by Saikat Rudra
The nineteenth century witnessed the emergence of a galaxy of pioneers in various aspects of life - in thoughts and ideas, in science, art, literature, social reforms and religion. It was the dawn of the age of reason, an age of transition from the medieval darkness to the enlightenment of modern age, often endearingly termed as �Bengal Renaissance�. Iswarchandra Bandyopadhyay, popularly known as Iswarchandra Vidyasagar as the honorific title �Vidyasagar�replaced the surname (he often preferred to sign in English as Eshwar Chunder Sharma), was one of the great reformers and architects of Bengal who fought relentlessly and unflinchingly on various fronts of the inert, stagnant and orthodox society. The title was awarded to him by Sanskrit College for his outstanding accomplishments in Sanskrit language, literature and philosophy.
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| Portrait by B. Hudson (c.1851-c.1852) |
Born of obscure parents in a more obscure village in Medinipur District on 26 September, 1820, Vidyasagar started his teaching career at the age of 21 with Fort William College, Calcutta, and later joined Sanskrit College as its principal but career was never important to him. His eyes were set beyond.
Vidyasagar felt that mass education, irrespective of caste, creed and sex, was the necessity of the day to bring about a real change in the society. And to ensure it, spread of education among women was very much essential. The Bengali society was still holding on to medievalism. Besides the commoners, many highly educated men too were averse to any change in women�s status, particularly to their education. Prior to 1850 the government was not too keen on education of Indian women. Memoirs of Rassundari Devi, born circa 1809, depicts the plight of women which is full of pathos: � I was so immersed in the sea of housework that I was not conscious of what I was going through day and night. After sometime a desire to learn how to read properly grew very strong in me. I was angry with myself for wanting to read books. Girls did not read�That was one of the bad aspects of the old system. �. People used to despise women of learning�..In fact, older women used to show a great deal of displeasure if they saw a piece of paper in the hands of a woman.� Again, Haimavati Sen (born c.1866) recalled: � It is a popular superstition in our country that women, if educated, have to suffer widowhood.� In her Hindu Mahilaganer Heenabastha, Kailasbashini Devi recalled that although she had initially become literate at the behest of her husband, it had to be kept secret from her parents-in-law. In his Report on The State of Education in Bengal (1836) William Adam wrote : � A superstitious feeling is alleged to exist in the majority of Hindu families, principally cherished by the women and not discouraged by the men, that a girl taught to read and write will soon after marriage become a widow.�
Indeed, some respectable men like Raja Radhakanta Deb and the Christian Mission moved in that direction. While, on the one hand, Vidyasagar devoted himself to the restructuring of the prevailing system of education with unfailing zeal and determination, on the other hand, he kept his focus on the need for spreading education among women. In 1849, a day school for girls named Hindu Female School, later renamed Bethune Female School, was opened in Calcutta by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune, a barrister and law member of the Governor General�s Council. As the president of the Council of Education, Bethune had known the highly talented and untiring Vidyasagar. Now he inducted him into the school as its honorary secretary. In 1856, Vidyasagar was elected secretary of the school committee. Bethune persuaded a number of prominent families to extend their support to the running of the school. By 1850 the school enrolled 80 pupils.
The arena of Vidyasagar was, however, much larger than that of Bethune School. He was convinced that mass education could not exclude female education. So he planned to open more schools for the females. He discussed the matter with the lieutenant-governor of Bengal Sir Frederick James Halliday(1854-1859). He was verbally assured by Halliday that if ��the inhabitants would provide suitable school houses, the expenses for maintaining the schools would be met by the government.� So Vidyasagar went ahead with opening 35 female schools in 4 districts namely, Hughly, Burdwan, Medinipur and Nadia, in a brief space of time between November 1857 and May 1858. His plan was to set up the female schools in the same fashion as he had done for Model Vernacular schools for boys because the government�s stance on the female education appeared to him to be encouraging. �The average total attendance� of girls in the schools was 1300. Perhaps it was too hasty, considering the complex character of the administration. In the next year the government refused sanction to the establishment of the schools. Vidyasagar lamented, �My labours have thus become fruitless and the interesting little schools will have to be closed immediately.� He had incurred a huge expense for opening and running the female schools. Now he was put into a great trouble. In disgust he resigned from the post of principal of Sanskrit College as well as all other official posts in November 1858.
But the little man had an unshakable courage, vigour and determination. In the wake of his resignation he lost his monthly income of Rs 500, and the government withdrew all financial support. With a view to keeping the female schools running he opened a �Female School Fund� and many distinguished Indians, including Raja Pratap Chandra Singh of Paikpara, came forward to contribute to that fund. Even lieutenant-governor Sir Cecil Beadon contributed Rs 330. A happy undertone of Vidyasagar marks his letter to Sir Bartle Frere, who had contributed to the cause, �� the Mofussil Female Schools�are progressing satisfactorily. Female education has begun to be gradually appreciated by the people of districts contiguous to Calcutta, and schools are being opened from time to time.� At the same time Vidyasagar took great care of the welfare of Bethune School.
Throughout his life Vidyasagar championed the cause of female education in Bengal. After he passed away on 29 July 1891, the Ladies� Vidyasagar Memorial Committee paid a tribute to him: �It is, therefore, a source of great gratification to the Committee to find that a body of Hindu ladies in Calcutta should have interested themselves in this manner to perpetuate the memory of the late Pandit Vidyasagar who, during his lifetime, in addition to the philanthropic work to which he devoted his whole life, had done so much to promote Female Education in Bengal.�
References:
- Woman and Social Reform in India: A Reader by Sumit Sarkar and Tanika Sarkar
- Iswarchandra Vidyasagar as a Promoter of Female Education of Bengal by Brajendranath Banerji
- Iswarchandra Vidyasagar and the Changing Status of Women in Bengal by Rubi Maloni
*This post was contributed by the author on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Pandit Iswarchandra Vidyasagar.
