Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: Scholar and Reformer

Every Bengali child who learns the alphabet uses a primer he reordered in 1855. The same man pushed through a law that let Hindu widows remarry.

He earned the name Vidyasagar, “Ocean of Learning”, before he became a reformer. This lesson covers his studies, his schools, his script reform and the 1856 Act.

1How did he earn the name Vidyasagar?

He studied for 12 years at Sanskrit College and earned the title there.

• He was born Ishwar Chandra Bandyopadhyay on 26 September 1820.
• His village was Birsingha, in Midnapore district of Bengal.
• He studied at Sanskrit College, Calcutta, from 1829 to 1841.
• He covered Vedanta, grammar, literature, rhetoric, law and ethics.
• The college gave him the title Vidyasagar, meaning “Ocean of Learning”.
• Exams ask where he earned the title. The answer is Sanskrit College, not Presidency College.
• From 1841, he taught at Fort William College in Calcutta.
• He died on 29 July 1891, at the age of 70.

2What did he change at Sanskrit College?

He opened it up and brought in new subjects.

• In 1851, he became principal of Sanskrit College.
• As principal, he opened admissions to students from lower castes.
• This challenged who traditional scholarship was meant for.
• It was quieter than his widow remarriage campaign. It was just as important in its own way.
• He also pushed for English to be taught alongside Sanskrit.
• In 1855, he published Borno Porichoy, or “Introduction to the Alphabet”.
• It simplified and reordered the Bengali script.
• The primer is still used to teach Bengali today.
• He is seen as the father of modern Bengali prose.
• Few reformers change the building blocks of a language. Vidyasagar did.
• In 1855 he also became a Special Inspector of Schools in several Bengal districts.

3How did he win the widow remarriage law?

He used scripture to make his case.

• Hindu widows faced a hard life, and many were barred from remarrying.
• In two pamphlets of 1855, he argued that ancient scripture allowed widow remarriage.
• He cited the Parashara Samhita.
• He did not rely on modern ideals alone. He argued from the tradition itself.
• Supporters sent petitions to the government.
• The Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, Act XV of 1856, followed.
• The Legislative Council passed it on 16 July 1856.
• It took effect ten days later, on 26 July 1856.
• The Act made the remarriage of Hindu widows legally valid.
• The first widow remarriage under the Act took place in Calcutta in December 1856.
• For an earlier reform, see Lord William Bentinck: Sati and English Education Reform.

4What did he do for girls’ schools?

He gave his time and his own money.

• He personally started 35 girls’ schools across Bengal.
• He often paid for them out of his own pocket.
• He was known for personal generosity.
• He regularly spent a large share of his salary on poor students.
• John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune founded the Hindu Female School in 1849.
• Vidyasagar served as its Secretary.
• It later grew into Bethune School and College.
• That was India’s first institution for women’s education.
• Exams mention this. UPSC 2021 asked who served as Secretary of the school that became Bethune Female School.

5Why was his method unusual?

He reformed the tradition from inside.

• Vidyasagar was not an outside critic of Sanskrit learning.
• He earned his authority from deep inside that tradition.
• He then used that authority to challenge parts of it.
• That is why his scripture-based case for widows carried weight.
• Exams test his real titles. He was Principal of Sanskrit College, Special Inspector of Schools and Secretary of the Bethune School.
• He never founded a group formally named a “Widow Remarriage Association”.
• The earlier Bengal reformer was Raja Ram Mohan Roy. See Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj.
• For a reformer from western India, see Jyotirao Phule.
• Do not confuse him with Vishnushastri Pandit. He started a widow remarriage society in Maharashtra in 1866.