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

social reform 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 movements which reject t ...

er.

Early life

Ramakrishna Bhandarkar was born in

Malvan Malvan (also written as Malwan) is a town and ''taluka'' in Sindhudurg District, the southernmost district of Maharashtra State, India, well known for the historically important Sindhudurg Fort. Malvan ''taluka'' consists of villages such as ...

Sindhudurg district Sindhudurg district (Marathi pronunciation: in̪d̪ʱud̪uɾɡə is an administrative district of the Konkan division in India, which was carved out of the erstwhile Ratnagiri district. The district headquarters are located at Oros. The d ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

in a

Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Bra ...

family. After early schooling in

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

, he studied at Elphinstone College in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. His wife, Annapoornabai Bhandarkar also supported him strongly for his cause of women's education and emancipation from social evils. Along with

Mahadev Govind Ranade Rao Bahadur Mahadev Govind Ranade (18 January 1842–16 January 1901), popularly referred to as Nyayamurti Ranade (lit. Justice Ranade), was an Indian scholar, social reformer, judge and author. He was one of the founding members of the Indi ...

, Bhandarkar was among the first graduates in 1862 from

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

. He obtained his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

the following year, and was awarded a PhD from

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

in 1885.

Career

Ramakrishna Bhandarkar taught at Elphinstone College,(

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

) and Deccan College (

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

) 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 studie ...

held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(1874) and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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

Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...

and the history of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

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 British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...

in 1903 as a non-official member. In 1911 Bhandarkar was awarded by the British colonial government of India 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 Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

#abolition of

child marriage Child marriage is a practice involving a marriage or domestic partnership, formal or informal, that includes an individual under 18 and an adult or other child.* * * * Research has found that child marriages have many long-term negative co ...

. 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 (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

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 in his newspapers, the Mahratta and Kesari.

Selected works

Legacy

*The

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is a research institute involved in the conservation, preservation, and research of old manuscripts and rare books related to Orientalism, particularly Indology. It is located in Pune, Maharash ...

is named after him.http://www.bori.ac.in/ Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute *Bhandarkar's work and friendship with his colleague Justice Ranade is portrayed in the television series on Zee Marathi named Unch Majha Zoka (roughly translated as 'My Swing Flies High') based on the life of Justice Ranade and his wife Ramabai Ranade. The series was broadcast from 2012 to 2013. It was based on a book by Ramabai Ranade titled Amachyaa Aayushyaatil Kaahi Aathavani (A Few Memories From My Life). In the book, Justice Ranade is called "Madhav" rather than Mahadev. The series had actors Vikram Gaikwad as Mahadev Govind Ranade and Spruha Joshi as Ramabai Ranade.

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 Scholars from British India