122

CHAPTER 4

RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY

Life and Work: Raja Rammohan Roy was born on May 29,
1772 into a traditional Brahmin family at Radhanagar, a
village in the Hoogley district in Bengal. He was the
son of Ramakanto Roy and Tarini Devi who were devoted
Hindus of the Vaishnava Sect and socially conservative
in outlook. The education of Rammohan Roy is found in
the biographical sketch compiled by Dr Lant Carpenter.
Dr Carpenter has written, "Under his father’s roof he
received the elements of native education, and also
^ acquired the Persian language. He was afterwards sent

to Patna to learn Arabic and lastly to Banaras to obtain

a knowledge of Sanskrit, the sacred language of the
Hindus. His master at Patna set him to study Arabic
translations of some of the writings of Aristotle and
Euclid, it is probable that the training thus given
strengthened his mind in acuteness and close reasoning,
while the knowledge which he acquired of the Mahomedan
religion from Mussalmans whom he esteemed, contributed
to cause that searching examination of the faith in
which he was educated, which led him eventually to the
important efforts he made to restore it to its early
simplicity."1 His comparative study of the various
 123

Scriptures led him to .discover the fundamental unity of

all religions in their doctrines and principles, mainly

the belief in monotheistic religion and universal

brotherhood of man. It is said that at the age of

fifteen, he left his parental home and wandered for two

or three years in Tibet. There he studied Buddhist and

Tantrik traditions. After returning from there, again,

he turned his attention in studying the ancient books of

Hindus in Sanskrit and other languages. At this time, he

published his first writing 'Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin’ as a

small pamphlet on monotheism and a protest against the

idolatry of all religions. It showed that from a very

early age, his rational mind did not permit him to

accept the prevailing beliefs and arguments in favour of

the religious customs. In 1803, he began to work for

the East India Company in the Revenue Department. Some

believe that he accepted the appointment in East Indian

Company in order to learn English. And in actual, also,

A
he learned English under the guidance of Mr Digby and

read the works of contemporary European writers on

politics, history, law and economics. In 1809, he was

transferred to Rangpur as Dewan to the Collector of the

district. Thereafter, he took retirement from the

service in 1815 and "settled down in Calcutta.

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It Is said that Rammohan Roy’s career as an active

religious reformer began only after he had settled
permanently in Calcutta in his middle thirty, though the
Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin was written in 1804. The year 1815
is the most remarkable period in his life. His many
sided attack against prevailing practices was launched
at this period as by this time, he had studied the
ancient classical literature of Sanskrit and Arabic and
became acquainted with new forces that were emerging in
the west. He established the 'Atmiya Sabha’ in which
verses from the Upanishads were discussed and hymns
composed by him and his friends were sung. They held
debate on subjects like Sati, idol worship and polygamy
related to kulinism. He had to use his powerful pen to
make the people realise about the faults and weak points
of our customs and prevailing practices. He wanted to
take the scriptures to the masses so that they could
come to know that the teachings of the sacred books were
very different from what were practiced by the people.
Between 1815 to 1819, "he translated the origin^works of
the vedanta and the Upanishads in Bengali. A Bengali
translation of the Vedlntasutra of Badarayana according
to Sankara’s commentary was published in 1815. The
Vedantasara in Bengali, the abridgment of Vedanta in
English and Bengali and the English translation of Kena
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Upanishad were published in 1817.1,2 He wrote against

idolatry and priesthood and in favour of monotheism. At

that same time, he started publishing a Bengali weekly -

’Sambad Kaumudi■’ which was followed by in 1822 by a

Persian weekly - the 'Mirant-Ul-Akbar’.

In Sambad Kaumudi Rammohan wrote tracts in Bengali and

also translated them in English in order to make the

people understood that the practice of 'Sati’ was not

sanctioned by the Shastras. William Bentick, with the

help of Rammohan Roy declared the rite Sati as 'illegal

and punishable by the Criminal Courts’ by Regulation

XVII on 4th December, 1829.

Next to religion and Sati practice, Rammohan Roy’s

attention was engaged by education. He laid stress on

education as instrument for the liberation of man from

all kinds of evils and degenerating influence in life.

He was a pioneer of modern education in India. Himself

t

a great scholar of Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and

English, he advocated the learnings of Western knowledge

and science. He founded the first English School 'Anglo-

Indian (Hindu) School’ in Calcutta in 1822. He was also

behind the setting up of Hindu College in the same year.

He established the Vedanta college for inculcating the

principle of monotheism of Vedanta along with Western

science and philosophy.

 126

He established the Unitarian Mission Press in 1824 in

Calcutta. At this time, (as mentioned in the previous

chapter) he came into conflict with the Christian
Missionaries and published a series of pamphlets - 'The
Precepts of Jesus’, ‘Appeal to the Christian Public’,
'The Ideal Humanity of Jesus’. He argued against the
doctrine of Atonement. He also opposed the doctrine of
Trinity. He said that Christ was not God and he did not
claim himself equal with God. Jesus was a manifestation
of God’s love and showed us that love was the way of
life and happiness. These writings resulted great
controversy with the Christian missionaries of
Serampore. Rammohan Roy published his Brahmanical
magazine at this time and the Calcutta Unitarian
Committee was formed by him in 1821 as protest against
the Christian Missionaries. This did not get sufficient

response from the public and soon he thought of

establishing an institution in the light of Unitarianism
and on August 20, 1828, Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo
Sabha which meant to be an assembly of all who believed
in the unity of God and discarded the worship of idols.
He was not against Christianity or Hinduism. He was
only against the corrupt and degenerated forms of
religions and customs. The establishment of Brahmo Sabha
was the most important effort of Rammohan Roy for the
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practice of a purified religion, specially Hinduism.

Although he lived for only four more years, the ideas
and ideals of Brahmo Sabha became most influential
institution of liberation, rationalism and modernity

which revolutionised Indian thought.

"Among the other measures advocated by the Raja may be

mentioned the Indianisation of the British-Indian army,
trial by Jury, separation of the offices of judge and
magistrate, condification of civil and criminal laws,
consultation with the Indian leaders before enactment of
new laws, and the substitution of English for Persian as
O
the official language of the courts of law."°
*

A careful study of the above fully justifies that

Rammohan Roy played a crucial role in the development of
every major movements for the elevation of the Indians.
In November 1830, he journeyed to abroad and in 1833, he
fell ill and died in Bristol on September 27 of that
year. He died but left the fruits of his great works
and visions which were to play an influential part in
creating a modern India to come.
Metaphysics, Religion and Morality:

The metaphysical ideas of Rammohan Roy were mainly

influenced by his comparative study of the various

scriptures. He studied the Mutazia, the original source

of sufi thought in Persia, the classical Arab

philosophers and the Quran itself. He studied the

Arabic translations of Aristotle’s, Plato’s, and

Plotinu’s works. Then he learned Sanskrit and studied

the ancient Hindu scriptures. He also studied Bible.

His extensive study of comparative religions led him to

discover the study of God, universal brotherhood of man

and also led him to believe against the prevalent Hindu

beliefs in many gods, and idol worship with elaborate

rituals.

Rammohan Roy advocated the use of reason in religious

practice which found support in the ancient Upanishadic

philosophy. His interpretation of Vedanta is different

_ / . - _
from that of Advaita Vedanta of Sankaracarya. He did

not regard Brahman as Absolute but the creator of the

world and of individuals. He believed in the existence

of One Being as the source of creation and governor of

it. Plurality of God is explained by the fact that He

appears in various forms and shapes. He proclaimed that

man could realise the supreme bliss of, his life by means

of spiritual contemplation of the Divine and not by

religious sacrifice. He said that only Upanisadic

teachings could liberate the man from the practice of

religious customs.
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His earliest expression of philosophical mind came to be

•

embodied in his pamphlet - "Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhiddin" which

was a protest against the idolatry of religion. He said
that belief in the agency of the prophets in the
revelation of truths was inconsistent with reason.
/ Tradition and supernatural were two common forms of

deception which rendered logical thinking impossible.

Between 1815 to 1819, most of the important texts and

translations relating to the Vedanta and the Upanisads
were published by him as the really eventful years of
his many sided activities started with his settlement in
Calcutta in 1815. The Vedanta was found by him to be
exactly what he wanted as the most suitable medium for
his purpose. He translated five principle Upanisads in
Bengali and English in favour of monotheism and against
idolatry and priesthood. He said that idols were
created by men. Vedas confirmed the Supreme Being as
without any figure and beyond the limit of description.
The plurality of God which was mentioned in Vedas were
to be accepted symbolically and not literally.
Plurality of God was mentioned as to represent God as
omnipresent in everywhere arid in every beings - "ekam
sad vipra bahudha vadanti". He was against ceremonies
and rituals and he said that knowledge of God is not
 130

dependent on people’s performance. Rituals were j

performed with the hope and expectation of a reward,

either heavenly or earthly. They were done for achieving!

gain only and not for any spiritual motive. The Puranas

and the Tantras sanctioned the worship of many gods and

goddesses and laid down the peculiar modes of worship

but Rammohan Roy said that they, "repeatedly declare God

to be one and above the apprehension of external and

internal senses.”4. He had never attacked Hindu

religion, he had attacked only superstitions, idolatry,

ceremonies and rituals.

In 1820, a new phase began in Rammohan Roy’s career as

he became engaged in a bitter theological controversy

with the Christian missionaries and published a series

of pamphlets - ’The Precepts of Jesus,-’ ’Appeal to the

Christian Public’, ’The Ideal Humanity of Jesus’ and

others. Since his settlement in Calcutta, Rammohan came

to make an early acquaintance of some of the leading

missionaries of the time. He early supported their

philanthropic activities in establishing schools for the

education of the native youths. He also became

associated with them in the work of translating the

Bible in Bengali. Then he published the books entitled,

“The Precepts of Jesus", "The way to Peace and

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Happiness" in 1820 for the moral upliftment of his

countrymen. He believed that Christianity had elements
in it which could be of value to his countrymen. The
icentral teaching of Bible was on love, love of God and
one’s fellowmen. There was an ethical teaching, a guide
to peace, happiness, universal love and harmony. To
Rammohan Roy, Christ was not God, but a great moral
preceptor to show mankind of their errors. But he argued
against the doctrine of Atonement. He said that each
person was responsible for his own action and it was
against justice that one person should be punished for
the crime of another. Each one should atone for his own
sins. Forgiveness of sins was to. be obtained through
sincere repentance and not through sacrifice. He also
opposed the doctrine of Trinity i.e. God as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. He said that Christ was not God and he »/

did not claim himself equal with God. Whatever power

and authority Jesus had, he attributed to God, not
himself. God was more than the Son. Jesus was not all
perfect or all powerful like God. Jesus was a
manifestation of God’s love and showed us that love was
the way to life and happiness.
Rammohan Roy’s publications on Christianity created a
stir in the Christian missionaries. But at the same
time, they aroused the admiration and applause both here
and in the West. His writings on Christianity,
 132

specially 'Precepts of Jesus’, '£he way of Peace and

Happiness’ were published by the Unitarian Society of

London and was reprinted in America. This resulted to
the conversion of. one of the missionaries, Rev. W. Adam,
into the Unitarian faith. "Shortly after Adam’s
conversion, Rammohan in conjunction with some of his
distinguished and ardent native as well as European
friends started the Unitarian Association in Calcutta,
which received the whole hearted support and Patronage
of not only his friend’s here, but of that of British
and American sympathisers as well, and made satisfactory
progress in the direction."5 An account of a meeting of

the Calcutta Unitarian Mission (January 3, 1828) was as

follows, "Agreeably to public announcement of General
Meeting of the Friends and Supporters of Unitarian
Christianity, was held at the Harkaru Public Rooms, on
Sunday evening, the 30th ultimo. After an appropriate
prayer by the Revd. W. Adam, Theodore Dickens, Esq., was
called the chair.”5 Its report said, "history, science

and philosophy, the committee regard as the handmaids of

true religion, and whatever therefore, has a tendency to
diffuse the benefits of education, to destroy ignorance
and superstition, bigotry and fanaticism, to raise the
standard of intellect, to purify the theories of morals,
and to promote universal charity and practical
 133

benevolence."7 From this it appears, how broad based

the Association was. Rammohan Roy was not against

Hinduism or Christianity. He was only against the
corrupt and degenerated forms of religions and
irrationality that had crept into them. He could not
accept the idea of a God in human form or in the form of
an idol. He was against the propaganda of the Christian
Missionaries and their attempts to convert Hindus into
Christianity. By establishing the Unitarian
Association, he showed the path of how by keeping faith
in one’s own religion, one could be tolerant to those of
others. But the Unitarian Association of Calcutta could
not take root,in India an he ultimately established the
Brahmo Sabhi in 1828. Before that, around 1814-15 he

established the Atmiya-Sabha, a sort of meeting place,

where vedic hymns were sung and discussions took place
against polygamy and kulinism, sati, idolatry and
rituals. But the meetings of Atmiya Sabha were
discontinued after 1819, and the Brahmo Sabha was formed
by Rammohan Roy in 1828. “The establishment of such an
institution may be said to have been the product of
Rammohan’s study of the various religions of the world,
which convinced him of the underlying unity of harmony
of them all in their fundamental tenets, thus providing
the possibility of the unification as well as the
votaries of the different faiths on a common platform or
I
 134

in a place where every one according to his own

conviction and ways could say his prayer to the one
Supreme Being, who is the preserver and protector of
mankind as a whole."8 He established the Sabha to
mean
it to be a meeting ground for people of all sects into a

system of universal worship of one true God. What he

gave to the world was the widest and most universal

conception of religion - a type of theism, free from

corruptions in customs, personalities and traditions.

Theism of Rammohan Roy was the monism of the Vedanta,

monotheism of Islam and Unitarianism of Christianity (as

opposed to the trinity). The moral reform movement of

Rammohan Roy had gone equally with his religious

movement. His effort was to improve the minds of his

countrymen and led them to a knowledge of purer and

higher system of morality. He found the means to

improve the low moral ideas and practices of Hinduism in

the very Shastras of Hinduism. His keenness was so

great that he translated the scriptures of Hinduism and

Christianity in Bengali and English. His effort did not

go in vain as they increased interest in some of his

companions to improve the moral and social standard of

their countrymen and who were responsible for ushering a

new age of morale in the country.

 135

Social Thought And Reform Movements

Rammohan Roy was not only a religious reformer, he also

started a number of social reform movement. The most

important and outstanding social reform ' movement of

Rammohan Roy was his protest against the practice of

Sati rites. It was during his stay at Rangpur that the

burning alive of the widowed wife of his brother

Jagamohan on 8th April, 1810 gave a rude shock to his

feeling and since then he too^a vow to work whole

heartedly for the abolition of that custom. It is said

that he himself used to go to the place where Sati was

to take place and try to dissuade the family members of

the unfortunate widow from allowing her to commit sati.

Rammohan Roy used his journal Sambad Kaumudi as a

regular weapon for the agitation against Sati rite. On

the 30th of November, 1818 he issued an English

translation of his first work on the subject of ’Sati-

pratha’, entitled 'A Conference between An Advocate for

and an Opponent of the practice of Burning widows

alive." His second tract known as 'A Second Conference

between An Advocate for and an Opponent of the Practice

of Burning Widow’s Alive’ was dedicated to the

Marchioness of Hastings on 26th February 1820. Rammohan

Roy concluded it with a highly passionate appeal on

behalf of women in general and Indian women in

 136

particular. In 1822, he published his 'Brief Remarks

regarding the Modern Encroachments on the Ancient Rights
of Female according to the Hindu law of Inheritance."
The publication of the tracts against Sati rites greatly
disturbed the general orthodox Hindu citizens. Even at
the end of twentieth century, if the commitment of Sati
by Roop Kanwar, a Rajasthani educated girl can be
praised and supported by all class of Indian citizens,
then we can easily imagine, how, in the beginning of
nineteenth century, the efforts of Rammohan Roy raised a
storm among orthodox compatriots. The orthodox Hindus,
during Rammohan Roy’s time started 'Dharma Sabha’ with
Bhavanicharan Banerji as its President and Radhakanto
Deb as it Secretary. They also started 'Samachar
Chandrika’ in which they daily used to pour abuses on
the reforming movement against Sati. Rammohan Roy
answered the opponents with equal vigour in 'Sambld
Kaumudi’.

Although the British Government Was very much against

this inhuman custom, but could not do anything as it had
behind it strong social and religious support. A total
of about 8000 burnings were officially recorded between
1815 to 1828. British Government tried to find out how
far the custom had religious sanctions behind it. The
activities of Rammohan Roy strengthened the hands of
 137

the Government to a great extent in its attempt to

abolish the evil practice. In an appreciative notice of

it, the paper like the ^Calcutta Gazette^ a Government

patronized organ, remarked, "The safest way of coming to

a right understanding on a point so interesting to

humanity, is a rigid investigation of the rules of

conduct laid down in the books which are considered

sacred by the Hindus. This appears to have been done

with great assiduity, anxiety, and care, and the

v consequence has been a decision hostile to the ancie.nt

custom."9 At the same time, public opinion in England

was gradually rising against this practice. "The idea

of preventing the custom by legislation was arising in

the minds of some of the members of the Governor-

General’s Council. In 1827, Mrs Baylay prepared the

draft of a Regulation for the prevention of suttees.

But this move of Bayley failed?"10 Then in 1828, the

office of Governor-General was taken over, by Lord

William Bentick. He with the'support of Rammohan Roy,

at last on the 4th December, 1829 suppressed the

practice. Sati was declared by Regulation XVII, 'illegal

and punishable by the criminal courts’. But the members

of the Dharma Sabha decided firmly to appeal to the

authorities in- England. Raja Rammohan Roy offered to go

himself to England to defend the case. The hearing of

/
 138

the appeal took place before the Privy Council in July t/k-d

1832 and after a due hearing of the case, the judges by

a majority adviced His Majesty to reject the appeal and ■ddc O

Rammohan Roy’s efforts were crowned with success.

Apart from his success in England, the visit of Rammohan

Roy to England was of great success as he was the first

Hindu Brahmin to go to Europe. "He was the ambassador

of a New India to England or indeed of the East to the

West. As he had interpreted England to India, so now he

interpreted India to England. His visit helped to rouse

the interest of many Englishmen in India, in her

grievances and problems. Wherever he went he was warmly

received and eagerly heard and appreciated.”11

Besides the problem of sati rite, Rammohan Roy advocated

other progressive social reform like^child marriaga,.-

female infanticide, polygamy, kulinism (Kulinism - a

Brahmin Kulin girl, i.e. a girl belong ing to the titles

of Ganguli, Banerji or Chatterji had to marry a Brahmin

Kulin boy from only two out of these three Kulin

groups and had not to marry any other Brahmin boys. So to

save the girl from getting old without being married,

the Brahmin kulin man, even very old man use to have

many wives). Rammohan Roy’s basic effort was to elevate

the status of women in Indian society.

 139

He attacked the practice of kulin polygamy in 1822 in a

booklet entitled ’Modern Encroachments on the Ancient
Rights of Female." In this booklet, he quoted for his
authority, Yagnavalkya’s conditions for taking a second

wife only under certain specific conditions. But he

could not pursue the problem with the same vigour as he
did in the case of Sati because of his travel to Europe.
His efforts in upholding the cause of women were not so
successful in achieving the purpose but he struck the
true keynote of social reform in India and did not fail
to form the subjects of agitation in succeeding
generation and accomplish derived results.

It is believed that Rammohan Roy was an early advocate

of widow-remarriage but there is no definite evidence
about any effort on his part to influence public opinion
in its favour, besides the fact of its receiving
condemnation at the meetings of the Atmiya Sabha as
early as in 1819. Sati was still to be eradicated and
he was busy with the abolition of Sati. But it is found
that not long after his death, the agitation gathered
momentum in the hands of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar who at
one time was one of the eminent member of the Brahmo
Samaj.
 140

Other than above social reforms, Rammohan Roy wanted to

denounce the rigorous practice of caste rules. His

belief in equality and brotherhood led him to oppose

caste system. He condemned the division of Hindu

Society into castes and sub-castes. He said that Caste

divided the Hindus in such a way that the community as a

whole became weak. This movement of him also came to

have desired results in the hands of his followers in

later times. He was not successful in all the major

fields of social reform because of his untimely death

and also because he was fighting a lone battle against

orthodoxy and tradition more than a hundred and seventy

years ago. But Rammohan Roy’s overall contribution to

the beginning of a change in social outlook and attitude

was very significant.

/

Literary Progress and Education:

The excellence that the Bengali prose achieved in

literary- form under Bankinchandra Chatterji,

Saratchandra Chatterji and Rabindranath Tagore, was

built up entirely on the foundation of the Bengali prose

form created by Rammohan Roy.

Before the coming of Raja Rammohan Roy in the fields of

Literature and education, the traditional education was

in the hands of the ’To! pandits’ and maul avis with

 141

limited vision. The Bengali prose was mostly a confused

mixer of Sanskrit words. Subjects like Mathematics,

History, Economics, Geography and Natural Sciences were

neglected. Classic Literature, Philosophy, Logic and
Religious texts were the main subjects and were taught
only in Arabic, Persian or Sanskrit languages. After the
British Government took over the administration of
Bengal, at first they did not take any interest in the
development of education. Then in 1781, Warren Hastings
had established Calcutta Madrasa to promote, encourage
and revive the Indian learnings. Inspired by him, Sir
William Jones in 1784, founded the Asiatic Society of
Bengal in Calcutta and Jonathan Duncan opened the
Banaras Sanskrit College in 1792. Bengali was taught at
the Government Fort William College by Mrityunjaya
Vidyalankar, William Carey, Ramram Bose and Haraprasad
Roy. It is said that in that Bengali, heavy doses of
Sanskrit and Persian words used to be mixed which made

the students confused.

Actually, "Bengali prose initially sponsored by the

missionaries of Serampore and the pundits of the Fort
William College. While the missionaries were interested
in it as a vehicle for spreading Christianity amongst
the natives of Bengal, the Fort William College run by
 142

the Government wanted to utilise the Bengali prose for

the purposes of administration. Young British officers

were taught Bengali, so that they might come into direct

contact with the people of the land."12 In 1778,

Halhed’s Bengali Grammar (in English) was published. On

its title page, it was written that grammar was for the

benefit of the Ferringis (Firinginam Upakara>tha). The.

2
------------- \ ~

next attempt was made by the illustrious missionary Dr

William Carey of the Serampore Mission. Carey’s Bengali

grammar was published in 1801. This too was written in

English for the purpose of newly recruited British

clerks. Then in 1801, Ramram Bose wrote the first

Bengali prose (Pratapaditya Charita). In 1802, Pandit

Mrityunjay Vidyalankar published ’Batris Simhasan’. It

is said that the 1 anguagei*both the books was a mixture

of Sanskrit and Bengali words.

A revolutionary change was noticeable in Bengali prose

with the advent of Rammohan Roy in the field of Bengali

literature. Next to religion and social reform, his

attention was engaged by the improvement of education

and literature. In 1875, he published his first prose

"Vedanta Grantha" which was the Bengali prose in the

truest sense of the work. The first attempt to write a f

Bengali grammar in Bengali was also undertaken by Him.

4
 143

He wrote "Graudiya Vyakaran" (Grammar of the Bengali

language) and was published in 1833 by the “Calcutta
School Book Society.”

Rammohan Roy realised that the entire education system

needed to be overhauled. The British Government did
nothing at first for the spread of English Education in
the country. "Some English Schools were established
here and there by several Eurasians of whom Sherbourne,
Martin, Bowler and Arathoon Petras were the chief."13

In 1811, Lord Minto, the Governor General also did not

do anything for spreading English education, instead he
recommended to reform the Sanskrit College at Banaras
and proposed to establish two similar institutions in
Tirhut and Nadia. First, "Lord Moira in his Minute of
Oct. 2, 1815, voiced the need for promoting schools
rather than helping oriented institutions. ----------- Rev.
Robert May, a non-conformist, the Missionary Society and
the Serampore Missionaries opened a number of schools
between 1814 to 1818. Leading Indian Gentlemen of
Calcutta headed by Rammohan Roy and Dwarkanath Tagore
warmly supported the efforts of the Missionaries."14

Rammohan Roy’s desire to combine the best of both East

and West led him to advocate the introduction of the
Western System of education for Indian students. In

!, • i,

! i!

r
 144

1816, he had started a school, named *Anglo-Hindu-

School' of his own at Suripara in Calcutta for free
N J

teaching of Hindu boys in English. In 1817, David Hare,

"together with Raja Rammohan Roy and Baidanath
Mukherjee, backed by the Chief Justice, Sir Hyde East,
thought out the idea of establishing a college for
educating the sons of distinguished Hindus in the
English and Indian languages and the literature and
science of Asia and Europe.”15 By this way, the Hindu

College established and began its work on January 20,

1817. "In addition to the Hindu College, there was the
Serampore College founded by Carey and two other Baptish
Missionaries in 1818, and a college founded in 1830 by

Dr. Alexander Duff, a Scotchman, with the support of

Rammohan Roy.

But the Governor General and his council were still

indifferent to these movements. On the other hand, the
establishment of the Sanskrit College was approved by
the Government through General Committee of Public
Instruction in 1821. When Rammohan Roy came to know
about Governments decision, he became disappointed. He
made a protest in the form of a petition and sent to the
then Governor General, Lord Amherst. The documents
showed the progressive mind of Rammohan Roy. Some of h1s
remarks are as follows: "The pupils will here acquire
 145

what was known two thousand years ago, with the addition

of vain and empty subtleties, since produced by

speculative men, such as is already commonly taught in

all parts of India. ----- The Sanskrit system of

education would be the best calculated to keep this

country in darkness if such had been the policy of the

British legislature. But as the improvement of the

native population is the object of the Government, it

will consequently promote a more liberal and enlightened

system of instruction,'embracing mathematics, natural

philosophy, chemistry and anatomy, with other useful

sciences which may be accomplished with the sum proposed

by employing a few gentlemen of talents and learning

educated in Europe, and providing a college furnished

with the necessary books, instruments and other

apparatus.”16

The General Committee of Public Instruction observed

that only Rammohan Roy had sent the letter of protest

and it was also true that general Hindu people’s opinion

were against his views, so no one listened to him and

his membership of the Managing Board was also objected

as other members did not agree with him. From this, it

shows that Rammohan Roy had to struggle hard to

introduce European learning in India, But then the
 146

appointment of Alexander Duff, on the Committee of

Public Instruction strengthened the hands of Rammohan

Roy. The credit of the establishment of English

education in Bengal* should go mainly to men like Raja

Rammohan Roy, David Hare and Alexander Duff.

Rammohan Roy’s advocacy of scientific education against

the Sanskrit education, specially 'to!’ system of

education had been misinterpreted and criticised on the

ground that he had attacked Sanskrit and wanted to

eliminate Sanskrit from educational system. But it was

not so as he established Vedanta college in 1825, where

he tried to combine Western and traditional Indian

learnings.

After Rammohan Roy’s death, the Medical College of

Calcutta was established in 1835 by Lord William

Bentinek. At the same time, Thomas Babington Macaulay,

then the new Law Member as President of the Committee

introduced English education. "By his vehement

denuciation of classical Indian learning and eloquent

pleadings in favour of Western education in his Minute

of 2nd February, 1835, he carried Bentinck with him and

on 7th March, 1835, the Council decided that henceforth

the available public funds should be spent on English

education. The existing oriental institutions like the

 147

Sanskrit College and the Madrasa were to continue, but

fresh awards or stipends to students of these

institutions and the publication of classical t^xts must

cease. The funds thus released were to be spent ’in

imparting to the native population of knowledge of

English Literature and Science through the medium of the

English Language."17 K.C. Vyas in his book, "The Social

Renaissance in India’ (Page No.41-42) has written, "Lord

Macaulay introduced English education for various

reasons. Firstly, as he was ignorant of the classical

oriented languages, he had a very poor opinion about

them. Secondly he wanted to cheaper the administrative

expenses by getting English educated Indians to serve in

Government departments at low salaries. Lastly, he

wanted to Westernise Indian by its means. On the other

hand, Raja Rammohan Roy, as we have seen, had higher and

noble* aims. In his school, vernaculars were taught and

native vernacular societies were formed to encourage

vernaculars. To him, education was a means to the

creation of a New India.” Rammohan Roy even suggested

that the English in India should adopt Bengali as their

language. With the help of him, Calcutta School Book

Society published useful books for the use of boys of

the native schools. It is said that while the students

of English schools were forming societies for discussing

 148

science and literature in English language, it was in

Rammohan Roy’s School that the boys established society

for the cultivation of the Bengali literature.

In 1828, Rammohan Roy was the first to compose dhrupad

songs in bengali. Baul, kirtan, Ramprasad and other ^

C

varieties of folk songs were prevalent in Bengali. In

N

12th Century, Jayadev, a native of Bengal wrote 'Git

Govinda’ in Sanskrit and his poems were Vaishpava. Then

in the 14th Century, Chandidas and Vidyapati wrote

Vaisnava Songs in Bengali and Maithili languages

respectively. Then in 16th Century, Mahaprabhu Chaitanya

arrived and many Vaishnava songs and poems were made in

Bengali. Then Mukundaram, who was a 'Sakto* (worship of

Motherhood of God) wrote many devotional songs in

Bengali, but the most popular of all songs are those of

Ramprasad who wrote in Bengali at the time of Warren

Hastings. His songs can be heard everywhere till today.

Dhrupad songs were heard all in Hindi. First, Rammohan

Roy composed thirtytwo dhrupad songs in Bengali for his

Brahmo Sabha meetings for its depth and simplicity.

Later under the guidance of Debendranath Tagore, Brahmo

Samaj enriched dhrupad songs in Bengali beyond measure.

Jatindra Kumar Majumdar in his book "Raja Rammohan Roy

and Progressive Movements in India - A Selection from

 149

Records (1775-1845) (Page No.(iv) has written,

"Rammohan’s contribution was not confined to his mother

tongue alone. His cultivation of other Indian languages

also bore fruit. The publication of his tracks and

newspapers in Sanskrit, Hindi, etc. could not fail to

produce good results, and of this the case of Hindi, may

be especially mentioned. The Hindi language and

literature at Rammohan’s time were in a deplorable

state, and his cultivation of it has been acknowledged

to have produced great beneficial result in the way of

its improvement or up!iftment."

Indian Journalism was also fortunate to have Rammohan

Roy as its founder. "He laid down the principles on

which the journalism of later days made progress. For

him, journalism was not a profession, but an instrument

through which he was able to propagate his ideas

regarding reform in the social, religious and

educational spheres.”18

He was a true democrat and as journalism was a mean to

spread enlightenment for him, he established the

Unitarian Mission press in 1824 in Calcutta as part of

his campaign for liberation and for the freedom of

Press. “The agitation started by Rammohan against the

Press Ordinance of 1823 is important for more than one

 150

reason. It is one of the earliest instance of a

constitutional agitation in the country. It was an

effort to voice the protest of the intelligentsia

against the encroachment on the freedom of the press."19

Thus we have seen that Rammohan Roy was a man of varied

interests and activities and these did not remain

confined within any particular field. In every aspect

of his activities he showed a new way for the future

generation to follow. He inspired a group of educated

and liberal minded men to think in terms of universal

love and offer privileges to people from every strata of

the society. There was no one before him, who inspired a

group of liberal minded men to organise a reform

movement in every field. His great faith in monotheism

was motivated by the aim to bring mankind together for a

better life. Through Brahmo Sabha, his main aim was

simply to purify Indian traditions, religion, and

customs and not to overthrow them which he had

inherited. He also tried to remove the barriers between

all the major religions of the world. In respect of the

position of women in society, it has attained results of

far-reaching Importance. In the fields of education,

social thought and religion, many far reaching changes

have been and are still being brought about by the

indirect influence of Rammohan Roy’s significant

contributions.
 A List of the Principal Publications and ot..
of Raja Rammohan Roy (in chronological order

Published in India!

804 : Tuhfal-ul-Muwahhidin
Manazarat-u1-Adyan
•, English Publications

1816 (1) Translation of an Abridgment of the

Vedant
(2) Translation of CENA (Kena) Upanishad,
one of the chapters of the Sama Veda,
according to the gloss of the celebrated
Shankaracharya.
(3) Translation of the Ishpponishad : One of
the chapters of Yajoor Veda, according
to the commentary of the celebrated
Shankaracharya.
(4) A Defence of Hindu Theism in reply to ^
the attack of an Advocate for Idolatry
at Madras.
1817 (5) A Second Defence of the Monotheistical ^
System of the Vedas in reply to an
apology for the present state of Hindu
worship.
1818 (6) Translation of "A Conference between an
advocate for, and an opponent of the
Practice of Burning Widows Alive’ from
the original Bungla.
1819 (7) Translation of the Moonduk Upanishad of
the Uthurva-Veda - according to the
gloss of the celebrated Shukra-Charya.
(8) Translation of the Kuthopanishad of the
Yajoor-Veda, according to the gloss of
the celebrated Shankaracharya.
1820 (9) An apology for the Pursuit of final ^
Beatitude independently of Brahman1cal
observances.
 152

(10) A Second Conference between an advocate

for, or an opponent of the Practice of
Burning Widows Alive.
(11) The Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to
Peace and Happiness; extracted from the
Books of the New Testament ascribed to
the four Evangelists. With translations
into Sanskrit and Bengalee, Calcutta:
Printed at the Baptist Mission Press,
Circular Road.
(12) An appeal to the Christian Public in
defence of the 'Precepts of Jesus’ by A
Friend to Truth Printed at Calcutta.
1821 : (13) The Brahmanical Magazine, or, the ^
Missionary and the Brahman, being an
indication of the Hindu religion against
the attacks of Christian Missionaries,
I, II & III.
(14) Second Appeal to the Christian;Ptjblic in j/
Defence of the 'Precepts of Jesus’.

1822 : (15) Brief Remarks regarding Modern ^

Encroachments on the Ancient Rights of
Females according to the Hindu Law of
Inheritance.
1823 : (16) The Brahmanical Magazine, or the
Missionary and the Brahman, No.4.
(17) Humble suggestions to his countrymen who
believe us the one True God.
(18) A Vindication of the Incarration of the ^
Deity as the common basis^ of Hinduism
and Christianity against the schismatic
attacks of R. Tytler, Esq., M.D. by Ram
Dass. Printed by S. Smith & Co.,
Harkaru Press, Calcutta.
(19) Petitions against the Press Regulations:
(a) Memorial to the Supreme Court
(b) Appeal to the King in Council
(20) A letter on English education to the
Excellencey the Rt. Hon. Lord Amherst,
the Governor General in Council
 153

(21 ) Final Appeal to the Christian Public in

Defence of the 'Precepts of Jesus’.
Printed at the Unitarian Press,
Dhurmotollah, Calcutta.

(22) A dialogue between a Missionary and

three Chinese converts.

1824 : (23) A letter to Rev. Henry Ware on the

Prospects of Christianity in India.

1825 : (24) Translation of Sanskrit Tract or

Different Modes of Worship.

1826 : (25) Bengalee Grammar in the English

Language. Printed at the Unitarian
Press, Calcutta.
1
(
1827 : (26) A translation of a Sanskrit Tract,
inculcating The Divine Worship, esteemed
by those who believe in the revelation
of the Vedas as most appropriate to the
nature of the Supreme Being.

1828 : (27) Answer of a Hindu to the question "Why 4/

do you frequent Unitarian place of
worship’ instead of the numerously
attended established churches."

(28) Petition to Government against

Regulation III, of 1828 for the
Resumption of Lakheroj Lands.

1829 : (29) The Universal Religion : Religions ^

Instructions founded on Sacred
Authorities.

1830 : (30) The Trust Deed of the Brahmo Samaj

(31) Abstract of the Arguments regarding the v/’

Burning of Widows, considered as a
religious site.

(32) Essays on the Rights of Hindus over

Ancestral Property, according to the Law /
of Bengal.

(33) Letter on the Hindu llaw of Inheritance.

 154

(34) Address to Lord William Bentinck,

Governor General of India, Upon the
passing of Act for the Abolition of
Suttee.

1831 (35) Counter Petition to the House of Commons

to the Memorial of the advocates of the
Suttee,

1885 (36) "The English works of Raja Rammohan Roy”

Edited (with an introduction) by
Jogendra Chander Ghosh, M.A., B.L.
Compiled and published by Eshar Chander
Bose, Vol.I, Oriental Press,
Bhowanipore, Calcutta.

* 1887 (37) -do- Vol.II

1906 (38) "The English works of Raja Ram Mohan

Roy” including some additional letters
and an English Translation of the Raja’s
'Tuhafat-Ul-Muwahhidin’ (with an
introduction by Ramananda Chatterjee)
Published by the Panini Office,
Allahabad).

WORKS PUBLISHED IN ENGLAND

1817 : (1) "Abridgment of the Vedant’ and the

English Translation of 'Kena Upanishad’
published in Calcutta in 1816
Reprinted in London with a preface by
John Digby with a letter addressed to
him by Raja Rammohan Roy.

1823 : (2) Final Appeal to the Christians Public in

Defence of 'Precepts of Jesus’; London
Huster.

1824 : (3) 'The Precepts of Jesus’ — The Guide to

Peace and Happiness*, extracted from the
Books of the New Testament, ascribed to
the Four Evangelists to which are added
the First and Second Appeal to the
Christian Public, in reply to the
observations of Dr Marshmen of
Serampore. Published by the Unitarian
Society, London. •
 155

1825 : (4) Answer to queries by the Rev, H. Ware of

Cambridge, U.S. printed in
“Correspondence relative to the
Prospects of Christianity, and the Means
of Promoting its Reception in India",
London : C. Fox. '

1832 : (5) Translation of several prinicipal Books,

Passages, and Texts of the Vedas, and of
, some controversial works in Brahmanleal
' Theology. London: Parbury.

(6) Essay on the Rights of Hindus over

Ancestral Property according to the Law
of Bengal, with an Appendix containing
letters on the Hindu Law of Inheritance
(Calcutta 1830) London : Smith Elder &
Co.

(The Bibliography of Raja Rammohan Roy is

taken from N.C. Kotnala’s book ’Raja Rammohan
Roy and Indian Awakening’, Gitanjali
Prakashan, Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi - 24, Page
No.210).

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 156

1. Miss Marry Carpenter : "The last days in England of

the Raja’ Riddhi 28 Beniatola Lane, Calcutta 9,
1976, Page No.2-5.
2. K.C. Vyas : 'The Social Renaissance in India’ Vora
& Co, Publishers Private ltd, Kalbadevi Road,
Bombay 2, 1957', Page No. 14
3. R.C. Majumdar, H.C. Roychaudhuri & Kalikinkan Datta
: 'An Advanced History of India’, Firma K.L.
Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta 1963, Page No.807-809
4. Donal H. Bishop : "Thinkers of Indian Reniassance",
Wiley Eastern Ltd, New Delhi, 1983, Page No.14

5. Jatindra Kumar Majumdar : “Raja Rammohan Roy &

Progressive Movements in India’ (A Selection from
Records : 1775-1845) Anmol Publication (India),
1941, Page No.XXV

6. Ibid Document No.33, Page No.33

7. Ibid Document No.32, Page No.32

8. Ibid, Page No.XXVI.

9. Ibid Document No.57, Page No.114

10. Ibid Page No.XXXIII

11. Nemai Sadhan Bose: "Indian Awakening & Bengal”,

Page No.50. Firma K.L. Mukhopadhya. 257 B.B.D.
Ganguly Street, Calcutta 12 (Third Revised and
enlarged edition, 1972)

12. Saumyendranath Tagore: "Raja Rammohan Roy" Sahitya

Akademi, New Delhi, Page No.30.

13. Op.cit.2, Page No.37

14. Ibid, Page No.38

15. Ibid, Page No.39

16. Op.cit.5, Document No.142, Page No.25

17. Op.cit.3, Page No.812

18. Op.cit.2, Page No.36

19
19. Op.cit,11, Page No.46-47.