Henry Derozio and the Making of Indian Modernity Together with a Discussion of The Fakeer of Jungheera, 1828

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The paper concerns the contributions of Eurasian poet, democrat and social activist Henry Derozio and the emergence of a new awakening amongst the Bengali elites in the nineteenth century that modernized India. The paper also analyzes Derozio's role in creating an enlightened group called Young Bengal who inculcated enlightened habits of mind, ranging from critical inquiry to free thinking atheism, and brought in western modernity to Bengal. Recent advances in literary scholarship have also resituated Derozio in the canon of nineteenth century Indian writing in English and brought to light his almost forgotten role as a pioneer of Indian aesthetics in English and the initiator of the concept of the motherland (matryabhumi). Derozio's metrical poem The Fakeer of Jungheera and his prose writings reveal his concept of aesthetics and ideas of a syncretistic, democratic culture within early colonialism. As the initiator of the Bengal Renaissance he campaigned for the abolition of the practice of widow burning (sati) and introduction of widow remarriage. He spearheaded the Eurasian movement of 1829-30 demanding rights for Eurasians as British subjects. Not only did Derozio's followers used his ideas of modernity, but also other Indian liberals, reformers and revivalists, such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay profited by them.