Ram Mohan Roy

The "Father of Modern India," who campaigned to abolish widow burning and founded the Brahmo Samaj.

Life

Learned Brahmin

Roy was born into a Brahmin family in Bengal. Fluent in Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, and English, he worked for the East India Company and studied Hindu scriptures as well as Christianity and Islam.

Opposed sati

He opposed idol worship and the abuses of caste, especially the custom of sati, in which widows burned themselves on their husbands' pyres. After years of campaigning, he saw the colonial government ban sati in 1829. He championed Western-style scientific education and freedom of the press, founded newspapers, and in 1828 founded the Brahmo Samaj, which advocated a rational monotheistic faith.

Brahmo Samaj

In 1830 he traveled to Britain as envoy of the Mughal emperor, and he died in Bristol, England, in 1833.

Legacy

Roy launched the Bengal Renaissance and is revered as the "Father of Modern India."

Did you know? His tomb is in Bristol, England, where a statue of him still stands today.

Key dates

• 1815Settles in Calcutta and begins his reform activities
• 1817Helps found the Hindu College (approx.)
• 1828Founds the Brahmo Samaj
• 1829Sati banned
• 1833Dies in England