Bengal Renaissance

Renaissance

• The term “Renaissance”, meaning “rebirth” in French, was first

popularized by the French historian Jules Michelet in his 1855 work
History of France (Histoire de France). Michelet used it to describe the
cultural and intellectual revival that took place in Europe from the
14th to the 17th century, marking a rediscovery of classical antiquity's
art, philosophy, and literature.
• The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt further developed the concept
in his The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860). In this book
he explored the cultural transformation that took place during the
Renaissance, focusing on Italy as the heart of this revival.
• For the historian Sushobhan Sarkar, the term signified a period of
“awakening” spurred by British rule, the rise of a bourgeois economy,
and the influence of Western culture. Sarkar likened Bengal’s role in
this awakening to that of Italy in the European Renaissance.
• For David Kopf, “renaissance” (with a lowercase ‘r’) referred to a
specific socio-cultural process tied to modernization, revitalization, or
“awakening.” It is a concept detached from any particular historical
period or culture, making it applicable to any culture at any point in
history. British Orientalism and the Bengal Renaissance: The Dynamics
of Indian Modernization 1773-1835 (1969)
• Intense intellectual activity in literature and the arts in the nineteenth
century Bengal, which in turn influences religious, social, and political
thought.
“Bengal Renaissance refers largely to the social, cultural, psychological,
and intellectual changes in Bengal during the nineteenth century, as a
result of contact between certain sympathetic British officials and
missionaries on the one hand, and the Hindu intelligentsia on the other.
The setting for the Bengal Renaissance was the colonial metropolis of
Calcutta.” [David Kopf, “Bengal Renaissance”, Banglapedia;
https://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Bengal_Renaissance]
• By 1830, Calcutta had established a school system utilizing European
teaching methods and textbooks, making it the first Asian city to do
so. The urban elite, on their own initiative, had founded Hindu
College, the only institution of higher learning in Asia modeled after
European education.
• Newspapers, periodicals, and books were being published regularly in
both English and Bengali. The city had a European-style public library,
and Calcutta was home to a native intelligentsia well-versed in
European affairs, conscious of its own historical heritage, and
increasingly aware of its role in shaping a modern future.
Some Orientalist scholars
• William Jones
• HT Colebrooke
• William Carey
• John Marshman
• John Ward
• HH Wilson

College of Fort William, established in Calcutta by Governor General

Wellesley in 1800, offered the most perfect institutional setting for studying
the results of British Indian contact and accommodation
William Carey

• William Carey (1761-1834), a scholar, linguist, and missionary, was

born in northern England. Initially, he made his living as a shoemaker.
However, his intellectual gifts propelled him beyond the confines of
his early life. He learned several languages, including English, Latin,
and Hebrew, and also gained foundational knowledge in botany,
horticulture, zoology, and geography.
• Carey arrived in Kolkata in November 1793 and promptly began
learning Bengali, enlisting Ramram Basu as his teacher. With Basu's
assistance, Carey later embarked on translating the Bible into Bengali.
Enduring significant hardships, he was compelled to take a job at an
indigo plantation in northern Bengal.
• In 1801, the College of Fort William appointed Baptist missionary
William Carey as head of the Bengali Department, providing him with
extensive financial, technological, and human resources. With an
unlimited budget and a skilled team of Brahmin pundits, Carey
completed his first textbook, Bengali Grammar, which would go on to
see five editions. That same year, he edited a reader for Bengali
students titled Kathopakathon or Dialogues, marking the first time the
idiomatic language, manners, and customs of common people such as
merchants, fishermen, and day laborers received detailed attention.
This work positions Carey as India's first cultural anthropologist.
Early Bengali Newspapers

• The emergence of Bengali newspapers played a crucial role in the

spread of modern ideas, social reform, and the Indian freedom
movement. The early Bengali press laid the foundation for journalism
in Bengal and India.
• Samachar Darpan is considered the first Bengali newspaper. It
Published by the Serampore Missionaries in 1818. It focused on
religious, social, and political issues.
In 1831 poet Ishwar Chandra Gupta published Sangbad Prabhakar and
it is considered the first Bengali daily newspaper.
Ram Comul Sen
• Ram Comul Sen, born in 1790 in a village near Hughly, was greatly
influenced by William Carey and is recognized as the earliest known
Renaissance scholar among the Bengali intelligentsia. Moving to Calcutta
at the age of seven, he learned English, Sanskrit, and Persian, the latter
of which helped him establish his credentials as a member of the Asiatic
Society, Calcutta. Sen interacted with Orientalists and contributed to
their publications. In 1834, he published the first modern dictionary of
English and Bengali languages. In the introduction to the second volume,
he expressed appreciation for the Englishmen who embraced his
language and customs, highlighting Carey as a selfless advocate for the
Bengali language and predicting its equality with any language in the
world.
• Although we may never fully understand why Ram Comul Sen predicted
a brilliant literary future for Bengali, there is no doubt that the language
experienced a renaissance. Writers like Michael Madhusudan Dutt
(1824-1873) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) produced beautiful
works in English, yet their choice to express their literary talents in
Bengali significantly contributed to the revival of the language's
literature. For instance, Dutt’s Meghnadhbadh Kabya and Tagore's
Gitanjali stand as masterpieces of the renaissance, exemplifying how
tradition was modernized. It is particularly noteworthy that Tagore
received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, just a year after he
published an English translation of Gitanjali (Song Offerings).
• If the Bengal Renaissance had one outstanding figure who effectively
absorbed the Orientalist contributions while also advancing linguistic and
literary modernization, as well as defending Hindu theism against the dual
challenges of Christianity and secularism, it would be Rammohun Roy.
• Henry Derozio (1800-1831) was a significant figure related to the Bengal
Renaissance. He was a poet, teacher, and social reformer who played a
crucial role in the intellectual and cultural awakening of Bengal during this
period. He was a key figure in the Young Bengal Movement, which sought
to challenge traditional norms and promote modern ideas of democracy,
individual rights, and social reform. This movement was characterized by
its progressive and reformist outlook.
Establishment of the Hindu College
• Hindu College was established in 1817 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) by a group
of prominent Bengali intellectuals, including Raja Ram Mohan Roy and
David Hare. It was the first institution of higher learning in India to adopt a
European-style education system, focusing on modern subjects such as
science, literature, and the humanities alongside traditional Indian learning.
• Scottish Church College (1830): Founded by the Scottish missionaries, it
aimed to provide education to both Hindus and Christians and became
known for its academic excellence.
• Calcutta Medical College (1835): As one of the first medical colleges in Asia,
it played a significant role in advancing medical education and public health
in Bengal.
Criticism
• The Bengal Renaissance, while a significant cultural and intellectual movement, was largely
confined to upper-caste Hindus and primarily focused on Hindu traditions. This limitation meant
that the reformist ideas and educational advancements associated with the movement
predominantly benefited the Brahmin and upper-caste communities.
• As a result, the voices and perspectives of lower-caste Hindus and other religious communities,
such as Muslims, were often marginalized or excluded from the mainstream discourse. While
figures like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar advocated for social reforms,
their efforts primarily addressed issues pertinent to their own caste and community, such as
women's rights and education, without fully engaging with the broader societal inequities
affecting all segments of society.
• Consequently, the Bengal Renaissance did not significantly challenge the existing social
hierarchies or promote a truly inclusive approach to education and reform, limiting its impact on
the wider population and reinforcing existing caste dynamics within Indian society. This
confinement hindered the movement’s potential to enact comprehensive social change across
diverse communities in Bengal.