Birbal Sahni: a Biographical Sketch of His Personal Life~

BIRBAL SAHNI: A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE~ M. R. SAHNI Geological Survey of Ifldia INTRODUCTION childhood, particularly to Khewra. Here HROUGH the span of a century, men occur certain plant-bearing formations con have arisen now and again who, by cerning the geological age of which Birbal T their ability, their dint of application made important contributions in later years. and inspiration, have sifted facts of science Although Bhera became our ancestral amidst a maze of confusing evidence, and home, our parents were at one time settled who have thus left an indelible impress much farther afield, in fact at the riverine upon the sands of time. Such men have port of Dehra Ismail Khan on the Indus, not merely unveiled scientific truths, not and later migrated to Lahore. only contributed their iota to the sum total I learn from his autobiography that of scientific knowledge, but have also added father, still at school, was obliged to leave dignity and lustre to the science they have Dehra Ismail Khan owing to reverses of pursued. Birbal Sahni was one among fortune and the death of our grandfather such men. To me, his brother, and one who was a leading citizen of the town. who learnt the first principles of science With the change of fortune, life became from him when scarcely of school-going different and difficult. Undeterred, father age, his passing away has meant a break, walked with a bundle of books on his back a snapped link with the memories of a all the way from Dehra Ismail KHan to cherished past. If this fraternal tribute Jhang, a distance of over 150 miles, to goes beyond the pale of ordinary biographical join school. Later at Bhera and at Lahore, sketches, it is because I wish his numerous he distinguished himself as a scholar. He friends to share certain aspects of his life educated himself entirely on scholarships which even those who were most intimately that he won. He was thus brought up in associated with him could scarcely know of. a hard school of life, and was en tirely a self And it is to these little incidents and details made man. of his personal life that I propose, mainly, Father was a person of liberal views, to confine myself, for his scientific work will and during his career he became one of the be reviewed by others. leaders of the Brahmo Samaj movement in the Punjab, a progressive religious and PARENTAL BACKGROUND social upsurge which had then freshly taken root. Undoubtedly father imbibed these Birbal was the third child of our parents, ideas during .his sojourn in Calcutta in his the late Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni and early days. He gave practical effect to his Shrimati Ishwar Devi. He was born on views by breaking away completely from the 14th of November 1891, at Bhera, a caste. And when the call came, father, then small town in the Shahpur district, now a a man of advanced years, stood knee-deep part of the West Punjab, and once a flourish in the sacred mud of the tank of the Golden ing centre of trade, which had the distinction Temple and removed basket-loads of it upon of an invasion by the iconoclast, Mahmud his frail shoulders to assist in clearing the of Ghazni. The immediate interest that accumulated silt. His religion knew no centres round Bhera is enhanced by the fact boundaries. Always a patriot, he threw that this little town is situated not far from himself heart and soul into the struggle the Salt Range which may be described as a for independence and even tasted the veritable "Museum of Geology". Excur severity of the bureaucratic baton at sions to these barren ranges, where lie un the Guru ka Bagh. He fought valiantly masked'some of the most in te-resting episodes for the rights of his countrymen, and and landmarks of Indian geology, were often was more than once on the verge of co-ordinated with visits to Bhera during our arrest. 2 THE PALAEOBOTANIST About 1922, when he returned the insignia His partiality for Sanskrit endured till the of the title conferred upon him by the then very end, and indeed, in later years he government, he was threatened with the became much devoted to it. termination of his pension, but his only He graduated in 1911 from Lahore, and answer was that he had thought out and in the same year joined Emmanuel College, foreseen all possible consequences of his Cambridge. During those days Indian action. He retained his pension ! students obtained admission to Cambridge It was inevitable that these events left University through a representative of the their impress upon the family and were also Government who sometimes became also imbibed by my sensitive brother. There their" guardian". When my eldest brother fore, if Birbal became a staunch supporter Bikrama ]it took Birbal for admission, of the Congress movement, it was due in no Mr. Arnold, who was then looking after small measure to father's living example. To the Indian students, said that this was this may be added the inspiration we derived, impossible. Disappointed, the two brothers even if on rare occasions, from the presence of returned to their rooms. Later, however, political figures like Motilal Nehru, Gokhale, they personally went to Cambridge and, Srinivasa Shastri, Sarojini Naidu, Madan taking a chance, called on the Master of Mohan Malaviya and others who were guests Emmanuel College, Dr. Peter Giles, an ex at our Lahore house, situated near the ceedingly kind and sympathetic personality, Bradlaugh Hall which was then the hub of who was still in charge when I joined the political activity in the Punjab. same college in 1919. To their surprise, Our mother was a pious lady of more Birbal was admitted. But within a few conservative views, whose one aim in life days of his arrival his thoughts turned was to see that the children received the homewards. Life at home had centred main best possible education. Hers was a brave ly around our affectionate mother, and the sacrifice, and together they managed to children were deeply attached to her. Birbal send five sons to British and European began to miss keenly the family surround universities. Nor was the education of the ings and associations. Within three days of daughters neglected in spite of opposition his arrival at Cambridge, he was back in from orthodox relations, and my elder sister London, and when our elder brother, who was one of the first women to graduate from was then studying medicine there, returned the Punjab University. from college, he was astonished to find him Such then was the family and parental in his room, looking quite disconsolate. background which influenced Birbal through "I am feeling homesick," said Birbal, out life. In later years he prided in calling almost on the verge of tears. Our elder himself a "chip of the old block" which brother was. in a predicament and he tells he was in every sense of the term. I t can me that it was no easy task to console be truly said that he inherited from father Birbal and to make him understand the full his intense patriotism, his love of science implication of his action. Birbal spent that and outdoor life and the sterling qualities night in London with his brother. It was which made him stand unswervingly in the with much difficulty that his brother was cause of the country, while he imbibed his able to persuade him to return to Cam generosity and his deep attachments from bridge. After that Birbal took to Cambridge our unassuming and self-sacrificing mother. and his work there so much that he spent the best part of nine years at the Botany School. I have no doubt that the affec EDUCATIONAL CAREER - ADMISSION TO CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY tionate attitude of his tutor, Dr. Alexander Wood, whom I recall with a sense of deep Birbal received his entire education in respect and devotion, was in no small mea India at Lahore, first at the Mission and sure responsible for this. Cambridge has Central Model Schools and then at the many great traditions but I think one of the Government· College, where father held one greatest is the close personal contacts one of the chairs in chemistry. He gained has there with one's tutors. many academic distinctions, standing first BirbaJ graduated from Cambridge in 191+, in Sanskrit at the Matriculation examina and soon settled down to research. In tion of the Punjab University and attaining deed, he had already commenced to take a province position in Intermediate Science. keen interest in research under the inspiring \'\ \ SAHNI - BIRBAL SAHNI :A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HIS PERSONAL LIFE 3 leadership and guidance of one of the most In 1921 he took charge of the newly distinguished botanists of the day, Prof. opened Botany Department of Lucknow A. C. Seward. I myself had the good University, as its first Professor. He im fortune, as a student of botany, to attend mediately threw himself heart and soul into Prof. Seward's lectures at the Botany the work of organizing. Despite his other School, Cambridge, and it was not only an preoccupations, he was often seen grinding inspiration to listen to his discourses on living and making thin sections of fossil' plants with and fossil plants, but a source of added pride his own hands. By hard work and per when the name of Birbal, one of his favourite suasive charm, he built up a reputation for students, was mentioned in connection with the University which soon became the first the study of the Gondwana and other floras.

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