# Dr. Balkrishna

Dr. Balkrishna also referred as Radhabhai Balkrishna (February 1882–October 1940) was an Indian historian and scholar. He completed his B.A from D.A.V College of Lahore and M.A from Government College of Lahore. In 1922 he completed his PH.D form the University of London. He worked as principal of Rajaram College till 1940.

## Early life

Balkrishna, a Kshatriya by birth, born in 1882 in Multan city, Punjab, faced numerous adversities during his childhood. He started out as an apprentice to a jewel-threader later becoming a tailor. It seemed that the profession would be settled with tailoring, when favorable circumstances intervened and enabled him to join a Middle Vernacular School. He showed substantial signs of academic brilliance, topped the Vernacular Final Examination, joined Multan High School, and then moved to D.A.V. College, Lahore, where he obtained his BA degree. Subsequently, he went to Government College, Lahore, where he obtained his Master's degree in Arts with high distinction.

## Career

In 1919 he went to England for his Ph.D from the University of London in 1922. All the while, he lectured on Vedic religion and economics in various parts of England, Wales, and Scotland.
Returning to India in May 1922, he became the Principal of Rajaram College, Kolhapur, until his last breath on 21 October 1940. Under his able guidance, the college could develop from a mere arts institution with 293 students to an advanced arts and science college with 920 students and a post-graduate study. He also played a very significant role in the establishment of Kolhapur as an educational hub; helped to start the establishment of Law and Teachers' Training Colleges, and acted as Inspector of Secondary Education from 1926 to 1936.
He was on the Historical Records Commission of the Government of India and served as the first President of the Bombay Presidency Teachers' Conference convened at Poona in 1935. In 1938, he held the chair of the Modern History Section of the Indian History Congress at Allahabad.
He was an active public worker in Kolhapur. He served as the President of the Kolhapur Boy Scouts' Association from 1924 to 1933. He has been a member of both the Kolhapur Municipality and the Kolhapur Itakha Panchayat for a number of years. Besides, he was President of the Kolhapur Arya Samaj and presided over its educational boards. He was also President of the Teachers' Association in Kolhapur for some years.

## Work

The sage author devoted presence toward several subjects, Indian, religion, culture, economics, politics, and history; it was for this purpose that he first maintained his work, a surgical fame of textual reference, History of Shivaji the Great, spread across an elongated thousand six hundred and fifty pages divided into 4 volumes. Spending 18 years of his lifetime on this project whose setting was Kolhapur, he devoted the same to Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj of Kolhapur. However, he finished even the last bits of pages before his death, in spite of his ailments; the index had been published posthumously in manuscript by him.
He intended to follow this with a history of Rajaram, the second son of Shivaji, for which he was collecting material, especially from Dutch sources. The publication of Shivaji the Great received the support of Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj of Kolhapur, Sayajirao Maharaja of Baroda, Rajasaheb of Mudhol, and a few more, to whom he expressed his heartfelt gratitude.