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Ram Mohan Roy
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (22 May 1772 – 27 September 1833) was an Indian reformer and writer who was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha in 1828, the precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a socio-religious reform movement in the Indian subcontinent. He has been dubbed the "Father of Indian Renaissance." He was given the title of Raja by Mughal emperor Akbar II (). His influence was apparent in the fields of politics, public administration, education and religion. He was known for his efforts to abolish the practices of sati and child marriage. Roy wrote ''Gaudiya Vyakaran'' which was the first complete Bangla grammar written book. Early life (1772–1796) Ram Mohan Roy was born in Radhanagar, Hooghly District, Bengal Presidency. His great-grandfather Krishnakanta Bandyopadhyay was a Rarhi Kulin (noble) Brahmin. Among Kulin Brahmins descendants of the five families of Brahmins imported from Kannauj by Ballal Sen in the 12th century as per popular myththose from the Rarhi d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raja
Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and History of Southeast Asia, Southeast Asia, being attested from the ''Rigveda'', where a ' is a Rigvedic tribes, ruler, see for example the Battle of the Ten Kings, ', the "Battle of Ten Kings". The title has equivalent cognates in other Indo-European languages, notably the Latin Rex (title), Rex and the Celtic languages, Celtic Rix. Raja-ruled Indian states While most of the British Raj, Indian salute states (those granted a Salute#Heavy arms: gun salutes, gun salute by the The Crown, British Crown) were ruled by a Maharaja (or variation; some promoted from an earlier Raja- or equivalent style), even exclusively from 13 guns up, a number had Rajas: ; Hereditary salutes of 11-guns : * the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sati (practice)
Sati or suttee is a practice, a chiefly historical one, Quote: Between 1943 and 1987, some thirty women in Rajasthan (twenty-eight, according to official statistics) immolated themselves on their husband's funeral pyre. This figure probably falls short of the actual number. (p. 182) in which a Hindu widow burns alive on her deceased husband's funeral pyre, the death by burning entered into voluntarily, by coercion, or by a perception of the lack of satisfactory options for continuing to live. Although it is debated whether it received scriptural mention in early Hinduism, it has been linked to related Hindu practices in the Indo-Aryan-speaking regions of India, which have diminished the rights of women, especially those to the inheritance of property. A cold form of sati, or the neglect and casting out of Hindu widows, has been prevalent from ancient times. Quote: Sati is a particularly relevant social practice because it is often used as a means to prevent inheritance of pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion, diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age#South Asia, Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a lingua franca, link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting effect on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Indo-Aryan languages# ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bengali Language
Bengali, also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Bangla (, , ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is native to the Bengal region (Bangladesh, India's West Bengal and Tripura) of South Asia. With over 242 million native speakers and another 43 million as second language speakers as of 2025, Bengali is the List of languages by number of native speakers, sixth most spoken native language and the List of languages by total number of speakers, seventh most spoken language by the total number of speakers in the world. Bengali is the Official language, official, National language, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh, with 98% of Bangladeshis using Bengali as their first language. It is the second-most widely spoken scheduled languages of India, language in India. It is the official language of the Indian states of West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pathshala
Drik Picture Library is a photography agency and picture library based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Background Drik Picture Library was established in 1989 by Bangladeshi writer and photographer Shahidul Alam and Bangladeshi writer and anthropologist Rahnuma Ahmed. The name is Sanskrit for 'vision'. It was set up to provide a platform for local photographers to publish internationally and provides various media services. Drik is associated with Alam's other large project: Majority World which aims to promote photographers from the global south and ensure fair compensation for their work. Drik is headquartered in Dhaka and has branch offices in India and the UK."Network partnerships: Drik Picture Library, Dhaka, Bangladesh", Prince Claus FundArchivedby the Wayback Machine on 4 July 2010. Pathshala South Asian Media Institute Pathshala, the ''South Asian Media Institute,'' was set up in 1998 by the Bangladeshi photographer, writer, and activist Shahidul Alam, as "Pathshala South As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaivite
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in Southern India), Sri Lanka, and Nepal.Keay, p.xxvii. The followers of Shaivism are called Shaivas or Shaivites. According to Chakravarti, Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Aryan religions and traditions, Vedic Rudra, and post-Vedic traditions, accommodating local traditions and Yoga, puja and bhakti. According to Bisschop, early shaivism is rooted in the worship of vedic deity Rudra. The earliest evidence for sectarian Rudra-Shiva worship appears with the Pasupata (early CE), possibly owing to the Hindu synthesis, when many local traditions were aligned with the Vedic-Brahmanical fold. The Pāśupata movement rapidly expanded throughout North India, giving rise to different forms of Shaivism, which led to the emergence of variou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaishnavite
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kulinism
Kulinism (Bengali: কৌলিন্য) or ''Kulin Pratha'' is a practice that envisages an elite position within the varna/jati configuration, derived from spiritual and ritual purity. Upper castes in Bengal were divided into exogamous classes, with ritual status determined by lineage purity and family marital history, with Kulins having the highest status. The Kulagranthas or Kulapanjikas (Genealogical literatures) are the foundational narrative of kulinism in Bengal, detailing its development over centuries and focusing on kulina lineages and social interaction norms. The Kulapanjikas state that King Ballal Sena initiated Kulinism, which conferred titles of nobility upon the Brahmanas, Kayasthas, and Vaidyas in Bengal. According to texts, King Adisura invited Brahmins (accompanied by Kayasthas) to settle in the region from Kanauj and designated them higher in social status. The texts further state that King Ballal Sena introduced kulinism, designating certain lineages of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballal Sen
Ballal (also spelt as Ballala) is a surname from coastal Karnataka in India. It is found among Shivalli Madhva Brahmins, Hindu Samantha Arasu, Bunt and Jain Royal communities. History The origin of the title 'Ballal' is reflects a claim of descent from the Hoysala dynasty, Hoysala Ballal, Kadamba Dynasty, Hindu Samantha Arasu Ballal kings. The Hoysalas had matrimonial relations with the Alupa royal family of coastal Karnataka. In the Book Prachina Tulunadu (Ancient Tulu nadu), The writers N. S. Kille and N. A. Sheenappa Heggade state that following the decline of Alupas, the coastal region of Karnataka (except kasaragod) came under the sway of powerful local Bunt-Jain feudal families who established feudatory states or chiefdoms. These Feudal lords and petty kings were generally referred to as Bunt Nadava's later owed allegiance to the Vijayanagara Empire. Kadamba kings in the southern regions of erstwhile South Canara and North Kerala sought to establish their high prestige a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kannauj
Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located 113 km (71 mi) from Etawah, 93 km (58 mi) from Kanpur, 129 km (81 mi) from Lucknow. The city's name is an evolved form of the classical name ''Kanyakubja''. During the ancient Vedic period, it was the capital city of the Pañcāla, Panchala Kingdom during the reign of king Vajrayudha. In the medieval era, it formed the core of the Kingdom of Kannauj and was ruled by multiple successive royal families. It was also known as ''Mahodaya'' during the time of Mihira Bhoja. It is situated 104 kilometres west of the state capital, Lucknow. Kannauj is famous for distilling of scents and perfumes. It is known as "India's perfume capital" and is famous for its traditional Kannauj Perfume, a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brahmin
Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). The traditional occupation of Brahmins is that of priesthood (purohit, pandit, or pujari) at Hindu temples or at socio-religious ceremonies, and the performing of rite of passage rituals, such as solemnising a wedding with hymns and prayers.James Lochtefeld (2002), Brahmin, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing, , page 125 Traditionally, Brahmins are accorded the supreme ritual status of the four social classes, and they also served as spiritual teachers (guru or acharya). In practice, Indian texts suggest that some Brahmins historically also became agriculturalists, warriors, traders, and had also held other occupations in the Indian subcontinent.GS Ghurye (1969), Caste and Race in India, Popular Prakasha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kulin Brahmin
Bengali Brahmins are the community of Hindu Brahmins, who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. The Bengali Brahmins, along with Baidyas and Kayasthas, are regarded among the three traditional higher castes of Bengal. In the colonial era, the Bhadraloks of Bengal were primarily, but not exclusively, drawn from these three castes, who continue to maintain a collective hegemony in West Bengal. History For a long period, Bengal was not part of Vedic culture. However, North Bengal was a part of the Aryan acculturation during the Mauryan era, as depicted in the Mahasthan inscription. By the end of the 3rd century C.E., the region came under the rule of the Magadha Empire under Samudragupta and remained within this empire until the mid-6th century C.E. According to contemporary historians, Brahmanism was found to have gained prominence in Bengal as early as the four ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
