Satyendranath Tagore

"See Tagore for disambiguation"

Infobox Person
name = Satyendranath Tagore


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = 1 June 1842
birth_place = Kolkata
death_date = 9 January 1923
death_place = Kolkata
occupation = Civil servant, social reformer
spouse = Gyanadanandini Devi

Satyendranath Tagore was the first Indian to join the Indian Civil Service. He was an author, song composer, linguist and made significant contribution towards the emancipation of women in Indian society during the British Raj.Sengupta, Subodh Chandra and Bose, Anjali (editors), "Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan" (Biographical dictionary) Vol I, 1976/1998, pp. 554–5, Sahitya Sansad, ISBN 8185626650 Bn icon.] Bandopadhyay, Hiranmay, "Thakurbarir Katha", pp. 98–104, Sishu Sahitya Sansad Bn icon.]

Formative years

The second son of Debendranath Tagore and grandson of Dwarkanath Tagore of the Jorasanko branch of the Tagore family of Kolkata (then Calcutta), he learnt Sanskrit and English at home. A student of Hindu School, he was part of the first batch of students to appear for the entrance examinations of the University of Calcutta in 1857. He was placed in the first division and was admitted to Presidency College.

As was the custom of the day, he was married early in life to Gyanadanandini Devi in 1859. The same year, he and Keshub Chunder Sen accompanied his father on a visit to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). [ Sastri, Sivanath, "History of the Brahmo Samaj", 1911–12/1993, p. 80, Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.]

Civil service

For a long time, only British officers were appointed to all covenanted posts.Sengupta, Nitish, "History of the Bengali-speaking People", p. 275, UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 8174763554.] In 1832, the posts of "musif" and "sadar amin" were created and opened to Indians. [Sastri, Sivanath, "Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Bangasamaj", 1903/2001, p. 86, New Age Publishers Pvt. Ltd Bn icon.] In 1833, the posts of deputy magistrate and deputy collector were created and opened to Indians. [Sastri, Sivanath, "Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Bangasamaj", p. 73.] The ICS Act of 1861 established the Indian Civil Service. The Act of 1853 had already established the practice of recruiting covenanted civilians through competitive examinations.

It was a daunting task to go to England and compete with the British for a position. However, his friend Monomohun Ghose offered encouragement and support, and both of them set sail for England in 1862 to prepare for and compete in the civil service examinations.

Satyendranath was selected for the Indian Civil Service in June, 1863. He completed his probationary training and returned to India in November 1864. Monomohun Ghose did not succeed in the examination for the ICS but was called to the bar. [Devi Choudhurani, Indira, "Smritisamput", Rabindrabhaban, Viswabharati, p. 187 Bn icon.] Satyendranath was posted to Bombay presidency, which then covered western parts of present-day Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sindh. After initial posting of four months in Mumbai (then Bombay), he had his first active posting at Ahmedabad.

With postings at numerous towns he travelled across the country. Because of his long stay away from home many in his family visited him and stayed with him for long periods. Amongst his regular visitors were his younger brothers Jyotirindranath Tagore (1849–1925) and Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), the Nobel-prize winning poet, and his sister Swarnakumari Devi.

His posting outside Bengal helped him to learn several Indian languages. He translated Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s "Geetarahasya" and Tukaram’s Abhang poems into Bengali. Rabindranath Tagore had also translated some poems of Tukaram. [cite web
url = http://www.tukaram.com/bengal/tagore.html
title = Tukram
accessdate = 2007-03-03
last = TAGORE
first = Rabindranath
work = Tukaram.com
publisher =] Satyendranath took an active interest in the activities of the Brahmo Samaj wherever he was posted, as for example at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, Sindh. [Sastri, Sivanath, "History of the Brahmo Samaj", pp. 468, 531.]

While in the Maharashtra region he had close contacts with many of the leading reformers and Prarthana Samaj figures — Mahadev Govind Ranade, Kashinath Trimbak Telang, Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar and Narayan Ganesh Chandavarkar. [Devi Choudhurani, Indira, p. 57.]

He served in the ICS for about thirty years and retired in 1897. [Devi Choudhurani, Indira, pp. 1–2.]

Women’s emancipation

Ram Mohan Roy found Hindu women ‘uneducated and illiterate, deprived of property rights, married before puberty, imprisoned in purdah, ["Purdah" was a system wherein women were not allowed to come out in the open in front of other men. It effectively meant that they had to live entirely inside the house all their lives.] and murdered at widowhood by a barbaric custom of immolation known as "sati".’ [Kopf, David, "The Brahmo Samaj and the Shaping of the Modern Indian Mind", 1979, p. 15. Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691031258.] By the time Satyendranath was born "sati" had been banned (in 1829), and the process of reformation had set in.

The position of women in his society troubled him from a young age. He used to think that the "purdah" system in his family was ‘not that of our own nation but a copy of Muslim practices’. His visit to England where he witnessed more freedom of women helped him understand the relatively poor position of women in the Indian society.

After his marriage, he found in Gyanadanandini Devi an ideal partner to fulfill his thinking. When he was thrilled to witness the progress of women in the advanced society in England, he wanted to take her to England to witness the same, but his father, Devendranath Tagore, stood in the way.

Back in India, Satyendranath took Gyanadanandini Devi to Mumbai, where she tried to live in the manner and style of the wives of the English officers of the ICS. When the couple returned to the ancestral home at Jorasanko for a holiday, they created a sensation in Kolkata society. They were invited to a party in the Government House (now Raj Bhavan). Breaking all traditional rules, Gyanadanandini Devi accompanied her husband to the party. There she was – ‘a lone Bengali woman in the midst of hundreds of English women.’ Prasanna Coomar Tagore of the Pathuriaghata branch of the family, who was present in the party, could not bear the sight of a wife of a family member in such an open place and left immediately ‘in shame and anger’.

In 1877, he sent Gyanadanandini Devi to England with an English couple. She went with three children, a daring task in those days. They initially stayed with the family of Prasanna Coomar Tagore’s son Gnanendramohan Tagore, who had converted to Christianity and was the first Indian to qualify for the English bar. Later they shifted to Brighton and lived on their own there.

Subsequently, Satyendranath accompanied Rabindranath Tagore in what was the latter's first visit to England. All of them returned to India in 1880. It was not only with his wife, but also his sisters that he took the lead to change things. His sister Soudamini Devi wrote, ‘The mocking we faced when we went out in the carriages is difficult to believe now.”

Thus were laid the foundations of freeing the upper and middle class women from the "purdah". It was a major achievement of Satyendranath Tagore.

Gyanadanandini Devi contributed in some unique ways also. As she had to go out in society, she developed a style of wearing the sari, which is broadly followed by Indian women today. She also introduced the use of proper undergarments.

Gyanadanandini Devi took special interest in children’s matters and started the system of observing birthdays of children in the family, giving them gifts and celebrating the occasion. She started and edited a magazine named "Balak" for children in 1885. It was possibly the first magazine for children in the Bengali language. The magazine motivated Rabindranath to write for children. Many of the pieces included in his book "Sishu" were first published in "Balak". The magazine was wound up after a year and merged with the family magazine "Bharati". [ Bandopadhyay, Hiranmay, p. 219 ]

Other activities

Patriotism

The Tagore family was deeply patriotic. In an age when copying the West in matters of dress and language was a fashion in high society, the Tagores stuck to wearing Indian dress and developing the Bengali language. While admiring the positive qualities of English society, Satyendranath took the path of reforming and developing Indian society. The sense of patriotism was strong in him.

He was one of the persons associated with the Hindu Mela organised to arouse patriotism in people. When the first session was held in April 1867, he was away in western India. However, he was present in Kolkata for the second session in 1868. He composed the patriotic song "mile sabe Bharat santan, ektan gaho gaan" (Unite India’s children, sing in unison) for the occasion. The song was hailed as the first national anthem of India. Satyendranath wrote a number of other patriotic songs.

Brahmo Samaj

Satyendranath had deep regard for his father Debendranath and the religion he had taken so much pain to develop. At a considerably young age, he and Monomohun Ghose accompanied Keshub Chunder Sen for his campaign to win over the younger generation at Krishnanagar College. [Kopf, David, p. 258.]

In England, even when he was busy with other work, he found time to preach the ideals of Brahmo Samaj. Later, when he was posted in Ahmedabad, he sent a report about Brahmo Samaj to Max Müller. It was included in Max Muller’s biography written by his wife.

ocio-literary activities

On retirement, he lived for some time in Park Street and then in Ballygunj in Kolkata. His house was a meeting place for his friends and relatives. Amongst those from outside the family who visited him regularly were Taraknath Palit, Monomohun Ghose, Satyendraprasanna Sinha, W.C. Bannerjee, Krishna Govinda Gupta, and Bihari Lal Gupta, all important people of the age in Kolkata.

His house on Park Street was the centre of a literary "majlis" (gathering). The deliberations were noted in a book which was not to be circulated outside the family and it was not printed. Among the subjects discussed were “Bengali language and the Bengali character”, “The elements of poetry”, “Chivalry”, “Love in women and in men”. [Ghosh, Tapobrata, "Literature and Literaray Life in Calcutta", in "Calcutta, the Living City", Vol II, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, 1990/2005, p. 224, Oxford University Press, ISBN 019 563697 X.]

He was president of Vangiya Sahitya Parishad from 1900–01, and presided over the 10th session of the Bengal provincial conference held at Natore in 1897.cite web
url =http://www.boi-mela.com/Banglapedia/ViewArticle.asp?TopicRef=5296
title = Tagore, Satyendranath
accessdate = 2007-03-03
last = Mohanta
first = Sambhu Chandra
work = Banglapedia
publisher = Boi-mela]

Works

"Sushila O Birsingha" (play, 1867), "Bombay Chitra" (1888), "Nabaratnamala", "Strisvadhinata", "Bauddhadharma" (1901), "Amar Balyakatha O Bombay Prabas" (1915), "Bharatvarsiya Ingrej" (1908), "Raja Rammohan Roy".

Children

Both his children, Surendranath Tagore (1872–1940) and Indira Devi Choudhurani (1873–1960), were well-known figures. They had the experience of English life as children. Surendranath had great command over English and had translated Rabindranath’s "Four Chapters" into English. He had produced a condensed version of the main portion of Mahabharata in Bengali. In his time, he had links with militant revolutionary organisations fighting for Indian independence from the British, which were considered terrorists by the British establishment. [Deb, Chitra, "Jorasanko and the Thakur Family", in "Calcutta, the Living City", Vol I, edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri, p. 65, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0195636961.] Indira was a great French scholar and was an authority on music, particularly Rabindrasangeet. She was vice-chancellor of Viswa Bharati University. She was married to Pramatha Chowdhury, the noted Bengali author. His great grandson is Supriyo Tagore, a well-known Brahmo preacher and one of the longest serving principals of the Vishwa Bharati University School in Santiniketan. He also taught at both Doon School, Dehra Dun and Lawrence School, Sanawar.

References

Persondata
NAME= Satyendranath Tagore
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Civil Servant, social reformer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1 June 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH= Kolkata
DATE OF DEATH= 9 January 1923
PLACE OF DEATH= Kolkata