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Both the little works testify to his creative faculties.īabu Pyari Charan Sarkar, one of the late professors of English in the Calcutta Presidency College, was among Vidyasagar's dearest friends. He was the pioneer of the systematic classification of the Bengali Alphabet into Vowels

On the 13th April 1855, appeared his Varna-Parichaya, Part I., and on the 14th June of the same year, appeared his Varna-Parichaya, Part II., both of which were elementary Readers, intended for the use of the beginners. He argued that since polygamy was not sanctioned by the sacred texts, there could be no objection to suppressing it by legislation.Although Vidyasagar was thus engaged in various toilsome works, he never lost sight of writing Bengali School books. Campaign against polygamy: In 1857 and again in 1866, he petitioned the government for the prohibition of polygamy among Kulin Brahmins.Inspired by Vidyasagar, a number of literary men produced dramas advocating the remarriage of widows, in Bengal and elsewhere, especially in Maharashtra.On July 16, 1856, The Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, known as Act XV, was passed.In 1855, he wrote his two famous tracts on the Marriage of Hindu Widows, showing that there was no prohibition on widows remarrying in the entire body of ‘Smriti’ literature (the Sutras and the Sastras).Campaign against Child Marriage: In a paper written in 1850, Vidyasagar launched a powerful attack on the practice of marrying off girls aged 10 or even younger, pointing to social, ethical, and hygiene issues, and rejecting the validity of the Dharma Shastras that advocated it.His work, Borno Porichoy ("Character Identification"), the Bengali primer, remains even now almost every child’s introduction to learning and writing the language.He reconstructed the Bengali alphabet and simplified Bengali typography so as to reflect contemporary pronunciation.Bengali alphabet and language reconstruction:.

Compassion towards poor: He was also the “Daya’r Sagar” - Ocean of Compassion - who literally wept at the sight of the poor and destitute, and is said to have spent his salary and scholarships on their welfare.

At the age of 30, he was appointed principal of Calcutta’s Sanskrit College.