CHAPTER 2
Religious and Social
Reform Movements
GENESIS OF THE AWAKENING
The dawn of the
nineteenth century witnessed the birth of a new vision—a
modern vision among some
enlightened sections of the Indian society.
This enlightened vision
was to shape the course of events for decades to
come and even beyond.
This process of reawakening, sometimes, but not
with full justification,
defined as the 'Renaissance', did not always
follow the intended line
and gave rise to some undesirable by-products
as well, which have
become as much a part of daily existence in the
whole of the Indian
subcontinent as have the fruits of these reform
movements.
The presence of a
colonial government on Indian soil played a complex,
yet decisive role in this
crucial phase of modern Indian history. The
impact of British rule on
Indian society and culture was widely
different from what India
had known before. Most of the earlier
intruders who came to
India had settled within her frontiers, were
absorbed by her superior
culture and had become part of the land and its
people. However, the
British conquest was different. It came at a time
when India, in contrast
to an enlightened Europe of the eighteenth
century affected in every
aspect by science arid scientific outlook,
presented the picture of
a stagnant civilisation and a static and
decadent society.
Indian society in the
nineteenth century was caught in a vicious web
created by religious
superstitions and social obscurantism. Hinduism had
become a compound of
magic, animism and superstition. The priests
exercised an overwhelming
and, indeed, unhealthy influence on the minds
of the people. Idolatry
and polytheism helped to reinforce
16 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
their position, and their
monopoly of scriptural knowledge imparted a
deceptive character to
all religious systems. There was nothing that
religious ideology could
not persuade people to do.
Social conditions were
equally depressing. The most distressing was the
position of women. The
birth of a girl was unwelcome, her marriage, a.
burden and her widowhood
inauspicious. Attempts to kill female infants
at birth were not unusual.
Several women hardly had a married life worth
the name, yet when their
husbands died they were expected to commit
sati which Raja Ram mohan
Roy described as a 'murder according to every
shastra. If they
succeeded in overcoming this social coercion, they were
condemned as widows to
life-long misery, neglect and humiliation.
Another debilitating
factor was caste. It sought to maintain a system of
segregation,
hierarchically ordained on the basis of ritual status. At
the bottom of the ladder
came the untouchables or scheduled castes, as
they came to be called
later, who formed about twenty per cent of the
Hindu population. The
untouchables suffered from numerous and severe
disabilities and
restrictions. The system splintered people into
numerous groups. In modern
times it became a major obstacle in the
growth of a united
national feeling and the spread of democracy. It may
also be noted that caste
consciousness, particularly with regard to
marriage, prevailed also
among Muslims, Christians and Sikhs who
practised untouchability,
though in a less virulent form. The rules and
regulations of caste
hampered social mobility, fostered social divisions
and sapped individual
initiative. Above all, the humiliation of
untouchability militated
against human dignity.
The establishment of
colonial rule in India was followed by a systematic
attempt to disseminate
colonial culture and ideology as the dominant
cultural current. Faced
with the challenge of the intrusion of colonial
culture and ideology, an
attempt to reinvigorate traditional
institutions and to
realise the potential of traditional culture
developed during the
nineteenth century.
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 17
The impact of modern
Western culture and consciousness of defeat by a
foreign power gave birth to
a new awakening. There was an awareness that
a vast country like India
had been colonised by a handful of foreigners
because of internal
weaknesses within the Indian social structure and
culture. For some time it
seemed that India had lagged behind in the
race of civilisation.
This produced diverse reactions. Some English
educated Bengali youth
developed a revulsion for Hindu religion and
culture, gave up old
religious ideas and traditions and deliberately
adopted practices most
offensive to Hindu sentiments, such as drinking
wine and eating beef. The
response, indeed, was varied but the need to
reform social and
religious life was a commonly shared conviction.
During the last decades
of the nineteenth century, the rising tide of
nationalism and democracy
also found expression in movements to reform
and democratise the
social institutions and religious outlook of, the
Indian people. Factors
such as growth of nationalist sentiments,
emergence of new economic
forces, spread of education, impact of modern
Western ideas and culture
and increased awareness of the world
strengthened the resolve
to reform.
The socio-cultural
regeneration of the India of the nineteenth century
was occasioned by the
colonial presence, but not created by it.
Social Base
The social base of this
quest was the newly emerging middle class and
traditionally as well as
western educated intellectuals, but there was a
significant contrast
between the broacily bourgeois ideals derived from
a. growing awareness of
contemporary developments in the West, and a
predominantly
non-bourgeois social base. nineteenth century
intelligentsia searched
for its model in the European 'middle class',
which, as it learnt
through western education, had brought about the
great transformation in
the West from medieval to modern times through
movements like the
Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and
democratic revolution, or
reform. Yet its own social roots lay not in
industry or trade,
increasingly
18 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
controlled by British
managing agency firms and their Marwari
subordinates, but in
government service or the professions of law,
education, journalism or
medicine—with which was very often combined
some connection with land
in the shape of the intermediate tenures.
Ideological Base
The important
intellectual criteria which gave these reform movements an
ideological unity were
rationalism, religious universalism and humanism.
Social relevance was
judged by a rationalist critique. Raja Rammohan
Roy upheld the principle
of causality linking the whole phenomenal
universe and
demonstrability as the sole criterion of truth. Akshay
Kumar Dutt, while
proclaiming that 'rationalism is our only preceptor",
held that all natural and
social phenomena could be analysed and
understood by purely
mechanical processes. This perspective enabled them
to adopt a rational
approach to tradition and evaluate the contemporary
socio-religious practices
from the standpoint of social utility and to
replace faith with
rationality. For instance, in the Brahmo Samaj the
repudiation of the
infallibility of the Vedas was the result, while the
Aligarh movement
emphasised reconciliation of Islamic teachings with the
needs of the modern age.
Syed Ahmed Khan went to the extent of
emphasising that
religious tenets were not immutable.
Many of the intellectuals
abandoned, though in varying degrees, the
principle of authority in
religion and evaluated truth in any religion
by the criteria of logic;
reason or science. Swami Vivekananda held that
the same method of investigation
which applies to other sciences should
form the basis on which
religion is to> justify itself. Although, some
reformers tended to
appeal to faith and ancient authority to bolster
their appeal, overall a
rational and secular outlook was very much
evident in posing an
alternative to prevalent social practices. For
instance, Akshat cited
medical against child marriage. to the past was
to be used only as an aid
and an instrument. Neither a revival of the
past nor a total :break
with tradition was envisaged.
Though the reformers
tried to reform their religions,
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 19
their religious
perspective was universalistic. Raja Rammohan Jeligiar2
sasaalial embodiments of
universal th was a defender of the basic and
universal principles of a
religions-such as the monotheism of the
Vedas and– mall attacking
polytheism ofand trinitarianism of
Christianity said that
all had the same 'din (faith) ever Keshub Chandra
SenTheld that:our
position is not that truths are to be found all
religions, but that all
establishes
The universalist
perspective was an attempt part of social reformers to
contend with the
influence religious identity on the social and
political outlook of the
people which was indeed strong. However, under
the onslaught of colonial
culture and ideology, instead of providing the
basis for the development
of a secular ethos, universalism retreated
into religious
particularism towards the second half of the nineteenth
century.
The social reform
movements were also an embodiment of a new humanitarian
morality which included
the notion that humanity can progress and has
progressed, and that
moral values are ultimately those which favour
human progress. An
emphasis on the individual's right to interpret
religious scriptures in
the light of human reason and human welfare and
a general attack on
priestly domination of religious practices
underlined the humanist
aspect of religious reform movements.
Religious reformation was
the major but not the exclusive concern of
these movements. Instead
of other-worldliness and salvation, attention
was focussed on worldly
existence. Because of the strong religious
coefficient of social
practices and the fact that religion was the
dominant ideology of the
times, it was not possible to undertake arty
social action without
coming to grips with it
These movements embraced
the entire cultural existence, the way of life
and all significant
practices like language,
20 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
religion, art and
philosophy. The evolution of an alternative culturalideological
system and the generation
of traa
emerge as twin movement,
which to reconstruct traditional knowledge,
cultivation of vernacular
languages, creation of an alternate system of
education, defence of
religion, efforts to regenerate Indian art and
literature, emphasis on
Indian dress and food, attempts to revitalise
the Indian systems of
medicine and to probe the potentialities of precolonial
technology.
These reform movements
could broadly be classified in two categories—
reformist movements like
the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the
Aligarh movement, and the
revivalist movements like Arya Samaj and the
Deoband movement. Both
the reformist and revivalist movements depended,
with varying degrees, on
an appeal to the lost, purity of the religion
they sought to reform.
The only difference between one reform movement
and the other lay in the
degree to which it relied on tradition or on
reason and conscience.
SOCIAL REFORM
The humanistic ideals of
social equality and the equal worth of all
individuals which
inspired the newly educated middle class had a major
impact on the field of
social reform. This enlightened section of
society was disgusted
with the prevailing social ills and inhuman social
practices. The social
reform movements formed an integral part of the
religious reforms
primarily because nearly all the effort towards social
ills like untouchability
and gender-based inequity derived legitimacy
from religion in one way
or the other. In later years though, the social
reform movement gradually
dissociated itself from religion and, adopted
a secular approach. Also,
earlier the reform movements had a rather
narrow social base—they
were limited to the upper and middle classes and
upper castes who tried to
adjust their modernised views with respect to
the existing social
conditions. But later on, the social reform
movements penetrated the
lower strata of society to revolutionise and
reconstruct the social
sphere.
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 21
In the beginning,
organisations such as the Social Conference, Servants
of India Society and the
Christian missionaries were instrumental in
social reform along with
many enlightened individuals like Jyotiba
Phule, Gopalhari
Deshmukh, K.T. Telang, BM. Malabari, D.K. Karve, Sri
Narayana Guru, E.V.
Ramaswami Naicker and B.R. Ambedkar. In later years,
especially with the onset
of the twentieth century, the national
movement provided the
leadership and organisation for social reform.
To reach the masses,
propaganda in Indian languages was the modus
operandi of the reformers
who used a variety of media such as novels,
dramas, poetry, short
stories, the press and, in the 1930s and later on,
the cinema to spread
their views.
Broadly, the social
reform movements had a two-joint—fight for
bstterfrtent of status of
fo remove disability arising out of
untouchatlity.
Fight for Betterment of
Position of Women The reformers had to work
against great odds. Women
were generally accorded a low status, and were
considered to be inferior
adjuncts to men, with no identity of their
own. Their desire to give
expression to their talents and energies were
further suppressed by
practices such as purdah, early marriage, ban on
widow-remarriage, sati,
etc. Both Hindu and Muslim women were
economically and socially
dependent, while education was generally
denied to them. The Hindu
women had no right to inherit property or to
terminate an undesirable
marriage. The Muslim women could inherit but
only half as much as men
could, while in matters of divorce there was
no equality between men
and women. Polygamy was prevalent among Hindus
as well as Muslims.
Their glorification as
wives and mothers was the only way in which the
society recognised the
contribution of women as members of society. The
struggle for the
improvement of the status of women in the society was
considered to be vital,
since a radical change in the domestic sphere—
where initial
socialisation of the individual takes place
22 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
and where a crucial role
is played by women—was the need of the hour.
There was a clear
understanding that this change would translate into
reformed homes and
reformed men, and that no country whose females were
sunk in ignorance could
ever make significant progress in civilisation.
The social reform movements,
the freedom struggle, movements led by
enlightened women
themselves and, later, free India's Constitution have
done much for the
emancipation of women.
The reformers basically
appealed to the doctrines of individualism and
equality, and argued, to
bolster their appeal, that true religion did
not sanction an inferior
status to women. They raised their voice
against degrading customs
such as polygamy, purdah, child marriage,
restrictions on widow
remarriage, and worked relentlessly to establish
educational facilities
for women, to persuade the Government to enact
favourable legislations
for women and in general to propagate giving up
of medieval, feudal
attitudes.
Because of the
indefatigable efforts of the reformers, a number of
administrative measures were
adopted by the Government to improve the
condition of women.
ABOLITION OF SATI
Influenced by the frontal
attack launched by the enlightened Indian
reformers led by Raja
Rammohan Roy, the Government declared the practice
of sad or the burning
alive of widows illegal and punishable by
criminal courts as
culpable homicide. The regulation of 1829 was
applicable in the first
instance to Bengal Presidency alone, but was
extended in slightly
modified forms to Madras and Bombay Presidencies in
1830.
FEMALE INFANTICIDE
The practice of murdering
female infants immediately after birth was
common among upper class
Bengalis and Rajputs who considered females to
be an economic burden.
The Bengal regulations of 1795 and 1804 declared
infanticide illegal and
equivalent to murder, while an Act passed in
1870 made, it compulsory
for parents to register the birth of all babies
and provided for
verification of female
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 23
children for some years
after birth, particularly in areas where the
custom was resorted to in
utmost privacy.
WIDOW REMARRIAGE
The Brahmo Samaj had the
issue of widow remarriage high on its agenda
and did much to
-popularise it. But it was mainly due to the efforts of
Pandit Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar (1820-91), the principal of Sanskrit
College, Calcutta, that
the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, which
legalised marriage of
widows and declared issues from such marriages as
legitimate, was passed by
the Government. Vidyasagar cited Vedic texts
to prove that the Hindu
religion sanctioned widow remarriage.
Jagannath Shankar Seth
and Bhau Daji were among the active promoters of
girls' schools in
Maharashtra. Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded the Widow
Remarriage Association in
the 1850s. Another prominent worker in this
field was Karsondas Mulji
who started the Satya Prakash in Gujarati in
1852 to advocate widow
remarriage.
Similar efforts were made
by Professor D.K. Karve in western India and
by Veerasalingarn Pantulu
in Madras. Karve himself married a widow in
1893. He dedicated his
life to the upliftment of Hindu widows and
became the secretary of
the Widow Remarriage Association. He opened a
widows' home in Poona to
give the high caste widows an interest in life
by providing them with
facilities for vocational training. He crowned
his work by setting up an
Indian Women's University at Bombay in 1916.
The right of, widows to
remarriage was also advocated by B.M. Malabari,
Narmad, Justice Govind
Mahadeo Ranade and K. Natarajan 'among others.
CHILD MARRIAGE
The Native Marriage Act
(or Civil Marriage Act) signified the coming of
legislative action in
prohibiting child marriage in 1872. It had a
limited impact as the Act
was not applicable to Hindus, Muslims and
other recognised faiths.
The relentless efforts of a Parsi reformer,
B.M. Malabari, were
rewarded, by the enactment of the Age of Consent Act
(1891) which forbade the
marriage of girls below the age of 12. The
Sarda Act (1930) further
pushed up
24 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
the marriage age to 18
and 14 for boys and girls respectively. In free
India, the Child Marriage
Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978 raised the age
of marriage for girls
from 15 to 18 years and for boys from 18 to 21.
Education of Women
The Christian
missionaries were the first to set up the Calcutta Female
Juvenile Society in 1819.
The Bethune School, founded by J.E.D. Bethune,
president of the Council
of Education in Calcutta in 1849 was the first
fruit of the powerful
movement for women's education that arose in the
1840s and 1850s. Pandit
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was associated with
no less than 35 girls'
schools in Bengal and is considered one of the
pioneers of women's
education. Charles. Wood's Despatch on Education
(1854) laid great stress
on the need for female education. In 1914, the
Women's Medical Service
did a lot of work in training nurses and
midwives. The Indian
Women's University started by Professor Karve in
1916 was one of the
outstanding institutions imparting education to
women. In the same year
Lady Hardinge Medical College was opened in
Delhi.
Health facilities began
to be provided to women with the opening of
Dufferin Hospitals in the
1880s.
Participation in the
swadeshi and anti-partition and the Home Rule
movements during the
opening decades of the twentieth century was a
major liberating
experience for the otherwise home-centred Indian women.
After 1918, they faced
lathis and bullets and were jailed during
political processions,
picketing, etc. They actively participated in
trade union and kisan
movements, or revolutionary movements. They voted
in, stood for and got
elected to various legislatures and local bodies.
Sarojini Naidu went on to
become the president of the Indian National
Congress (1925) and later
the governor of the United Provinces (1947-
49).
After 1920, aware and
self-confident women led a women's movement. Many
organisations and
institutions such as the All India Women's Conference
(established in 1927)
came up.
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 25
Legislative Measures in
Free India
Free India's Constitution
provides legal equality to women and prohibits
any discrimination by the
state on the basis of gender (Articles 14 and
15). The Specially
marriageAs1125 permits intercaste and interreligious
marriage. The Hindu
Marriage Act, 1955 abolished bigamy and permitte
issolution of marriage on
specific grounds. The Hindu Succession Act
1956 made the daughter
equal co-eir with son, thus abolishing
discrimination with
respect to inheritance laws. The Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act enhanced
the status of women in matters off adoption. was
amended in April 1976 to
cover women who do not fall within the purview
of the Employees' State
Insurance Act, 1948. The Directive Principles of
State Policy provide for
equal pay for equal work for both men and
women. provided for equal
remuneration to men and women workers and
prevention of
discrimination against women in matters of employment. The
Factories Act 1976
provided for establishment of creches where 30 women
(as against 50
previously) are employed. The Criminal bills passed by
Parliament 83 amended the
Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act and
Criminal Procedure Code
to make laws against rape and other such crimes
against women much more
stringent and also to add a new provision in the
Indian Penal Code to make
cruelty against a woman by her husband and
other relations
punishable. Traffic was amended and retitled as Immoral
TraffisErevestoril Act
1986 to cover all persons—male or female—who
are sexually exploited
for commercial purposes. The Dowry Prohibition
amended in 1986 made the
giving and taking of dowry an offence. In 1987,
an Act was passed making
the glorification of sati a cognisable offence.
Struggle Against
Caste-Based Exploitation
The original four-fold
division of Hindu society got further sub-divided
into numerous castes
(jatis) and sub-castes due to racial admixture,
geographical expansion
and diversification of crafts which gave rise to
new vocations.
26 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
According to concept of
Hindu chaturvarnashrama, the caste of a person
determined the status and
relative purity of different sections of
population. Caste,
determined who could get education or ownership of
landed property, the kind
of profession one should pursue, whom one
could dine with or marry,
etc. In general, the caste of a person decided
his/ her social loyalties
even before birth. The dress, food, place of
residence, sources of
water for drinking and irrigation, entry into
temples—all these were
regulated by the caste coefficient.
The worst-hit by the
discriminatory institution' of caste were the
untouchables or the
scheduled castes, as they came to be called later on
The disabilities imposed
on the lower castes were humiliating, inhuman
and based on the
antidemocratic principle of inequality by birth.
Factors which Undermined
Caste Rigidities
The pressure of British
rule in India unleashed certain forces,
sometimes through direct
administrative measures and sometimes
indirectly by creating
favourable circumstances. For instance, the
creation of private
property in land and free sale of land upset caste
equations. A close
interlink between caste and vocation could hardly
continue in a state of
destruction of village autarchy. Besides, modern
commerce and industry
gave birth to several economic avenues while
growing urbanisation and
modern means of transport added to the
mobility of populations.
The British administration introduced the
concept of equality
before law in a., uniformly applied system of law
which dealt a severe blow
to social and legal inequalities, while the
judicial functions of
caste panchayats were taken away. The
administrative services
were made open to all castes and the new
education system was on
totally secular lines.
The social reform
movements also strove to undermine caste-based
exploitation. From the
mid-19th century onwards, numerous, organisations
and groups such as the
Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj,
Ramakrishna Mission, the
Theosophists, the Social Conference and
individuals
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 27
worked to spread education
among the untouchables and remove
restrictions imposed on
them from entering temples or using ponds,
tanks, etc. Although many
of them defended the chaturvarna system, they
criticised the caste
system, especially untouchability. The social
reformers attacked the
rigid hereditary basis of caste distinctions and
the law of karma which
formed the basis of the religio-philosophic
defence of the
undemocratic authoritarian caste institution. They called
on people to work for
betterment in the real world in which they lived,
rather than strive for
salvation after death. For instance, the Arya
Samaj while crusading
against disintegration of Hindu society into
myriad sub-castes, aimed
at reconstructing it on the original four-fold
division and upholding
the right of even, the lowest castes to study the
scriptures.
The national movement
with its thrust against the forces which tended to
divide the society took
inspiration from the principles of liberty and
equality. The national
leaders and organisations opposed caste
privileges, fought for
equal civic rights and free development of the
individual. The caste
divisions were diluted, although in a limited
'manner, because of mass
participation in demonstrations, meetings and
satyagraha struggles. The
Congress governments in various provinces
after 1937 did some
useful work for the upliftment of the depressed
classes; for instance,
free education for Harijans (untouchables) was
introduced in some
provinces. The rulers of states like Travancore,
Indore and Devas themselves
took the initiative in opening all state
temples by proclamation.
Gandhi always had in mind
the objective of eradicating untouchability by
root and branch. His
ideas were based on the grounds of humanism and
reason. He argued that
the Shastras did not sanction untouchability and
even if they did, they
should be ignored since truth cannot be confined
within the covers of a
book. In 1932, he founded the All India Harijan
Sangh.
With increasing
opportunities of education and general
28 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
awakening, there were
stirrings among the lower castes themselves which
gradually developed into
a powerful movement in defence of their rights
and against upper caste
oppression. In Maharashtra, Jyotiba Phule, born
in a low caste Mali
family, led a movement against the brahrninical
domination of Hindu
society. He accorded the highest priority to
education of lower
castes, especially girls for whom he opened several
schools. Babasaheb
Ainbedkar, who had experienced the worst form of
casteist discrimination
during his childhood, fought against upper caste
tyranny throughout his
life. He organized the All India Scheduled Castes
Federation, while several
other leaders of the depressed classes founded
the All India Depressed
Classes Association. Ambedkar condemned the
hierarchical and insular
caste system and advocated the annihilation of
the institution of caste
for the real progress of the nation. The
struggle of the depressed
classes was rewarded with special
representation for these
classes in the Government of India Act, 1935.
Others in the 1900s, the
Maharaja of Kolhapur encouraged the non-brahmin
movement which spread
to> the southern states in the first decade of the
twentieth century and was
joined by the Kammas, Reddis, Vellalas, (the
powerful intermediate
castes) and the Muslims.
During the 1920s in South
India, the non-brahmins organized the Self-
Respect Movement led by
E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker. There were numerous
other movements demanding
lifting of ban on entry of lower castes into
temples; for instance Sri
Narayana Guru in Kerala led a lifelong
struggle against upper
caste domination. He coined the slogan "one
religion, one caste, one
God, for mankind", which his disciple Sahadaran
Ayyapan changed into
"no religion, no caste, no God for mankind".
But the struggle against
caste could not be successful during the
British rule. The foreign
government had its limitations—it could not
afford to invite hostile
reaction from the orthodox sections by taking
up any radical measures.
Also, no social uplift was possible without
economic and political
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 29
upliftment. All this
could be realised only under the government of a
free India. The
Constitution of free India abolishes untouchability and
declares the endorsement
of any disability arising out of untouchability
as unlawful. It also
forbids any restriction on access to wells, tanks,
bathing ghats, hotels,
cinemas, clubs, etc. In one of the Directive
Principles, the
Constitution has laid down that "the state shall strive
to promote the welfare of
the people by, securing and protecting as
effectively as it may a
social order in which justice—social, economic
and political—shall
inform all the institutions of the national life".
A GENERAL SURVEY OF SOCIO-CULTURAL REFORM MOVEMENTS AND
THEIR LEADERS
Raja Rammohan Roy and
Brahmo Samaj
Raja Rammohan Roy, the
father of Indian Renaissance, was a man of
versatile genius. The
Brahmo Samaj established by him was the earliest
reform movement of the
modern type greatly influenced by modern western
ideas.
As a reformist ideologue,
Roy believed in the modern scientific
approach and principles
of human dignity and social equality. He put his
faith in monotheism. He
wrote Gift to Monotheists (1809) and translated
into Bengali the Vedas
and the five Upanishads to prove his conviction
that ancient Hindu texts
support monotheism. In 1814, he set up Atmiya
Sabha in Calcutta to
campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities,
meaningless rituals and
other social ills. Strongly influenced by
rationalist ideas, he
declared that the Vedanta is based on reason and
that, if reason demanded
it, even a departure from the scriptures is
justified. He said the
principles of rationalism applied to other sects
also, particularly to the
elements of blind faith in them. In Precepts
of Jesus (1820), he tried
to separate the moral and philosophical
message of the New
Testament, which he praised, from its miracle
stories. He earned the
wrath of missionaries over his advocacy to
incorporate the message
of Christ in Hinduism. He stood for a creative
and intellectual process
of selecting the best from eastern and western
30 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
cultures, over which,
again, he faced orthodox reaction. He founded the
Brahmo Sabha (later
Brahmo Samaj) in order to institutionalise his ideas
and mission. His ideas
and activities were aimed at political uplift of
the masses through social
reform and to that extent can be said to have
had nationalist
undertones.
Roy was a determined
crusader against the inhuman practice of sati. He
started his anti-sati
struggle in 1818 and he cited sacred texts to
prove his contention that
no religion sanctioned the burning alive of
widows, besides appealing
to humanity, reason and compassion. He also
visited the cremation
grounds, organized vigilance groups and filed
counter petitions to the
Government during his struggle against sati.
His efforts were rewarded
by the Government Regulation in 1829 which
declared the practice of
sati a crime. As a campaigner for women's
rights, Roy condemned the
general subjugation of women and opposed
prevailing misconceptions
which formed the basis of according an
inferior social status to
women. Roy attacked polygamy and the degraded
state of widows and
demanded the right of inheritance and property for
women.
Rammohan Roy did much to
disseminate the benefits of modern education to
his countrymen. He
supported David Hare's efforts to found the Hindu
College in 1817, while
Roy's English school taught mechanics and
Voltaire's philosophy. In
1825, he established a Vedanta college whei'e
courses in both Indian
learning and Western social and physical sciences
were offered. He also
helped enrich the Bengali language by compiling a
Bengali grammar book and
evolving a modern elegant prose style.
Roy was a gifted linguist
He knew more than a dozen languages including
Sanskrit, Persian,
Arabic, English, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. A
knowledge of different
languages helped him broadbase his range of
study. As a pioneer in
Indian journalism, Roy brought out journals in
Bengali, Hindi, English,
Persian to educate and inform the public and
represent their
grievances before the Government. Asapalli cal activist,
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 31
Roy condemned oppressive
practices of Bengali zamindars and demanded
fixation of maximum
rents. He also demanded abolition of taxes on taxfree
lands. He called for a
reduction Of export duties on goods abroad
and abolition of the East
India Company's trading rights. He demanded
the executive from the
and Europeans and that trial be held
Roy was an
internationalist' with a vision beyond his times. He stood
for cooperation of
thought and activity and brotherhood among nations.
His understanding of the
international character of the principles of
liberty, equality and
justice indicated that he well understood the
significance of the
modern age. He supported the revolutions of Naples
and Spanish America and
condemned the oppression of Ireland by absentee
English landlordism and
threatened emigration from the empire if the
reform bill was not
passed.
Roy had David Hare,
Alexander Duff, Debendranath Tagore, P.K. Tagore,
Chandrashekhar Deb and
Tarachand Chakraborty as his associates.
Raja Rarnmohan Roy
founded the Brahmo Sabha in August 1828; it was later
renamed, Brahmo Samaj.
The Samaj, was committed to "th amcl ask rational
the Eternal,
Unsearchable, Immutable Being who is the Author, Preseyver
of the Universe".
Prayers, meditation of the Upanishads were to be the
forms of worship and no
graven image, statue or sculpture, carving,
painting, picture,
portrait etc, were to be allowed in the Samaj
buildings, thus
underlining the Samaj's opposition to idolatry and
meaningless rituals. The
long-term agenda of the Brahmo Samaj—to purify
Hinduism and to preach
monotheism—was based on the twin pillars of
reason and the Vedas and
Upanishads. The Samaj also tried to incorporate
teachings of other
religions and kept its emphasis on human dignity,
opposition to idolatry
and criticism of social evils such as sati.
Roy did not want to
establish a new religion. He only wanted to purify
Hinduism of the evil
practices which had
32 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 33
crept into it. Roy's
progressive ideas met with;strong opposition from
orthodox elements like
Raja Radhakant Deb who organized the Dharma Sabha
to counter Brahmo Samaj
propaganda. Roy's death in 1833 was a setback
for the Samaj's. mission.
Maharishi Debendranath
Tagore (1817-1905), father of Rabindranath Tagare
and a product of the best
m traditional Indian learning and western
thought, gave a new life
to Brahma Samaj and a definite form and shape
to the theist movement,
when he joined the Samaj in 1842. Earlier,
Tagore headed the
Tattvabodhini Sabha (founded in 1839) which, along
with its organ
Tattvabodhini Pat fika in Bengali, was devoted to the
systematic study of
India's past with a rational outlook and to the
propagation of Roy's
ideas. A new vitality and strength of membership
came to be associated
with the Brahmo Samaj due to the informal
association of the two
sabhas. Gradually, the Brahmo Samaj came to
include prominent
followers of Roy, the Derozians and independent
thinkers such as Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar and Ashwini Kumar Datta.
worked on two the Brahmo
movement- outside it resolutely oosed the
Christian missionaries
for their criticism of the Hinduism and their
attempts at conversion.
Thei-evitalised Samaj supporiea—Wi-d–ow
remarriarrTeiys
education, abolition of improvement in ryots' conditions
and temperence.
The Bramho Samaj experienced
another phase of energy, vigour and
eloquence when Keshub
Chandra Sen was made the acharyct by Debendranath
Tagore soon after the
former joined the Samaj in 1858. Keshub was
instrumental in
popularising the movement, and branches of the Samaj
were opened outside
Bengal in the United Provinces, Punjab, Bombay,
Madras and other towns.
Unfortunately, Debendranath did not like some of
. Sen's ideas which he
found too radical, such as cosmopolitanisation of
the Samaj's meetings by
inclusion of teachings from all religions and
his strong views against
the caste system, even open support to intercaste
marriages. Keshub Chandra
Sen was dismissed from the office of
acharya in 1865. Keshub
and his followers founded the Brahmo Samaj of
India in 1866, while Debendranath
Tagore's Sarnaj came to be known as
the Adi Brahmo Samaj.
In 1878, Keshub's
inexplicable act of getting his thirteenyear-old
daughter married with the
minor Hindu Maharaja of Cooch-Behar with all,
the orthodox Hindu
rituals caused another split in Keshub's Brahma Samaj
of India. Earlier, Keshub
had begun to be considered as an incarnation
by some of his followers,
much to the dislike of his progressive
followers. Further,
Keshub had begun to be accused of authoritarianism.
After 1878, the disgusted
followers of Keshub set up a new organisation,
the Sadharan Brahma
Samaj.
A number of Brahmo
centres were opened in Madras state. In Punjab, the
Dayal Singh Trust sought
to implant Brahmo ideas by, the opening of
Dayal Singh College at
Lahore in 1910.
According to H.C.E.
Zacharias, "Raja Rammohan Roy and his Brahmo Samaj
form the starting point
for all the various reform movements—whether in
Hindu religion, society
or politics—which have agitated. modern India."
The overall contribution
of Brahmo Samaj may be summed thus—
(i) it denounced
polytheism and idol worship;
(ii) it discarded faith
in divine avataras (incarnations);
(iii) it denied that any
scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate
authority transcending/
human reason and conscience;
(iv) it took no definite
stand on the doctrine of;karma and
transmigration of soul
and left it to- individual Brahmos to believe
either way;
(iv) it criticised the
caste system. In matters of social reform,
the Samaj attacked many
dogmas and superstitions. It
condemned the prevailing
Hindu prejudice against going
abroad. It worked for a
respectable status for women in
society—condemned sati,
worked for abolition, of purdah
system, discouraged child
marriages and polygamy, crusaded
for widow remarriage and
for provisions
34 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
of educational
facilities, etc. It also attacked casteism and
untouchability though in
these matters it attained only limited success.
Prarthana Samaj In 1863,
Keshub Chandra Seri helped found the Prarthana
Samaj in Bombay. Earlier,
the Brahmo ideas spread in Maharashtra where
the Paramhansa Sabha was
founded in 1849. Here the emphasis was on
monotheism, on 'works'
rather than on faith. They relied on education
and persuasion and not on
confrontation with Hindu orthodoxy. There
was a four-point social
agenda also: (i) disapproval of caste system,
(ii) women's education,
(iii) widow remarriage, and (iv) raising the age
of marriage for both
males and females. The Prarthana Samaj had as its
prominent leaders Mahadeo
Govind Ranade (1842-1901), R.G. Bhandarkar
(18371925) and N.G.
Chandavarkar (1855-1923).
Young Bengal Movement and
Henry Vivian Derozio (1809-31) During the late
1820s and early 1830s,
there emerged a radical, intellectual trend among
the youth in Bengal, which
came to be known as the 'Young Bengal
Movement'. A young
Anglo-Indian, Henry Vivian Derozio, who taught at
the Hindu College from
1826 to 1831, was the leader and inspirer of
this progressive trend.
Drawing inspiration from the great French
Revolution, Derozio
inspired his pupils to think freely and rationally,
question all authority,
love liberty, equality and freedom, and oppose
decadent customs and
traditions. The Derozians also supported women's
rights and education.
Also, Derozio was perhaps the first nationalist
poet of modern India.
The Derozians, however,
failed to have a long-term impact. Derozio was
removed from the Hindu
College in 1831 because of his radicalism. The
main reason for their
limited success was the prevailing social
conditions at that time,
which were not ripe for the adoption of radical
ideas. Further, support
from any other social group or class was absent.
The Derozians lacked any
real link with the masses; for instance, they
failed to take up the
peasants' cause. In fact, their radicalism was
bookish in character.
But, despite their
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 35
limitations, the
Derozians carried forward Roy's tradition of public
education on social,
economic and political questions. For instance,
they demanded induction
of Indians in higher grades of services,
protection of ryots from
oppressive zamindars, better treatment to
Indian labour abroad in
British colonies, revision of the Company's
charter, freedom of press
and trial by jury.
Later, Surendranath
Banerjee was to describe the Derozians as "the
pioneers of the modern
civilisation of Bengal, the conscript fathers of
our race whose virtues
will excite veneration and whose failings will be
treated with gentlest
consideration".
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
The great scholar and reformer, Vidyasagar's
ideas were a happy blend
of Indian and western thought. He believed in
high moral values, was a
deep humanist and was generous to the poor. In
1850, he became the
principal of Sanskrit College. He was determined to
break the priestly
monopoly of scriptural knowledge, and for this he
opened the Sanskrit
College to non-brahmins. He introduced western
thought in Sanskrit
College to break the self-imposed isolation of
Sanskritic learning.
Also, as an academician, he evolved a new
methodology to teach
Sanskrit. He also devised a new Bengali primer and
evolved a new prose
style.
Vidyasagar started a
movement in support of widow remarriage which
resulted in legalisation
of widow remarriage. He was also a crusader
against child marriage
and polygamy. He did much for the cause of
women's education. As
government inspector of schools, he helped
organize thirtyfive
girls' schools many of which he ran at his own
expense. As secretary of
Bethune School (established in 1849), he was
one of the pioneers of
higher education for women in India.
The Bethune School,
founded in Calcutta, was the first fruit of the
powerful movement for
women's education that arose in the 1840s and
1850s. The movement had
to face great difficulties. The young students
were shouted at and
abused and sometimes even their parents subjected to
social boycott.
36 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
Many believed that girls
who had received western education would make
slaves of their husbands.
Bal Shastri Jambekar One
of the pioneers in Bombay, he attacked
brahminical orthodoxy and
tried to reform popular Hinduism He started
the weekly Darpan in
1832,
Students' Literary and
Scientific Societies Also called the Gyan
Prasarak Mandalis they
had two branches—Marathi and Gujarati—and were
formed by some educated
young men in 1848. These Mandalis organized
lectures on popular
sciences and social questions. One of their aims was
to start schools for
girls.
Paramhansa Mandalis
Founded in 1849 in Maharashtra, the founders of
these Mandalis believed
in one God. They were primarily interested in
breaking caste rules. At
their meetings food cooked by lower caste
people was taken by the
members. These Mandalis also advocated widow
remarriage and women's
education. Branches of Paramhansa Mandalis
existed in Poona, Satara
and other towns of Maharashtra.
Satyashodhak Samaj and
Jyotiba Phule
Jyotiba Phule belonged to
the Mali (gardener) community and organized a
powerful movement against
upper caste domination and brahminical
supremacy. Phule founded
the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth Seekers' Society)
in 1873, with the
leadership of the Samaj coming from the backward
classes, Malis, Telis,
Kunbis, Saris and Dhangars. The main aims of the
movement were (i) social
service, and (ii) spread of education among
women and lower caste
people. Phule's works, Sarvajanik Satyadharma and
Gulamgin, became sources
of inspiration for the common masses. Phule
used the symbol of Rajah
Bali as opposed to the, brahmins' symbol of
Rama. Phule aimed at the
complete abolition of the caste system and
socio-economic
inequalities; he was against Sanskritic Hinduism. This
movement gave a sense of
identity to the depressed communities as a
class against the
brahmins, who were seen as the exploiters. Phule
opened, with the help of
his wife, a girls' school at Poona and was a
pioneer of, widow
remarriage movement in Maharashtra.
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 37
Gopalhari Deshmukh
Lokahitawadi, He advocated a reorganisation of Indian
society
onrationalpmcIples and modern, humanistic,. secular values. He
attacked Hindu orthodoxy
and supported social and religious equality. He
said, "If religion
does not sanction social reform, then change
religion."
Gopal Ganesh Agarkar A
strong advocate of the power of human reason, he
criticised from the blind
dependence on tradition and false
glorification of the
past.
The Servants of India
Society Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the liberal leader
of Indian National
Congress, founded the Servants of India Society in
1905. The aim of the
society was to train national missionaries for the
service of India; to
promote, by all constitutional means, the, true
interests of the Indian
people; and to prepare a cadre of selfless
workers who were to
devote their lives to the cause of the country in a
religious spirit. After
Gokhale's death (1915), Srinivasa Shastri took
over as president:
Social Service League
Another Gokhale follower Narayan Malhar Joshi
founded the Social
Serince League in Bombay with an aim to secure for
the masses better and
reasonable conditions of life and work They
organized many schools,
libraries, reading rooms, day nurseries and
cooperative societies.
Their activities also included police court
agents' work, legal aid
and advice to the poor and illiterate,
excursions for slum
dwellers, facilities for gymnasia and theatrical
performances, sanitary
work, medical relief and boys' clubs and scout
corps. Joshi also founded
the All India Trade Union (1920).
The Ramakrishna Movement
The didactic nationalism of the Brahma Samaj
appealed more to the
intellectual elite in Bengal, while the average
Bengali found more
emotional satisfaction in the cult of bhakti and
yoga. The teachings of
Ramakrishna Paramhansa (1834-86), a poor priest
at the Kali temple in
Dakshineshwar, Calcutta, formed the basis of the
Ramakrishna Movement. Two
objectives of the movement were—(i) to bring
into existence a band of
monks dedicated
38 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
to a life of renunciation
and practical spirituality, from among whom
teachers and workers
would be sent out to spread the universal message
of Vedanta as illustrated
in the life of Ramakrishna, and (ii) in
conjunction with lay
disciples to carry on preaching, philanthropic and
charitable works, looking
tapon all men, women and children,
irrespective of caste,
creed or colour, as veritable manifestations of
the Divine. Parainhansa
himself founded the Ramakrishna Math with his
young monastic disciples
as a nucleus to fulfil the first objective. The
second objective was
taken up by Swami Vivekananda after Ramakrishna's
death when he founded the
Ramakrishna
Mission in 1897. The
headquarters of the Mission are at Belur near
Calcutta.
Paramhansa sought
salvation through traditional ways of renunciation,
meditation and bhakti
amidst increasing westernisation and
modernisation. He
recognised the fundamental oneness of all religions
and emphasised that
Krishna, Hari, Ram, Christ, Allah are different
names for the same God,
and that there are many ways to God and
salvation. Paramhansa's
spirituality and compassion for the suffering
humanity inspired those
who listened to him. He used to say, "Service of
man is the, service of
God."
Narendranath Datta
(1862-1902), who later came to be known as Swami
Vivekananda spread
Ramakrishna's message and tried to reconcile it to
the needs of contemporary
Indian society. He emerged as the preacher of
neo-Hinduism. Certain
spiritual experiences of Ramakrishna, the
teachings of the
Upanishads and the Gita and the examples, of the Buddha
and Jesus are the basis
of Vivekananda's message to the world about
human values. He
subscribed to the Vedanta which he considered a fully
rational system with a
superior approach. His mission was to bridge the
gulf between ararnartha
(service) and vyavahara (behaviour), and between
spirituality believed in
the fundamental oneness of God and said, "For
our own motherland a
junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and
Islam, is the only
hope." Emphasising social action, he declared that
knowledge without
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 39
action is useless. He
lamented the isolationist tendencies and the touchme-
not attitude of Hindus in
religious matters. He frowned at religion's
tacit approval of the
opptession of the poor by the rich. He believed
that it was an insult to
God and humanity to teach religion to a
starving man. He called
upon his countrymen to imbibe a spirit of
liberty, equality and
free thinking.
Vivekananda was a great
humanist and used the Ramakrishna Mission for
humanitarian relief and
social work. The Mission stands for religious
and social reform.
Vivekananda advocated the doctrine of service—the
service of all beings.
is itself is religion.
service, the Divine exists within man.
Vivekananda was for using
technology and modern science in the service
of mankind. Ever since
its inception, the Mission has been running a
number of schocies. It
offers help to the affected ofcalamities like
famines, floods and
epidemics. a worldwide organisation. It is a deeply
religious body, but it is
not a proselytising body. It does not consider
itself to be a sect of
Hinduism. In fact, this is one of the strong
reasons for the success
of the Mission. Unlike the Arya Samaj, the
Mission recognises the
utility and value of image worship in developing
spiritual fervour and
worship of the eternal omnipotent God, although
it emphasises the
essential spirit and not the symbols or rituals. It
believes that the
philosophy of Vedanta will make a Christian a better
Christian, and a Hindu a
better Hindu.
At the Parliament of
Religions held at Chicago in 1893, Swami
Vivekananda made a great
impression on people by his learned
interpretations. The
keynote of his opening,address was the need for a
healthy balance between
spiritualism and materialism. Envisaging a new
culture for the whole
world, he called for a blend of the materialism of
the West and the
spiritualism of the East into a new harmony to produce
happiness for mankind.
Vivekananda never gave a
political message; still, he
40 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 41
infused into the new
generation a sense of pride in India's past, a new
faith in India's culture,
and a rare sense of confidence in India's
future. His emphasis was
not only on personal salvation, but also on
social, good and reform.
About his place in modern Indian history,
Subhash Bose wrote:
"So far as Bengal is concerned Vivekananda may be
regarded as the spiritual
father of the modern nationalist movement."
Dayanand Saraswati and
Arya Samaj
The Arya Samaj Movement,
revivalist in form though not in content, was
the result of a reaction
to western influences. Its founder, Dayanand.
Saraswati (or Mulshankar,
1824-83) was born in the old Morvi state in
Gujarat in a brahmin
family. He wandered as an ascetic for fifteen years
(1845-60) in search of
truth. The first Arya Samaj unit was formally set
up by him at Bombay in
1875 and later the headquarters of the Samaj were
established at Lahore.
Dayanand's views were
published in his famous work, Satyarth Prakash
(The True Exposition).
Dayanand's vision of India ineuded a classless
and casteless society, a
united India (religiously, socially and
nationally), and an India
free from foreign rule, with Aryan religion
being the common religion
of all He took inspiration from the Vedas and
considered them to be
"India's Rock of Ages", the infallible and the
true original seed of
Hinduism He gave the slogan "Back to the Vedas".
He had received education
on Vedanta from a blind teacher named Swami
Virajananda in Mathura.
Along with his emphasis on Vedic authority, he
stressed the significance
of individual interpretation of the scriptures
and said that every
person has the right of access to God. He criticised
later Hindu scriptures
such as the Purcinas and the ignorant priests for
perverting Hinduism.
Dayanand launched a frontal attack on Hindu
orthodoxy, caste
rigidities, untouchability, idolatry, polytheism,
belief in magic, charms
and animal sacrifices, taboo on sea voyages,
feeding the dead through
shraddluzs, etc. Dayanand subscribed to the
Vedic notion of
chaturvarna system in which a person was not born in any
caste but was identified
as a brahmin, kshatriya, vaishya or shudra
according to the
occupation the person followed.
The Samaj fixed the
minimum marriageable age at twenty-five years for
boys and sixteen years
for girls. Swami once lamented the Hindu race as
"the children of
children". Intercaste marriages and widow remarriages
were also encouraged.
Equal status for women was the demand of the
Samaj, both in letter and
in spirit The Samaj also helped the people in
crises like floods,
famines and earthquakes. It attempted to give a new
direction to education.
The nucleus for this movement was provided by
the Dayanand AngloVedic
(D.A.V.) schools, established first at Lahore in
1886, which sought to
emphasise the importance of western education.
Swami Shraddhanand
started the Gurukul at Hardwar in 1902 to impart
education in the
traditional framework.
Dayanand strongly
criticised the escapist Hindu belief in maya
(illusion) as the running
theme of all physical existence and the aim of
human life as a struggle
to attain moksha (salvation) through escape
from this evil world to
seek union with God. Instead, he advocated that
God, soul and matter
(prakriti) were distinct and every individual
t is the or t e eterna
trinci•les overni uman
coffin uct. us e attac ed the prevalent
popular belief that every
individual contributed and got back from the
society according the
principles of niyati (destiny) and karma (deeds).
He held the world to be a
battlefield where every individual has to
salyanon
should be clearly
understood that Dayanand's slogan of 'Back to the
Vedas' was a call for a
revival of Vedic learning and Vedic purity of
religion and not a
revival of Vedic times. He accepted modernity and
displayed a patriotic
attitude to national problems.
The ten guiding
principles of the Arya Samaj are—
(i) God is the primary
source of all true knowledge;
(ii) God, as all-truth,
all-knowledge, almighty, immortal,
creator of Universe, is
alone worthy of worship;
(ii) the Vedas are the right
ee s, an t at human beings are
controlled by
42 A Brief History of Modern India
books of true knowledge;
(iv) an Arya should
always be ready to accept truth and abandon untruth;
(iii) dharma, that is,
due consideration of right and wrong,
should be the guiding
principle of all actions;
(iv) the principal aim of
the Samaj is to promote world's wellbeing
in the material,
spiritual and social sense;
(v) everybody should be
treated with love and justice;
(vi) ignorance is to be
dispelled and knowledge increased;
(ix) one's own progress
should depend on uplift of all
others;
(x) social well-being of
mankind is> to be placed above an
individual's well-being.
The Arya Samaj's social
ideals comprise, among others, the fatherhood of
God and brotherhood of
Man, equality of all sexes, absolute justice and
fairplay between man and
man and nation and nation. Dayanand also met
other reformers of the
time,Keshub Chandra Sen, Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar, Ranade,
Deshmukh, etc. The work of the Swami after his death
was carried forward by
Lala Hansraj, Pandit Gurudutt, Lala Lajpat Rai
and Swami Shraddhanand,
among others.
The Arya Samaj was able
to give self-respect and selfconfidence to the
Hindus which helped to
undermine the myth of superiority of whites and
the western culture. In
its zeal to protect the Hindu society from the
onslaught of Christianity
and Islam, the Samaj started the shuddhi
(purification) movement
to reconvert to Hindu fold the converts to
Christianity and Islam.
This led to increasing communalisation of social
life during the 1920s and
later snowballed into communal political
consciousness.
SEVA SADAN
A Parsi social reformer,
M. Malabari, founded the Seva Sadan in 1885. The
organisation specialised
in taking care of use women who were exploited
and then discarded by
society. It catered to all castes and women with
education, medical and
welfare services.
Deva Samaj Founded in
1887 at Lahore by Shiv Narain Agnihotri, this sect
emphasised of the soul,
the suremac of the uru, and the need for good
action. It
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 43
called for an ideal
social behaviour such as not accepting bribes,
avoiding intoxicants and
non-vegetarian and keeping away from violemt
actions. Its teachings
were corn fled
DHARMA SABHA
Radhakant Deb founded this
sabha in 1830. An orthodox society, it stood
for the preservation of
the status quo in socio-religious matters,
opposing even the
abolition of sati. However, it favouretion of western
education, even for
girls.
BHARAT DHARMA
Mahamandala An all-India
organisation of the orthodox educated Hindus,
it stood for a defence of
orthodox Hinduism against the teachings of
the Arya Samaj, the
Theosophists, and the Ramakrishna Mission. Other
organisations created to
defend orthodox Hinduism were the Sanatana
Dharma Sabha (1895), the
Dharma Maha Parishad in South India, and.
Dharma Mahamandaii in
Bengal. These organisations combined in 1902 to
form the single
organisation of Bharat Dharma Mahamandala, with
headquarters at Varanasi.
This organisation sought to introduce proper
management of Hindu
religious institutions, open Hindu educational
institutions, etc. Pandit
Madan -Mohan Malaviya was a prominent figure
in this movement.
Radhaswami Movement
Tulsi Ram, a banker from
Agra, also known as Shiv DayalSaheb, founded
this movement in 1861.
The R. d. i , one supreme being supremacy of the
Spiritual attainment,
they believe doeg not call for renunciation of the
worldly life. They
consider all religions to be true. While the sect has
no belief in temples,
shrines and sacred places, it considers as
necessary duties, works
of faith and charity, service and prayer.
Sri Narayana Guru Dharma
Paripalana (SNDP) Movement This movement was an
example of a regional
movement born out of conflict between the
depressed, classes and
upper non-Brahmin castes. It was started by. Sri
Narayana, Guru Swamy
among the Ezhavas of Kerala, who were a caste
44 A BRIEF HISTORY OF MODERN INDIA
of toddy-tappers and were
considered to be untouchables. The Ezhavas
were the single largest
caste group in Kerala constituting 26 per cent
of the total population.
Sri Narayana Guru initiated a programme of
action—the Sri Narayana
Guru Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogarn—in 1902.
The SNDP took of
admission to public schools uitment to :government
services, (iii) access to
roads and entriliesz. The movement as a whole
brought transformative
structural changes such as upward social
mobility, shift in
traditional distribution of power and a federation of
'backward castes' into a
large conglomeration.
Vokkaliga Sangha
This Sangha in Mysore
launched an anti-brahmin movement in 1905.
Justice Movement
This movement in Madras
Presidency was started by C.N. Mudaliar, T.M.
Nair and P. Tyagaraja to
secure jobs and representation for the nonbrahmins
in the legislature In
1917, Madras Presidency Association was
formed which demanded
separate representation for the lower castes in
the legislature.
SELF-RESPECT MOVEMENT
This movement was started
by E.V. kaMaswamRarcrer, a Balija Naidu, in
the mid-1920s. The
movementaimed at nothing short of a rejection of the
brahmanical religion and
culture which Naicker felt was the prime
instrument of
exploitation of the lower castes. He sought to undermine
the position of brahmin
priests by formalising weddings without brahmin
priests.
ARAVIPPURAM MOVEMENT
On the occasion of
Sivarathri in 1888, Sri Narayana Guru, despite
belonging to a lower
caste, installed an idol of Siva at Aravippuram in
Kerala in his effort to
show that the consecration of a god's image was
not a monopoly of the
brahmins. On the wall of the temple he got
inscribed the words,
"Devoid of dividing walls of caste or race, or
hatred of rival faith, we
all live here in brotherhood." The event
inspired several
socio-religious reform movements in the South,
especially the Temple
Entry Movement.
Religious and Social
Reform Movements 45
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