Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay CIE (popularly known as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar; Bengali: ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর, lit. 'Ishwar Chandra, the Sea of Knowledge'; 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891) was an Indian educator and social reformer of the nineteenth century. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bengali prose were significant. He also 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.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar | |
|---|---|
| Native name | ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর |
| Born | Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyay 26 September 1820 Birsingha, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day West Bengal, India) |
| Died | 29 July 1891 (aged 70) Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day West Bengal, India) |
| Occupation | Educator, social reformer and author |
| Language | Bengali |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | Sanskrit College (1828–1839) |
| Literary movement | Bengal Renaissance |
| Notable works | Widow remarriage, women education, introduction of punctuation mark in Bengali language and writing book Barnaparichay, protests against child marriage |
| Spouse | Dinamayee Devi |
| Children | 1 (Narayan Chandra Bandopadhyay) |
He was the most prominent campaigner for Hindu widow remarriage, petitioning the Legislative Council despite severe opposition, including a counter petition (by Radhakanta Deb and the Dharma Sabha) which had nearly four times as many signatures. Even though widow remarriage was considered a flagrant breach of Hindu customs and was staunchly opposed, Lord Dalhousie personally finalised the bill and the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 was passed. Against child marriage, efforts of Vidyasagar led to Age of Consent Act, 1891. In which the minimum age of consummation of marriage was 12 years.
A weekly newspaper, Somprakash Patrika, was started on 15 November 1858 (1 Agrahayan 1265 BS) by Dwarakanath Vidyabhusan. Dwarakanath (1819–1886) was a professor of the Sanskrit College in Calcutta , India. The original plan was mooted by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), who continued to advise Dwarakanath in editorial matters. He was also associated as secretary with Hindu Female School which later came to be known as Bethune Female School.
He so excelled in his undergraduate studies of Sanskrit and philosophy that Sanskrit College in Calcutta, where he studied, gave him the honorific title Vidyasagar ('Sea of Knowledge'; from the Sanskrit विद्या, vidyā, 'knowledge' and सागर, sāgara, 'sea').