Girindra Mukerji Explained

Girindra Mukerji
Birth Place:Calcutta, British India
Education:Calcutta University
Tokyo Imperial University
University of California, Berkeley
Employer:Bengal National College
Notable Works:The Hindu in America

Girindra Mukerji (born) was an Indian anti-British activist, organizer, and agriculturist. His article "The Hindu in America"[1] has been widely cited as a document describing early Indian immigration to the United States.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Early life

Mukerji was born in Calcutta, India in .[8] He was, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the son of a "Judge of one of the higher courts."

In 1901, he received an AB degree from Calcutta University, then briefly studied in Japan, at the Imperial University in Tokyo, before deciding to study in the United States.[9] [10]

Life in the United States

Mukerji moved to the United States in 1904,[11] becoming a student at Oregon Agricultural College.[12] While in Oregon, according to Gopal Stavig, he represented the Vedanta Society at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland in summer 1905.[13]

He moved to Berkeley, California in April 1904, hoping to study at the University of California, Berkeley; he started working to fund his education, and was a student by 1905.[14]

Mukerji was a student leader among Indian students at UC Berkeley, described in the media as "having charge of the colony."[15] His time at UC Berkeley was widely covered by American newspapers.

Student activism

Around 1906, according to British surveillance, Mukerji and Tarak Nath Das worked together as "agitators against British rule." Subsequently, wrote William C. Hopkinson, "Mookerjee and Dass then got together some five or six other students and formed a society called the Samiti, which is considered the most secret among all the societies with Hindu affiliations." The local media would subsequently describe him as a socialist.[16]

In 1907, Mukerji co-founded the Association of Oriental Students at UC Berkeley, the first Asian American organization at the university, with members from India, Japan, China, and Thailand.[17] He served as the organization's president during at least 1907–1908.[18] [19] [20] While a student, Mukerji also worked as a United States immigration officer from March 1907 to March 1908, interviewing immigrants from India and learning about their labor conditions.[21] He also helped mediate between working class South Asians and the police in the San Francisco Bay Area.[22]

In November 1907, he published a booklet on American colleges focused on an Indian audience; the release was covered in newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle.[23] British surveillance reported that his pamphlets were "circulated…widely through India, Japan, China, and other parts where there were Hindu students…" A subsequent article, "The Hindu in America," was published in the Overland Monthly in April 1908, and he was interviewed on "The Condition of Hindu Students in America" in The Modern Review in 1909.[24] [25]

In December 1907, Mukerji gave a scathing lecture on the British empire in India to UC Berkeley's Economics Club, which was covered in the San Francisco Chronicle, in an article titled "Hindu Arraigns Britons for the Ruin of India: Calcutta Graduate Scores England for Overtaxing of His People."[26] [27]

In January 1908, after his graduation, he led a student protest against J. Lovell Murray, a Christian evangelist who was in Berkeley to give a talk titled "Awakening the Orient" organized by the local Y.M.C.A. Just before Murray was about to enter Stiles Hall to give his lecture, 16 Indian students at UC Berkeley, including Mukerji, asked Murray to remove from his talk any references to the immorality of Hindu priests, and its use in the justification of the occupation of India by the British. Murray refused. Once Murray was finished speaking, Mukerji was invited to respond to the speaker. He spoke against the British occupation, followed by six other students from the group, until the organizers decided to shut down the event.[28] [29] [30]

Agricultural research

Mukerji was a student of Professor Eugene W. Hilgard, an expert on agricultural chemistry.[31] [32] In 1907–1908, he received a Master of Science from the College of Agriculture at UC Berkeley; his thesis was entitled "A Comparative Study of Soil Columns in the San Joaquin Valley."[33] [34] [35] [36]

University President Benjamin Ide Wheeler, who was present at his farewell, spoke highly of his work and cited him as a role model for other Indians.[37] [38] He hoped to be able to apply his learnings, including Utah dry farming techniques, in India.[39] [40]

Leaving California, and return to India

In 1907, the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported that Mukerji was to "return to his home to take the chair of agriculture at the Calcuttat (sic) University."[41]

Mukerji left for New York City in March 1908,[42] where he was associated with the Society for the Advancement of India, supporting Indian students. He worked with Myron Phelps, a supporter of Indian freedom; a London Daily Express article critical of the Indian freedom movement described Mukerji as a "clever Hindu agitator" and Phelps' "major-domo."[43] [44] [45] By 1909, he was living in Massachusetts, developing ideas to create a new library in India.[46] He would later stay at Sister Nivedita's apartment in London.[47]

Sarangadhar Das wrote that after graduating from UC Berkeley in 1908, Mukerji "worked as the Superindending (sic) Chemist in a sugar factory in Porto Rico, Cuba, and now is employed in the Bengal National College."

British surveillance records from 1911 placed Mukerji in the "mills of Cawnpore, United Provinces," where he was "still carrying on, although quite secretly, his agitation against Britain," while remaining in correspondence with students at UC Berkeley.[48]

In 1914, the Hindusthanee Student reported that he was "prospecting in the Central Provinces."[49]

Published works

See also

Notes and References

  1. Mukerji . Girindra . April 1908 . The Hindu in America . Overland Monthly . 19 June 2014.
  2. Book: Jane Singh . South Asians in North America: An Annotated and Selected Bibliography . Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley . 1988 . 978-0-944613-03-0 . 57.
  3. Book: Melendy, Howard Brett . Asians in America: Filipinos, Koreans, and East Indians . Twayne Publishers . 1977 . 978-0-8057-8414-5 . 285 . registration.
  4. Book: Chandrasekhar, Sripati . From India to America: a brief history of immigration, problems of discrimination, admission, and assimilation . 1 April 1982 . Population Review Publications . 978-0-9609080-0-4 . 102.
  5. Book: Malik, Iftikhar Haider . US-South Asia relations, 1784-1940: a historical perspective . Area Study Centre for Africa, North & South America, Quaid-i-Azam University . 1988 . 978-969-8013-02-8 . 371.
  6. Book: Gosine, Mahin . The East Indian odyssey: dilemmas of a migrant people . Windsor Press . 1994 . 9780963931856 . 195.
  7. Book: Religions of the United States in practice. Volume two . Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press . 2001 . 978-0-691-18813-3 . McDannell . Colleen . 421.
  8. News: May 15, 1904 . To Raise India From Caste Life . 7 . . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 22 April 1904 . Gives Up Caste for Learning . 10 . . 2021-05-05 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: April 22, 1904 . Outcast for Sake of Study . 1 . . Newspapers.com.
  11. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, CA, 1893–1953 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M1410, roll 10, line number 11, record id 004893284_00334_10).
  12. Book: Annual catalogue of the Agricultural College of the State of Oregon and Announcements for 1905–1906 . . 1905 . 139 . List of Students. Agricultural College bulletin (Corvallis, Or.) .
  13. Book: Stavig, Gopal . Western Admirers of Ramakrishna and His Disciples . 2 October 2010 . Advaita Ashrama . 9788175053342 . 751 . en.
  14. Das . Sarangadhar . July 1911 . Why Must We Emigrate to the United States of America? . Modern Review . 72 . 19 June 2014.
  15. News: January 17, 1907 . Hindu Students Leave Berkeley . 7 . . . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: October 17, 1907 . Starts on a Trip Around the World . 2 . Berkeley Daily Gazette . There, he expects to meet Mr. Mukkajee, a Hindoo student, at present in the University of California, who is also a socialist. . NewspaperArchive.
  17. News: 11 February 1907 . Oriental Students at U.C. Form Association . 1, 4 . . Newspapers.com.
  18. News: 28 November 1907 . HE WANTS MORE HINDOO STUDENTS TO COME HERE: President of Association of Oriental Students Writes Booklet on American Colleges. . 11 . San Francisco Chronicle . .
  19. Chatterjee . Ramananda . March 1908 . Information about American Universities for Oriental Students . The Modern Review . 3 . 269–270 . 8 June 2014.
  20. News: 4 December 1907. Oriental Student Issues Circular. 2. Berkeley Daily Gazette. Newspapers.com.
  21. Singh . Saint Nihal . January 1909 . The History of Indian Immigration on the Pacific Coast of America . . 5 . 55–57 . Hathitrust.
  22. News: October 21, 1907 . Abdella Khan Was Wiley . . 15 . Newspapers.com.
  23. News: December 4, 1907 . Oriental Students Issue Circular . 1 . . HathiTrust.
  24. Singh . Saint Nihal . January 1909 . The Condition of Hindu Students in America . . 5 . 53–55 . Hathitrust.
  25. Book: Gould, Harold A. . Sikhs, Swamis, Students and Spies: The India Lobby in the United States, 1900–1946 . 3 October 2006 . SAGE Publishing India . 978-93-5280-346-0 . 81 . en.
  26. News: 5 December 1907 . Hindu Arraigns Britons for the Ruin of India: Calcutta Graduate Scores England for Overtaxing of His People . 13 . San Francisco Chronicle . .
  27. News: December 5, 1907 . Declares the British are Destroying India . . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  28. News: 18 January 1908 . Hindu Students Flay Missionary . 4 . San Francisco Call . 9 June 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140903021615/http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19080118.2.46.12 . 3 September 2014 . bot: unknown .
  29. News: 11 February 1907 . Hindus and Y.M.C.A. in Altercation . 2 . . Berkeley, California, United States . Newspapers.com.
  30. News: 19 January 1908 . Hindoo Students Try to Break up Lecture . 25 . . 2021-05-05 . Newspapers.com.
  31. News: July 26, 1907 . Soil Brought From India . . 10 . Newspapers.com.
  32. News: 16 March 1908 . Bid Farewell to Calcutta Student . San Francisco Call . 9 June 2014.
  33. Book: Mukerji, Girindra . Comparison of Soils in Arid and Humid Climates . 1907 . University of California . en.
  34. Book: Directory of graduates of the University of California, 1864–1916 . 1916 . University of California . Berkeley, California . 245 . 2027/uc1.b3239863?urlappend=%3Bseq=265.
  35. Book: Bulletin: University of California (1868–1952) . University of California . 1892 . 17 . 8 June 2014.
  36. News: 13 May 1908 . Sheepskins are Presented to Successful Candidates . 9 . Berkeley Daily Gazette . Newspapers.com.
  37. News: 16 March 1908 . Will Establish Hindu School . 2 . . Newspapers.com.
  38. News: 17 March 1908. Ovation for Hindu. 4. Oakland Tribune. NewspaperArchive.
  39. News: 3 June 1908 . Young Hindus to Study Here: Society for the Advancement of India Aiding Them . 12 . . 2021-02-05 . 1940-7831.
  40. Singh . Saint Nihal . January 1909 . Dry Farming for Parts of India . . 5 . 52–53 . Hathitrust.
  41. News: 23 December 1907 . Successful Students Rewarded . Berkeley Daily Gazette . 19 June 2014.
  42. Book: Manhattan and Bronx, 1909 . Trow Directory . 1909 . 1032 . Mukerji Girindra lawyer 1142 Park Av.
  43. Ganachari . Aravind Gururao . 1991 . Myron H. Phelps (1856–1916) : An Early American Advocate of India's Freedom . Proceedings of the Indian History Congress . 52 . 650–657 . 44142670 . JSTOR.
  44. Book: Samanta, Amiya K. . Terrorism in Bengal: Terrorists outside Bengal deriving inspiration from and having links with Bengal terrorists . Government of West Bengal . 1995 . 5 . India . 78.
  45. News: July 6, 1909 . Mysterious Leader of Hindoos . 1, 8 . . …India House in New York and Phelps was appointed President…he appointed as his major-domo a clever Hindu agitator, one Girindra Mukerji, a graduate of Calcutta University, who traveled from California to New York literally living on sedition as the easiest means of support. Into Mukerji's hands passed all the loyal young students who reached New York, and it is safe to believe that most of them were corrupted and sent back to India full of revolutionary ideas and seditious impulses. . Newspapers.com.
  46. May I take the liberty…. Girindra. Mukerji. Charlotte Perkins Gilman. English. 9 March 1909. Newburyport, Massachusetts. Schlesinger Library.
  47. Book: Silvestri, Michael . Ireland and India: Nationalism, Empire, and Memory . . 2009 . 9780230216747 . 229 . Notes . When she returned to London due to health problems, a prominent Bengali revolutionary named Girindra Nath Mukherjee stayed at her flat there. C.A. Tegart, 'A Note on the Ramakrishna Mission' (1914) in TIB IV: 1350-1352.
  48. William C.. Hopkinson. William W. Cory, Deputy Minister of the Interior, Canada. I left Seattle on the 6th instant…. English. 13 October 1911. http://komagatamarujourney.ca/node/11707. 2021-11-10. William C. Hopkinson. San Francisco, California.
  49. April 1914 . News Notes: Activities of Some Hindusthanee Students Who Have Returned Home . The Hindusthanee Student . Hindusthan Association of America . Chicago, Illinois . 53 . Girindranath Mukerji, prospecting in the Central Provinces. . South Asian American Digital Archive.

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