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Portrait of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

social reformer

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay

1820–1891

Also known as: Vidyasagar, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর, ईश्वरचन्द्र विद्यासागर

How Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is discussed in this archive

Authored 3 works in the archive.

Subject of 1 profile piece , including The Liberalism of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar .

Referenced in 5 other works , including Rani Rashmoni Das: Reform in 19th Century Bengal , The Life & Legacy of Lady Abala Bose , and B.R. Ambedkar on Justice Ranade, Social Reform and Failure of Indian Liberalism .

In The Life & Legacy of Lady Abala Bose : His name is carried by the Vidyasagar Bani Bhavan, the 1925 institution Abala Bose founded for training primary teachers, invoking his reformist legacy.

In B.R. Ambedkar on Justice Ranade, Social Reform and Failure of Indian Liberalism : Vidyasagar is cited alongside Raja Rammohan Roy and Henry Derozio as a Bengal liberal-minded reformer who faced opposition from conservative forces just as Ranade did in the western provinces.

In Harish Chandra Mukherjee - A less known liberal : Vidyasagar's widow remarriage campaign is the immediate cause to which Mukherjee devoted his nightly editorial support, making him the primary liberal ally in Mukherjee's activism.

In Rani Rashmoni Das: Reform in 19th Century Bengal : Vidyasagar is named alongside Raja Ram Mohan Roy as an upper-caste reformer in whose circle Rani Rashmoni Das established herself, and as an inspiration for her advocacy against child marriage.

In Kandukuri Veeresalingam: Icon of Andhra’s Renaissance : Vidyasagar is the comparator — Ranade's epithet 'Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar of South' uses the Bengal widow-remarriage reformer as the standard against which Veeresalingam's Andhra work is measured.

By Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (3)

Primary works (2)

Excerpts (1)

About Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1)

Profile pieces (1)

  • The Liberalism of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
    • "Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's many roles as an educationist, writer, social reformer, and feminist have rightly earned him the credential of being one of the early progenitors of Indian modernity." · establishes Vidyasagar's comprehensive importance to Indian liberalism
    • "Yet this Sanskrit scholar battled to end child marriage and high-caste polygamy, and to enable Hindu widows to re-marry." · captures the paradox of a Sanskrit scholar championing liberal reform

Mentioned in (5)

Primary works (1)

  • The Life & Legacy of Lady Abala Bose · 2022
    • "In 1925, Abala established the Vidyasagar Bani Bhavan, the first institution in Bengal that trained primary and preprimary teachers." · Naming of her teacher-training institution after Vidyasagar.

Opinion pieces (3)

  • B.R. Ambedkar on Justice Ranade, Social Reform and Failure of Indian Liberalism
    • "In Bengal province, things were no different for liberal-minded reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, and Henry Derozio" · parallel cases of liberal reformers facing conservative backlash across regions
  • Harish Chandra Mukherjee - A less known liberal
    • "nightly in support of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who had launched a movement for introduction of remarriage for Hindu widows" · Mukherjee's editorial solidarity with Vidyasagar's landmark social reform campaign
  • Rani Rashmoni Das: Reform in 19th Century Bengal
    • "Das, a widow who belonged to a lower caste community, established a revered position for herself among upper caste reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar." · situates Vidyasagar as part of the reformist elite whose company Das earned despite her lower-caste origins
    • "Inspired by their works and beliefs, Das also became a prominent voice against child marriage" · credits Vidyasagar and Roy's reformism as inspiring Das's own activism

Excerpts (1)

  • Kandukuri Veeresalingam: Icon of Andhra’s Renaissance
    • "In 1898, MG Ranade, in a meeting, acclaimed Veeresalingam as "Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar of South"" · Vidyasagar invoked as the canonical reformer-benchmark; the comparison transfers his moral authority on widow remarriage onto Veeresalingam