Young Bengal Movement

Modern Bengal was a collection of Bengali independent thinkers that emerged from Calcutta’s Hindu College. They were motivated and energized by the attitude of free-thinking and revolution against Hindu society’s current social and religious order. The Young Bengal Movement was founded by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, he arrived in Calcutta in 1826 and was hired as English literature and history instructor at the Hindu College. 

Young Bengal Movement

During the 1820s and late 1830s, a revolutionary and intellectual tendency among Bengal’s young emerged, which became known as the ‘Young Bengal Movement.’ This progressive tendency was led and inspired by a young European, Henry Vivian Derozio, who lectured in the Hindu College, during the period from 1826 to 1831. 

The Hindu College of Kolkata, established in 1817, played a significant role in continuing the modernizing processes in Bengal. David Hare, a Ram Mohan Roy partner, was very interested in creating this college. He had arrived from Scotland to market watches in Calcutta, but he eventually made it his life’s purpose to disseminate modern education in Bengal. 

In 1826, a 17-year-old man named Henry Vivian Derozio, whose father was of Portuguese descent and mother was English, began working as a teacher at Hindu College. Within no time, he had gathered the best lads from the college, whom he continuously pushed to think independently and to challenge all authority. Derozio spread radical views through his teaching and the organization of a debate and discussion group on literature, history, philosophy, and science. Derozio literally enchanted the young students of Kolkata and carried about an intellectual movement amongst them through these efforts. 

Young Bengal and Derozio

Derozio’s pupils, known as the Young Bengal, mocked the old social norms and practices, challenged God’s existence, opposed social and religious convictions, and sought freedom of thought and speech as well as education for women. They admired the principles of the French Revolution as well as England’s liberal thought. The extreme ideals of this group, as well as their unusual actions such as not paying attention to religious icons, disturbed the traditional Hindus of Calcutta. They believed that Derozio’s lectures were the underlying cause of the young boys’ beliefs, and put pressure on the Hindu College’s administration to fire him. 

Derozio’s dismissal and tragic death in 1831 did not end the Young Bengal Movement. Despite the loss of leadership, members of this organization continued to disseminate radical ideals through education and journalism. 

Failure of the Young Bengal movement 

• The Young Bengal movement collapsed because the organization was unable to gain support from other Bengali intelligentsia or academics
• Raja Rammohan was not sympathetic to their plight
• The Young Bengal Movement’s major goal was to spread radical ideas through teachings and arranging discussions and conversations on Literature, History, Philosophy, and Science
•  Derozians were members of the Young Bengal Movement, named after Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, a fiery instructor at Hindu College

Movements for Social and Religious Changes in India in The Nineteenth Century 

Derozio was just one of those rare professors whose devotion to education, passion for truth, and loathing of evil had a lasting influence on everyone who met him. He, like Socrates, pursued what was good and was convicted of leading the youth astray. Some powerful Hindus got him removed from employment, and he died soon after. However, the Derozian influence persisted, and it became recognized as the Young Bengal Movement. It was linked to all the period’s key movements.

Conclusion

We have understood the young Bengal movement, Henry Vivian Derozio, the young Bengal movement, young Bengal, and other topics in the study material young Bengal movement. 

Derozio’s pupils, known as the Young Bengal, mocked the old social norms and practices, challenged God’s existence, opposed social and religious convictions and sought freedom of thought and speech as well as education for women. They admired the principles of the French Revolution as well as England’s liberal thought. The extreme ideals of this group, as well as their unusual actions such as not paying attention to religious icons, disturbed the traditional Hindus of Calcutta. They believed that Derozio’s lectures were the underlying cause of the young boys’ beliefs, and put pressure on the Hindu College’s administration to fire him. Derozio’s dismissal and tragic death in 1831 did not end the Young Bengal Movement.