In the early 19th century, Bengal witnessed an intellectual uproar led by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, a fiery Anglo-Indian educator at Hindu College, Kolkata. Under his guidance, a group of students known as the Derozians or Young Bengal Movement emerged, inspired by European Enlightenment and liberal values. They promoted rationalism, free thought, scientific inquiry, and individual liberty, fiercely questioning orthodox Hindu practices like caste discrimination, child marriage, and restrictions on widow remarriage.

The Derozians founded platforms like the Academic Association (1828) and the Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge (1838), and published journals to extend their discourse of reform. Though short-lived, the movement left a lasting imprint by igniting intellectual questioning and sowing seeds for the Bengal Renaissance and a broader reformist and nationalist awakening. 

Yet, its reach remained confined to urban educated elites, lacking mass support from peasants or conservative societal sectors, and thus struggled to translate its radical ideas into widespread social transformation.