Women, Caste and Reform

Class Notes
 Women and Caste Reforms

Caste reforms

Why? Movements Caste inequality

Demand for Non-Brahaman

Christian Missionaries
equal justice movement Satyashodhak Samaj
set up schools for
by Jyotirao Phule
lower class and tribals
Satnami movement Ambedkar

Narayan Guru E. V. Ramaswami

Naicker

Haridas
 Women and Caste Reforms

Women reforms

For widows Important reformers For education For women, from women

Ban on sati Girls' schools Child Marriage Restraint Act

• Raja Rammohan Roy
• Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
Widow • Veerasalingam Pantulu Home tuition Begum of Bhopal
remarriage • Swami Dayanand Saraswati
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat

Pandita Ramabhai
Role of Reformers in Improving Conditions of the Widows
Raja Rammohun Roy
Work
• Founded the Brahmo Samaj
• Initiated a campaign against the
practice of sati and was helped by
many British officials, leading to its ban
in 1829
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
Work
• Suggested widow remarriage by
referring to ancient texts that was
accepted by the British
• Law permitting widow remarriage
passed in 1856
Role of Reformers in Improving Conditions of the Widows

Veerasalingam Pantulu Swami Dayanand Saraswati

Work Work
• Formed an association for widow • Founded the Arya Samaj, which
remarriage in Telugu-speaking areas advocated widow remarriage
Reforms of Women During the 19th and 20th Centuries

The later 20th century saw

The end of 19th century saw
women partaking in writing and
editing books and magazines,
establishing schools, and setting
up women’s associations.
demands for greater equality
The early 20th century saw the
and freedom for women being
formation of political pressure
supported by Jawaharlal Nehru
groups to push for laws related
and Subhas Chandra Bose,
to female suffrage, improved
who guaranteed that there
healthcare, and education.
would be full suffrage for all
after independence.

• A demand put forward by various Indian legislators in the Central Legislative Assembly to pass a
law preventing the regressive practice of child marriage.
• In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed, restricting the minimum age for men and
women to get married.
 Reforms against Social Inequality
Satnami movement: Founded
by Ghasidas to improve the
social status of leatherworkers
in Central India.
Jyotirao Phule wrote
Gulamgiri, meaning slavery,
and dedicated it to the
Americans who had fought to
free slaves in the American
Civil War. He founded the
Satyashodhak Samaj to
advocate caste equality.
Haridas Thakur’s Matua sect
worked among the Chandala
cultivators, questioning the
Brahmanical texts supporting
the caste system in eastern
India.
Shri Narayana Guru protested
against unequal treatment on
basis of caste and asserted
that all of humankind
belonged to the same caste.
Reforms against Social Inequality
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
• He wrote about the dominance of the
upper castes in the society.
• He led three temple entry movements
between 1927 and 1935 to portray the
caste prejudices prevalent in the
society.
E. V. Ramaswamy
Periyar
• He was a critic of certain Hindu scriptures
and believed that they were used to
establish Brahmanic superiority.
• He founded the Self-Respect Movement,
knowing that the lower castes would have
to fight for their dignity.
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