“ He was the son of a small landowner, and in his early life acquired a knowledge of Persian, Arabic and Sanskrit, besides his own vernacular, Bengali. At the age of sixteen he first assailed idolatry in his Bengali work, entitled The Idolatrous Religious System of the Hindus. This gave offence to his orthodox father, and Ram Mohan left home and spent some years in travel. At the age of twenty-two he began his study of the English language, and he also acquired a knowledge of other modern and ancient European languages. ”

“ On the death of his father he obtained an appointment under the British government in 1800, from which he retired in 1814, settled down in Calcutta, and devoted himself to religious reform. He had already inaugurated a circle for discussing the absurdities of idol worship, and published a striking book in Persian called Tuhfat-al-Muwahhiddin (“A Gift to Monotheists”) . ”