Rammohun Roy

This book explicates long-standing literary celebrations of 'India' and 'Indian-ness' by charting a cultural history of Indianness in the Anglophone world, locating moments (in intellectual, religious and cultural history) where India and Indianness are offered up as solutions to modern moral, ethical and political questions in the 'West.' Beginning in the early 1800s, South Asians actively seek to occupy and modify spaces created by the scholarly discourses of Orientalism: the study of the East (‘Orient’) via Western (‘European’) epistemological frameworks. Tracing the varying fortunes of Orientalist scholars from the inception of British rule, this study charts the work of key Indologists in the colonial era. The rhetorical constructions of East and West deployed by both colonizer and colonized, as well as attempts to synthesize or transcend such constructions, became crucial to conceptions of the ‘modern.’ Eventually, Indian desire for political sovereignty together with the deeply racialized formations of imperialism produced a shift in the dialogic relationship between South Asia and Europe that had been initiated and sustained by orientalists. This impetus pushed scholarly discourse about India in Europe, North America and elsewhere, out of what had been a direct role in politics and theology and into high ‘Literary’ culture.

This essay is a wide-ranging inquiry into an early and consistent monotheistic impulse in Hindu nationalist discourses and identity formation since the late nineteenth century. It argues that the consolidation of a pan-Indian Hindu demographic and religious identity, cutting across a formidable and awry range of local devotional traditions and deities, entailed a form of modernist transcoding that was tendentially monotheistic. It would seem that a singular Hindu national imagination could be secured only when such myriad energies–differing vastly in terms of caste, class, region, local cosmologies, linguistic, and cultural formations–could be harnessed into a monotheistic edifice of faith. Only then could that singular faith be parlayed into nationalist feeling for one Hindu nation. The aspired-for Hindu monotheism would then not just yield a Hindu nation in the world but would also be equipped to synchronize with other monothematic mantras of modernity like scientific progress, democracy, or techno-financial development. The essay visits some nodal moments of this historical narrative–the coming into being of a Hindu “tradition” under the auspices of colonial Indology, Rammohun Roy’s defense of Vedic monotheism, Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay’s efforts at using modern disciplinary knowledge (history, philosophy, science, aesthetics) to formulate a system of Hindu ethics and to establish Krishna as a singular messianic figure like Christ or Buddha, or a later moment in Savarkar’s time, when the theological question had to be sidelined altogether in favor of a more pragmatic Hindu cultural nationalism. The essay visits some cardinal points of tension and historical consequences in the fragmented, still unfolding story of this monotheistic drive.

Rammohun Roy was the first Indian to use the English language to communicate his views on religious, social, and political issues. He also was possibly the first to make Bengali prose his vehicle to communicate his message. The essential message he wished to convey was that of rationalism and of an anxiety to convey Western advances in knowledge, especially science, to his fellow countrymen. He thus preferred English to Sanskrit education. His fight against sati was based not only on a call for humanity but also on a reform of traditional Hinduism and improvement of the position of women. His knowledge of Arabic and Persian made him appreciate the monotheistic message of Islam, which he also saw in ancient Hinduism, notably the Upanishads. Despite his own position as a large landholder, he wished to protect peasants from oppression and argued that rents payable by peasants should also be fixed at a low figure, just as the tax imposed on the landlord had been fixed under the Permanen...

This is a project proposal, inviting suggestions for action and involvement, for rereading and completing Raja Rammohun Roy's unfulfilled mission. In this year, when Rammohun's quarter millennial celebration coincides with the celebration of 75th year of India's Independence, it is necessary to initiate collective action for taking the tasks undertaken by him for equality, religious unity, multilingualism, cultural diversity, universal peace, gender equity, harmony of reason and tradition, forward into the future. A plan is being put forth for the conservation and revitalization of the tangible and intangible heritage, associated with Rammohun, by revisiting his itinerary, exhibiting and retelling his ideas for social reform, carrying his crusade forward for women's protection and liberation, bridging cognitive divides in education and public policy, and uniting humanity on coexistential platforms. A multiversity is proposed, across disciplines, cognitive categories, denominations and traditions, to build and forge ahead for universal understanding and peace, after Rammohun's ideas.

The nineteenth century Bengal was at the crossroads of tradition and (colonial) modernity. This is a transition phase in history that wombed the germs of progressive thinking. Rammohun Roy embodies this tectonic shift in his personality and reform works. Scholars differ when it comes to the characterization of this luminary and his movement. Historical figures are often judged employing contemporary values and frameworks leading to an incomplete and vague understanding of historical reality. To be fair to the person, the prevailing socio-historical conditions at that time must be factored in before putting any label on him. Historicization would be an intellectually honest way to assess whether Roy was a feminist. His endeavour must be appreciated in its entirety.

Rammohun Roy was the first Indian to use the English language to communicate his views on religious, social, and political issues. He also was possibly the first to make Bengali prose his vehicle to communicate his message. The essential message he wished to convey was that of rationalism and of an anxiety to convey Western advances in knowledge, especially science, to his fellow countrymen. He thus preferred English to Sanskrit education. His fight against sati was based not only on a call for humanity but also on a reform of traditional Hinduism and improvement of the position of women. His knowledge of Arabic and Persian made him appreciate the monotheistic message of Islam, which he also saw in ancient Hinduism, notably the Upanishads. Despite his own position as a large landholder, he wished to protect peasants from oppression and argued that rents payable by peasants should also be fixed at a low figure, just as the tax imposed on the landlord had been fixed under the Permanent Settlement.