Indian scholar and leader of the Calcutta conservative Hindu society
Raja Sir Radhakanta Deb Bahadur KCSI (10 March 1784 – 19 April 1867) was a scholar and a leader of the Calcutta conservative Hindu society, son of Gopimohan Deb of Shovabazar Raj who was the adopted son and heir of Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb of Shovabazar Raj.[1][2]
An accomplished scholar, Radhakanta was proficient in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. He published Shabda Kalpadruma, a Sanskrit language dictionary. Hara Kumar Tagore another contemporary Sanskrit scholar and scion of Tagore family had assisted him in compiling Shabda Kalpadruma.[3] He also wrote articles that were published in Ishwar Chandra Gupta's newspaper Sambad Prabhakar.[4]
Radhakanta Deb always showed a marked interest in promoting education, particularly English education among the Hindus; he also advocated female education.[2] Radhakanta Deb was actively involved in the establishment and activities of the Calcutta School Book Society in 1817 and the Calcutta School Society in 1818.[2] Radhakanta was an active member of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India since its establishment in 1818. He was founder-president British Indian Association in 1851, a position he held till his death.[2] He helped David Hare and funded founding of the Hindu College in Calcutta.[1] He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) on 24 May 1866,[5] and died barely 11 months later.
Despite his contribution to the cause of education, he was a strong upholder of social conservatism. Although sati was not practised in his own family, he came forward to defend the custom when the Government contemplated its abolition. When Lord William Bentinck's government had finally abolished sati by regulation in December 1829, Radhakanta Deb, along with his conservative Hindu friends, was the leader a society called Dharma Sabha (founded by his father Gopi Mohun Deb), protested against this measure by presenting a petition to the Governor-General on behalf of the orthodox section of the Hindu community.
^ abKunal Chakrabarti; Shubhra Chakrabarti (22 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. pp. 154–155. ISBN 978-0-8108-8024-5. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
^ abcdAF Salahuddin Ahmed (2012). "Dev, Radhakanta". In Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal (ed.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
^Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali, p. 611
^Indrajit Chaudhuri (2012). "Sangbad Prabhakar". In Sirajul Islam and Ahmed A. Jamal (ed.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
^"No. 23119". The London Gazette. 25 May 1866. p. 3128.
Raja Sir RadhakantaDeb Bahadur KCSI (10 March 1784 – 19 April 1867) was a scholar and a leader of the Calcutta conservative Hindu society, son of Gopimohan...
Zamindari in 1867 upon the death of his predecessor Sir Raja Bahadur RadhakantaDeb. He died in 1904. Albert M. Hyamson (1951). A Dictionary of Universal...
known scholar in Hindi, Parsi, and English. His son was RadhakantaDeb, whereas Raja Rajkrishna Deb (1782–1823) had eight sons. Shiv Krishna Kali Krishna...
Council despite severe opposition, including a counter petition (by RadhakantaDeb and the Dharma Sabha) which had nearly four times as many signatures...
Dharma Sabha was formed in 1830 in Calcutta by RadhakantaDeb. The organization was established mainly to counter the ongoing social reform movements led...
Association was established on 29 October 1851 in Kolkata, India with RadhakantaDeb as its first President. The first general secretary of the association...
activist and lifelong opponent of Ram Mohan Roy. He publicly opposed (with RadhakantaDeb) Roy's agitation against sati (the practice of forcing Hindu widows...
Bhabani Charan Bandyopadhyay, Dwarkanath Tagore, Prasanna Kumar Tagore, RadhakantaDeb, and Ramkamal Sen. The association campaigned for Permanent Settlement...
individuals in Calcutta such as Rammohan Roy, the conservative Hindu scholar, RadhakantaDeb to the atheist philanthropist, David Hare, and other British officials...
population, one that was expressed by the conservative Bengali reformer RadhakantaDeb as the "duty of the Rulers of Countries to preserve and Customs and...
Roy(2018-2019) Raj Bhattacharya as Dwarkanath Tagore(2018) Sourav Chatterjee as RadhakantaDeb (2018-2019) Sourav Das as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (2018-2020) Kaushik...
Fort William College. However, after 1815, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Raja RadhakantaDeb, and others took up this project. One among these great men was Bhabani...
elder brother Gopimohan and his descendants including his son Raja RadhakantaDeb. The palace at 33 Raja Nabakrishna Street (known as Choto Rajbari) was...
(1820) – One of the khandas of the Chikitsarnab was in the library of RadhakantaDeb. Later on it was reprinted from Battala. Drabyagun (1828) – Drabyagun...
Street. Amongst those in the Deb family, who had streets named after them are: Raja Gopi Mohun Deb, Raja Sir RadhakantaDeb, Raja Rajendra Narain, Raja...
and English. He had compiled critically admired books and assisted RadhakantaDeb (1783–1867) in compiling Sabdakalpadrum. Further, the noted texts -...
Drinkwater Bethune and requested by David Hare, who also sought advice from RadhakantaDeb, to produce the necessary supporting literary evidence from traditional...
came in close contacts with Anandakrishna Basu (a grandson of Raja RadhakantaDeb) and Hara Prasad Shastri, who persuaded him to join The Asiatic Society...
up Hindu College presently Presidency University with Ram Mohan Roy, RadhakantaDeb, David Hare. He became secretary of Council of Education and the first...
and English. He had compiled critically admired books and assisted RadhakantaDeb (1783 – 1867) in compiling Sabdakalpadrum. From an early age, Tagore...
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