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You are here: Home / History / Religious and Social Reform Movement

Religious and Social Reform Movement

February 26, 2020 by BureaucratONE Leave a Comment Last Updated April 27, 2020

Table of Contents hide
1 Factors which gave Rise to Reform Movements
2 Social Base
3 Ideological Base / Unity
4 Two streams
5 Social Reform Components
5.1 Betterment of Position of Women Degraded position due to
5.2 Fight to remove disabilities arising out of untouchability
5.3 Major Contributors to Reforms
5.4 Legislative Measures for Women
6 Struggle Against Caste-based Exploitation
7 Reform Movements: Among Hindus
7.1 Bengal
7.2 Western India
7.3 Southern India
7.4 All India
8 Among Muslims
9 Among Parsis
10 Among Sikhs
11 Positive Aspects
12 Negative Aspects

Factors which gave Rise to Reform Movements

  • Presence of colonial government on Indian soil and its impact
  • Various ills plaguing Indian society
    • Brahminical obscurantism - monopoly of scriptural knowledge deliberately prevented facts & details
    • superstition, polytheism, idolatry - reinforced their position
    • degraded position of women - child marriage, sati, polygamy under kulinism
    • exploitative caste hierarchy - social mobility was checked, social divisions grew and individual initiative thwarted
  • Intrusion of colonial culture and ideology lead to reinvigoration of traditional institution
  • Spread of education and increased awareness of the world
  • Impact of modern Western culture and consciousness of defeat by a foreign power.
  • Rising tide of nationalism and democracy during the late 19th century.

Social Base

  • Emerging middle class
  • Western-educated intellectuals

Ideological Base / Unity

  • Rationalism - to judge social relevance
    • Swami Vivekananda - Same method of investigation which applies to sciences should be the basis on which religion must justify itself
  • religious universalism
    • Raja Ram Mohan Roy - Defended monotheism of Vedas & Unitarianism of Christianity, while attacking polytheism of Hinduism and trinitarianism of Christianity
    • Syed Ahmed Khan - All prophets had the same 'din' (faith) and every country had different prophets
  • humanism
    • social equality and worth
  • secularism

Two streams

  1. Reformist
  2. Revivalist
  3. Depended on varying degrees, on a appeal to lost purity of the religion they sought to reform

Social Reform Components

Betterment of Position of Women Degraded position due to

  • Purdah system
  • Early marriage
  • Denial of education
  • Unequal rights in marriage, divorce, inheritance
  • Polygamy
  • Female infanticide
  • Restrictions on widow remarriage
  • Sati

Fight to remove disabilities arising out of untouchability

  • Temple Entry restrictions
  • Access to education
  • Access to public goods like wells, roads

Major Contributors to Reforms

  • Social reform movements
  • freedom struggle
  • movements led by enlightened people
  • free India's Constitution

Legislative Measures for Women

  • Bengal Regulation (1829) banning sati
    • Reform lead by Raja Ram Mohan Roy
  • Bengal Regulations (1795, 1804) - declaring infanticide illegal
    • Esp among upper-class Bengalis & Rajputs
  • Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856
    • Efforts by Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidya Sagar, principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta
    • Vishnu Shastri Pandit founded Widow Remarriage Association
      • Professor D.K Karve marrier a widow and became its secretary
  • Age of Consent Act, 1891 - forbade marriage of girls below 12
    • Efforts by B.M. Malabari
  • Sarda Act, 1930 - further pushed marriage age to 18 for boys and 14 for girls
  • Special Marriage Act, 1954
  • Hindu Marriage Act, 1955
  • Hindu Succession Act, 1956
  • Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
  • Maternity Benefits Act, 1961
  • Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
  • Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act, 1978
    • 18 for girls and 21 for boys
  • Suppression of Immoral Traffic Act in Women and Girls, 1956(amended in 1986)
  • Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (amended in 1986)

Struggle Against Caste-based Exploitation

  • Factors Undermining Caste Rigidities
  • Forces unleashed by colonial administration
  • Social reform movements
  • National movement
  • Gandhi's campaign against untouchability
  • Stirrings among lower castes due to better education and
  • employment
  • Free India's Constitution

Reform Movements: Among Hindus

Bengal

  • Raja Rammohan Roy and Brahmo Samaj
  • Debendranath Tagore and Tattvabodhini Sabha
  • Keshub Chandra Sen and Brahmo Samaj of India
  • Prarthana Samaj
  • Derozio and Young Bengal Movement
  • Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Western India

  • Bal Shastri Jambekar
  • Students' Literary and Scientific Societies
  • Paramhansa Mandalis
  • Jyotiba Phule and Satyashodhak Samaj
  • Gopalhari Deshmukh 'Lokahitawadi'
  • Gopal Ganesh Agarkar
  • Servants of India Society

Southern India

  • Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Movement
  • Vokkaliga Sangha
  • Justice Movement
  • Self-respect Movement
  • Temple Entry Movement

All India

  • Ramakrishna Movement and Vivekananda
  • Dayananda Saraswati and Arya Samaj

Among Muslims

  • Wahabi/Walliullah Movement
  • Ahmadiyya Movement
  • Syed Ahmed Khan and Aligarh Movement
  • Deoband Movement

Among Parsis

  • Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha

Among Sikhs

  • Singh Sabha Movement
  • Akali Movement

Positive Aspects

  • Liberation of individual from conformity out of fear psychosis.
  • Worship made a more personal affair
  • Cultural roots to the middle classes - thus mitigating the sense of humiliation; much needed self-respect gained
  • Fostered secular outlook
  • Encouraged social climate for modernisation
  • Ended India's cultural, intellectual isolation from rest of the world
  • Evolution of national consciousness

Negative Aspects

  • Narrow social base
  • Indirectly encouraged mysticism
  • Overemphasis on religious, philosophical aspects of culture while underemphasising secular and moral aspects
  • Hindus confined their praise to ancient Indian history and
  • Muslims to medieval history - created a notion of two separate peoples and increased communal consciousness
  • Historical process of evolution of composite culture arrested to some extent

Filed Under: History

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