Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Early History of Tagore Family (contd-8)

Dwarakanath was firm in defending the interest and sentiments of his people against European prejudices. He was one of those who took the role of spokesman of freedom of India abroad. He established on 21 March 1838 an Association for landholders (later known as Landholders' Society). The association was overtly a self-serving political association, founded on a large and liberal basis, to admit landholders of all descriptions, Englishmen, Hindus, Muslims, Christians. It was interesting to note that he along with Raja Radhakanta Dev founded the Gaudiya Sabha, the first political association in India to ventilate in a constitutiomal manner the grievances of the people or the section of them that were outspoken. From this grew the British India Association, the precursor to the Indian National Congress.  
Dwarakanath Tagore died on the evening of Saturday, 1 August 1846, at the St. George's Hotel in London during a tremendous thunderstorm, the likes of which had not been seen for many years. The London Mail of 7 August wrote of him, "descended from the highest Brahmin caste of India, his family can prove a long and undoubted pedigree."