Name – ADVAIT MISHRA (B.A. LL.B IST SEM ).

SUBJECT – HISTORY.( PRESENTATION ASSIGNMENT)

RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY

Facts:

Birth date -- May 27 1772

Birth place--Radhanagore, Bengal, British India.

Spouse – Uma Devi.

Died on --27th September 1833.

Place of death --- Bristol, England.

Founder- Brahmo Samaj.

Fondly called the “Maker of Modern India”, social and educational reformer Raja
Ram Mohan Roy was a visionary who lived during one of India’s darkest social
phases but strived his best to make his motherland a better place for the future
generations to come. Given the fact that Ram Mohan Roy was born into a family
which displayed religious diversity which was unusual in Bengal at the time, it
comes as no surprise that the young Ram Mohan Roy was disturbed by the
problems stemming in the society due to religious and social malpractices. Along
with other reformers and visionaries he fought against the evil practices prevalent
in the Indian society at that time and helped to eradicate several of them. He also
left a deep impact in the fields of politics and education.

Early childhood-

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born in Bengal brahmin family. His family had been
serving the Mughals for three generation. His father Ramkanto Roy was a
Vaishnavite, while his mother Tarinidevi was a Shaivite—this was very unusual
during those times where marriages between different religious sub sects were
uncommon.

He lernt Bengali and Sanskrit in the village school and went patna for higher
education where he lernt Arabic and Persian. He than moved to Kashi to study the
intricacies of Sanskrit .he started learning English after he was of age 22.

LATER LIIFE:

--After completing his education he found a job in the East India Company where
he served for several years and became a revenue officer in 1809. Ram Mohan had
a strong belief in Lord Vishnu and in fact he is credited with coining the term
“Hinduism”. However, he was dead against the malpractices forced upon the
masses in the name of religion.

--In 1812, his brother died and his widow was forced to burn herself too at his lit
pyre. Young Ram Mohan tried his best to stop the evil from occurring but failed
miserably. This incident left a deep impact on his mind. He struggled a lot to make
people realize that not only was sati a meaningless ritual, it was also very cruel and
evil.

--He supported the freedom of press as he believed that only a press that operated
without any outer pressures could fulfill its duties in disseminating important
information among the masses.

--In 1828, he founded one of the most significant socio-religious institutions of

modern day India—the Brahmo Samaj. It was a very influential movement that did
not discriminate between people belonging to different religions, castes or
communities. Following years of his hard work in fighting against sati, the governor
of the Bengal Presidency lands, Lord William Bentinck formally banned the practice
on 4 December 1829.He was also a journalist who published journals in different
languages like English, Hindi, Persian and Bengali. ‘Sambad Kaumudi’, his most
popular journal covered socio-political topics of interest to the Indians which
helped them rise above their current state.

MAJOR WORKS-

• In 1815, he established the Atmiya Sabha, a precursor in the socio-religious

reforms in Bengal.

• In 1817, he founded Mahapathshala (Hindu College) at Kolkata along with

Radhakanta Deb and others. It was renamed as Presidency College in 1855 and was
upgraded as full university recently in 2010.

• In 1821, He launched a Bengali weekly newspaper Sambad Kaumudi. Sambad

Kaumudi was first Indian newspaper edited, published and managed by Indians. In
this newspaper, he wrote on subjects such as freedom of press, induction of Indians
into higher services and separation of judiciary with executive.

• In 1822, he published a Persian newsmagazine titled Mirat-ul-Akbar.

• His other Persian works include Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (Gift to Monotheists) and

Manazarutul Adyan {a discussion in Persian on various religions}

• He translated some parts of Vedanta texts and also the Kena Upanishad.

• In 1828, he launched Brahmo Sabha with Devendranath Tagore. By 1828, he had

become a well known figure in India.

• In 1830, he had gone to England as an envoy of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar Shah
II, who invested him with the title of Raja to the court of King William IV. He was
expected to represent to the British sovereign the inadequacy of the pension
granted to the Mughal emperor.

• He was well received in various circles in England, where he stayed for three years
and died of meningitis there on September 27, 1833.

Legacy and Death:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy demanded property inheritance rights for women and fought
the social evils of the Bengali Society. Sati, Caste rigidity, polygamy, child marriages
etc. were targeted and his led this reform movement personally. He died of
meningitis in England in 1833. He along with Mahatma Gandhi represented the two
ends, the beginning and the culmination, of the first epoch of Modern India.