Further studies of Narendranath

 Narendranath had frdeindship with
Brajemdranath Seal.(Sir Brajendra Nath Seal (Bengali: ব্রজেন্দ্রনাথ শীল) (1864–1938) was a renowned Bengali Indian humanist philosopher. He was one of the greatest original thinkers of the Brahmo Samaj and did work in comparative religion and on the philosophy of science. He systematized the humanism of the Brahmo philosophical thought. In his work, he underscored the tectonic shift in Brahmo theology in the late eighteenth century from liberal theism to secular humanism. Like his better known 

ideological precursor Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar( 26 September 1820 – 29 July 1891) Seal was an educator, a firm believer in the cause of rationalism and scientific inquiry, a polymath in his own right and yet at the same time a preacher of humanism as a religious doctrine (as opposed to organized religion)),  who later became a

 savant of international reputation. Brajendranath was his classmate. They used to meet at a philosophical club and discuss philosophy. In 1883 Narendranath passed his B.A.Examination. Then he took admission in the Law
Department of the Metropolitan Institution (now Vidyasagar
 College ) in 1884 to prepare for the B.L. Examination. He
 completed his law studies in 1886 but did not appear at the
 final examination.
At the time (1886) the necessary fees for the B.L Examination were due to be paid very shortly. At first Narendra thought that the time-limit for this had been  but over but later on, counting the days, he exclaimed, "No,there is  time yet." But that was all; he did not care any further for the law examination.Narendranath had great proficiency in classical music. He inherited this trait from his father who practiced it in his youth. Narendranath learnt music from an Ostad(teacher) named Beni . It was heard from his mother that Kasi Ghosal had also been one of his ostads. It is said that
Kasi Ghosal used to play Pakhwaj etc. at the Adi Brahmo
 Samaj. Pekhwas Narendra learnt to play on the same
instrument and along with it on Banya and Tabla from him.
 Narendranath wrote a book in Bengali on how to play on
 these instruments. It was published by Baishnav chandra
 Basak of Bartola. There is a copy of it in the
Library of Belur Math . It was the fashion in those days of political awakening to practice body-building exercises. Surendranath Banerjea and Anandamohan Basu were thundering from the platform of the Students' Association founded by them that the
 young Bengalees must be physically strong and  aggressive. Being inspired with an awakened zeal in this matter, Narendranath joined Ambu Guha's Gymnasium (Akhara) to practice wrestling (Kusti). He was also proficient in the English system of physical exercises.
Many young men of good families used to throng the  gymnasium of Ambu Guha. The late Swami Brahmananda told  that he also used to  learn how to turn a man on his back. But he gave it up after meeting Ramakrishna.
The latter was a friend of his father. At the same time

 he studied law to prepare himself for the B.L. Examination.
Here an interesting fact is to be mentioned. We have already said that Narendra previously showed his desire to go to England to study law. On this issue, his elder brother, Mahendranath, says that Narendranath had the intention to complete his law studies in England and father concurred with this ambitious proposal. But the latter's sudden demise upset the plan. Again, to give a further lift to
 Narendranath's future career, his father made him enter Free masonry as a member. On being asked by his uncle the reason for this step, Narendranath's father answered that it would help him in his future life. A piece of printed application form of Freemason's Lodge among old household papers was found. (The paper has been sent to Belur Math.)

After the death of Narendranath's father he had to give up the articled clerk ship due to sudden economic stringency.

National Situation in Which Vivekananda was born (contd-3)

In his youth Narendranath came in contact with Keshab Chandra Sen (Keshub Chandra Sen was an Indian Bengali Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought) and Pandit Sivanath Sashtri and became a member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. This was nothing unusual in those days among the youthful intelligentsia of the time.He used to sing in choir of the Brahmo Church.Once Pandit Shivanath Shashtri  told,
" Narendranath wanted to took me to his father Vishwanath to introduce with him."
He was an enthusiastic Brahmo at that time.

During his college life at the General Assembly's Institution, in 1881, Prof W.W. Hastie , the principal, was explainng Wordsworth's reference to trance in his poem The Excursion  , 'such an experience ', he said, ' is the result of purity of mind and concentration on some particular object , and it is rare indeed, particularly in these days. I have seen only one person who has experienced that blessed state of mind, and he is Ramakrishna Paramahangsa of Dakshineshwar. You can understand if you go there and see for yourself'. Narendranath met Ramakrishna, Narendranath's classmate Haramohan narrated the following incident, " One day our European professor was discussing with the students. The students could not understand the state of  trance referred to by Wordsworth. ..."

During the time when Narendranath was visiting Brahmo Samaj, Dr. Ramachandra Datta, a direct  relative of Narendranath's father, had been brought up in their house, and became a physician in Calcutta.When he came to know that Narendranath declined to marry, in order to pursue the path of spiritual enlightenment, he said to him, 'if you have a true desire to realise God , then come to the master at Dakshineshwar instead of visiting the Brahmo Samaj and other places.  Once asked him to see Ramakrishna Paramhangsa some biographers of Narendranath said that once at the house of Suresh Chandra Mitra where Ramakrishna was expected, Narendrath was invited there to sing some bhajans. This was the first instance when Narendranath met Ramakrishna.

National Situation in Which Vivekananda was born (contd-2)

Narendranath was born when Hindu Society was on the way to regain its dynamism. Narendranath's immediate family members was also victims of oppression from higher caste. Kalinath Ghosh was a man related to him from his maternal side. He became a Christian at the age of fourteen and since then was never heard of.The only child of Ramtanu Basu's widowed third daughter, Tarini Kumar Mitra, was another relative converted to Christianity by Rev. K.M.Banerjee at the age of fourteen. And terribly became the condition of his mother who was thenceforth forced to lead a life full of sadness loneliness and pathos. This Tarini Kumar Mitra and his son had to keep their distance from the Hindu society all along.
The late Gobinda Chandra Datta of the  Rambagan Datta family got a highly remunerative post at Bombay. he had to join this post by making a sea voyage round the Cape of Comorin. as there was no rail road joining Calcutta to Bombay at that time. After his return he was socially ostracized for crossing the black waters. Instead of submitting to the dictates of the society he adopted a defiant attitude and became a Christian. Gobinda Chandra later on went to England with his family. Three years later Gobinda Chandra returned home. His wife, Srimati Kshetrniani Devi, was also related to Narendranath and his elder sister Swarnamayee, used to narrate how one of their aunts whose elder sister Kshetramani was once took her along with her own daughter to visit this lady. At the time of the said visit Kshatramani was taking her meal. Swarnamayee told them that she had often taken meal from her plate but this time when she took meal from her plate she was astonishingly came to know that they do not belong to their Hindu Society.
The mentality of the orthodox Hindus of the period is well reflected by the two dramas of Madhusudan Datta in his books, 1. Buro saliker Ghare Ron , and 2. Elai ki Bale sabhyata .
Narendranath had the advantage of being born in a family which had been visited by notables like Maharshi Debendranath etc.
The great poet Ishwar Chanda Gupta used to visit their house very often.Their grandfather's cousin Gopal Chandra was a prominent member of the Bethune society and one-time disciple of Maharshi Debendranath. His uncle Taraknath was a member of the Brahmo Samaj and along with Umanath Gupta became its joint secretary. But he staged a walkout with Keshab Chandra Sen.He was also a member of Brahmabodhini Sabha, a society for the advancement of women.  

National Situation in Which Vivekenanda was born and Brought up (contd - 1)

These reformers included sections of many leading Kshatriya family. For their pains they were rewarded with banishment from Society. Many among them were thrown into the fold of the Brahmo Samaj of Maharshi Debendranath Tagore. Formerly the educated young men of the middle class were its ardent followers. But as the Brahmo Samaj was open to all , those who faced social ostracism on different pretexts now came in flocks to join it.
At this time Maharshi Debendranath started a Brahmo school for the young boys and girls at Simulia in order to counteract the missionary influence.The school used to hold its classes in the capacious Puja Dalan of Datta family. Also a life-like oil-painting of the Maharshi used to adorn the school wall. But the young cousin of Kaliprasad, Gopal Chandra Datta, became temporarily insane and returned the picture back to Tagores. The neighbours had threatened Kaliprasad with ostracism from society for harbouring a Pirali Brahman in his house.
Now the Arab migration being checked in the West, began to flow in the East.The Arabs began to plunder Indian Ships manned by the Hindus. This probably led to the then interdiction against the sea-voyage and a term "Kalapani " came to be prominent prohibiting Hindus to cross Sea.But Rammoham Roy broke the ban and led the way.Others began to follow in his footsteps.But those who came from their sojourn in foreign countries used to be ostracised. At last a religious sanction was procured to the effect that it was not a sin to go to a foreign country for education.
This was the situation when Narendranath was born in a liberal burgeois family.  
The society in which he was born has gone through a storm and stress of agitations right from the start of religious reform movements down to the revolutionary upsurge of later days.

National Situation in which Vivekananda was born and brought up

[ Rammohan Roy (1772-1833) ]
Swami Vivekananda was born and was being brought up at the time when several great men of Bengal had already left their footsteps in the cultural and educational field of Bengal in the new era of European enlightenment caused by 1.French Revolution (1789-1799)
2. Industrial Revolution (1750 - 1850)

3. Rise of Working Class Movement ( Communist Manifesto 1848) 

[ Derozio 1809 - 1831]

[ Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar 1820 - 1891]
[Ramakrishna Paramhangsa 1836-1886]

[ Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay 1838 - 1894]

The great German Philosopher Kant said, " If you want to understand a man, then you must understand his environment". Hence we must take account of the social and cultural environment in which Narendranath Datta , latter known as Swami Vivekananda was bornand grew up to a man hood.

Educational life of swami Vivekananda

The name of Swami Vivekananda was Narendranath Datta, shortly Naren, pet name being Bille. He came to be known as Swami Vivekananda only when he became a sanyasi or monk. When he was a child he had great respect for sanyasi or ascetics. He would give away of anythimg to anybody if asked for. On his birth day he would put on new clothes. if a beggar asked for alms he would give away the new clothes. from that day his mother would lock him up in a room whenever a beggar passed by his house.But every one new Narendra's nature very well and they used to remain standing by his window. Narendra would throw to them anything he had in the room.This spirit of sacrifice and renunciation was already blossoming in him. In her leisure time his mother would tell him the story of the Ramayana. At night he could not sleep unless she told him a story. Narendra's father was a renowned lawyer and every day his house used to be crowded with his clients belonging to different cases. The house was like an inn.The Clients had breakfast and lunch there. There was a custom to provide hukka to the guests at that time.

with different pipes for different castes.Narendra wondered and tried one day to smoke with pipes and saw in his astonishment that nothing had happened. He concluded that that caste had no meaning.

At the age of six he was sent to a primary school..One day, however, he repeated at home some of the vulgar words that he had learnt from his classmates, whereupon his disgusted parents took him out of the school and appointed a private tutor, who conducted classes for him and some other children of the neighbourhood in the worship hall of the house. Naren soon showed a precocious mind and developed a keen memory. Very easily he learnt by heart the whole of a Sanskrit grammar and long passages from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Some of the friendships he made at this age lasted his whole lifetime. At school he was the undisputed leader. When playing his favourite game of 'King and the Court,' he would assume the role of the monarch and assign to his friends the parts of the ministers, commander-in-chief, and other state officials. He was marked from birth to be a leader of men, as his name Narendra (lord of men) signified   

One day, when he was fighting with his play-fellows, Narendra accidentally fell from the porch and struck his forehead against a stone. The wound bled profusely and left a permanent scar over his right eye. Years later, when Ramakrishna heard of this accident, he remarked: 'In a way it was a good thing. If he had not thus lost some of his blood, he would have created havoc in the world with his excessive energy.
In 1871, at the age of eight, Narendra entered Metropolitan school in Calcutta. His exceptional intelligence was soon recognized by his teachers and classmates. Though at first reluctant to study English because of its foreign origin, he soon took it up with avidity. But the curriculum consumed very little of his time. He used most of his inexhaustible energy in outside activities. Games of various kinds, many of which he invented or improvised kept him occupied. He made an imitation gas-works and a factory for aerating water, these two novelties having just been introduced in Calcutta. He organized an amateur theatrical company and a gymnasium, and took lessons in fencing, wrestling, rowing, and other manly sports. He also tried his hand at the art of cooking. Intensely restless, he would soon tire of one pastime and seek a new one. With his friends he visited the museum and the zoological garden. He arbitrated the disputes of his play-fellows and was a favourite with the people of the neighbourhood. Everybody admired his courage, straight-forwardness, and simplicity.

At the age of fifteen he experienced his first spiritual ecstasy. The family was journeying to Raipur in the Central Provinces, and part of the trip had to be made in a bullock cart. On that particular day the air was crisp and clear; the trees and creepers were covered with green leaves and many-coloured blossoms; birds of brilliant plumage warbled in the woods. The cart was moving along a narrow pass where the lofty peaks rising on the two sides almost touched each other. Narendra's eyes spied a large bee-hive in the cleft of a giant cliff, and suddenly his mind was filled with awe and reverence for the Divine Providence. He lost outer consciousness and lay thus in the cart for a long time. Even after returning to the sense-perceived world he radiated joy.

Another interesting mental phenomenon may be mentioned here; for it was one often experienced by Narendranath. From boyhood, on first beholding certain people or places, he would feel that he had known them before; but how long before he could never remember. One day he and some of his companions were in a room in a friend's house, where they were discussing various topics. Something was mentioned, and Narendra felt at once that he had on a previous occasion talked about the same subject with the selfsame friends in that very house. He even correctly described every nook and corner of the building, which he had not seen before. He tried at first to explain this singular phenomenon by the doctrine of reincarnation, thinking that perhaps he had lived in that house in a previous life. But he dismissed the idea as improbable. Later he concluded that before his birth he must have had previsions of the people, places, and events that he was to experience in his present incarnation; that was why, he thought, he could recognize them as soon as they presented themselves to him.  When he was in his 8th standard he had to leave Calcutta with his parents to Raipur in Madhyapradesh now Chattishgarh.

At Raipur Narendra was encouraged by his father to meet notable scholars and discuss with them various intellectual topics usually considered too abstruse for boys of his age. On such occasions he exhibited great mental power. From his father, Narendra had learnt the art of grasping the essentials of things, seeing truth from the widest and most comprehensive standpoints, and holding to the real issue under discussion.

 College and Brahmo Samaj

In 1879 after his family moved back to Calcutta, Narendra passed the entrance examination from the Presidency College, Calcutta, in first division. But unfortunately he fell ill suffering from malaria. Losing a year he was admitted in Scottish Church College in Calcutta and passed F.A. examination He subsequently studied western logic, western philosophy and history of European nations in the General Assembly's Institution (now known as the Scottish Church College). In 1881 he passed the Fine Arts examination and in 1884 he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Narendra studied the works of David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Baruch Spinoza, Georg W. F. Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, John Stuart Mill, and Charles Darwin. Narendra became fascinated with the evolutionism of Herbert Spencer and had correspondence with him; he translated Spencer's book Education (1861) into Bengali. Alongside his study of Western philosophers, he was thoroughly acquainted with Indian Sanskrit scriptures and many Bengali works According to his professors, Narendra was a student prodigy. Dr. William Hastie, principal of General Assembly's Institution, wrote, "Narendra is really a genius. I have travelled far and wide but I have never come across a lad of his talents and possibilities, even in German universities, among philosophical students. He was regarded as a srutidhara—a man with prodigious memory.

Narendra became the member of a Freemason's lodge and of a breakaway faction of the Brahmo Samaj led by Keshub Chandra Sen. His initial beliefs were shaped by Brahmo concepts, which included belief in a formless God and deprecation of the worship of idols Not satisfied with his knowledge of philosophy, he wondered if God and religion could be made a part of one's growing experiences and deeply internalised. Narendra went about asking prominent residents of contemporary Calcutta whether they had come "face to face with God" but could not get answers which satisfied him.His first introduction to the saint Ramakrishna occurred in a literature class in General Assembly's Institution, when he heard Hastie lecturing on William Wordsworth's poem The Excursion.aining the word "trance" in the poem, Hastie suggested his students to visit Ramakrishna of Dakshineswar to know the real meaning of trance. This prompted some of his students, including Narendra, to visit Ramakrishna.

National and International Situation in which Swami Vivekananda was born

Swami Vivekananda was born in the era of freedom movement of India and internationally at the age of Imperialism and monopoly capitalism. Since  in the age of imperialism the Eurpeans were the main powers, the  whites took the  supremacy of the world, the British beeing greatest power.

Swami Vivekananda, the geat soul loved and revered by East and West alike as the rejuvenator of Hinduism  in India and the preacher of its eternal truths abroad, was born at 6.33 am ,  on Monday, January 12, 1863, at 3, Gour Mohan Mukherjee Lane, Calcutta.
( pic at the top). But he spent most of his time studying in an attic in his maternal grand mother's house at 9 Ramtanu Bose Lane (pic-bottom).

In his boyhood Narendra used to tell his friends, " I must become a sanyasi, a palmist predicted it ," and he would show them a certain straight line on the palm of his hand. 

Dr.Bhupendranath Datta (contd-2)

Mahendranath,(left) and Bhpendranath (right), two younger brothers of Vivekananda

Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British rulers was not organized before the beginning of the 20th century. The revolutionary philosophies and movement made its presence felt during the 1905 Partition of Bengal. Arguably, the initial steps to organize the revolutionaries were taken by Aurobindo Ghosh, his brother Barin Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta, Lal Bal Pal and Subodh Chandra Mullick when they formed the Jugantar party in April 1906. Jugantar was created as an inner circle of the Anushilan Samiti, which was already present in Bengal mainly as a fitness club.
He became the secretary of Jugantar and editor of Jugantar Patrika.

V. I.   Lenin

339

To:   BHUPENDRA NATH DATTA

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Written: Written on August 26, 1921
Published: First published in 1952 in the book, Bhupendra Nath Datta, Dialectics of Land-Economics of India, Calcutta. Printed from the text of the book.
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, 1976, Moscow, Volume 45, page 270^b.
Translated: Yuri Sdobnikov
Transcription\Markup: R. Cymbala
Public Domain: Lenin Internet Archive You may freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit “Marxists Internet Archive” as your source.
Other Formats:   Text • README

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Dear Comrade Datta,I have read your thesis. We should not discuss about the social classes. I think we should abide by my thesis on colonial question. Gather statistical facts about, Peasant leagues if they exist in India.Yours...
V. Ulyanov (Lenin)

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Notes

 Written by Lenin in reply to the thesis on the national liberation movement in India sent to him by the progressive Indian political leader Bhupendra Nath Datta, who later wrote that Lenin’s letter “came as a revelation to the writer. That the ‘peasant movement’ is of importance for the movement for national freedom has never struck a national-revolutionary. Sentimentalism is the backbone of nationalism. The middle class considers itself to be the representative of the nation and sees every movement in that perspective. Hence, the instruction of Lenin not to discuss the social classes but to get interested in peasant movement set the writer athinking. It changed his Anschauung regarding the means and methods of Indian fight for freedom” (Bhupendranath Datta, Dialectics of Land-Economics of India, Calcutta, p. III).

In his letter to Datta, Lenin mentioned his theses on the national and colonial questions for the Second Congress of the Communist International (see present edition, Vol. 31, pp. 144–51).
Bhupendranath Dutta is the pioneer in spreading the ideals of Marx and Lenin in India, though he was not a member of the Communist Party. He started his carer as a ‘nationalist revolutionery’ Bhupendranath Dutta. He was imprisoned for being the editor of the agazine,’Jugantar’. After his release he secretly went to the USA, and in the beginning of the First World War, an organization, known as ‘Berlin Committee’ came up with the Indian students and youth living in abroad, whose aim was to free India from British rulers. Bhupendranath joined them, and later became the secretary of the organization. On his return to India in 1925 he established a number of organizations for the workers and peasants of the country. Bhupendranath Dutta, brother of Swami Vivekananda, took to writing to spraed his socialistic ideals. His wrote both in Bengali and English languages. He has been published in several magazines in India and abroad

Dr. Bhupendranath Datta (contd-1)

Dr. Bhupendranath Datta (Bengali: ভূপেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত) (1880–1961) was a famous Indian revolutionary and later a noted Sociologist. In his youth, he was closely associated with the Jugantar movement, serving as the editor of Jugantar Patrika till his arrest and imprisonment in 1907. In his later revolutionary career, he was privy to the Indo-German Conspiracy. His elder brother was Swami Vivekananda. The Asiatic Society today holds the Dr. Bhupendranath Datta memorial lecture in his honour. Political activities began taking an organised form in Bengal at the beginning of the 20th century. By 1902, Calcutta had three societies working under the umbrella of Anushilan Samity, a society earlier founded by a Calcutta barrister by the name of Pramatha Mitra. These included Mitra's own group, another led by a Bengalee lady by the name of Sarala Devi, and a third one led by Aurobindo Ghosh- one of the strongest proponents of militant nationalism of the time. The Anushilan Samiti had Sri Aurobindo and Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das as the vice-presidents, Suren Tagore the treasurer. Jatindra Nath Banerjee (Niralamba Swami), Jatindra Nath Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin), Bhupendra Nath Datta (Swami Vivekananda's brother), Barindra Ghosh younger brother of Aurobindo Ghose, were among other initial leaders. By 1906, the works of Aurobindo and his brother Barindra Ghosh allowed Anushilan Samity to spread through Bengal. The controversial 1905 partition of Bengal had a widespread political impact: it stimulated radical nationalist sentiments in the Bhadralok community in Bengal, and helped Anushilan acquire a support base amongst of educated, politically conscious and disaffected young in local youth societies of Bengal. The Dhaka branch of the Anushilan Samiti was formed by Pulin Behari Das, who was once a teacher in the Dhaka Government College and, later, a founding headmaster of 'National School' (Dhaka), along with his followers, in 1906. He, like Barindra Ghosh, believed in a highly centralised one-leader organisation. Under their leadership, respectively in Dhaka and elsewhere, in a spirit of a boastful showdown, Anushilan Samiti slowly adopted untimely terrorism programmes during the first decade of 20th century, with 1905 Partition of Bengal acting as a major catalyst. The Dhaka branch of Anushilan was led by Pulin Behari Das and spread branches through East Bengal and Assam. Aurobindo and Bipin Chandra Pal, a Bengali politician, began in 1907 the radical Bengali nationalist publication of Jugantar (Lit:Change), and its English counterpart Bande Mataram. Among the early recruits who emerged noted leaders where Rash Behari Bose, Jatindranath Mukherjee, and Jadugopal Mukherjee

Dr. Bhupendranath Datta, brother of Swami Vivekananda

( from internet)

Bhupendranath Datta and His Study of Indian Society

Amal Chattopadhyay, K.P. Bagchi, 1994, ix, 221 p, ISBN : 8170741475, Rs. 0.00    (Free shipping within India only. No extras for postage and handling. )

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Shaping of Bhupendranath’s frame of mind. 3. Why he studied Indian society? 4. How Bhupendranath studied Indian society: his method of historical analysis. 5. Contemporary intellectual tradition. 6. Feudalism. 7. Evaluation. Appendices. Bibliography. Index.

"The central aim of this study is to highlight the beginning of Indian social thinking in a systematic way and the role played by Bhupendranath Datta in the birth of Indian Sociology. In his early youth Bhupendranath Datta engaged himself in revolutionary activities aimed at the over-throw of foreign rule. During his sojourn in America and Europe he came in contact with the emigree Indian Revolutionary leaders and American and German working class leaders and working movements. He was also exposed to liberal and radical European intellectual traditions. In his latter life he organized the movement of peasants, workers, students and youths of Bengal. He also tried to give a theoretical foundation to the development of mass movement through his study of Indian society and culture from the standpoint of dialectical and historical materialism. In this book the Author has tried to provide a critical account of the philosophical foundation of Bhupendranath Datta’s Social Theory, the problem he faced in liberating contemporary intellectual traditions which distorted the image of Indian society and culture and also his attempt to provide a method and a perspective for the study of Indian society and culture. The Author has tried to give a critical account of the major areas of Dr. Datta’s sociological investigation including his limitation and also the continuing relevance of Bhupendranath Datta’s intellectual project for the study of Indian society and culture."

Rise of Kshatriyas and Baishyas of Bengal

The Bengali bourgeoisie , a new class, came into being under the aegis of the English East India Company.During the early days of the company's rule the Bengalee merchant classes amassed money through transactions with it. This borne out by the popular reference to one "Gouri Sen", Dattas of north Calcutta, Boses of South Calcutta,  whose fabulous riches are still talked of . These businessmen formed the monied class  of Calcutta and Bengal.

But the Kshatriyas flourished in another way.They, like their ancestors of yore, being the intellingtsia of the Hindu community, deemed it fit to serve under the East India company. A few of them rose to eminence though  through the Company's service or through ancillary institutions establishd by the same.
The distance of time between the Mughal conquest of India and East India Company's rule in our country is fairly great. The Kshatriyas and Baishyas of Bengal had fought along with the Pathans against the Mughals and on being defeated, had lost their formal proud position as land lords of the country. The Mughals under Mansingh sought to bring about a rupture in the Hindu society and set the Rahri-Brahmins against the Kshatriyas. Thus a class struggle ensued in which the Kshatriyas and Baishyas went down. The consequence was that no big Kshatriyas Zamindar was any longer to be found in the whole Bengal during the Mughal period excepting only the Dinajpur Raj Estate, included at that time in the kingdom of Cooch Behar, was saved. But with the establishment of the English rule, the Kshatriyas and Baishyas of the surrounding areas of Bengal   adjusted themselves to it. And those who built connections with the ruling English power propered. Thus the Kshatriyas in Calcutta who mostly belonged to the Dakshin-Rahri sect became increasingly important. Later on, with the spread of English education they took to English learning. They had learnt Persian in the past now they became proficient in English in the new circumstances.. As a result a liberal group arose in the midst of the Bengal bourgeoisie. This group became attracted to the religious and social reforms of the time initiated by Rammohan Roy and his followers . Rammohan had Kshatrya and Baishya associates from the very beginning.. The Tattobodhini Sabha and the Brahmo Samaj had Kshatriyas in the leading positions. . Indeed Kshatriyas contributed largely under the influence of the strong propaganda launched by the Christian missionaries to the reform movements of the day. Their lot was social ostracism. Meanwhile, under the directive of Rev. Grant Duff an attempt was being made to create an ethnic change in them which wotrked well for a long time. 
As a dialectical contradiction there arose the Brahmo reform movement from within the Hindu society serving as a bulwark against the Christian onslaught. It may, however, be argued that the movement was mainly on the intellectual level. The late Dr. Sundarimohan Das, a leading light of this movement the early years  of the Brahmo Samaj had been spent in, fighting Christian propaganda and hence it had hardly  any time to go to the masses.The conservative Hindu society, however, locked ashance at these religious reformers. It was the liberal burgeois young men who came forward to become religious reformers.