Today In Indian History (8th January)

1884 - Death of Keshab Chandra Sen, an Indian philosopher and social reformer, on 8th January, 1884. He was a member of the Brahmo Samaj, founded in 1828 by social reformer Ram Mohun Ray.

The first schism in the Brahmo Samaj raised its head in 1866 when Debendranath Tagore, one of the founding members of the Brahmo movement, and Keshub Chandra Sen parted ways on the issue of integrating elements of Christianity, advocated by the latter.

On November 11, 1866 the Brahmo community in Calcutta broke up, with Keshub Chandra Sen establishing his own breakaway "Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj" (Brahmo Samaj of India). The branch led by Debendranath Tagore came to be called as Adi Brahmo Samaj.

Keshub Chandra Sen wrote articles for a journal named Indian Mirror which was started in 1861. In 1867, he helped Atmaram Pandurang establish the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay.

Keshav Chandra Sen also established the Indian Reform Association.

Keshub Chandra Sen: A Biography

Born to a respectable family in Calcutta on 19 November 1838, Keshab Chandra Sen was a strong votary of widow remarriage. He had started Bamabodhini Patrika, a journal for women.

Keshab Chandra Sen launched several radical reforms, such as giving up of caste names, advocating inter caste marriage and launched movement against the social vices prevailing at that time like child marriage. These radical reforms resulted in the first schism in the Brahmo Samaj. The original Brahmo Samaj, founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, came to be known as Adi Brahmo Samaj and the other, the Brahmo Samaj of India was established by Keshab Chandra Sen in 1866.

In 1870 Keshab Chandra Sen founded the India Reform Association which succeeded in persuading the British Government to enact the Native Marriage Act of 1972 (popularly known as Civil Marriage Act) legalizing the Brahmo marriages and fixing the minimum marriageable age for boys and girls.

It was under the advice of Keshab Chandra Sen that the reformist Dayanand Saraswati began to use Hindi for his writings and teachings.

Keshav Chandra Sen was the founder of the Indian Reform Association.

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