Odissi musician ''Gayaka Siromani'' Apanna Panigrahi. He was devoted towards ancient poets, especially Kabi Kalahansa Gopalakrusna of Paralakhemundi. Maharaja was himself an expert in ancient

Odissi music music () is a genre of classical music in India, originated from the eastern state of Odisha. The traditional ritual music for the service of Lord Jagannatha, Odissi music has a history spanning over two thousand years, authentic ''sangita-shas ...

and literature and has a number of original compositions to his credit, such as '''Manu Jau Nahi Ma', 'Radhadhara Sumadhura''' and others.

Political services and honours

Krushna Chandra served as a Captain in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He received a rare Sanad in 1920 from the then Viceroy and Governor General of India, in recognition of his services rendered to the Indian Army during the Great War and as a mark of commendation. He was a Member of the Royal Commission on Agriculture, under the Chairmanship of Lord Linlithgow. He was also a Member of the Madras Legislative Council. He was awarded honorary Doctorates by the Utkal University and the Berhampur University, and was appointed a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(KCIE) in the

1946 New Year Honours The 1946 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and to celebrate the passing of 1945 and the beginni ...

. Krushna Chandra died on 25 May 1974 at the age of 82. He was accorded a state funeral by the Government of Odisha and was cremated with full honours at

References

External links

* http://gajapati.nic.in/sonsofsoil/eminent%5Cemiperson.htm * http://orissa.gov.in/portal/LIWPL/event_archive/Events_Archives/69Maharaja_Krushna_Chandra_Gajapati.pdf * http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2010/April/engpdf/56-57.pdf * Orissa Review, January-2009 issue. Published by the Govt. of Orissa. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gajapati, Krushna Chandra 1892 births 1974 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights Scholars from Odisha History of Odisha Members of the Constituent Assembly of India People from Paralakhemundi Odisha politicians 20th-century Indian politicians