Politics over tea and master of nitrite

Faults are thick where love is thin — the same thing happened in the case of Acharya Prafulla Roy. He studied in Britain. It was there that he made his name as a scientist. Yet he never bowed his head to British imperialism. When the Swadeshi Movement was gaining momentum in the then British India, this pioneer of science raised his voice in opposition to the British. He regularly wrote against them. After ammunition production and indigo cultivation, the British began tea cultivation on the land of this country. And that tea was, of course, exported abroad; but the vast Indian subcontinent itself was a huge market?

No matter how poor the people here were – the number of rich or middle-class people was by no means small. So, if this vast market could be made to adopt tea as a beverage, the company’s profits would increase rapidly; but the people of this country were not accustomed to tea. So, the British came up with a trick. They started offering tea to Bengalis for free. Then began the advertising campaign. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray grasped the matter right from the start. He realised the British corporate ploy. So, he became active in finding faults in tea rather than its virtues.

Once, Lord Curzon spoke in favour of tea in a speech. By then Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray had taken the side of the anti-British movement. He thought, this was a new trick of the English. They wanted to suppress the Bengali movement by making them drink tea. Prafulla Chandra Ray was a man of science, a chemist actually. Therefore, he knew very well the pros and cons of tea. He wrote article after article about the harmful effects of tea and had them published in newspapers. The English saw that it was a big problem! If something was not done immediately, Prafulla Chandra alone would ruin their tea business in India. So, they secured the support of another scientist.

The English tea owners published an advertisement in the newspaper with a photograph of the famous physicist Meghnad Saha. In it they made Meghnad say, “I drink tea every day, you should too.” This very advertisement proves that Prafulla Chandra had shaken the foundations of the English tea trade. In fact, wherever Prafulla Chandra Ray ventured, he succeeded profoundly. The year 1861 was a golden year for Bengalis. In that year were born two great men of Bengal’s literary and scientific world – Rabindranath Tagore and Prafulla Chandra Ray. Prafulla was born that year on August 2, in the village of Raruli in Paikgachha upazila of Khulna. His father Harish Chandra was a prominent landlord; but a lover of learning. He was also a scholar of the Persian language. A hundred and fifty years ago he had already established two schools in his village.

It was in one of those schools that Prafulla Chandra began his education. At the age of nine, Harish Chandra took his son to Kolkata. He enrolled him in the famous Hare School, in the fourth grade; but in childhood Prafulla Chandra was not as healthy and strong as an ordinary boy. He often suffered from illness. At one point his health deteriorated so much that he could not sit for the examination. Prafulla Chandra had to leave school. He returned to the village. Two years passed there; but he did not stay away from study. His father was a man who loved learning. There was also a library at home, full of various books. Prafulla Chandra spent his time there reading.

Two years later, Prafulla Chandra was sent to Kolkata again. At that time Keshab Chandra Sen had established a school there, named Albert School. Keshab Chandra was a thorough social reformer. He was on friendly terms with Prafulla Chandra’s father Harish Chandra. Therefore, Prafulla was admitted to Albert School. From there he passed the Entrance examination – today’s SSC. Then he came directly under the care of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Vidyasagar was Harish Chandra’s friend. Prafulla Chandra Ray was admitted to the Metropolitan Institute established by Vidyasagar. From there he passed the FA exam, that is, today’s Higher Secondary.

Prafulla Chandra wished to study in Britain. His father also wished this; but by then Harish Chandra’s financial situation had deteriorated. So Prafulla enrolled in a BA course at Presidency College in Kolkata. But he did not let the dream in his heart die. There was provision for scholarships to study in Britain for free. One had to sit an examination for that. Prafulla Chandra passed that examination well. Before finishing his BA course, he was thus admitted to the University of Edinburgh, a very renowned university, on a Gilchrist Scholarship. From there he earned his BSc degree in 1885. For original research he earned the Doctor of Science, or DSc, degree in 1887.

When Prafulla was a student, a society of chemistry was formed at the University of Edinburgh. Prafulla Chandra Ray was elected its vice-president. And the famous scientist Campbell Brown became president. At that time a historical essay competition was held at the University of Edinburgh. The topic was ‘India Before and After the Sepoy Mutiny’. Prafulla Chandra worked hard to write an essay. That writing won everyone’s praise. Perhaps that very day the idea of history-based scientific writing became embedded in Prafulla Chandra’s heart. In any case, the University of Edinburgh rewarded him amply. It awarded him the Hope Prize.

In 1888, Prafulla Chandra returned to Kolkata. He wanted to teach; but the government became the first obstacle. At that time, all the eminent educationists were teaching under the Indian Educational Service. Prafulla Chandra too wished for this; but he did not get the opportunity. He was told to teach under the Bengal Educational Service. So that is what he did. He joined Presidency College as a professor of chemistry. At that time another famous scientist, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, was a professor there, and he was a close friend of Prafulla Chandra. Jagadish Chandra was then researching plants, and Prafulla joined him as an assistant in that research.

At one point he began research on his own, alongside teaching. The year was 1896 – a remarkable year in chemistry. For in that year Prafulla Chandra discovered an almost impossible compound, mercurous nitrite. His discovery shook the whole world. Words of praise for him were published in the world-famous journal Nature. This was no small achievement! Why was his discovery so important? Because mercurous is a special state of mercury. This state is very unstable. On the other hand, nitrite is the name for a special bond of nitrogen and hydrogen. This bond too is very unstable. The fact that two unstable things together were producing mercurous oxide, which is very stable, left many wondering – how could this be possible?

This question puzzled many, both then and now. On the 150th anniversary of Prafulla Chandra’s birth in 2011, another famous scientist of the University of Calcutta, Debabrata Bandyopadhyay, raised the issue. He said that despite many attempts he had failed to produce mercurous nitrite. In his opinion, mercurous nitrite did not exist at all. That is to say, Prafulla Chandra’s discovery was either wrong, or he had lied. That very year Subhash Samanta, Sribat Goswami and Animesh Chakraborty published another research paper proving the existence of mercurous nitrite. The discovery of mercurous nitrite opened the door to new discoveries of salts. Prafulla Chandra went on to discover nitrites one after another. His work was recognised worldwide. At one time scientists around the world began to call him by a new name – the Master of Nitrites.

For Prafulla Chandra Ray, serving the country was more important than personal life. He was the first in the subcontinent to establish a chemical and pharmaceutical factory, named Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Limited. The unemployment and poverty of the people of this country pained him. To encourage employment for the people and the production of local goods, he successively set up industries such as Bengal Pottery, Bengal Enamel Works, Calcutta Soap, and National Tanneries. He wrote more than 150 research papers. He wrote about 30 science books in both English and Bengali. His greatest work was the history of chemistry in the subcontinent – The History of Hindu Chemistry.

He encouraged young people to practise science in their mother tongue. He himself never cared for luxury. He did not even have a house of his own. He spent his whole life in a room at Presidency College. He wore very simple clothes. Coming to him, no poor or distressed person ever left empty-handed. After retirement he donated everything that was due to him from the university to the university itself. On June 16, 1944, this great scientist passed away.

Last August 2 was the 164th birth anniversary of this great scientist; our tribute to him.

Abdul Gaffar Rony: Science writer