Vishvamitra Prasad Chaudhary Encyclopaedia on Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Annotation

Raja Rammohan Roy has come to be called the Maker of Modem India. Without giving up what was good and noble in the past, he laid the foundations for a great future. He put an end to the horrible custom of burning the living wife with the dead husband. He was a great scholar and an independent thinker. He advocated the study of English, Science, Western Medicine and Technology. He spent his money on a college to promote these studies. He stood firmly against all sort of social bigotry, conservatism and superstitions. He also supported education, particularly education of women. He believed that English-language education was superior to the traditional Indian education system, and he opposed the use of government funds to support schools teaching Sanskrit. In 1822, he founded a school based on English education. Most people remember Raja Ram Mohan Roy as the man who fought to abolish Sati (the practice of a wife immolating herself on her husbands funeral pyre) and also founded the Brahmo Samaj. But his contribution was a great deal more than that. The book captures evocatively the spirit of the man and the essence of the times he lived in.