THE RENAISSANCE IN

INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Political and National Awakening in Bengal

PRESENTED BY:
NISHAT ANJUM BINI
JUNIOR LECTURER
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY

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 CONTENTS
• The Bengali Hindu Renaissance
• Role of the prominent reformist leaders
• Post-1857 Era & growth of nationalism and
political consciousness
• Genesis of Indian National Congress in
1885

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THE RENAISSANCE IN INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT
• Literal meaning of the term Renaissance is revival or rebirth.
Renaissance usually refers to the revival of art, literature and learning in
Europe in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
• But the renaissance in India was not like the renaissance in Europe. It
was an intellectual, cultural, social and artistic movement in Bengal which
produced striking changes in the realm of religion, society and culture
along with a demand for national regeneration.
• By pursuing Western education, the reformist leaders gathered extensive
knowledge the way Europe was changed through Renaissance from
medievalism to modernity during 15-16 centuries. They got to know how
Renaissance ushered freedom of thoughts replacing orthodox &
dogmatic culture in public life, politics & society under the dictates of the
Roman Catholic Church.

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THE RENAISSANCE IN INDIAN
SUBCONTINENT
• The view of Sir Jadunath Sarkar is that the Indian Renaissance was at first
an intellectual awakening which profoundly affected the literature, education,
thought and art. In the next succeeding generation, it became a moral force
and reformed the Indian society and religion. In the third generation, it was
about the economic modernisation of India and ultimately the political
emancipation.
• Indian Renaissance found its origin through the religious movements,
reforms and literary activities in Bengal.

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5
NOTABLE PIONEERS OF INDIAN
RENAISSANCE

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy • Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

• Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar • Syed Ameer Ali

• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee • Nawab Abdul Latif

• Henry Louis Vivian Derozio • Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah

• Rabindranath Tagore • Haji Muhammad Mohsin

• Mir Mosharraf Hossain

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THE BENGALI HINDU
RENAISSANCE
• Bengal witnessed and experienced all these agrarian, technical, educational, and
intellectual changes long before any other considerable part of India, for Bengal had
a clear half-century of British rule before it spread over wider areas. During the
second half of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth, Bengal
therefore played a dominant role in British Indian life. Not only was Bengal the centre
and heart of the British administration, but it also produced the first groups of
English-educated Indians who spread out to other parts of India under the shadow of
the British power. A number of very remarkable men rose in Bengal in the nineteenth
century, who gave the lead to the rest of India in cultural and political matters, and
out of whose efforts the new nationalist movement ultimately took shape.
• The merging of religious awakening into political awakening can best be traced by
reference to the careers of the leading Hindu activists of the 19 th century.

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY(1772-1833)

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY(1772-1833)
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy, also known as the “father of Modern India” and the
“father of Indian Renaissance,” was the first notable Indian to personify the
rationalizing influence of Western ideas.
• He was born of orthodox Brahmin parents in Hooghly in West Bengal in
1772.
• He studied Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures as well as English. He also studied
Persian and Arabic at Patna. Along with the Vedic texts, he deeply studied
about Al-Quran, Sufism and the Bible.
• He became a confirmed monotheist, rejecting all forms of idol worship.
• He was given the title “Raja” by Mughal Emperor Akbar II.

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY

• In his soul searching mission, Roy wrote Tuhfatul-Muhhidin (Gift to the

Worshippers of God) & Manjaratul Adhiyan in 1803 to save liberalism, humanism
& rationalism through the theological discourses in Arabic & Persian languages.
• For some time he served under his friend John Digby, an employee of the East
India company.
• Raja Ram Mohan had a keen interest in European politics and he was inspired
by the motto of French Revolution (Liberty , Equality and Fraternity)
• He left the Company’s service in 1814 and settled down in Calcutta.
• For enlightening people in real Hinduism, he published translations of Vedas in
English & Bangla during 1815-’19.

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
• In line with the modification of Satidaha Pratha by the
British government , Raja Ram Mohan Roy devoted to
create a favourable public opinion.
• Eventually, Governor General Lord William Cavendish
Bentinck in his drive adopted the Sati Regulation Act in
1829. Through the act, the Satidaha process was
banned in the society .

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In the name of Sati,
women were burnt alive
with their deceased
husband as an age-old
tradition.

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY
• For uniting like minded people, Roy founded Atmiya Sabha
(Society of Friends) in 1815 along with Jorasanko Tagore
family. Maharishi Debendranath Tagore was a notable member
of Atmya Sabha .
• For convincing his audience in favour of the religious
reformations, Roy advocated his views in Sambad Kaumudi &
Miratul-Akbar.
• Citing evidence form the Vedic society, Roy (1822) published a
book Brief Remarks Regarding Modern Encroachments on the
Ancient Rights of Females.

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 RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY

• In 1828 Raja Ram Mohan Roy and David Hare founded the Brahmo Samaj (
Society of God) .The objective of Brahmo Samaj was to provide a meeting-
ground for all sects for the worship of one God.
• Worship of images was not the only features of Hindu society which Raja
Ram Mohan tried to reform. He disliked the abuses of the caste system, and
he was a champion of equal rights for women.
• Along with Satidah , he opposed polygamy , female infanticide and the ban
on widow remarriages.
• He registered his disapproval of the prohibition against crossing the seas by
personally travelling to England. His motive was not to found a new religion
but to restore what he believed to be the Vedic purity of Hinduism so that it
could weather the challenge posed by Christian missionaries.

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RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy breathed his last in Bristol in 1833

• His liberal outlook made him an enthusiastic supporter of Western
education and an admirer of civil liberty.
• His ideas were too revolutionary for the orthodox members of his
community, who opposed him vehemently. Though the Brahmo
Samaj never became a mass movement, its founder’s endeavours
stirred up a vigorous controversy in a society that had long been
hidebound, and started an era of bold debate and inquiry which
progressed inevitably to cover political issues as well.

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VIDYASAGAR: LEADING LIGHT OF INDIAN
RENAISSANCE

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PANDIT ISHWAR CHANDRA VIDYA
SAGAR ( 1820-1891)

• Iswar Chandra was born in the year 1820 in Medinipore of West Bengal. He
managed to emerge as one of the renowned scholars of the country after
facing extreme poverty in his early life.
• He studied at Sanskrit College in Kolkata from 1829 to 1841 & captured all
the prizes & scholarships as young intellectual.
• By putting his best efforts, Iswar Chandra emerged as an academic,
philosopher, educator, writer, translator, reformer & philanthropist.
• His excellence in poetics, rhetoric, Vedanta, astrology, logic brought him the
title of Vidyasagar (Ocean of Knowledge) in 1839.

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PANDIT ISHWAR CHANDRA VIDYA
SAGAR
• As Principal of Sanskrit College, Bidyasagar opened the doors
to lower caste students, for whom access to education was
almost impossible.
• To break the rigid mindset of the people towards caste system,
he dined with the untouchables.
• As a pioneer of the female rights, he championed widow
marriage & abolition of polygamy by male members.
• Upon his fruitful influence, the British government passed the
Widow Re-marriage Act of 1856 .

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PANDIT ISHWAR CHANDRA VIDYA
SAGAR
• In 1855, in his remarkable contributions, he wrote Barna
Parichay, a Bangla handbook for the school beginners.
• For his contributions in seeking knowledge, Rabindranath rated
him as one of the ‘greatest men of the century’.
• His reformist activities helped to create public opinion in favour
of the Bengali Hindu Renaissance.

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HENRY LOUIS VIVIAN DEROZIO
(1809-1831):
• He was born to an Indian family of Portuguese descent in Kolkata in 1809.
• He initiated the Young Bengal movement along with his followers.
• He and his firebrand student-disciples of “Young Bengal” fought against “ Satidaha” (widow
burning), idolatry, bigotry and for widow re-marriage, the spread of education and ideas of
liberty and human rights.
• Derozio made a profound impact on learning and the shaping of modern history in India. He lit
a torch of knowledge which was carried forward by some of his pupils at Hindu College (Est.
1817- later named Presidency College in 1855).
• He taught his students to prize rationality and shun superstition during his brief teaching
tenure (about six years) at his college.
• Within a span of life of 22 years and 8 months he left a phenomenal legacy as a rare Anglo-
Indian prodigy, a thinker, a fiery journalist, a spirited patriot, one of the harbingers of Bengal
Renaissance and a pioneer of Indian Modernity.

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SWAMI RAMAKRISHNA- SWAMI
VIVEKANANDA MISSION:
• Swami Vivekananda (Narendranath Dutta: 1863-1902)- charismatic
disciple of the Hindu mystic Ramkrishna Paramhansadev (1836-1886)
took the spiritual message of Indian Renaissance to the West.
• He attended the World Parliament of Religions, which was a part of the
World fair on religion, science, art, law and human rights held during
September,1893, at Chicago, USA.
• His message of human oneness, caught the imagination of people and
made people think about themselves and about their role in society.
• The Ramakrishna- Swami Vivekananda mission’s message of tolerance,
love and peace presented Hinduism in a universally acceptable form.

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THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY (SOCIETY
OF DIVINE WISDOM)
• The Theosophical Society was founded in the United States of America in 1875 by Madame
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and Colonel Henry Steel Olcott along with others.
• In 1879, Blavatsky and Olcott came to India and established the international headquarters of
their society in Adyar, Madras(now Chennai).
• The Society became prominent in the time of Mrs Annie Besant who joined the society in
1889.She dedicated her whole life to the cause of this society.
• The fundamental philosophical doctrines of the Theosophical Society, such as Karma and
Nirvana, were common to both Buddhism and Brahmanism and hence the Indians were
attracted towards it.
• The society functioned as a bridge between the East and West, emphasizing the commonality
of human culture.
• The socio-religious societies like Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, Young Bengal Movement,
Theosophical Society brought together people from different parts of India into friendly
relations which had never been known before.

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ANNIE BESANT(1847-1933)- BRITISH
SOCIAL ACTIVIST AND PHILANTHROPIST

SOURCE:
HTTPS://WWW.LOC.GOV/PICTURES/ITEM/91786 24
293/
 POST-1857 ERA
• Though the upheaval of 1857 failed to drive the British out of India, it succeeded in
the limited purpose of making them acknowledge what had gone wrong and made
them promise to behave more considerately in the future.
• Under the India Rule Act of 1858,British East India Company was dissolved ,and the
India Council replaced the Board of Directors.
• Governor-General was given the additional title of Viceroy
• The Act transferring the responsibility for governing India to the Crown was followed
by Queen Victoria's proclamation of 1 November 1858 enunciating the principles on
which the administration of India would be based in future.

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 POST-1857 ERA
• Legislative councils were created in different states and many Indians were
appointed. It was the first appearance of Indians in the top echelons of the
government of their country
• Territorial integrity was guaranteed and the Doctrine of lapse policy was revoked
• A more friendly policy towards the princes and landed gentry was adopted
• Rise of Western-educated middle class to power
• British government abandoned the mission of improving the socio-religious tone of
Indian life. They thought it safer to confine themselves to improving material facilities-
such has railways, roads and irrigation works.

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 POST-1857 ERA
• The failure of the Great Rebellion made it clear to the Indians that they would not be able to
expel the British from India by force of arms, at least for some time to come. The Hindus had
taken to learning of the English language and adopting the western system of education.
After the great Rebellion, they followed that course even more vigorously than before.
• The Muslims at first disdained to co-operate with the British. But the collapse of the Mughal
empire during the great rebellion of 1857 brought home to them the fact that it was not
possible for them to revive Muslim rule in India. Under the powerful persuasion of Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan and other social reformers, they too began to learn English and cultivate
friendly relations with the British.
• For the time being, thus Indians of all complexions adopted the maxim “if you can’t beat
them, join them”.
• Gradually there were outpourings of loyalty by the Indian intelligentsia to the British
authorities. All these, eventually led to the formation of major political organizations in the
country.

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GROWTH OF NATIONALISM AND POLITICAL
CONSCIOUSNESS IN INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
Causes:
 Improvement in the means of transportation and communication
 Spread of Western education and ideas like nationalism ,imperialism,
humanism.
 Inspiration from American Revolution of 1776 and French Revolution of
1789
 Development of Printing Press and Literature-both English and Vernacular
 Role of English language-the lingua franca of the intelligentsia of India-
helped to connect the people of India.
 Role of the social and religious reformers and activists

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GENESIS OF INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS(1885)
• The birth of political and national consciousness, naturally also saw the birth of various
political organizations, especially in Bengal.
• In 1876 Surendranath Banerjee founded Indian Association at Calcutta. A gifted orator
with a good command of the English Language, he plunged into the political life of the
country and promoted nationalism with vigour and distinction.
• Indian Association protested against the reduction of the age limit for appearing in the
Indian Civil Service examination, and against the Vernacular Press Act of 1878,and its
members took an active part in countering the vicious agitation launched by the
European community in India against the Ilbert Bill.
• Despite its significant nationalist activities, the Indian Association failed to attain an all-
India status.
• Eventually another leading political organization, Indian National Congress came to the
forefront.

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GENESIS OF INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS(1885)

• Leading political party and it later became the main platform for nationalist movement
in India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
• People of India felt the necessity of founding an institution to achieve political rights
and to place before the government their wants and demands. They became very
much eager to participate in local government and administration, formation of
representative government and the achievement of autonomy.
• Under these circumstances, a retired Scottish civil servant named Allan Octavian
Hume, a well wisher of the Indians, founded the Indian National Congress (INC) in
1885.
• The first session of the Congress was held in Mumbai(Bombay) on December 28
1885,where 72 delegates had participated.
• Bengali Barrister Umesh Chandra Banerjee was the President of the first session of
Congress .

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FIRST SESSION OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS,
BOMBAY, 28–31 DECEMBER 1885

S OU R C E:
H TTP ://W W W. MO VIN GH E R E.OR G .U K/G AL LE R IES/H I STOR IE S/A SIAN /O R IGI
N S /OR IGI N S.H TM#R E LA TION SH I P

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ALLAN OCTAVIAN HUME
(1829-1912)

S OU R C E:
H TTP S://A R C HI VE. OR G/D E TAIL S/TH EN E STS AN D EGG SOFIN D I AN BIR D S VOL I

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GENESIS OF INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS(1885)
Prominent Founders:
 Allan Octavian Hume
 Umesh Chandra Banerjee
 Surendranath Banerjee
 Dadabhai Naoroji
 William Weddenburn
 Dinshaw Wacha
 Pherozeshah Mehta
 M.G. Ranade
 Badruddin Tyabji
 Lalmohan Ghose and Manmohan Ghose

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 GENESIS OF INDIAN NATIONAL
CONGRESS(1885)
In the first session, the following objectives of the Congress were set:
 To establish national unity and solidarity among all the patriotic people of the country
irrespective of caste, creed or religion
 To establish communication and friendship among the dedicated persons for the
interest of the country
 To identify the social problems
 To specify the principles and objectives of the politicians
Initially, the members of the Congress were moderate and their objectives were to
discuss matters peacefully and to present the demands to the British government in a
constitutional way. Later on Congress got divided into two factions-the Extremists and the
Moderates. The extremists turned INC into a platform for the anti-British movement and
later played a significant role in the nationalist movement of India.

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FURTHER READINGS:
• V.D. Mahajan, Modern Indian History (S Chand Company, New
Delhi,17th Edition,2010)
• S.M. Burke and Salim Al-Din Quraishi , The British Raj in India:
A Historical Review, University Press Limited,Dhaka,1995)

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THANK YOU!

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