Rashbihari Ghosh

Background

Rashbehari Ghosh was born 23 December 1845 in the village of Torkona P.SKhandaghosh in Burdwan in Bengal Presidency.

Education

Rash Behari was educated in the Burdwan Raj Collegiate School, after which he entered the Presidency College, Calcutta. In 1871 he passed with honours the Law examination and in 1884 was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws.

Career

He obtained a first class in the Master of Arts examination in English. He served as the President of the Congress for two terms (Surat, 1907 and Madras, 1908), succeeding Dadabhai Naoroji. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire ( International Commission on Illumination) in the 1896 New Year Honours and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (Computer Society of India) in the 1909 Birthday Honours.

He was knighted in the 1915 New Year Honours and conferred with his knighthood on 14 July of that year.

Achievements

• He made a fortune through his legal practice, but donated much of it by way of charity and endowments.

Politics

He had deep faith in progress but was opposed to radicalism in any form.

Membership

Ghosh became a member of the Indian National Congress and leaned towards the moderate wing. Ghosh was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council (1891-1894, 1906-1909) and the Council of India.