Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered one of the pioneers of the Indian Renaissance Movement which took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. At that time Indian society had a number of practices that went against the welfare of women and backward classes, such as the practice of sati (immolation of the widow at the death of her husband), child marriage and the caste system.
Roy was born in Radhanagar, Hooghly, and Bengal Presidency on May 22, 1772 to an orthodox Bengali Hindu family. He learned Sanskrit, Persian, English, Arabic, Latin and Greek and wished to become a monk at a young age. However, his parents strongly opposed this idea and he was married at the age of 9. He grew up to become a great scholar, administrator, politician and author, but is remembered primarily as a great social reformer.
2022 marks 250 years since the birth of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. His extensive study of the major religions of the world and his observations helped him to develop a rational and logical outlook to life. He was against superstitions, blind faith and black magic. He criticized idol worship and devoted his life to religious, political and social reforms. He is the founder of the Brahmo Samaj (1823), which promoted the brotherhood of man and condemned social evils prevalent at that time.
Roy was bestowed with the title of Raja by Akbar Il, the Mughal emperor. At the request of the emperor, Roy went to England to promote the ban of sati system in India. After campaigning against sati, Roy launched campaigns against child marriage, the dowry system and polygamy. He encouraged inter-caste marriages, women’s education and widow re-marriage. As a result of his efforts sati was abolished in 1833.
He started India’s first English medium school in 1816 and launched the first newspaper in an Indian language – Sambad Kaumudi. He published the journal Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian in 1822. He died of meningitis in Stapleton near Bristol, England on September 27, 1833. He was buried at Stapleton Groves and in 1843 was re-buried at the Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol, where his mausoleum still stands.
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