Radhakant Deb (1783-1867) was a Bengali reformer and cultural nationalist who dedicated his life to the preservation of orthodox Hinduism.

Historians have generally looked upon Radhakant Deb with disfavor, chiefly because he defended sati (suttee), the immolation of widows on funeral pyres of their dead husbands. Recent studies which focus on the psychology of Indian nationalism in opposition to British cultural imperialism have prompted a reevaluation of figures like Radhakant, Vivekananda, and Dayananda who, while ambivalent to forms of Westernization, were nevertheless modernizers of the Indian traditions.

Radhakant was a member of the Calcutta Hindu elite, which owed both its wealth and social status to profitable relations with Europeans. In the sophisticated atmosphere of the metropolis, Radhakant learned Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bengali, and English.

In 1816 Radhakant's father, Gopi Mohun Deb, contributed a large sum of money toward the establishment of Hindu College, the earliest institution of higher...