Brahmo Samaj

What it is: The Brahmo Samaj was a reform society for the worship of one God. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Raja Rammohun Roy (1772 to 1833) founded it at Calcutta on 20 August 1828, and New World Encyclopedia says it condemned idolatry and rejected the privileges of the priestly class. After Rammohun left for England in 1830 and died in 1833, Debendranath Tagore (1817 to 1905) revived it. Keshav Chandra Sen (1838 to 1884) led the next phase.

Its link with the Panth: The Encyclopaedia says Rammohun drew on the followers of Guru Nanak, Dadu and Kabir in his tract Prananapatra (1823). Debendranath visited the Golden Temple at Amritsar more than once, joined the temple singers, learned the language of the Sikh scripture and admired Sikh worship. Keshav's Brahmo Samaj of India published a collection of sacred texts, the Slokasangraha (1866), that included Sikh texts, and Brahmo writers produced studies of Guru Nanak, among them Mahendranath Basu's Nanak-Prakasa (1885 and 1893).

In Punjab: Wikipedia says the first Brahmo branch outside Bengal was founded at Lahore in 1861 by Nobin Roy, with later branches at Rawalpindi, Amritsar and Quetta. The Sikh aristocrat Dyal Singh Majithia (1849 to 1898) was close to it. The Encyclopaedia says he took no side in its factions, but Brahmos claimed him as their own and he became their "saviour through patronage", while he stayed a Sikh, revered the Gurus and served on the managing committee of the Darbar Sahib.

Key moments

• 20 August 1828: the Samaj is founded at Calcutta.
• 11 November 1866: Keshav's followers form the Brahmo Samaj of India. On 15 May 1878 a group that left him forms the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj.
• 2 February 1881: The Tribune is first published at Lahore, started by Majithia. He vested most of his property in three public trusts, one for the paper and two for a college and public library at Lahore (The Tribune).

Where it stands: Wikipedia reports that only 177 people declared themselves Brahmo in the 2001 census of India and puts subscriber membership at about 20,000.