Utkal Gauraba Madhusudan Das (1848-1934), a lawyer, patriot, politician, and industrialist, had played a leading role in the making of the state of
Orissa. Born in the village of Satyabhamapur in a rich and well to do family, he passed matric from the Cuttack high school and went on to complete his MA, LLB from
Calcutta University. He practiced as an advocate for fifteen years in
Kolkata before returning to
Cuttack in 1881.
During the British rule the Oriya people were scattered across four states. Madhusadan Das took a valiant stand for unification of scattered Oriya tracts. He organized 'Utkal samilani' in 1903 and started a revolution called 'Desha Mishrana Andolan'. He took up the issue with the British high command and as a result the declaration for a separate state was issued in 1933.
Utkal Gauraba Madhusudan Das was a great legislator and journalist who rose as a symbol of new hope and aspiration of all Oriyas. He was the founder of the English magazine named 'The Oriya'. His poem 'swalpa hele sudha' revealed love for the Oriya community. He was the member of administrative council of Orissa, Bihar and Bengal for around thirty years from 1896. He had served the office of the minister for self-administration and health for Bihar and Orissa from 1921 to 1923, the post which he eventually resigned owing to differences with the British.
Madhusudan Das was also a reputed industrialist. Acclaimed as an eminent lawyer and administrator, Utkal Gauraba Madhusudan Das passed away in 1936.
