Dwarakanath Ganguly- A Study on His Role of Women Emancipation in Colonial Bengal

“An ardent lover of what he believed to be the truth, when he took up a cause he threw his whole soul into it”1. This statement was the tribute paid by Surendranath Banerjea to Dwarakanath Gangopadhyay, a demure but very sincere worker, whose memory, he added, deserved “to be rescued from oblivion”. Dwarakanath Ganguly (also spelt as Dwarka Nath Gangopadhyay) was born at Magurkhanda village, Bikrampur, Dacca (now in Bangladesh) on 20 April 1844. His father was Krishnapran Gangopadhyay, a man of humble means and his mother beard very strong will power though she hailed from a rich family. From his childhood he was influenced by his mother, who instilled into him a deep love for truth and justice. Dwarakanath Ganguly was a Brahmo reformer in Bengal of British India. He contributed substantially towards the enlightenment of society and the emancipation of women. While a student of the Kalipara School, he came to be strongly influenced also by the rational writings of Akshay Kumar Dutta"s Dharma Niti (Religious principles) and on such social problems as polygamy, child marriage, inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage and so on. He was aroused about the plight of the Bengali woman, and was influenced by Dutta"s main thesis that “the first vital step to social regeneration is liberating woman from her bondage”. So, this paper intends to highlight how he dedicated his whole life for the cause of women emancipation and encouraged them to take part in every walk of life, politics, social services etc. and even helped them to form organizations of their own..