Raja Ram Mohan Roy, friend of Jeremy Bentham

Raja Ram Mohan Roy/Wikipedia Commons

Born in 1772 at Radhanagar (in the Hooghly district of West Bengal), Raja Ram Mohan was known for his advocacy of social reform and has been rightly called the father of Indian Renaissance. In 1815, he founded Atmiya Shabha in Calcutta to propagate monotheism and reforms in the Hindu society. In 1828, he founded a sect named Brahmo Sabha which was later renamed Brahmo Samaj in 1882.

He launched in 1821 a Bengali weekly newspaper Sambad Kaumudi or “The Moon of the Intelligence” through which he started a campaign for the abolition of Sati.

Among his Persian literary works, Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheists) published in 1803 and Manazarutul Adyan, a discussion on various religions deserve special mention. In 1822, he published a Persian journal titled Mirat-ul-Akbar. Precepts of Jesus was published by him in 1820.

In 1830 Raja Ram Mohan Roy went to England as an envoy of the penultimate Mughal Emperor, Akbar Shah II, to the court of King William IV. It was Akbar Shah II who gave him the title of Raja,

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a friend of English philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham. He died in England in 1833.

Comments

Muhammad Shah Rangila

Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor, died in 1707. Muhammad Shah became Mughal emperor in 1719. During the interregnum, Bahadur Shah I , Jahandar Shah, Farrukhsiyar, Rafi-ud-Darajat and Rafi-ud-Daula ascended the Mughal throne. Jahandar Shah was murdered on the orders of Farrukhsiyar who had the support of the two powerful Mughal nobles Sayyid Abdullah and his brother Sayyid Husain Ali at that time. They are famous in history as Sayyid brothers, the King-makers. In 1719, Farrukhsiyar were murdered in utter disregard of a Mughal emperor by Sayyid brothers. Rafi-ud-Darajat died of consumption in a few months. Rafi-ud-Daula was addicted to opium and died in 4 months. Sayyid brothers now chose Raushan Akhtar, a son of Jahan Shah (the fourth son of Bahadur Shah I), to be the emperor. Raushan Akhtar ascended the throne under the title of Muhamamd Shah in September 1719. In the beginning Muhammad Shah was a puppet in the hands of Sayyid brothers who soon began to lose their gri...

Sanskrit Books and Authors in Ancient India

Books Authors Abhigyan Shakuntalam (Recognition of Shakuntala) Kalidasa Aihole Prasasti Ravikirti Amarakosha Amarasimha Arthashastra Kautilya Ashtadhyayi Panini Bhattikavya Bhatti Brihat Samhita Varahamihira Buddhacharita Asvaghosa Charaka Samhita ( Compendium of Charaka ) Charaka Devichandraguptam Vishakhadatta Gita Govinda ( Song of the Cowherd) Jayadeva Gatha Saptashati Hala Lilavati Bhaskara II Hammira Mahakavya Nayachandra Suri Janakiharana ( Janaki's abduction) Kumaradasa Kama Sutra Vatsyayana ...

Turkan-i-Chahalgani, the Group of Forty

Amir-i-Chahalgani, known variously as Turkan-i-Chahalgani and Chalisa (The Forty), was a group of 40 faithful slaves which came into existence with the task of protecting Shamsuddin Iltutmish , the third Slave Sultan of Delhi Sultanate. The idea to form the group was taken by him when he came to realize that Turkish nobles cannot be trusted and could be a threat to his rule. With the passage of time the group went on to become very influential and powerful. Though Iltutmish succeeded in keeping the group under control, after his rule they became notorious and intrigued against nearly all his successors. The Forty acquired domination on the affairs of the state so much so that no ruler could defy them. Without their support it was utterly out of questions for the rulers to win the battle for succession. The members of this Turkish nobility used to appropriate all the offices of the state to themselves. Some of the rulers of the Slave dynasty after Iltutmish were murdered by these s...

Indian History

Search This Blog