INTRODUCTION

• Rationale for the Study

• Statement of the Problem
• Objectives of the Study
• Scope of the Study
• Significance of the Study
• Methodology of the Study
 INTRODUCTION

The nineteenth century Bengal was characterized by great cultural,

social, religious and educational transformations commonly known as the
renaissance movement. The seventeenth and eighteenth century renaissance
in Europe had brought enlightenment and resurrected man in Europe from
the bondage of Church's dominance in social and cultural affairs. It
advocated a new definition of man who was no longer a creature of fate and
was capable of remaking himself and his society. The French revolution
established the rights of man based on equality and liberty. The industrial
revolution and knowledge of scientific principles opened up a new concept
of human potentiality and a new vista of human progress. The needs of
industrial growth brought western world in closer contact with India which
was viewed by the west as a vast resource of raw materials.

Impact of European culture and education caused an awakening

which gradually led to development of modern Indian thoughts and culture.
From the medieval ignorance and obscurantism the country progressed into
modernism and rationalism in every sphere of life. Rabindranath Tagore
aptly wrote : "It was the magic of western culture that roused Bengal from
its torpor".

Several illustrious individuals of the nineteenth century Bengal were

instrumental in ushering our national renaissance. Henry Louis Vivian
Derozio was one of these great individuals who became a legendary figure
in his lifetime for his masterful teaching, humanistic rationalism and for
triggering intellectual radicalism among his students of the Hindu College
who later became known as Young Bengal or Derozians (Sarkar, 1979). The
Hindu College was established by the Hindu gentry of Calcutta in 1816 to
provide good English education to the sons of respectable Hindus. Derozio
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was appointed as fourth teacher of the college in May, 1826 to teach English
language. Literature and History. Opening of Hindu College and
appointment of Derozio as the English teacher of the college are considered
by historians as cornerstones in the development of radical intellectual
activities in the early part of nineteenth century (De, 1932, Lucas, 1934,
Sarkar, 1979).

Derozio, son of Francis Derozio, was bom at Entally, Padmapukur in

Calcutta on April 10,1809. While a student of David Drummond's school at
Dhurmotolla he had his first lessons in superstition-free rational thinking
and feelings for India as his motherland comprising of the Hindus, Muslims
and Eurasians. Drummond was a vastly learned Scottish scholar famous for
his free thinking. Derozio got grounding in History, philosophy and English
literature from the school. As a true product of European renaissance and
enlightenment, Derozio was the first to start a radical intellectual movement
free of all religious influences and set the style of a serious and rebellious
approach to social reform in Bengal.

Derozio by his formal teachings, informal discussions and

debates attempted to inculcate in the mind of the students the spirit of
radicalism against obscurantism of all religions, misrule of the company
administration in India and various social evils like widow-burning,
polygamy, slavery and slave-trade and lack of proper education among the
Indians. Derozio was an ideal teacher, a brilliant organizer and leader of the
youths, an enthusiastic journalist, a gifted poet and well versed in post­
renaissance philosophies of Europe (Majumdar, 1996). He encouraged the
students to debate freely and question all authority. He advised the students
of the sacred duty of thinking for themselves and to discuss freely on all
subjects-social, moral, religious and political. The students were excited by a
spirit of free thought and revolted against the social and religious stagnation
of the Hindu society. In their exuberance they denounced everything
about Hinduism. Many of them openly expressed their hatred about
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Hinduism. Some of the students became converted to Christianity, a few

embraced Brahmo religion (monotheism) of Rammohan Roy and a few other
showed tendency to agnosticism and even atheism.

Derozio challenged and raised a powerful voice against the social and
educational stagnation and prejudices like widow-burning, slavery and
misrule of the British Raj through his poems, writings, teachings and
discussions with the students. Although an Anglo-Indian (Eurasian) by birth
he considered India his motherland and advised other Eurasians to join with
the Indian natives. He was a great intellectual thinker of his time and
championed western rationalism and humanism. He wanted his students to
be "Hindu by birth but, European by education". Macaulay later borrowed
this concept and altered it to "Indian by birth but English in taste" to denote
the educated Hindu Youths.

Derozio awakened the sense of national self respect and patriotism in

his time through his poems like "My Country : in thy glory of the past",
Independence or "Harp of my country, let me strike the strain". Based on
these poems, many analysts considered Derozio as the father of Indian
nationalism (Hay, 1988, Bagal, 1964, Ghosh, 1961; Kopf, 1969; Majumdar,
1976). Derozio is considered as the first Indian poet who wrote English
verses of international repute (Hay, 1988).

Derozio was persecuted for his radical views. The committee of the
Hindu College charged him with practicing aethism and deculturing the
morals of the Hindu youths, and he was forced to resign on 25th April, 1831.
A few months later he died of cholera at the age of twenty two. After his
death Derozians, rigorously advocated and attempted to pursue the radical
reformation with respect to political, social and educational problems of the
country for another decade or more. The fire brand Derozians like
Tarachand Chakraborty, Rasik Krishna Mallick, Krishnamohan Banerjee,
Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee and Ramgopal Ghosh relentlenly criticized the
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social, religious and political conditions of India by their writing and

speeches. Derozians played a monumental role in awakening the educated
gentry about the western philosophical doctrines stating political liberalism
and social freedom of man. Derozio and the Drozians championed the
prohibition of widow burning by law proposed by Rammohan Roy and
executed by Lord Bentinck. They wanted education and empowerment
through proper education. The women education efforts by Vidyasagar and
Bethune were whole-heartedly supported by the Derozians. The widow
remarriage, abolition of child marriage, Kulinism and other orthodox
concepts of Hindus were denounced by them and they supported
conceptually and materially the efforts by Vidyasagar in this respect.
Derozians played vital roles in spreading western education and ushering in
western enlightenment concepts and practices leading to radical attitudes of
Bengali youths as expressed later in Swadeshi Movement in 1905 and still later
during the National Movement of Freedom.

There are several historiographical accounts of the roles of Derozio

and Derozians in the social movement that came to be known as the Bengal
Renaissance in early 19th century Bengal (Edwards, 1884, Ghose, 1895;
Grierson, 1903; Madge, 1905, Shastri, 1907; De, 1932, Lucas, 1934, Majumdar,
1967; Bagal, 1946; 1959; Ghosh, 1961, Sarkar, 1964; Sengupta; 1981; Sarkar,
1985; Sengupta, 1985, Maitra, 1988; Roychoudhury, 1994; Ray, 2000).

Most of these analyses considered Derozio as a good teacher. There

are also two distinct views among the historians with regard to religious,
political, social and educational radicalism of Derozio and the Derozians.
According to some, Derozio by his teachings against the Hindu orthodoxy
acculturized the Hindu Youths and paved the way for their conversion to
Christianity or Brahmo religion. According to other, Derozio was the first to
infuse in his students the secular spirit of rationalism, the yearning for
knowledge, and passion for nationalism like a true radical.
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Rationale for the Study:

It is apparent that though Derozio is considered as a good teacher, the
quality and competency of Derozio as a master teacher have not yet been
analysed in the light of the modern concept of effective master teacher.
Moreover, the proper evaluation of Derozio and the Derozians with respect
to their roles in radical transformation of religious, social, political and
educational conditions of Bengal has not been made. In this work the
researcher has attempted to analyse the radicalism and the educational
contributions of Derozio and the Derozians in the perspectives of present
day educational concepts of master teacher, role of education in developing
awareness among the masses, and radical thinking of the intelligentsia.

Statement of the Problem:

The role played by Derozio and the Derozians in ushering the rational
thinking and radicalism among the Bengali gentry through education has
not been properly analysed as yet. In this context the statement of the
problem is : A Study of the Radicalism and the Educational Contributions
of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio And Derozians in the 19th Century Bengal.

Derozio's fame as a good teacher is based on reminiscence of some of

his direct students (Pary Chand, Radhanath, Rasikkrishna and
Dakshinaranjan) and some non-students (Krishnamohan and Harachandra)
and non-teaching staff (Harmohan Chatterjee) as mentioned by Edwards
(1884) and Sastri (1907). Attempt has been made in this work to show that
Derozio was master teacher according to the current concept and fulfilled all
the qualities of a master teacher. Derozio and Derozians were vilified for
their radical views about the religions, misrule of the company, social evils
of the Hindus and lack of proper educational programs in India. Derozio
was sacked from the teaching post and defamation of him continued till to
date. In this work attempt has been made to show that Derozio and
Derozians played pivotal roles for ushering in western education and radical
thoughts amongst the English educated middle class intelligentsia of Bengal,
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In this background, the objectives of the study are :

(1) To analyse the social economical, political and educational

background of Bengal at the time of Derozio and the Derozians.

(2) To analyse the educational contributions of Derozio and the

Derozians in the early part of he 19th century Bengal.

(3) To make a realistic assessment of the quality and competency of

Derozio as a master teacher. The quality parameters as prescribed by
modern educational and pedagogical concepts were examined for this
purpose.

(4) To assess the radicalism of Derozio as expressed in his teachings,

poetry. Journalism and debating organizations and deliberations.

(5) To analyse the radical thoughts and activities of the Derozians with
respect to education politics and social reforms before and after the
death of the master.

(6) To make a critique of the radicalism of Derozio and Derozians.

Scope of the Study:

The investigation is an attempt to make a proper evaluation of the

contributions of Derozio and the Derozians in introducing western
education, rational thoughts and culture in the early 19th Century Bengal.
The findings indicated that Derozio was an excellently gifted teacher having
all the qualities of a master teacher. The findings also revealed that Derozio
and the Derozians imbibed post renaissance European enlightenment and
tried to infuse rationalism in every sphere of life and thoughts of the
educated intelligentsia.

The investigation, however, is not an elaborate discussion of the

biography of Derozio or the Derozians. The views of Derozio and a few
selected Derozians inclusive of his direct students and non-students who
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adopted the ideology of Derozio have been considered. The main emphasis
of the work was to understand the radical views of Derozio and the
Derozians with respect to introduction and implementation of western
education and rationalism in religious, social, educational and political
ideals and administration of the country.

Significance of the Study :

The analysis of the educational contributions of Derozio and

Derozians indicated that the Master and the pupils initiated the process of
modernization in India. The role of education and master teaching of
Derozio resulted into the beginning of changes in the traditional society to a
modern one fostering secularism, rationalism and liberalism. Derozio's
teaching is a glaring example of the social change brought about by a teacher
leading to modernization of a closed, custom-bound society to an open
society embracing the modern knowledge of literature, science and culture.
Derozio and Derozians through proper education wanted to awaken the
countrymen to foster a rationalist and positivist spirit. This study also
strengthen the concept that planned educational programme implemented
by competent master teachers can bring about profound change in the
conceptual basis of the pupil's leading to social change and modernization
of a society.

The historical background of the education in relation to political,

economic and social conditions prevailing in the early part of the 19th
century colonial British India during which Hindu College was established
and Derozio emerged as a radical educationist has been presented in
Chapter One. The socio-political and religious reasons for the bitter
controversy between the Orientalist and Anglicist groups have been
categorized. The concept of education for the Indians as envisaged by the
Directors of East India Company, the evangelists of England, the utilitarian
like Mill, the missionaries like Serampore Trio, the Indian elites with landed
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property or business connection with the rulers and that of Derozio have
been analysed in this chapter.

The findings of the analysis of Derozio as a master teacher with

radical outlook to Indian social, religious and political conditions have been
presented in Chapter Two. Evidence has been provided to show that
Derozio had secular, humanistic and European enlightenment ideology and
he tried to introduce these concepts specially free thinking in his students.
Evidence has also been provided that as a teacher he had all the qualities of a
'Master Teacher' as formulated in the present day concept of teacher-student
learning systems. Attempt has been made to show that Derozio through his
class teaching, debating and discussion group organization, poetical works,
essay writing, and journalistic ventures tried to introduce westernization
and modernization concepts to the educated youths of Bengal. Like a true
renaissance humanist, Derozio championed the cause of 'Humanism' of
Bacon, Locke and Hume over ascriptive traditionalism with respect to
religion, society and education.

The findings of the analysis of radicalism of Derozio have been

presented in Chapter Three. In this chapter an attempt has been made to
define different types of radicalism and to show that Derozio and the
Derozians attacked the Hindu customs and tradition, raised their voices
about the zamindary system, and the misrule of the East India Company.

The findings of the analysis of educational contributions and

radicalism of the Derozians have been presented in Chapter Four. Evidence
has been provided that after the untimely death of the Master, the Derozians
championed the necessity of good western education and by their
Journalistic activities, speeches and writings, attempted to develop
awareness about the social, political and educational conditions of the
country amongst the educated intelligentsia.
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The findings of the critical analysis of the radicalism of Derozio and

the Derozians have been presented in the Chapter Five. In this chapter
attempt has been made to show that the early so-called errant activities of
the Derozians was due to conflict between traditionalism, westernization
and modernization as has been explained by sociologists (Srinibas, 1966;
Singh, 1983, Ahuja, 1993, Alatas, 1972). As they matured the attitudes
gradually mellowed down. It has been shown that except a few they
remained true to their concept of western education, humanism and welfare
of their countrymen.

Finally, the quality of the teaching and modernization efforts of

Derozio and the relevance of Derozio as a master teacher in the context of
the present day teaching-learning system have been discussed. The rational
thinking and efforts of the master and the Derozians to develop rationalism
and free thinking and the relevance of it to present day condition have also
been discussed. The findings have been presented in Chapter Six.

Methodology of the Study:

In this historical research the conjectures that Derozio was a master

teacher and he along with his pupils tried to modernize the Bengali youths
and gentry in the light of western literature, philosophy, economic-political
ideologies and rational thinking about the society and man were
investigated based on documentary evidence. Sources used in the study
were : (i) collection of facts and data from primary and secondary source
materials and (ii) analysis, interpretation and evaluation of facts supporting
or rejecting the conjecture that Derozio was a master teacher, (iii) evaluation
of the conjecture that Derozio and the Derozians were radicals with respect
to religion, state and the economic system of Bengal at that time and wanted
to ameliorate the conditions by proper education.

Background materials for the study have been drawn freely from
primary and secondary sources such as complete works of Derozio, Report
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on Public Instruction, Hindu College Records (1828-1831), contemporary

newspapers, biographies of Derozio and published books and articles on
Derozio and the Derozians.

Source materials were obtained mainly from different libraries like

National library, Calcutta, West Bengal State Archive, Presidency College
library, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad library, Carey Library at Serampore,
Central Library Calcutta University, Central and Department of Education
Library of IASE, Kalyani University and Kalyani Public Library, Kalyani.

Several critical historiography of sociology and politics of education

in colonial India during 19* Century British rule provided conceptual frame­
work for analytical approach used in this study. Biographies of Derozio
written by Edwards (1984) and Madge (1905), though written fifty-three and
seventy-six years respectively after death of Derozio provided valuable
information about the life and activities of Derozio and the Derozians.
Special mention should be made of the enormous background information
collected and deep analysis of the education system in the 19th century
Bengal made by Professor Carnoy (1974); Kopf (1969, 1988), Bishop (1982),
Mukherjee (1973), Sarkar (1970), Poddar (1970), Majumdar (1996),
Mukhopadhyay et al. (2001) and Ray et al. (2002).