Raja Ram Mohan Roy Biography

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj and is known as the Father of the Bengal Renaissance. Born in Radhanagore, West Bengal on May 22, 1772, he is most well-known for his efforts to abolish the evil practice of sati.

He founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 along with Dwarkanath Tagore. He initially worked as a moneylender and from 1803 to 1814 worked with the British East India Company.

Ram Mohan Roy also campaigned against polygamy.

Though he campaigned vigorously against practices like Sati, idolatry and polygamy, he was not against tradition and religion. He was a scholar of the Upanishads. Besides, he campaigned for the right of widows to remarry, the right of women to hold property and the right of women to education.

It was his firm opinion that English-language education was much better than the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed the grant of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he started a school based on the Western scheme of education.

The Brahmo Samaj was set up to fight against the social and religious evils in society prevalent during that time. In 1831 Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal empire. He died in the U.K of meningitis on September 27, 1833.