Raja Digambar Mitra (1817-1879) businessman, politician, social worker and writer, the first Bengali sheriff of Calcutta (1874), was born in the village of Konnagar in Hooghly in 1817. In 1830 he went to Hindu College where he came in contact with the Young Bengal group, and became exposed to western concepts of education, reform, administration and politics. In 1857, Digambar Mitra became vocal against the black laws and the special privileges of the British. Although he was a zamindar himself, he spoke for the poor farmers. He worked as assistant secretary and president of the Bharat Sabha. He became famous for opposing the Wood Plan for State Governance and delivered a lecture at the Town Hall on 6 April 1857 on the laws relating to the trial of Englishmen by Indian judges. He represented Bharat Sabha at the Income Tax Conference in 1862 and was made an honorary justice of peace. In 1864, he was the only Indian representative to the Epidemic Fever Commission and was made a non-official member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. A three times member of the Legislative Council, Digambar Mitra was awarded the titles of Bharat Ratna in 1876 and Raja in 1877 by the government for his philanthropic activities. He died on 20 April 1879.

Maharshi Debendranath Tagore (1817-1905) preacher and follower of Brahmo faith and philosopher, was born on 15 May 1817 to the Tagore family of Jorasanko in Kolkata to Prince Dwarakanath Tagore and Digambari Devi. Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore was his son. After studying at Hindu School he began looking after his father's property and business as well as cultivating philosophy and religion.

He became attracted to religion and began studying Mahabharata, Upanishad, eastern and western philosophies and many other subjects. He set up 'Tattaranjani Sabha' in 1839 to facilitate discussions on different philosophies;this was later renamed the Tattavabodhini Sabha. In 1844 Debendranath introduced new forms of Brahmo worship and from 1845 the Brahmo Samaj began using them. Debendranath stopped celebrating Hindu festivals and introduced 'Magh festival', 'Nababarsa', 'Diksa Din' and similar festivals. In 1867 he bought a vast tract of land called Bhubandanga in Birbhum district of West Bengal and set up a hermitage in it which was later to be made famous as Shantiniketan by his son Rabindranath Tagore. He was also a founder of the Bethune Society of the Hindu Charitable Institution. Debendranath was made secretary of the British Indian Association when it was set up on 31 October 1851. He made relentless efforts to remit for the poor village people the chowkidari tax and sent to the British parliament a representation demanding autonomy for India. In 1867 Radhakanta Deb called him a 'Protector of the National Religion' and the Brahmo Samaj gave him the title of 'Maharshi' for having preventing Indian youths from coming under the influence of Christianity. He died in Calcutta on 19 January 1905.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt (1824-1873) poet and playwright, was born on 25 January 1824 in a landed family in the village of Sagardari in JESSORE district now in Bangladesh. In 1833 he was admitted to Hindu College. Here, among other subjects, he also studied Bengali, Sanskrit and Persian. Madhusudan began writing while at Hindu College. He drew everyone's attention at a college function in 1834 when he recited a poem that he had composed. Madhusudan's poems in Bengali and English were published in Jnananvesan, Literary Gleamer, Calcutta Library Gazette, Literary Blossom and Comet. 1843, while still at college, Madhusudan converted to Christianity, partly to escape a marriage his father had arranged.