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RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY
Rammohan Roy has been called the first 'modern man' in India. This
is because his point of view, his way of looking at the society at
large and his fellow men were radical and far ahead of his times.
Rammohan Roy was born on 22 May 1772 in Radhanagar, a village in
West Bengal. His father, Ram Kanto Roy, was a well-to-do zamindar.
He was very keen to get his sons well educated. He first sent
Rammohan to the traditional patashala, a primary Bengali school. By
and by Rammohan completed all the simpler lessons and came to the
study of The Koran and Islamic philosophy. This brought about a
basic change in his religious outlook: he was greatly attracted to
the Muslim concept of one god.
He was also specially attracted to the Vedanta and The Upanishads.
His love for ancient texts was to shape all his thoughts and
personal philosophy later in life.
Rammohan came to live in Murshidabad in 1803. Here, he wrote his
first treatise - Tufat-ul-Muwahiddin (A Gift from the Monotheists).
He wrote it in Persian, with an introduction in Arabic.
The entire life of Rammohan was a tireless quest for three goals:
social reform: championing the cause of scientific education, which
led to his founding the Indian press: and making the people realise
the true meaning of religion.
Rammohan was unable to save his sister-in-law from committing sati,
which left a deep impression on his mind. He then started a one-man
crusade against the cruelty and also championed the cause of widow
remarriage, an issue taken up later by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
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