Later he is said to have studied 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.

[6] 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.

[10] In 1792, the British Baptist shoemaker William Carey published his influential missionary tract, An Enquiry of the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of Heathens.

[13] In 1795, Carey made contact with a Sanskrit scholar, the Tantric Saihardana Vidyavagish,[14] who later introduced him to Ram Mohan Roy, who wished to learn English.

[15][16] While there are rumors that between 1796 and 1797, the trio of Carey, Vidyavagish, and Roy created a religious work known as the "Maha Nirvana Tantra" (or "Book of the Great Liberation").

Scholars like John Duncan Derrett are skeptical of this claim calling it "highly improbable"[17] and Hugh Urban argues that "It is probable that we will never know the true author and date of the Maha Nirvana Tantra".

However, a few British magistrates and collectors began to suspect and its usage (as well as the reliance on pandits as sources of Hindu Law) was quickly deprecated.

[21] In 1797, Raja Ram Mohan reached Calcutta and became a bania (moneylender), mainly to lend to the Englishmen of the Company living beyond their means.

[23] From 1803 until 1815, Ram Mohan served the East India Company's "Writing Service", commencing as private clerk (Munshi) to Thomas Woodroffe, Registrar of the Appellate Court at Murshidabad (whose distant nephew, John Woodroffe—also a magistrate—and later lived off the Maha Nirvana Tantra under the pseudonym Arthur Avalon).

[25] While in Murshidabad, in 1804 Raja Ram Mohan Roy wrote Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheists) in Persian with an introduction in Arabic.

Tuhfat was, after all, available as early as 1884 in the English translation of Maulavi Obaidullah EI Obaid, published by the Adi Brahmo Samaj.

[26][27] In 1814, he started Atmiya Sabha (i.e. Society of Friends) a philosophical discussion circle in Kolkata (then Calcutta) to propagate the monotheistic ideals of the vedanta and to campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities, meaningless rituals and other social ills.

[29] Ram Mohan Roy saw this and believed that the unrestricted settlement of Europeans in India governing under free trade would help ease the economic drain crisis.

In 1830, he had gone to England as an envoy of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar Shah II, who invested him with the title of Raja to the court of King William IV.

[35]Roy's experience working with the British government taught him that Hindu traditions were often not credible or respected by western standards and this no doubt affected his religious reforms.

"[36] The "superstitious practices", to which Ram Mohan Roy objected, included sati, caste rigidity, polygamy and child marriages.

[40] Ram Mohan Roy was originally buried on 18 October 1833, in the grounds of Stapleton Grove, where he had lived as an ambassador of the Mughal Empire and died of meningitis on 27 September 1833.

[42][citation needed] Bristol Arnos Vale cemetery have been holding remembrance services for Raja Ram Mohan Roy every year on a Sunday close to his death anniversary date of 27 September.

The commemoration is a joint Brahmo-Unitarian service, in which, prayers and hymns are sung, flowers laid at the tomb, and the life of the Raja is celebrated via talks and visual presentations.

[48] Gandhi objected to Roy's devotion to English education and thought and disallowing independent thinking by being overly supportive of the Western philosophical discourses.

At Bristol's centre, on College Green, there is a full-size bronze statue of Raja by a modern Kolkata sculptor Niranjan Pradhan.

There is a 1933 Brahmo plaque on the outside west wall of Stapleton Grove, and his first burial place in the garden is marked by railings and a granite memorial stone.

His tomb and chhatri at Arnos Vale are listed as a Grade II historic site by English Heritage and attract many visitors today.

[citation needed] A 1965 Indian Bengali-language film Raja Rammohan about Roy's reforms, directed by Bijoy Bose and starring Basanta Chowdhury in the title role.

[50] In 1988 Doordarshan Serial Bharat Ek Khoj produced and directed by Shyam Benegal also picturised a full one episode on Raja Ram Mohan Roy.

The title role was played by noted TV actor Anang Desai with Urmila Bhatt, Tom Alter and Ravi Jhankal as supporting cast.