Dyal Singh Majithia

Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia (1848–1898) was an Indian banker and activist in progressive and social reform measures in Punjab.[1] He established The Tribune English language newspaper in Lahore in 1881, and later remained founder chairman of the Punjab National Bank, established in 1894.[2][3] Dyal Singh trust also opened a school at village Mirjajan, Tehsil Batala, District Gurdaspur, Punjab and also donated many acres of land to the school,which is running successfully under the name of Dyal Singh Govt. Sen. Sec. School Mirjajan.

Dyal Singh Majithia
Born1848 (1848)
Banaras, Banaras State, British India
(now in Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died1898 (aged 49–50)
Lahore, Punjab, British India
(now in Punjab, Pakistan)
OccupationBanker
SpouseRani Bhagwan Kaur
Parent
FamilyMajithia

Biography

Born in Varanasi, Dyal Singh was the son of General Lehna Singh of the renowned Majithia family of Punjab.[4] He got his early education in the Mission School at Amritsar and was later self-educated.

He founded the English-language newspaper The Tribune and managed the affairs of the Harmandir Sahib ("Golden Temple") for nearly thirty years. He took up business in real estate and diamonds and earned huge wealth. He was the first president of the Indian Association of Lahore and continued in that capacity till his death. He was a founding Trustee of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.

He was Chairman, Board of Directors of the country's first indigenous bank, the Punjab National Bank. The Bank was founded on 23 May 1894 (its first meeting was held at 6:30 PM at Dyal Singh's house). At the second meeting on 27 May 1894, Dyal Singh was appointed Chairman and Lala Harkishen Lal, the Secretary of the Board. He was also a pillar of the Brahmo Samaj and donated liberally to educational institutions and libraries, including numerous colleges all over Northern India, like Dayal Singh College, Lahore and Dyal Singh Memorial Library, Lahore. He was closely associated with Punjab University.

Legacy

The Tribune newspaper, founded by him, is still the leading English daily in Northern India. Since 1978, The Tribune Trust has published Punjabi Tribune and Dainik Tribune also. He willed his property for establishing college for secular education, initially resulting in creation of Dayal Singh College (Lahore), later also Dyal Singh College, Delhi and Dyal Singh College, Karnal.[5]

References
  1. "Dyal Singh Majithia". The Sikh Encyclopedia. 19 December 2000. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  2. 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.
  3. G., M. (9 September 1998). "How The Tribune was launched". The Tribune India (www.tribuneindia.com). Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. Gopal, Madan (9 September 1998). "A Broad-Minded Liberal". www.tribuneindia.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  5. Arora, Parveen (20 November 2017). "Amid uproar, old Dyal college files scoured". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
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