Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833) was an Indian religious and social reformer who campaigned against sati and helped found the Brahmo Sabha, later the Brahmo Samaj.

Bengal Sati Regulation: A 1829 law under Governor-General William Bentinck that prohibited sati in the Bengal Presidency. Roy’s campaign against sati helped build the pressure behind this prohibition.
Bengal Presidency: A major administrative region of British India centered on Bengal and governed from Calcutta. Roy’s life and reform work unfolded within this colonial political setting.
William Bentinck: A British colonial administrator who served as governor-general of India from 1828 to 1835. Bentinck enacted the 1829 prohibition of sati during Roy’s campaign.
Sati: A historical practice in which a widow was burned on her husband’s funeral pyre, voluntarily or under coercion. Ending this practice was Roy’s best-known social reform campaign.
Brahmo Samaj: A Hindu reform movement that promoted monotheism and challenged ritual practices and social customs. The Brahmo Sabha Roy helped establish developed into this influential reform movement.
Persian language: A language historically used across South and Central Asia in literature, administration, and scholarship. Roy’s Persian learning connected him with Islamic philosophical and literary traditions.
Dwarkanath Tagore: A Bengali entrepreneur and philanthropist who supported reformist institutions and public initiatives. Tagore supported the Brahmo Sabha and helped sustain the reform movement Roy initiated.
Hindu reform movements: Movements that sought to reinterpret or change Hindu beliefs, institutions, and social practices. Roy’s Brahmo initiatives belong to this broader history of reform.
Indian Renaissance: A period of intellectual and social change in nineteenth-century India, especially in Bengal. Roy’s work became an early landmark in this wider transformation.
Upanishads: A collection of ancient Indian philosophical texts that explore spiritual knowledge and ultimate reality. Roy translated and interpreted these texts to support his arguments for monotheism.

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