Derozio’s disciples came to be known collectively as Young Bengal. It was a prominent group of the 19th century Calcutta. Contemporary society of Calcutta was shocked beyond measure by the doings of this group, and yet the Young Bengal formed more of a group with a certain outlook than a real sustained movement with a solid

basis and growing support. At least a dozen years after Derozio’s untimely tragic death in 1831, his impact continued to be manifested in collective ways. The members of Young Bengal were brilliant individuals faithful to the last to the memory of their master and close-knit to each other by the bonds of affection and friendship. They were successful in their own working domain. As a whole they tried to form the cultural base of Calcutta. Some of the eminent members of Young Bengal can

be introduced for that purpose. Tarachand Chakraborty (1804 – 1855) was the president of the S.A.G.K. On 8th February 1843, when Dakshinaranjan Mukhopadhyay (1814 – 1878), the editor of the Jnananwesan was reading a paper in a meeting of the S.A.G.K, D.L. Richardson, the then principal of the Presidency College tried

to cut himshort characterising the paper as ‘sedition’. The president of the S.A.G.K., Tarachand Chakraborty, who was chairing the meeting, stopped Richardson and compelled him to withdraw his comments. This incident was an example of the fearless character of Young Bengal, who believed in the freedom of expression. Dakshinaranjan Mukhopadhyay fought against superstition and obscurantism. When his friend and fellow – Derozian Krishnamohan Bandyopadhyay (1813 – 1885) was hounded out of his house for embracing the Christian faith, Dakshinaranjan gave him shelter in his own house. Thus, for championing the freedom of thought and expression he lost his home.
The Derozians were active in the field of popularisation of science. Radhanath Sikdar (1813 – 1870) and Pyarichand Mitra (1814 – 1883) brought out a journal in Bengali called the "Masik Patra" (Monthly Journal), whose aim was to discuss various issues in simple Bengali so that housewives can make sense out of them. Home science was one of the subjects of the journal. They tried to enhance the knowledge – base of their fellow citizens, which will be helpful for the popularisation of science. Thus, they developed the background on which the science movements were shaped later on. He opposed all the superstitions prevailing in the society. His followers were known as the Young Bengal.
The Derozians also faced the racial discrimination of the colonial rule. Radhanath Sikdar of the Trigonometrical survey of India in 1852 discovered and measured the highest peak in the world. But this peak was named Mount Everest, after the name of his colonial boss the director of the survey of India. Such was the tragedy of a colonial scientist. Krishnamohan Bandyopadhyay, another famous Derozian was the pioneer in the writing of geometry in Bengali language. Not only this, he translated European sciences into Bengali. Pyarichand Mitra, under the penname of Tekchand Thakur, was the writer of the first ever Bengali novel Alaler Gharer Dulal (1856) in colloquial Bengali. He was also a secretary of the Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge [S.A.G.K] (1838). He used to write regularly in "Hindoo Patriot" and "Calcutta Review".

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