One God in a Stratified Society: How Did Rammohun Roy’s Teachings Challenge Religious and Caste Power Structures?

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Abstract

This article examines One God in a Stratified Society: How Did Rammohun Roy’s Teachings Challenge Religious and Caste Power Structures? by analyzing Rammohun Roy’s intellectual project as a pioneering religious and social reformer in colonial India. Drawing on the history of ideas alongside philosophical and sociological approaches to religion, the study situates Roy’s thought within the socio-political and religious transformations of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century India. It argues that Roy’s advocacy of monotheism, religious rationalism, and moral universalism functioned not merely as theological propositions but as a critical framework that destabilized entrenched religious authority and the legitimacy of the caste system. By reinterpreting Hinduism through the lens of the Upanishads and ethical reason, Roy challenged the ritualistic monopoly of the Brahmin elite and redefined religion as a domain accessible to all individuals regardless of birth, caste, or gender. His insistence on universal moral principles enabled religion to serve as a vehicle for social critique, particularly in campaigns against practices such as sati and other forms of structural inequality. At the same time, the article highlights the theoretical tensions inherent in Roy’s project, including criticisms from orthodox Hindu perspectives and postcolonial scholars who question his reliance on Enlightenment rationalism. Ultimately, the study contends that Roy’s legacy should be understood as a form of “critical religion,” offering enduring insights into how religious thought can engage reason and moral equality to confront stratified social orders in the modern world.