Bengal's contribution to the Reform Movement- social, cultural as well as educational.

1. Why Reform Movements spread
from Bengal?
By Subhaditya Basu
Class VIII C

2. Oppression of common man. Neel Darpan by Dinabandhu
Mitra expresses sufferings of indigo planters.
British rule spread from Bengal after defeat of Siraj-ud-daulah
at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
The Christian missionaries were active there in Calcutta and
supported Western Education.
The people were educated due to efforts of Raja Rammohun
Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. The Brahmo Samaj led
campaigns against social evils.
Question

3. Contribution of Bengali
reformers- Religion
Rammohun Roy favored monotheism( worship of a single God). He opposed idol worship
and meaningless rituals which according to him gave rise to superstitions and social evils.
To prove this point, he published Bengali translations of the Vedas and Upanishads. The
Atmiya Sabha was founded by him in 1814 to spread rational religious ideas.
Ramakrishna Paramhansa spread the message of single-minded devotion to God and
promoted religious tolerance.
Debendranath Tagore opposed idol worship and laid stress on spiritualism.
Swami Vivekananda spoke on Hindu philosophy at The Parliament of Religions in
Chicago, 1893. He spread the teachings of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramhansa by
establishing The Ramakrishna Mission in 1887. The Belur Math was established in 1899 to
carry out religious work of the Mission.
 Rani Rashmoni constructed the Dakhineshwar Kali Temple, where Ramakrishna
Paramhansa lived.
Sri Aurobindo evolved a new method of spiritual practice, which he called Integral Yoga.
The central theme of his vision was the evolution of human life into a life divine. He
believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated man but also transformed his
nature, enabling a divine life on earth. He founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.
Keshab Chandra Sen’s primary quest was for a universal religion or belief-system. Sen
established a syncretic school of spiritualism, called the Nabo Bidhan or 'New
Dispensation', which he intended to amalgamate the best principles of Christianity and of
the western spiritual tradition with Hinduism.

4. Social reforms by Bengalis
Rammohun Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 to campaign against
social evils like sati, polygamy, child marriage, caste discrimination and to
demand inheritance of property for women. Lord William Bentinck
abolished sati in 1829.
Keshab Chandra Sen criticized Brahman domination. He encouraged
intercaste marriages, widow remarriage and girls’ education. The
marriageable age for girls was raised in 1872 due to his efforts.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar opened the Sanskrit College to all castes. He
criticized caste discrimination and helped Drinkwater Bethune to set up the
first school for girls in 1849. Vidyasagar promoted widow remarriage, which
was legalized by Lord Dalhousie in 1856.
Swami Vivekananda attacked superstition, narrow-mindedness and
weakness in all forms. The Ramakrishna Mission set up hospitals and
provided relief funds during natural calamities.
 Bagha Jatin and others revolutionaries opposed British Rule.

5. Educational reforms of Bengalis
Rammohun Roy dreamed of combining positive aspects of Eastern and Western
cultures. Hence he supported introduction of English education in India. Along with with
Scottish scholars David Hare and Alexander Duff, he established the Hindu College in
1817 and the Vedanta College in 1825. He published the Samvad Kaumudi to educate
the public on issues like freedom of press.
The Ramakrishna Mission set up schools all over Bengal.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar wrote the Bengali primer, Barna Parichaya which simplified
the Bengali language.
Dayanand Saraswati’s Satyarth Prakash was translated into Bengali which contained the
essence of his teachings.
The Brahmo Samaj of India published newspapers like Indian Mirror and Sulav
Samachar to attack social inequalities and promote rationalism.
Other contributions• Henry Vivian Derozio started the Young Bengal Movement, which tried to remove
social evils, improve conditions of women and peasants and promote liberty.
•Warren Hastings established the Calcutta Madarsa in 1781 and Jonathan Duncan
established the Sanskrit College in 1792.
•William Jones found the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784.
•Dinabandhu Mitra wrote Neel Darpan, explaining the suffering to indigo plantation
workers

6. http://www.indianetzone.com/
The Trail: History and
Civics for Class 8
http://www.wikipedia.org/
BIBLIOGRAPHY