Raja Ram Mohan Roy-The Father of the Bengal Renaissance
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj and is known as the Father of the Bengal Renaissance. Born in Radhanagore, West Bengal on May 22, 1772, he is most well-known for his efforts to abolish the evil practice of sati.
He founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 along with Dwarkanath Tagore. He initially worked as a moneylender and from 1803 to 1814 worked with the British East India Company. Ram Mohan Roy also campaigned against polygamy.
Though he campaigned vigorously against practices like Sati, idolatry and polygamy, he was not against tradition and religion. He was a scholar of the Upanishads. Besides, he campaigned for the right of widows to remarry, the right of women to hold property and the right of women to education.
It was his firm opinion that English-language education was much better than the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed the grant of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he started a school based on the Western scheme of education.
The Brahmo Samaj was set up to fight against the social and religious evils in society prevalent during that time. In 1831 Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal empire. He died in the U.K of meningitis on September 27, 1833.
Interesting facts about Raja Ram Mohan Roy:-
1. Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of ‘Raja’ by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor, who sent him to England to represent him.
2. Roy was a polyglot–he was proficient in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, English, Bengali and Hindi.
3. Roy was opposed to idol worship and the orthodox rituals of Hinduism. He championed scientific temper and faced a backlash for his views.
4. Roy translated the Vedas and Upanishads into Bengali, Hindi, and English and wrote summaries and treatises on them.
5. He started India’s first English medium school in 1816 in Kolkata that later came to be known as the Anglo-Hindu school.
6. In 1822, Ram Mohan Roy published the journal Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian and founded the newspaper Sambad Koumudi.
7. Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828. This move is often credited with playing an important role in reforming and modernizing the Indian society.
8. Ram Mohan Roy vowed to oppose Sati after his sister-in-law died by jumping into the pyre of his brother Jag Mohan in 1811. He led many protests and wrote petitions to the British calling for its abolition. Thanks to his efforts, the British banned it in 1829.
9. Roy founded Atmiya Sabha, a group that discussed and debated the essence of religion.
10. He is often called the ‘Father of Indian Renaissance’. Freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale called Roy the ‘Father of Modern India’.
The statue of Ram Mohan Roy in front of Bristol Cathedral.
11. When in 1829, he visited England as the unofficial representative of the titular king of Delhi,it was rumoured that the law against Sati would be overturned. He went to England to campaign for the law to continue.
12. Roy also led campaigns against child marriage, the purdah system, dowry and polygamy.
13. Roy died of meningitis in Bristol on September 27, 1833. He is buried at Arnos Vale Cemetery where a mausoleum stands to this day.
