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Albion Rajkumar Banerji
‐
Born in Bristol in 1871 and took up a subsequent career in government in India
Other names
Sir Albion Rajkumar Banerji
Place of birth
Location(s)
OX1 3BJ
United Kingdom Red Lodge
Park Row
Bristol
BS1 5LJ
United Kingdom
Date of time spent in Britain
1871–2, 1894, 1895, 1929, 1936 (many other times as well)
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 Queen Victoria 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 Indian Civil Service. 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 appointed a 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.
2nd International Congress of the World Fellowship of Faiths, July 1936
Sasipada Banerji (his father), Mary Carpenter (friend of his father), Sir Francis Younghusband (World Congress of Faiths), Earl Winterton (wrote foreword for Indian Tangle), Marquess of Zetland (wrote introduction to An Indian Pathfinder).
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.)
Two portraits taken 4 September 1929, National Portrait Gallery, London
Image credit
Sir Albion Raj Kumar Banerji by Bassano Ltd, whole-plate glass negative, 4 September 1929, NPG x124739
© National Portrait Gallery, Creative Commons, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
