Biography of Raja Ram Mohan Roy

 

Jaya Kosley

 

Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur

 

ABSTRACT:

 

INTRODUCTION:

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1977-1833) was born in the British ruled Bengal. He belonged to a prosperous but orthodox family. He developed a liberal attitude towards different religions. He opposed idol worship. This attitude forced him to leave his house. Ram Mohan worked as the assistant of John Digby, an official of the East India Company. Roy studied several languages. He wrote on the ethical teachings of Christ in order to teach his Hindu monotheistic doctrines. He was a pioneer in the introduction of western education in India. He founded the ‘Brahmo Samaj’ in 1825. Through his strong efforts, ‘sati’ was banned by the British. He was granted the title of Raja by the titular king of Delhi. Roy also defends the peasants. He suggested several administrative and social reforms. He has been rightly called the “Father of modern India.”¹

 

He was deeply devoted to the work of religious and social reform, He condemned polytheism and idol worship and propagated the concept of one God. His religious ideas had assimilated elements of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and modern European liberal philosophy. He translated ancient Indian works on religion and philosophy into Bengali.

 

He attacked the caste system and campaigned to persuade the Government to abolish 'Sati' system and child marriage.

He advocated equal rights for women, right of widows to remarry and right of women to property. He stood for modern education, introduction of English education for the propagation of science in India and modernization of Indian society. He was internationalist and supported the cause of freedom everywhere. He celebrated the success of the 1830 Revolution in France and condemned the Britishers who were inflicting miseries on Ireland².

 

He visited England in 1831 as the ambassador of the Mughal emperor Akbar Shah. In 1833 he went to Bristol to stay at Beech House in Stapleton Grove. Ten days after arriving in Bristol, he fell ill with meningitis, and died on 27th September 1833. He was initially buried in the grounds of Beech House, but ten years later his friend Dwarakanath Tagore had him reinterred at Arno’s Vale. In 1997, a statue of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was built at Bristol.

 

Ram Mohan was a multi-faceted personality. He was an intellectual who tried to lead India to modernity. He taught the Hindus to give up meaningless beliefs and customs. He was the lamp that leads Hindus to the essence of Hinduism. He is remembered in the Indian history as the originator of all the important secular movements. Although Raja Ram Mohan Roy introduced the western concepts, he was appreciated not only in India but all over the world for his sincere efforts to build a nation with respectable values and a living place for everybody3.

 

REFERENCE:

1.       http://indiansaga.com/history/reforms.html

2.       http://www.preservearticles.com/201104195600/short-biography-of-raja-ram-mohan-roy.html

3.       http://www.ceeby.com/people/rajarammohanroy.cfm