Sampurnanand

A Sanskrit scholar who loved astronomy ran the biggest state in India. He kept the chair for almost six years. Only in 2023 did anyone in Uttar Pradesh hold it longer.

His name was Sampurnanand. He edited newspapers, wrote on socialism, banned cow slaughter against the Prime Minister’s wishes, and later backed open jails.

1Who was Sampurnanand?

Sampurnanand was born on 1 January 1891 in Benares. Today the city is called Varanasi. His family was Kayastha. He began his working life as a teacher.

He grew up in the Benares of old traditions. He loved Sanskrit and Indian culture. He also studied astrology. That led him to astronomy.

Friends who shared jail with him tell a story. In the long nights he talked about the stars. He taught fellow prisoners to find constellations.

• Born 1 January 1891, Benares.
• Started life as a teacher.
• Scholar of Sanskrit and astronomy.

2How did he join the freedom struggle?

Sampurnanand took part in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He worked as an editor of Maryada. Madan Mohan Malaviya had founded that Hindi newspaper.

He also wrote often for the National Herald. His pen was as useful to Congress as his speeches. He was jailed during the struggle.

He wrote on socialism too. His book Samajvada came out in 1936. Accounts say it tried to join Marxist ideas with Vedanta. Accounts also link him with the Congress Socialist Party, founded in 1934.

• Joined Non-Cooperation.
• Editor of Maryada, founded by Malaviya.
• Wrote for the National Herald.
• Book Samajvada, 1936.
• Read about Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Congress Socialist Party.

3How did he become Chief Minister?

After independence he became Education Minister in the first popular government of Uttar Pradesh. Accounts say he also held Finance and Home between 1946 and 1954. G.B. Pant led the government.

In 1954 Sampurnanand became Chief Minister. Sources give 28 December 1954 as the start. He served until December 1960.

His term lasted five years and 344 days. That was the longest single tenure in Uttar Pradesh until Yogi Adityanath passed it in 2023. A political crisis in the state government ended his time in office.

• Education Minister after 1947; Pant was the leader.
• Second Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, from 1954.
• Tenure of five years and 344 days.
• Record stood until 2023.
• See Govind Ballabh Pant.

4What did he do in office?

Sampurnanand pushed the use of Hindi. He also passed a ban on cow slaughter. Nehru, then Prime Minister, did not want that ban.

As Education Minister he planned an astronomical observatory. The site was the Government Sanskrit College in Varanasi. In 1974 the college was renamed Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, five years after his death. Accounts say the college began in 1791 and became a university in 1958.

In 1962 he became Governor of Rajasthan. Sources give his term as 1962 to 1967. There he backed open jails. He held that punishment should reform a person, not take revenge. In 1963 Rajasthan began a camp named after him on an experimental basis.

• Backed Hindi and a cow slaughter ban, against Nehru‘s wish.
• Planned an observatory at the Government Sanskrit College.
• Renamed Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya in 1974.
• Governor of Rajasthan from 1962; open jail camp, 1963.
• Read about prison administration in India.

5How is he remembered?

He was the first chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Lalit Kala Akademi. The state set it up on 8 February 1962. It looks after the visual arts.

He died in Varanasi on 10 January 1969. That was the city of his birth. He is one of the few Indian politicians remembered by name in two states, through a university in one and a jail camp in another.

Older sources say he first brought the open jail idea to Uttar Pradesh. The strongest evidence points to Rajasthan instead. Use Rajasthan for exams.

• First chairman of the UP Lalit Kala Akademi, 1962.
• Died 10 January 1969 at Varanasi.
• Open jail link is firmest for Rajasthan.
• Read about Hiralal Shastri, first Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

6What are the exam traps?

Keep the offices, the dates and the places straight.

• He was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, then Governor of Rajasthan.
• The record tenure ended in 2023, not earlier.
• The college renamed in 1974 is in Varanasi, not Allahabad.
• Maryada was founded by Malaviya.
• His cow slaughter ban went against Nehru‘s wishes.
• See the Non-Cooperation Movement.