Editing Raja Ram Mohan Roy (section)

== Early life (1772–1796)==
Ram Mohan Roy was born in [[Radhanagore|Radhanagar]],  [[Hooghly District]], [[Bengal Presidency]]. His great-grandfather Krishnakanta Bandyopadhyay was a [[Rarh region|Rarhi]] [[Kulin Brahmin|Kulin]] (noble) [[Brahmin]]. Among Kulin Brahmins{{Snd}} descendants of the five families of Brahmins imported from [[Kannauj]] by [[Ballal Sen]] in the 12th century as per popular myth{{Snd}}those from the Rarhi district of West Bengal were notorious in the 19th century for living off dowries by marrying several women. [[Kulinism]] was a synonym for polygamy and the dowry system, both of which Ram Mohan campaigned against.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Concise History of Indian Literature in English|last=Mehrotra|first=Arvind|publisher=permanent black|year=2008|isbn=978-8178243023|location=Ranikhet|pages=1}}</ref> His father, Ramkanta, was a [[Vaishnavite]], while his mother, Tarini Devi, was from a [[Shaivite]] family. He was a great scholar of  Sanskrit, Persian and English languages and also knew Arabic, Latin and Greek. One parent prepared him for the occupation of a scholar, the ''Shastri'', while the other secured for him all the worldly advantages needed to launch a career in the ''laukik'' or worldly sphere of public administration.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-19 |title=Ram Mohan Roy {{!}} Biography, Importance, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ram-Mohan-Roy |access-date=2025-02-06 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Torn between these two parental ideals from early childhood, Ram Mohan vacillated between the two for the rest of his life.<ref name="Sharma">Sharma, H. D. (2002). ''Raja Ram Mohan Roy: The Renaissance Man''. Rupa & Co. p. 8. {{ISBN|978-8171679997}}.</ref>

During his childhood Ram Mohan Roy witnessed the death of his sister-in-law through [[Sati (practice)|sati]]. The seventeen-year-old girl was dragged towards the pyre where Ram Mohan Roy witnessed her terrified state. He tried to protest but to no avail. She was burned alive. The people chanted "Maha Sati! Maha Sati! Maha Sati!" (great wife) over her painful screams.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raja Ram Mohan Roy |date=28 July 2017 |url=https://madrascourier.com/insight/when-widows-were-burnt-alive-in-india |publisher=Madras Courier}}</ref>

Ram Mohan Roy was married three times. His first wife died early. He had two sons, Radhaprasad in 1800, and Ramaprasad in 1812 with his second wife, who died in 1824. Roy's third wife outlived him.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raja Ram Mohan Roy |url=https://www.culturalindia.net/reformers/raja-ram-mohan-roy.html |publisher=Cultural India |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825180138/https://www.culturalindia.net/reformers/raja-ram-mohan-roy.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The nature and content of Ram Mohan Roy's early education is disputed. One view is that Ram Mohan started his formal education in the village ''[[pathshala]]'' where he learned [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and some [[Sanskrit]] and [[Persian language|Persian]]. Later he is said to have studied [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic]] in a ''[[madrasa]]'' in [[Patna]] and after that he was sent to [[Benares]]  to learn the intricacies of [[Sanskrit]] and [[Hindu]] scripture, including the [[Vedas]] and [[Upanishads]]. The dates of his time in both these places are uncertain. However, it is believed that he was sent to [[Patna]] when he was nine years old and two years later he went to [[Benares]].<ref name="Sharma" />

Ram Mohan Roy's impact on modern Indian history was his revival of the pure and ethical principles of the Vedanta school of philosophy as found in the Upanishads. He preached the unity of God, made early translations of Vedic scriptures into English, co-founded the Calcutta [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] Society and founded the Brahmo Sabha, precursor to [[Brahmo Samaj]]. The Brahmo Samaj played a major role in reforming and modernizing the Indian society. He successfully campaigned against [[Sati (practice)|sati]], the practice of burning widows. He sought to integrate Western culture with the best features of his own country's traditions. He established a number of schools to popularize a modern system of education in India. He promoted a rational, ethical, non-authoritarian, this-worldly views and social reforms in Hinduism. His writings also sparked interest among British and American Unitarians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hodder |first1=Alan D. |title=Emerson, Rammohan Roy, and the Unitarians |journal=Studies in the American Renaissance |date=1988 |pages=133–148 |jstor=30227561 }}</ref>