Raja Sir Radhakanta Deb Bahadur ( bn, রাজা রাধাকান্ত দেব; 10 March 1784 – 19 April 1867) was a scholar and a leader of the Calcutta conservative Hindu society, son of Gopimohan Deb of

Shovabazar Raj The Sovabazar Raj family, seated at Sovabazar Palace in the Indian city of Kolkata, were the Zamindars of Shobhabazar. The clan begins with a Maharaja Naba Krishna Deb Bahadur left behind two sons, adopted son Raja Gopimohan Deb (1768) and his ...

who was the adopted son and heir of Maharaja Nabakrishna Deb of

shovabazar Raj The Sovabazar Raj family, seated at Sovabazar Palace in the Indian city of Kolkata, were the Zamindars of Shobhabazar. The clan begins with a Maharaja Naba Krishna Deb Bahadur left behind two sons, adopted son Raja Gopimohan Deb (1768) and his ...

. An accomplished scholar, Radhakanta was proficient in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

, Persian and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

. He published ''Shabda Kalpadruma'', a Sanskrit language dictionary. Hara Kumar Tagore another contemporary Sanskrit scholar and scion of Tagore family had assisted him in compiling ''Shabda Kalpadruma''. He also wrote articles that were published in Ishwar Chandra Gupta's newspaper Sambad Prabhakar. Radhakanta Deb always showed a marked interest in promoting

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

, particularly English education among the Hindus; he also advocated female education. Radhakanta Deb was actively involved in the establishment and activities of the Calcutta School Book Society in 1817 and the Calcutta School Society in 1818. Radhakanta was an active member of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India since its establishment in 1818. He was founder-president British Indian Association in 1851, a position he held till his death. He helped David Hare and funded founding of the Hindu College in Calcutta. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Star of India The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes: # Knight Grand Commander ( GCSI) # Knight Commander ( KCSI) # Companion ( CSI) No appointmen ...

(KCSI) on 24 May 1866, and died barely 11 months later. Despite his contribution to the cause of

, he was a strong upholder of

social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institut ...

. Although '' sati'' was not practised in his own family, he came forward to defend the custom when the Government contemplated its abolition. When

Lord William Bentinck Lieutenant General Lord William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (14 September 177417 June 1839), known as Lord William Bentinck, was a British soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Fort William (Bengal) from 1828 to 1834 and the First G ...

's government had finally abolished ''sati'' by regulation in December 1829, Radhakanta Deb, along with his conservative Hindu friends, was the leader a society called

Dharma Sabha Dharma Sabha was formed in 1830 in Calcutta by Radhakanta Deb. The organization was established mainly to counter the ongoing social reform movements led by protagonists such as Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Henry Derozio. More specifically, the impetus ...

(founded by his father

Gopi Mohun Deb Gopi Mohun Deb (1798-1847)A Biographical Sketch of David Hare - by Peary Chand Mitra, Gauranga Gopal Sengupta - 1979 Page 176 was one of scions the Shovabazar Raj family, a noted philanthropist educationist and foremost leader of Calcutta's Hind ...

), protested against this measure by presenting a petition to the Governor-General on behalf of the orthodox section of the Hindu community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deb, Radhakanta 1784 births 1867 deaths Indian Sanskrit scholars Indian scholars 19th-century Indian scholars Bengali Hindus Founders of Indian schools and colleges Bengali zamindars Bengali-language writers Linguists from India 19th-century Indian linguists Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Indian knights 19th-century Indian philanthropists Linguists from Bengal Educators from West Bengal