Page:Twelve men of Bengal in the nineteenth century (1910).djvu/251

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MAHARAJA SIR JOTINDRA MOHAN
TAGORE, K.C.S.I

1831—1908.

There was no prominent or honoured figure in Indian society in Bengal during the latter half of the nineteenth century than that of Maharaja Sir Jotindra Mohan Tagore. An acknowledged leader of the Hindu community, he played a foremost part in all the great movements of the day. For over fifty years, at wellnigh every public gathering in Calcutta his tall upright figure and dignified bearing won universal admiration and respect. There was no scheme tending to the improvement of the conditions of his fellow-countrymen physically, mentally or morally that did not meet with his ready sympathy and support. "He combined the polished politeness of the old school with the educational accomplishments of the new," wrote Sir Richard Temple, while Lord Roberts, speaking in the House of Lords, gave it as his firm conviction that "there is no more loyal or enlightened subject in Her Majesty's dominions.'

Sir Jotindra came of a family remarkable alike for its long descent and for the high distinctions won by so many of its members. Few other families