Raja Ram Mohan Roy, one of the major Indian social reformers and intellectuals of the 18th Century, has left an undeniable imprint on the making of modern India. He dedicated his life to fight crippling medieval practices such as sati, child marriages, and the Purdah system in the Indian society. It is due efforts of social reformers like him that issues such as widow remarriage and education of women gained impetus, as did the English system of education. This lasting legacy of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and other Brahmo Samaj founders is an important milestone in Indian history.
Early Life
Ram Mohan Roy was born in the year 1772 in Bengal to a Brahmin family. His father was Ramkanta Roy and mother was Tarini Devi. Ram Mohan was schooled in the Hindu Shastras (Vedic literature) in keeping with his elevated caste. The phenomenal polyglot and linguist, Ram Mohan studied texts in Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and Bengali and later English and French. This early study was used later by him to publish his own translations of the Vedic scriptures. He tried to assimilate rational Western thought with Indian philosophy and was successful to a great extent.
Early in life he worked for the East India Company. From 1803 to 1815, he was a private Munshi or clerk at the Appellate court in Murshidabad in Bengal. During this time he followed European politics and was influenced by the radical new ideas of the French revolution and Enlightenment. This free thinking led him to question the dominant Hindu social customs of child marriage, caste, dowry etc and the prevalent brahminical religious ideas such as idol worship as opposed to the simple and ethical philosophy of Hindu religious texts such as the Upanishads.
Brahmo Samaj and the Bengal Renaissance
In 1815 he moved to Calcutta and founded the Atmiyan Sabha, an association where free discussions on theology especially on topics such as idolatry and monotheism were encouraged. These new ideas attracted eminent Bengalis such as Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Dwarkanath Tagore, and Raja Kali Shankar Ghoshal among others who joined the Atmiyan Sabha. This period in Indian history is also popularly called the Bengal Renaissance.
Ram Mohan Roy believed in the power of education for social reform and supported the study of English, western science and technology and wanted to assimilate these in the Indian social fabric. In 1817 in Calcutta he set up the Hindu College, which was later renamed the Presidency College. In 1825, he opened the Vedanta College to incorporate western philosophy with Indian learning.
Ram Mohan Roy actively wrote and published tracts and magazines in English, Persian and Bengali. He published in 1821 a Bengali magazine Sambad Kaumudi, and in 1822 Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian . With his writings he tackled issues such as freedom of the press, property rights of women, sati, polygamy, and child marriages.
In 1828, a new society called the Brahma Sabha or the ‘Society of one God ‘was started by Ram Mohan and Dwarkanath Tagore, the grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore. The society questioned the prevailing religious doctrine and advocated the study of the ancient Vedantas and Hindu scriptures .These ideas infuriated the orthodox Brahmins but also had a lot of sympathizers and followers.
In 1829, Ram Mohan Roy petitioned the government against the inhuman practice of sati or burning of the widow in the funeral pyre of her husband. The practice of sati was abolished due to his effort and tireless agitation against it.
Travel to England
In 1830, Ram Mohan Roy left for England. He was given the title of Raja by the ex Mughal emperor of India, who also made Ram Mohan his ambassador. The aim of the visit to England was to plead the ex Mughal emperor’s case before the governing authorities of the East India Company and simultaneously ensure that the abolition of sati was not overturned.
He was given a rousing welcome in England and met eminent intellectuals such as William Roscoe and Jeremy Bentham. Ram Mohan presented papers on the Revenue System and Judicial System in India to the House of Commons. In 1833 he passed away in Bristol in England and was buried in the garden of Stapleton grove. Ten years later his best friend Dwarkanath Tagore laid his mortal remains to rest at the Arnos vale cemetery in Bristol.
