Albion Rajkumar Banerji

Submitted by obl7 on
Other names

Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji

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Date of birth
City of birth
Bristol
Country of birth
England
Date of death
Precise date of death unknown
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain

1871-2, 1894, 1895, 1929, 1936 (many other times as well)

2
About

Born in Bristol in 1871, Albion was the son of Sasipada Banerji, the Brahmo Samaj reformer and friend of Mary Carpenter. Upon his birth, he was hailed as the first Brahmin baby born in Britain and a letter was sent to the Queen by Mary Carpenter informing her of his birth. The family returned to India in 1872 but Albion was later to return to the UK for studies and to compete for the ICS. He had been educated at Calcutta University and then joined Balliol College, Oxford. He passed the ICS exams in 1894 and his first posting in 1895 was as Assistant Collector and Magistrate in Madras.

Subsequent posts that Banerji took up included the Diwan of Cochin (1907-14), the Diwan of Mysore (1922-7), and Foreign and Political Minister in Kashmir. At the Delhi Durbar of 1911, Albion was awarded the Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE).

Banerji was Honorary Treasurer for the World Congress of Faiths, 2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, London, 3-18 July 1936.

Connections

Sasipada Banerji (his father), Mary Carpenter (friend of his father), Earl Winterton (wrote forward for Indian Tangle), Sir Francis Younghusband (World Congress of Faiths), Marquess of Zetland (wrote introduction to An Indian Pathfinder).

Organizations
Involved in events

2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, July 1936

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Published works

The Indian Tangle (London: Hutchinson, 1933)

An Indian Pathfinder: Being the Memoirs of Sevabrata Sasipada Banerji, 1840-1924 (Oxford: Kemp Hall Press, 1934)

The Rhythm of Living: A Layman's Guide to Threefold Happiness in Body, Mind and Spirit, to Suit Modern Conditions, with Special Reference to Hindu Thought (London: Rider, 1940)

What is Wrong with India (Allahabad: Kitabistan, 1942)

Through an Indian Camera (Bangalore: Bangalore Printing & Publishing Co., 1946)

Looking Ahead in War Time (London: Harmony Press, n.d.)

Contributions to periodicals

Editor of Indian Affairs (1930-2)

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Archive source

Two Portraits taken 4 September 1929, National Portrait Gallery, London