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Alamohan Das

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Alamohan Dass
Born
Surendra Mohan Das

1895
Died1969
Occupation(s)Industrialist, Politician
Known forIndia Machinery Company
Bharat Jute Mill
Arati Cotton Mill
Dass Bank
TitleKaram Vir

Alamohan Das was an industrialist in pre-independence and post-independence Bengal. He ventured into various industries like jute, cotton, heavy  machinery, drug, banking etc. He is known for his role in the India Machinery Company, one of the earliest indigenous machine making industries of India.[2]

Statue of Alamohan Das at Dasnagar

Early life

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Alamohan Das was born in a middle-class Mahishya family in Khila-Baruipur, Howrah district[3] of West Bengal, India. He had little formal education as a child, except attending a village pathshala and a middle primary school. But as he hailed from a business minded Mahishya family, he came to Kolkata at the age of 15 and started his business career by selling parched rice, small things, but gradually switched over to industrial items.[2] He started to read avidly to acquire knowledge for his betterment and fulfilling his ambitions. He was very much influenced by Bankim Chandra's Anandamath and Tagore's 'Banglar Mati Banglar Jwal'. He took the spirit of Swadeshi movement in his heart.[4]

India Machinery Co.

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In 1930, he founded the India Machinery Co., which, according to Government reports, was one of the few companies that produced machines of grade 1 category. Amongst the products of the company were lathes, weighing machines, textile manufacturing machines, and printing machines.[5] In 1937 he started Bharat Jute Mill.[6]

Political career

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In independent India's first election in 1951, he won a seat in the West Bengal state assembly, contesting as an independent candidate from Amta (Vidhan Sabha constituency).[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), (1976), Samsad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary), (in Bengali), p 46
  2. ^ a b Ghosh, Sampa (2010). "A Swadeshi Enterpreneur [sic] of Bengal: Karmavir Ala Mohan Dass". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 517–524. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44147518.
  3. ^ "A Nagar Named After Him".
  4. ^ Ghosh, Sampa (2010). "A Swadeshi Enterpreneur [sic] of Bengal: Karmavir Ala Mohan Dass". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 518. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44147518.
  5. ^ Chittabrata Palit, Pranjal Kumar Bhattacharyya. Business History of India. p. 244.
  6. ^ "A nagar named after him". The Telegraph, 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Statistical Reports of Elections". General Election Results and Statistics. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 5 October 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.