Today is the 251st birth anniversary of a non-conformist born in Bengal who studied Persian and Arabic along with Sanskrit to change and shape the intellectual life of India.

As an exercise in testing ChatGPT this is a piece that compares an article published about him in the Economic Times in 2018, his 246th birth anniversary with what ChatGPT provided in response to a prompt.

ChatGPT – Question / Prompt

Provide a life sketch of the Indian social reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy in how he was a change agent

ChatGPT

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, an eminent Indian social reformer, played a significant role in transforming society during the early 19th century. He was a change agent in several areas, promoting progressive ideas and challenging traditional practices. Here’s a concise life sketch highlighting his contributions:

• Born in 1772, Raja Ram Mohan Roy emerged as a key figure in the Bengal Renaissance, advocating for modern education, scientific temper, and social reforms.

• He criticized social evils like Sati (the practice of widows self-immolating on their husbands’ funeral pyres) and worked towards its abolition. His efforts led to the passage of the Bengal Sati Regulation in 1829.

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy aimed to bridge the gap between different religious communities. He founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1814, a socio-religious organization that encouraged interfaith dialogue and promoted religious harmony.

• In 1828, he established the Brahmo Samaj, a reformist Hindu society advocating monotheism, eradication of idol worship, and emphasis on rationality and morality.

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy ardently supported women’s rights and education. He promoted female education and fought against practices like child marriage and polygamy.

• He played a pivotal role in the introduction of Western-style education in India. Roy advocated for the study of English, science, and modern subjects alongside traditional Indian knowledge systems.

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a vocal critic of social discrimination and advocated for the rights of marginalized communities. He condemned the caste system and worked towards its eradication.

• Roy actively engaged with British administrators, urging them to adopt liberal policies and press for Indian political representation.

• His writings and publications in Bengali, Hindi, and English spread progressive ideas, making him a prominent voice for social reform in colonial India.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s relentless efforts as a change agent brought about a transformational impact on Indian society, leaving a lasting legacy in the realms of social, religious, and educational reforms.

Excerpts from the article in Economic Times ( for comparison to ChatGPT)

Father of the Indian Renaissance

Raja Ram Mohan Roy was a non-conformist to many a tradition he was born into on this day in 1772, in Radhanagar village in Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

Education and interests

He studied Persian and Arabic along with Sanskrit, which influenced his thinking about God. He read Upanishads, Vedas and the Quran and translated a lot of the scriptures into English.

After his father’s death in 1803 he moved to Murshidabad, where he published his first book Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheism). Roy took a keen interest in European politics and followed the course of the French Revolution.

Social reformist

Roy was a founder of the Brahma Sabha in 1828, an influential social-religious reform movement. The Brahma Samaj played a major role in reforming and modernising the Indian society.

Paving way for a modern India

However, his most significant contribution as a social engineer was towards women’s rights. Nearly 200 years ago, when evils like — Sati — plagued the society.

Roy fought to abolish the practice of Sati. He established a number of schools to popularise a modern education system in India.

Fight for equal rights

In 1830, he travelled to the UK as the Mughal Empire’s envoy to ensure that Lord William Bentinck’s law banning the practice of Sati was not overturned. He campaigned for equal rights for women, including the right to remarry and the right to hold property.

Journals he published

Roy was also one of the pioneers of Indian journalism. He published several journals in Bengali, Persian, Hindi and English to propagate social reforms.

Bengali weekly Samvad Kaumudi was the most important journal that he published. The Atmiya Sabha published an English weekly called the Bengal Gazette and a Persian newspaper called Miratul-Akbar.

Article source:

WordPress has disabled links, so to acknowledge- the article from the Economic Times, a publication in India, was published on 22 May 2018, 05:22 PM IST, on the web with the title “Remembering Raja Ram Mohan Roy on his 246th birth anniversary”.

Notes from a source of study for students

• From 1803 to 1814, he worked for East India Company as the personal diwan first of Woodforde and then of Digby.
• In 1814, he resigned from his job and moved to Calcutta in order to devote his life to religious, social and political reforms.
• In November 1830, he sailed for England to be present there to counteract the possible nullification of the Act banning Sati.
• Ram Mohan Roy was given the title of ‘Raja’ by the titular Mughal Emperor of Delhi, Akbar IIwhose grievances the former was to present before the British king.
• In his address, entitled ‘Inaugurator of the Modern Age in India,’ Tagore referred to Ram Mohan as ‘a luminous star in the firmament of Indian history’.

A Personal view

The extant view promoted in India today, maligns Ram Mohan Toy as an English agent. This I consider, results from a misplaced nationalism which is the very antithesis of the enlightened nationalism rooted in Indian tradition that Ravindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru represent. As a professional I view myself as a human and being human requires we strive continually to shed bias and use reason to continually learn and shape that social narrative to the benefit of the planet and posterity.