Ideas debates on

indian
renaissance
Faculty- Ms. Divya Katiyar
M a d e B y - S h i v a m T o m a r Course- Nationalism in India
Section- A
BA Hons pol science
1st semester
AISS 2017-20
The role of the intellectuals in shaping the public opinion and leading the people is beyond. One such phenomenon which
attracted wide interests among both the Marxist and non-Marxist scholars was the 'Bengal Renaissance' which is sometimes
equated with the 'Indian Renaissance'. It is because a cluster of contemporary intellectuals became associated with various
movements of ideas mostly derived from western- sources.

'Indian Renaissance', often equated with Bengal Renaissance, has been a widely debated subject among intellectuals and
historians. The most debatable aspect of this subject has been its naming which clearly echoes the Italian intellectual
experience and cultural phenomenon of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Europe billed as the 'Renaissance'.

Among the Marxist historians Susobhan Sarkar was the first to analyze 'this flowering of social, religious, literary and political
activities in Bengal'. In his essay, Notes on the Bengal Renaissance, first published in 1946, he declared that the 'role played by
Bengal in the modern awakening of India is thus comparable to the position occupied by Italy in the story of the European
Renaissance'.

This 'modern' movement arose because the 'impact of British rule, bourgeois economy and modern Western culture was first
felt in Bengal'. Thus, the modernity brought into India by the British 'produced an awakening known usually as the Bengal
Renaissance'. It generated such intellectual force that 'for about a century, Bengal's conscious awareness of the changing
modern world was more developed than and ahead of that of the rest of India'. Such a rosy picture of the 19th century
intellectual activities has now been seriously questioned.

The concept of Bengal, of Indian Renaissance has come under criticism. The critics point out that, unlike the European
Renaissance, the range of the 19th century intellectual ferment was rather limited and its character was rather less
modernists than was earlier assumed. The 'traditionalist' and 'modernist' dichotomy cannot be applied as the so-called
'Renaissance' intellectual was a deeply divided personality.

The break with the past was severely limited in nature and remained mainly at the intellectual level. Most of the intellectuals
did not have the courage to implement even at their own individual levels the principles they preached. And those, like Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar, who publicly campaigned for their ideals, faced continuous failures. In most cases, the same traditional
scriptural authority was sought to derive sanction for their policies and practices against which the intellectuals launched their
ideological struggle.

Moreover, this intellectual movement remained confined within an elitist Hindu framework which did not include the
problems and realities of the lower castes and Muslims. The social forces, which could have given the ideas a solid base and
moved them in the modernist direction, were not present. The colonial power remained the ultimate guarantee for the
implementation of the reforms proposed by the thinkers.

But the colonial state was not quite keen to take radical measures for the fear of alienating the traditionalists who formed the
great majority. This led to frustration among the enthusiasts for the reforms and the movement in general retreated and
declined by the late 19th century.

Some of the Marxist historians who have criticised the concept of the 'Renaissance' in Indian context are: Barun De in the
articles 'The Colonial Context of Bengal Renaissance' (1976) and 'A Historiography Critique of Renaissance Analogues for
Nineteenth Century India'; Asok Sen in his book Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and His Elusive Milestones (1977), Sumit Sarkar in
his articles 'Rammohan Roy and the Break with the Past' (1975), 'The Complexities of Young Bengal (1973), and 'The
Radicalism of Intellectuals' (1977), all of which are now collected in a book A Critique of Colonial India (1985); and K.N.
Panikkar whose various essays on this theme from 1977 to 1992 have been collected in the book Culture, Ideology, Hegemony
(1995).

Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Brahmo Samaj

Ram Mohan Roy, the father of Indian Renaissance was versatile genius, who opposed the

idolatry, denounced Sati, polygamy and abuses of the caste system, favoured remarriage of

Hindu widows. He started the AtmiyaSabha in 1815and carried a consistent struggle against

the religious and social malpractices. In first philosophical work Tuhfat-ul-Muwahiddin he

analysed major religions of the world in light of reason and social comfort
As a reformist ideologue, Roy believed in modern scientific approach and principles of human

dignity and social equality. He put his faith in monotheism. He wrote Gift to Monotheists and

translated the Vedas and the five Upanishads into Bengali to prove his conviction that ancient

Hindu texts support monotheism. In percepts of Jesus(1820), he tried to separate the moral

and philosophical message of the New Testament, which he praised, from its miracle

stories.SambadKaumudi (founded in 1921) was a Bengali weekly newspaper published

from Kolkata in the first half of the 19th century by Raja Ram Mohan

Roy.SambadKaumudi regularly editorialised against Sati, denouncing it as barbaric and unHindu.

It was the main vehicle of Ram Mohan Roy's campaign against Sati. In August 1828, Roy

founded the BrahmoSabha which was later renamed BrahmoSamaj (The society of God).

Object of the BramhoSamaj was the worship and adoration of the eternal, unsearchable,

Immutable God. It opposed idol worship and stayed away from practice of priesthood and

sacrifice. The worship was performed through prayers, meditation, and readings from the

Upanishads. Great emphasis was laid on promotion of charity, morality, benevolence, and

strengthening of the bonds of union between men of all religious persuasions and creeds
Raja Rammohan Roy

Roy was the central figure of the movement, and hence is regarded as the father of Indian Renaissance. He
was a great patriot, scholar and humanist. Roy worked throughout his life for social, religious, intellectual and
political regeneration and upliftment of Indians.
Rammohan Roy was born in 1772 in Radhanagar, a small village in Bengal. As a young man, he studied
Sanskrit literature and Hindu philosophy in Varanasi and Persian, Arabic and Koran in Patna. He was a great
scholar and mastered several languages including English, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Social Reforms:
In 1814, Rammohan Roy settled in Calcutta and dedicated his life to the cause of social and religious reform. As
a social reformer, he fought relentlessly against social evils like sati, polygamy, child marriage, female
infanticide and caste discrimination. He organised a movement against the inhuman custom of sati and helped
Lord William Bentinck pass a law banning the practice (1829). It was the first successful social movement
against a traditional social evil.

Education

Rammohan Roy was one of the earliest propagators of modern Western education. He used it as a major
instrument to spread modern ideas in the country. He was associated with the foundation of the Hindu College
in Calcutta (which later came to be known as the Presidency College). He also maintained with his own
expenses an English school in Calcutta. In addition, he established a Vedanta College where Indian learning
was offered alongside Western social and Physical Science courses.

He sent petitions to the government to adopt a wider system of public education in English. He also recognised
the importance of vernaculars in spreading new ideas.
Journalism
He was a pioneer of Indian Journalism. He published journals in Bengali, Persian, Hindi and English to educate
the public on various current issues. Samvad Kaumudi was the most important journal brought out by him.
Rammohan Roy was a firm believer of internationalism. He held that the suffering and happiness of one nation
should effect the rest of the world. He took a keen interest in international events and always supported the
cause of liberty and nationalism. He celebrated the success of the revolution in Spain in 1823 by hosting a
public dinner.

Religious Reforms:

Rammohan Roy struggled persistently against social evils. He argued that ancient Hindu texts like the Vedas
and Upanishads upheld the doctrine of monotheism. To prove his point, he translated the Vedas and five
Upanishads into Bengali.
In 1849, he wrote the book Gift to Monotheism in Persian. Rammohan Roy was a staunch believer in the
philosophy of Vedanta (Upanishads) and vigorously defended the Hindu religion and Hindu philosophy from the
attack of the missionaries. He wanted to mould Hinduism into a new cast to suit the requirements of the age.

In 1829, Rammohan Roy founded a new religious society known as the Atmiya Sabha, which later came to be
known as the Brahmo Samaj. The society was based on the twin pillars of rationalism and the philosophy of the
Vedas. The Brahmo Samaj emphasised human dignity, criticised idolatry and denounced social evils like Sati.

Rammohan Roy represented the first glimmerings of the rise of national consciousness in India. He opposed the
rigidity of the caste system because it destroyed the unity of the country. The poet Rabindranath Tagore
remarked: Rammohan was the only person in his time, in the whole world of men, to realise completely the
significance of the Modern Age.