Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar-Great Social Reformer

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great scholar and social reformer of Bengal during the period of 19th century. He is better remembered as a social reformer of Bengal who brought a revolution to the education system of Bengal, worked extensively for girl;s and women’s rights in Bengal. He is also a well-known writer. Just read this full article to get more details of this great social reformer.

Early Life of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was born in 26th September 1820 in a small village called Birsingha, which is in Paschim Midnapore district of West Bengal. His father was Thakurdas Bandyopadhyay and mother was Bhagavati Devi. Little Ishwar completed his elementary education from a pathshala in his village. But it was observed that Ishwar was a very brilliant student and has a very sharp mind. So his father took him to Kolkata for better education and he completed his schooling from Kolkata. He worked very hard during his school days and was awarded with a number of scholarships for his great academic performance. Ishwar Chandra successfully passed his Law Examination in the year 1839.

Teaching Career of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

In the year 1841 Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as a Head of the Sanskrit Department. At that time his age was only twenty-one years. In the year 1846 he joined Sanskrit College as Assistant Secretary. In the year 1849 he left the Sanskrit College due to some disagreements with College Secretary Rasomoy Dutta and in the same year he rejoined the Fort William College as a Head Clerk. But later in the year 1851 he again joined the Sanskrit College as a Professor of Literature and afterwards became the Principal of that College.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar acting as a Social Reformer

Vidyasagar worked desperately to uplift the status of women in whole India. He introduced the concept of Widow marriage in Hindu Society and for this he has got moral support from other reformists also. He also raised his voice against child marriage in Hindu Society. He really felt for the girls, women in the Hindu society and to eradicate these evil traditions from Hindu Society he organized various seminars, discussions. In the year 1856 British Government legalized Widow Marriage.
He also noticed that there is no importance given to the Women Education in Hindu Society. He slowly established many schools for Girls. He worked tirelessly for educating the Girls in Bengal. He used to visit each and every girl child's house to educate their parents and feel them believe the importance of women's education in those days.

Kind Hearted Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was famous for his kind-hearted nature and shouldered his hand to each and everyone who will be asking for help. He was called as "Daya-r-Sagar" for his kind heart. During his college days he spend part of his scholarship money to help the poor and save them from distress. Not only with money, he also used to nurse the sick people, patients.