Krishna Mohan Banerjee (Bengali: কৃষ্ণ মোহন ব্যানার্জি) (1813-1885) (also referred to as Rev. Krishnamohan Bandopadhyay) was a prominent member of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio’s (1808-1831) Young Bengal group, educationist, linguist and Christian missionary. Bangla (বাংলা, IPA: ) or Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language of East South Asia, evolved from Sanskrit and Prakrit. ... A name attributed to a group of radical free thinkers emerging from Hindu College, Kolkata in the early 19th century. ...

Early life

Son of Jibon Krishna Banerjee, he was born on 28th May 1813 in the house of his maternal grand father at Shyampukur, Kolkata. His maternal grand father was Ramjay Vidyabhusan, court-pundit of Santiram Singha of Jorasanko.

Around 1819, Krishna Mohan joined the School Society institution opened by David Hare at Kalitala. Impressed by his talents, Hare took him to his school at Pataldanga, later famous as Hare School in 1822. He joined the newly founded Hindu College with a scholarship. He was profoundly influenced by Derozio and that changed the course of his life. He used to live in his maternal grandfather’s house, which he used as a meeting place for Derozians. One day, when he was absent, they consumed hand-made bread and meat prepared by Muslims, an unthinkable act for upper-caste Hindus in those days, threw the leftover bones into neighbours' houses, and started shouting, “Cow-meat! Cow-meat!” In the commotion that followed, Ramjay Vidyabhusan, his maternal grandfather, was forced to turn him out of the house. He found a place for a short while in the house of a Christian friend. A statue of David Hare kept at Hare School David Hare (1775-1842) was a Scottish watchmaker and philanthropist in Bengal. ... 2006 Saraswati Puja at Hare School Hare School is the oldest existing school in Kolkata, currently teaching grades 1 to 12 under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. ... Presidency College could refer to: Presidency College, Chennai Presidency College, Kolkata This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

In 1831, he started publishing the Inquirer. In the same year his The Persecuted fell like a bomb shell among his contemporaries. It described in vivid colours the characters of reformers, conformists and the orthodox sections of society. It tore asunder the veil of respectability which had concealed the secret debaucheries of the leaders of society and thoroughly exposed the greed, the insincerity and the trickery of the Brahmins.

While at college, he used to attend lectures of Dr. Alexander Duff, who had come in 1830 from Scotland to preach Christianity. They also went to the houses of Duff and Dealtry for serious discussions. His father died of cholera in 1828. In spite of his diverse activities and self-support in manual work, he continued to excel in his examinations. Dr. Alexander Duff, D. D. LLD. (1806-1878), was the founder of what is now known as Scottish Church College or the Scottish Church College, Calcutta. ...

Conversion to Christianity

On completion of his studies in 1829, he joined the Pataldanga school as an assistant teacher. In 1832, he converted to Christianity, under the influence of Duff. As a result of his conversion, he lost his job in David Hare’s school.

His conversion to Christianity raised a storm in Hindu society. The journals of the day became full of angry tirades against the activities of the Christian missionaries. He himself was too independent a man to remain silent. He declared his determination to pursue with steadfastness his course of action and endure with patience all persecution. The campaign against Hindu College led to the the dismissal of Derozio.

When the missionary society was later established he became the first Bengali priest. In 1833, he was convicted of converting a young boy to Christianity. That did not daunt him. He converted his wife, his brother Kali Mohan, and Ganendra Mohan Tagore, the son of Prasanna Coomar Tagore. Subsequently, Ganendra Mohan married his daughter Kamalmani and became the first Indian to qualify as a barrister. He was also instrumental in the conversion of Michael Madhusudan Dutt. He became a deacon of the Anglican Church in 1836 and was superintendent of the Mirzapur School of Christ Church. He used to preach and deliver sermons in Bengali. Michael Madhusudan Dutt (Datta), (Bangla: মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত) (1824-1873) is a famous 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. ...

Throughout the 1840s and 1850s, he sought to convince the Brahmos of their folly and take the plunge into Christendom. While Krishna Mohan Banerjee always emphasised the superiority of Christianity over other religions and wrote extensively, Rajnarain Bose questioned how he could claim that Christianity represented the most advanced stage of religious evolution when it was still so full of superstition, mystery and miracles.

Later life

In 1852, he was made a professor of Bishop’s College at Shibpore. In 1864, he was elected to be a member of the Royal Asiatic Society along with Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. In 1876, Calcutta University honoured him with a doctorate degree. Subsequently the citizens of Kolkata honoured him. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820 - 1891) was an Indian Bengali author, writer and reformer. ...

He was a pioneer in developing the encyclopaedia in Bengali and published a 13-volume English-Bengali encyclopaedia Vidyakalpadrum. He knew Bengali, English, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and was author of such books as The Aryan Witness, Dialogues on the Hindu Philosophy, and Upadeshkatha.

He died on 11 May 1885.

See also

Bengal renaissance is the period of time that saw surge in creative and social activity in Bengal. ... Bengal had been quite distant and cut off (by the rivers, especially the Ganga and the Brahmaputra) from the mainland of India for ages. ... The British Empire at its zenith in 1919. ... It has been suggested that History of Bengali literature be merged into this article or section. ... Like the Bengali language Bengali poetry finds its lineage to Pali and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. ... The music of Bengal, otherwise referred to as Bangla music, comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. ... Brahmo Samaj is a social and religious movement founded in Kolkata, India in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. ... The Asiatic Society was founded by Sir William Jones (1746-1794) on 15 January 1784 in Calcutta, the capital of British India, to enhance and further the cause of Oriental research. ... A name attributed to a group of radical free thinkers emerging from Hindu College, Kolkata in the early 19th century. ... Swadeshi is the Indian term for the boycott of British goods. ... Satyagraha is the philosophy of nonviolent resistance most famously employed by Mohandas Gandhi in forcing an end to the British Raj and also against apartheid in South Africa. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Ananda Bazar Patrika is one of the premier Bengali language daily newspapers in India. ... Rabindra Sangeet (Bangla: রবীন্দ্র সংগীত) refers to the 2000 odd songs (about 2230) and poetry written and composed by Bengali Nobel-laureatepoet Rabindranath Tagore. ... Santiniketan (Bangla:শান্তিনিকেতন) is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, and approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). ... Established by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921, the Visva-Bharati University, located at Santiniketan, West Bengal in India is a central university and an institution of national importance. ... Books by Kazi Nazrul Islam This is a complete listing of the works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, in the Bengali language. ... Indian reformer Ram Mohan Roy died in Bristol, England, where this statue of him stands. ... Sri Thakur Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (Bangla: শ্রীরামকৄষ্ঞ পরমহংস) (February 18, 1836 - August 16, 1886) was a Bengali saint. ... Debendranath Tagore (Bangla:দেবেন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর, Debendronath Ţhakur)(May 15, 1817 - January 19, 1905) was a Bengali philosopher from current-day West Bengal, in India. ... Indian postal stamp on Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (Bangla: ঈশ্বর চন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর) (1820-1891) (born Ishwar Chandra Bandopadhyay) was a Bengali polymath. ... Michael Madhusudan Dutt (Datta), (Bangla: মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত) (1824-1873) is a famous 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. ... Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, also known as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee (15 September 1876 - 16 January 1938) was a popular Bengali novelist of early 20th century India. ... Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (b. ... Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (Bangla: শ্রী অরবিন্দ, Sri Ôrobindo Sanskrit: श्री अरविन्द Srī Aravinda) (August 15, 1872–December 5, 1950) was an Indian nationalist, scholar, poet, Hindu mystic, evolutionary philosopher, yogi and guru. ... Swami Vivekananda, whose pre-monastic name was Narendranath Dutta (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902) is considered one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of the Vedanta philosophy. ... Rabindranath Tagore in Kolkata, c. ... Nazrul playing a flute, Chittagong, 1926 Kazi Nazrul Islam (Bangla: কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম) (b. ...

External links

• Banglapedia
• Vidyakalpadruma

References

• Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj in Bengali by Sivanath Sastri
• Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan (Biographical dictionary) in Bengali edited by Subodh Chandra Sengupta and Anjali Bose
• Tattwabodhini Patrika and the Bengal Renaissance by Amiya Kumar Sen