It is not without reason that Roy has been called the father of Indian Renaissance. An ardent social reformer, he was an early advocate of widow remarriage, girls. education and change in the inheritance laws. And, of course, it was thanks to him that the practice of sati was abolished.

His deep commitment to human rights, to republican values and his pursuit of dialogue with people made him a quintessential liberal. With him begins the modern Indian Liberal movement.

He wanted western education to be promoted but not at the cost of Indian languages. A many-sided personality, he was the first public Indian to go to England. He is rightly called the Father of Modern India.

He was one of the pioneers of the study of comparative religion. He studied various religions including Islam and Christianity in a sympathetic and critical spirit. A restless soul, he sought religious enlightenment and his dissatisfaction with current Hinduism made him found the Brahmo Samaj in 1828.