Pramatha Nath Bose

Pramatha Nath Bose (1855–1934) was a pioneering Indian geologist and paleontologist. P. N. Bose was educated at Krishnagar College and later at St. Xavier's College of the University of Calcutta when he obtained a Gilchrist scholarship to study in London in 1874. During his study at Cambridge he became a friend of Rabindranath Tagore. He was one of the early Indians to join the Geological Survey of India as a graded officer. His initial work was on the Siwalik fossils. He is credited with the discovery of petroleum in Assam and the setting up of the first soap factory in India and was instrumental in the setting up of Jamshedpur by writing to J. N. Tata about the rich iron ore reserves.

Born on May 12, 1855 in a remote village of Gaipur, near Gobardanga, in 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, geologist PN Bose graduated in science from London University and passed out from the Royal School of Mines the following year in 1878. During his years as geologist, he discovered iron ore mines in Dhulli and Rajhara in Madhya Pradesh. The most outstanding achievement of his life was the discovery of iron ore deposits in the hills of Gorumahisani in the state of Mayurbhanj. Following the discovery, PN Bose wrote a letter to JN Tata on February 24, 1904, which led to the establishment of Tata Iron and Steel Company at Sakchi.