Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya (School for Hindu Women) was an all-female boarding school located at 22 Beniapukur Lane, Entally, Kolkata, India. [1] [2] Founded by British translator Annette Beveridge, the school was one of the first in India to provide girl students with a curriculum equivalent to that offered for boys. [3] Sources record different dates for the establishment of the school. While Indian historian Jogesh C. Bagal records the date of establishment as 18 November 1873, [1] American historian David Kopf mentions it as 18 September 1873. [4]
Dwarkanath Ganguly was the headmaster. [4] Ananda Mohan Bose and Durga Mohan Das bore the expenses of the institution. [5] Others involved in the school were Sivanath Sastri and Monomohun Ghose. [3] Mrs. J. B. Phear was an honorary teacher. [1] [6] She went to the extent of teaching her students how to eat at a table with cutlery. [3]
After the marriage of Annette Akroyd, the school was closed in March 1876. It was revived on 1 June 1876 as Banga Mahila Vidyalaya (Bengali Women's College). [1]
Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian reformer and writer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He has been dubbed the "Father of Indian Renaissance." He was given the title of Raja by Mughal emperor Akbar II.
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance.
The Young Bengal was a group of Bengali free thinkers emerging from Hindu College, Calcutta. They were also known as Derozians, after their firebrand teacher at Hindu College, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio.
The Bengal Renaissance, also known as the Bengali Renaissance, was a cultural, social, intellectual, and artistic movement that took place in the Bengal region of the British Raj, from the late 18th century to the early 20th century. Historians have traced the beginnings of the movement to the victory of the British East India Company at the 1757 Battle of Plassey, as well as the works of reformer Raja Rammohan Roy, considered the "Father of the Indian Renaissance," born in 1772. Nitish Sengupta stated that the movement "can be said to have … ended with Rabindranath Tagore," Asia's first Nobel laureate.
Keshub Chandra Sen was an Indian philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. Born a Hindu in the Bengal Presidency of British India, he became a member of the Brahmo Samaj in 1857 but established his own breakaway "Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj" in 1866 while the Brahmo Samaj remained under the leadership of Debendranath Tagore. In 1878, his followers abandoned him after the underage child marriage of his daughter which exposed his campaign against child marriage as hollow.
Dr. Kadambini Bose Ganguly was the first female medical doctor from British India. She and Anandibai Joshi both got their degree in Western medicine in 1886. However, She was India's first practicing lady doctor as Anandibai died soon after. She was the first Indian woman to have practiced with a modern medicine degree. Ganguly was the first woman to gain admission to Calcutta Medical College in 1884, subsequently trained in Scotland, and established a successful medical practice in India. She was the first woman speaker in the Indian National Congress.
Girish Chandra Sen was a Bengali religious scholar and translator. He was a Brahmo Samaj missionary and known for being the first publisher of the Qur’an into Bengali language in 1886. He was praised by Islamic scholars in countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Iran for his choice of words.
Ramananda Chatterjee was the founder, editor, and owner of the Calcutta based magazine, the Modern Review. He has been described as the Father of Indian Journalism.
Rajnarayan Basu (1826–1899) was an Indian writer and intellectual of the Bengal Renaissance. He was born in Boral in 24 Parganas and studied at the Hare School and Hindu College, in Kolkata, Bengal. A monotheist at heart, Basu converted to the Brahmoism sect at the age of twenty. After retiring, he was given the honorary title of Rishi or sage. He was one of the best known prose writers in Bengali in the nineteenth century, writing often for the Tattwabodhini Patrika, a premier Brahmo journal. Due to his defence of Brahmoism, he was given the title "Grandfather of Indian Nationalism".
Peary Charan Sarkar, was an educationist and textbook writer in nineteenth century Bengal. His series of Reading Books introduced a whole generation of Bengalis to the English language, sold in the millions and were translated into every major Indian language. He was also a pioneer of women's education in Bengal and was called 'Arnold of the East'.
The Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya is a girls' school in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It is guided by the principles of the Brahmo Samaj movement. It was established on 16 May 1890 by the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj on the 12th anniversary of its foundation.
Manmohun Ghose was the first practicing barrister of Indian origin. He is notable for his contributions towards the fields of women's education, for arousing the patriotic feeling of his countrymen and for being one of the earliest persons in the country in organised national politics. At the same time his Anglicised habits often made him a target of ridicule in Calcutta.He was one of the co-founders of Indian National Congress.
Brahmoism is a Hindu religious movement which originated from the mid-19th century Bengali Renaissance, the nascent Indian independence movement. Adherents, known as Brahmos, are mainly of Indian or Bangladeshi origin or nationality.
Ananda Mohan Bose was an Indian politician, academic, social reformer, and lawyer during the British Raj. He co-founded the Indian National Association, one of the earliest Indian political organizations, and later became a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. In 1874, he became the first Indian Wrangler of the Cambridge University. He was also a prominent religious leader of Brahmoism and with Sivanath Sastri a leading light of Adi Dharm.
The Indian Reform Association was formed on 29 October 1870 with Keshub Chandra Sen as president. It represented the secular side of the Brahmo Samaj and included many who did not belong to the Brahmo Samaj. The objective was to put into practice some of the ideas Sen was exposed to during his visit to Great Britain.
The Brahmo Conference Organisation (Sammilan) was founded on 27 January 1881 at Mymensingh Bangladesh to maintain communication between Adi Dharm and Sadharan Brahmo Samaj after the 2nd schism of Brahmoism in 1878. The stated objectives for founding the organisation included
Heramba Chandra College is popularly known as South City Day. It shares premises with Sivanath Sastri College and Prafulla Chandra College.
Krishna Kumar Mitra (1852–1936) was an Indian freedom fighter, journalist and leader of the Brahmo Samaj. He is remembered for his contributions to the Swadeshi movement through his journal Sanjibani.
Annette Susannah Beveridge was a British Orientalist known for her translation of the Humayun-nama and the Babur-nama.
Dwarkanath Gangopadhyay was a Bengali Brahmo reformer. He made substantial contributions towards societal enlightenment and the emancipation of women. Ganguly dedicated his life to the latter cause, encouraging women to participate in politics and the social services. He was the husband of the first female Indian physician, Kadambini Ganguly.