Why is Raja Ram Mohan Roy famous ?

After that, Ram Mohan was sent to Patna to study Persian and Arabic in a Madrasa. Persian and Arabic were in high demand at that time as it was still the court language of the Mughal Emperors.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy travelled to England in 1830 to request the Imperial Government to increase the royalty, received by the Mughal Emperor and to ensure that Lord Bentick's Sati Act would not be overturned.

He studied the Quran and other Islamic scriptures. Post completion of his studies in Patna, he went to Benares (Kashi) to learn Sanskrit.

During his visit to United Kingdom, Raja Ram Mohan Roy died of meningitis at Stapleton in Bristol on 27 September, 1833.

The 'Maker of Modern India' Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772 into a prosperous Brahmin family of Bengal. The man who challenged the traditional Hindu culture developed unorthodox religious ideas at a very young age.

He mastered the language in no time and began studying scriptures, including the Vedas and Upanishads. He learnt English language at the age of 22. He read the works of philosophers like Euclid and Aristotle which helped shape his spiritual and religious conscience.

He was buried at the Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol. Recently, the British government has named a street in Bristol as 'Raja Rammohan Way' in the memory of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

He translated the Vedas and Upanishads into Bengali, Hindi, and English and wrote summaries and treatises on them. For him, the central theme of those texts was the worship of the Supreme God who is beyond human knowledge and who supports the universe. In 1824, in appreciation of his translations, the French Societe Asiatique elected him to an honorary membership

Post completion of his education, Rammohan entered the services of the East India Company as a clerk. He worked in the Collectorate of Rangpur, under Mr. John Digby. He was eventually promoted to be a Dewan, a post that referred to a native officer entrusted with the role of collecting revenues

Ram Mohan viewed education as a medium to implement social reforms so he came to Calcutta in 1815 and the very next year, started an English College by putting his own savings.

He was a polyglot who had mastered various languages such as Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, English, Bengali and Hindi

During the late 18th century (what was known as the Dark Age), the society in Bengal was burdened with a host of evil customs and regulations. Elaborate rituals and strict moral codes were enforced which were largely modified, and badly interpreted ancient traditions

He wanted the students to learn the English language and scientific subjects and criticized the government's policy of opening only Sanskrit schools.

He was the founder of the Brahma Samaj, which played a major role in reforming and modernising the Indian society

Practices like child marriage (Gouridaan), polygamy and Sati were prevalent that affected women in the society. The most brutal among these customs was the Sati Pratha.

According to him, Indians would lag behind if they do not get to study modern subjects like Mathematics, Geography and Latin.

He formed the Atmiya Sabha as a philosophical discussion circle to debate monotheistic Hindu Vedantism and similar subjects

Government accepted this idea of Ram Mohan and also implemented it but not before his death. Ram Mohan was also the first to give importance to the development of the mother tongue.

The custom involved self-immolation of widows at their husband’s funeral pyre. While the custom in its original form gave choice to the women to do so, it gradually evolved to be a mandatory custom especially for Brahmin and higher caste families.

He was against idol worship and orthodox Hindu rituals

His 'Gaudiya Byakaran' in Bengali is the best of his prose works. Rabindranath Tagore and Bankim Chandra also followed the footsteps of Ram Mohan Roy.

Young girls were married to much older men, in return for dowry, so that these men could have the supposed karmic benefits from their wives’ sacrifice as Sati. More often than not the women did not volunteer for such brutality and had to be forced or even drugged to comply.

He denounced the caste system

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was abhorred by this cruel practice and he raised his voice against it. He spoke freely and took his views to the higher ups in the East India Company.

He also attacked the custom of Sati, the custom of burning of widows upon the funeral pyres of their deceased husbands). His endeavours lead to the prohibition of Sati in 1829