Context
- Period: 1820s–1840s, colonial Bengal (Calcutta).
- Institutional backdrop: Hindu College (est. 1817) to impart “liberal English education” to Indian elites.
- Catalyst: Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809–1831), Anglo-Portuguese poet and teacher, appointed at Hindu College (1826).
Relevance : GS 1(Modern History)
Derozio’s role
- Published poetry collections (Poems, The Fakeer of Jungheera) invoking freedom, patriotism, dignity of the enslaved.
- Used literature to stimulate rationalism, critique of tradition, and yearning for national regeneration.
- Advocated freedom of thought, women’s emancipation, and human equality.
The Derozians / Young Bengal Movement
- Formed: Academic Association (1828), debating social, political, religious issues.
- Values:
- Rationalism, liberty, equality.
- Opposition to caste, orthodoxy, idol worship, social conservatism.
- Emphasis on critical enquiry, eclectic borrowing of global ideas.
- Social Acts: Encouraged widow remarriage, female education, inter-caste dining.
- Dismissal of Derozio (1831): Accused of propagating atheism; died at 22, but ideas persisted.
Political dimension
- Bengal British India Society (1843) – first political party in India, aimed at securing welfare and rights of all subjects.
- Advocacy for press freedom, legal reforms, and accountability of colonial authorities.
Exemplary figures
- Radhanath Sikdar: Brilliant mathematician; calculated Peak XV (later Everest) as world’s tallest.
- Defied colonial authority by resisting mistreatment of Indian labourers; filed legal case against a British magistrate.
- Embodied egalitarian spirit: “A man, and so are you.”
Impact & limitations
Impact
- Radical critique of social orthodoxy, caste, and colonial injustices.
- Planted seeds of political consciousness, rationalism, and human equality.
- Foreshadowed later nationalist ideas of Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore: inclusive, tolerant, eclectic.
- Inspired reformist successors: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Akshay Kumar Dutt.
Limitations
- Movement largely confined to elite, English-educated youth in Calcutta.
- Alienated orthodox Hindu society; lacked mass base.
- Short-lived: after Derozio’s death, cohesion weakened.
Legacy / Significance
- First radical intellectual movement in modern India.
- Represented India’s “first radicals” – bridging Western liberal thought with Indian reform.
- Their “idea of India”: inclusive, secular, egalitarian — a forerunner to constitutional values enshrined in 20th-century nation-building.
- Early example of civil society activism and political organisation under colonial rule.
