Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was the founder of the Brahmo Samaj,which engendered the Brahmo Samaj, an influential socio-religious reform movement. His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration and education as well as religion. He was known for his efforts to establish the abolishment of the practice of sati, the Hindu funeral practice in which the widow was compelled to sacrifice herself in her husband’s funeral pyre in some parts of Bengal. What is not so well known is that Roy protested against the East India Company's decision to support vernacular education and insisted that English replace Sanskrit and Persian in India. It was he who first introduced the word "Hinduism" into the English language in 1816. For his diverse activities and contributions to society, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as one of the most important and contentious figures in the Bengali renaissance. His efforts to protect Hinduism and Indian rights and his closeness with the British government earned him the title "The Father of the Indian Renaissance".