DC:1

SEMESTER: 2
Paper: Nationalism in India
Lesson: Socio – Religious Reform Movement In India
In Nineteenth Century
Lesson Developer: Ashutosh Kumar Jha

College/Department:Department of Political Science,

Bhim Rao Ambedakar College, University of Delhi.

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

Chapter-4
Socio – Religious Reform Movement in India
In Nineteenth Century
Contents

 Introduction
 State of society
 The Inevitable Response
 The Beginning of Indian Renaissance
 Source of Influence
 Beginning of a new dawn
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Father of modern India
 Arya Samaj and its contribution
 Bankim Chandra chaterjee: Ideas and Influence
 Jyotiba Phule and his contribution
 Mahadev Govind Ranade and his influence
 Ramakrishna Mission and its Contribution
 Theosophical Society
 Muslim Reform Movements
 Impact of Reform Movement In India
 Impact on the National Movement
 Critical Appraisal
 Conclusion

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  Introduction
The decline of Mughal empire after the death of Aurangazeb (1707) led to the loss of
political unity in India. The triumph of British in the Battle of Pallasey (1757) and the
period that followed was the period of the consolidation of British hegemony in India.
The period of the 18th century was marked by the lack of any nationalist aspirations
among Indians and a trend towards perpetual decay of the society.
During this period Tagore comments that India was in a deathlike sleep in which
“her life was dried up and it showed all those dead and forgotten customs, superstitions
and prejudices, all the ignorance and fear, all feuds, all bitterness and separateness, all
unreasonableness and remotelessness from the wide world. (As mentioned in
Mukherjee, Ramaswany 1994-95: 86)
The Indian society in the nineteenth century was trapped in the vicious web of
religious superstitions and social decay. The country was in a state of perpetual social
and religious decline. Indian culture and civilization was facing severe identity crisis from
the onslaught of an alien culture which has already tasted the fruits of enlightenment.
There was an attempt by the colonial power to carry forward the subjugation process
from political to social and then cultural.

 State of Society

The first governor general Warren Hastings adopted a non-interfering educational

policy. He initiated the establishment of many centres for imparting traditional
education to both Hindus and Muslims. So this policy allowed these communities to
remain immersed in their traditional sphere. The system of education that prevailed
imparted only rudimentary Sanskrit. Arabic and Persian language and simple
mathematical teachings.
So the lack of scientific modern education created a situation of social
degeneration which was reflected in the widespread practice of blind superstitions and
inhuman customs. Polygamy, Child marriage, Sati, killing of female child, practice of
untouchability were rampant in society. Furthermore the worst sufferer of these evil
practices were women. Reasoning had lost all relevance in the society and its place was
taken over by superstition and orthodoxy. Religion was being used by the priestly class
to exploit others. Idolatry, Polytheism and religious superstitions were the other ills
plaguing the nation. The social problem had a direct relation with religion as the society
was extremely religious. Since religion were marred in superstition, so in order to reform
society the reformation of religion was essential. But superstition could only have been
fought with rationalism which required reform in education. So religious and educational
reform became two important factors for reforming religion and society. The British

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gradually introduced English education in India with the intention of developing a middle
class that could help them in administration. The class that benefitted out of English
education saw the differences as it existed between the western and indigenous society.
On the one hand society in west relied on the values of liberty, equality and fraternity
while the indigenous society was based on the values of exploitation of one class by
another. Many reformers took the task of reforming the ills plaguing society through
these new values and ideals. The implementation of these values also required adequate
governmental legislative support which was not forthcoming. The British government did
not try to intervene in the religious and social affairs. They avoided intervention because
they wanted to maintain the existing soio-religious backwardness in India to maintain
their cultural superiority over India , thereby giving justification to their „civilizing
mission‟ and „White men‟s burden‟. The Missionaries also thought that projecting the
Hindu religion as a religion based on exploitation and backwardness would help them
attract a substantial population of lower class towards Christianity. The other important
reason for the non interference of British in the socio- religious sphere was their
reluctance to face the wrath of the orthodox higher class in the period of beginning of
consolidation of British empire in India. It was avoiding any social or religious opposition
against the empire by following a non interfering approach. But it wanted to develop a
social class in India which could become the voice of change and government in meeting
their demands and could also bring in socio –religious reforms in India. But if the British
government would have proactively acted to bring these reforms than the orthodox class
would have easily got anti-british and would have managed support from society in the
name of interfering with the traditions and culture by a foreign power. So the
government did not follow a policy of intervening in the socio-religious affairs in the
beginning.

 The Inevitable Response

India was subjugated not only politically and economically but also culturally. The
ways in which the great civilization was tamed called for response from the society. The
response was required because the challenges thrown by a modern west to the east still
struggling to overcome it‟s period of „Dark Ages‟ was huge.
With the advent of Nineteenth century the situation started changing with the
beginning of new awareness and generation of new ideas in Indian Society often referred
as Indian Renaissance. It was the time when the British rule had strengthened in India.
The country was witnessing changes at the societal level and the medieval traditions and
practices had started losing its significance because it was failing to change itself with
changes in times. The society had degenerated and was crying for urgent reforms in the

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sphere of society and religion. The onus on the reformers was to reform society on
modern and scientific lines and it was tried to be achieved by redefining religious and
social practices prevailing in the country. The major problem in the society was related
to deplorable condition of women. Society was plagued by several inhuman practices and
customs that directly impacted the status of women in society. Women were victims of
social practices like Sati, Child marriage, murder of girl child, social ban on Widow
Remarriage etc. Above all this in the name of morality they were also forced to confine
themselves under the four walls of their house observing Purdah system.

 The Beginning of Indian Renaissance

Towards the end of the 18th Century the establishment of Asiatic society of Bengal
(1784) was an important event. A group of English scholars led by William Jones
researched the knowledge hidden in Sanskrit literature and the Indian civilization. They
provided lots of interesting and stimulating facts about oriental and Indian civilization;
which were by then unknown to educated Indians. The works of William Jones lifted the
morale of Indians and revived their dipping national self-esteem.
The first major attempt to spread English education in India was made by the
Charter Act of 1813. This act on the hand gave permission to the Christian missionary to
propagate Christianity in India and on the other hand provided funds for education for
the first time in India. The government had provided budgetary allocation for education
because it wanted to help the educated Indians to develop the existing literature and
promote modern science. So the British started to open schools in various parts of India
to attain its objective. The Christin Missionary and Europeans like David Hare started to
open school in various parts of India where education began to be imparted in English.
Calcutta School Book Society and Calcutta School Society began to establish primary
schools imparting education in Indian languages. Reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy
petitioned the Governer General to spread English and Western education in India. The
government took consideration of the fact of promoting English education in India and
formed a committee for education under the Chairmanship of Lord Macaulay.
Macaulay‟s minutes of 1832 changed the previous practice of the rulers not
interfering in India‟s traditional educational set up. It convinced the colonial powers to
transform the Indian society on western lines so that the subjugation becomes
entrenched. (Mehta: 2008:157).Macaulay believed that English education would help
him create a class of Indian who would be British in their morality, wisdom, interests and
beliefs The introduction of English education transmitted the culture and temper of the
European Renaissance to India. These were a new wave of ideas that flew to India in the
nineteenth century. The ideas of Mill, Carlyle, Paine, Burke, Bentham, Voltaire, Newton

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spread to India and in course of time became household names among the educated
masses.
The values of French revolution had deep influence on the minds of the youth.
The system of education introduced by the British led to the new awareness of the value
of liberty, democracy and rule of law in India. People also started developing a hatred for
the suppression meted out to them by a colonial power and made the Indians realize
that the British colonialism in India should end.

 Source of Influence

The first source of influence on the Indian Renaissance was the idea of modernity
in the form of modern education, values of liberty, equality and a faith in the British rule
that would lead to the amelioration of the lot of Indians and eventually pave the way for
the establishment of democratic government in India. Ram Mohan Roy was an exponent
of this stream of influence.
The German ideas of Schelling, Fichte, Kant and Herder were the other source of
influence. The reaction against the British rule made people react against the British
ideas of individualism, materialism and laissez- Faire. For them German ideas of
community, duty and nation were appealing. (Mehta 1998: 159). They desired social
reforms and democratic norms but it was secondary to the need for preservation of the
Indian identity. Their ideas call for upholding traditional values and protection of people
from economic and political domination. They rejected the English interference in the
social life of the country. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Vivekananda were the
exponents of the idea who influenced the philosophy of nationalism later developed by
Bipan Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghosh.
The Indian traditional thought was the third noteworthy infuence on the Indian
Renaissance. The real contributions came from those who interpreted traditions in a
positive way. The researches carried out by orientalists like William Jones and Max Muller
had created a profound hope and admiration for the cultural traditions of the country.
These thinkers turned to the vedic and classical age for inspiration. Gita and its
philosophy of action performed with equanimity in the service of others become a strong
reference point. They realised that medieval religious outlook had made India weak.
These thinkers succeeded in changing the medieval worldview of fate attached to every
human action. They also brought the idea of importance of this life and without denying
the importance of the development of soul, shifted the emphasis in such a way as to
highlight the importance of enterprise in the service of the community. The writings of
Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayanand Saraswati , Swami Vivekanand, Bankim Chandra

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Chatterjee, laid great optimism about transforming life in this world itself. They were
convinced that India was destined to be a great nation and it was up to the people to
expedite the process.

 Beginning of a new dawn

The beginning of the nineteenth century heralded the beginning of a new dawn on India.
The movement described as the “Indian Renaissance” or “ Indian Awakening” grew in
enormity in the latter half of the century. This period heralded the phase of the great
socio religious reform movements in India. The period of 19th century witnessed many
reform movements. A few notable movements are Arya Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Aligarh
movement etc. These movements opposed the various forms of exploitation of women
carried in the name of social and religious beliefs.
The reform movements spread to both Hindus and Muslims.It was a time when
the influence of west and modernity was directly or indirectly observed among religious
groups. The reform movement succeeded in creating an age of rationalism in society.
The development of reasoning led people to question traditions and beliefs which were
based on superstitions .
Now let us look into some of the important socio-religious reform movement
carried out by individuals and their social, religious and political impact on society in the
nineteenth century.

 Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Father of modern India

Ram Mohan Roy wore many hats during his life time. He was a social thinker par
excellence, a prolific writer and was at home in Hindi, Sanskrit, English, Persian, Arabic,
Urdu, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, French etc:. He derived inspiration from French revolution
and freedom movements of Ireland, Spain, Naples and Latin America. Roy did not give
much attention to his political ideas as nationalism in India was at a very infant stage
and the task of social and religious reform was his primary agenda. Although he
despised Colonialism but he endorsed the British rule in India . He endorsed the British
rule because he found the rule to be culturally superior than the erstwhile feudal ruler in
India. He believed that the British rule would pave the establishment of democratic
institutions as it exists in Britain. Ram Mohan Roy was a vocal supporter of the freedom
of press. Alongwith his colleague , Dwarka Nath Tagore, he submitted a petition to the
Privy Council for the freedom of press. He found it essential for the democratic
functioning of the government. (Chakravarty, Pandey 2011: 10)
Ram Mohan Roy was a born rebel. Despite being born in an orthodox Brahmin
family he had the courage to write a rational critique of Hindu idol worship. (Pantham

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2012: 33)This infuriated his father and he has to leave home. His wanderings to places
like Tibet and Beanaras secured him the knowledge of Buddhism and Hinduism.

source - https://www.google.co.in/url?sa

The degenerate features of Bengal society was captured by him in his first
published work,Tuhfat-ul Muwahhiddin(A gift to Deists).He was concerned with sectarian
religious dogmas and practices. Ram Mohan identified the role of priestly class in
perpetuating those irreligious dogmas and irrational doctrines because they were direct
beneficiary of this system. So for him religious reform was paramount as it would lead to
achieving the twin tasks of social reform and political modernization.(Pantham
2012:37)
So inorder to achieve his task, he founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1815, the Calcutta
Unitarian Association in 1821 and the Brahmo Sabha in 1828 which later became the
Brahmo Samaj. Brahmo Samaj was the first great step towards the purification of our
culture. Brahmo Samaj rose above religion, caste and creed and opposed idolatry and
preached monotheism .The samaj opposed the rituals and ceremonies prevalent in
religion.
Ram Mohan strategized to fight the ills plaguing India in three important ways:
1) He had to reinvent the classical scriptures to fight the existing dogmas and
irrational practices. The ways he adopted to achieve this aim was by translating
Vedas and Upanishads into Hindi, Urdu and Bengali.
2) He was a modernist and he promoted modern western education to uplift the
outlook of the masses.
3) His firm belief in the reformative and modernizing aspects of British rule made
him seek the state action to achieve his programmes.

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 Ram Mohn‟s views on modern western education and socio-religious
reform were different from the other prevalent views of contemporary
conservative Bengali intellectuals. Roy promoted western educaton for its
scientific and emancipatory ideas while the conservatives like Radhakant Deb
favoured it for its use in the employability under British services. These group of
people on the one hand endorsed the British education and the other hand
supported the colonial practices of non interference in the socio-religious
orthodoxies of the native people.
Roy‟s study of religion made him one of the fiercest critique of
Polytheism and idolatory.He was attracted to Islamic monotheism and was
convinced that Monotheism is also the fundamental message of Vedanta. Since
Indian society was marred in religious sectarianism his idea of monotheism was
an idea to reconcile the sectarian differences of society. He believed that
monotheism supported one universal order for humanity while polytheism
justified sectarian moralities. Over the times his conception of fundamental unity
of all religions has been endorsed by several thinkers including Vivekanand ,
Tagore , Gandhi and Radhakrishnan. He opposed rituals and ceremonies and
questioned its use as it was done with the expectation of this worldly or other
worldly rewards. He also opposed Christian trinatrianism. In 1820 he expressed
his views on Christianity through his publication of „The Precepts of Jesus‟A guide
to Peace and Happiness. He rejected the divinity of Christ but admitted his moral
teachings that preached love and harmony to mankind.
He was the greatest champion for emancipation of women . His efforts
are considered to be special in the abolition of Sati or Widow burning. The
condition of women were deplorable. They were deprived of education , Property
Rights, Child marriage was rampant, had to observe purdah system and were
victim of barbaric custom Sati. Roy considered these as drag on the progress of
the Hindu society. In his words Sati was a „moral debasement of the
race‟.(Bishop 1982:7) He did not find any rationalism in the idea of atonement
of wife for a husband‟s sin. As a result of his campaign , Sati was banned by
William Bentinck in 1829. He also advocated widow remarriage, female aducation
and right of women to own property. He founded an English School in 1816. In
1825, he started the Vedant college where the study of western knowledge was
combined with that of Indian learning.
After the death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy the influence of Brahma Samaj
declined.In 1843. Devendranath Tagore took upon himself the task of the Samaj
revival. He started training the Brahma Samaj members to spread the message
of the Samaj throughout the length and breadth of the country. Inorder to

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 promote the ideals of Samaj he started „Tatwabodhini‟ magazine with A.K Dutt.
He prepared the codes of customs and books for prayers. During his times the
Samaj grew in different parts of India including Punjab to East Bengal. Over the
times the Samaj began to be dominated by people who believed more in the
reason and logic instead of the authenticity of Vedas.
In 1857 Keshav Chandra Sen joined the Brahmo Samaj. His efforts resulted in the
progress of the activities of the Samaj. He established Sangat Sabha in 1860. He
took an an all India tour in 1864. It was a first of its kind tour taken in modern
India to bring in a unity of thought. His efforts resulted in the formation of Veda
Samaj in Madras and Prarthna Samaj in Maharashtra. Keshav Chandra‟s new
ideas and thoughts came at variance with the ideas of Tagore . So he left the
Samaj in 1865 and formed Bharatiya Brahma Samaj while the Samaj led by
Devendranath Tagore began to be called Aadi Brahma Samaj. Another division of
the Samaj took place when Sen got his daughter and Prince of Cooch Behar
married without attaining adulthood. People who came out the movement
formed the Sadharan Brahma Samaj.
The Samaj spread to many parts of India and contributed in
fighting the practice of untouchability, promoted inter- caste marriage to break
the shackles of caste, they played significant role in the passage of Widow
Remmaraige Act in 1855 and contributed in establishment of women educational
institution like Bethune college.

 Arya Samaj and its contribution

The most influential movement of religious and social reform in northern India
was started by Dayanand Saraswti. He held that the Vedas contained all the
knowledge imparted to man by God and essentials of modern science could also
be traced in them. He was opposed to idolatry, ritual and priesthood, particularly
to the prevalent caste practices and popular Hinduism as preached by the
Brahmins. He favoured the study of western science. With all this doctrine, he
went about all over the country and in 1875 founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay.
Satyarth Prakash was his most important book. The use of Hindi in his writings
and preachings made his ideas accessible to the common people of northern
India. Arya Samajis opposed child marriages and encouraged remarriage of
widows. It made rapid progress in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
A network of schools and colleges for boys and girls was established throughout
northern India to promote the spread of education. Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School
of Lahore, which soon developed into a premier college of Punjab, set the pattern

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for such institutions. Instruction was imparted through Hindi and English on
modern lines. Lala Hansraj played a leading role in this field. In 1902, Swami
Shradhananda started the Gurukul near Hardwar to propagate the more
traditional ideas of education. This was set up on the pattern of ancient Ashrams.

Arya Samaj tried to inculcate the spirit of self-respect and self-reliance among the
people of India. This promoted nationalism. At the same time one of its main
objectives was to prevent the conversion of Hindus to other religions. It also
prescribed a purificatory ceremony calld suddhi for those Hindus who had been
converted to other religions like Islam and Christianity. There was a complete
lack of any European thought or influence on Swami Dayanand. In that sense he
was different from Roy although their goals were common. Dayanand found the
vedic message most suitable to inspire the moribund nation which was plagued
by several ills that could easily be cured. Dayanand‟s ideas were published in
„Satyaratha Prakash‟ in 1875. In this book he asserts that the empirical world was
no illusion but had an independent and objective existence. His refutation of
Advaita and Nirguna Brahmin separated him from Roy and Vivekanand.

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 source - https://www.google.co.in/url?sa

He further related human action to reward and punishment by God. This was an
effort made by Dayananda to play on the religious sentiments for meaningful
social activities. He understood that the British vanquished India because of the
divisive nature of Indian society.(chakravarty,Pandey 2011:14-15) He saw
the society was crippled because of problems like child marriage. For him
untruthfulness and neglect of Vedas were the prime reason for the degradation of
our society.Hence the first and foremost task was to grasp the substance of
Vedas that made Hindu a distinctive race.(Jones 1994).
His ideas stood out in those historical times because he was referring
Hindu to return to its roots. He gave Hindu a sense of identity through Vedas who
till now as a community had remain largely fractured and had no answer to the
superirority of the foreign rulers. He called for purging of the degenerated
practices of Hindus which was leading to their downfall. He opposed the prevailing
caste practices of Hindu society and educated them of the social hierarchies of
the vedic times which was based on merit, ability and temperament of the
individual rather than one‟s birth.
Dayanand‟s primary task was to strengthen the moral foundation of
the Hindu society which was weakening due to its inherent weaknesses. He was a
reformer of the Ram Mohan mould as he also has no interest in politics . This is
why he succeeded in establishing Arya Samaj which functioned in a strict non
political way. It could also be seen in the light that such an organization which
was in its infancy could not have carried political overtones because of the might
of the empire. He fulfilled his historical role by staying away from politics and
articulating a nationalist response that drew on Vedas (Purohit 1986).
Arya Samaj tried to establish the superiorty of Vedic religion.Slowly
and steadily Arya Samaj attracted large number of youths of the country and
brought forward many political leaders of India‟s movement for independence.
Arya Samaj was the most powerful and influential movement of the era of the
reform movement. It raised its voice against Child marriage, Purdah system,
Untouchability, prevailing notion on crossing the sea etc. It supported Girl
education and Widow remarriage. He opposed Sati by calling it barbaric and gave
stress on the equality of men and women. He also decalred that women and men
should have equal right to study Vedas. Arya Samaj appealed for doing away
with Idol worship, division of society into castes and class and the ritualistic
traditions of Hinduism. It preached that God is formless and it should not be
worshiped in any form through an Idol. He tried to base Hinduism on the basis of

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 logic and reason instead of obsolete tradition based on superstition. He said that
Vedic religion was the true religion as Vedas were infallible and source of divine
knowledge imparted to humanity. He fiercely criticized orthodoxy that existed in
any religion.
The Shuddhi movement started by Dayanand antagonized orthodox
Islamic groups and Missionaries. It opened doors for people of other religion to
come to or return to the Hindu fold. He said that Vedic religion is the essence of
all the religions of the world and every religion is directly or indirectly influenced
by it. There were people who were leaving the Hindu fold and getting converted
to Christianity or Islam because many ills had engulfed the Hindu society. People
who were finding difficult to continue with the Hindu tradition of Untouchability or
Widow remarriage were leaving the Hindu fold because such ills did not existed in
Islam and Christianity. Swami Dayanand attacked the roots of this issues and
tried to strengthen the Hindu society. Many people returned to the Hindu fold
because of the effort of Arya Samaj but in doing so they weakened the Indian
nationalism because many Muslims began to see Arya Samajists as their enemies
and the British used it to increase the distrust between the two communities. The
Samaj gave a new sense of identity to the Hindu religion which began to question
as well as oppose. But in re-establishing Hindu religion he became a critique of
other religion and followed an aggressive approach towards it. In „Satyartha
Prakash‟ he made a severe critique of other religion. So we could also say that his
aggressive stance towards other religion worked towards sowing the seeds of
communalism in our Independence movement. The Cow protection programme
became an issue of discord between Hindus and Muslims and also led to riots .
Although the programme found support from many quarters but the aggressive
nature of appeal by some enthusiasts Arya samajists led to tension between the
two communities.

 BANKIM CHANDRA CHATERJEE : Ideas and Influence

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 source -
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa

Bankim‟s thought can best be understood by his transformation evident in his

early and later writings. In his earlier days he shows acceptance of the most
radical currents of European thought. He was greatly influenced by the positivism
of Comte. In his later writings he is seen reconciling post enlightenment European
rationality with the patriotic urge to assert the cultural and intellectual identity of
colonized people.
He identifies lack of solidarity as the primary reason for subjection of India.
For him the diverse nationalities living in this country who are separated by
language, habit, race and religion has made national solidarity completely absent
in this country.He finds the British rule as an opportunity to discover our national
solidarity. In a nutshell he explains the subjection of India in terms of its
culture(Pantham 2012:68-69) He explains the cultural value and explains its
relation with power. For west Knowledge is power while Knowledge is salvation in
our culture. He makes an assessment that in the course of history some cultural
values are more advantageous than other in relation to power and those cultures
which fails to imply rational evaluation of power in material life are thrown into
subjection. He considered religion to be the most powerful weapon for political
and moral awakening. He tried to instill the faith that love towards humanity is
the biggest devotion and love for one‟s country is the biggest duty of individual.
He made an effort to uplift Hindu religion and combined the idea that the root of
religious upliftment is political upliftment.

 JYOTIBA PHULE AND HIS CONTRIBUTION

Jyotiba phule hailed from a low caste and understood the prevailing social inequalities
faced by low caste Hindus . he tried to provide a framework for the liberation of the

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sudras from the unequal and unethical social system. He was influenced by Thomas
Paine and believed in the equality of men and women. Like Dayanand he believed that
social organization should reflect merit of an individual rather than enforcing birth as
the criteria for occupation and religious status. He published a play Tritya Ratna in 1855
which depicted the exploitation of the superstitious peasent family by a cunning priest
and their subsequent enlightenment by a Christian Missionary.(chakravarty , Pandey
2011:16-17) He through the play depicted the oppressive nature of Hinduism,
impoverishment of shudras and conversion as a practical device to get out of the
exploitative system. He believed that access to education and English literacy have
provided vital resources on the Brahmins as a social group. This has catapulted Brahmins
importance in the social hierarchy as they have redefined their roles according to the
requirements of the day.

source - https://www.google.co.in/url?sa

He tried to give a vision of society free from Brahminical exploitation.

He considered the British rule as a blessing in disguise because it has struck at
the foundation of caste hegemony of the Brahmins. He was opposing the
Brahman discourses and Hinduism and its scriptures. For him the Brahmins have
distorted Shrutis and Smritis to rationalize their hegemony.
He found literacy especially English education as the most useful tool
in eradicating the Brahmanical hegemony. It had the potential of not only altering
the existent social order but also gender equality. He vigorously pursued the task
for women literacy and on his behest an exclusive girls school was opened in
1842. He tried to fulfill his objectives by establishing Satyashodhak Samaj in
1873. The Samaj extensively worked for girls education,widow remarriage and
prohibition. It also led vigorous debates on the nature of the Hindu society. He
was largely successful in providing a critique of the prevalent brahminical
practices and values which were being justified in the name of religion and

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 religious texts. He even went to the extent of criticizing various socio religious
organizations including Prarthana sabha which he said was used by the Brahmins
to confuse between Sudras and Atisudras. He criticized Sarvajanik sabha and
even the Indian National congress because these organization according to him
were monopolized by Brahmins and did not work in their intetests.

 MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE AND HIS INFLUNCE

Source –https://www.google.co.in/url?sa
He is credited with presenting his idea in the liberal mould. He was instrumental in the
establishment of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and Prarthana Samaj. He favoured an
interventionist state instead of a lassiez fare state. He tried to capture the nature of a
transitional economy which was passing from a semi feudal stage to a commercial order.
He believed n the equality of all and following the theistic doctrine argued that Women
and Men are equal as children of god. Everyone occupies equal level before god and
since god is the common father, therefore all men are brothers.

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 He was a critique of the caste system but justified Bhakti movement. The
Bhakti Marg rejected the idea that Brahmins are creation of god and other castes
should serve them. In this the low caste were free to attain salvation through
faith and love. Here members of the lowest of castes could become saints.
Ranade considered caste system as a blot in the Indian social system. It has
encouraged discrimination, isolation and exclusiveness. He preached to establish
fraternity and recognize the essential equality between man and man.
Ranade gave instances from vedic ages and ancient India to establish
equality between man and woman. The women participated as equal in religious
rites and deliberations of the state during vedic times. The institution of marriage
recognized female liberty and dignity of woman. He argued that dignity and
status of women should be reestablished by reforming the marriage and family
system and by allowing them to avail the benefits of education.
Ranade emphasized the need for social and religious reform but he
always believed in the natural dependence of the social economic and political
spheres of society. He understood that institutions like family should be reformed
first otherwise there was no meaning to political freedom because we would fail to
preserve it. He favoured a gradual process of transformation of society on the
liberal values of liberty and equality. He was a strong believer in tradition and in
his views was aiming to restore the dignity and freedom of the ancient period.
In his idea of elitism he assigned greater roles to the educated class. He
believed that this class would be the agent of change. He found that it was in the
interest of the state to provide sound and useful education to the elite of the
rising generation. Brahmins, educated middle class , Zamindars were included
under the category of elites and he wanted special representation to be given to
this class in the scheme of extending self rule. His justification for aristocracy has
been controversial and have been severely criticized by Phule and others.

 Ramkrishna Mission and its Contribution

It was established as a religious organization but it had great impact on society

and polity of India.Swami Ramkrishna Parmahansa was the founder of the
Ramkrishna Order of Monks and the spiritual founder of Ramkrishna Movement.
He preached that different religion are different paths towards a single
destination. He like Swami Vivekananda said that we should refrain from aping
the cultures of the west. Ramkrishna Mission was founded on 1 st May 1987 by his
chief disciple Swami Vivekananda. He tried to restore the pride of place of
Hinduism in India which was struggling to find its feet in the light of western

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onslaught. Ramkrishna Mission is even today preaching the principles of Vedanta
around the world through its branches.

source - http://www.google.co.in/url?sa

Vivekananda provided new vigour, pride and direction to the society

and religion through his teachings. His great oratory at the World Religious
conference in 1892 preaching the purity and rationality of Vedanta earned him
world wide fame. People from foreign shores came to India to become his
disciple. He was the soul of the movement. His speeches talking about the lofty
ideals of Hinduism made people aware of the greatness of their culture .His
teachings were directed to educate people to take pride in their culture preserve
their civilization which seemed to be falling apart. He said Hindus that the
Western civilization is based on consumerism and self-aggrandizement but still
they should have knowledge of modern education and modern means of work .
In a changed circumstances development can only be attained by changing to the
needs of the times. He said that India could conquer the world spiritually by its
spiritual message of Vedant. Vivekananda was proud of India‟s spiritual heritage,
but he believed that no individual or nation can live by holding himself or itself
apart from the community of others. He condemned the caste system, rigid
rituals, century old superstitions and advocated liberty, free thinking and equality.
Vivekananda was indeed, a patriot from the core of his heart. He had tremendous
faith in the evolution of Indian culture and an intense zeal to revive all that was
good and great in her culture so as to serve her in all possible ways for her
onward march. Swami Vivekananda laid stress on Ramakrishna‟s teaching on the
essential oneness of all religions. He promoted the Vedanta philosophy which he
considered the most rational system. The principal feature of Vivekananda‟s social
philosophy was his insistence on the upliftment of the masses. For him, service to
the poor and downtrodden was the highest religion. To organise such service, he
founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. This Mission to date has played an
important role in providing social service in times of national distress like famine,
floods, and epidemic. Many schools, hospitals, orphanages are run by it.

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 In 1893 he participated in the All World Religious Conference (Parliament of
Religions) at Chicago in the United States of America. He argued that Vedanta
was the religion of all and not of the Hindus alone. His address there made a deep
impression on the people of other countries and thus helped to raise the prestige
of Indian culture in the eyes of the world. Though his mission was mainly of
religious nature, he was keenly interested in the improvement of all aspects of
national life. He expressed his concern for the miserable and poor conditions of
the people and said that neglect of the masses is a sin. He frankly stated, “It is
we who are responsible for all our misery and all our degradation.” He urged
his countrymen to work for their own salvation. For this purpose bands of workers
devoted to this cause were trained through the Ramakrishna Mission. Thus
Vivekananda emphasized social good or social services.
He gave the message of self reliance and self confidence to the Indians.
His teachings generated a new lease of life among the people of this country. He
gave a call to eradicate all differences based on caste, community and
untouchability. He equated service of the poor and destitute to then service of
God. His vision for India was that of a strong and developing nation. The
organization engaged in many philanthropic activities catering especially to the
needs of poor and destitute.

 Theosophical Society

The Theosophical society was formed in New York city, United States in
November 1875 by H. Blavatsky, H S Olcott and others. The society‟s
headquarter was established in India in 1882. Mrs Annie Beasent popularized the
society throughout the length and breadth of India. She won the support of the
large sections of people including orthodoxy Brahmins by her splendid
presentation of Indian philosophy. She performed the wonder of transformation of
religious life in India particularly of Hindus. It promoted universal brotherhood
which attracted many intellectuals towards it. She translated Geeta and wrote
short commentaries on Mahabharat and Ramayana.

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

 source -
https://www.google.co.in/url?sa

The society established a number of schools and colleges .In 1898 Annie
Beasent founded the Central Hindu School and College in Benaras. A few years
later she started the Hindu School for girls. The society performed tireless work
for the upliftment of Women and pleaded for radical changes in the social
condition. They opposed child marriage, issue of widow remarriage,
untouchability and other existing vices in the culture.

 Muslim Reform Movements

The movements for reform also took place among the Muslims . Sir Sayyed
Ahmed Khan was the pioneer of muslim reform movement. The main movements
that began in 19th century was Wahabi movement, Aligarh movement and Ahmadi
movement.
Syed Ahmed of Bareli and Ismail Haji Maulvi Mohammed were the main leaders
of Wahabi movement. The movement stressed on the purity and unity of Islam.
Since the movement was an orthodox movement it could not achieve the desired
success.
Sir Syed Ahmed started the Aligarh movement. He is considered as one of
the architects of modern India. The 1857 revolt was one of the turning points of
Indian history. Sir Syed foresaw the imperative need for the Muslims to aquire
proficiency in English language and modern sciences. He recognized the critical

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role of education for the empowerment of the poor and backward Muslim
community. He started number of schools for Muslim education.He instituted
Scientific Society in 1863 to to create scientific temperament among the muslims
and to make western knowledge available to them in their own language. The
most respected and important educational centre for Indian Muslims was initially
founded as Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875 by Sir Syed
which was subsequently raised to the status of Aligarh Muslim University. Sir
Syed had a broader vision and he had put forward the need of the hour to get
equipped with modern education to improve the social and economic conditions of
Muslim in India. He was one of the first to provide a fresh orientation to Islam
and work for it. He institiuted All India Muslim Educational Conference in 1866
that revived the spirit of muslims at the national level. The Aligarh movement
helped open a number of educational institutions for Muslims and awakened them
from their deep slumber infusing social and political awareness among them.
Syed Ahmed Khan rightly felt that isolation would harm the Muslim community
and to prevent that he did his best to create a link with the progressive cultural
forces of the outside world. He worked hard to remove the hostility of the British
rulers towards the
Muslims whom they considered as their real enemies. He felt that the religious
and social life of the Muslims could be improved only with the help of modem
Western scientific knowledge and culture. Therefore, promotion of modern
education was the first task. As an official, he founded schools at many places. He
got many Western books translated into Urdu. He started the Muhammedan
Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 at Aligarh. It was meant to be a centre for
spreading Western sciences and culture. Later, this college grew into the Aligarh
Muslim University. The liberal, social and cultural movement started by Syed
Ahmad Khan among the Muslims is known as the Aligarh Movement as it
originated in Aligarh. The Anglo-Oriental College was the centre of this
movement. It aimed at promoting modern education among Muslims without
weakening the ties with Islam. It became the central educational institution for
Indian Muslims. The Aligarh Movement was largely responsible for the Muslim
revival that followed. It provided a focal point for the scattered Muslim population
in different parts of the country. It gave them a common fund of ideas and a
common language - Urdu. A Muslim press was developed for the compilation of
works in Urdu. Syed Ahmad‟s efforts extended to the social sphere as well. He
worked for social reforms. He wanted women to be educated and advocated the
removal of the purdah. He was also against polygamy

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 source -
https://www.google.co.in/url
Ahmadiya movement was started by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed Qadani. The
Ahmadiyas emphasized the belief that Islam is the final dispensation for humanity
as revealed to Prophet Muhammad and it is essential to restore it to its true
essence and pristine form which had been lost through centuries. It was a
movement towards revitalization of Islam.

 Impact of Reform Movement in India

The British wanted to appease the orthodox upper section of society. As a result
only two important laws were passed. Some legal measures were introduced to
raise the status of Religious Refroms Movements in Modern India includng
women. For example Sati was declared illegal (1829). Infanticide was declared
illegal. Widow remarriage was permitted by a law passed in 1856. Marriageable
age of girls was raised to ten by a law passed in 1860.A law passed in 1872,
sanctioned inter-caste and inter-communal marriages. The other law passed in
1891, aimed at discouraging child marriage. For preventing child marriage, the
Sharda Act was passed in 1929. According to it a girl below 14 and a boy below
18 could not be married. In the 20th century and especially after 1919 the Indian
national movement became the main propagator of social reform. Increasingly,
the reformers took recourse to propaganda in the Indian language to reach the
masses. They also used novels, dramas, short stories, poetry, the Press and in
the thirties (1930‟s), the cinema too spread their views. Numerous individuals,
reform societies, and religious organizations worked hard to spread education

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 among women, to prevent marriage of young children, to bring women out of the
purdah, to enforce monogamy, and to enable middle class women to take up
professions or public employment. Due to all these efforts Indian women played
an active and important role in the struggle for independence of the country. As a
result many superstitions disappeared and many others were on their way out.
Now, it was no longer a sin to travel to foreign countries.

 Impact on the National Movement

The socio religious movement in India had profound impact on its national
movement. It formed an essential part of the evolution of the national
consciousness Swami Dayanand Saraswati believed in „Swaraj‟ and „Swadeshi‟.
He also appealed to the people to use indigineous and not foreign goods. His
Swadeshi also stood for native rule .Many Arya Samajists like Lala Lajpat Rai and
Munshi Ram actively participated in the national movement. Shyamjee Krishna
Verma who established India House in England and Bhai Parmanand were
notable Arya Samajists who took up the cause of national movement in India.
Vivekanand‟s message was filled with nationalism. He extensively dealt with the
issue of Hindu spirituality which posed direct question to the notions of white
supremacy used by the colonisers. We can say that mahatma Gandhi and
Sarvapalli Rdhakrishnan were influencd by this aspect of Vivekanad‟s thought and
they later carried forward this brand of Hindu spiritualism. Sri Aurobindo was one
of the earliest to embrace the idea of complete political independence for India.
His source of inspiration was Swami Vivekananda and Bankim Chandra
Chattopadhyaya. He was also a part of the Anusilan Samiti whch was involved in
Arms struggle against the British. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used the press and
Hindu occossions like Ganpati festival and Hindu symbols like cow to organize
against the British empire. Bipan Chandra Pal was another prominent leader in
the struggle for independence and always opposed sectarianism and
majoritarianism of Hinduism. He was also a prominent modern Hindu reformer.
Subhash Chandra Bose referred to Vedanta and Bhgwat Geeta as his source of
inspiration for the struggle against British. Vivekanand‟s teaching on
Universalism, his thoughts on nationalism inspired people like Subhash Bose to
take up the call of nation. Annie Beasant helped in the promulgation of
nationalism in India through two journals, the „ commonweal‟ and the „New India‟.
She promoted and popularized the cause of Home Rule for India through these
journals.

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

 Critical Appraisal

The socio religious reform movement left a deep imprint on the Indian society.
But the movement also has certain fallouts which had a very long term impact on
the Indian polity and society. The movement weakened the inter-religious
tolerance which led to increase in inter-religious bitterness. The idea of the
reform movement promoted communalism which reached its culmination in the
form of division of India and Pakistan . If we analyse the reach of the movement
we could say that it failed to reach the common mass and it was mainly confined
to the literate class. The common mass was not touched by the waves of reforms
and continued to observe the old traditional way of his social and religious life.
The movement in Bengal was confined to a small class identified as „Bhadralok‟.
Zamindars as a social class were the biggest beneficiary of this movement as it
was a class which were closely connected to the British. Brahmins, Kayastha and
Vaishya were the largest beneficiary among the castes in Hindu. The reformers
could never manage to connect with the common mass because of their approach
or their usage of the language which was not comprehended by the illiterate or
ignorant masses of this country. But the strength of the reform movement lies in
locating a reference point in our history where the Indians under foreign
occupation led the cause of reform . This led to the flowering of idea of
democracy and liberty leading to the era of national movement in this country.
The nationalists were influenced by many streams of the reform movements that
took place in different parts of the country .

 Conclusion

It was seen that India was facing a stiff challenge in the form of intrusion of
the colonial culture and ideology. So an attempt was being made to reinvigorate
the traditional culture . All intrusions into the cultural realm were felt very
intensely. So a defence of indigenous culture developed . So creation of an
alternate cultural ideological system and the regeneration of the traditional
institutions were the high point of 19th century reform movement.The perpetual
social distinction on the basis of caste was strongly felt and it was called for
urgent reform. It stopped the patriotic feelings to rise and negated democratic
ideas. It was taken note that no reform would be complete without changes in the
domestic condition. It was realized that no country could make significant
progress whose women folk continues to remain ignorant and exploited. The
reformers were aiming at modernization instead of Westernization. A blind

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imitation of the west was never promoted as part of the reform. We can say that
the cultural –ideological struggle represented by the socio –religious refom
movement were an integeral part of the evolution of national consciousness in
this country. Out of this reform came a new India ready to take on the might of
the British empire.

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 References:
Bishop,D.H. 1982 Thinkers Of the Indian Renaissance ,New Delhi, Wiley Eastern

Chakrabarty, Bidyut and Rajendra Kumar Pandey. 2011 Modern Indian Political
Thought,New Delhi, Sage India Publication Pvt. Ltd.

Chandra,Bipan. 1988 India’s Struggle for Independence New Delhi, Penguin India
Pvt. Ltd.

Jones, Kenneth.1994 Socio Religious reform movement in British India,

Cambridge , Cambridge University Press

Mukherjee, Subroto and Sushila Ramaswamy (ed) Political Science Annual 1994-
95,New Delhi, Deep And Deep.

Pantham, Thomas and Kenneth L. Deutsch (ed.) 2012 Political Thought In

Modern India ,New Delhi, Sage Publications

Rai, Lajpat 1967 A history of the Arya Samaj ,New Delhi,Orient Longman

Mehta,V.R 2008 Foundations of Indian Political Thought New Delhi, Manohar

Webliography
Aligarhmovement.com/sir_sayed
www.ts-adyar.org

Ashutosh Kumar Jha

Assistant Professor (Adhoc)
Bhim Rao Ambedkar College
University of Delhi

Phone:8826367035
Email: risingashutosh@yahoo.com

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi