Datta, Narendra Nath

Datta, Narendra Nath (1884-1949) founder of Sreekail College and phillanthropist. Narendra Nath Datta was born in 1884 at village Sreekail under muradnagar upazila of comilla district. He was popularly known as Captain Datta. His father, Krishnakumar, was a Sanskrit teacher at the Chittagong Government High School. Narendra Nath had three brothers - Kaminikumar, Surendra Nath and Devendra Nath. Kaminikumar Datta became a famous lawyer and a minister during the Pakistan Period.

Narendra Nath studied at Dhana Potikhola Primary School. He passed the Entrance Examination in 1906 from Comilla Zilla School and the FA from Comilla Victoria College in 1908. As a student he earned his educational expenses working in the field, catching fish and selling vegetables in the market. Then he went to Calcutta with only Rs 250 in his pocket and got himself admitted at the Calcutta Medical College. Here he met his expenses working by night as a porter at the Khidirpur Dock. Knowing about his perseverance the principal of the college, Colonel Calvert, gave him financial assistance. Datta took his MB Degree in 1915. With Calvert';s recommendation he was commissioned in the Indian Emergency War Service. As a Lieutenant, Narendra Nath took part in the Anglo-Turkish War. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and became the chief medical officer. After retirement from the service in 1925 he joined a chemical company named Bengal Immunity and eventually became its Managing Director.

Captain Narendra Nath established a college in 1941 at his village Sreekail and named it 'Banipith';. It was the second first grade college of the district of Tippara (greater Comilla). Narendra Nath Datta died in 1949 AD. [Golam Kibria Bhuiyan] [Bhuiyan, Golam Kibria Professor of Islamic History and Culture, Chittagong University]