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Social reformer, religious philosopher, and scholar
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) was a prominent Indian social reformer, religious philosopher, and scholar during the Bengal Renaissance. He is widely regarded as the “Father of Modern India” for his groundbreaking contributions to social, religious, and educational reforms in 19th-century India.
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In 1797, Raja Ram Mohan reached Calcutta and became a bania (moneylender), mainly to lend to the Englishmen of the Company living beyond their means. Ram Mohan also continued his vocation as pandit in the English courts and started to make a living for himself. He began learning Greek and Latin.
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Ram Mohan Roy, (born May 22, 1772, Radhanagar, Bengal, India—died September 27, 1833, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England), Indian religious, social, and educational reformer who challenged traditional Hindu culture and indicated lines of progress for Indian society under British rule. He is sometimes called the father of modern India.
He was born in British-ruled Bengal to a prosperous family of the Brahman class (varna). Little is known of his early life and education, but he seems to have developed unorthodox religious ideas at an early age. As a youth, he traveled widely outside Bengal and mastered several languages—Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and English, in addition to his native Bengali and Hindi.
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Roy supported himself by moneylending, managing his small estates, and speculating in British East India Company bonds. In 1805 he was employed by John Digby, a lower company official who introduced him to Western culture and literature. For the next 10 years Roy drifted in and out of British East India Company service as Digby’s assistant.
Roy continued his religious studies throughout that period. In 1803 he composed a tract denouncing what he regarded as India’s superstition and its religious divisions, both within Hinduism and between Hinduism and other religions. As a remedy for those ills, he advocated a monotheistic Hinduism in which reason guides the adherent to “the Absolute Originator who is the first principle of all religions.” He sought a philosophical basis for his religious beliefs in the Vedas (the sacred scriptures of Hinduism) and the Upanishads (speculative philosophical texts), translating those ancient Sanskrit treatises into Bengali, Hindi, and English and writing summaries and treatises on them. The central theme of those texts, for Roy, was the worship of the Supreme God who is beyond human knowledge and who supports the universe. In appreciation of his translations, the French Société Asiatique in 1824 elected him to an honorary membership.
In 1815 Roy founded the short-lived Atmiya-Sabha (Friendly Society) to propagate his doctrines of monotheistic Hinduism. He became interested in Christianity and learned Hebrew and Greek in order to read the Old (see Hebrew Bible) and New Testaments. In 1820 he published the ethical teachings of Christ, excerpted from the four Gospels, under the title Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness.
In 1823, when the British imposed censorship upon the Calcutta (Kolkata) press, Roy, as founder and editor of two of India’s earliest weekly newspapers, organized a protest, arguing in favour of freedom of speech and religion as natural rights. That protest marked a turning point in Roy’s life, away from preoccupation with religious polemic and toward social and political action. In his newspapers, treatises, and books, Roy tirelessly criticized what he saw as the idolatry and superstition of traditional Hinduism. He denounced the caste system and attacked the custom of suttee (ritual burning of widows upon the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands). His writings emboldened the British East India Governing Council to act decisively on the matter, leading to the prohibition of suttee in 1829.
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In 1822 Roy founded the Anglo-Hindu School and four years later the Vedanta College in order to teach his Hindu monotheistic doctrines. When the Bengal government proposed a more traditional Sanskrit college, in 1823, Roy protested that classical Indian literature would not prepare the youth of Bengal for the demands of modern life. He proposed instead a modern Western curriculum of study. Roy also led a protest against the outmoded British legal and revenue administration in India.
In August 1828 Roy formed the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma), a Hindu reformist sect that utilized Unitarian and other liberal Christian elements in its beliefs. The Brahmo Samaj was to play an important part, later in the century, as a Hindu movement of reform.
In 1829 Roy journeyed to England as the unofficial representative of the titular king of Delhi. The king of Delhi granted him the title of raja, though it was unrecognized by the British. Roy was well received in England, especially by Unitarians there and by King William IV. Roy died of a fever while in the care of Unitarian friends at Bristol, where he was buried.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of 'Raja' by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor, who sent him to England to represent him.
- Roy was a polyglot--he was proficient in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, English, Bengali and Hindi.
- Roy was opposed to idol worship and the orthodox rituals of Hinduism. He championed scientific temper and faced a backlash for his views.
- Roy translated the Vedas and Upanishads into Bengali, Hindi, and English and wrote summaries and treatises on them.
May 22, 2024 · Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a key figure in the 19th-century Indian Renaissance. He was a social reformer, scholar, and thinker who played a crucial role in modernizing India, particularly in areas such as education, women’s rights, and religious reform.
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a brilliant scholar and an original thinker who founded the Brahmo Samaj, one of the first socio-religious reform groups in...
- Ram Mohan Roy had three marriages. He lost his first wife young. With his second wife, who passed away in 1824, he had two sons: Radhaprasad in 180...
- The founder of the contemporary Indian Renaissance, Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Roy, who was a fierce advocate for the right to free speech and expression,...
- It is also true that Christianity played a significant role in Roy's decision to establish the Brahmo Samaj as a monotheistic religion. That he had...
- In 1828, Lord William Bentinck was appointed Governor-General of India. To combat various pervasive societal ills like Sati, polygamy, child marria...
Sep 29, 2024 · Raja Ram Mohan Roy's social reforms were instrumental in challenging and dismantling oppressive practices that plagued Indian society. His efforts were driven by a profound commitment to justice and equality, reflecting his deep empathy for the marginalised and oppressed.
He was a religious and social reformer that paved the way for progress in Indian society. Born in British-ruled Bengal, Ram Mohan Roy was well accustomed to the laws and regulations placed on the citizens of the Indian community during the time. He was also acutely aware of the many superstitions and absurd religious practices in the subcontinent.
May 21, 2022 · One of the most influential social and religious reformers of the 19th century, Ram Mohan Roy, born on May 22, 1772 in what was then Bengal Presidency’s Radhanagar in Hooghly district, would have turned 250 years today.
