Write any two contributions of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar in the field of social reform
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Answer:
Brief about Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar – Born in 1820 in Midnapur as Iswar Chandra Bandopadhyay, he received the title Vidyasagar for his outstanding academic performance when he graduated from Sanskrit College.
Literary contributions – Vidyasagar’s Barna Parichay (an introduction to the Bengali alphabet) is still the first book a Bengali child is handed more than 160 years after it was written, His contribution to the alphabet, translation of several Sanskrit books, including Kalidas’s Shakuntala, has helped Bengali literature, Vidyasagar wrote two volumes on the mistreatment of widows, which set the tone for major social reform in the state etc.
Discuss then his contributions as a social reformer – took on conservative power centers of the Hindu society to force through reforms that would allow widow remarriage, women’s education and the rights of lower caste Hindus to study Sanskrit, challenged the widespread practice of child marriage, He challenged the staunch Hindu patriarchy to bring in modern reforms etc.