Kailas Nath Kaul Biography 
Kailas Nath Kaul was an Indian botanist, naturalist, agricultural scientist, horticulturist, herbalist, plant collector and herpetologist, who lived in the 20th century. He had deep knowledge on Arecaceae, a botanical family of perennial plants. He was the founder of National Botanical Research Institute in Lucknow, which was formerly known as National Botanical Gardens. Renowned scientist and botanist Triloki Nath Khoshoo worked under him for many years, and was serving as its director when the organization was renamed in 1978. Kailas also served as the first Indian scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Kaul was also associated with freedom struggle movement since early 1930s, and is related to Nehru family.
For his contributions towards science and research, he was honoured with fourth highest civilian Padma Shri by government of India in 1977. K.N. Kaul Block of National Botanical Research Institute has been named in his honour. Kaulinia, a genus of ferns named in his honour. He is related to Nehru political family. His sister, Kamala Nehru was married to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Thus former PMs - Indira Gandhi was his niece, and Rajiv Gandhi was his grandnephew.
Kailas Nath Kaul was born in 1905. After completing his studies in botany, he worked with the Natural History Museum, London, and several British universities including the University of Cambridge, for many years before returning to India. He established National Botanic Gardens of India at Lucknow in 1948, and remained as its director till 1965. In between 1953 and 1965 he surveyed botanically the whole of India, from the Karakoram Mountains in the north to Kanyakumari at the south, and from the North East Frontier Agency in the east to the Rann of Kutch in the west.
He was appointed as the first Vice Chancellor of the Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur in 1975. Kaul was responsible for the reclamation of several thousand acres of alkaline land in Uttar Pradesh. He passed away in 1983.
Published: February 27, 2019
Updated: February 27, 2019
