The fourteenth annual conference of Bangiya Sahitya Sammelan was held at Kanthal Para of Naihati, the birth place of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Maharaja of Bardhaman Bijoy Chand Mahtab presided over the conference and Haraprasad Sashtri was the president of Reception Committee.
Bijoychand Mahtab
His rule started in 1887 and lasted till 1941. It was the longest in the Bardhaman Raj. In 1887, he was only six years old. Therefore, the Court of Wards along with the Diwani-i-Raj, Banbehari Kapoor, ruled up to 1902. During the later part of the rule, there were allegations of financial corruption. Coupled with mismanagement, the affairs of the Raj were in shambles. In 1893, the title of ‘Raja’ was bestowed on Banbehari Kapoor. The government permitted the raj in 1897 to maintain an armed force of 600 people and 41 cannons. In 1899, Vijay Chand Mahtab passed the entrance examination of Calcutta University, and was the first in the Raj family to obtain a formal educational qualification.
At the earnest request of Haraprasad Sashtri, Rabindranath came to Naihati with Nihar Ranjan Roy [1903-1981] in his car on the first day of the conference, 23 Jun. at about 3 pm he reached the stage of the conference when he was accorded warm welcome. at the request of the president Rabindranath said something on "Bankim Chandra and Present Literautre". Though his lecture was brief, the audience got it spellbound. It was published in the minutes of the 14th Conference in Book form written by Jnanendranath Sashtri. ananda Bazar Patrika on 27th June reported the gist of his lecture which shows the respect he had on Bankim Chandra.
