Foster 599

Portrait of Raja Ram Roy, son of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, 1833

A half-length portrait. He wears a pink turban with touches of green, yellow and white, a blue tunic with gold trimmings and a pink gold-spotted under-vest. He holds a map of Bengal in his right hand and is pointing with his left to Calcutta and Bengal.

Inscribed: ‘Raja Ram, son of Raja Ram Moham Roy painted by John King, at Bristol 1833.’

36 by 28 ins (91.5 by 71 cms)

Presented by David Minlore, 1937

Exhibited: Royal Academy, 1834 (no.166)

Raja Ram Roy is a somewhat mysterious figure. He appears to have been a Muslim orphan adopted by Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833). He accompanied his ‘father’ to England in 1831 and was present at his death at Stapleton Grove near Bristol on September 27, 1833. During this period Raja Ram Mohan Roy’s portrait was also painted by H.P. Briggs, R.A. Raja Ram Roy stayed on in England and in August, 1835, was appointed ‘for one year as an extra Clerk at the Board of Control at East India House with a salary of £100, to be charged among the contingencies of the office’. This appointment was a result of the interest taken in him by John Hobhouse (Lord Broughton), who had recently become President of the Board of Control. His appointment was continued for a further two years but in February 1838 he ‘expressed a wish to return to India’. He was paid up to 4 August, 1838, and given a ‘Donation of £100 in consideration of his diligence in the discharge of his duties, and the circumstances under which he accompanied his Father Ram Mohun Roy to this country’. (See ‘Minutes’ ‘of the Board of Control,’ vol.6, 460-62, 512-13). The young man was warmly recommended to the authorities in India and it was rumoured that he had been appointed to a Writership. This was not, in fact, true, but he appears to have had ambitions which were looked at askance by Indians already in Government Service. (See ‘Bombay courier,’ Tuesday 13 August 1839, 306). In 1840 he appears to have been employed as an Examiner in the Secret and Political Department and was probably the first Indian to enter that office. ‘(Bombay courier,’ Saturday 13 June, 1840, 206). He is thought to have died young.

Reproduced: Editor’s Note Book, ‘Bengal past and present’, vol. 48 Oct-Dec, 1934, 137, and discussed by W. Foster in a paper read to the Royal Historical Society, 10 November, 1916.