Lesson 1/45 min
Raja Rammohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj
On 20 August 1828 Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj. A year later, in 1829, sati was banned by law.
Rammohan Roy — profile
- Born in Hooghly district; died at Bristol in England (1833)
- Pioneer of the 19th-century Bengal awakening, the Indian Renaissance; ‘the first modern man of India’, ‘father of modern India’
- Learned in Arabic and Persian; wrote the Arabic-Persian book ‘Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin’; served under Digby in Rangpur
- Received the title ‘Raja’ from the Mughal emperor Akbar II
- Wrote the tract ‘The Precepts of Jesus’ (1820); set up the Unitarian Committee (1821) to preach monotheism
- Wrote a Bengali commentary on the Vedanta and published Upanishads such as Isha, Kena and Katha; ran the English-Bengali journal ‘Brahmanical Magazine’
- Wrote against sati in the book ‘Pravartak o Nivartaker Sambad’ (Zubair)
- Prince Dwarkanath Tagore was a close companion; in 1829, with Rammohan's help, he brought out the ‘Bengal Herald’ and the ‘Bangadut’
Rammohan's contributions by year
| Year | What |
|---|---|
| 1815 | Atmiya Sabha — a society to preach monotheism |
| 1817 | Helped found the Hindu College (later Presidency College) |
| 1822 | Anglo-Hindu School |
| 1825 | Vedanta College — to teach Vedantic thought |
| 20 August 1828 | Brahmo Samaj founded |
| 1829 | Sati abolished |
Watch out: Zubair gives the Hindu College as 1815 and Khandokar 1817; the college opened in 1817, with Rammohan as a supporter (David Hare and others were the founders). Some sources date the Atmiya Sabha to 1814. The sati law was passed by the Governor-General William Bentinck; Rammohan was the campaigner behind it — exams ask both questions.
The three branches of the Brahmo Samaj
- Adi Brahmo Samaj — headed by Debendranath Tagore
- Nava-Vidhan (New Dispensation)
- Sadharan Brahmo Samaj
- Rammohan also campaigned against child marriage, polygamy, the Kulin system and infanticide
Check yourself
Who founded the Brahmo Samaj, and in what year?
At a glance
- 1
Rammohan Roy was ‘the first modern man of India’, a pioneer of the Bengal awakening; Akbar II gave him the title ‘Raja’.
- 2
The Brahmo Samaj was founded on 20 August 1828; the Atmiya Sabha in 1815.
- 3
Sati was abolished in 1829 (law by Bentinck; campaign by Rammohan).
- 4
Anglo-Hindu School 1822; Vedanta College 1825; Hindu College 1817.
- 5
Three branches of the Brahmo Samaj: Adi (Debendranath Tagore), Nava-Vidhan, Sadharan.