Dwarkanath Ganguly
Encyclopedia
Dwarkanath Ganguly ( Darkanath Gangguli) (20 April 1844 - 27 June 1898) was a Brahmo
reformer
in Bengal
of British India
. He contributed substantially towards the enlightenment of society and the emancipation of women.
, now in Bangladesh
. At the time of Ganguly's birth, his father, Krishnapran Ganguli lived in Faridpur
in connection with some family work. His mother hailed from a rich family. Once she wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Puri
. In those days, one had to use boats and elephants for transport. Her parent’s family would have been too happy to support her financially for that but she was too upright a person to accept such support. Instead, she covered the long distance for the pilgrimage on foot. This incident portrays the strong will power of Ganguly's mother. The same would be apparent in his life later.
He had his early education in his village pathsala (school). Later, when he expressed the desire to learn English
he joined the English school in nearby Kalipara in spite of severe physical difficulties. He studied up to the entrance class but failed to clear the examination. He started his teaching career and worked at three places — Sonarang in Bikrampur, Olpur in Faridpur and in the minor school at Lonsingh.
's Dharma Niti (Religious principles). He was aroused about the plight of the Bengali woman, and was influenced by Dutt’s main thesis that "the first vital step to social regeneration is liberating woman from her bondage."
When he was 17 years old, he heard that the relatives of an unfortunate girl who had strayed from her course killed the girl by poisoning her. On enquiry, he came know that it was not uncommon to kill girls in such a manner in kulin (orthodox upper caste) Brahmin
families. He was so shocked that he vowed not to go in for polygamous
marriage, a system in vogue in orthodox upper caste society in those days.
While he was still working at Lonsingh, he started publishing a weekly magazine named Abalabandhab (Friend of Women) from Dhaka
. Amongst those who supported him was Pran Kumar Das, son of Abhaya Kumar Das, a well-known deputy magistrate and a leading member of Dhaka Brahmo Samaj, earlier founded by Braja Sundar Mitra
.
The noted American historian David Kopf
writes, “This journal, which is probably first in the world devoted solely to the “liberation of women,” represented clearly what we have described elsewhere as the compassion for the Bengali
woman as proletariat
. Ganguli played the role of a humanitarian muckraking journalist bringing to light concrete cases of exploitation and extreme suffering of women, as for example, the sensation he created when he featured the story of one East Bengal village where ‘in a single year thirty-three kulin women committed suicide or were murdered.’ According to Ganguli every one of them was the victim of premarital or extramarital conception as a result of rape or seduction.”
says, "We were wonderstruck on reading Abalabandhab. Who was the person who was expressing such liberal opinion about the education and development of women from a far away village? In the course of time, Ganguli-brother came to Calcutta
to meet the contributors from the city to his magazine. We met our hero. At a gathering of friends, they decided to shift Abalabandhab to Kolkata. Accordingly in 1870, Ganguly came to Kolkata with Abalabandhab." Life became difficult for Dwarkanath. He lacked the support base he had at Dhaka.
Apart from Abalabandhab, Dwarkanath raised a storm within the Brahmo Samaj
regarding the issue of women sitting behind the screen during prayer meetings. With his strong reformist views, he was obviously opposed to many of the conservative ideas not only in society but even in the Brahmo Samaj. That was the beginning of the split in the Brahmo Samaj of India, which ultimately led to the formation of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1878. Ganguly served several terms as secretary of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
When a Unitarian English lady Annette Akroyd started the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya
in 1873, Dwarkanath served that boarding school as headmaster, teacher, dietician, guard, and maintenance man. After school hours, he used to sweep the premises on his own. The school was later renamed Banga Mahila Vidyalaya
and was subsequently merged with Bethune School. In this activity, he was assisted by Sivanath Sastri
, Durga Mohan Das
, Ananda Mohan Bose, Annadacharan Khastagir, and others. He rendered financial assistance to Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya
In 1876-77, Ganguly concentrated on the wretched conditions of the workers in the tea garden
s of Assam
. He published a series of articles on the Slave Trade of Assam in K.K.Mitra’s nationalist newspaper Sanjivani. Later, he even took the matter to the forums of the Indian National Congress
.
, one of the first woman graduates in the British Empire
. Dwarkanath fought for her admission into Calcutta Medical College and secured it. Kadambini later became the first Indian woman doctor.
In 1891, the orthodox Hindu
journal Bangabasi lashed out at Kadambini Ganguly as a despised symbol of modern Brahmo womanhood and accused her, then a mother of five children, of being a whore. Immediately, Sivanath Sastri, Nilratan Sircar and Dwarkanath Ganguly, instituted legal action against the journal and its editor, who was subsequently sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and made to pay a fine of one hundred rupees.
They had eight children. Amongst them Jyotirmoyee was a noted freedom fighter and Prabhat Chandra was a journalist. His eldest daughter from his first marriage, Bidhumukhi, was married to Upendra Kishor Ray Chaudhuri
.
Ganguly died on 27 June 1898.
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
reformer
Reform movement
A reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes...
in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
of British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. He contributed substantially towards the enlightenment of society and the emancipation of women.
Early life
Dwarkanath Ganguly was born on the Bengali New Year’s Day, 1st Baisakh (mid-April), 1845 at Magurkhanda village in BikrampurBikrampur
Bikrampur pargana is situated 12 miles south of Dhaka, the modern-day capital of Bangladesh. It lies in the Munshiganj District of Bangladesh. It is a historic region in Bengal. The region is famous for its early Buddhist scholarships and in the later period for its cultural influences...
, now in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. At the time of Ganguly's birth, his father, Krishnapran Ganguli lived in Faridpur
Faridpur District
Faridpur is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Faridpur District has a population of over 1.7 million people and is situated on the banks of the Padma river . It is bordered by Madaripur, Narail, Rajbari, Magura, Shariatpur, Gopalgonj, Dhaka and Manikganj...
in connection with some family work. His mother hailed from a rich family. Once she wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Puri
Puri
Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
. In those days, one had to use boats and elephants for transport. Her parent’s family would have been too happy to support her financially for that but she was too upright a person to accept such support. Instead, she covered the long distance for the pilgrimage on foot. This incident portrays the strong will power of Ganguly's mother. The same would be apparent in his life later.
He had his early education in his village pathsala (school). Later, when he expressed the desire to learn English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
he joined the English school in nearby Kalipara in spite of severe physical difficulties. He studied up to the entrance class but failed to clear the examination. He started his teaching career and worked at three places — Sonarang in Bikrampur, Olpur in Faridpur and in the minor school at Lonsingh.
Change in the course of life
During Ganguly's school days he was strongly influenced by Akshay Kumar DattaAkshay Kumar Datta
Akshay Kumar Datta was born in Chupi in Bardhaman. Son of Pitamber Dutta, he was one of the initiators of the Bengal Renaissance. After studying in the Oriental Seminary under the special care of Hardman Jeffroy, he had to give up studies because of the death of his father and go job-seeking...
's Dharma Niti (Religious principles). He was aroused about the plight of the Bengali woman, and was influenced by Dutt’s main thesis that "the first vital step to social regeneration is liberating woman from her bondage."
When he was 17 years old, he heard that the relatives of an unfortunate girl who had strayed from her course killed the girl by poisoning her. On enquiry, he came know that it was not uncommon to kill girls in such a manner in kulin (orthodox upper caste) Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
families. He was so shocked that he vowed not to go in for polygamous
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
marriage, a system in vogue in orthodox upper caste society in those days.
While he was still working at Lonsingh, he started publishing a weekly magazine named Abalabandhab (Friend of Women) from Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
. Amongst those who supported him was Pran Kumar Das, son of Abhaya Kumar Das, a well-known deputy magistrate and a leading member of Dhaka Brahmo Samaj, earlier founded by Braja Sundar Mitra
Braja Sundar Mitra
Braja Sundar Mitra , son of Bhabani Prasad Mitra, was founder of Dhaka Brahmo Samaj. He was a social reformer and later founded the Brahmo Samaj at Comilla. He contributed substantially to the cause of women’s education, remarriage of widows, movement against polygamy and consumption of liquor...
.
The noted American historian David Kopf
David Kopf
David Kopf is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. A well-known research scholar on South Asian history, he has produced several books on the region. He has won the Guggenheim Fellowship at the University. A Ph.D...
writes, “This journal, which is probably first in the world devoted solely to the “liberation of women,” represented clearly what we have described elsewhere as the compassion for the Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
woman as proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
. Ganguli played the role of a humanitarian muckraking journalist bringing to light concrete cases of exploitation and extreme suffering of women, as for example, the sensation he created when he featured the story of one East Bengal village where ‘in a single year thirty-three kulin women committed suicide or were murdered.’ According to Ganguli every one of them was the victim of premarital or extramarital conception as a result of rape or seduction.”
Activities in Kolkata
Sivanath SastriSivanath Sastri
Sivanath Sastri was a scholar, religious reformer, educator, writer and historian...
says, "We were wonderstruck on reading Abalabandhab. Who was the person who was expressing such liberal opinion about the education and development of women from a far away village? In the course of time, Ganguli-brother came to Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
to meet the contributors from the city to his magazine. We met our hero. At a gathering of friends, they decided to shift Abalabandhab to Kolkata. Accordingly in 1870, Ganguly came to Kolkata with Abalabandhab." Life became difficult for Dwarkanath. He lacked the support base he had at Dhaka.
Apart from Abalabandhab, Dwarkanath raised a storm within the Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj
Brahmo Samaj is the societal component of the Brahmo religion which is mainly practiced today as the Adi Dharm after its eclipse in Bengal consequent to the exit of the Tattwabodini Sabha from its ranks in 1859. It was one of the most influential religious movements responsible for the making of...
regarding the issue of women sitting behind the screen during prayer meetings. With his strong reformist views, he was obviously opposed to many of the conservative ideas not only in society but even in the Brahmo Samaj. That was the beginning of the split in the Brahmo Samaj of India, which ultimately led to the formation of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in 1878. Ganguly served several terms as secretary of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
When a Unitarian English lady Annette Akroyd started the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya
Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya
Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya was a boarding school located at 22 Beniapukur Lane, Entally, Kolkata, India, founded by Annette Akroyd The school made a break with the idea of a less taxing curricula for girls, and provided the same kind of learning for its students as was available for boys. Sources...
in 1873, Dwarkanath served that boarding school as headmaster, teacher, dietician, guard, and maintenance man. After school hours, he used to sweep the premises on his own. The school was later renamed Banga Mahila Vidyalaya
Banga Mahila Vidyalaya
Banga Mahila Vidyalaya was the first women’s liberal arts college in India. Established at Kolkata on 1 June 1876, by the liberal section of the Brahmo Samaj, it was successor of Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya set up on 18 September 1873 by Annette Akroyd...
and was subsequently merged with Bethune School. In this activity, he was assisted by Sivanath Sastri
Sivanath Sastri
Sivanath Sastri was a scholar, religious reformer, educator, writer and historian...
, Durga Mohan Das
Durga Mohan Das
Durgamohan Das was a Brahmo Samaj leader and a social reformer with notable contribution in the field of widow remarriage and women’s emancipation.- Early life :...
, Ananda Mohan Bose, Annadacharan Khastagir, and others. He rendered financial assistance to Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya
Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya
≥Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya, popularly called "Brahmo Girls School", located at 294 APC Roy Road, Kolkata 700009, is a Bengali-medium girls' school founded by the Brahmo Samaj...
In 1876-77, Ganguly concentrated on the wretched conditions of the workers in the tea garden
Tea garden
Tea garden may refer to:* Roji, gardens surrounding Japanese tea houses and which form part of the architecture associated with Japanese tea ceremony* Tea plantations, where tea bushes are cultivated...
s of Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
. He published a series of articles on the Slave Trade of Assam in K.K.Mitra’s nationalist newspaper Sanjivani. Later, he even took the matter to the forums of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
.
Marriage and children
A number of years after the death of his first wife, he married, in 1883, Kadambini BoseKadambini Ganguly
Kadambini Ganguly was one of the first female graduates of the British Empire along with Chandramukhi Basu. She was one of the first female physicians of South Asia to be trained in European medicine.-Early life:...
, one of the first woman graduates in the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Dwarkanath fought for her admission into Calcutta Medical College and secured it. Kadambini later became the first Indian woman doctor.
In 1891, the orthodox Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
journal Bangabasi lashed out at Kadambini Ganguly as a despised symbol of modern Brahmo womanhood and accused her, then a mother of five children, of being a whore. Immediately, Sivanath Sastri, Nilratan Sircar and Dwarkanath Ganguly, instituted legal action against the journal and its editor, who was subsequently sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and made to pay a fine of one hundred rupees.
They had eight children. Amongst them Jyotirmoyee was a noted freedom fighter and Prabhat Chandra was a journalist. His eldest daughter from his first marriage, Bidhumukhi, was married to Upendra Kishor Ray Chaudhuri
Upendrakishore Ray
Upendrokishore Ray , also known as Upendrakishore Raychowdhury was a famous Bengali writer, painter, violin player and composer. He was born on 10 May 1863 in a little village called Moshua in Mymensingh District in Bengal, now in Bangladesh...
.
Ganguly died on 27 June 1898.