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R. G. Bhandarkar

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Sir
Ramakrishna Bhandarkar
KCIE MLC
Member of Bombay Legislative Council
In office
1904 - 1907
GovernorLord Lamington
ConstituencyNominated
Vice Chancellor of Bombay University
In office
1893 - 1894
Preceded byKashinath Trimbak Telang
Succeeded byN. G. Chandavarkar
Personal details
Born
Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar

6 July 1837
Malvan, Sindhudurg British India
Died24 August 1925
(aged 88)
NationalityBritish Indian
ChildrenDevadatta Ramakrishna Bhandarkar (son)
Alma materElphinstone College
University of Bombay (Master's degree)
University of Göttingen (PhD)
OccupationProfessor and social reformer
Known forOriental studies
AwardsKnight Commander of Order of the Indian Empire
Signature

Sir Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar KCIE MLC (6 July 1837 – 24 August 1925) was an Indian scholar, orientalist, and social reformer.

Early life

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Ramakrishna Bhandarkar was born in Malvan in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family.[1] After early schooling in Ratnagiri, he studied at Elphinstone College in Bombay. His wife, Annapoornabai Bhandarkar also supported him strongly for his cause of women's education and emancipation from social evils. Along with Mahadev Govind Ranade, Bhandarkar was among the first graduates in 1862 from Bombay University. He obtained his Master's degree the following year, and was awarded a PhD from University of Göttingen in 1885.[2]

Career

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Ramakrishna Bhandarkar taught at Elphinstone College,(Mumbai) and Deccan College (Pune) during his distinguished teaching career. He was involved in research and writing throughout his life. He retired in 1894 as the Vice Chancellor of Bombay University. He participated in international conferences on Oriental Studies held in London (1874) and Vienna (1886), making invaluable contributions. Historian R. S. Sharma wrote of him: "He reconstructed the political history of the Satavahanas of the Deccan and the history of Vaishnavism and other sects. A great social reformer, through his researches he advocated widow marriages and castigated the evils of the caste system and child marriage."[3]

As an educationist, he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1903 as a non-official member.[4] In 1911 Bhandarkar was awarded by the British colonial government of India the title of Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire.[5]

Social reformer

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In 1853, while a student, Bhandarkar became a member of the Paramhansa Sabha, an association for furthering liberal ideas which was then secret to avoid the wrath of the powerful and orthodox elements of contemporary society.[2] Visits from Keshub Chandra Sen during 1864 had inspired the members of the Sabha.

Prarthana Samaj

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In 1866, some of the members held a meeting at the home of Atmaram Pandurang and publicly pledged to certain reforms, including:[citation needed]

  1. Denunciation of the caste system
  2. encouragement of widow remarriage
  3. encouragement of female education
  4. abolition of child marriage.

The members concluded that religious reforms were required as a basis for social reforms. They held their first prayer meeting on 31 March 1867, which eventually led to the formation of the Prarthana Samaj. Another visit by Keshub Chunder Sen and visits of Protap Chunder Mozoomdar and Navina Chandra Rai, founder of Punjab Brahmo Samaj, boosted their efforts.

Girls' education

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Huzurpaga Campus

In 1885, Bhandarkar along with noted social reformers Vaman Abaji Modak, and Justice Ranade established the Maharashtra Girls Education Society (MGE) .[6] The society is the parent body of the first native run girls' high school in Pune popularly known as Huzurpaga.[7][8] The school curriculum included subjects such as English literature, Arithmetics and Science right from its founding.[9] The establishment of the school and its curriculum were vehemently opposed by Nationalist leader Lokmanya Tilak in his newspapers, the Mahratta and Kesari.[10][11]

Selected works

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  • Bhandarkar, R. G. (1913). Vaiṣṇavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems. Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie und Altertumskunde, 3.6. Strassburg: Trübner.

Legacy

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References

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  1. ^ P. R. Dubhashi (2000). Building up a new university. p. 45. The Saraswat Samaj has been traditionally cosmopolitan. It has produced great people like Ramakrishna Bhandarkar after whom the Bhandarkar Research Institute of Oriental Studies of Poona has been named
  2. ^ a b "Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar - orientalist par excellence". The Times of India. 12 July 2003.
  3. ^ Sharma, R.S. (2009). Rethinking India's Past. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-569787-2.
  4. ^ "India- Governor General Council". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 21 July 1908. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  5. ^ Tikekar, Aroon and Tikekara, Aruna (2006), The Cloister's Pale: A Biography of the University of Mumbai, page 27, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, India
  6. ^ Ghurye, G. S. (1954). Social Change in Maharashtra, II. Sociological Bulletin, page 51.
  7. ^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi, ed. (2002). Education and the disprivileged : nineteenth and twentieth century India (1. publ. ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 239. ISBN 978-8125021926. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Huzurpaga". Huzurpaga.
  9. ^ Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi, ed. (2002). Education and the disprivileged : nineteenth and twentieth century India (1. publ. ed.). Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 240. ISBN 978-8125021926. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  10. ^ Rao, P.V., 2008. Women's Education and the Nationalist Response in Western India: Part II–Higher Education. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 15(1), pp.141-148.
  11. ^ Rao, P.V., 2007. Women's Education and the Nationalist Response in Western India: Part I-Basic Education. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 14(2), p.307.
  12. ^ http://www.bori.ac.in/ Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
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