Renaissance Movement& Raja

Ram Mohon Roy

Bibi Morium
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Rajshahi
Email: [email protected]
Date: 22/04/24
 What is Renaissance?
• Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth.”
• It refers to a period in European civilization that was
marked by a revival of Classical learning and wisdom.
• It was immediately following the Middle Ages and
conventionally held to have been characterized by a
surge of interest in Classical scholarship and values.
• The Renaissance also witnessed the discovery and
exploration of new continents, the substitution of
the Copernican (the astronomical theories of Nicolas
Copernicus) for the Ptolemaic (the
Greek astronomer Ptolem) system of astronomy.
• The decline of the feudal system and the growth of
commerce, and the invention or application of such
potentially powerful innovations as paper, printing,
the mariner’s compass, and gunpowder.
• To the scholars and thinkers of the day, however, it
was primarily a time of the revival of Classical
learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural
decline and stagnation (lack of activity, growth, or
development).
• Events at the end of the Middle Ages, particularly
beginning in the 12th century, set in motion a series
of social, political, and intellectual transformations
that culminated (reach a climax or point of highest
development) in the Renaissance.
• Humanism was initiated by secular men of letters
rather than by the scholar-clerics who had
dominated medieval intellectual life and had
developed the Scholastic philosophy.
• Humanism began and achieved fruition first in Italy.
Humanism had several significant features, as
i. it took human nature in all of its
various manifestations and achievements as its
subject.
ii. it stressed the unity and compatibility of the truth
found in all philosophical and theological schools
and systems, a doctrine known as Syncretism
(the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of
different religions, cultures, or schools of thought).
iii. it emphasized the dignity of man.
iv. In place of the medieval ideal of a life of
penance (self-punishment) as the highest and
noblest form of human activity.
v. the humanists looked to the struggle of
creation and the attempt to exert mastery
over nature.
vi. Finally, humanism looked forward to a
rebirth of a lost human spirit and wisdom.
 Raja Ram Mohon Roy and his Early Life
• He was born on 22 May 1772 in a
Hindu Brahmin family in Radhanagar village in
West Bengal’s of Hooghly district.
• He studied Persian and Arabic along
with Sanskrit, which influenced his thinking
about God.
• He read Upanishads, Vedas and the Quran and
translated a lot of the scriptures into English.
• Kulinism was a synonym for polygamy and the dowry
system, both of which Rammohan campaigned against.
• His father, Ramkanta, was a Vaishnavite, while his
mother, Tarini Devi, was from a Shaivite family.
• His great grandfather Krishnakanta Bandyopadhyay was
a Rarhi Kulin (noble) Brahmin.
• Among Kulin Brahmins – descendants of the six families
of Brahmins imported from Kannauj by Ballal Sen in the
12th century – those from the Rarhi district of West
Bengal were notorious in the 19th century for living off
dowries by marrying several women.
• He worked as a moneylender in Calcutta, and from 1809 to 1814
and served in the Revenue Department of the East India
Company.
• He was a great scholar of Sanskrit, Persian
and English languages and also knew
Arabic, Latin and Greek.
• One parent prepared him for the occupation of
a scholar, the Shastri, while the other secured
for him all the worldly advantages needed to
launch a career in the laukik or worldly sphere
of public administration.
• Ram Mohan Roy was married three times. His first wife died
early.
• He had two sons, Radhaprasad in 1800, and Ramaprasad in
1812 with his second wife, who died in 1824.
• Roy's third wife outlived him.
 Ideologies of Raja Ram Mohan Roy
• Influenced by western modern thought Ram Mohan
Roy stressed rationalism and the modern scientific
approach.
• He believed that sacrifices and rituals cannot restitute
the sins of people; it can be done through self-
purification and repentance.
• He also believed that religious reform is both social
reform and political modernization.
• His immediate problem was the degeneration of the
religious and social conditions of his native Bengal.
• He was a strong oppose of the caste system and
believed in the social equality of all human beings.
• Ram Mohan was attracted to Islamic monotheism
and believed that monotheism supported one
universal model for humanity.
• He said that monotheism is also the fundamental message
of Vedanta.
– His idea of a single, unitarian god was a corrective to the
polytheism (the belief in or worship of more than one god) of
orthodox Hinduism and to Christian trinitarianism (The
monotheistic Christian doctrine that defines God as three
divine persons or hypostases: the Father, the Son (Jesus
Christ), and the Holy Spirit).
• He stressed that Hindu society can not progress unless
women were freedom from unhuman forms of oppression
like illiteracy, Sati, purdah, child marriage, etc.
– He characterized sati as the violation of every human and social
feeling and as symptomatic of the moral debasement of a race.
 What did Raja Ram Mohon Roy do in
Renaissance?
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy campaigned against the caste
system, untouch ability, superstitions and use of
intoxicants.
• He attacked child marriage, polygamy, illiteracy of
women and the degraded state of widows.
• He fought against the perceived ills of Hindu society
at that time.
 Why is Raja Ram Mohan Roy called the father
of modern Indian Renaissance?
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy is called the father of
the modern Indian Renaissance due to the
remarkable changes he instituted in 18th
and 19th century India.
• The most noticeable of his actions was the
removal of the cruel and barbaric Sati Pratha.
• Atmiya Sabha attempted to initiate social and religious
reforms.
• In 1828, he founded the Brahmo Samaj, a Hindu
reformist movement aimed at combating social evils
prevalent in society.
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale called him the 'Father of
Modern India'. Several historians consider him as
one of the pioneers of the Indian Renaissance.
• He was bestowed with the title of Raja by Akbar II,
the Mughal emperor.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy conceived reformist religious
associations as instruments of social and political
transformation.
• He founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1815,
• the Calcutta Unitarian Association in 1821,
• the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 which later became the
Brahmo Samaj.
• the Unitarian Community to fight the social evils, and
to propagate social and educational reforms in India.
• He was the man who fought against superstitions, a
pioneer in Indian education, and a trend setter in
Bengali Prose and Indian press.
• Crusaded against Hindu customs such as sati,
polygamy, child marriage and the caste system.
• Demanded property inheritance rights for women.
• The present system of Hindus is not well calculated
to promote their political interests.
• It is necessary that some change should take place in
their religion, at least for the sake of their political
advantage and social comfort
 Brahmo Samaj By Raja Ram Mohon Roy

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahmo Sabha

in 1828, which was later renamed as Brahmo Samaj.
• Its chief aim was the worship of the eternal God.
• It was against priesthood, rituals and sacrifices.
• It focused on prayers, meditation and reading of the
scriptures.
• It believed in the unity of all religions.
• It was the first intellectual reform movement in modern
India.
• It led to the emergence of rationalism and
enlightenment in India which indirectly contributed to the
nationalist movement.
• It was the first intellectual reform movement in
modern India where social evils then practised
were condemned and efforts made to remove
them from society.
• The Brahmo Samaj believed in the unity of all
religions.
• The democratic wing, called the Sadhāraṇ Brahmo
Samaj ('Universal Brahma Society'), is still active in
India.
• Prominent Leaders of Brahmo Samaj
was Debendranath Tagore (father of Rbindra Nath
Tagore), Keshub Chandra Sen, Pt. Sivnath Shastri,
and Rabindranath Tagore.
• Later in 1866, Brahma Sabha was split into two,
namely Brahmo Samaj of India led by Keshub
Chandra Sen and Adi Brahmo Samaj led
by Debendranath Tagore.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his Brahmo Samaj played
a vital role in awakening Indian society to the
pressing issues plaguing society at that time.
• It was the forerunner of all social, religious and
political movements of modern India.
• He actively opposed the Sati system .
• As a result of his hard work in fighting Sati, the
governor of the Bengal Presidency, Lord William
Bentinck, formally banned the practice in the year
1829.
• In 1830, Raja Ram Mohan Roy traveled to the
United Kingdom as an ambassador of the Mughal
Empire to ensure that Lord William Bentinck’s
Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829 banning the practice of
Sati was not overturned.
 Atmiya Sabha
• Atmiya Sabha was a philosophical discussion
circle in India. The association was started
by Ram Mohan Roy in 1815 in Kolkata (then
Calcutta).
• They used to conduct debate and discussion
sessions on philosophical topics, and also
used to promote free and collective thinking
and social reform.
• The foundation of Atmiya Sabha in 1815 is as
the beginning of the modern age in Kolkata.
• Weekly meetings used to be conducted in Ram
Mohan Roy's garden-house in Maniktala.
• Most of these gatherings were informal and only a
handful of Bengali intellects used to attend these
meetings.
• It was not a formal organization, and there was no
membership registration procedure.
• However, the association intended to promote free
and collective thinking.
• They also challenged and denounced orthodox
religions.
• He advocated the study of English, Science,
Western Medicine and Technology.
• Educational
He establishedReform
a numberbyof Raja Ram
schools Mohon
to popularize
Roy in India.
a modern education system
• In 1817, in collaboration with David Hare, he set
up the Hindu College at Calcutta.
• He also set up the Vedanta College, offering courses
as a synthesis of Western and Indian learning.
• In 1822, Roy found the Anglo-Hindu school,
followed four years later (1826) by the Vedanta
College; where he insisted that his teachings of
monotheistic doctrines be incorporated with "modern,
western curriculum.“
• In 1830, he helped Rev. Alexander Duff in establishing the
General Assembly's Institution (now known as Scottish
Church College), by providing him with the venue vacated
by Brahma Sabha and getting the first batch of students.
• He supported induction of western learning into
Indian education.
• His most popular journal was the Sambad
Kaumudi.
• It covered topics like freedom of the press,
induction of Indians into high ranks of service,
and separation of the executive and judiciary.
• When the English East India Company
muzzled the press, Ram Mohan composed two
memorials against this in 1829 and 1830
respectively.
Economic and Political Reforms of Raja Ram Mohon Roy
• Raja Ram Roy was impressed and admired the British
system of constitutional government for the civil
liberties it gave to the people.
• He wanted to extend the benefits of that system of
government to Indian people.
• He supported the movement for free press in India.
• He condemned oppressive practices of Bengali
zamindars and demanded fixation of minimum
rents.
• He also demanded the abolition of taxes on tax-
free lands.
• He called for a reduction of export duties on
Indian goods abroad and the abolition of the
East India Company’s trading rights.
• Administrative Reforms
• He demanded the Indianisation of superior
services and separation of the
executive from judiciary.
• He demanded equality between Indians and
Europeans.
• Press freedom: He spoke against the unjust
policies of the British government especially
the restrictions on press freedom.
• Through his writings and activities, he
supported the movement for free press in
India.
– When press censorship was relaxed by Lord
Hastings in 1819, Ram Mohan found three
journals-
– The Brahmanical Magazine (1821);
– The Bengali weekly,
– Samvad Kaumudi (1821); and
 Religious Contribution by Raja Ram Mohan Roy

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s first published work Tuhfat-ul-

Muwahhiddin (a gift to deists) published in 1803
exposed irrational religious beliefs.
• Brahmo Samaj believe that the most fundamental
doctrines of Brahmoism are at the basis of every
religion followed by a man.
• Brahmo Samaj believe in the existence of One
Supreme God—"a God, endowed with a distinct
personality & moral attributes equal to His nature, and
intelligence befitting the Author and Preserver of the
Universe," and worship Him alone.
• In 1814, he founded Atmiya Sabha in Calcutta
to campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities,
meaningless rituals and other social ills.
• Brahmo Samaj believe that worship of Him
needs no fixed place or time.
• "We can adore Him at any time and at any
place, provided that time and that place are
calculated to compose and direct the mind
towards Him."
• Having studied the Qur’an, the Vedas and
the Upanishads, Roy's beliefs were derived
from a combination of monastic elements
• He criticized the ritualism of Christianity and
rejected Christ as the incarnation of God.
• In Precepts of Jesus (1820), he tried to separate the
moral and philosophical message of the New
Testament, which he praised, from its miracle
stories.
• He translated the Vedas and five of the Upanishads
into Bengali.
• It is because of his contributions in Social, Religious,
Political, Economical and educational spheres that Raja
Ram Mihan Roy is known as the ‘Father of Modern
India’ and Father of Indian Renaissance’.
 Conclusion.
• India's Brahmo Samaj is even more radical,
emphasizing female education and caste
disparities.
• The creation of the Indian Reform Association
in 1870 led to the passage of the Indian
Marriage Act in 1872, which legalized inter-
caste marriage.
• What were the aims of Brahmo Samaj?
• Who founded Brahmo Samaj and why?
• What is the ideology of Brahmo Samaj?
• On what principle is Brahmo Samaj based?
• Does Brahmo Samaj still exist?