Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833)

 Raja Rammohun Roy

He was one of the Indian reformer. He founded a reform association known as Brahmo Sabha later came to be known as Brahmo Samaj in Culcutta. He was called reformer because he felt that changes were necessary in the society and unjust practices to be stopped.

He thought that the best way to make such changes was by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt new way of life.

Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of western education in India and to bring about greater freedom and equality to women.

He wrote about how women were forced to perform their domestic work, confined to home and kitchen, and not allowed to move out and become educated.

Rammohun Roy began campaign against the practice of sati. He was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian and various Indian and European languages. He tried to show through his writings that practice of burning widow were no where mentioned in ancient texts.

The strategy used by Rammohun Roy were used by later reformers as well. That, whenever they wished to challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they would try to find a verse or sentence in ancient texts that supported their point of view.

For instance, one of the most famous reformers, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry.

Raja Rammahun Roy was one of those who was inspired by new ideas that were spreading through Europe in 1789 and around. The French revolution and the later, the July revolution exited his imagination.

He could think and talk about nothing else when he heard of July revolution in France in 1830s. On his way to England at Cape Town he insisted on visiting warships flying the revolutionary tri-color flag through he had been temporarily lamed by accident.