Madan Mohan Malviya was
a Hindu activist and the founder of the Benares Hindu University from 1861
until 1946.
Malviya was a member of
the first generation of Hindus who sought to retake India from British control;
these men were highly educated, politically engaged, and devoted to traditional
Hindu culture.
Benares Hindu University
was established in 1916 with the goal of preserving Hindu cultural and
philosophical traditions while also educating students in science and preparing
them for the contemporary world.
Aside from his
educational efforts, Malviya organized and supported Hindu religious concerns,
including a prohibition on cow slaughter and resistance to a planned dam on the
Ganges River at Haridwar, the Hindu pilgrimage city.
Because the project
would have impeded the Ganges' free flow, he spent most of 1914 and 1916
rallying opposition in the hopes of reaching an agreement with the government.
See M. A. Parmanand's
Mahamana Madan Mohan Malviya, 1985, for a shining description of his life.
