The academic studies of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, which continued for twelve long years at Sanskrit College, reached its finishing line in 1841 with an achievement of nearly unparalleled distinction. His accomplishments in kavya, alamkara, Smriti and Nyaya were considered to be unsurpassed by so many senior scholars, aesthete and renowned teachers of that time.
In this duration, his command over Sanskrit, as well as his mother tongue Bengali, became sound and stupendous in terms of discursive ability and creative faculty. But he was the last person to be complacent and slothful by his own attainment, even for a moment. The glorious termination of academic study or institutional learning did not put any punctuation mark to his sojourn towards newer horizon of further study and knowledge-quest.
The first half of the 19th century was the era of establishment and expansion of western education, almost singularly through English language, however slow it may be in pace. Bengal witnessed foundationsof academic institutions as Hindu College in the year 1817, followed by of Bishop's College at Shibpur, Howrah; and a decade later, of General Assembly's Institutionby Alexander Duff in the year 1830. Ishwarchandra did not seek admission to any of these institutions after his arrival in Kolkata in the year 1828. After the completion of his formal education, he took ardent endeavor to acquire command over English language, thereby getting an entry into western education.
The end of the year 1841 also witnessed the beginning of Ishwarchandra's professional career as a scholar and teacher. The proactive role of G. T. Marshall became instrumental in appointing Vidyasgar as the sherestadar, or the Head Pundit at the Bangla Department of Fort William College. It was Marshall again who inspired Ishwarchandra to be sufficiently versed with English language. He was as relentless as a learner of new language. Under the tutelage of Nilmadhab Mukhopadhyay, Durgacharan Bandyopadhyay and Rajnarayan Basu, Ishwarchandra acquired command in English language and literature.
The first English work of Ishwarchandra compiled here in this volume, under the title The English Writings of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar A Collection bears the date September 14, 1840 and it is a formal application for the post of First Grammar Professor at the Sanskrit College. A grand compilation exceeding 400 pages, encompassing letters, reports, and treatises, for which we express our heartfelt thanks to the editor of this collection, Sri Prabir Mukhopadhyay, for his tenacious labor in collecting the writings and compiling them with insightful research acumen. We take immense pride in publishing this volume, which affords us the opportunity to present Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, a monumental figure as an educator, social reformer, modernizer, and a tireless, indomitable activist.
We express our heartfelt gratitude to Professor Gautam Bhadra, renowned historian and scholar, who with kindness and grace contributed in writing the foreword to this book. Replete with insightful wisdom, his words initiate us to enter into the grand corpus of this compilation. We extend our gratitude to Professor Sumit Chakrabarti who devoted his precious time in going through the entire printed manuscript, and Krishnendu Chaki for his befitting as well as wonderful cover-design for this collection.
We are confident that this collection will garner the affectionate patronage of the reading community in Bengal.
A Brahmin scholar from a Bandyopadhyay family in Birsingha village in Medinipur district, Ishwarchandra usually preferred to sign his name Sharma/Sharman, underlining his status in the then traditional Bengali society. The title-page of his books used to add the designation 'Vidyasagar beside his name, an academic title he had earned from the Sanskrit College. Nothing is unusual about the title. There were a number of Vidyasagars before and after him. Ramjoy Vidyasagar Bhattacharya, for example, was the editor of the first print publication of Mukundaram's Chandimangal (1823-24). Jibananda Vidyasagar (1844-1910), son of the famous scholar Taranath Tarkavachaspati (1812-1885), an opponent of Ishwarchandra in the matter of widow remarriage reform, had a very successful business career in the publication of Sanskrit texts with scholarly explanatory notes. He was a worthy successor of Ishwarchandra as a promoter of Sanskrit education. Yet in popular lore, imagination and images 'Vidyasagar' refers to that singular personality, bearing the very name Ishwarchandra, unique in many ways in the context of nineteenth-century colonial Bengal. All of his biographies consist of anecdotes and stories both true and apocryphal. He has never lacked admirers and detractors till today. He has a number of life histories, hagiographic and critical. He has earned many sobriquets 'Karunasagar' (Ocean of Compassion), 'Birshingher Singha-sishu", (Lion-cub of Birshingha), "a traditional moderniser -always in search of dreams of progress and reform, his 'elusive milestones His detractors have assessed him a shrewd and successful businessman, a textbook writer, a collaborator with colonial rule and finally a thoroughly dejected man. It seems that Ishwarchandra was capable of evoking strong reactions through his actions and writings, both in his lifetime and in his afterlife.
Such a life, full of aura, necessarily hides some gaps, some lacks. Pradyumna Bhattacharya, in his perceptive essay, "Vidyasagar ebong Besarkarı Samaj, Tikatippani (Kolkata: Papyrus, 1998, pp. 130-172), has described Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar as a man of the 'Besarkari Samaj" (non-governmental society), articulating the problems and transformational aspirations of the 'Desi' or indigenous society under colonial rule. He was, as if, functioning as a linking voice between the indigenous community and the colonial administration. His particular voice has generated a number of writings, in various forms, treatises, reports, letters and small notes to the appropriate authorities, in the English language, on multiple subjects, from education, social reform and Hindu law to the functioning of public institutions. But except for a partial attempt by Arabinda Guha, all these English writings by an ever-active public minded 'Pundit' have never been compiled and edited by anyone till now. No doubt myths and legends, for a public reformer, are all important, but they do not necessarily debunk the value of hitherto unpublished archival materials on making of any historical biography. Two genres clearly jostle side by side, intersect, and interweave with each other to form the texture of the social role of a colourful and humane being in evolving historical perception.
Therefore, Prabir Mukhopadhyay's compilation intends to fill a gap. It is an important and long-needed archival work with a clear focus. The collection has attempted to register the voice of a representative of the 'Besarkari Samaj within colonial Bengal's inchoate and emerging public sphere. That voice has many qualities a practical and keen eye for ground realities, a genuine concern for sufferings of ordinary helpless members of the society and a sense of self-pride and respect for his own probity and intellect. He, like many of his contemporaries, evinced a faith in the efficacy of British rule in India. That belief is clearly perceptible behind many of his reports and letters to the government. However, in spite of the perception of the benevolence of the authority, Ishwarchandra has never acted as a so-called inert local 'informant'. He regarded himself to be an 'advisor' to the government with a distinct perception of progress and the role of the government in implementing the policy of improvement. Not being a 'yes-man', he was forthright to express his differences of opinion with the bureaucrats and eager to retain a space for personal and private initiative and socio-moral persuasion.
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar's English writings would clearly bring, in relief, how an intellectual emerging from a indigenous Bengali society was trying to be a 'public man', and a spokesperson, with unflinching courage and tenacity, rather than a submissive subject of the colonial state.
The tenor of these writings would also underscore another point. Despite the recognition of being knowledgeable 'Pundit' and respectable adviser to the government, his vision of social reformation had very few takers in his own society. His success has been limited, failure has been immense. His own writings bear a testimony to that tragedy.
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Manage Wishlist