Chapter Theme: Socio-Religious Reforms

7 Social Reformers
Social evils in Indian society
NFOC CUS
. T h e role of social reformers in 19th century
Reform movements
Political impact of the relorm movements

imelne
Sati was Widow rarthana Satya Shodhak Arya
Brand iched
aDolsned Remarriage
Kemarriage Act Sama Sama Sama
18S6

500 8/3 875

IB28 1829 8SD

CE
MOve Read
n
the article in The Aricne R
dated 30
Swami Vivekananda, dated
forward 1895 and
1893 and answer
What
hout
the quesuon
Saami Voda
Brahmin Monk in Framingham
in his m
forcign eonle?
peopicr
20-The Swami Vivekananda
South Framingham, August to thbe Parllament
Brahmin monk who is on his way
of India, a

Septembet, was guest

in a
held at
of Religion to
be Chicago
todayat
the
retormatory prison
tor women.
Eariy this evening
of the institution in the chapel upon
he addressed the inmates
mode and ot living in his
country
the manners, customs
h e gentleman, who
of
rare tnteliectual ability and of the

learning. much nterested in the workings

was

relormatory, and epresseu se ngy peasea wn as

ne 1s

what he saw. t e returned tnis evening to ietcalt, wnere tarm.

kate Sanborn at her abandoned
the guest ot Miss

the
subjected to economic and political distressunder
he people ot
India were the government and
in were ans The
the right to participate
did not have about a w a r e n e s s among
the educatcd
Western cducarion brought
government.
rights and social reforms
the need for political

RAJA RAMMOHAN ROY

ettore
under the pioneering
of
soc1al retorm began in Bengal in 1772.
The new spirit was born a in Bengali Brahmin family,
who
Rammohan Roy,
 Sanskrit, Arabic. Ferstan and later leare
adied
He
nglah Gieek. 1Hebrew, Latin and Frencdh. He wasa
taiam, Cubristanity and Judaism.
ar of Hindusm,
dranath Tagore always retetred to him as

of the Indian Renaissance and the

he of Indian Nationalism, He wanted to
he Hindu religion of idol-worship, sati and
ler rituals. He publishcd Bengali translation of
a

of the Upanishads to
he Vedas and the pricpies his monotheistic beliefs
nrcad among the people
a number of books in
of their religion le Wote Branmo Sd/moj building in Kolhato

Bengal Hindi, Sanskrit, Persian and English. He

aluo started two newspapcts-one
m
Bengali, called tdhe
and another Persian, called the
Sambad Kaumudi
Mfinat-sl-Akbar.
in

He set up the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 which later

became Brahmo Samaj. t became an important
of religious reform. It believed in the basic
organisation
unity of all religions and forbade idol worship. Roy
opposed the caste system and supported the upliftment
of women in the society through education. He worked
towardsabolition of polygamy and child marriage

Rammohan Roy was a great pioneer of English

education, which he thought would enable the spread

ofmodern ideas. One of his greatest achievements in

the held ofsocial reforms, was his effort to abolish the
4tiin 1829 with the help of the Governor-Genetal
William Bentinck. In
1831, he went to England as the
ambassador of the Mughal Emperor. He died there
in1833. He was given the title 'Raja' by the Mughal
Emperor Rammohan Roy may have also influenced Raja Rammohan Roy statue in England
umilar movements in other parts of the counrry.

uation tor women wasalso meant to bea ciime. Rasa Sundan pev, whowrotean autobiography
Amar Jiban, was the fist woman to do s0, She learnt reacding and wrrting trom waste papers,
which was mainly used in thoe days for burning 'chulhas Ths was the fist autobiogaphy written
in Beng
9, by A woman
SK*****hshesssnesnue***dr*nnt**assanf* **tsepesen****nsssnneeseeest

actions of neligious oenemonies which are caried out in the same wny through generations | monotheistic: belief in
one god
the cutem of hiavng moe taon
dod, tarmines
and
epidemics, establi
d cpidemics,
establtshing schools, colleges, libraries, running charitabie
orphan, aent the masses
ot tnoop
ms for
in the All World
otid
ln 1893.
lo h
he participated
Keligions Conference
on universal brothierhood was well received.
at Chicago in the United Statesand

t e r Nit Nivedita. who originally belanged to Ireland, became a prominent disciple of Swarmt
vvekananda 3ne a l P e n atonal Movement She championcd lor WOmen

oluca patlon
ae*****tassa****** isannnnsh*s
REFORM MOVEMENTS IN WESTURN INDIA
jotitao CGovindrao hule or Jyotiba played a prominent role in bringing
bout reforms in Maharashtra. In 1851. he started a school for girls of the
oercastes. He educated his own
wife
so thar she could tea
chool In 1873, he founded an association called the Saryashodhak San
whichopened its doors to people of all castes and religions. He was st
pposed to the domination of the Brahmins and started the practice of
performing martiage ceremonies without Brahmin priests.

In 1867, the Prarthana Samaj was tounded in Bombay by Mahadey yofro

aovnrao
Gowind Kanade and Ramakrishna Bhandatkar. They condemned the caste system and the practice
df untouchabily 1hey also rook up the cause of the uplifiment of women and advocared widow
Indian National Social Conference with the objective of
riagcfn 1887 Ranade founded the
working for socal retorms throughout the country.

DAYANAND SARASWATI
n northern India. Swami Dayanand Saraswati started social and religious
moements.He was born in Kathiawar in 1824 and was called Mal
A t the early age of 14, he rebelled against the practice of idol
pSoon after this, he lett home. He acquired mastery over Sanskrit

that the all

wami Dayanand started
preaching Vedas contained
p a r t e d to people by Cod. He propagated the motto Back to
H e published his views through his books, which he wrote in
S a a r t h Prakash was his most important work. He preachot
t h e masses and did nor confine his teachings to the intellectuals,
t , h i s following increased and his teachings took deep roots in
ab, 0P Rajasthan and Caujarat.
o,ontinar or alta
ISHWAR CHANDRA VIDYASAGAR
trom Bengal
Ishiwar Chandra Vidyasagar was another cctormer
in 1820, he had a brilliant academic
Born in
a poor Brahmin family
Sanskrit College of Calcurta conferring
on

Carcer, culminating in rhe of

title of Vidyaagar o r 'ocean
The
of
learning spirit self
humthe him.
Slcrihce, simple living and fearlessncss guided
lower castes to study Sanskrit.
te enrolled students belonging to

arlier the study of Sanskrit

was the privilege of the Brahmins
and
e
made significant contribution to the Bengali language
is still in use.
wrote a
Bengali primer, Barna Parichaya, which
of widows and
His greatest contribution was the upliftment
education of women. In 1855, he was made the inspector of schools
He took the opportunity to open a number of new chools tor grs r Chandavie

in the districts under his charge. Since the authorities were opposed to this, he resigned fromi
In associatian with John E Drinkwater Bethunc, an Anglo-lndian lawyer, he tookStps
steps toto phe
girlk education. In 1849, Bethune started the first school for girls in Calcutta.

l twas due to his sincere eforts that a law was passed, which made widow remarriage legal thraud
Widow Remarriage Act (1856)., He attended the frst widow remarriage that was performedinc
in 1856. For his support to the cause of widow remarriage. the orthodox Hindus attacked hi
ime to Think.
Are socal retorms reguired even today How can you contribute in
removing50cial evils lke iliteray. temale intanticideand gender inequality H
DidJatnsm and Buddbsm try the same thing in the 6th century BCE? fe
RAMAKRISHNA PARAMHAMSA (1836-86)
Ramakrishna Paramhamsa was a priest in a temple at Dakshineswar, near Caleutta. After comig
contactwith the practitioncrs of other religions, he accepted the sanctity of all faith. The sinplr
his character and his homely wisdom attracted a large number of followers. The intellectual lns
whose faith in their own culture had been shaken by the challenge from
the West, lound reassurance his
in
teaching
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Narendra Nath Dutta, later known as Swami Vivekananda, founded the
Ramakrishna Mission in 189/ to propagate the teachings of his guru,
Ramakrishna Paramhamsa
He believed that the best way to serve CGod, was to serve mankind, and it
became the motto ol the mission, which soon became a powerful centre
of numerous public activities. 1 hese included organising relief during
Sama
 T he membe
Sana n bomtbay. he Ar
Dayanand
founded the Arya he
study of Vedas,
1875. Swami
of which,
the hrst Onc was

hrya Samaj
principles,
guided by
ten
remarrig
Child martiage and
encouraged
widow
An
the
of wo
ASlory organ
name ool ws Shankar Tiwar, He

Swarni Dayanind aSaraswati's oiginal

Swatni Payanand f Brabmins As a child, ayanand
Dayanand was brought RE was

ot Dranil
Tankara, uujarat in a ich taily wtte acred Thread (Uh Kandu
Brabmin tules, anid at the age elght
of was lnyeted Shivarati, Da
to
the tempie op te octon of 1848.
was fourteen, his father took himin obetience Shiva
o LortFHe ln the night, he sa h he star
keep awgke the whole night to find out from o
and DOdy trIEd rom

ofterings to the Gad and running over Shiva s l hys

delend himself against the rmenace ofa petty mice, for asthe
Amighty' could not
This incidernt shattered Payanand 5araswatstn t fa osnip and thereafer he e
o r n s iire
Ppate h rellgious rites for the fest
Snt
India.

oppres
and on
Paripal
Pandita Ramabai, a self-educated retomer thom Maharashtra, dedicated her life to libegte in Sou
from social restrictions. She also opened ara Sadan a ome ror Widows. A law passed n you
ctioned inter-caste and inter-communal mariages In 1891, another law was pasci and the
airmed at discouraging child matiage However, a more positive step towards this was n abolsst
:1929, when the Sharda Act was pased. According to this Act, a gil below 14 and a boy h
Coud o t De marriCq They a

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For the promotion of education, nerwork of schools
a and
under
the un
established by the colleges, for both
boys and p
Arya Samaj, throughout northern India. I he there a
at Lahore was one at the
premier colleges of
Dayanand Anglo-ledic people
of instruction. Punjab. English and Hindi were uscd as n of caste

Connec Ling BriOges

SYEL
Around the sane time, The Subjection of The gr
fointly with his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill, Women'was written by John
the sexes. At the tinme it was stating an argument in favour ofStuart Mi to a far-
published 1869, this5 essay was an artront
in equany as the
conventional norms tor tne status of men and women to started
after hi
ANNIE BESANT
In 192m
The
Theosophical Socicry was started
Annic Besant, by Madam centre

embodied who came to India in

1893, Blavatsky at
Adyar, near (aow C the stue
in itself, the
truths which became the leader of the
Miad the 'Ali
underlay all
religions. movemc
theosophical traching alhgut Cod and the
worldl hasedd on
mystical insijght
Samaj wes
is Ppose
Besant was the founder
w
ot the Central Hindu College Benaras, which
Au as Hindu
University. She also tounded library of rare Sanskrit books.later
a
at
developcd nto
heen's rights and fougnt agalnst child marriage. She
She
founded the Central Hindu champion
was

d the Home Rule Movement. Sne Collcgc.

IN THE SOUH
REFORM MOVEMENIS
1824 dukuri Veeresalingam was born in an orthodox Andhra family in
der stri 8. He soon got involvcd in the cause of social reforms. In 1876,
T848
hen he sarted a Telegu journal, exclusively devoted to social reform. He
Star
34 tof moted womens educaon and wIdow remarriage. He was known
ing th sthe Vidyasagar ot Soulth ina. in his telugu journal, he spread the
this 'Ce
mesage of social retorm and caste cquality
rebuke
used ts Shn Narayana Guru was a Hindu saint and social reformer of
India. He worked tor retorm in the condition of the backward and
ppressed sections of thec society, Fie advocated one caste, one religion
and one God for all. In 1903, he founded the Shri Narayana Dharma
Paripalana Yogam to carry on the work of social reform. Many temples
in South India followed the devadasi system, where girls from a very
women young age were attached to the temple, supposedly in service of God Kandukun Veeresolingam
1872 and then exploited. 1he social retormers of the South worked towards
which abolishing this system.
taken in
They also wanted that the wealth amassed at the shrines should be
thelo 18
under The
public control. reformers also advocated temple entry for
e untouchables. It is unforrunate, that cven today a
girls, was nere are instances in many parts of the country, where

dic School denied entry into temples on the basis

pOpie are
mediuns Of caste.

SYED AHMED KHAN Shn NardyOna aud

Khan (1817-98), who

belonged
s ofsocial retormer among the
Muslims was
Syed Ahmed
Sir tounded known
in1869
mily nobles in the Mughal court. In 1864, he
the Iranslation Society, later He als0
subjects Urdu.
into
Detween the
e cicntihe Society,
translate to English books
on sCicnce
and other and
the ideas of social In
retorm. he
1869, visited England
uropean d an English-Urdu journal to
spread at Aligarh in 1875.
ns retun, established the Mohammedan
Anglo-Oriental College
important and became
the starus of Aligarh Mustim University
an

2 ,of the College was raised to

modern outlook among
all communities. It helped to develop a

re education for students of thec Aligarn M o v e m e n t and Syed Ahmed called was

Chena t o be known as
dcnts. The movement came
ohilosopay he Aligarh Man.

amas collect or gatier

 he
leaders,

Muslim
and the
Hindu
with some
to oppose
Association
ssocation Fie
Patriotic joiningit.
the Indian Muslims
from
ounded dissuade
and tried to
order to organise and
ngress some
more
time in

h e Deiey
tor
a t c toacquire of the
Muslims,

the position
consolidate achieved by
maintaning good
that this could be best from
his opposita n d
the British rulers. Apart Fiindus

Tetatons wIth he
considered
that
rie
movements, and were cqual,
Pcal country
to the same
usiims belonged Ahmeds
retormist

Hindu-Muslim unity.
on
Syed to
Muslims
ressed social sphere.
He asked
also cnmbraced the
zeal i e c d i e v a l c u s t o m s and thoughts. FHe wrote in tavour

C up He advocated
abolition

womens status in society.

orasing women. Fie also

spread and of education among

ot purdah divorce.
condemned the custom of polygamy and casy

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

PARSI REFORM MoVEMENTS
in India was also infuenced by the
Indian relormation or
awakenine in
The Parsi
19th oommunity
century. The most notable of P'arsi leaders were Dadabnat Naorojl, and Naoroji Furdo
n

They started the Rahnumai Mazdayasan Sabha or Religious Retorm Association in 1857, fors
regeneration of the social condition of the P'arsiIS and the restoration or the Loroastrian religion.

Dadabhai Naoroji was elected the President of the Congress three times and was affectionately cl
the Grand Old Man of India. The P'arsi reformers started a journal called, Rast Gofiar, tor
purposeof social and religious reforms among the Parsis. They campaigned against orthodox cus
and initiated modernisation of the Parsi social customs regarding marriage, position of women a
education of girls. In due course, the Parsis became the most westernised section of the
Indian socie
SIKH REFORM MoVEMENTS
The Sikhs with their
glorious past,
were also roused by the spirit of
social retorm. They made
attempts
to purity their religion and soCial

life. The Singh Sabhas

an
played
important role in the spread
of cducation, which led to
the
foundation of the Khalsa
in Amritsar in 1892.
College
In the early decades of the 20th
century, a powertul movement

Dadabhai Naoroj
dissuade: discourage dsscmination
spreading knowleddge ina wider area
 Shiromani
Jaunched by the
wara
Prabandhak Committee
Dal to tclorm the
he Akali
which were under the
waras
and hants,
otrolo Pcsts
treated them as thetr private
leaders of the freedom
aen. 1he the cause for
movemcnt upportcu
ich the Sikh masses were ighun

4 law m 1925, The

bw pasing gurudwaras was

ight of managng Gurdwara

given to the roman
Prabandhak Committee.
A Gurdwara
Tie Khalsa College was set up in Amritsar. A number of schools were also sturted to promote the
and P'unjabi literature.
Gunumikhi script

REFORM MOVEMENTS: IMPACT

e
agroup, the relormers had a great impact on the 19th century Indian society and culure. Relormers
linked to the all-lndia nationalist movement, and reform acquircd
he fnm different regions also became extension. 1he retorm movements ot the 19th century were able
nationalist fHavour and an all-lnda
to achieve the following
d
in 1856
he
Widow Remarriage Act was passed
banned
Sati and female infanticide were

d
cducation of girls was popularised
raiscd
marriageable age of girls was
the caste system became less rigid

western education was adopted

in literature. Many
considerable development
reform also witnessed
movements
petiod of their ideas and opinions in
newspaper, magazines o r books as

e d Indians took t o expressing write o w n regional languages. their

or essays. They did

not just in Engish but aso in Sarojini Naidu,
es w e r e Bankim
Chandra Chattopadhyay,
of this period
o u s literary figures
Bharathi.
Shinde and Subramanya and the need for social
for the expression past heritage
of Indias
style
also
Kaja Kavi of developed
arenas Verma a
were
theatre Abanindranath 1agore
and

such Nandalal Bose, painting. Therefore,

Artists as
tradition with European techniques
tich sawa fusion of Indian artistic and regeneration.
fevival
e 19th cent social and cultural
uty in India was a period of