Ram Mohan Roy
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| Raja Ram Mohan Roy | |
|---|---|
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy portrait | |
| Born | 22 May 1772 Radhanagore, Bengal, British India |
| Died | 27 September 1833 (aged 61) Stapleton, Bristol, England, UK |
| Cause of death | Meningitis |
| Resting place | Arnos Vale Cemetery, Bristol, England |
| Other names | Rammohun, Rammohan, or Ram Mohan |
| Ethnicity | Bengali Hindu |
| Occupation | Social reformer |
| Known for | Bengal Renaissance, Brahmo Samaj |
| Height | 1.75 mts |
| Weight | 56 kg |
| Successor | Dwarkanath Tagore |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Spouse(s) | Uma Devi |
| Parents | Ramakanta Roy (father) |
| Signature |  |
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ram Mohun also spelled Rammohun, Rammohan, or Ram Mohan (Bengali: রাজা রামমোহন রায়; 22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833), was an Indian religious, social, and educational reformer who challenged traditional Hindu culture and indicated the lines of progress for Indian society under British rule. He is called the "Maker of Modern India" and also as "Father of Modern India".[1] He is also regarded as the "Father of the Bengal Renaissance. He, along with Dwarkanath Tagore and other Bengalis, founded the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which engendered theBrahmo Samaj, an influential Indian socio-religious reform movement during the Bengal Renaissance. His influence was apparent in the fields ofpolitics, public administration, and education, as well as religion. He is known for his efforts to abolish sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre, and child marriage.[2][3]
Early life and education (1772–1792) [edit]
Roy was born in a Bengali Hindu family in Radhanagore, Hooghly, Bengal (now West Bengal), in 22 May 1772,[4] into the Rarhi Brahmin caste of Sandilya Gotra (family name Bandyopadhyay).[5] His family background displayed religious diversity; his father Ramkanto Roy was a Vaishnavite, while his mother Tarinidevi was from a Shaivite family. This was unusual for Vaishanavites did not commonly marry Shaivites at that time. Thus, one parent wanted him to be a scholar, a sastrin, while the other wanted him to have a career dedicated to the laukik, which was secular publicadministration.[6] He wandered around the Himalayas and went to Tibet.
Early political and religious career (1792–1820) [edit]
Raja Rammohan Roy's impact on modern Indian history concerned a revival of the ethics principles of the Vedanta school of philosophy as found in the Upanishads. He preached about the unity of God, made early translations of Vedic scriptures into English, co-founded the Calcutta Unitarian Society, founded the Brahmo Samaj, and campaigned against sati. He sought to integrate Western culture with features of his own country's traditions. He established schools to modernise a system of education in India.
During these overlapping periods[when?], Ram Mohan Roy acted as a political agitator and agent,[7] while being employed by the East India Companyand simultaneously pursuing his vocation as a Pandit.
In 1792, the British Baptist shoemaker William Carey published his missionary tract An Enquiry of the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of Heathens. In the following year, William Carey landed in India to settle. His objective was to translate, publish and distribute the Bible in Indian languages and propagate Christianity to the Indian peoples.[8] He believed the "mobile" (i.e. service classes) Brahmins and Pundits were most able to help him in this endeavour, and he began gathering them. He learned the Buddhist and Jain religious works as a means to improve his argument in promotion for Christianity in the cultural context. In 1795, Carey made contact with a Sanskrit scholar, the Tantric Hariharananda Vidyabagish,[9] who later introduced him to Ram Mohan Roy; Roy wished to learn English.
In 1799, Carey was joined by missionary Joshua Marshman and the printer William Ward at the Danish settlement of Serampore.
From 1803 to 1815, Rammohan served the East India Company's "Writing Service", commencing as private clerk "munshi" to Thomas Woodforde, Registrar of the Appellate Court atMurshidabad,[10] whose distant nephew, also a Magistrate, later made a living off the spurious Maha Nirvana Tantra under the pseudonym Arthur Avalon. In 1815, Raja Ram Mohan Roy formed "Atmiya Sabhan", and spent many years[when?] at Rangpur and elsewhere with Digby, where he renewed his contacts with Hariharananda. William Carey had, by this time, settled at Seramporeand the trio renewed their association with one another. William Carey was also aligned with the English Company, then headquartered at Fort William, and his religious and political ambitions were increasingly intertwined.
The East India Company was taking money from India at a rate of three million pounds a year in 1838. Ram Mohan Roy estimated how much money was being driven out of India and where it was headed towards. He predicted that around half of the total revenue collected in India was sent out to England, leaving India to fill taxes with the remaining money.[11]
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