Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay was a well-known educator and social reformer from India in the 19th century. He played an important role in making Bengali (Bangla) prose easier to understand and more modern.
He also made the Bengali alphabet and writing system simpler, which had stayed the same since Charles Wilkins and Panchanan Karmakar first created Bengali printing types in 1780. His work helped improve how Bengali was written and read, making it more accessible to people.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Biography
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born on September 26, 1820, in a Hindu Brahmin family. His parents were Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and Bhagavati Devi. He was born in the village of Birsingha, which is in the Paschim Medinipur District. He married Dinamayee Devi (m. 1834–1888) and had a son named Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya. He died on 29 July 1891 at the age of 70.
Ishwar Chandra enrolled in Sanskrit College in Calcutta, where he studied for twelve years. He graduated in 1841 after mastering subjects like Sanskrit grammar, literature, dialectics (Alankara Shastra), Vedanta, Smriti, and astronomy.
In 1839, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar passed his Sanskrit law exam. Two years later, in 1841, when he was just 21 years old, he became the head of the Sanskrit department at Fort William College.
In 1849, despite Rasomoy Dutta advising him not to, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar resigned from Sanskrit College and went back to Fort William College, where he took a job as a head clerk.
Brief About Ishwar Chandra’s Life History
When Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was 9 years old, he moved to Calcutta and started living in the house of Bhagabat Charan in Burrabazar. His father, Thakurdas, had already been staying there for a few years. Ishwar quickly felt comfortable living with Bhagabat’s big family and settled in easily.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar worked hard to improve the lives of women in India, especially in Bengal. He fought against child marriage and the practice of men marrying multiple women (polygamy).
In 1853, it was estimated that Calcutta had around 12,700 prostitutes and public women. Many widows were forced to shave their heads and wear white saris to stop men from paying attention to them. Vidyasagar wanted to change these unfair practices.
Vidyasagar had a long connection with Karmatar, a small village about 20 km from Jamtara. Sadly, many people today have forgotten about it. He moved to Karmatar in 1873 and lived there for over 18 years. During his time there, he started a girls’ school at his house, which he named Nandan Kanan.
On September 26, 2019, the Government of Jharkhand renamed the Karmatand block in Jamtara district as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Block to honor him on his birth anniversary. This was done as a sign of respect for the great social reformer.
Vidyasagar was also the secretary of the Hindu Female School, which later became known as Bethune Female School. In 2004, he was ranked 9th in a BBC poll of the greatest Bengalis of all time.
Indian film director Kali Prasad Ghosh made a Bengali biographical film called Vidyasagar in 1950, which tells the story of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar’s life. The film featured Pahadi Sanyal in the lead role.
Attribute | Details |
---|---|
Full Name | Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay EIC |
Nickname | Ishwar Chandra |
Profession | Educator and Social Reformer |
Date of Birth | 26 September 1820 |
Death Date | 29 July 1891 |
Age Death Time | 70 Years Old |
Family | Father: Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay |
Mother: Bhagavati Devi | |
Siblings: Not Known | |
Marital Status | Married |
Wife Name | Dinamayee Devi (m. 1834–1888) |
Children | Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya |
Religion | Bengali |
Educational Qualification | Graduate |
School | High School |
College | Sanskrit College and University (1828–1841), Fort William College |
Hobbies | Social Work & Education |
Birth Place | West Bengal, India |
Hometown | West Bengal, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Social Media |
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