This is a 1928 photo of the male members of the Roy Family of Behala, south of Calcutta, along with the children. Adult women would have been behind an effective “purdah”. The bearded patriarch in the middle is my great grandfather, the Hon’ble Surendranath Roy (1860-1929), an eminent statesman of Bengal of his time https://independentindian.com/2008/06/17/surendranath-roy-1860-1929/ (We did not know until recently he was present and badly injured, along with Ardeshir Dalal, by Bhagat Singh’s bomb thrown in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929 during the Simon Commission deliberations. He died seven months later.)
Surendranath was the eldest son of Rai Bahadur Umbik Churn Rai (1827-1902). The Golden Book of India published at the time of the Victoria Jubilee said Umbik was the twelfth descendant of one Raja Gajendra Narayan Rai, Rai-Raian, a finance official under the Great Mughal Jahangir.
Surendranath’s second son, my grandfather, Manindranath Roy, is seated second from the right in the second row with spectacles and moustache.
The bright lad fourth from the left in the last row, with his hand on his knee, would grow up to be my father.
January 22, 2009 at 9:58 am
I am a great great grandson of Ambika Charan Roy (which, as far as I know, is how his name is spelled). I believe he died in 1892 or 1898, not 1902.
May 23, 2011 at 7:23 pm
He died on Oct 2 1902, his wife died 14 years later in 1916, according to legal documents now at hand.
September 5, 2015 at 8:44 pm
thank you for sharing such valuable notes ❤
May 29, 2017 at 5:08 pm
I really liked to read the piece on my origin.