Journal of Bengali Studies Vol.2 No.2

ISSN 2277-9426

Journal of Bengali StudiesVol. 2, No. 2

Science and Technology in History: Modern Bengali Perspectives

Kojagori Lokkhipurnima, 31 Aashshin 1420 Autumn Issue, 18 October 2013

ISSN: 2277-9426

Journal of Bengali Studies

Vol. 2, No. 2

18 October 2013

Kojagori Lokkhipujo, 31 Aashshin 1420

Autumn Issue

Science and Technology in History:Modern Bengali Perspectives

Issue Editor: Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta Asst. Issue Editor: Joydeep Bhattacharya

Editor: Tamal Dasgupta Asst. Editor: Sourav Gupta

The commentary's, articles', reviews' and workshop's copyrights©individual contributors, while the Journal of Bengali Studies holds the publishing right for re-publishing the contents of the journal in future in any format, as per our terms and conditions and submission guidelines. Editorial©Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta. Cover design by Tamal Dasgupta. Further, Journal of Bengali Studies is an open access, free for all e-journal and we promise to go by an Open Access Policy for readers, students, researchers and organizations as long as it remains for non-commercial purpose. However, any act of reproduction or redistribution of this journal, or any part thereof, for commercial purpose and/or paid subscription must accompany prior written permission from the Editor, Journal of Bengali Studies. For any queries, please contact: [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]

Contents

Editorial 5

Articles

The Deprived Technologist: Hiralal Sen and BioscopeSourav Gupta 8

Mahendralal Sarkar and His Indian Association for Cultivation of ScienceSoumen Ghosh 17

Conveyance in Bengal Waterfront and Its Technological ExcellenceSwarup Bhattacharya 31

Reviews

A Nationalist Approach towards Science and Technology: A Review of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy's Collected Essays (in Bengali)Tamal Dasgupta 47

A Review of Kadambini Ganguly: The Archetypal Woman Of Nineteenth Century Bengal by Mousumi BandyopadhyayMousumi Biswas Dasgupta 55

Workshop

Field Notes: The History of Modern Pharmaceutical Technology in BengalTanushree Singha 61

Commentary

The Lady Doctors: Bengali Women in Medical Science in the Modern PeriodNachiketa Bandyopadhyay 67

Disclaimer:

The contents, views and opinions occurring in the contributions are solely the responsibilities of the respective contributors and the editorial board of Journal of Bengali Studies does not have any responsibility in this regard.

The image/s appearing in the Journal are parts of a critical project, not for any commercial use. Image/s are either provided by the authors/designers from their personal collections and /or are copyright free to the best of knowledge & belief of the editorial board.

Editorial

As a Bengali nationalistic endeavour, Journal of Bengali Studies (JBS) remains committed to the study

and analysis of Bengali culture and continues to nurture that project in this current issue (Vol. 2, No. 2),

the topic of which is “Science and technology in History: Modern Bengali Perspectives”. That any

form of cultural studies must extend itself and lend its methods to the study of the history and

development of science and technology within its focussed area (which in our case is the Indic Bengali

people, as we have asserted in our very inaugural issue) is an established proposition. Terry Eagleton,

for example, in his book Scholars and Rebels in Nineteenth Century Ireland discusses the

developments in science and technology in Ireland at length in connection with the evolution of the

Irish nationalist movement and freedom struggle.

It is a standard approach of any nationalism to disallow a fragmentation of the communal,

collective sphere into various isolated, reified, specialised and compartmentalised domains of activity,

where science and arts are divorced, while knowledge and pleasure become firmly dissociated from

each other. Nationalism fights that fragmentation, and organically conjoins science/technology with

arts. European liberal modernity, also known as Enlightenment, was a pivotal process in securing that

fragmentation where the common, communal sphere of collective life got diffused into various isolated

(and often antagonistic) territories with no mutual exchange; it roughly mirrors the process where the

community (gemeinschaft) gets converted to society (gesellschaft) and individualism emerges as a

political force to dissipate the organic, catholic unity of human beings, replacing a concrete community

of blood, common history, customs and heritage with ideas of social contract. European nationalism,

therefore, attempts to challenge those paradigms of fragmentation imposed by Enlightenment, and can

be called post-enlightenment movement in this regard. But one may claim that it may not be the case of

the Bengalis or Indians. Let us examine the indigenous claim.

6|Journal of Bengali Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2

What is more pertinent in our endeavour is to rediscover the glorious civilisational heritage of

science and technology in our land, where, in spite of the ancient enlightenment, no such dissociation

and fragmentation happened, and there was a seamless co-existence of humanities and

science/technology. It was well nigh impossible to ensure where philosophy ended and physics began

in the case of ancient Indian sage Kanad (who discovered atomic theory). The eastern Indian

civilisation, the great universities (including Nalanda) which existed here always ensured that the

highest degree of scientific and technological innovation was seamlessly joined with philosophy, ethics,

and dharma. The magnum opus of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy, A History of Hindu Chemistry (in

two volumes) records that glaring testimony to that civilisational heritage of synthesis between science

and arts.

A Bengali nationalist cultural study therefore is under this imperative to do justice to the

flourish of science and technology in our midst since recorded time. We need the history of our science

and technology, and a classic example would be Satish Chandra Mitra's Jessore Khular Itihash

(History of Jessore and Khulna), a vintage text that is reprinted in recent times by Dey's Publishing,

Kolkata, which not just discusses the political, economical, social, cultural, religious and geographical

history of the districts of Jessore and Khulna of south Bengal (now in Bangladesh), but it draws our

attention to the history of the flourish of science and technology in this region as well. Mitra's scholarly

discussion of Bengali architecture (which has gifted the world the concept of Bungalow) is a case in

point. Mitra adequately discusses the history of the technologies of irrigation and navigation in this part

of Bengal as well.

The original idea of this issue was to map the historical development of science and technology

in our part of the globe since antiquity: we planned to cover the flourish of the eastern Indic civilisation

since the legendary emergence of ancient Magadha, since the times described in our epics. Sadly, the


resources which are required to excavate this history were not readily available, while very little

secondary literature is easily accessible; such researches call for a sustained institutional funding

instead of a plain call for papers. Furthermore, owing to a number of unavoidable problems, the

publicity of the call for papers could not be done in the manner of our previous issues. As a result, we

are compelled to limit this issue to the “Modern Bengali Perspectives”, since the articles and reviews at

our disposal could not at all do justice to the ancient and medieval periods, apart from the one on

ancient navigational technology of Bengal by Swarup Bhattacharya. The contributors to this issue

engage with the modern period in unison. But we pledge to return to this topic in future; we shall finish

this task to map the history of science and technology in Bengal/eastern India since antiquity in a later

issue of JBS.

The editorial board (and the contributors) can be reached at [email protected] and

[email protected]. Readers of JBS can find updates and call for papers for the forthcoming

issues, and post comments and responses at http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/ .

http://bengalistudies.blogspot.in/

The Deprived Technologist: Hiralal Sen and Bioscope

Sourav Gupta

Introduction

Internationally acclaimed Indian Film maker Ritwik Ghatak had once remarked that he left

the theatre stage as he found cinema and he would leave cinema, if he found a more

advanced medium. What Ghatak actually wanted to signify was that cinema was

technologically advanced than the stage and provided him with more freedom to express his

ideas. Indeed, not only Ghatak, people before and after him, both creative and scientific have

thought like him and fallen in love with this great medium of expression known as ‘Cinema'

and over the years it has adapted beautifully with advancement of technology which has

kept its popularity chart upwards. Today, Cinema is arguably the most powerful and


influential media with astonishing numbers of audience worldwide. It has transcended geographical

and language boundaries to evolve as a ‘universal' phenomenon. It is therefore worthwhile to look

back at those people and their contributions which have made cinema what it is. Specially those

contributors who have remained behind recognition. The present paper focuses on the contribution of

Hiralal Sen, who pioneered the Indian involvement in cinema but unfortunately did not get due

recognition as his works evaporated in the obscurity of history.

Evolution & Development of Cinema in India

Although Cinema is a direct product of scientific research, there is no denial to the fact that the

scientists involved have blended their imagination with science to create cinema technology. The

medium has evolved over the years with its different parts getting invented in different time periods. It

started with Archemedes who used lenses and mirrors for scientific experiments. While the camera

was visualized as early as 1553 it was the Dutch mathematician & philosopher Peter Van Brook who

conceptualized moving image in 1736. The function of projecting an image was greatly helped by Sir

Devy's "Electric Arclamp" in 1813.

However, the break through to cinema becoming an industry came with the invention of

Kineto-Photograph in 1891 by Thomas Alva Edison and William Kennedy Lauric Dickson. By 1895,

Lumierre Brothers had it improvised into ‘Cinematograph' - a machine which ran without electricity

and was a combination of camera and projector. Cinema shows were on their way.

July, 1896 is considered a watershed in the history of cinema in India as Lumierre Brothers

exhibited their movie at Watson Hotel in Mumbai. It is said that Dadasahed Phalke known as the

"Father of Indian Cinema" drew inspiration from this show and went on to make "Raja Harish

Chandra" in 1913 which is regarded as the first Indian feature film. But the fact remains that in 1885


Mahadeo Gopal Patvardhan had prepared a film shown with the help of ‘Magic Lantern' known as

"Shambarik Kharolike" in Marathi. A.B. Thanawala and Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar are

also known to have filmed movies around 1897 to 1903. (Ghosh; pp 33-34)

The Journey of Hiralal Sen

Around 1897, a British known as Stephens1 ran a business of showing films in Kolkata. He displayed

his shows at Star Theatre in Kolkata and also in villages and suburbs of West Bengal. The content of

his shows comprised clips of various actions like "a running train", "a running house", "a man washing

streets by water pipe" etc. Contemporary to Stephens was Father Lafouis who showed films to his

students at St. Xaviers College through a personal Cinematograph. While Stephen's show was public

in nature, Father Lafouis' was a personal, restricted affair.

Hiralal Sen, born to a rich and famous lawyer at Calcutta High Court, Chandramohan Sen, the

second Bengali Graduate only after Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay2, was brought up in a lavish

upbringing. Right from childhood, he was adept in painting and deeply interested in movements of

light and shadow. He along with his cousin Dinesh Chandra Sen made paper figures and hung them

across a room. In the evening, he flaunted a wet cloth and projected a lantern from behind the figures

onto the cloth. The resultant shadow imagery sowed the seeds of cinema in Hiralal Sen early on in his

life and started his pursuit.

Struggling with his studies Sen arrived in Kolkata in 1887 from his native place Dhaka and got

admitted in Duff College. By that time he was devoted to photography and had set up his dark room at

his roof top room. He got his first breakthrough by winning the first prize in a photography contest

1 The name of Stephen's equipment company "Bioscope" was inscribed on it from where the shows came to be popularly known as Bioscope.2 Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay is one of the pioneer literary doyen of Bengali literature famous for his classic novels like Anandamath, Durgeshnandini, Kapalkundala, Devi Chowdhurani etc.


organized by Bourne & Shepherd. It may be stated here that he was the only Indian contesting.

Inspired, he took it up as a business by establishing H.L. Sen & Brothers and shortly became a

reknowned photographer at per with contemporary British Companies like Bourne & Shephered,

Colonel Water House.

By this time the moving image had already entered India and Hirlal Sen was inclined to it. He

came across an advertisement in a foreign magazine by a Bioscope company at the residence of his

friend, Jogen Ghosh at Grey Street. Immediately, he placed an order and received some catalogues

by post. After studying the catalogues Sen placed an order for a ‘Cinematograph' and accessories at

John Range & Sons at 150 Greysin Road, London. Along with the cinematograph there were

accessories like Oxygen Gas Bag, Ether Saturater etc. He placed another order for a Gorrear Limetime

Light set at Kolkata based John Eliott Company. He had to commit a commission of 2 ½ % and in all

had to incur an expenditure of Rupees Five Thousand. Understanding the technicalities of the

Bioscope and applying it for screening was a big challenge for Sen. In those days, films were shown

with the help of Electric Arc Lamp or Limelight. Sen, therefore, decided to go with the Limelight. It

needed oxygen and an expensive Rubber Bag for holding Oxygen. The Rubber Bag which was

imported got damaged and after ransacking Kolkata, a similar bag was discovered in Newman's shop

but unfortunately this bag too got damaged. Sen came to known about Father Lafouis from Newman's

and resorted to him. Father, not only repaired the bag but also gave valuable advice to the young

rookie. Hiralal also wanted to meet Mr. Stephens, the other expert in this field but he had already left

India. Sen visited Star Theatre from where he came to know that Stephens used six feet by three feet

tank instead of rubber bag which was once repaired by Hem Mistri of Grey Street. Sen traced Hem

and with his help manufactured a similar tank. He was now fully equipped to show films on Bioscope

and started by setting up the ‘Royal Bioscope Company' with his brother Matilal Sen as a partner. It is


believed from circumstances & contemporary statements that Sen started his business of showing

movies from 1898-1899.

In 1898, the company screened films at the bunglow of the SDO3 of Bhola (East Bengal) for

almost a week. Next year, the show took place in Minerva Theatre in Kolkata. In 1900, it filmed at

All India Art Exhibition. In the same year, the company also screened on invitation at Jayadevpur

Palace of Raja Rajendra Narayan Ray, King of Bhawal. It was followed up at the Kolkata palace of

Boneli King Raja Padmananda Singh Bahadur. In 1900, Sen started filming in Classic Theatre which

included Queen Victoria's funeral, crowning of King Edward VIII and War of Buer, In 1901, the

shows took place at Maharaja Jatindranath Tagore's Castle. The Royal Bioscope company started

regular screening at Dalhousie Institute. Between 1898 to 1913, the Royal Bioscope company had

screened at all the theatres in Kolkata and was conducting tours in the villages and suburbs of West

Bengal. It was frequently invited by elites for personal screenings. The company is also credited to

have shot the first advertisement movie for products like Batakrishna Pal Company's "Edward's Anti

Malaria Specific" and C.K. Sen's "Jaba Kusum Taila".(Saha; pp9-10)

Another area where Sen excelled was making News Movies. Freriz company who had

purchased cinematograph rights from the Lumierre Brothers requested Sen to shoot the "Banga Vanga

Andolan"4 in 1905. Sen filmed it and it created a ripple through out the country. From a report in

"Deepali" magazine we get to known that Sen had placed his camera on the right side of Treasury

Bhawan. To make Surendranath Bonerjee's5 Speech audible, Sen improved a novel mechanism. The

speech was recorded in a 'Talking Machine' of H. Bose & Company. He kept it at back stage and

3 A high rank administrative position4 In 1905, the British decided to bifurcate Bengal as they felt that it was the bed of revolt and the national movement will be weakened by the partition. It resulted in a wave of resentment known as the ‘Banga vanga Andolan'5 Freedom fighter from Bengal. Popular Nationalist leader and orator. He was also the President of the Indian National Congress


connected it to the projector with a belt so that both run simultaneously. Although lip synchronization

was not perfect but it gave the audience the feel of a ‘Talkie'6 and became hugely popular. The film

also contained pictures of processions by college students of Kolkata. The film has been critically

acclaimed in the book "Motion Pictures" by American Congress as a News movie. The following year,

i.e. in 1906, Lakmanya Tilak7 visited kolkata and once again Sen shot it on request of "Rasaraj" Amrita

Lal Bose.8

Filming ‘Alibaba': The birth of the first Indian feature film

On 9th February, 1901, the Programme chart of Kolkata Based Classic Theatre read as:

Bioscope : Series of Super Fine Pictures from our World reknowned plays - Bhramar, Alibaba, Hariraj,

Dollila, Buddha, Sitaram, Sarala etc. will be produced to the extreme astonishment of our patrons and

friends. (Saha 4)

Shri Ramapati Dutta, in his book ‘Rangalaye Amarendranath' had described the affinity of

Amarendranath Dutta (producer-director of Classic), towards Bioscope. It was due to

Amarendranath's idea, concept, persuasion and support that Sen filmed and screened one after another

the hit productions of Classic. The most notable among them was ‘Alibaba', a play by Khshirod

Prosad Vidya Vinod,9 which was an extremely popular box office hit production. It was shot part by

part and then in full. It was the first complete full length feature film, a pioneering work by Hiralal

Sen for which he was never acknowledged. It becomes all the more significant as it was done as early

6 In its initial years cinema was silent, with the inclusion of dialogues and sound it came to be known as Talkie.7 Freedom fighter from Maharashtra, belonged to the Extremist section of the Congress. Editor of newspapers ‘Maratha' and ‘Kesari'8 One of the premiere playwrights and actors of Bengali Public stage in the Girishchandra Ghosh era. Bose was famous for his social satires and farces.9 One of the premiere playwrights of Bengali Public stage in the post Girishchandra era. His plays like ‘Alibaba' and ‘Alamgir' were hugely popular


as 1903, the same year when the World's first feature film "The Great Train Robbery" was released

and 10 years before Phalke's "Raja Haris Chandra". Sen and his company took Alibaba to nooks &

corners of Bengal and the dialogues and songs of the production became overnight sensations.

A few questions on the father of Indian Cinema Status

As already discussed, Sen's Alibaba was screened prior to The Great Train Robbery and Raja Haris

Chandra. The notable fact is that The Great Train Robbery is of 8 - 10 minutes duration while

Alibaba's duration is 2 hours. The popular logic cited by many critics is that Alibaba is a screened

version of a play but so is the The Great Train Robbery which is based on Scott Marbel's play. If the

world can recognize The Great Train Robbery to be the first feature film of the world, why can't India

recognize Alibaba as the first Indian feature film? There is no denying the fact that Dada Saheb Phalke

is only second to Hiralal Sen. In 1961, when the Government of Indian was about to celebrate the 50 th

year of Indian Cinema, tracing its origin from Raja Harish Chandra in 1913, the Chief Minister of

West Bengal Prafulla Sen and Publicity Minister Jagannath Kole presented historical evidence in the

Rajya Parishad demanding Hiralal Sen to be declared ‘Father of Indian Cinema', but it was ignored

and the title passed on to Phalke.

Hiralal Sen's works could not be preserved due to couple of reasons. Firstly, his creations were

often captured illegally by people who easily deceived him. Among them are arch business rival J.F.

Madan10, his own brother Matilal Sen & nehphew Kumar Shankar Gupta. He was sued by actress

Kusum Kumari. Secondly, a horrific fire burned Matilal Sen's house on 27 th October 1917 and

destroyed all the films shot by Hiralal which were stored in the godown in that building (Ghosh 68).

10 Owner of Madan Theatres, the first cinema hall in Kolkata. He was a pioneer in commercializing cinema and theatre in the 20th Century. He was of Parsi origin. It is believed that he tied up secretly with Matilal Sen to capture Hiralal Sen's films.


With that, the traces of Hirlal Sen's creative work disappeared making him more obsure and depriving

him from his deserving position of the 'Father of Indian Cinema'.

However, in 1963, the first edition of the book "Bangla Chalachitrer Itihaas' stated 1903 as the

beginning of Indian cinema keeping in mind Sen's Alibaba. The Government of West Bengal has also

on 11th September 1963 recognized Sen as the Pioneer father figure of Indian cinema. The Government

of India has however, not recognized Sen and maintains Phalke's film in 1913 to be the official

beginning of Indian Cinema. 2013, accordingly, is the centenary of Indian Cinema. It is indeed a

historical blunder and a deadly mistake.

Conclusion

Hiralal Sen, not only mastered the science and art of film making himself, but also passed on his

training and know how to many people in order to popularize film making business. Sen donated his

old equipments to help build up the ‘Imperial Bioscope'. His contributions cannot be denied in the

formation of many such companies viz. 'London Bioscope', ‘Electric Theatre', ‘Calcutta Bioscope',

‘Wellington Bioscope', ‘Globe Trotter Bioscope', ‘Arora Bioscope' etc.

The other substantive reason why Sen should be remembered as the Pioneer of Indian Film

making is his mastery over the medium and its different idioms. Before Sen, no one could make News

movies documentaries and Feature films ensuring quality and standard. Prior to Sen, the movies shown

by Lumierre Brother and Stephens comprised mere replications of actions. Sen made a paradigm shift

in terms of content. He was the one who infused content of very Indian nature and elements of

nationalism. As a technician too, Sen was highly proficient specially in camera operation and light

settings. Much before the advent of ‘Talkies' he improvised sound & picture. If not deceived in

business, he might well have gone on to invent further advancements in cinema technology.


Reference

1. Ghosh, Jayanta Kumar - "Bratya Joner Bioscope";Pub: Dey's Publishing,

Kolkata(2008); ISBN 978-81-295-0821-8.

2 Saha, Kamal (ed.) - ‘Tukro Katha' (Adi Bioscope Issue); Pub: Bangla

Natya Kosh Parishad, Kolkata(2013)

Sourav Gupta is Assistant Professor at Centre for Journalism & Mass Communication in Central

University of Orissa, Koraput. He is one of the assistant editors of Journal of Bengali Studies. He has a

long involvement with group theatre movement of Kolkata and has his own theatre group named

Theatre Spandan.

Mahendralal Sarkar and His Indian Association for Cultivation of

Science

Soumen Ghosh

Introduction

Early nineteenth century is renowned as the renaissance era in the history of Bengal due to the rise of

civil society against social imbalances, illiteracy, misconceptions and superstitions, and this social

movement was guided by different intellectuals of Bengal [1]. In India, Bengalis later raised their voice

against British ideology and initially they thought that education must not be confined within the Indian

aesthetical thoughts and the syllabus confined within literature, culture and philosophical books. That

was the political policy of colonial rule in India. Though study on this heritage education was geared up

by the establishment of Asiatic Society in 1784, the introduction of western style of education such as

Science and English literature in 1835 by Lord Bentinck put a firm stroke on this conceptual study.

Some Bengalis such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Akshay Kumar Dutta, Krishnamohan Banerjee,

Darakanath Thakur, Rajendralal Mitra and Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar came to the conclusion, that the

proper introduction of western education was the key to fight against these social imbalances and they


tried to introduce western education in India (specially science), that availed India to stand up to the

ultimate dimension of technological revolution[2]. Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar followed their path and

engaged himself for the development of science in Bengal as well as in India. At that time, British

empire used western science as their weapon of colonial governance and they kept scientific

discussions confined within the British secretariats. Very few Indians were given the opportunity of

western science and the British Government used them for their own governance and for understanding

the resources in India. Dr. Sarkar was the first man who started fighting against that traditional biasness

of the British and he opened the pathway of scientific cultivation. He tried to spread science amongst

all, irrespective of their caste and creed. Besides science, he was a scholar in the fields of literature,

philosophy and psychology [3]. At the same time Dr. Sarkar held the posts of M.D, C.I.E, M.L, fellow

of senate of Calcutta University, sheriff of Calcutta, member of legislative council of Bengal, life

member of Asiatic Society, trustee of Calcutta Museum, editor of CJM, founder of IACS and a member

of several International Homeopathic societies [4].

Childhood and Education of Dr. M. L. Sarkar

Born on 2nd November, 1833 at Paikpara, a remote village situated 20 miles away from Calcutta, this

versatile genius was the eldest son in his family. His father passed away when he was very young and

he spent his childhood at his maternal uncle's house. He received his primary education at Paikpara. He

learned English from Tarak kumar Das [5]. After completing his primary education Dr. Sarkar was

admitted to David Here School. But due to severe illness he was dismissed from School. But

remembering the marks of previous years the head master of David Here School gave him a chance to

continue his education [6]. He received the "Junior Scholarship" and subsequently became very


adorable among his teachers in school days. After school he took admission in Hindu College, Calcutta

for higher studies. Prof. Sutcliffe, Jones and his friends praised him for his genius mind, lovable

attitude, and deep knowledge in geometry, astronomy, philosophy and science [7]. From his very

childhood Dr. Sarkar was attracted towards the mysteries of science and at the time of his higher

studies his attraction towards science grew more and more [8]. But insufficient infrastructural facility

in the library of Hindu College and attraction of corresponding class lectures, forced him to leave the

college. The scientific aptitude in Calcutta Medical College attracted him and he left Hindu College

before completing his graduation[9]. He passed LMS and MD from CMC. He was the second MD of

CMC [10] and was very famous at CMC at the time of his LMS study. Especially Dr. Archer of CMC

loved him very much and they discussed serious matters at Dr. Archer's clinic [11]. Dr. Sarkar thought

that professors' lectures and library books were not sufficient for proper knowledge about a medical

case. So, he studied several medical journals to fulfil his medical knowledge regarding medical

problems. He spent a lot of money to acquire skilful knowledge from different journals and books. He

had even lost a scholarship on "Medical Jurisprudence" on the effect of arsenic on human body,

because he had studied a fact going beyond his usual syllabus [12].

Homeopathy Practice:

After completing his M.D degree Dr. Sarkar became a renowned doctor in allopathy and had a strong

apathy towards Homeopathic medicine at the beginning. He said that Homeopathic doctors are the

worst category doctors; that they are not doctors at all [13]. In nineteenth century, Dr. Sarkar became

the first secretary of the Bengal branch of "British Medical Association" and after three years he was

elected as the president of the same organization. He hated the Homeopathic method of detection and


cure of diseases. But, after reading "Morgan's Philosophy of Homeopathy", he changed his ideas[14].

He became fond of homeopathy [15]. Beyond medical science he spent his whole life making science

popular among the common people and he thought that in turn this can help for the freedom of India

[16].

Establishment of IACS:

Initial attempt to spread the essence of science among the common people was started by Raja

Rammohan Roy but he was little successful in this field [17]. Many socio economic obstacles were

responsible for that, but it was mainly the British Government. But he was hopeful. He offered 1 lakh

rupees in the British Chattered Law to popularise western science among Indians, especially Physical

Science, Mathematics and Astronomy. In 1823 Rammohan Roy despatched a letter to Lord Armhurst

mentioning the importance of science education for common Indians. That was the first approach from

any Indian to ignite India with the wisdom and knowledge of science. At the same time, another

movement was going on for establishing the Sanskrit College, but Rammohan was more interested on

establishing some society for science learning which might in turn popularise western science among

Indians. He thought that the pillars of British colonialism would become weak if Indians become

independent from their grasp of scientific learning. This could posit Indians with the rock solid tools of

technology and equip them with technological applications. For this reason he said that it is more

important to establish open-minded and superstition free western education which could be achieved by

the light of western science only. Unfortunately British Government did not respond to his appeal. In

1835, Lord Mickel approved the learning of Arts education for Indians. Under the recognition and

influence of British empire few educational institutes were established to understand the resources of


India. Scientific institutes like, Asiatic Society (1784), Botanical Garden (1787), Agri-Horticulture

Society (1822) were governed by the Britishers. British Empire established them to understand

important places and importance of different plants and animals of India[18].

Dr. M. L. Sarkar was born in the same year of Rammohan Roy's death. The unfinished work of

Rammohan was broached by Dr. Sarkar. In 1863 he received M.D degree and after that he became an

established Allopath within couple of months. But he did not stick to Allopath for long days. After

reading "Morgan Philosophy" as already mentioned and with the help of Rajendralal Dutta, he found

intense interest in Homeopathy. In a conference in 1867 at the British Medical Association he said,

"there exists some uncertainty and missing things in Allopathic Medical Science [19]." For this type of

lecture he was thrown away from medical society and his friends and colleagues S. K. Gudish, Waller,

Ewert etc. boycotted him from medical institution. A rumour spread that Dr. Sarkar had lost his mind

and had accepted a wrong method of medical treatment i.e. Homeopathy. The number of patients

visiting him started becoming less day by day. Most of his patients requested Dr. Sarkar to treat them in

the same way as he used to do earlier with Allopathy, and not with his new cadaverous medical

knowledge of Homeopathy [20-22]. In Calcutta Journal of Medicine he supported Homeopathy and

wrote "I was sustained by my faith in the ultimate triumph of truth [23]." Besides Homeopathy, he was

very much interested in the methods of work culture adopted by distinguished missionary institutions,

specially the Royal Institution (1799), British Association (1831) and Serampore Christian College

[24]. Reverend John Mac established a science society to attract the people towards western science

education. Not only that John Mac was the first professor who tried to popularise science among

Indians through his lectures in different places of India. Influenced by John Mac, Dr Sarkar wrote an

article entitled "The desirability of a national institution for cultivation of the physical science" in CJM.

In that he wrote "..........the Hindu mind has lost much of its original Aryan vigour and energy and he


has become more of superlative than of a practical character" [25]. In 1869 Dr. Sarkar distributed

leaflets, books and handwritten papers among the people and appealed them to help him to establish

national science associations. In 1870 he appealed to everyone to give shape to his dreams in ‘Hindu

Patriot'. ‘Hindu Patriot' supported his view and wrote, "We would strongly recommend to our

millionaires and educated countrymen ... of course the project is ambitious, but it should be

remembered that Rome was not built in a day [26]." Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay in "Bangadarshan

Patrika" supported the proposal given by Dr. Sarkar regarding scientific education. He said, "the kind

of knowledge which is best calculated to remove prejudice and spirit of intolerance from the mind is

what passes by the name of Physical Science. And the reason for this lies in the fact that in the pursuit

of these studies there is little room for dogmatism. We are certainly at liberty to advance options and

hypothesis...but we have no right to urge them as facts until they have seen verified ." At last, in 1876

Dr. Sarkar established his dream, "Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science" by central help

and contribution by distinguished personalities and from the very next day it was used for study of

applied science rather than general science. Beyond all sorts of difficulties and problems which arise

initially, IACS stands till date for its quality research and it developed day by day and according to Dr.

Sarkar it would benefit the next generation and can also solve economic problems.

In one of his articles he expressed his view that the IACS must be free from British and should

be completely controlled by the Indians. The IACS was built with the contributions of many renowned

personalities, first contribution of Rs 1000/- came from babu Jaikrishna Mukhopahyay. Next king

Kamalkrishna Bahadur contributed Rs 2000/-. Dr. Sarkar had opened an account for receiving the

contributions. Successively, King Damodar Mitra, Jogeshwar Ghosh, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, King

Jatindramohan Thakur, Dwarakanath Mitra, Kumar Girish Chandra Singh, Rameshchandra Mitra,

Anukulchandra Mukherjee, gave their contributions in that account [4]. After five years Lord Temple


came as Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. He was fond of science. Dr. Sarkar met him with his proposal

of IACS and requested Temple to cooperate with him in establishing his dreams.

Dr. Sarkar called for a meeting with forty contributors of the IACS at the Senate Hall of

Calcutta University to discuss the ideas for the formation of various activities of the IACS. In that

meeting Dr Sarkar said that study of applied science will help Indian people to save their country,

remove the prejudice and put Indian science on such a platform which will be free from British

intervention. The study of applied science is basically based on proper understanding of pure science.

So at the same time study of theoretical science was also important. Dr. Sarkar was well aware of that,

so he thought that national science study was possible only when Indians became attracted towards

pure science and applied research. According to him dearth of indigenous teachers in Schools and

Colleges was the main obstacle behind introduction of science in their syllabus. He said "Now the

institution such as I want with your aid to establish, will in time furnish abundance of teachers, and

thus be great help to Government in carrying out its purpose of diffusing a knowledge of the science ...

the sole function of the Association will be pure science learning and science teaching." He said the

British Government spent a lot of Indian money to bring science teachers from abroad. If Indians

became efficient in scientific fields then that money can be saved for the next generation. He said that

the characteristics of his scheme was that they should endeavour to carry out the works with their own

efforts, unaided by the British Government and keep the institution under Indians' own management

and control. The second meeting of the IACS was held after seven months of the first one. The Rector

of St. Xavier's College father Lafont gave a lecture there. After the second meeting, King

Jatindramohan Thakur, Kamalkrishna Bahadur, Ramesh Chandra Mitra, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Dr.

M. L. Sarkar and Abdul Latif were elected as trusties of the IACS. A committee of 25 people under the

leadership of father Lafont was established. Dr. Sarkar was elected as secretary of that committee. On


16th December 1875, the members of that committee met at the library of Sanskrit College to fix up

their activity regarding the IACS. Dr. Sarkar and father Lafont produced the agenda of that meeting.

The aim of his agenda was to enable the native Indians to cultivate all fields of science with a view to

its advancement by original research and with a view of varied application to the arts and to attaining

comfortable life. He proposed to open different branches of science such as 1. General Physics, 2.

Chemistry, 3. Astronomy, 4. Systematic Botany, 5. Systematic Zoology, 6. Physics, 8. Geology. The

teachers associated with the research, were to speak on his particular field of research at different times.

This method encouraged more and more pupil in active research and in general, a pathway of

interaction was built between the teachers and the listeners. And all listeners were not students and

researchers of the IACS. In this way proper scientific knowledge spread over India and it attracted the

people.

To start with all departments, the IACS needed 1 lakh rupees, but unfortunately after their

second meeting, only 80 thousand rupees was collected. An additional 30 thousand was required for

modern instruments, books and the furniture of the newly established society. The third meeting of the

IACS was held at Senate Hall of Calcutta University on 15 th January, 1876. After this meeting Indian

Association for the Cultivation of Science was inaugurated. For a long period of time, the institution

continued its work at a rented house at Boubazar Street. For that the trustees had to give 70,000/-, from

the allotted money and 50,000/- was deposited as caution money to the British Government. Dr. Sarkar

had to pay rent of Rs. 100/- every month for the room in Boubazar for two years. The third meeting for

the IACS was very important for beginning the study of science in India because it was the first

successful establishment by an Indian of an independent science institution, which was free from

British Colonialism. So Bengal shined from that day in the field of science and started walking in the

path of science independently. The third meeting was also enlightened with many distinguished


personalities like H. W. Woodrow (Director of Public Instructor), Sutcliffe (Principal of Presidency

College, Calcutta) and Alexander Pedler (Professor of Chemistry). From the beginning of the

movement, the Indian League was against the IACS. But, Dr. Sarkar successfully established IACS

beyond all sorts of difficulties.

In the second half of nineteenth century, Indian League fought for a technical college in Bengal.

Some of them such as Motilal Ghosh, Shambhunath Mukherjee, Rev. Krishnamohan Banerjee, etc.

strongly appealed for a technical college. According to their version, technical college was an important

need of Bengal because it fulfils the employment problem of people more efficiently and therefore

India needed more and more technicians rather than scientists at this time. They even proposed the

name of the college as "Albert Institute" in honour of the visit of Prince of Britain to India. Babu

Kalimohan Das said that Dr. Sarkar's thought regarding the IACS was nothing but a phoney, and that

the unemployed and poor Indians need to learn technical knowledge so that they can do something of

their own, because scientists can't fulfil that perspective. But Dr. Rajendralal supported Dr. Sarkar's

view, and on the issue of science versus technical education, he said that science had higher and nobler

claims than narrow technical education and that the proposed association would play the same

important part in the intellectual amelioration of the Indians which the medical college had done once

upon a time. After a long debate father Lafont supported Dr. Rajendralal and in turn he supported the

proposal of Dr. Sarkar on the association. At the same time Keshab Chandra Sen, Anandamohan Basu,

Nilmadhab Mukhopadhyay, Rajendra Dutta and Jadunath Mallick congratulated Dr. Sarkar for his

decent and enchanting proposal. But the League members not giving up, proposed the name of the

association as "Albert Science Association". Dr. Sarkar refused it. At last, Sir Richard Temple managed

the situation and he approved the proposal of the IACS. After a long battle, in 1876, the IACS started


its functioning [27]. After four years of its establishment the library of the IACS became unusable. At

that time the king of Vizianagram contribute Rs. 50,000/- to reform its structure [28].

One of the upper class administrators of the IACS felt that the IACS should be extended with

new branches of science and its research should not be confined only to Physics. They were in search

of new land for the IACS. In 1947, the Govt. Of India assured to allocate Rs. 2,66,700/- for the IACS

and the Govt. Of West Bengal assured the IACS for contribution according to 1:6 and 1:2 of central

government's fund. By selling the old building of Boubazar Street, IACS received seven lakh rupees.

They found new land opposite to the National Council of Bengal at Jadavpur. Former Chief Minister of

West Bengal Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy laid the foundation stone of the IACS building. Former Prime

Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent a speech for the IACS where he wrote, "On the occasion of Foundation

Stone of new building for IACS being laid, I send you and your association my good wishes. The

Association has a fine record of past work in the field of scientific research. May it excel this in future."

In 1950, the IACS building started with Assembly Hall, a developed library, workshop and different

research centers. Instruments of Old building were shifted to the new one. Govt. Of India in 1952 had

employed Dr. M. N. Saha, as director of IACS. Physics and Mathematics were the two main pillars of

the newly formed IACS. Rajendralal Chattopadhyay took the responsibility of physics teaching after

father Lafont. He taught general physics, sound and optics, whereas Dr. Sarkar started his talk since

1878 on statics, electricity, heat and sound. Another renowned teacher Sir Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay, an

expert in mathematics, taught in the IACS for a long time. Babu Taraprasanna Roy was the founder

member of the Department of Chemistry of the IACS. After him this department continued its flight

with the help of Ramchandra Dutta, Rajanikanta Sen, and Dr. Chunilal Basu.


The IACS fulfilled the need of many commercial commodities during those days and teachers

taught how to prepare soap, ink, paper, medicine etc. At the same time, the IACS was enlightened with

departments like geology, biology and astrophysics. IACS had two important stages before

independence, the age of Prof. C. V. Raman (1907-1933) and that of Prof. K. Banerjee (1934-1947). C.

V. Raman came to Calcutta as an executive officer of the Finance Department of Government of India.

In 1907 he became the member of IACS and took the permission to use IACS laboratory for his

research. After the death of Dr, Amritalal Sarkar, son of Dr. M. L. Sarkar, C. V. Raman joined IACS as

a non-salary holder secretary. In 1930 he was awarded Nobel Prize for the famous "Raman Effect". He

finished his research mainly at IACS and University College of Science.

Conclusion:

Foundation of IACS was one of the most important events of nineteenth century. Before and after the

birth of IACS many other science institutions were established, but the IACS has touched the sky of

elegance in the field of Science. Dr. M. L. Sarkar established this known fact rigidly. Beyond all sorts

of problems and difficulties he gave India a new insight of thinking. He always thought for his country

and its development. He believed that if India wants to be developed in the field of scientific research

like other developed countries, Indians should not leave their heritage of religion and culture. He was

however not sure about the future development of the IACS. He thought that his attempt may go in

vain in future. Dr. Sarkar always tried to expand the blessings of the knowledge of science among the

common people. His attempts were to bring out science education from British Colonialism and

establish scientific aptitude free from British rule. He tried to popularise science for Indians and

attempted to arrange different workshops and speeches on popular science and tried to ensure that the


essence should reach out to the people of India. The institution of Dr. Sarkar successfully produced a

generation of scientists and at the same time encouraged practical and applied subjects like carpentry,

pottery etc., and according to him physical science embraced a vast or rather illimitable field, and study

of physical science opened out a vista, wider both in terms of space and time. It was the first attempt by

any Indian to remove the British stain on Indian Science and establish a new dimension of Indian

science. Dr. Sarkar's IACS was acceptable for every dimension of science lovers. He was the first

voyager of popular science in India.

References:

1. A Century (Centenary volume of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science 1876-1976)

Calcutta 1977, pp. 2

2. Arun Kumar Biswas, Science In India, Calcutta 1976, Passim

3. Sarat Chandra Ghosh, Life of Dr. Mahendralal Sircar, Calcutta 1909, Passim

4. A Century (Centenary volume of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science 1876-1996),

Cacutta, 1997, title page

5. Sarat Chandra Ghosh, Op. Cit., p. 2-3

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid. p. 3

8. Chittabrata Palit, Jatio Bigyancharchar Janak Mahedralal Sarkar, p. 5-7.


9. Ibid

10. Samarendranath Sen, Vijnanacharya Dr. Mahedralal Sarkar, (in Bengali), Calcutta, 1985, p. 20

11. Sarat Chandra Ghosh, Op. Cit., p. 3-4

12. Samarendra Sen, Op. Cit. P. 19-20.

13. Dr. M.L. Sircar, On the supposed uncertainty in Medical Science and on the Relation between

Diseases and then Remedial Agents, Calcutta, 1903, preface, p. Vii.

14. Ibid. , p. Xi.

15. Subrata Pahari, Unish Shataker Banglay Sanatani Chikitsa Byabasthar Swarup (in Bengali),

Calcutta, 1997, p. 157

16. Amrita Bazar Patrika, 2nd March, 1876

17. A. F. Salahuddin Ahmed, Social Ideas and Social Changes in Bengal, 1818-1835 (Calcutta

1976), p. 159-160

18. C. Palit, The Quest for National Science in Science and Empire, ed. By Deepak Kumar, New

Delhi 1991, p. 152-160

19. Dr. M. L. Sircar Op. Cit. P-vii

20. Anil Chandra Ghosh, Vigyane Bangali, (Calcutta, 1931)

21. S. N. Sen, Dr. Mahendralal Sircar (a biography in Bengali), IACS Calcutta 1986

22. A Century, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (Calcutta, 1976) p. 4-24


23. Sarat Chandra Ghosh, op. Cit., p. 109-110

24. Ibid.

25. The Calcutta Journal of Medicine, op. Cit.

26. The Hindu Patriot, 13th December, 1869.

27. A Century, op. Cit. P.12

28. A Century, op. Cit. P.14

Soumen Ghosh, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Physics at Gour Mahavidyalaya, Malda, West Bengal.

Conveyance in Bengal Waterfront and Its Technological Excellence

Swarup Bhattacharya

People of Gangetic delta are riverine. A way of life which is in many senses unique is set in Bengal by

the great rivers. Relationship with boat and rivers has been referred in many ways. One of the best

citation has been made by Hunter in his A Statistical Accounts of Bengal,1 where he says, “for in these

deltaic tracks each villager has a paddle”.2 Greenhill in Boat and Boatmen of Pakistan writes that a

whole society was made dependent on sailing and rowing boats for the movement of goods and

passengers.3 There were thousands of boatmen and their boats represented one of the richest source in

the world for the study of ancient boatbuilding techniques. Again he mentiones that during the South

West monsoon and for months after it was finished, Bengal became a world of water. He further says

that in this world, men live one third of their lives in the water, a world where men make voyages


taking many months but never sail into the open sea; it is a world of backbreaking toil at the oar, or at

the long bamboo pole, leaning for hours at the tow rope; but it is also a world of leisure, of many days

with little to do, a world having its own songs and poetry.

Typological Variation

Bengal has distinct boat types in terms of their shapes, sizes and technologies. In general, Bengal

riverine boats are spoon shaped and pointed at both ends. Planks of the boats are fastened side by side

through its edge. Before the nailing rabbet4 is made which gives a better grip of two strokes. These

types of boats with rabbets are popularly known as ‘bankata’ , representing a distinct tradition and is

still the most widely used boats in the rivers and the inland waters of Bengal.

Why Unique

Except the Gangetic delta (including Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Assam and Bangladesh), this technology is

not followed anywhere else in the world. Not only that, whatever the size of the boat is, the hull is

shaped first and then the frames are added. The term bankata refers to the method of construction in

which the hull is constructed first and the planking is arranged so as to give a smooth surface. There are

no visible overlaps between the planks. This method of construction provides considerable scope for

variations in hull form and many different hull shapes are indeed found within this region. These boats

are nailed with a double ended iron nail called patam or jolui. The way it works is like the staple pin. It

can be suggested that this type of spoon shaped double ended rabbeted and stapled boats are the

characteristic of Bengali technology.


Nomenclature of Boats

Each boat is made as per the tradition of the locality which follows a process of technical specialty.

And every particular boat has its unique name, which is not generic in nature; rather it is more

technical. One needs to reach to the roots of Bengali culture to get the real essence of the names given

to these boats. Several authors, including Hunter, O’malley, Hornell, Greenhill, Jansen, Deloche,

Mukherjee, McGrail, Palmer, Blue and Rabindranath Tagore have commented on the large number of

types of boats in this region. Palmer, Jansen and Deloche have admitted that nomenclature of boats

mislead in many cases and terminology change from place to place. It is indeed very difficult to find all

the names given to so many different types of watercraft. There are certain terms, which are in common

use like, dingi, nouko, donga, pansi etc. But these terms are used in different districts in quite different

senses and even the boatmen of the same district differ in using these names to describe these different

types of boats. In most cases, it misleads to ingenuity. On the contrary, the boat makers are the best

knowledgeable people in this regard. The boat building carpenters have their own terms, and their

nomenclature of watercraft is probably clear and more complete than that of the boatmen.

In West Bengal, boats in general, are termed as nouko, nouka, louko, louka, tori, taroni, la, lao

and nao. All these above-mentioned terms are generic in nature, which means, it includes the whole

variety of plank boats. Often, for each boat, the term nouko is mentioned but it is not persistent

everywhere. Dingi is the term referred to the smaller size of nouko. It is round-hulled small country

boat for general use. Whereas donga indicates the dugout having a slight curvature. Again bhaela is

raft. Kheya is used as water taxi catering service for its passengers. Besides all these generic names

there are personal names of boats as well. Some of them are named after Hindu gods and goddess like


‘Ma Lokkhi’, ‘Ma Kali’, ‘Ma Ganga’, ‘Baba Biswakarma’, ’Baba Biswanath’ etc. Whereas,

Rabindranath Tagore gave names like ‘Atrai’, ‘Padma’, ‘Chitra’, ‘Durga’ and ‘Chapala’ to his own five

boats.

Typological nomenclatures of boats which are still plying in this region and fall under the

category of bankata mentioned above are referred to here.

(1)Dingi: The dingi is an Austric term5 which refers to a type of small country boat ranging from 13

to 30 haat (one haat equals to 18 inches) in length. This is an all purpose boat, used extensively by

fishermen and common people for conveyance, all over the region. Balagarh of Hugli district is the

commercial boat building centre for dingi. Here, ‘Rajbansis’ (a fishing caste of Bengal) are the boat

makers.

(2)Khile: Smaller dingi is termed as khile. This type of boat is mainly used by general people as

their private water transport.

(3)Pansi: The term pansi is quite confusing, as in different regions it indicates different structures,6

But, nevertheless it is round hulled, entirely stapled and rabbeted, boat. These are of three types:

> Pansi of Ghusuri: These are big, beamy, double-ended cargo boat of Hugli river, used to carry

sand. The carrying capacity of such boat ranges from 1500 mounds to 2000 mounds, with a

length ranging from 30-40 haat (45' to60') and 8-15 haat (12' to 22.5').

> Pansi of Kolkata: In the Outramghat of Kolkata these medium sized boats are still in use for


pleasure trips to the River Ganga. These are 15 to 20 haat (22.5' to 30') in length with a circular

cabin known as choi. Old photographs of Calcutta show their presence in old days.

> Pansi of Rosik Bil: Not more than 13 haat in length, a type of good looking, less beamy boat, is

used in a lake named Rosik bill of Jalpaiguri district near Alipurduar town. It is mainly used

for fishing, in this lake.

(4)Bhanr: A big beamy, cargo boat,7 used in Hugli river near Kolkata. It is bigger in dimension than

pansi of Ghusuri. It looks very much like pansi though it’s size and shape is more bulky. It can carry

2000 to 3000 mounds. In earlier days bhanr was used to carry salt from the dock of Calcutta to the

storehouse at Kashipur.

(5)Chhot:8 The chhot is characerised by 'V' shaped profile both at stem and stern. On the Rupnarayan

river it can be seen from south of Kolaghat upto the confluence of the river with the sea. It is also found

in the River Rasulpur and River Haldi. The wide and 'V' shape of the chhot is of considerable

advantage while navigating in fast moving water. The chhot is built using the true shell built

construction method. In earlier times, in Shyampur, Howrah district, there were a cluster of rice mills,

and these boats were used in distributing the amount of rice produced. The chhot of Nurpur and

Noynan of South 24 Parganas (second center) are mainly used as Tug boats. Nurpur and Noynan are

located opposite to Geonkhali on the banks of the Hugli river. These boats are used to tow the

khorokisti from Sundarbans to Kolkata. Chhot is characterised by the presence of keel in it.

(6)Chhot-Salti: 25% of the stem part of it looks like chhot and 75% of the stern part looks like dingi


which gives the structure of such newly developed boats of coastal rivers of Purba Medinipur district.

Chhot-Salti is truly a fishing boat. In its stem region the keel is very much prominent where as it is

absent from the remaining portions of the hull. Sikdarchawk of Purba Medinipur district is famous for

its construction.

(7)Goloiya: The length of the goloiya ranges from 20 to 40 haat. The goloiya is shell built fully

rabbetted and stapled boat plying on the river Ganga and in the vicinity of Mathurapur of Malda

district. It functions as a cargo rather than a shore to shore ferryboat. In form, it is closer to ‘Ghasi’ of

Akheriganj, but the body is not so big.9

(8)Merhli:10 Although the carpentry of merhli is similar to that of the goloiya, yet the later is a larger

and heavier boat. Merhli is essentially a cargo boat and can load burden upto 3500 mounds. It’s area of

operation is mainly restricted within the River Ganga upto Sankartolla ghat of Malda district and in

north its presence has been noticed upto Kathihar district of Bihar.

(9)Dholai: The term dholai is quite confusing because it indicates a number of differently structured

boats of Sundarban region. For example, in Mollakhali, Bashirhat and Hasnabad of South 24 Parganas,

a boat with almost vertical stem and stern head is sometimes termed as Dholai or Betnai or Khanjai.

But in Gosaba a bigger sized dingi is also termed as dholai though it is quite different from the

previous one. The classical dholai was mainly used to transport gol patan(Nipa fruticans) and garan

kath (Ceriops roxburghiana) from Sundarban. But now a days it carries a wide variety of items such as

brick, tiles, straw, and other goods. Dholai is basically a round hulled, shell built cargo carrier without

any keel.


(10)Bachhari: Bachhari is built only by people having ancestral origin in Bangladesh. So it is very

clear that it is essentially a boat of Bangladesh. It is shell built and entirely rabbeted and stapled boat.

Various types of bachhari are common in Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24 Parganas and South 24

Parganas i.e. the bordering districts of Bangladesh. Varieties of bachharis are as follows:

◦ Malo Bachhari / Jele Bachhari11 It is a long and narrow boat used for catching fish in the

chopping water of Sundarbans. Its length varies from 28-32 haat.

◦ Chhande Bachhari: It is essentially a racing boat of Bangladesh. It’s length varies from 40

to 120 feet. It has a long, graceful, slender golui on both stem and stern. At a time 100

paddlers can paddle on such a boat.

◦ Kaile Bachhari: A ‘bachhari’, when derived from the shape of a fish called kankhle, is

known to be kaile bachhari, (kichu gorbor ache) which is also a type of race boat of

Faridpur and Gopalganj of Bangladesh. The sheer of the boat is lesser than the chhande

bachhari.

◦ Kolige Bachhari: Kolige is a renowned place for its boat race in Bangladesh. The boats

which are built following the typical measurements of that region are termed as kolige

bachhari.

(11)Chhip: Being, a long narrow boat variety, having a dimension 30:2 haat in length and width

respectively, it is extensively used in boat racing at Chator of Murshidabad district.


(12) Talai: Talai is a fishing boat, which is meant for catching fish by hook and line on the river Hugli.

It’s long and narrow shape (length 10-20 haat, width 2-4 haat) is ideal for movement against the

current, in the tidal water.

Besides all these above mentioned boats, there are many other round hulled, smooth skinned

boat types, which ply in the rivers of West Bengal. It is indeed very difficult to find names of so many

different types of round hulled, smooth skinned river boats. Sometimes bigger boats are termed as

Nouko/Nouka and they are classified or named according to their tonnage, such as hajar moni (1000

mounds12), duhajar moni (2000 mounds) etc. Sometimes the name of the boat is given on the basis of

the item it is carrying, like mati tolar nouko (boat carrying clay or silt), bhusi maler nouko (boat

carrying cereals), maler nouko (cargo boat) etc.

Technological Speciality and Excellence

The building of a smooth skinned riverboat begins with the laying of a central plank along a row of

wooden logs, lying like railway sleepers, side by side at regular intervals. This central plank is a good

quality flat plank, little thicker than the rest of the planks used in the boat’s hull construction. The

central plank is held firm with bamboo pegs either with short lengths of jute cord, or else a galvanized

wire passed through holes, drilled in it at intervals of about one haat and pegged into the ground at

either end. The jute cords and all the other ropes used in the boat building are made up of jute fibres by

the carpenters, according to their need. At either end the central plank is erected, first with thicker logs


in the series and then with timber bulks and props up to give it the desired curve. The setting of the

curve of the central plank is important because the whole shape of the future boat depends upon it.

Then the shell of the boat is built up strake by strake. The first plank on each side of the central plank

i.e. the garboard strake are placed first in the middle portion and then moved to either end. To maintain

bilateral symmetry the planks are added in pairs, one at each side of the central plank. Before placing,

planks are sometimes heated and bent to get more accurate shape of the hull. These planks after heating

and bending are first roughly shaped to be fitted and placed in position, adjacent to the neighbouring

planks and then fitted with wooden planks and wedges and shores. Portions to be removed for neat

fitting are then marked by indigenous divider called boa-karan and then removed. Final shaping is

done by adze and chisel and then the rabbet is made. Plank is then fitted again and this time levers,

shares, guy lines and wedges are applied. The plank is held in position by wooden clamps and wedges.

When it is finally in position shallow slots are cut across the seams on inner skin of the boat. A flat

metal staple pointed at either end, called patam/jolui is then driven in the slot. As soon as plank is

joined to its like neighbour, the clamps are removed and then the guy lines and shares keep it in

position while the next plank is fitted. No moulds are used and if the boat is to be framed at all, no part

of the framing is inserted until the planking is completed. In this way the two sides of the boat increase

at the same rate and thus a constant check can be kept on its complete shape. This is done by placing a

bamboo strip along the inner hull from the centre line or seam of the garboard strake to a marked point

on either side of the hull. The planking is so adjusted that by the measure of a stick the distance from

the centre line to the planking, and at a same distance from the central plank on either side, it remains

the same.


The fully planked up boat is a strong shell supported by struts and held down by guylines.

Depending on the thickness of its planking and the complexity of its shape these may be many or few.

It seems likely, that the mistiris, who build these boats, do not think of them in terms of run of planking

with corresponding planks of equal width on either side, stretching from bow to stern, but rather as a

whole, as a waterproof shell, made up of planks, which need not correspond on either side. When a

boat is built cheaply a lot of odd ends of timber may be used, some of which have perhaps been taken

from recently broken up old boats. The more expensive and well constructed a boat is, the more

continuous its planking tends to be.

Crossbeams are fitted, either before the upper strakes are put on or after the completion of the

entire hull. Then the boat becomes ready for framing. The general shape of the frames are either

obtained by bending a bar of soft iron around the shell of the boat or by shaping a curved plank, on the

basis of eye estimation (chokher andaj). Baak are placed horizontally in, at the floor of the hull and

gochha are placed vertically along the rising surface of the hull. First the gochha is fitted for the trial

which is followed by baak to ensure proper final placement. Both are fixed to the skin of the boat by

iron nails. Holes are drilled through the outer skin passing through the strake to the frames. The nails

are hammered in through the outer skin. Drilling is never done on the central plank.

In each baak, there are two holes on the lower edge, called bonal. These are originally the water

channels. Generally bonal are made only at the garboard strake alignment. Apart from these support

frames, the boats have crossbeams, called guro. This provides the support for the temporary flooring of

decks and strengthens the upper planks of the hull against inward moving water pressure. Prior to the

fitting of guro, an inner stringer, the daroga, is nailed below the upper edge of the dali (garboard


strake). The daroga is aligned along side the dali, being nailed to the gochha, running up the surface of

the dali. The guro rests on a groove etched on the inner daroga. Guro are of the same number as baak.

The thickness and the width of the guro however, vary. The guro which bears the mast is called

paal-guro and is relatively thicker and wider than the other guro and usually it has a hole in its centre

which keeps the mast erected. There is also a separate block of wood attached with the baak just below

the hole of paal-guro, with a round slot at its centre for supporting the bottom end of the mast, known

as khorme, i.e. the mast-step. Then other accessories, such as, outer stringer (barbata), wash-strake

(malom), godi-kath, darsoni, maalkhuti and lastly sheds are made with beams. In small boats such

sheds are made by the would-be-owner with the woven bamboo, or hogla (a type of reed) or straw or

by polythene sheet.

After all the necessary activities have been completed, the outer skin is smoothened by adze or

raeda. This is an important finishing process, as smoother the outer skin lesser the friction will be with

water. After this, another process follows to make the boat a watertight compartment, and is called

gaoni or kalapati/kalabati (i.e. caulking). Caulking is done by a specialised group called gaoni mistiri.

Cotton is pushed into spaces between strakes by a blunt chisel, on the outer surface of the hull only.

After caulking coal tar is applied both on the outer as well as inner skin. In earlier times astringent juice

of gab, a type of fruit (Diospyros embryopteris), was used.

BOAT MAKERS

The boat makers often belonged to the same caste and lived together as a community. They would also


form a guild, which is a group of specialised people performing their duties for a common goal for

building flawless and purposefully good boats. Formation of such guild depends on various factors like

the size of the boat to be constructed.

The knowledge of boat building is sometimes seen to be a family tradition too apart from being

a caste tradition. Risley spoke about Chandals, a non Aryan caste of Eastern Bengal, who were engaged

for the most part in boating and cultivation and would actually work at anything. They were also the

only Hindus employed in the boats (bajra) hired by Europeans. They formed a large proportion of the

peasantry. In a similar way Risley also mentioned that ‘Sutradhara’ or chutor as a carpenter caste of

Bengal were largely employed in boat building. And many of them were Vaishnavites. After years of

investigation, Risley found that the workers mainly came from the lower strata of Hindu caste system.

It can be mentioned here that boat makers were mainly Hindus. In West Bengal very few of these boat

makers are Muslims and they are newcomers in this profession. Jansen stated that in Bangladesh boat

makers were mainly from the Sudra caste group of Hindu religion. Jansen also mentioned, that due to

extreme poverty Muslims were also taking part in this profession these days. He pointed out that boat

makers of Pabna, Tangail, Manikganj, and Bajitpur are predominantly Hindu whereas boat makers of

Swarupkathi are predominantly Muslim.

One important aspect of boat building that has to be kept in mind is that skilled boat makers

have their own territory. A boat maker claims himself as a master craftsman for a single variety of boat.

Moreover, if the local tradition plays a vital role for shaping a boat, other traditions will not be

encouraged. So, even these days, a particular boat variety with its own tradition is restricted to certain

areas.


CONCLUSION

The imagination of the boat builders gets reflected through the skill by which they build their boats.

This is not an easy task because without the formal learning of ecology, geography and physics the boat

makers have achieved an excellent knowledge in the field of boat making, keeping pace with the

changing environment and updated purposes. As is said earlier, the knowledge of boat making is

acquired and transmitted to the future generations with necessary modifications and adaptations. This is

called continuity of knowledge. Thus one comes across various types of watercrafts, of different

regions, with various evolutionary changes. So to study and learn about watercrafts one probes into the

boat varieties which carry the traces of history, tradition and evolutionary changes along with the

excellent execution of skills of the boat makers. The boat builders without getting their rightful

recognition have been, are and will be, doing their part of the job, no matter what one says or thinks

about them, with their unparalleled practical knowledge of the environment as their only tool.

Notes

1. Hunter, W. W. (1876), A statistical Accounts of Bengal, Vol II, Trubner & Co., London. P. 221.

2. A short pole with a blade at one end used to move the boat on the water.

3. Greenhill, В. (1971), Boats and Boatmen of Pakistan, Newton Abbot, 1971

4. A groove or channel worked in a member to accept another, without a lip being formed.


5. Ray, Niharanjan. (1993), Bangalir Itihas: Adiparba (in Bengali) Dey's Publishing, Calcutta.2nd

Edition.

6. Pansway as referred by Solvyns 1799 may be our familiar Pansi.

7. Solvyns (1799) referred it as burr- used for the inland rice trade and to load and unload ships.

Colesworthy Grant in his book also mentioned a boat named as bhur which is essentially a

carrier of hay or straw.

8. So far the author has come across the name of boat, chhot, in two writings; one is in a Bengali

novel Modhukar by Subrata Mukhopadhyay page 7 and another in an unpublished manuscript

of Boat Registration Office, Kolkata under the heading of 釘oat, Boating and Boat registration

in Calcutta and Haldia Complex ・Date of the manuscript is unknown.

9. The term golui means neck. So a boat having such neck can be termed as Goluiha. Golohi is the

hindi term for neck.

10. Hornell 1946 in his book mentions a boat, named as menli, which is found in Bihar (page 149).

11. Malo: a fishing community of lower Bengal.

12. 1 Mound = 40 kg in general; actually it is 38.5 kg.


Bibliography

Deloche, Jean. (1991), ‘Boats and Ships in Bengal Terracotta Arts’, in Bulletin de l’Ecole francaise

d’Extreme-Orient, Vol 78, Paris.

Grant, Colesworthy. (1860), Rural Life in Bengal, London.

Greenhill, Basil. (1971), Archaeology of the Boat. A. and C. Black, London.

Greenhill, В. (1971), Boats and Boatmen of Pakistan, Newton Abbot, London.

Hornell, James. (1946), Water Transport- origin and early evolution, Cambridge University Press.

London.

Hawk, Enamul. (1986), ‘Bangladesher Nouka: Ekti Oitihasik Sanikshar Prastab’ (in Bengali),

Uttoradhikar, Bangladesh.

Hunter, W. W. (1876) A statistical Accounts of Bengal, 21 volumes, Trubner & Co., London.

Jansen, E. G. (1992), Sailing Against the Wind, The University Press Limited, Dhaka.

McGrail, Sean. (2003), Boats of South Asia, Routledge Curzon, London

Mookerji, R. K. (1912), Indian Shipping: A History of the Sea-borne Trade and Maritime Activity of


the Indians from the Earliest Times, Longmans Green and Company, London.

O’Malley, L. S. S. (1914), Bengal District Gazetteers, 24-Parganas, The Bengal Secretariat Book

Depot, Calcutta.

Ray, Niharanjan. (1993), Bangalir Itihas: Adiparba (in Bengali), Day’s Publishing, Calcutta.

Risley, H. H. (1891), Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Vol II, Firma Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta.

Solvyns, F. B, (1799), A Collection of Two Hundred Fifty Coloured Etchiings, Vol II, Calcutta.

Tagore, Rabindranath. (1960), Chhinnopatraboli (in Bengali), Viswabharati, Calcutta.

Swarup Bhattacharya is a specialist on Bengali boats and the ancient naval technology of Bengal. He

has worked for the Anthropological Survey of India and is currently based in Kolkata. His expertise in

ancient marine and naval technology is highly valued by different state governments of India.

The author in an exhibition of his model boats

A Nationalist Approach towards Science and Technology: A Review of

Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy's Collected Essays in Bengali

Tamal Dasgupta

When a disrupted, wounded civilisation, repeatedly colonised by external forces of aggression, made to

suffer the ignominy of losing all contacts with its glorious past the registers and records of which were

brutally destroyed, finally woke up to the necessity of revival, it gave birth to Acharya Prafulla Chandra

Roy. The Hindu revival of nineteenth century India is not just an attempt to restore the present to a

vantage position where the glories of the ancients are rediscovered, but an impossible struggle to match

them in terms of scholarly, creative, scientific innovations. That quest for the rediscovery of India and

the endeavour to move forward in a spirit of free thinking are evident in every word of this Bengali


collection of articles and essays of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy titled Prabandhasamgraha

(Probondhoshongroho).

The general Bengali indifference to science and technology is conjoined with the Bengali

apathy to industry (both in the ancient sense of hard work and the modern sense of factories of mass

production). Such indifference and apathy provide a stark study in contrast, if investigsated vis-a-vis

the general Bengali celebration of culture; it is no coincidence that Tagore's university Visva Bharati

attached no importance to commerce, science and technology while insisting on humanities and fine

arts. It is therefore commensurate that Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy's response to the Bengali lacunae

offers a synthesis of science and technology with commerce. That the Bengali bhadraloks have

repeatedly failed to assign due significance to science, technology and commerce is intimately

associated with their comprador status, as the present writer would like to maintain (a hypothesis that

was originally offered in the very inaugural issue of JBS).

A certain divorce between arts and the material spheres of activity that included commerce,

science and technology was necessitated by the historical dynamics of the reigning comprador class

which needed to forget the sheer material weight of colonial reality, and instead celebrated its literary

and intellectual excellence in a desperate attempt to compensate for its disempowered status. It was

none other than Acharya Prafulla Chandra (henceforth APC) who was bestowed with knighthood and

offered Fellowship of Royal Society for his works on science who recognised that the Bengali

obsession with university degrees is a characteristic crisis of a morally, economically subservient

people.

But significantly, an emphasis on financial activity and scientific quest earmark the early

developments within the Bengal Renaissance, which are lost later in the twentieth century, as APC

notes, and hails Akshaykumar Dutta for his articles on physics published in Tottobodhini Potrika,


Rajendralal for his works on geology and natural science in Bibidhartho Shongroho, Krishnamohan for

his Encyclopedia Bengalensis (356-357). Why the independent pursuit of scientific knowledge and

Bengali entrepreneurship deteriorated throughout nineteenth century and reached an abysmal rock

bottom in the twentieth century (despite golden opportunities offered by freedom struggle which

involved a boycott of Government run educational institutions and British products) may perhaps be

answered by a recourse to the system of Permanent Settlement introduced by Lord Cornwallis in

Bengal in 1793. This is the opinion of APC: that the Bengali elites by the end of eighteenth century

accept the status of zamindar as almost the final attainment of nirvana (77). It goes without saying that

the middle classes responded by inventing their own form of permanent settlement which was trying to

become salaried or skilled professionals with university degrees: clerks, doctors, engineers, lawyers. As

a result, any quest for innovation suffered fundamentally, jeopardising the ability to independently and

creatively engage with science and commerce. A static inertia came to reign. However, there were

exceptions which APC does not always seem to notice. In spite of being a salaried officer of the British

Government, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee himself wrote at length on science. Sukumar Roy and his

father Upendrakishore are examples of that seamless alignment between culture and commerce,

between printing technology and literary art.

Terry Eagleton in his Ideology of the Aesthetic speaks of that definite moment of the advent of

European modernity which separated the cognitive from the aesthetic and the ethical: but it is

significant to note that in the ancient Indian flourish of science and technology (the chronicles of which

APC records in his History of Hindu Chemistry) no such fragmentation and dissociation take place.

APC himself refers to the 64 Kalas (literally the 64 arts) which conjoined the aesthetic and the

cognitive: all disciplines from sexual ethics to metallurgy came under the Kalas. APC notes that the 64

Kalas included ratnapariksha which was the science of precious stones, dhaatuvaad, which was


metallurgy, and the study of alkali, among other sciences (228). Needless to say they included poetry,

instrumental music, dancing, and singing as well.

APC himself mixes the different spheres with an admirable alacrity. He chairs and addresses a

Bengali literary conference, and traces the evolution of Bengali prose in his address that may outshine

the oeuvres of any professional literary historian. He chairs the provincial congress of Hindu

Mahasabha and offers a clear, straightforward picture of the imminent crisis of the Hindus of Bengal in

a manner worthy of a scientist (in this regard he cites a statistical survey done by Dr Upendra Nath

Mukherjee which exhibits the dangerous decline of Hindu population in Bengal; it is a pity that the said

treatise of U N Mukherjee, titled “The Dying Race” is now out of print, and no longer easily available

in any library either. In recent times, renowned environmentalist (and also a social scientist and a social

critic) Mohit Ray has worked on this similar issue and has come up with similar conclusions: Bengali

speaking Hindus indeed seem to be a dying race. There is no doubt that APC was a clear-sighted, far-

sighted nationalist. APC spoke of the ancient Hindu glory of the indigenous achievements in science

and technology in his seminal work A History of Hindu Chemistry, but he was more concerned about

the present as well as future of the Bengalis.

In suggesting the remedy of scientific and commercial quest to the dying race of the Bengalis,

APC is often overtly enchanted with the Victorian doctrines of individualism, the fairy tales of

capitalist modernity which describe the journey of the protagonist from rags to riches, the fascination

with the Samuel Smile type self-help doctrines, the stories of individual genius, he cannot perhaps

entirely be faulted. All around him classical capitalism was triumphant, and Bengalis failed to learn a

lesson from that. A nationalist and indigenous bourgeois class was absent to the detriment of Bengal,

which, as APC rightly noted, would eventually bring the decimation of the Bengali people. But it is

imperative to note that APC does not sufficiently emphasise on collective efforts, at times, and seems to


be too much enamoured with individualism, a typical philosophy of late nineteenth and early twentieth

century. But he is able to note the potential in Hindu castes for collectively furthering technology and

commerce, which is evident from his address to the Konshobonik (caste of bronze merchants)

conference.

APC is considered as a champion of the Bengali people, and rightly so. If there was any Bengali

nationalist in British India, it was him. It is amazing to note that his holistic approach to science and

technology is matched by his attempt to locate the Bengalis firmly within the shared Hindu context. In

other words, he traces an unbroken civilisational chain that connects the Bengalis with their

neighbours, and connects the Bengali present to a shared Indian past. A History of Hindu Chemistry is

an illustration of the latter, while his active and enthusiastic chronicling of Assamese literature

remarkably establishes how he wants to see the Bengalis within the eastern Indian civilisation. APC

laments the fact that the commercial ventures of Kolkata are not in the hands of the Bengalis

themselves, and says without caring for political correctness: “It is the Marwari conquest apart from the

British conquest that has impoverished Bengal” (508-9). But it is interesting to note that APC wants

intermarriage to take place among the Bengalis and Marwaris, so that a hybrid people emerge with the

best characteristics of both. He may be too much enamoured with a Shavian eugenics.

Coming back to that modern dissociation of cognition and aesthetics, or art and science, it is

interesting to note that any nationalist movement will always try to bridge this gap that may exist

between its technological and cultural dimensions. Nationalism is a catholic movement that offers a

synthesis of different human spheres in a characteristic gesture of post-enlightenment radicalism, and

Eagleton himself tries to draw a trajectory of the alliance of science and culture in the nationalist

movement of Ireland in Scholars and Rebels. We may argue that nationalism is a characteristically

post-enlightenment movement, and that it attempts to overcome the separation and reification of


various human spheres of activity (structurally akin to the rise of atomic, antagonistic individuals

alienated from each other who can come together only by virtue of some social contract). It is a matter

of great curiosity that ancient India which had its enlightenment (Buddha means the enlightened one,

but apart from that literal meaning, we may note that a highly materialistic, highly organic civilisation

flourished in ancient India), did not find any difficulty in reconciling its spiritual basis with its material

activities.

Moreover, the question of physical labour was never dissociated from intellectual pursuit in

India, which seems to have been the case of ancient Greco-Roman civilisation. The anecdote of

Charak/Sushruta roaming in a forest in search of a non-medicinal herb indicates that the doctor/chemist

did his works first hand, and did not depend on servile labour. In any case, slavery was not a social

practice in India the way it was in Greece and Rome. Further, the question of practical experiment was

emphasised in ancient Hindu texts of chemistry to the point that anyone whoever was not capable of

practically demonstrating the processes described in theoretical chemistry was called an actor instead

of a teacher or a pupil, as APC points out (214).

APC repeatedly speaks of the juncture between science and art: he is a patriot scientist, and he

challenges the liberal notion of disinterested pursuit. APC is unabashedly inclined towards his own

people, the Bengali people, and he celebrates the spirit of freedom struggle in technology that aids in

commerce and industries, and ultimately paves the way for a national self-reliance of the Bengali

people. No one in modern times has probably emphasised on the role of industry and business among

the de-industrialised and ill-intellectualised lot of the twentieth century Bengalis the way APC has

done.

APC was not just a scientist. He was a great teacher, as we can see in the fond recollection of

his student Dilip Kumar Roy (son of D L Roy; a great singer, writer and a yogi associated with Sri


Aurobindo). Deeply patriotic and an upholder of the ancient Hindu glory, APC was an instrumental

force of social reformation as well, and fought against all the stagnant, retrograde shackles of

superstitions which retarded the growth of independent query that lies at the heart of the endeavours of

science. The second volume of Dilip Kumar Roy's Rochonashongroho records an episode from the

classroom of APC that leaves no one in any doubt that here was a teacher whose great love for the

Hindu legacy of science and technology was matched by his merciless criticism of the backward,

unthinking conformity of the present day Hindus to the shibboleths of mindless superstitions (57).

APC's writings are a small part of his relentless activism towards a scientific, rational, objective

outlook which he wanted to promote among the Bengalis and in this sense, he is a forerunner of the

popular science and rationalism movement in Bengal, which later came to be hijacked by communists

of various hues, culminating in a complete dissociation of organic sensibility and cultural legacy from

the scientific-rational spirit, a process imaginatively depicted by writer Nabarun Bhattacharya in

Herbert with admirable dexterity. In APC's science movement, an organic nationalism comes to

champion the promotion of popular scientific thinking among the masses, as manifested in his

advocacy of indigenous food habits, promotion of dairy farming, and above all, celebration of the

marriage of technology and nationalist entrepreneurship, the epitome of which was his legendary

venture named Bengal Chemical. The history of Bengal Chemical is educative. Its saga fills us with joy

and sorrow, as APC himself continues to offer us severe admonishment and infinite inspiration even

today.

Roy, Acharya Prafulla Chandra. Prabandhasamgraha (Collected Essays). Kolkata: Dey's Publishing,

2012.


Tamal Dasgupta submitted his PhD thesis on Terry Eagleton at University of Calcutta in 2013. He is

an Assistant Professor of English Literature at Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, University of Delhi. He is

the founder editor of Journal of Bengali Studies. He is a leading proponent of nationalist methodology

working inside Indian academia today.

A Review of Kadambini Ganguly: The Archetypal Woman Of Nineteenth

Century Bengal by Mousumi Bondyopadhyay

Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta

Kadambini Ganguly: The Archetypal Woman Of Nineteenth Century Bengal by Mousumi

Bondyopadhyay is an attempt to bring to light the tremendous efforts made by some women in the 19 th

century to fulfil their ideals of education and equal participation in society. The first half of the book is

dedicated to build a strong historical backdrop to Kadambini's rise as an influential and important

woman. It deals with the prevailing customs of society, position of women, effects of colonial rule etc.

the book begins by emphasizing that India had a glorious past in the ancient period. Women then had

an important and respectable position in society. However she adds that “With the development of

peasant societies and the evolution of states, their plight began to worsen decisively”. This comment

totally denies and ignores the socio-cultural changes that India underwent since the Muslim invasion.

Women in Bengal did not confine themselves behind a purdah. The upper castes started to practise the

purdah system because they could afford to. Lower caste women did not have the luxury to practise it


because they worked side by side with men in the fields. The author deals with this much later in this

book (194). This book gives a detailed analysis of the problems faced by women in the nineteenth

century due to this system, but it does not trace the origin of the problem. Her attack against the British

is however sincere and true. She unmasks their supposedly benevolent attitude towards educting the

women. The education was actually aimed at westernising them, to create good wives who would later

go on to breed loyal subjects. Ayurveda was labelled as full of superstition while the western form of

medicine was called scientific. In trying to extend medical help to the women in the zenana, the British

ensured that the indigenous form of medical practice was slowly and systematically wiped out. The

author calls this medical imperialism. The author traces briefly the history of Ayurveda which had made

an extraordinary advance in both “surgery and medicine in India when Europe was groping for light in

her cradle in Greece” (5-6). Ayurveda aimed in a positive manner tio enhance the longevity of people

and keep them in good health while western medicine aimed to cure people of diseases. Moreover

Ayurveda was made from natural products and were non-toxic. It incurred low fees and little education

cost and the medicines were inexpensive. On the other hand, western forms of medicines were highly

toxic and had numerous side effects apart from being very expensive. Mousumi Bandyopadhyay wipes

out all existing histories of animosity between Ayurveda and Unani post-Islamic invasion by quoting

Professor A L Basham who said that they shared a good relation “because each had much to learn from

the other” (7), and quashes whatever the Ulema and the Brahmans themselves had to say on this. But it

ends there. No details are provided to uphold this position of supposed synthesis between Indian and

Arabic systems of medicine in a book which devotes the entire first half to the history of medicine and

medical education in Bengal. We may actually suspect this position to be a facile, run of the mill

secular proposition which characterises much of India's historical studies. This position casually

overlooks the real areas of conflict between the indigenous Ayurveda and the foreign Unani, and does


not care to study their merits comparatively. Exactly what Ayurveda needed to learn from Unani that

was a medical practice primarily focussed on sexual matters, we are not told.

The condition of the indigenous medical practice in British India is however given in details. In

1835, the Native Medical Institution (NMI) and departments of indigenous medicine at Sanskrit college

were abolished. At the same time traditional medical texts were ransacked, translated and appropriated

to Western medical science; herbal medicines were converted to western drugs. In spite of all these, the

benefit of western medicine was not given to everyone. The author mentions that in Bengal, the section

of the native population which enjoyed advantage of the western medical system was the bhadralok

class which comprised on Brahmans, Baidyas and Kayasthas. These castes also economically

benefited. On the other hand, “no doctor if [sic] indigenous medicine could be legally recognised, to

give testimony in legal disputes, to certify illness for workers, or to perform any other legally required

function” (27). Thus the blow to Ayurveda came from both within and without. Doctor Suryacoomer

Goodeve Chakraborty in highly praising the western form of medical science said in his introductory

lecture in 1838 that he knew “nowhere a more striking example of the powerful influence of science in

promoting liberality and good feeling amongst her votaries” (20). As Keshub Chunder Sen said in

1883, the actual requirement of the Bengalis at that time was to get trained midwives. The condition at

birth and succeeding it was horrible and unhygienic. This often led to loss of lives of both mother and

child. The need of the hour was for the English to train the midwives but their motive was with the help

of female missionaries to extend medical help only in order to influence the hitherto untouched women

and to convert them. So they treated the royal families only when they found “the opportunity of

bringing the lessons of the New Testament to the Rani and others of the zenana” (78). Discrimination

continued when they offered help to the “husbands by teching the wives and the children of the men

who had already been converted” (79). Thus the missionaries had a biased zeal in their supposedly


impartial attitude towards the native subjects. In Banga Mahila Vidyalaya, the girls were imparted

western education and brought up as English girls.

Mousumi Bandyopadhyay gives ample space to the Brahmo Samaj and its influence on

Kadambini. But on the outset she clarifies that she is not portraying Kadambini as a feminist icon and

that Kadambini was someone who went with the flow of the Brahmo Samaj. The author does not

ponder over the historical fact that Brahmos sought to liberate women from their wretched condition

often by imitating the west and thereby alienated a large section of native Hindu population. It was not

that native precedents were not available for emulation. The author points out that Ishwar Chandra

Gupta, renowned poet, who published some poems in Samvad Prabhakar on Bengali women who were

practitioners of Ayurveda, mentioned that people were adverse to female doctors only when they

practised western forms of medicine and not otherwise.

The author mentions how Kadambini got a good education because she came from a Brahmo

family but disregards the fact that she was also from a Brahman background, and since time

immemorial women from upper castes had an exposure to education in our country. The question of

women's position as wives no way collided with their position as Ayurveda practitioner, as we have

seen in the instances provided by Ishwar Chandra Gupta. Kadambini and her husband Dwarakanath

shared a very cordial relationship and their marital bonding was exemplary. We have reasons to believe

that this is essentially a Hindu template of conjugal relationship where the husband and wife

complement each other, and are equal partners in practising dharma. In the seventh chapter of this

study, the author writes on the concept of marriage and conjugal relations in the traditional Hindu

society of Bengal. Mousmi Bandyopadhyay considers that the traditional Hindu ideal couple was Ram

and Sita, forgetting the fact that Radha Krishna and Shiv Durga are far more popular in Bengal as the

ideal couple. But nevertheless, the Kdambini-Dwarakanath duo provides an inspiring and essentially


indigenous model of women's empowerment.

This is a paradox of eighteenth and nineteenth century Bengal. Colonisation uprooted many of

our own cultural treasures, and we had a collaborator class that provided our models and ideals. The

renowned Bengali practitioners of western medicine are celebrated by us, and we do not seem to notice

the traumatic process of colonisation involved in that process. And yet, the residual presence of the

older, traditional, native forms of ideals and knowledge continued to assert the complex cultural

resistance of the Hindus. Ayurveda was decisively defeated, as a centralised bureaucratised government

machinery imposed medical jurisprudence as a method of imperial rule. While celebrating Kadambini,

and justifiably celebrating her, we need to lament that recession of Ayurveda. The author in her

conclusion to this study points out that

under the dominance of western medicine the growth of our indigenous system was

restricted to a certain extent, although it is common knowledge that the indigenous or

Ayurvedic system had a rich heritage, immense potential and was also suitable for Indian

condition. Thus under the pretext of disseminating medical education far and wide the

British planned to marginalize our indigenous system of medical education and

treatment. (249).

The author calls the British mechanism to impose western system of medicine as the “policy of drug

imperialism” (249).

There are many spelling mistakes in this study, and unfortunately many grammatical errors also

appear. The study fills up a vacuum that otherwise exists in the historiography of the medical education

in Bengal, and the first woman pioneer who needs to be commemorated today. 152 years have lapsed

after she was born in 1861. No holistic study of the Bengalis' contribution to science and technology is

possible without understanding that dialectics of alignment and resistance embodied in the life history


of Kadambini Ganguly.

Bandyopadhyay, Mousumi. Kadambini Ganguly: The Archetypal Woman of Nineteenth Century

Bengal. Delhi: The Women Press, 2011.

Mousumi Biswas Dasgupta is an Assistant Professor of English Literature at Sri Aurobindo College,

University of Delhi. She is the issue editor of this current volume (Vol.2, No.2) of Journal of Bengali

Studies. She has research interest in feminist theory and fictions.

Field Notes: Modern Pharmaceutical Technology in Bengal

Tanushree Singha

The history of British colonialism in Bengal witnessed the imposition of western cognitive paradigms,

and modern pharmaceutical science came to constitute one such colonial paradigm. The history of

pharmaceutical practice in India starts with the opening of a chemist shop in Kolkata in 1811 by Scotch

M Bathgate. We may remember that in Sukumar Roy's hilarious play Lokkhoner Shoktishel there is a

mention of this Bathgate company which ironically heightens Kolkata's colonial superiority over the

medicinal plants of Mount Gandhamadan. However, the colonial saga continued, and the East India

Company established a medical college on 28 January 1835 in Kolkata known as Calcutta Medical

College, to propagate the western system of medicine in Bengal. This CMC is the first college of

European medicine in India as well as in Asia, though almost simultaneously the second medical

college came up in Madras on 2 February 1835, named Madras Medical College.

This is the first phase of pharmaceutical studies in Bengal, where colonial hegemony

established itself. The pattern of Pharmacy practice was based on the instructions provided by the

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. A formal training of the compounders was started in 1881 in

Bengal. In 1899, the two-year compounder-training course was introduced. This course contained two

year study, three month practical training and one year internship. Besides, a short course in

pharmaceutical chemistry and drug manufacture and indigenous drug etc. was started at the School of

Chemical Technology in Kolkata in 1919.

But very soon an Indian appropriation of Western paradigms took place as the face of

pharmaceutical study in India was revolutionized by the establishment of Bengal Chemical and

Pharmaceutical Works Ltd in 1901. We may consider this to be the beginning of the second phase in the

history of pharmaceutical technology in Bengal.


Role of A P C Roy in Indian pharmacy Education

The nineteenth century was the time of Bengal Renaissance. It was an amazingly fertile period in terms

of the production of intellectual giants. One particular decade of 1860-69 alone saw the birth of

Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, Asutosh Mookherjee, Prafulla Chandra Roy and Jagadish

Chandra Bose. A season of light and hope was descending on a languishing India. This period saw a

Bengal that was not only enriched with literature and arts but also with remarkable innovations in

science and technology.

Prafulla Chandra Roy and Jagadish Chandra Bose, these two scholars were the first students and

pioneers of science in India; both were conferred knighthoods, but Bengalis preferred to call both of

them Acharya instead of sir; they are known as Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose (A. J. C. Bose) and

Acharya Prafula Chandra Roy (A. P. C. Roy). Sir A. J. C. Bose was engaged with physical science and


life science but Sir A. P. C. Roy had interest in chemistry. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray was the

founder of the Indian School of modern chemistry. He was the pioneer of chemical and pharmaceutical

industries in India. He obtained D.Sc. in Chemistry from University of Edinburgh, and became a

professor of Chemistry in Presidency College, Kolkata. Later he became ‘Palit Professor’ in the

Department of Chemistry at the University of Calcutta. He was a lover of literature, history and

biography, one who read half-a-dozen languages, and Acharya Prafulla Chandra claimed that he

‘became a chemist almost by mistake’. His mistake was fruitful for science and technology in Bengal

as well as India.

Acharya Prafulla Chandra believed that the progress of India could be achieved only by

industrialization. He set up the first chemical factory in India, with very minimal resources. He

launched it as a small private concern from his rented house at 91 Upper Circular Road; he started this

business with a capital of 700 Rupees. Initially he manufactured household products named 'Hospitol,

'naphthalene balls', and 'Phenyl'. He made drugs from indigenous materials. Started on twelfth April

1901, this pioneering effort resulted in the formation of the Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical

Works Ltd (BCPW). It was the first Indian Company for production of quality drugs &

pharmaceuticals, chemicals and domestically used products with indigenous technology with the

objective to create awareness in the minds of Indians, Bengalis to be particular, to become self-

sufficient.

Under Acharya Prafulla Chandra's guidance, support and patronage, Kartick Chandra Bose,

Bhootnath Paul, Chandra Bhusan Bhaduri and Charu Chandra Bose bravely continued to run the new

factory. At first it was difficult to sell all the chemicals made there. They could not easily compete with

the imported stuff available in the market. But some friends of Acharya Prafulla Chandra, chiefly Dr.

Amulya Charan Bose, steadfastly stood by his venture. Dr. Bose was a leading medical practitioner and


he enlisted the support of many other doctors. Bengal Chemical would gradually be on its way to

become a legendary factory. But Dr. Bose died suddenly owing to an attack of Plague and his brother-

in-law Satish Chandra Sinha, who was an enthusiastic chemist in the firm, died of accidental poisoning

in the- laboratory. Thus one blow followed another in the very initial period, and Acharya Prafulla

Chandra was not just burdened with grief, but with huge responsibilities on his shoulders. The entire

responsibility of the factory fell on him, but he faced everything with an indomitable spirit.

In 1905, considering the technological and commercial growth of BCPW, the premises at Upper

Circular were found to be inadequate and the manufacturing unit was shifted to Maniktala after

purchasing a three acre plot with some financial support from Kaviraj Upendra Nath Sen, who became

the Director in 1904. A large factory was established at Panihati (North 24 Pargana, West Bengal) in

1920. It was followed by another factory in Mumbai in 1938; even after Acharya Prafulla Chandra's

death in 1944, one factory of Bengal Chemical was set up in Kanpur in 1949. We shall not follow the

sad story of its eventual decline here. Instead, let us turn to the unfolding of events as the history of

pharmaceutical technology enters its third phase which is the post-Bengal Chemical period.

The Bengal Provincial Government in 1938 set up a committee to study the nuances of setting

up a pharmaceutical college in Kolkata. The report submitted by the committee on 4th October 1939

focused on the need for establishment of a college of pharmacy in Kolkata, the details of the diploma

and degree courses were reported, staffing pattern was defined, fund requirements were worked out and

legislation to control profession of pharmacy was mentioned in the report. Bengal Pharmaceutical

Association, a powerful professional body in India those days, was invited by the said committee and

the association took a leading role in the matter. But nothing noteworthy happens till 1962, apart from

numerous committees and plannings.


The first National Pharmacy Week was organized in November 1962 along with the annual

conference of the said Association where Dr. Triguna Sen, Rector (later Vice Chancellor) of Jadavpur

University gave consent before the audience to have a Department of Pharmacy at Jadavpur University.

On the basis of Dr. Triguna Sen's statement, in the first week of December in 1962, a green signal was

obtained from the authorities of the University, subject to financial grant from the Govt. of Bengal. A

council meeting of the Bengal Pharmaceutical Association was held where S. N. Mukherjee was given

the responsibility of doing the liaison work between Jadavpur University and Govt. of Bengal Health

Department. The All India Technical Education Board was then approached for sanctioning the

pharmacy department at Jadavpur University since there was no pharmacy degree college in Eastern

India. The sanction letter was sent to the registrar on 10th June 1963 granting Rs.4lakhs for the

building and Rs. 4lakhs as recurring grant for starting the Department of Pharmacy at Jadavpur

University.

The construction of the building started in September 1964 but the college session had started from

July 1963.The department grew up rapidly. Let us now turn to a representative figure from this period

of development of pharmaceutical technology in Bengal.

Dr Manjushree Pal: First Lady Pharmacist in India

She joined the department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University in 1965. She taught all

branches of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and quality assurance and actively devoted herself in research

activities for more than twenty years in pharmacy and Pharmacology, working extensively on isolation

and characterization of compounds of medicinal plants and studying their pharmacological,

biochemical and microbiological effects. Many scholars worked under her guidance in research

projects related to screening, isolation, formulation, evaluation and standardization of herbal drugs.


Her explorations also extended to computer based pharmacokinetic design of novel anti-leprotic

drug delivery system and their combination with other drugs; she also carried out investigations in the

control release drug delivery system of many drugs such as anti-tubercular (Isoniazid and Rifampicin),

anti-inflammatory and hypotensive drugs et cetera. She also worked towards development of newer

methods for analysis of modern drugs such as analysis of total alkaloids of kurchi in Pharmaceutical

formulation and analysis of codeine in complex Pharmaceutical preparations.

After her death, the Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India (APTI) has instituted Dr

Manjushree Pal memorial Award for the Best Pharmaceutical Scientist. This is an annual award to

commemorate her contribution towards pharmaceutical technology in India.

Reference

Hardas, Anant P. “Glimpse of Pharmacy Profession in India”. Journal of Drug Delivery &

Therapeutics. 2012, 2(2)

Saha, Dibyajyoti and Swati Paul. “Glimpse of Pharmaceutical Education in India: History to

Advances”. International Journal of Pharmacy Teaching & Practices. 2012, Vol.3, Issue 4, 387-404.

Tanushree Singha is pursuing her PhD from the Department of Pharmacy, Jadavpur University,

Kolkata.

The Lady Doctors: Bengali Women in Medical Science in the Modern

Period

Nachiketa Bandyopadhyay

Inherent spirit of rationalism made Raja Rammohan Roy the fountainhead in the popularization of

science in India. Prof Chittabrata Palit mentions that Rammohan Roy wrote a letter to Lord Amherst in

1823, praying for the allocation of one lakh rupees earmarked for native education, for the purpose of

the promotion of natural sciences. He argued that India was already well up in logic, philosophy and

literature. For material improvement, India badly needed the knowledge of science. The money could

be spent in introducing courses in physics, chemistry, mathematics and life-science; well equipped

laboratories should be set up and qualified teachers could be brought from England for instructions. But

the Government did not pay heed to his appeal, and it remained a cry in wilderness. Still, Rammohan

was dauntless; he himself wrote scientific treatises on geography, astronomy and geometry for the

School Book Society of Kolkata.

In colonial Bengal, Mahendralal Sircar who was a very important figure to have propagated and

popularized science, founded the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science. However, the

achievement of scientific pursuit post-Rammohan was completely in the interest of colonial

administration, for the extraction of Indian wealth and exploitation of Indian people, even as we

celebrate the establishment of the Asiatic society (1784), Botanical garden (1787), Agri-horticulture

Society (1826) and the medical college (1835). All these establishments were for the purpose of

gathering knowledge about Indian natural wealth. Land and land revenue survey, Geological and

Anthropological surveys were created for the benefit of the British administration and their easy

extraction of wealth. Medical colleges were set up not for the benefit of the indigenous people, but for


the ruling class. The colonial Government had no intention of making India self-reliant by training

common Indians in science and technology. The colonial aim was essentially to dispatch raw material

from India for a successful furtherance of Industrial Revolution in England. Mahendralal Sircar tried to

inspire scientific outlook among the masses and eradicate superstition and dogmatism for the purpose

of mass awakening and self-reliance even at the cost of jeopardizing personal career as medical

physician. The National Council of Education established in 1906 in the heydays of revolutionary

nationalist movement in Bengal had initially two branches: Bengal Technical Instruction and Bengal

National College. That nationalist movement also helped to produce a scientific community called

Dawn Society which later merged with National Council of Education.

Let us go back to the nineteenth century. Native doctors and assistants and native dressers or

apothecaries were trained and deployed to become low salaried hospital assistants to white surgeons.

During June 1812, medical service was thus constituted with the native doctors as helpers to European

surgeons and it incurred low cost for the companies. Native medical institutes were established with

three years' curriculum in the medium of vernacular language which taught eastern and western

medical sciences according to General Order number 41 in 1822. Classes were held in Sanskrit College

where Charak Samhita and Sushruta Samhita were taught. A sense of superiority separated the western

medical science from the indigenous variety. Still, the British official policy was tilted towards the

glorification of oriental studies as per the method of William Jones. In 1828 however, with the coming

of Lord Bentinck, the William Jones School of Orientalism took a backseat. In 1833, Native Medical

Institutes were abolished, and the Medical College of Bengal was founded along western parameters.

James Mill proposes a concept of “Habitual contempt” for women by Indian men; such

denigrating polemic was further propagated by British Indian discursive writing at its liberal height, as


Indian women are projected to be captivated in the midst of dirt, darkness and disease (embodied in the

medieval concept of Zenana). In 1860 a missionary attempt to break the seclusion of Zenana was made

by Dr. Clara Swain (1834-1910) and Ms. Fanny Butler (First British women in the profession of

medicine). In 1840, Calcutta Medical College was refurbished with an amenity of a hundred beds with

public funding, and it inducted male trainers as assistants to gynaecologists for midwifery. In 1852 a

large hospital with 352 beds was established and it was recorded that the number of women patient

between 1875-80 stood at 1000, in addition to 300 cases of childbirth. Medical institutions were then

well equipped in providing medical training at Calcutta Medical institute, General Hospital, Mayo

Hospital, Campbell Hospital, Howrah General Hospital and Municipal Police Hospital.

Study of midwifery with stipend was introduced. Usually Bengali higher class and middle class

women refused to be treated by male medical personnel and it necessitated the need for an extension of

medical education among women. Madras medical college was the forerunner among the medical

institutions in colonial India for inducting women. In 1875 it admitted four female students with a 3

year certificate course; Mary Scharlieb was the first woman to graduate in medical course. In 1883

Bombay University introduced the 5 year degree course.

In Bengal it was the period of reawakening; reformers launched movements on various social

issues, and women's education was on the list of priority. Vidyasagar, Radhakanta Dev, Keshab Sen,

Umesh Dutta are few such names who emphasised on women's education. Returning from England in

1887 Keshab Sen insisted on a new pattern of women's education which could develop a unique

feminine curriculum. The existing course pattern presupposed that women did not need such 'manly'

subjects as geometry, philosophy and natural sciences; instead, they were to pursue domestic skills like

household works and cooking in order to become good mothers and wives. The radicals in Brahmo


Samaj had a different opinion and demanded for equal opportunity for women in education. Miss

Annette Ackroyd (1872) opened Hindu Mohila Vidyalaya in 1873 with this motto. Dwarakanath

Ganguly became its headmaster while Ananda Mohon Bose, Durga Mohan Das, Shivnath Shastri

supported the move of forming Bongo Mohila Vidyalaya in 1876. The students were Durga Mohon's

daughters Sarala and Abala; Binodini, sister of Manmohon Ghosh; Kadambini Basu, daughter of

Brajakisore Basu. Kadambini Basu along with another Bengali lady named Chandramukhi were the

first graduates from Bethune College in 1882. Biraj Mohini, granddaughter of Nilkamal Mitra

submitted a petition to get herself admitted for hospital assistance course but was denied.

Civil society of Kolkata promoted science and medical education in Bengal and felt the need of

extending the same to women. A noted report on Brahmo public opinion cites in 1883 that if there is

one country where the want of lady doctors is most keenly felt, it is no doubt India. The system of

zenana seclusion made it nearly impossible for male doctors to treat female patients. Consequently, a

very large number of Indian women faced premature death for the want of proper medical attendance.

In another report published in Bamabodhini Potrika it was said that everyone with prudence would

admit that medical education was equally necessary for women as it was for men.

An attempt towards promotion of science and medical education was taken by Lieutenant

Governor of Bengal, Sir Richard Temple in 1876. He supported the admission of women in Medical

College. A letter of A.W. Croft, Director of Public Instruction in 1882, stated that the parents of two or

three young ladies, European and native, who passed the entrance exam of the university, expressed to

him their strong desire that their daughters should join the Medical College. The candidates were Abala

(later wife of Jagadish Bose), first pass-out from Bethune College and Elen Barbara d'Abrew. Croft

urged the medical council to produce female physicians to improve the condition of women's treatment.


Croft's suggestion was placed before the medical council meeting but contrary resolutions were

adopted. The meeting resolved that since no general demand for female physician was there at present,

an extended training in Midwifery would suffice to meet the requirement of the case, and

recommended that later a separate medical college for woman may be established if necessary, and a

lowering of the qualification to entry point of medical college may be allowed.

Abala took admission in the LMS class for a 4 year course and d'Abrew for a 5 year course at

Madras Medical College. River Thomson, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal in 1883 reiterated that

Bengal was lagging behind Madras and Bombay in terms of women's medical education in spite of the

advancement in other fields. He also argued that the denial to admit women in medical class could

cause social hindrance. It was only in 1883 that the door was opened for women in Calcutta Medical

College.

Some newspapers, journals and Indian Medical Service's gazette criticized this move by the

government for raising female doctors. Their opinion was that women were better fitted for nursing.

Jealous male comments on the supposed moral turpitudes of women who were exposed to the vagaries

of physiology also came flying. Discrimination and discouragement constituted a regular phenomenon

in the modern history of women's training in medical science across the western world, so Bengal was

not an aberration.

Kadambini entered into Medical college in 1883. She had already held the laurel of being one of

the first female graduates from Kolkata. She was later married to Dwarakanath Ganguly, a Bramho

leader. She was awarded GBMC degree in 1886 instead of the degree of MB because she failed in one

paper of practical exam by one mark. This created a huge controversy. Professor R. C. Chandra who

made her fail was an opponent of inclusion of female students in Calcutta Medical College.


Female medical students were awarded Rs. 20 as stipend (Abala and Ellen were also awarded

DPI scholarship). Later private donations helped the promotion of medical education for girls. Sujata

Mukherjee cites a letter from A.W. Croft in 1887 to the Secretary of Bengal Government which

requested vernacular medical classes for female students with the same curriculum at per with the male

students at Campbell Medical School.

Women doctors in successive years both from CMC and Campbell school were the following:

Kadambini Ganguly, Virginia Mary Metter and Jamini Sen (who obtained a Diploma of Royal Faculty

of physician, Glasgow). Up to 1895 CMC produced 34 female graduates. In Campbell School Bengali

students' admission later declined due to stringent rules which were favourable for Anglo-Indian,

Eurasian or Native Christian students.

Campbell Medical School admitted women as students and conferred VLMS degree (vernacular

licentiate in medicine and surgery ) on its graduates. VLMS Degree curriculum was in Bengali and was

taught by indigenous teachers whereas MB/MD courses of medical college was offered in English

medium. VLMS degree was inferior but popular, and lady doctors who graduated with VLMS were

more accessible to the masses.

Process of introducing women medicos in education and profession was gradual, slow and the

beneficiaries were very few, mostly from the upper class. But the years of inception were remarkable

for Madras, Kolkata, Bombay where a benchmark was set. Inaugural scientific promotion of medical

system of education for Indian women paved the pathway for gender equality, financial security and

nationalist feeling among women. Although the onset of the medical system provided by western

schools marginalized the indigenous medical alternatives in urban areas, but Ayurveda still prevailed

abundantly in rural Bengal.


Bengali urban society teemed with western ideas of Enlightenment and broke many medieval

shackles under active British patronage. The colonial history of medical science in Bengal marks

cultural domination of the West that follows the military conquest. Modern historians need to evaluate

the experience of the colonized subjects of the empire. But the saga of lady doctors continued.

Haimabati Sen (1866-1932) who became a widow at the age of ten, later became a Brahmo, remarried

and was trained in medicine. She has left an autobiography which offers us rare insights.

Bibliography

Allender, Tim. Introducing the Women: Changing State Agendas in Colonial India, 1854-1924: Policy

and Practices. University of Sydney.

Bhattacharya, Durgaprasad,Ranjit Chakraborty and Rama Debroy. “A survey of Bengali writings on

science and Technology 1800-1950”. Indian Journal of History of Science. 24(1), 8-66(1989).

Forbes, Geraldin and Tapan Roychowdhuri. The Memoirs of Haimabati Sen: From Child Widow to

Lady Doctor. Roli books. New Delhi.

Forbes ,Geraldin. Women in Modern India (The New Cambridge History of India, Vol. IV). Cambridge

University press ,1998.

Nachiketa Bandyopadhyay, PhD, is the Registrar of Sidho-Kanho University, Purulia, West Bengal.

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