Dwarkanath Ganguly was a Brahmo reformer in Bengal of British India. He made substantial contribution towards the enlightenment of society and the emancipation of women. He dedicated his whole life for the cause of women emancipation and encouraged them to take part in every walk of life, politics, social services etc and even helped them to form organizations of their own.
Early Life
Dwarakanath Ganguly was born at Magurkhanda village, Bikrampur, Dhaka on 20 April 1844. His father, Krishnapran Gangopadhyay, was a humble man while his mother, Udaytara, belonged to a rich family, and was a strong willed woman. He was deeply influenced by his mother from childhood, who instilled into him love for truth and justice.Dwarakanath Ganguly began his education in the local village "pathshaala". Since he was keen to learn English he joined the English school in nearby Kalipara village. While stydying in this school he became strongly influenced by the writings of Akshay Kumar Dutta's 'Dharma Niti' on then prevalent social problems as polygamy, child marriage, inter-caste marriage and widow remarriage. He was deeply touched by the plight of the Bengali woman, and was influenced by Dutta‟s main thesis that “the first vital step to social regeneration is liberating woman from her bondage”. Together with some of his socially conscious school friends, he attended public meetings to attempt to propagate the ideas of Datta. His reformist activities resulted in him failing to pass the Entrance Examination as he was unable to spend enough time on school curriculum. He turned out to be self taught thereafter.
Marriage and Career
In those days, it was customary for 'Kulin' Brahmin men to practice polygamy, which formed a way to earn money in way of gifts presented to the Brahmin groom by the bride's father. When Dwarkanath was 17 years old, he heard that the relatives of an unfortunate girl who had strayed from her course had killed the girl by poisoning her. On realizing that it was common practice to honor kill in kulin Brahmin families, he vowed not to go in for polygamous marriage. This incident also pained Dwarkanath to such an extent that he began to empathize towards the condition of women in society. The failure of the Entrance Examination combined with increasing disagreement with his relatives and the local people over his ideas of social reform, made him leave home in search of an independent livelihood. His vow to monogamy and work to the cause of improving women‟s position in society, made him grow steadily in stature as a social reformer. He started his teaching career and worked at Sonarang, Olpur in Faridpur and in the minor school at Lonsingh. A number of years after the death of his first wife, he re-married, in 1883, Kadambini Ganguly nee Bose, 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 practicing Indian woman doctor. He had eight children from both his marriages. His eldest daughter, Bidhumukhi, from his first alliance was married to Upendra Kishore RayChaudhuri.
Abalabandhab
In May 1869, Dwarakanath launched a weekly journal named 'Abalabandhab', from Lonsing, a village in Faridpur, Dhaka. This journal has been noted by American historian David Kopf as the first journal in the world devoted solely to the liberation of women.Ganguly played the role of a humanitarian journalist bringing to light cases of exploitation and extreme suffering of women. Abalabandhab attracted the attention of the students of Calcutta and Dacca and especially among young Brahmos, including Sivenath Sastri and his progressive friends in Calcutta.In 1870, Dwarakanath came to Calcutta with Abalabandhab and by their cooperation, turned the journal into a powerful organ of women's cause.
Dwarakanath Ganguly was a strong supporter of higher education for women with equal stress on fields like science and mathematics. He believed in providing equal syllabi of education for both men and women, that was not agreeable to many of the then social reformers like Keshab Chandra Sen. He believed that education of women was not to challenge the basic tenets of feminine socialization, rather it was to complement the process of the creation of the modem, enlightened helpmate. Though a Brahmo himself, Dwarkanath was far more progressive than the Brahmo leader Keshub Chandra Sen of those days. He along with Durgamohan Das, Annadacharan Khastagir, Sivanath Sastri, Rajaninath Roy and others, demanded that Brahmo ladies be allowed to come out of their screen of seclusion in the prayer meets of Brahmo Samaj. With his strong reformist views, he was 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.
Girl's School
Dwarakanath Ganguly and his associates like Durgamohan Das, Monomohun Ghosh, envisioned that quality of education to be imparted to girls should be equal to that given to boys. To achieve this, they established the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya on 18 September 1873 at 22, Beniapukur Lane, Calcutta. The school was placed under the supervision of Unitarian English lady Miss Annette Akroyd. The responsibility of keeping it going was unilaterally shouldered by Dwarakanath and his associates. It was a boarding school with five Brahmo boarder girls. They included Indumati, daughter of Ramtanu Lahiri; Sarala and Abala the daughters of Durga Mohan Das, Bidhumukhi the daughter of Dwarakanath Ganguly; and Harasundari, the wife of Srinath Datta. Dwarkanath served that boarding school as headmaster, teacher, dietician, guard, and maintenance man, who even sweeped the premises. The school stopped operating for a short while after Miss Ackroyd left for England. However with Ganguly‟s unhampered enthusiasm, he reopened the school as the Banga Mahila Vidyalaya on 1st June 1876 at Old Ballygunge Road, Calcutta. The standard of education in the school was commendably high and its successors played important role in Ganguly's crusade for women‟s upliftment. The basic philosophy of this school was to give its students access to the same kind of knowledge as was available for boys. Ganguly argued convincingly in support of his educational practices at a time when Victorian England was still grappling with the issue of the right kind of education for the girls. The high quality system followed was praised even by the Education Department of the Government. In the mean time, the unsatisfactory state of the Bethune School was a matter for grave concern to all connected with female education. Through Miss Akroyd's connections, the education personnel in the government were familiar with the advanced state of the Banga Mahila Vidyalaya. A proposal to amalgamate the two, in a union of financial and intellectual resources, was agreed upon. After a long controversy, the Banga Mahila Vidyalaya considered “the most advanced school in Bengal”, was merged in the Bethune School on 1st August 1878.Among its alumni were Swarnaprabha Basu, Sarala Roy, Lady Abala Basu, Girijakumari Sen, Kadambini Ganguly and Hemlata Devi.
Journalism and Published Work
Dwarkanath was also involved in active journalism and wrote articles to bring light on social issues. The most notable work done in this area was bringing to light the pathetic conditions of the workers in the tea gardens of Assam. His detailed articles describing the wretched conditions of these workers eventually lead to the Indian National Congress sit up and send investigators to validate his reports. Though the British planter's lobby tried to prevent these articles to reach a wider audience, they were unable to prevent it.These reports also formed a base for agitation against the colonial rule. Dwarkanath's activities were not restricted to social, political or religious reforms alone. He authored two novels "Birnaari" and "Suruchir Kutir".He contributed to articles in journals, notable being writing a biography of Brohmomoyee Debi, wife of Durga Mohon Das. In the lines of "Year Book" that used to be published in those times, he had also started a treatise "NoboBarshiki" that contained information about the who's who of then Bengal. There are some children's literature too that could be contributed to him.
