Young Bengal

Last updated

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. [1] [2]

Contents

The Young Bengal Movement peripherally included Christians such as Reverend Alexander Duff (1809–1878), who founded the General Assembly's Institution, and his students like Lal Behari Dey (1824–1892), who went on to renounce Hinduism. Latter-day inheritors of the legacy of the Young Bengal Movement include scholars like Brajendra Nath Seal (1864–1938), who went on to be one of the leading theologians and thinkers of the Brahmo Samaj. The Derozians however failed to have a long-term impact. Derozio was removed from the Hindu college in 1831 because of radicalism. The main reason for their limited success was social conditions prevailing at that time which were not ripe for adoption of radical ideas. Further, they did not link masses through peasant causes.

Young Bengal followed classical economics and was composed of free traders who took inspiration from Jeremy Bentham, Adam Smith, and David Ricardo:

"With respect to the questions relating to Political Economy, they all belong to the school of Adam Smith. They are clearly of opinion that the system of monopoly, the restraints upon trade, and the international laws of many countries, do nothing but paralyse the efforts of industry, impede the progress of agriculture and manufacture, and prevent commerce from flowing in its natural course." [3]

Organisations

Derozio and the Young Bengal group set two establishments and published journals that played a role in the Bengal Renaissance. These are noted below:

Academic Association

Derozio joined Hindu College in 1826 and within a short period attracted students. The Academic Association was established in 1828 under the guidance of Derozio and settled down in Maniktala. Derozio was its president. One of his students, Uma Charan Basu, was its secretary. The principal speakers in the association were: Rasik Krishna Mallick, Krishna Mohan Banerjee, [4] Ramgopal Ghosh, Radhanath Sikdar, Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, and Hara Chandra Ghosh. Amongst its organisers were Ramtanu Lahiri, Sib Chandra Deb and Peary Chand Mitra. [5]

Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge

The Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge was established on 20 February 1838. It had 200 members in 1843. [6]

Prominent members

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radhanath Sikdar</span> Indian mathematician (1813–1870)

Radhanath Sikdar was an Indian mathematician who is best known for calculating the height of Mount Everest. He was the first person to calculate the height of Mount Everest, in 1852.

Bengali Brahmos are those who adhere to Brahmoism, the philosophy of Brahmo Samaj which was founded by Raja Rammohan Roy. A recent publication describes the disproportionate influence of Brahmos on India's development post-19th Century as unparalleled in recent times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Renaissance</span> 1800s–1930s socio-cultural and religious reform movement in Bengal, Indian subcontinent

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 Bengal Renaissance," born in 1772. Nitish Sengupta stated that the movement "can be said to have … ended with Rabindranath Tagore," Asia's first Nobel laureate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare School</span> Government school in Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys school and was established by the Scottish watch-maker, David Hare. The establishment date is not agreed upon, but the official year of establishment is 1818. Thus the school is declared as the oldest western type school in Asia. The school is situated opposite the Presidency University, and is also adjacent to the University of Calcutta and Hindu School. The combined campuses of the Hare School and Presidency College is one of the largest in Kolkata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramtanu Lahiri</span> Indian scholar and activist (1813–1898)

Ramtanu Lahiri (1813–1898) was a Young Bengal leader, a teacher and a social reformer. Peary Chand Mitra wrote about him, "There are few persons in whom the milk of kindness flows so abundantly. He was never wanting in appreciation of what was right, and in his sympathy with the advanced principles." Sivanath Sastri's Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Bangasamaj, published in 1903, was not only his biography but also an overview of Bengali society of the era, "a remarkable social document on the period of the Bengal Renaissance."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durga Mohan Das</span>

Durga Mohan Das was a Brahmo Samaj leader and a social reformer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krishna Mohan Banerjee</span> Bengali scholar

Krishna Mohan Banerjee was a 19th-century Indian thinker who attempted to rethink Hindu philosophy, religion and ethics in response to the stimulus of Christian ideas. He himself became a Christian, and was the first president of the Bengal Christian Association, which was administered and financed by Indians. He was a prominent member of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio's (1808–1831) Young Bengal group, educationist, linguist and Christian missionary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peary Chand Mitra</span> Indian author and journalist (1814–1883)

Peary Chand Mitra was an Indian writer, journalist, cultural activist and entrepreneur. His pseudonym was Tek Chand Thakur. He was a member of Henry Derozio's Young Bengal group, who played a leading role in the Bengal renaissance with the introduction of simple Bengali prose. His Alaler Gharer Dulal pioneered the novel in the Bengali language, leading to a tradition taken up by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and others. Mitra died on 23 November 1883 in Kolkata.

Rasik Krishna Mallick was an Indian journalist, editor, reformer, educationist and a leading member of Young Bengal group. He had shocked the court in British India in the 1820s with the statement that he did not believe in the sacredness of the Ganges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peary Charan Sarkar</span>

Peary Charan Sircar, 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'.

Rai Bahadur Hara Chandra Ghosh was one of the prominent leaders of the Young Bengal group. He was the first Bengali to be a judge of the Calcutta Small Causes Court from 1854 to 1868. H.E.A. Cotton says, "In his youth, he was a favourite pupil, as the Rev. K.M.Banerjee had been of David Hare and Derozio: but unlike others he maintained his Hinduism." He earned fame as a judge and was not involved in religion and social reform.

Deba Prasad Mitra, son of Jyotirindraprasad Mitra (1869–1918), was a renowned clinical pathologist and religious and social worker connected with the Brahmo Samaj. His life and work were greatly inspired and stimulated by the lives of his grandfather Braja Sundar Mitra (1820–1875), the founder of the East Bengal Brahmo Samaj at Dhaka and an inaugurator of the New Age in Dhaka and Eastern Bengal as a whole, and also his mother's grandfather Sib Chandra Deb (1811–1890), a pupil of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio at the Hindu College, the Founder-Secretary of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, Kolkata, and pioneer of the modernization of his native village Konnagar, a few kilometers from Kolkata. Devaprasad's father Jyotirindraprasad was a qualified advocate and practiced law for some time, but when he found that one had to resort to falsehood for success in the legal profession, he gave it up and joined the service of the estate of the Tripura Native State at Comilla.

<i>Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Bangasamaj</i>

Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Bangasamaj is a book authored by Sivanath Sastri. It is considered one of the most important historical documents relating to the period commonly known as the Bengali Renaissance; in particular, it is the primary source of information on the Brahmo Samaj. Though named after the social reformer Ramtanu Lahiri, it covers a broad historical period beginning with Ram Mohan Roy and including the Brahmos, Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and his Young Bengal movement and other such important historical events of contemporary Bengali society. A translation into English, Ramtanu Lahiri, Brahman and Reformer: A History of Renaissance in Bengal, edited by Sir Roper Lethbridge, was published in London in 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahendralal Sarkar</span> Bengali medical doctor and social reformer

Mahendralal Sarkar CIE was a Bengali medical doctor (MD), the second MD graduated from the Calcutta Medical College, social reformer, and propagator of scientific studies in nineteenth-century India. He was the founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anandamohan Bose</span> Indian nationalist

Ananda Mohan Bose was an Indian politician, academician, 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.

Ramkamal Sen (1783–1844) was the Diwan of the Treasury, Treasurer of the Bank of Bengal and Secretary of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krishna Kumar Mitra</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwarkanath Ganguly</span> Bengali social reformer

Dwarkanath Gangopadhyay was a Brahmo reformer in Bengal, British India. 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.

References

  1. SHARMA, MAYANK. "Essay on 'Derozio and the Young Bengal Movement'".
  2. Bose, N.S. (1960) The Indian Awakening and Bengal, Calcutta, Firma K.L. Mukhopadhyay.
  3. Sartori, Andrew. (2008) Bengal in Global Concept History, Chicago, University of Chicago Press. pp. 92–93
  4. 1 2 Das, Mayukh (2014). Reverend Krishnamohan Bandyopadhyaya. Kolkata: Paschimbanga Anchalik Itihas O Loksanskriti Charcha Kendra. ISBN   978-81-926316-0-8.
  5. Sastri, Sivanath, Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj, (in Bengali)1903/2001, p. 69, New Age Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
  6. Sengupta, Nitish, pp. 230, 282.
  7. Sengupta, Nitish K. (2001) History of the Bengali-speaking people, pp227-228, New Delhi: UBS Publishers' Distributors. ISBN   978-81-7476-355-6

Further reading