Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833) was a prominent Indian social reformer, scholar, and advocate for modern education. He played a crucial role in the socio-religious and cultural reforms of 19th-century India. Born in Radhanagar, Bengal (present-day West Bengal, India), Raja Ram Mohan Roy came from a Brahmin family and received a traditional Hindu education.
In this article, We have covered the Biography of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, their History, Education, Works, Books, and many more in Detail.
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Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Overview
The following is the life overview of Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
| Full Name |
Raja Ram Mohan Roy |
| Birth Date |
May 22, 1772 |
| Birthplace |
Radhanagar, Bengal, India |
| Family Background |
Brahmin family |
| Education |
Traditional Hindu Education |
| Key Contributions |
– Advocate of social and religious reforms |
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– Campaign against social evils like Sati |
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– Founding member of the Brahmo Sabha |
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– Promoted modern education in India |
| Abolition of Sati |
– Led campaigns against the practice of Sati |
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– Instrumental in the passing of the Sati Regulation |
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Act in 1829 |
| Brahmo Sabha |
– Founded in 1828 as a socio-religious reform |
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organization |
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– Aimed at promoting monotheism and rational thinking |
| Education Advocacy |
– Supported Western-style education in India |
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– Contributed to the establishment of Hindu College, |
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Calcutta, in 1817 |
| Language Proficiency |
– Proficient in multiple languages, including Sanskrit, |
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Persian, Arabic, English |
| Death Date |
September 27, 1833 |
| Legacy |
– Remembered as the “Father of the Indian Renaissance” |
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– Influential in shaping modern India’s intellectual |
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and social landscape |
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a Renaissance pioneer, is among the most memorable Bengali and Indian intellectuals in history. Ram Mohan Roy first emerged in the 18th century, when superstition, poverty, harassment, neglect, and female domination dominated Bengali and Indian society as a whole. The social structure at the time was split up into many races, castes, and religions.
The caste system was also disguised as untouchability. The lifestyle and educational opportunities of women were also impacted by the high and low caste systems. He made a significant contribution to the development of modern civilization by shattering the barriers of caste and conventional society. However, he was also able to bring about a revolutionary shift in India’s educational system and the defense of women’s lives and rights.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Birth
21 May 1772 was Roy’s birthdate. During the Bengal Renaissance of the 19th century, he was a prominent social reformer from India. His efforts to promote social and educational reforms, together with his involvement in the fight against numerous social evils that were widespread in the society at the time, have earned him the title of “Father of Modern India” and a lot of publicity. West Bengal, India’s modern-day Bengal Presidency, has the village of Radhanagar in its Hooghly district, where he was born.
Family
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born in a Bengali Brahmin family with a rich cultural and intellectual background. He was a prominent social reformer, thinker, who advocated for women’s rights during 19th-century.
Career
In the final years of the eighteenth century, Roy continued his job as a Brahmin scholar in the English courts, started learning Greek and Latin, and started lending money to Englishmen employed by the East India Company in Calcutta. He served as a “munshi” (private clerk) to Thomas Woodroffe, the registrar of the Murshidabad Appellate Court, from 1803 to 1815. Roy left the position and went to work as a collector for the East India Company for John Digby. He calculated that England received almost half of all taxes collected in India. He wrote a large number of books on a variety of topics, including politics and religion, between 1810 and 1820. As the Mughal Empire’s envoy to the United Kingdom in 1830, Rammohan Roy went there to make sure that Lord William Bentinck’s Bengal Sati Regulation, which outlawed the practice of Sati, was upheld. Akbar II, the Mughal Emperor, gave him the title “Raja” in 1831.
Death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Arriving in Britain on a trip, he was diagnosed with meningitis and died on September 27, 1833, at Stapleton, northeast of Bristol. At Bristol’s Arnos Vale cemetery, in the south, he was buried. Recently, the British government named a street in Bristol after the well-known reformist.
In southern Bristol, he was laid to rest in the Arnos Vale Cemetery. In honor of the renowned reformist, the British government recently dedicated a street in Bristol.
Ideology of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
Here are the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Ideology:
- Monotheism and Rationalism:
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a proponent of monotheism, emphasizing the worship of a single, formless God.
- He advocated for rationalism and criticized superstitions, idolatry, and rituals that, in his view, deviated from the essence of true spirituality.
- Social Reforms:
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy was deeply committed to social reforms and fought against prevalent social evils.
- He vehemently opposed the caste system, arguing for the equality of all individuals irrespective of their caste or social status.
- Abolition of Sati:
- One of his major accomplishments was his campaign against the practice of Sati, where widows self-immolate on their husband’s funeral pyre.
- His efforts contributed to the passing of the Sati Regulation Act in 1829, which aimed at eradicating this inhumane practice.
- Women’s Rights:
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy advocated for the rights and education of women.
- He opposed practices that subjugated women, such as child marriage and purdah (seclusion of women).
- Brahmo Sabha:
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy played a pivotal role in the formation of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, later evolving into the Brahmo Samaj.
- The Brahmo Samaj aimed at promoting monotheism, reason, and social reform within the framework of Hinduism.
- Education and Modernization:
- He recognized the importance of education in bringing about social change.
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy supported the introduction of Western-style education in India and contributed to the establishment of Hindu College in Calcutta in 1817.
- Cultural Syncretism:
- While advocating for social reforms, Raja Ram Mohan Roy also emphasized the importance of cultural syncretism.
- He sought to reconcile traditional Indian values with the rational and progressive ideas of the West.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Works
One of the principal achievements of Ram Mohan Roy was founding the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform organization seeking to modernize and rationalize Hinduism. While fighting to abolish superstitious beliefs, caste discrimination, and idol worship, the Brahmo Samaj placed a high priority on monotheism and the worship of an immaterial heavenly being.
Writer Ram Mohan Roy was a prolific writer who used his writing to spread his ideals and encourage societal improvements. His writings have been published in Bengali and English as books and essays covering a wide range of topics, including social justice, women’s rights, and religious tolerance.
His attempts to question ingrained Hindu rites and promote social reform were met with opposition from some traditionalist parts of society.
On Rights of Women
- He ran a campaign advocating for women’s rights, such as the ability of widows to marry again and the ability of women to own property.
- He denounced child marriage, polygamy, women’s illiteracy, and widows’ substandard treatment.
On Sati Pratha
- By 1829, Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India at the time, abolished Sati and outlawed polygamy as a result of his efforts
- He founded the Bengali weekly Sambad Kaumudi, which consistently attacked Sati as uncivilized and incompatible with Hindu principles.
On Caste
- During his campaign, Raja Ram Mohan Roy opposed the caste system, untouchability, superstitions, and alcohol consumption.
- He placed a strong emphasis on modern science and rationalism.
- He battled against what was then thought to be the evils of Hindu society.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Contribution
Raja Ram Mohan Roy had made various contributions in different different fields that had a huge impact on the Indian society. His contributions can be divided into social, religious, educational, and political reforms.
Religious Reformer & Reinterpreting Hinduism
- Unreasonable religious ideas were highlighted in Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s 1803 essay Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin, also titled “a gift to deists.”
- He was against the belief in revelations, prophets, miracles, and other immoral Hindu activities, as well as idolatry.
- He objected to Hinduism because he thought it was polytheistic. According to the Vedas, he was a supporter of monotheistic.
- To combat idolatry, rigid caste systems, pointless rituals, and other social evils, he established the Atmiya Sabha in Calcutta in 1814.
- He disapproved of Christianity’s ritualistic practices and denied that Christ was God’s incarnation. He attempted to separate the miracle narratives from the New Testament’s moral and philosophical lessons in Precepts of Jesus (1820), a work he greatly admired.
- He contributed into Bengali the Vedas and five of the Upanishads.
Social Reformer
In the latter part of the 18th century, sometimes known as the Dark Age, a number of unethical customs and regulations subjugated Bengali civilization. Hugely modified ancient traditions were combined with rigid moral standards and elaborate ceremonies that were misinterpreted. Polygamy, Sati, and child marriage (Gouridaan) were among the prevalent customs that negatively impacted women in society.
- Reformist religious organizations were seen by him as tools for bringing about social and political change.
- He laid the foundation of Brahmo Sabha.
Political Reformer
Freedom & Liberty:
The British constitutional system of government amazed and inspired Roy since it granted the people a great deal of civil liberties. His aim was to provide Indians with the advantages of that form of governance.
Freedom of Press:
He was in favour of India’s free press movement. Following Lord Hastings’ 1819 relaxation of press restrictions, Ram Mohan discovered three journals: The Brahmanical Magazine (1821); Samvad Kaumudi (1821), a Bengali weekly; and Mirat-ul-Akbar, a Persian weekly.
Taxation Reforms:
Roy called for the establishment of minimum rents and denounced the repressive actions of Bengali zamindars. In addition, he called for tax-free territory to be free of taxes.
He demanded the elimination of the East India Company’s commercial rights as well as a decrease in export taxes on Indian commodities sent overseas.
Administrative reforms:
He insisted on the division of the executive and judicial branches and the Indianization of superior services. He insisted that Europeans and Indians be treated equally.
On the policy of Laissez- fair:
He disagreed with the laissez-faire approach to governance. In his writings, he had made several pleas to the state authorities to take on a variety of social, moral, and cultural duties that did not strictly fall into the “political” category. In addition to providing equal protection for the lives of men and women, he wanted the state to outlaw deplorable practices like Sati, safeguard tenants from abusive landlords, arrange for liberal and practical education, and work towards the establishment of a new social order founded on the values of liberty, equality, fraternity, and social justice.
Educational Reformer
- Roy made significant contributions to educating his people about the advantages of a modern education. While Roy’s English school taught Voltaire’s philosophy and mechanics, he backed David Hare’s efforts to build the Hindu College in 1817.
- His Vedanta institution was founded in 1825 and offered courses in Western social and scientific sciences as well as Indian knowledge.
Influences that shaped him
In addition to Bengali and Sanskrit, Roy was fluent in seventeen others widely spoken languages, including Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Because of his fluency in so many languages, Roy was exposed to a wide range of intellectual, religious, and cultural experiences.
He did extensive research on Islam. Sufi poets such as Saddi and Haafiz left a lasting impression on Roy. Roy was captivated by the Quaranic idea of Tauhid, or the Unity of God.
Roy was therefore extremely troubled when he looked at the Hindu religious scriptures and practices in this light. He saw idolatry, polytheism, and illogical superstitions as completely abhorrent. He made the decision to fight these age-old evils.
Ram Mohan, a Sanskrit scholar, was inspired to rid traditional Hinduism of its obscurantist components since he had thoroughly researched Hindu scriptures.
Roy has also studied the Dhamma teachings of the Buddha. It is reported that he arrived in Tibet during his travels. He was distressed to see how openly the Buddhist precepts were being broken and how idolatry, which had no place in Lord Buddha’s Dhamma, had gained acceptance. He was a harsh critic of the methods.
Roy was as much of an admirer of the Bible as he was of the Quran and the Vedanta. Many of his critics believed that Roy’s Brahmo Samaj had taken two key elements from Christianity: the practice of communal prayer and the rejection of idolatry. Roy faced accusations of converting Hindustan to Christianity through superstition.
Interesting Facts Raja Ram Mohan Roy
The first weekly newspaper published in Bengali and the first newspaper published in an Indian language were both founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy. His groundbreaking journalism endeavors attempted to inform Indians about a broad spectrum of topics. His journal, Sambad Koumudi, aided in the formation of public opinion on matters pertaining to everyday life in British India. Roy began publishing the Persian periodical Mirat-ul-Akbar i n 1822.
To disseminate his Hindu monotheistic ideas, Roy founded the Vedanta College. He championed the theory of the pure ethical Vedanta school.
He promoted subjects like Mathematics, Geography and Latin which, he felt, were necessary to help the Indians keep pace with the rest of the world.
Roy was referred to be the “Father of Modern India” by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He is regarded by many historians as one of the pioneers of the Indian Renaissance. He did not follow the outdated customs of his time.
Brahmo Samaj
Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma) in August 1828. This Hindu reformer religion blended parts of liberal Christianity and Unitarianism into its doctrine. The Brahmo Samaj would go on to become a major force in the next century’s Hindu reform movement.
Roy visited England in 1829 as the unofficial envoy of the Delhi ruler, who bestowed upon him the title of Raja, a title that the British refused to acknowledge. In England, Roy was well received, especially by King William IV and Unitarians. Sadly, Roy passed away from a fever in Bristol while being cared for by Unitarian friends, where he was buried.
Roy’s progressive beliefs and wide-ranging social vision make him a significant figure in contemporary Indian history. He was a steadfast social reformer who, in opposition to the Western invasion of Indian culture, revived interest in the moral precepts of the Vedanta school. Roy became the first Indian to adapt the core social and political concepts of the French and American revolutions to the Indian setting through his textbooks and treatises, which also helped popularize Bengali. His legacy lives on in India as a representation of progressive ideas and social change.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Literary Work
Here are the literary Works of Raja Ram Mohan Roy:
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1804
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1815
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1816
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1817
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1818
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1819
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1820
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1826
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1829
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1833
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FAQs on Raja Ram Mohan Roy
What was Raja Ram Mohan Roy famous for?
Raja Ram Mohan Roy the founder of the Brahmo Samaj (one of the first Indian socio-religious reform movements) was a great scholar and an independent thinker. He was a religious and social reformer and is known as the ‘Father of Modern India’ or ‘Father of the Bengal Renaissance’.
What was Raja Ram Mohan Roy religious reform?
Raja Ram Mohan Roy concluded that religious reform is both social reform and political modernization. Ram Mohan believed that each sinner must make restitution for his sins and it is to be done through self-purification and repentance and not through sacrifices and rituals.
Why was Raja Ram Mohan Roy buried?
Ram Mohan Roy was originally buried on 18 October 1833, in the grounds of Stapleton Grove, where he had lived as an ambassador of the Mughal Empire and died of meningitis on 27 September 1833. Nine years later he was reburied on 29 May 1843 in a grave at the new Arnos Vale Cemetery, in Brislington, East Bristol.
What was Raja Ram Mohan Roy political views?
He wanted a theology liberation and freedom. Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed that in his time, Indians could derive the advantages of the liberal spirit of British public or political life if the laws for India were made by the British Parliament rather than by an Indian Legislative Council located on Indian soil.
Who gave Raja title to Ram Mohan Roy?
The correct answer is Mughal Emperor Akbar II. Akbar II gave the title of Raja to Ram Mohan Roy. Akbar II was Mughal Emperor from 1806-1837.
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