Dr.Kameshwar Singh,Pro Chancellor Speech at the Court meeting of BHU on 17th September,1939.

 Gentlemen,
        This  meeting is going to be a landmark in the history of this University. One of the makers of this famous seat of learning is about to sever his official connection with it today. Years ago he saw a dream. It is facinated the leading lights of the day. They toiled to make the dream a reality. Numerous Princes and people of this great country put their shoulder to the wheel, and here on the bank of the holy Ganga in the sacred township of Kasi they reared up this noble institution which establishes a link between the "Gurukulas " of old and the the Universities of today. The dream of th re-birth of Taxila,Nalanda and Vikramsila, at the fair field of Nalagram, in the twentieth century, came true. It ceased to be a dream. It became a concrete object for us and the succeeding generations to behold and admire. The gifted seer, the 'Prime instrument of the Divine Will in this work ' did not stop there. His love for his motherland did not allow him any rest. He ' awakened India with his voice ' and the rulers of the people to help in the work of preserving the vital seed of all religions for future great growth and development a new and for the enactment of mthe Dramas of ever new civilizations which infinitesimally express His boundless Glories '.But human body has its limitations. He  finds that physical infirmities do not him to carry the torch any further; and he has handed it over to the next generation of his countrymen so that the ownward march may continue. On a solemn occasion like this, I bow to him with profound respect.
         Gentlemen, I cannot help being sad today. My recollection carries me back to the day when my late lamented father (Late Rameshwar Singh ) wholeheartedly collabrated with our revered Panditji in the scheme for the establishment of the University and led the deputation of funds for the same. My earliest impression of Malaviyaji, therefore, is indissolubly associated with that of this University. I have always thought that he peronifies the Benares Hindu University. It is therefore , not without considerable wrench that I persuade myself to think otherwise. But it will I am sure give You, as it has given me, no small satisfaction to know that H. E. the Lord Rector has been pleased to nominate him to be the first Vice- Petron of our University on his relinquishing the office of the Vice-Chancellor.
   I read to you the gracious message which I have received from His Excellency the Lord Rector:-
          I am aware of the great services that Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya has rendered to the Benares University during his long association with it. It gives me great pleasure as Lord Rector of the University to recognise those services on the occasion of his relinquishment of the post of  Vice-Chancellor by appointing him to be a Vice-Patron under clause 3(2) of the first statutes of the University.

     Gentlemen, although now he will not actively participate in the affairs of the University, I have no doubt that his robust spirit of devoted service and sacrifice will never fail to guide and inspire those of us who will be engaged in the arduous task of fulfilling his mission, the benefits of his life-long " Tapascharya " will never fail us , and the noble example he has set before us will never be lost sight of . Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya is , as you know, a name , which connotes the soul of entire Hindu India. It is not possible us to adequately express our sense of gratitude towards him . We  are proud to be his countrymen; we are proud to belong to a race which has produced such a great genius, and it is our greatest fortune that his vast wisdom and experience are still available to us . May he be restored to health and live  long .i

        We must congratulate ourselves that the mantle of this great countryman of ours is going to fall on another great countryman of ours who has already attained international reputation as a profound scholar, an original thinker, and an authoritative interpreter of Indian Religion and Philosophy. It is in the fitness of things that the control of the affairs of the University the object of which is to create a synthesis of the East  and  the West should be primarily in the hands of one who has made a special study of the subject and has the vigour ,enthusiasm and ability to put his precepts into practice. Again, it is remarkable that he will continue his connections with Calcutta and Oxford while discharging his duties and obligations to this University. I have every hope that by this way he will be able to establish an effective contact between the Eastern and weastern civilisation and culture and with the past and the present create a future worthy of glorious literary traditions of this ancient place. I wish him God-speed and pray that during his (Dr, S. Radhakrishnan ) Vice- chancellorship the University may flourish and the object with which it was established may be fulfilled.

            Gentlemen,  I do not wish to detain you any longer. But before dealing with other items in the agenda I would request the Court to pass the following resolution which indicates our thought of the moment :---

This special meeting of the Court of Benares Hindu University places on record its deep debt of gratitude to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya to whom the University owes its being and remarkable development. It can never forget the invaluable services he has rendered to it as its Vice- Chancellor for a period of twenty Years. The Court prays that he may be spared for many years to inspire and guide the activities of this great institution and help the upbuilding of this great nation.

SIRKAR TIRHUT

Sirkar Tirhut comprised 84 Parganas covering the greater parts of the districts of Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. The boundries of the Sirkar in the grant of Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur are said to have been " As Ganga to sang--As Kosa to Ghosa," that is, from the Ganges in the south to the mountain in the north---from the river Kosi in the east to the Gandak in the west. This couplet laying down in the Survey settlement Report of the Purnia district.By subsequent grants by the Moghul Emperors about half of Purnia and a portions of Bhagalpur was added to their territories.

The history of the grant to Mahesh Thakur by the Moghul  Emperor is borne out by a piece of contemporary evidence for the recovery of the Sanskrit manuscript from the India office Library discloses on examination by an expert scholar that the book is Akbarnama in sanskrit which Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur wrote at the command of the Emperor Akbar detailing the history of Babar and Humayun and Akbar's early life,in direct consultation with the Emperor,and that he had been presented before the Emperor Humayun who gave him "the desired Sanad " and accorded princely honour by kissing his forehead.The dates in the book show that Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur reached  the Moghul Court at the restoration of the Moghul Throne.The grant  being dated in the same year as Akbar's accession ,it was evidently obtained a few months before Humayun's death and had really to be confirmed and acted upon only under the next reign.a few years before that the Kameshwar Thakur dynesty had come to an end.and there was an agitation in Mithila that the Hindu Kingdom should be recovered and continued.Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur and his brothers had close familiarity with administration having had great influence with the Hindu kings of the Central Provinces,being their spiritual Gurus. Mahesh Thakur's elder brother Mahamahopadhyaya Damodar Thakur, for instance ,composed a law-digest for the administration of justice in the Court of Rani Durgavati, which has come down in a manuscript  in the Library of the Asiatic society of Bengal.Mahamhopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur was considered to be the greatest Sanskrit scholar of Eastern India of his time.Works written by him are celebrated. It appears from The Sanskrit Akbarnama that the Emperor Akbar received support from Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur in his peculiar religious views,and that even after the abdication in favour of his son, the scholar -prince passed part of his time at Akbar's Court.

Mahamahopadhyaya Mahesh Thakur thus succeeding to the powers of the Kameshwar dynesty,which had just then become extinct,excercised both temporal and spiritual powers which had been enjoyed by the rulers of Mithila since ancient times.As per the Privy Council pointed out the Zamindars and Taluqdars of Tirhut were responsible to the Raja of Tirhut, that he had his vassals.The Raja of Tirhut alone was responsible to the Supreme Government: he was the ruler and the only ruler of Tirhut whom the people saw and knew, they-- the Zamindars and Taluqdars--- having nothing to do with the Emperor while under the Rajas of Tirhut until the assumption of dominion by the East India Company.

The employment of the royal " fish" insignia was permitted only to the ruling houses.the old title " the Raja

to Tirhut " used up to 1851 in the Sanad of Maharaja Maheswara Singh Bhadur.All the Ruler up to the the time prior to Late Laxmishewar Singh were known as Rajas Of Tirhut although the residence of the Royal family had been removed to Darbhanga much before.

MAHARAJADHIRAJ DR.RAMESHWAR SINGH

Rameshwar Singh succeded to the Darbhanga Raj on the death of his brother on 18th December 1898.He received a librel education in English,Sanskrit and persian.He studied in the queen's College, Banares, and was with his late brother under the private tution of such an eminent educationalist as the late Mr.Charles Macnaghten and of Mr.J. Alexander and captain Evans Gordon.He was for some years member of the Indian Civil Service and when he resigned the service in order to look after his private affairs he received the title of Raja Bhadur,was exempted from attendance in the Civil courts and was make a member of the Bengal Legislative Council under Sir Stuart Bayley. He has several times been elected as an additional Member of the Viceroy's Legislative council by the non-official members of the Bengal Council.He served as a member of the Police Commission and acted for more than five years as the first Indian Member of the Executive Council of the Government of Bihar and Orissa.

Being the hereditary leader of the Srotriya clan,the highest class of Brahmans, he is recognised as the accredited head of the entire Brahman community not only in Mithila but throught India.He presided over the First All-India Brahman Confrence held at Lahore and 1920-21 presided over the Bengal Brahman Confrence held at Mymensingh. .He is the acknowledged leader of the Orthodox Hindus throughout India.In 1900-01 he was elected Life- President of the Bharat Dharam mahamandal,an All-India Religious Organisation with its head-quarters at Benares which had theirs branches all over the Country and with which many Ruling Chiefs were connected.On the occassion of the Coronation of His Majesty the King- Emperor at Delhi,the Maharaja led a deputation of the recognised Heads of all the Religious Sects including Mahomedans,Jains,Sikhs,etc., and presented them to Their majesties. He had presided over the Parliament of Religions held at Kolkata and Allahabad to promote unity between different religions and sects of India. His Highness Maharaja Channdra Shamsher Jung Bhadur of Nepal and Ruling Chiefs such as Their Highness the Maharajas of Gwalior,Kashmir, Jaipur and others looked upon him as their Guru or religious head and pay him the respect due to his position.The present Hindu University of Benares is the result of his munificence, lead and labour undrtaken at great sacrifice in its early days.
He enjoys the confidence of the Mahomedans and received ovations and addresses from both Hindus and Mahomedans wherever he traveled .His reception  and ovation at Aligarh, the big centre of Mahomedan influence, were historic when he visited the place at invitation of the leaders. When he visited Mumbai, he was received with marked respect by the Aga Khan who took a leading part in the big public meeting convened under the presidentship of the Maharaja to promote the Hindu University movement..The Senate of the Benares Hindu University confers the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters on the Hon'ble maharajadhiraja Sir Rameswar Singh Bhadur,G.C.I.E,K.B.E., of Darbhanga,in recognition of his eminent position and attainments by MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA,Vice-chancellor on 19th January,1924.Chancellor of the Calcutta University nominated him to be an Honorary Fellow Of the University vide Home Department notification No.474,dated the 29th May,1908.He was the Pro-Chancellor Of Hindu University.He was one of the Trustees of the Victoria Memorial at Calcutta.

A queen among servants

A queen among servants