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The Hindu School Kolkata is one
of the most revered school in the city and boasts of a star alumni who
have been elemental in the development and enrichment of the Bengali
society. This band includes leading politicians, social reformers,
literateurs, artists and much more who remained proud of the school
lifelong while equally making Hindu School proud of them. Below is a
list of some of the most prominent students of the school. However,
such a list is too exhaustive and we regret the inability to
accommodate all the famous names that comes to your mind in this list.
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Prasanna
Coomar Tagore (1801-1868)- Son of Gopi Mohan Tagore, one of
the founders of Hindu College, Prasanna Coomar was one of the leaders
of the conservative branch of Hindu society. However, he had
participated in Raja Rammohun Roy’s campaign for the abolition of sati
and was actively involved in setting up the Landholder's Association
and the British Indian Association of which he became president. A
prominent educationist and social reformer, he established the Hindu
Theatre in 1831. As the spokesman of the landholders, he opposed the
Sepoy Mutiny on principle and the British government bestowed the title
of CSI on him in 1866. His writings include “An Appeal to Countrymen”
and “Table of Succession” according to Hindu Law of Bengal.
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Ramtanu
Lahiri (1813-1898)- a dedicated follower of Derozio, a
renowned teacher and a social reformer. Peary Chand Mitra wrote about
him, “There are few persons in whom the milk of kindness flows so
abundantly. He was never wanting in appreciation of what was right, and
in his sympathy with the advanced principles.”
Born in a high kulin Brahmin family of Krishnanagar, Nadia, and
educated at Hindu College, Ramtanu
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Lahiri was one of those
educators and intellectuals who paved the way for various reform
movements in Bengal in the 19th century. Influenced by Rammohun Roy,
Lahiri renounced Hinduism and adopted Brahmo as his religion which led
to widespread displeasure among the conservative Hindu Pandits and
exposed him to much humiliatin and mistreatment. However, disciples
held him in high esteem. One of them, Pundit Shibnath Shastri,
commemorated his guru by naming his famous social commentaries,
“Ramtanu Lahiri O Tatkalin Banga Samaj” (1904), after him. Ramtanu made
significant contributions to the expansion of Brahmoism. By his
learning, dedication and regenerative outlook and guidance, he created
a generation of students who subsequently made great contributions in
the fields of education, politics, journalism and other professions.
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Raja
Dakshinaranjan Mukherji (1814-1878)- Editor and social
worker, was born in 1814 in Kolkata. He studied at Hindu College and
was a prominent member of the Young Bengal Group.
While still a student, he edited the journal Jnananvesan (1831).
Subsequently he edited Bharat Patrika and Samachar Hindustani. He used
to contribute regularly to the Bengal Spectator. He used his oratory to
oppose the government laws directed towards suppressing the voice of
the press. Notably, he was the first Indian collector of Calcutta
Municipality and also served as Diwaan to the Nawab Nazim of
Murshidabad and deputy collector to the Raja of Burdwan. Dakshinaranjan
was one of the founders of the Bengal British India Society (1843). In
1849 he donated land to John Eliot Drinkwater Bethune to establish
Bethune Girls School as the first girls' school at Kolkata, and
thereafter assisted in its establishment in various ways. He supported
the British in 1857 and as a reward, he was granted the Sankarpur taluk
of Rai Bareily in 1859 by Lord Canning. In 1871 Lord Mayo awarded him
the title of 'Raja'. Dakshinaranjan died on 15 July 1878 in Lucknow.
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Peary
Chand Mitra (1814-1883)- Writer, journalist, cultural
activist and entrepreneur. Peary Chand studied at home, learning
Bengali and PERSIAN with a pundit and a munshi respectively. He entered
Hindu College in 1827 and studied under Henry Derozio. The
organisations he was actively associated with were Association of
General Knowledge (1830), Bengal British India Society (1843), David
Hare Memorial Society (1844). To posterity, however, Peary Chand Mitra
is particularly known for his contribution to the development of
journalism and Bengali literature. He was a regular contributor to the
“Englishman”, “Indian Field”, “Hindu Patriot”, “Friend of India” and
“Bengal Spectator”. The greatest literary contribution of Peary Chand
was Alaler Gharer Dulal, hailed as the first Bengali novel. The book
set a new trend in Bengali literature regarding prose style and diction
with Peary Chand breaking away from the traditional (formal) prose
style to use colloquial Bengali instead, the living language of the
people.
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