Page:Dictionary of Indian Biography.djvu/382

 ROYDS, SIR JOHN (1752–1817)

Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court, Calcutta, for more than 20 years, "during which period he conscientiously discharged his important duties with honour to himself and with advantage to the public, while he benefited and adorned the society in which he lived by the benevolence of his disposition and the accomplishments of a scholar and gentleman" : Vice-President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1815 : died Sep. 24, 1817.

ROYLE, JOHN FORBES (1799–1858)

Son of Capt. William Henry Royle : born at Cawnpur, 1799 : educated at Edinburgh and Addiscombe, but became an Assistant Surgeon in Bengal, 1819 : M.D. : Superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Saharanpur, 1823–31 : cul-tivated useful vegetable products : retired : Doctor of Medicine, Munich : wrote Illustrations of the Botany and Natural History of the Himalaya Mountains, 1839 : advocated the introduction of cinchona into India : Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics at King's College, London, 1837–56 : (had charge of a museum, at the India House, of vegetable productions of India ; was F.R.S., F.L.S., Fellow and Secretary of the Geological, Linnaean, Royal Asiatic, and Royal Horticultural Societies : wrote a manual on Materia Medica, 1847 : a book on the fibrous plants of India, and works on cotton and other products, and the Natural History of India : distinguished for his practical application of botanic science : a Commissioner of the great Exhibition of 1851, and in charge of the Indian Department : also at the Paris Exhibition, 1855 : died Jan. 2, 1858.

ROYLE, JOSEPH RALPH EDWARD JOHN (1844–)

Born Dec. 3, 1844 : son of Dr. John Forbes Royle (q.v.): educated at King's College School, London, and Addiscombe : joined the Army, 1862, and retired through ill-health, 1867 : Superintendent, Indian Museum, 1874–9 : Statistical Department, India Office, 1879–91 : C.I.E., 1886.

ROY, RAMA PRASAD ( ? –1862)

Youngest son of Raja Ram Mohan Roy (q.v.) : practised in the Sadr Court, Calcutta : the first Government Pleader : Member of the Bengal Legislative Council on its formation, 1862 : would have been a Puisne Judge of the High Court, but for his death, 1862 : his family had been outcasted for his father's visit to England, but he had purchased re-admission to caste : left a very large fortune, made at the bar.

ROY, RAJA RAMMOHAN (1772–1833)

Son of Ramkanta Roy, who was manager of some estates of the Maharaja of Burdwan : studied Persian and Arabic at Patna : and Sanskrit at Benares : was particularly well versed in Sanskrit literature. At the age of 15 he published his famous work on Idolatry in Bengali, in which he contended that the popular religion of the Hindus was contrary to the practice of their ancestors and the doctrine of the ancient authorities. For this he incurred his father's displeasure and was turned out of the house : he wandered for 4 years, even to Tibet. He was readmitted by his mother on his father's death. At the age of 21 he commenced the study of English, in which he became proficient : he also studied French, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Employed in the Collectorate at Rangpur, he rose to be Sarishtadar, but retired from Government service in 1813. He then commenced a crusade against the popular religion. Going to Calcutta, he translated into Bengali the Vedanta and the Vedantasara and the Upanishads : the latter he also translated into English. He studied the Koran in Arabic, the Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek. In 1820 he published, in Sanskrit and Bengali, Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness, in which he denied the Divinity of Clirist. This brought him into controversy with the Serampur Missionaries, and on their refusal to print his Final Appeal, he established a press of his own. Dr. Marshman answered him, and the publications attracted considerable attention, both in England and America. Rammohan soon after founded a Periodical, called The Brahmanical Magazine, with the object of defending the religious books of the Hindus. He formed a religious association, called the Atmya Sabha, and in 1828 founded the Brahmo Samaj " for the worship and adoration of the Eternal, Unsearchable, Immutable Being, who is