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    Taras Shevchenko

    Sardar
    Dyal Singh Majithia
    Born1848 (1848)
    Banaras, Banaras State, Company India
    (now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
    Died1898 (aged 49–50)
    Lahore, Punjab Province, British India
    (now in Punjab, Pakistan)
    Occupations
    • Banker
    • businessman
    • philanthropist
    • activist
    Known forFounding The Tribune and Punjab National Bank
    SpouseRani Bhagwan Kaur
    FatherLehna Singh Majithia
    FamilyMajithia

    Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia (1848–1898) was an Indian businessman, banker, philanthropist and activist.[1][2] Majithia established The Tribune, an English language newspaper in Lahore in 1881, and later, he became the founder chairman of the Punjab National Bank, which was established in 1894.[3][4] Majithia was noted for his wealth, which he had earned through his business interests.[1] His will and trusts donated much of the properties, land holdings and assets he owned to educational institutions.[2][5][6]

    Early life and background

    Born in Varanasi, Dyal Singh Majithia was the son of General Lehna Singh and a member of the Majithia family of Punjab.[7][8] His grandfather, Desa Singh Majithia, had served Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Emperor, as a general and later as the Governor of Mandi and Saket.[2][8] By the time of Majithia's birth, his family had administered the affairs of the Golden Temple for over 30 years.[9] Majithia was initially educated by a British governess, later attended the Christian Mission School in Amritsar, and independently studied various religions.[2]

    Business career

    In 1881, Majithia founded the English-language newspaper The Tribune.[1] Majithia also made a considerable fortune through his real estate interests.[10] In his real estate business, he would design and build houses in areas occupied by senior civilians and rent the houses to senior bureaucrats.[10] Through auctions, he would purchase prime real estate for his building projects.[10] Majithia also monitored the prices of houses and land, selling those with poor yields and reinvesting the proceeds from the sales.[10]

    Majithia was also successful trader of jewellery and precious stones.[10] Majithia would leverage his knowledge of Punjab’s ruling families to track and acquire valuable precious stones and jewellery, often through discreet agents, securing them at low prices and reselling them for a profit.[10] His knowledge of jewllery and precious stone was noted by even the professional jewellers in Lahore.[10]

    In 1894, Punjab National Bank (PNB) was co-founded by Majithia, who became the Chairman of PNB, Lala Harkishen Lal, an industrialist who became the Secretary of the Board, and other individuals.[11][12] The first meeting of PNB's board of directors took place in Majithia's house.[11] Initially, 25% of PNB's shareholding was owned by Majithia and he was the chairman of the bank until his death.[13] PNB was the first Indian bank to be founded with capital contributions from Indians and to be owned and managed by Indians.[14][15]

    Philanthropy and activism

    Majithia was the first president of the Indian Association of Lahore and held the position until his death.[16] He was a founding member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, a Hindu social reform movement.[17] A prominent member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Majithia had also financially donated to the organization.[17] Majithia's philanthropy, through his will and trusts, extended to educational institutions and libraries, including Government Dayal Singh College in Lahore, Dyal Singh Memorial Library in Lahore, Dyal Singh College in Delhi, and Dyal Singh College in Karnal.[18][19][20][6] Majithia was also a supporter of the Indian National Congress.[18]

    Personal life

    Majithia had initially intended to marry a Bengali Brahmo woman; however, this did not take place and Majithia later married Rani Bhagwan Kaur.[2] He had residences in Lahore, Amritsar and Karachi.[2] Majithia died in 1898.[2] Majithia had died issueless and he had bequeathed his ancestral properties to his cousin, who later sold the properties to contest the validity of Majithia's will.[16]

    Legacy

    The Tribune, is a leading English daily newspaper in Northern India.[21][22][23][24] The Tribune Trust has also published Punjabi Tribune and Dainik Tribune from 1978.[21][25][26] Punjab National Bank, which was nationalized in 1969, is one of India's largest banks.[14][27] After his death, funds from the sale of Majithia's Karachi property were used to buy land where a campus of Punjab University was later established.[2]

    References

    1. ^ a b c Kochhar, Rajesh (22 November 2017). "Dyal Singh Majithia and his legacy". The Tribune. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    2. ^ a b c d e f g h Gopal, Madan (24 August 2024). "Remembering our founder — Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia: A broad-minded liberal". The Tribune. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
    3. ^ Walia, Varinder (8 September 2005). "Special on the death anniversary of Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, which falls on September 9 - Majithia's virasat knows no sarhad". The Tribune India.
    4. ^ G., M. (9 September 1998). "How The Tribune was launched". The Tribune India (www.tribuneindia.com). Retrieved 12 September 2022.
    5. ^ "Who was Dyal Singh Majithia?". The Hindu. 24 November 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    6. ^ a b Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. pp. 112–116. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    7. ^ Niyogi, Sumanta (26 January 2023). The Brahmo Samaj Movement In Punjab: The Life, Times & Works of Bhai Prakash Dev 1855-1914. Tandrita Bhaduri - Readers Service: Kolkata. p. 17. ISBN 978-93-92283-02-4.
    8. ^ a b Chhina, Rajinder Mohan S (2 February 2016). "Visionary who helped shape modern Punjab". The Tribune. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    9. ^ Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. p. 34. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    10. ^ a b c d e f g Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. pp. 44–46. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    11. ^ a b Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. pp. 92–97. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    12. ^ "Origin". Punjab National Bank. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    13. ^ Damodaran, Harish (25 November 2018). INDIA'S NEW CAPITALISTS: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation. Gurugram: Hachette Book Publishing India. ISBN 978-93-5195-280-0.
    14. ^ a b Adhikari, Anand; Dagar, Shalini S. (10 July 2011). "India's 100 year old banks". Business Today. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    15. ^ Banerjee, Poulomi (7 April 2018). "Building an Indian bank: PNB's Swadeshi roots". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    16. ^ a b Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. pp. Preface. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    17. ^ a b Gopal, Madan (1994). Dyal Singh Majithia. New Delhi: Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. pp. 38–40. ISBN 978-81-230-0119-7.
    18. ^ a b Chowdhury, Shreya Roy (20 November 2017). "Delhi college rechristening row: Vande Mataram Mahavidyalaya is a divisive name, say teachers". Scroll.in. Retrieved 28 May 2025.
    19. ^ "Rich tributes paid to Dyal Singh Majithia". The Tribune. 8 September 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
    20. ^ "Dyal Singh College hosts conference on green economies, women entrepreneurship". Hindustan Times. 8 February 2025. Archived from the original on 18 March 2025. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
    21. ^ a b Aggarwal, Vir Bala; Gupta, V. S. (2001). Handbook of Journalism and Mass Communication. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 126–128. ISBN 978-81-7022-880-6.
    22. ^ Parhi, Asima Ranjan (2008). Indian English Through Newspapers. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 31–32. ISBN 978-81-8069-507-0.
    23. ^ "Hindustan Times is most read English newspaper in Punjab: Indian Readership Survey". Hindustan Times. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
    24. ^ Rana, Pooja (30 May 2010). Supplement Journalism in India. New Delhi: Pentagon Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-81-8274-454-7.
    25. ^ Singh Sandhu, Gulzar (15 August 2018). "Trip down 40 yrs of Punjabi Tribune". The Tribune. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
    26. ^ "About Us". The Tribune. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
    27. ^ Nayak, Siddhi (1 February 2025). "India's Punjab National Bank eyes $1.96 billion bad loan recovery in FY25, CEO says". Reuters. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
    Credit: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyal_Singh_Majithia

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