Munshi Ram, better known as Swami Shraddhanand (22 February 1856 – 23 December 1926)[1] was an Indian independence activist and Arya Samaj sannyasi who propagated the teachings of Dayananda Saraswati.

This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the Gurukul Kangri University, and played a key role on the Sangathan (consolidation and organization) and the Shuddhi (purification), a Hindu reform movement in the 1920s.

He was the youngest child in the family of Lala Nanak Chand, who was a Police Inspector in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), then administered by the East India Company.

He adopted atheism after a few incidents, such as when he was prevented from entering the temple while a noble woman was praying.

He also was witness to a "compromising" situation involving a church's father with a nun,[2] the attempted rape of a young devotee by pontiffs of the Krishna cult, and the suspicious death of a little girl at the home of a Muslim lawyer.

His father was handling arrangements and security at the events, due to the attendance of some prominent personalities and British officers.

[2][3] In 1892 Arya Samaj was split into two factions after a controversy over whether to make Vedic education the core curriculum at the DAV College Lahore.

The same year he protested in front of a posse of Gurkha soldiers at the Clock Tower in Chandni Chowk, then was allowed to proceed.

[7] In late 1923, he became the president of Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Sabha, created with an aim of reconverting Muslims, specifically 'Malkana Rajputs' in the western United Province.

[11] The 'Swami Shraddhanand Kaksha' at the archeological museum of the Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar houses a photographic journey of his life.