The Forgotten Legacy of Raja Subodh Mallik: Part 2 - Aurobindo, the House, and a Story of Shameful Neglect
Subodh Mallik was also a close partner and confidante of someone who I consider to be one of the most important figures in modern Indian history - Aurobindo Ghosh. The well-known Śrī Aurobindo, in his political avatar, was one of the most prominent names in the nationalist politics of this period. Having spent many years working as a teacher in the administration of the Gaekwad Maharaja of Baroda, Aurobindo also worked to rouse the national consciousness through his fiery columns in Bipin Pal’s Bande Mataram, a magazine Aurobindo would later come to edit himself. Subodh Mallik was the co-publisher and patron of the Bande Mataram newspaper, and the paper was edited from a room in a (different) house owned by Subodh Mallik, which is just behind the more famous house at 12, Wellington Square.
I had the privilege of visiting this second house in March 2023, where I was graciously hosted by a surviving descendant of Subodh Mallik, Mr. Kunal Mallik, who also provided me with a lot of the first-hand anecdotes that have been shared in this article. The house I visited was a beautiful British-era Bengali residential structure, with walls that whispered their history to anyone who cared enough to listen. The feeling of being in this house reminded me of this beautiful passage from V.S. Naipaul in his second India book, A Wounded Civilization:
From the lane the two establishments did not appear connected. The shop was small, its little front room and its goods quite exposed. The house, much wider, was blank-fronted, with a low, narrow doorway in the middle. Within was a central courtyard surrounded by a wide, raised, covered veranda. At the back, off the veranda, and always shaded by the sun, were the private rooms. It was surprising, after the dust and featurelessness of the lane: this ordered domestic courtyard, the dramatization of a small space, the sense of antiquity and completeness, of a building perfectly conceived. It was an ancient style of house, common to many civilizations; and here - apart from the tiles of the roof and the timber of the veranda pillars - it had been rendered all in stone. The design has been arrived at through the centuries; there was nothing now that could be added. No detail was unconsidered. The veranda floor, its stone flags polished by use, sloped slightly toward the courtyard, so that water could run off easily. At the edge of the courtyard there were metal rings for tethering animals (though it seemed that the sarpanch had none). In one corner of the courtyard was the water container, a clay jar set in a solid square of masonry, an arrangement that recalled the tavern counters of Pompeii. Every necessary thing had its place.
As someone who is deeply inspired by Aurobindo’s political writings, it was nothing short of a pilgrimage to be able to visit the very room where the Bande Mataram newspaper was edited. And this appreciation was doubled by the knowledge that it was Subodh Mallik’s support that allowed Aurobindo to inspire the nation. When in Calcutta, Aurobindo used to live in Mallik’s house, sometimes editing the paper with Mallik deep into the night!
When Aurobindo and his “nationalist” faction (known to Shuddho history as the “Extremists”) went to Surat in 1907 to collide with the “loyalist” faction (known as the “Moderates”) of the Indian National Congress (an event now famous as the “Surat Split”), it was Subodh Mallik who bore all the expenses for all the delegates from Bengal who where attending the session.
Before working with Aurobindo in the matters of Bande Mataram and the Indian National Congress (and other, more discrete matters), Subodh Mallik had also played a crucial role in inviting the great man give up his position in the administration of the Gaekwad of Baroda, to become the Principal of the National College in Bengal. This College is, of course, (tragically) modern-day Jadavpur University. It’s been some journey for this institution, to go from being the leading light of the nationalist movement, to only entering the national conscience these days for its latest Communist student demonstration.
Jadavpur’s own website details its (based on its current status, undeserved) legacy:
Generous donations for the great cause of national education came from Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik, after whom the road on which Jadavpur University stands, is named, Brojendra Kishore Roy Choudhury, Maharaja Suryya Kanto Acharya Choudhury and others and National Council of Education (N.C.E.), Bengal proceeded with its programme. Subsequently came a princely bequest of ₹13 lakhs from Sir Rashbehari Ghosh, the legendary legal luminary.
The website adds:
Sri Aurobindo was the first Principal of the Bengal National College and among the teachers was luminaries like Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Gurudas Banerjee, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Surendra Nath Banerjee, Ramendra Sundar Trivedi, Radha Kumud Mukherjee, Benoy Kumar Sarkar, Sakharam Ganesh Deoskar and others.
Talk about an all-star faculty! In the period between 1905-08, the atmosphere in the Swadeshi Movement was electric. As the famous historian Radha Kumud Mookerji, himself a teacher at the National College, recalls:
“..in those stirring times when the country, especially Bengal, was thrown into a whirlwind agitation over the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon…” “At that time Sri Aurobindo took up the personal leadership of the Revolution which ushered in the nation’s battle for freedom. Every day he would go from the Bengal National College to the evening gathering at the house of one of India’s patriotic martyrs, Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick, in Wellington Square. The gathering, by its thought and inspiration, resembled that of the French Encyclopaedists, the intellectuals who paved the way of the French Revolution…”
All this political heat was obviously too much for the Colonial government to handle. And they cracked down hard on the protagonists of the movement. Aurobindo was arrested in the Alipore Bombing Conspiracy, in which Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki had attempted to assassinate Douglas Kingsford, the District Judge of Muzaffarpur. In total, 40 Revolutionaries of the Anushilan Samiti were charged with “waging war against the Government”.
Subodh Mallik was among those arrested. He was held without trial in the period of 1908-1910 and deported to prison in Almora for this period of fourteen months. After his release in February, 1910, Śrī Aurobindo paid him a visit at 12, Wellington Square. That was the last time Mallik saw ŚrīAurobindo.
It was an anticlimactic end to an incredibly fruitful relationship. The story itself is about the incredible heroism shown by two young men - Aurobindo was 33 years old in 1905, and Subodh Mallik was only 26! These brilliant young men, who could’ve easily lived out their lives as native administrators of the Colonial British Raj, decided to risk everything and fight for their country. For this, I believe they have earned their immortality in the eyes of history.
And while Aurobindo is (justly) remembered fondly and widely throughout the country, his partner-in-crime and biggest supporter has not been so lucky. And sadly, nothing embodies this more than the state of his ancestral house, the fabled 12, Wellington Square.
The House, and a story of shameful neglect
Subodh Mallik’s famous house at 12, Wellington Square is perhaps as storied as the man himself. The house was built in 1883-84, and when Subodh Mallik decided to dedicate his life to the Swadeshi Movement, this house became the center point of the entire movement.
Throughout the Swadeshi Movement, the house was frequented by nearly every famous name of the time - Rabindranath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, the Gaekwad of Baroda, Surendranath Banerjee, Prince Count Okuma (of Japan), Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Aga Khan III, W.C. Bonerjee, Sakharam Ganesh Deuskar, Maulvi Abdul Rasool, Jyotirindra Nath Tagore, etc.
Aurobindo and Rabindranath produced many of their famous writings and other creative works in this house. It is also believed that the decision to assassinate Judge Kingsford was taken by a “revolutionary” tribunal consisting of Aurobindo, Charu Chandra Dutt, and Subodh Mallik.
Subodh Mallik’s descendent, Mr. Kunal Mallik, has described the house as such:
The house had a U-shaped structure with a garden in the middle. It had all the trappings of western civilization. The polished wooden dance floor on the first floor was later transformed into an impressive staircase. The rooms were well-prepared and furnished in western style. Wood works on the door had the anchor (the family symbol) with the letter “M” on them. Hanging from the walls were European paintings, including the world famous paintings of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart. The floor was carpeted, and chandeliers were hung from the ceiling. The library room was a big hall with bottle green furnishing and the wall cupboards were up to the ceiling surrounding the entire hall, and in the middle of the roadside wall was a big bay window. The cupboards were full of rare books. There were long verandas, and the rooms were all white-marbled.
The ground floor had a black marble floor and the walls were painted by artists who had come over from Italy. There was a large dining room where the Mallik family entertained their guests lavishly. The first wing had the baburchikhana, and the back wing had kitchens for cooking, one for the family, and the other for the deity.
The middle wing had a wooden bridge initially to connect the front and back wings, (and) was later built over. The back wing was the place where the women of the house dominated. The family deity was also lodged there. There was a strong room with iron doors and cages, where the family fortune was stored. There was also a golden tree with emerald leaves, and flowers and fruits of ruby and diamond.
There was a back door in the rear wing known as the “khirki dorja”. As per the custom of the Mallik family, newly-wed brides entered the house through this door for their very first time. When the daughters of the family were married, vegetarian meals were served on the marriage day.
Inside the front gate stood the Nahabatkhana, which was bought in a fair by Prabodh Chandra Mallik, the father of Subodh Mallik.
Once the Swadeshi Movement and the Anushilan Samiti were crushed by the Colonial Government, the protagonists went their own ways. Aurobindo was released from jail on May 6, 1909, delivered his famous Uttarpara Speech a few months later, and eventually found himself in Pondicherry, where his life took the path we know and celebrate today.
Meanwhile, Subodh Mallik spent the later years of his life in Darjeeling. His life was cruelly cut short, and he died on November 14, 1920, at the young age of 41.
After Subodh Mallik’s untimely death, the fabled family house (and many other properties) were gifted by the nephew of Subodh Mallik to Calcutta University for the purpose of being used for the “advancement of learning”. As the years went by, there was a legal dispute between Calcutta University and a durwan of the Mallik family, who illegally occupied the property.
In the words of Mr. Kunal Mallik:
It (the house) is now a property of Calcutta University, but they have done nothing to restore the property and put it to use for the advancement of learning. A signboard claiming the house as the property of Calcutta University can be seen near the house, but the rest of the house is in shambles. Ironically, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation has declared the building as a “heritage building”, as well as an “endangered” one. A house next to the building collapsed a few days ago, and everyone is afraid this historical house will face the same fate if a restoration process is not taken up immediately. We, the people of Bengal, and our next generations, will lose a very precious memory of our struggle for freedom.
A news story from Millennium Post agrees, reporting that:
Motor repair shops have come up on the courtyard. There was a massive garden which has been encroached. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) engineers felt that if any portion of the house collapses it might lead to loss of lives to the people of adjacent houses. The civic officials felt that a thorough restoration of the house was required. Restoration experts in the city maintained that as the building is a part of the city’s history and associated with the freedom movement, it should be repaired and restored properly.
And so, we come to today.
As of the middle of 2023, the famous house of Subodh Mallik still seems to be hostage to apathy and indifference of the square-faced bureaucrats of Calcutta University. According to Mr. Kunal Mallik, he and others working towards the restoration of this structure have tried almost everything, including petitioning politicians from all political parties, bureaucrats, university administrators, etc. to wake up the Calcutta University officials from their state of patent negligence of history. Complications have also been introduced by the legal status of the house, which has been dicey throughout the 20th century, with many Court cases and disputes, as listed out in this article in the Mint newspaper.
A Facebook group by the name of “Save a Historical Monument - the House of Raja Subodh Mallik” is run by Mr. Kunal Mallik, with 781 followers as of July 2023. According to this page, there seems to have been some recent chatter about the state of the building in Bangla language newspapers (like this article in the Anandabazar Patrika), but it hasn’t led to any concrete action yet.
So as I sit here finishing this article, I find that I am asking myself, can I do something to make a difference in this scenario? Can I get enough people on the internet to care about a monument that deserves to be preserved in its historical form for the prominent role it played in a vital movement in the freedom struggle? Should the reader from Delhi, or Mumbai or Chennai, or even in another country, care about a structure from a bygone era in a sleepy city that has seen better days?
Is there anything we can do? One thing we can certainly do is inform Śrī Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who is the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from the area, how much we want the house to be restored. If you are a reader and can speak Bangla, it is even more important that you let Mr. Bandopadhyay know that you care about this house, and that he should do his absolute best to push the Calcutta University officials out of their indifference. The same goes for Ms. Nayna Bandopadhyay, who is the Member of Legislative Assembly for this location.
Please also consider sharing this article with anyone you know who lives in West Bengal, especially in Kolkata, and get in touch with the Facebook group listed above. This is a little piece of Indian history that is still (barely) with us, and we are capable of taking action to preserve the building for future generations. Let’s make sure we do whatever we can!
A final word has to be reserved for what seems to be the only major book written about Raja Subodh Mallik. The book is titled Raja Subodh Chandra Mallik and His Times and was released in the year 1996 by the author Amalendu De. It was published by the National Council of Education, Bengal. Any reader who is more interested in the life of Subodh Mallik should try to acquire and read the book!
বন্দে মাতরম্!
Authored by Samyak Dixit. Published by Brhat.