Rammohan Roy (1772/74

1
Rammohan Roy (1772/74 1833)Social Reformer,
Thinker and Modern Indias First Universalist
Philosopher

• Monish R. Chatterjee, Ph.D.
• Professor, Department of Electrical Computer
  Engineering
• University of Dayton
• Dayton, Ohio 45469
• Monish.Chatterjee_at_notes.udayton.edu

2
Topics to be discussed

• Contemporaneous India and the world in RRs time
• Overview of early British colonization of India
• Overview of RRs early life
• RRs emergence as scholar, linguist and public
  figure
• RRs religious philosophy and founding of the
  Brahmo Samaj
• RRs reformation campaigns and the abolition of
  Sati
• Crossing the kalapani and RRs journey to Europe
• RRs legacy as one of the worlds great
  visionaries

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Contemporaneous India and the world in RRs time

• Weakening of the Mughal dynasty in Delhi
• Incursions by the British East India Company
• Battle of Plassey and British ascension to
  dominant colonial power in India
• Indian civilization versus Western contact
• American revolution (1776- RR a child)
• French revolution (1789- RR a teenager)
• Battle of Trafalgar
• Battle of Waterloo

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Overview of early British colonization of India

• Jesuits interact with Emperor Akbars court
• Sir Thomas Roe receives permit from Emperor
  Jahangir to set up trading outposts for East
  India Company
• Robert Clive, Warren Hastings and consolidation
  of Company power
• Development of Calcutta as major seaport for
  trade in India, and cultural center for East-West
  contact
• William Carey, Alexander Duff and English
  missionaries

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Overview of RRs early life

• RR and Indias entry into the modern age
• RRs devotion to Indias sacred literature
• Aspects of the Hindu caste structure problems of
  tradition
• Rebellion against religious orthodoxy
• Relationship with parents
• Views about women, society and freedom

6
RRs emergence as scholar, linguist and public
figure

• RRs interest in languages
• RRs interest in diversity of culture
• RRs emergence as author, publisher, journalist
• RR as public speaker and influential orator

7
RRs religious philosophy and founding of the
Brahmo Samaj

• RRs disillusionment with ritual-dominated Hindu
  religious life and social mores
• RRs exposure to Buddhism, Christianity and Islam
• RRs early interpretations of the Vedas and
  Upanishads
• RRs monotheistic views, and the Atmiya Sabha
• Emergence of the Brahmo Samaj, and the Brahmo
  movement
• The Brahmo movement after RR its impact on
  Bengal and India
• Keshab Sen, Debendranath Tagore, Sivanath Sastri,
  Rabindranath Tagore, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda,
  Sarat Chandra Chatterjee

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RRs reformation campaigns and the abolition of
Sati

• Context of Sati
• Rammohans views on women impact of his
  sister-in-laws Sati
• Rammohans defense of Hindu philosophy in favor
  of abolition of Sati
• Governor General William Bentinck and abolition
  of Sati
• Rammohans views on English education and its
  impact
• Rammohans views on Indias future in the modern
  world

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Crossing the kalapani and RRs journey to Europe

• RR as major Indian interface with England and the
  West
• RR anointed Raja by the Mughal Emperor
• RR sent to England as special envoy of the Mughal
  Emperor
• RRs role in the abolition of Sati
• RRs interactions with European intellectuals,
  thinkers and Unitarians
• Last days and death in Bristol, England

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RRs legacy as one of the worlds great
visionaries

• Notion of Universal religion
• Cooperation between nations, and early ideas
  about League of Nations
• Breaking the barriers of gender inequality
• Advocacy of modernization, science education, and
  the reflective life
• Influence on major Western thinkers- Jeremy
  Bentham, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau
• Given the title Bharat-Pathik (Pathfinder of
  India) by Rabindranath Tagore