Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891), born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay, was a Bengali polymath from the Indian subcontinent, and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. He was a philosopher, academic educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer and philanthropist.
His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali prose were highly significant. He rationalised and simplified the Bengali alphabet and type, which had remained unchanged since Charles Wilkins and Panchanan Karmakar had cut the first wooden Bengali type in 1780. He is considered the “father of modern Bengali prose”.
He was awarded the title “Vidyasagar” (Sanskrit vidya meaning knowledge and sagar meaning ocean; hence, “Ocean of Knowledge”) from Sanskrit College, Calcutta, due to his excellent performance in Sanskrit studies and philosophy.
Early Life and Struggles
Ishwar Chandra was born in a Hindu orthodox Brahmin family in Birsingha village in Midnapore district of undivided Bengal. His parents, Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and Bhagavati Devi, were very poor.
Vidyasagar’s childhood was marked by extreme poverty. It is a popular legend that he was so poor that he could not afford oil lamps to study at night, and instead did his school lessons under the street gas lamps of Calcutta. Despite these struggles, he cleared all his examinations with top ranks, winning numerous scholarships. He joined the Sanskrit College in Calcutta, studying Sanskrit grammar, literature, dialectics, Vedanta, Smriti, and Astronomy.
Social Reforms
Vidyasagar was a compassionate reformer who fought relentlessly against the social evils and orthodoxies of 19th-century Hindu society.
Widow Remarriage Act, 1856
The status of widows in 19th-century India was extremely miserable. Many girls were married to older men in child marriage arrangements, and when their husbands died, these young girls were forced to live lives of extreme deprivation, shaving their heads, wearing white, and being treated as outcasts.
Vidyasagar argued passionately against this orthodox dogma. He studied ancient Hindu scriptures and proved that widow remarriage was not forbidden by religious texts. He faced severe backlash, physical threats, and social boycott from conservative factions led by Radhakanta Deb and the Dharma Sabha.
Vidyasagar filed a petition with the Legislative Council, which was countered by a petition with four times as many signatures by conservatives. Despite the opposition, his petition succeeded, and the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 (Act XV of 1856) was drafted and passed on 26 July 1856. Vidyasagar personally arranged and financed the first widow remarriage in Calcutta, marrying off his own son to a widow.
Educational Reforms and Women’s Education
Vidyasagar believed that education was the key to social emancipation. As the Principal of Sanskrit College, he made the revolutionary decision to open the college to non-Brahmin students, breaking the ancient upper-class monopoly on Sanskrit education.
He was a pioneer of women’s education in India. Collaborating with John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, he established the Bethune School in 1849, which became the first secular school for girls in Asia. As inspector of schools, Vidyasagar established 35 special schools for girls across Bengal, often using his own salary to fund them.
Literary Works and Modernization of Bengali
Vidyasagar revolutionized the Bengali language. He wrote the elementary primer “Borno Parichoy” (Introduction to the Alphabet), which is still used today in Bengal to teach children the alphabet and basic spelling. He rationalized the alphabet, removed obsolete characters, and introduced standard punctuation marks (comma, semi-colon, period) which were previously absent in Bengali writing.
His notable works include:
- Shakuntala (1854): A beautiful Bengali prose translation of Kalidasa’s classic play.
- Betal Panchabinsati (1847): A translation of classic Sanskrit riddles, which served as a landmark in prose style.
- Kathamala (1856): A collection of moral fables adapted from Aesop.