Raja Ram Mohan Roy– A Great Reformer –Analysis

-*Dr. S. Vijay Kumar Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a great son of India who paved the way for various reforms for the development of our country. He was a multifaceted social, religious, political, economic, and educational reformer renowned for his pioneering role in opposing practices like Sati, child marriages, social Divisions and for advocating education. Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which was one of the first Indian socio-religious reform movements. Main aim Brahmo Samaj was the worship of the eternal God. It was against priesthood, rituals, and sacrifices. It focused on prayers, meditation and reading of the scriptures. It believed in the unity of all religions. He was also a great scholar and an independent thinker. Ram Mohan Roy was greatly influenced by western modern thought and stressed on rationalism and modern scientific approach. He was against the perceived polytheism of Hinduism. He advocated monotheism as given in the scriptures. Gopal Krishna Gokhale called Roy the ‘Father of Modern India’. He was considered as the “Father of Indian Renaissance”. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was born on May 22, 1772 in a village Radhanagar in the District of Hooghly in Bengal to Ramkanto Roy and Tarini. His father was a rich Brahmin and orthodox. Despite his father Ramakanto’s strict religious beliefs, he encouraged his son to seek higher education. From the village school, he learned Bengali and Sanskrit Ram Mohan was then sent to Patna to learn Persian and Arabic in a Madrasa. Persian and Arabic were in high demand at that time as it was the court language of the Mughal Emperors. He read the Quran and other Islamic texts. After finishing his studies in Patna, he went to Banaras (Kashi) to study Sanskrit. He learned Vedas and Upanishads. He learnt English much later at the age of 22. He read the works of philosophers such as Euclid and Aristotle, which influenced his spiritual and theological beliefs. Ram Mohan joined the East India Company as a clerk and promoted to the rank of Dewan, which denoted a native officer tasked with revenue collection. He estimated that around half of the total revenue collected in India was sent to England. Between 1810 and 1820, he published numerous works on a wide range of subjects including religion and politics. In 1830, Ram Mohan Roy travelled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal Empire to ensure that Lord William Bentinck’s Bengal Sati Regulation, banning the practice of Sati, was not overturned. As a result of his hard work in fighting Sati, the governor of the Bengal Presidency, Lord William Bentinck, formally banned the Sati practice on December 4, in 1829. He persuaded the British government to increase the Mughal Emperor’s stipend by £30,000. In 1831, the Mughal Emperor Akbar II conferred the title ‘Raja’ on him. Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s name will be remembered in the history of India as a great social reformer and benefactor of women, not only for helping to end the tradition of Sati but also for speaking out against child marriage and polygamy, as well as for urging equal inheritance rights for women. He was also a fierce opponent of his generation’s rigid caste distinctions. Now, in this Paper I will try to analyze in detail Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s various facets of his life as a socio, economic, political, religious, journalist and educational reformer. *Professor (Associate) & Head of the Department of Economics (Retd.), Kakatiya Government NAAC “A” Grade College, Former Member of Board of Studies, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Telangana State. Raja Ram Mohan Roy - Social Reformer: • Raja Ram Mohan Roy was influenced by western modern thought and stressed on rationalism and modern scientific approach. • He believed that religious orthodoxies have become causes of injury and detrimental to social life and sources of trouble and bewilderment to the people, instead of tending to the amelioration of the condition of society. • He believed that each sinner must make restitution for his sins, and it is to be done through self-purification and repentance and not through sacrifices and rituals. • He was attracted to monotheism. He said that monotheism is the fundamental message of Vedanta. • His idea of single, unitarian god was a corrective to the polytheism of orthodox Hinduism and to Christian trinitarianism. He believed that monotheism supported one universal model for humanity. • He campaigned against untouchability, superstitions, and use of intoxicants. • He was well known for his pioneering thought and action on the emancipation of women and especially on the abolition of sati and supported widow remarriages. He also struggled for the empowerment of women. • He attacked illiteracy of women and the degraded state of widows and demanded the right of inheritance and property for women. • He opposed customs such as Sati, polygamy, child marriage, and purdah. He believed in social equality of all human beings and thus was a strong opposer of the rigidity of the caste system and its excesses. As a result of his arduous work in fighting Sati, the governor of the Bengal Presidency, Lord William Bentinck, formally banned the practice on December 4, in 1829. Raja Ram Mohan Roy conceived reformist religious associations as instruments of social and political transformation. Raja Ram Mohan Roy – Religious Reformer: • He opined religious reform is both social reform and political modernization. • Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1815 to campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities, meaningless rituals, and other social ills. The Calcutta Unitarian Association in 1821, and the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which later became the Brahmo Samaj. First reformist movement of the Hindu religion that aimed at fighting social evils that were prevalent in those days in the society. The following are the salient features of Brahmo Samaj: • It was the forerunner of all social, religious, and political movements of modern India. It split into two in 1866, namely Brahmo Samaj of India led by Keshub Chandra Sen and Adi Brahmo Samaj led by Debendranath Tagore. • Its chief aim was the worship of the only one eternal God. It was against idol, priesthood, rituals, and sacrifices. • It focused on prayers, meditation and reading of the scriptures. It believed in the unity of all religions. • It was the first intellectual reform movement in modern India. It led to the emergence of rationalism and enlightenment in India which indirectly contributed to the nationalist movement. Other Religious Reforms: • He translated the Vedas and five of the Upanishads into Bengali. • He opposed idolatry, dowry, and corrupt practices of the Hindus as the belief in revelations, prophets, miracles etc. • He had learned holy scriptures from various faiths and argued that Hindu Scriptures such as the Upanishads supported the concept of monotheism. • His Brahma Samaj emerged as a powerful progressive force driving for religious and social reforms in Bengal, especially women’s education. • He was against the perceived polytheism of Hinduism. He advocated monotheism as given in the scriptures. • He criticized the ritualism of Christianity and rejected Christ as the incarnation of God. In Precepts of Jesus (1820), he tried to separate the moral and philosophical message of the New Testament, which he praised, from its miracle stories. • Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s first published work Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin (a gift to deists) published in 1803 exposed irrational religious beliefs. • Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his Brahmo Samaj played a vital role in awakening Indian society to the pressing issues plaguing society at that time. It was the forerunner of all social, religious, and political movements of modern India. Raja Ram Mohan Roy – Political Reformer: • Raja Ram Mohan Roy was impressed and admired the civil liberties given to people under the British System of Constitutional Government. He wanted to extend the benefits of that system of government to the Indian people. • He spoke against the unjust policies of the British government especially the restrictions on press freedom. Through his writings and activities, he supported the movement for free press in India. When press censorship was relaxed by Lord Hastings in 1819, Ram Mohan found three journals- The Brahmanical Magazine (1821); The Bengali weekly, Samvad Kaumudi (1821); and the Persian weekly, Mirat-ul-Akbar. • He demanded equality between Indians and Europeans. He wanted the Indianization of superior services and separation of the executive from the judiciary. Raja Ram Mohan Roy – Economic Reformer: Reforms for Taxes – • He condemned the oppressive practices of Bengali Zamindars. • He demanded fixation of minimum rents. • He called for a reduction of export duties on Indian goods abroad and demanded the abolition of taxes on tax-free lands. • He raised his voice for the abolition of the East India Company’s trading rights. • He wanted modern economics and industry to be introduced into the country. Raja Ram Mohan Roy - Educational Reformer: • Raja Ram Mohan Roy made remarkable efforts in the field of education system of India. To modernize the education system, he established many English schools to educate Indians in Western scientific education and also promoted technology, and western medicine. • He strived hard for women emancipation and for their legitimate rights and against the illiteracy, especially of women. He believed that English-language education was superior to the traditional Indian education system and called for the introduction of English Education System to teach scientific subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. • He paved the way for revolutionizing Indian Education System and supported the efforts of David Hare’s to establish Hindu College in 1817 in Calcutta, while Roy’s English school taught mechanics and Voltaire’s philosophy which became one of the finest educational Institutions in the world. • In order to mix traditional philosophical teachings with modern rational classes, he founded the Anglo-Vedic School in 1822. • In 1826, he established Vedanta college to spread his teachings of Hindu monotheism and also courses were offered in social and physical sciences. • He promoted the pure ethical Vedanta school of philosophy. Coming at a time when the government had opened Sanskrit schools, his step was also aimed at promoting subjects like Mathematics, Geography and Latin which, he felt, were necessary to help the Indians keep pace with the rest of the world. Raja Ram Mohan Roy – Journalism – Literary and Published Works: Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a pioneer in the field of Indian Journalism. It was because of his efforts that in 1835 all the restrictions imposed on Press were removed by Charles Metcalfe. For his honorary work as a journalist, every year ‘Raja Ram Mohan Roy National Award for excellence in Journalism’ is given to a journalist for their contributions in the field of journalism. The award contains a cash price of 1 Lakh rupees. Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a democrat and a humanist at heart. He was a voracious reader. He studied eastern languages such as Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit, as well as European languages such as English, French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Ram Mohan Roy was a strong advocate of free expression and free speech. He was an outspoken supporter of press freedom. He advocated for the freedom of the vernacular press. To educate people politically and, socially Raja Ram Mohan Roy published magazines in different languages including English, Hindi, Persian, and Bengali. He was the founder and editor of the Bengali periodical Samvadkaumudi, which was one of the first Indian newspapers. He was a brilliant linguist and stylist. He was an independent thinker and a person who brought changes to society during the 18th and 19th centuries. He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of modern Bengali writing. Noticeable magazines published by him were the Brahmanical Magazine, the Sambad Kaumudi, and Mirat-ul-Akbar. His most popular journals covered socio-political issues in India which helped Indians to rise above their current state. Raja Ram Mohan Roy inspired the people across the world with his Journalism, Literary and Published Works. His noted works are: • Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (1804). • Vedanta Gantha (1815). • Translation of an abridgement of the Vedanta Sara (1816) • Kenopanishads (1816). • Ishopanishad (1816). • Kathopanishad (1817). • A Conference between the Advocate for, and an Opponent of Practice of Burning Widows Alive (Bengali and English) (1818). • Mundaka Upanishad (1819). • A Defence of Hindu Theism (1820). • The Precepts of Jesus- The Guide to Peace and Happiness (1820). • Bengali Grammar (1826). • The Universal Religion (1829). • History of Indian Philosophy (1829). • Gaudiya Vyakaran (1833). • Petitions against the Press Regulation to Supreme Court and to King-in Council. • Letter to Lord Amherst on English education. • A tract on the Religious Toleration. • Rights of Hindus over ancestral property according to the Law of Bengal. • Remarks on Settlement in India by Europeans. • An Exposition of the Revenue and Judicial System of India. To conclude, Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a renowned historical person who worked tirelessly to develop India and declared that he would violate Hindu tradition. The contributions of Raja Ram Mohan Roy to modern India are worthy, hence he is considered as the first great leader and father of modern India. To change the society, he conducted a lot of social, religious reforms and strove to improve the status of women in India. He attempted to propagate the monotheistic doctrine in religion. He knew that the ideal of human civilization does not lie in isolation of independence, but in the brotherhood of inter-dependence of individuals as well as nations. He was a staunch opponent of social ills like Sati, Child marriage, Caste rigidity. The eradication of Sati is one of the most significant turning points in modern India's social history. Raja Ram Mohan Roy died with a disease “Meningitis” on September 27, 1833, in Bristol. 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