16/06/2026
A few facts on Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das was from a well-known Bengali family.
Deshbandhu was born on 5 November, 1870, he was the son of Bhuban Mohan Das, who was a lawyer and a journalist. He was also the nephew of Brahmo Samaj social reformer Durga Mohan Das ( one of the founder of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj ). His mother was Nistarini Devi.
His father was a solicitor and a journalist who edited the English church weekly, The Brahmo Public Opinion. Some of his cousins were Atul Prasad Sen, Satya Ranjan Das, Satish Ranjan Das, Sudhi Ranjan Das, Sarala Roy and Lady Abala Bose. His eldest grandson was Siddhartha Shankar Ray and his grand daughter is Justice Manjula Bose.
The Das family of Durga Mohan was a family of lawyers. Durga Mohan's eldest son Satya Ranjan matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and was at Middle Temple during 1883–1886, followed by Chitta Ranjan Das, Durga Mohan's brother's son, during 1890–1894. Satish Ranjan Das (1891–1894), Jyotish Ranjan Das and Atul Prasad Sen (1892–1895) followed suit.
Das was a nationalist from his college days.
After school, Das went to Presidency College, Calcutta and took an active part in the student’s movement. As a member of the Students’ Association (1886), he did attend lectures on patriotism delivered by compatriot Surendranath Banerjee.
Having developed a taste for Bengali literature, Chittaranjan’s political ideals were deeply influenced by the writings of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. He excelled in English and went on to do law at Inner Temple in London in 1883.
He defended Aurobindo Ghosh,
who was an accused in the Alipore Bomb Conspiracy case where two attempts had been made on the life of Mr Kingsford, Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calutta. In the second attempt two English women had died. Ghosh was charged with being the mastermind behind the bomb blast.
No lawyer came forward to defend Aurobindo. Das took up the challenge. After a trial that lasted 126 days, in which 200 witnesses were examined, Gosh was acquitted.
In the Alipore bomb case in 1908, Chittaranjan Das as defence counsel for Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, made this closing statement:
My appeal to you therefore is that a man like this who is being charged with the offences imputed to him stands not only before the bar in this Court but stands before the bar of the High Court of History and my appeal to you is this: That long after this controversy is hushed in silence, long after this turmoil, this agitation ceases, long after he is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism and the lover of humanity. Long after he is dead and gone, his words will be echoed and re-echoed not only in India, but across distant seas and lands. Therefore I say that the man in his position is not only standing before the bar of this Court but before the bar of the High Court of History. The time has come for you, sir, to consider your judgment and for you, gentlemen, to consider your verdict.
He started a newspaper to fight the British intellectually as well as to awaken his fellow countrymen, Das brought out a newspaper called ‘Forward’. Later it’s name was changed to “Liberty”. When the Calcutta Municipal Corporation was constituted in 1923, Das was the city’s first Mayor.
Das was at the forefront of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
Though an aristocrat, to set an example, Das gave up all luxuries when participating in the 1919-22 Non Cooperation Movement. In fact, Das was the leading figure from Bengal in the movement.
A supporter of self rule, Das gave a call for the boycott of foreign clothes.
Das’ clothes used to go for a wash to Paris, a practice he gave up when participating in the Non Cooperation Movement. Starting by burning all his European clothes, he gave a call for boycott of all foreign goods. In later life, he only wore khadi clothes.
The British rulers were unsparing towards Das and his family. He along with his wife Basanti Devi and son Chira Ranjan underwent 6 months of imprisonment for their participation in the Non Cooperation Movement in 1921.
When his only son Chira Ranjan was eagerly prepared to go to jail for the country, his relatives and friends advised Chitta Ranjan to dissuade him from doing so. At this Chitta Ranjan was more than angry with them. "When will you understand this simple truth, that I must send my own son to jail first and then only am I entitled to invite the Bengali youths to launch into the service of the Motherland?" More surprise awaits us. A deep and tranquil smile played upon his eyes the moment he heard that his wife Basanti Devi and his sister Urmila Devi were asked to step into the police station. For he realised that the hour of victory was fast approaching.
Das resigned as Congress president in the Gaya session opposing the Mahatama Gandhi faction motion about no legislative council entries for Congressmen legislators. Subhash Chandra Bose had worked under the leadership of Chittaranjan Das in the Congress party and regarded Das as his political guru.
He floated a political party.
Failure of the Non-Cooperation Movement and in opposition to Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership of Indian National Congress, Das along with Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party. The party contested elections and won a majority in the Bengal legislative councils election of 1924.
Das was all for Hindu-Muslim unity.
Educated in British legal system, Das was a believer in constitutional methods for realization of national Independence. He championed the cause of education, started a college and was a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity.
He wanted to reform cottage industries.
Having given up on foreign clothes, Das was for encouraging cottage industry and wanted a complete boycott of machine made foreign products. He also wished to reform the nation’s cottage industry, incorporate local self government and strengthen cooperative credit societies.
He supported widow re-marriage.
Das supported Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s movement for widow re-marriage. A couple of years before he died, he donated his home and the adjoining lands to set up an institution for improving the lives of women. The hospital Chittaranjan Seva Sadan in Kolkatta is founded on the land and home donated by Das.
Das was also a poet and a writer.
A voracious reader with a flair for writing, Das had read all the works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindranath Tagore. As a poet, Das wrote the collections of Mala, Antaryami and Kishore-Kishoree and contributed to scholarly magazines. With Aurobindo Gosh, he also founded the famous journal ‘Bande Mataram’ and was founder editor of ‘Forward’.
Illness did not stop Chittaranjan Das.
Das suffered ill health throughout his short but meteoric rise as a freedom movement leader. He underwent imprisonment. Aurobindo Gosh, in a public speech later, gratefully acknowledged that Das broke his health to save him.
Chittaranjan died young and Gandhi led his funeral procession.
In May 1925, his health began to fail. Das withdrew to a mountain home in Darjeeling where Mahatma Gandhi visited him. He died there on June 16, 1925 aged only 55. The body was brought to Calcutta where the funeral procession was led by Mahatma Gandhi. Rabindranath Tagore even penned a couplet in honor of the freedom fighter after his death.
Many institutions are named after him.
A national hero who had immortalized his name in the service of the nation, there are many enclaves and institution named after him. Some of them are Chittaranjan Avenue, Chittaranjan College, Chittaranjan High School, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Deshbandhu College for Girls, and the Deshbandhu Mahavidyalaya.
RBI issued a coin Chittaranjan Das’s name.
Firmly cast in metal, the Reserve Bank of India honored the brave life of Das by issuing a commemorative two rupee coin in 1998. It has been in general circulation since then.
His sense of duty:
His father, Bhuvan Mohan Das, had declared insolvency. Nobody could lay any claim on his debt, and according to the British Law the son was exempt from being charged. But the deepest sense of duty in the devoted son Chitta enjoined him to free his father. When a sum of Rs. 75,000 was made over to clear off the father's debt, Justice Fletcher, with a heart full of admiration for Chitta Ranjan's unprecedented deed, declared, "An act of this kind is not to be seen even in Europe." And soon after this momentous event took place his aged father died.
He was one of the key persons of forming Brahmo Sammilan Samaj.( From Brahmo Samaj Net)
It was his proposal that for the purpose of ensuring the full participation of Brahmo Ministers and members owing allegiance to all the three sections Adi, Navabidhan, and Sadharan Samajes, a new name, namely "Brahmo Sammilan Samaj" be adopted. This formal proposal was passed at a Special General Meeting held on 1st October 1902. Unity of all Brahmos in worship and in welfare and social activities had been a marked feature of the nascent institution and the future Deshbandhu felt that this should be enshrined in the very name as also in the rules and regulations of the Samaj. So he proposed yet another resolution that a committee be appointed to frame rules and regulations and to draw up a trust deed relating to the land and building that the Samaj was hoping to acquire and this also was accepted unanimously. The drafts presented by him were accepted at a meeting held on 16th.November 1902 and it can be legitimately surmised that he had done the bulk of the work involved.
