Raja Rammohun Roy holds the key to our understanding of the origins of the nineteenth century Renaissance in India and its far-reaching consequences. For this, he became a legend in his lifetime. He was not a Derozio in the making and did not view the rich cultural heritage of India as dead. To him Indian culture was richer and deeper than what was being represented by the Hinduism of his time. The ideal of his India of tomorrow was based on his perception of the different races and languages of India. Perhaps he was the first producer as well as the first product of the composite culture of India, which some of us have begun to recognise today. Consequent upon a research work, the book follows an academic persuasion to construe the ideas and ideology of Raja Rammohun Roy in the modern context. The spectrum through which his ideas have been x-rayed is thoroughly empirical and modern. The utility of such a research on him lies in the fact that he has been acknowledged as the first of the Indian moderns. Regarded as the first of the Indian liberals, he was a symbol more of the times ahead of him than of the times he belonged to. As a pragmatic reformer, Rammohun Roy not only realized the importance of the great change that he was initiating but also did his best to give it a definite shape in his lifetime, despite the problems he faced. Herein lies his real greatness. Herein lies his relevance even today.
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