Sir Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar ( mr, रामकृष्ण गोपाळ भांडारकर) (6 July 1837 – 24 August 1925) was an Indian scholar, orientalist, and

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mov ...

er.

Early life

Ramakrishna Bhandarkar was born in Malvan in Sindhudurg district of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

in a

Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd) are a Hindu Brahmin community of the north. The Konkani speaking Gaud Saraswat of Goa and southern India claim to be descendents of these Gaud Saraswat Brahmins of the north that migrated to ...

family. After early schooling in

Ratnagiri Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; �ət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District in the southwestern part of Maharashtra, India. The district is a part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for ...

, he studied at

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. Along with

Mahadev Govind Ranade Mahadev Govind Ranade (18 January 1842 – 16 January 1901), popularly referred to as Justice Ranade, was an Indian scholar, social reformer, judge and author. He was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress party and owned ...

, Bhandarkar was among the first graduates in 1862 from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

. He obtained his

Master’s degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

the following year, and was awarded a PhD from

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in 1885.

Career

Ramakrishna Bhandarkar taught at

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

) and Deccan College (

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

) during his distinguished teaching career. He was involved in research and writing throughout his life. He retired in 1894 as the Vice Chancellor of Bombay University. He participated in international conferences on

Oriental Studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern stu ...

held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(1874) and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1886), making invaluable contributions. Historian R. S. Sharma wrote of him: "He reconstructed the political history of the

Satavahanas The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the lat ...

of the Deccan and the history of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as ...

and other sects. A great social reformer, through his researches he advocated widow marriages and castigated the evils of the caste system and child marriage." As an educationist, he was elected to the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

in 1903 as a non-official member. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was another member to the Council. In 1911 Bhandarkar was awarded by the British colonial government of India with the title of Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire.

Social reformer

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

Prarthana Samaj

In 1866, some of the members held a meeting at the home of Atmaram Pandurang and publicly pledged to certain reforms, including: #Denunciation of the caste system #encouragement of widow remarriage #encouragement of female education #abolition of child marriage. The members concluded that religious reforms were required as a basis for social reforms. They held their first prayer meeting on 31 March 1867, which eventually led to the formation of the Prarthana Samaj. Another visit by Keshub Chunder Sen and visits of Protap Chunder Mozoomdar and Navina Chandra Rai, founder of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

Brahmo Samaj, boosted their efforts.

Girls' education

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

Lokmanya Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya ( IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

in his newspapers, the Mahratta and Kesari.

Selected works

Legacy

*The

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is located in Pune, Maharashtra, India. It was founded on 6 July 1917 and named after Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925), long regarded as the founder of Indology (Orientalism) in Ind ...

is named after him.http://www.bori.ac.in/ Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

References

External links

Chronology of events in his life - (broken link)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhandarkar, Ramakrishna Gopal Historians of South Asia Scholars from Maharashtra Indian orientalists Marathi people University of Mumbai alumni University of Göttingen alumni 1837 births 1925 deaths Indian Indologists Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Indian knights Indian social reformers Hindu reformers 19th-century Indian historians 20th-century Indian historians People from Sindhudurg district Members of the Bombay Legislative Council Prarthana Samaj Founders of Indian schools and colleges