The ancestral home of Ananda Mohan Bose, social reformer of the 19th century, lies in sheer neglect in Itna upazila of Kishoreganj in Bangladesh. A local ruling party leader and his brothers are currently occupying the property on seven acres of land. 

Most visitors who want to see the boyhood home of eminent nineteenth-century social reformer, nationalist and Brahmo religious leader Barrister Ananda Mohan Bose at Jaysiddhi village  in Itna upazila of Kishoreganj in Bangladesh  leave disappointed.

The property, said to have originally consisted of seven acres, is currently in the possession of a union-level Awami League leader and his brothers. The homestead isn’t well-preserved.

He was born in an aristocrat landlord family of village  Jaysiddhi at Itna police station at Kishoreganj subdivision of Bengal province in British India (Presently Kishoreganj district in Bangladesh) on 23 September 1847.

Once upon a time, His ancestral home was at Jalsukha village of Ajmiriganj police station in Habiganj district. 

His parents was  Padmalochan Bose and Uma Kishori Nandi Majumdar respectively.

 His mother Umakishori Nandi Majumdar was the daughter of the famous Nandi family of Andiura village of Madhabpur police station in Habiganj district and his maternal uncle’s name was Harnath Majumdar. 

He (Anandmohan Bose) started primary education in Mymensingh.

In 1862, he passed the entrance examination from Mymensingh District School occupying 9th place in the merit list.  

He got married Swarnaprabha Bose, daughter of Lord Chandra Bose, headmaster of Mymensingh District School.  Swarnaprabha Bose was the sister of famous scientist Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose.

In 1864, He Passed FA and took first place in the exam from Calcutta Presidency College . 

in 1866, Having top position in BA exam, He passed BA from Calcutta Presidency College .  

 In 1870, He won the Premchand Roy Chand Scholarship awarded by Calcutta University and moved to England to pursue higher education on scholarship.

In 1874, He studied higher mathematics from Christ’s College, Cambridge in Great Britain.  He obtained the first class in the degree examination and TRIPS examination with honors and became the first Indian Wrangler or Mathematician.  

There were three Wranglers from British India.  

The first was barrister Anandmohan Bose, the second was Kiran Chandra Dey of Gafargaon police station in Mymensingh district and the third was Krishnagobind Gupta or KG Gupta of Bhatpara village in Narsingdi district.

In 1874, He passed barrister from England  and started practicing law in the Calcutta High Court in the same year.

In 1875, He formed the Calcutta ‘Students’ Association’ to inculcate patriotism among the students. 

In 1876, He played an important role in the establishment of Banga Mahila Viddhaloy ( Bengal Women’s School) in Calcutta.

 On 15 May 1878,  He  founded Bramma

the society and He along with his wife accepted bramma religion.

 In 1879, He with the help of Shivnath Shastri

 established the City School which is now Calcutta Anandamohan College.

In 1882, He became a member of the Indian Education Committee.

 In 1883, He  established a school called Mymensingh Institution which is now Anandmohan University College in the heart of Mymensingh divisional city of the country.

In 1883, he convened a discussion session of a national meeting of the Indian Association which later evolved into the “Indian National Congress”.

 In 1884, He became a member of the Bengal Executive Council.

In 1885, He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress.

 In 1890,  He became a member of the Bengal Executive Council.

 In 1892, The Calcutta University Act of Incorporation was amended through his tireless efforts. 

Following his heartiest initiative and effort, the University of Calcutta got the right to elect a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal.

 In 1895, He was elected a member of the Bengali Executive Council.

 In 1898, He was elected the President of the Indian National Congress.

 On 20 August 1906, He died of paralysis at the age of 59 in Calcutta.

 The present City Collegiate School located at the Rambabu road area of ​​Mymensingh divisional town was the ancestral home of Barrister Anandmohan Bose.

In brief ,Bose’s achievements can scarcely be overestimated. He was the first Indian to achieve the distinction of “Wrangler” at Cambridge University by attaining first-class honours in mathematics. He was active in organising Indian students to effectively agitate against the colonial regime. His lobbying efforts proved crucial in having Calcutta University recognised as a teaching institution and the university, in turn, nominated him for membership of the Bengal Legislative Council.

He was committed to the eradication of illiteracy and championed women’s education.

A national newspaper named The Daily Star covered a news item on 3 May 2018 in this regard which stated that “Jaysiddhi village is named after Bose’s ancestors Jayram and Siddhiram Bose,” says former parliamentarian Fazlur Rahman. “During the 1965 war the Bose family were driven out. That’s when Amir Uddin took possession of the land.”

Amir Uddin, who died about eight years ago, is a controversial figure. He is the father of the property’s current occupants. Fazlur says he was an anti-liberation leader from adjacent Algapara.

“Amir was a local Peace Committee leader during the Liberation War,” agrees Itna upazila’s freedom fighter commander Nazrul Islam Thakur.

“At first Amir took a ‘lease’ on the property,” Fazlur states. “During the mass upsurge of 1969 the community briefly evicted him; during Yahya Khan’s rule he returned.”

“Many valuables were looted from the home during the Liberation War,” he continues. “Hundreds of books from Bose’s library were burned. There used to be two large ponds in front of the home but those were filled in over the years.”

Many people in the community want the Bose property preserved as a public heritage site. “On various occasions there have been protests to free the homestead,” says Roushan Ali Rossow, a writer and retired schoolteacher from nearby Chilni village. “As influential quarters have an interest, it has never happened.”

“If there is any lease it should be cancelled,” agrees Moazzem Hossain Babul, former vice-president of the Ananda Mohan College Students’ Union and Awami League’s district-level secretary. “The Bose property should be freed from occupation. That land is priceless heritage for greater Mymensingh and should be used for public purpose. We will soon launch an agitation to free it.”

Kishoreganj district’s freedom fighter commander Md Asad Ullah likewise calls for the property to be recovered and developed as a museum.

“A memorandum demanding release of the homestead was submitted to the prime minister last year,” says Kamrul Hasan Khan Jewel, convenor of local organisation Jagorito Itna.

Abul Hye, one of Amir’s sons and also Jaysiddhi union AL president, refuted the allegation that his father worked against liberation. “My father took out a lease on around two acres, including the Bose homestead, in 1967,” he says. “After the Liberation War, the lease was renewed for 99 years. My father wasn’t involved with the local Peace Committee. There is no such report in the area.”

Md Moshiur Rahman Khan, Itna upazila nirbahi officer, says no allegation concerning the legality of the lease has been raised. “As far as I know the two-acre land was taken on lease, so it is not land grabbing,” he says. “As no allegation has been made I have no scope to investigate.”

Rakhi Roy, regional director at the archaeology department, says the property is not listed with the department. “We will send a team to the site soon to submit a report to the cultural affairs ministry. If the place is deemed to have preservation merit we will proceed accordingly.”

The monumental home of this famous social reformer, one of the architects of the Bengali Renaissance, remains grabbed.  As a result, the homestead, a unique example of 17th century architecture, is being destroyed in an unprotected environment.

 The house is spread over several acres of land and has several large buildings, open fields and several ponds.  

The huge homestead has become a home to parasitical. The defense wall built around has foundn many places. 

The bricks and stones of many parts of the wall have been looted by miscreants. 

His lying place has been made a dung pit.  In this situation, these traditional structures are on the verge of disappearing.

Former MP Fazlul Haque  of the country  in an article  of the daily Jugantor of 23 September 2021 mentioned that his ancestral home, a unique monument of eighteenth-century architecture, lies abandoned at village Jayasidhi which was his birthplace and a local ruling Awami league leader occupied this valuable land property.

The visitors from different parts of the country often come to visit the birthplace and residence of Anand Mohan Bose, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress and the pioneer of student politics in the subcontinent.  But as the homestead remains grabbed, visitors’ access to the house has also been restricted.  However, neither the administration nor the department of Archeology has any initiative or interest in rescuing or preserving the homestead.  

The archeology department of the government will preserve this historical place and respect its heritage and architecture, it’s an expectation of the local people and the heritage bearers of Bose.

Bose will remain immortal in social service and political development throughout his life all over India including Bangladesh.