SOCIAL REFORM

DURING
COLONIAL RULE
Dr.NC VAMSHI KRISHNA
BDS, MA (SOCIOLOGY)
FACULTY FOR SOCIOLOGY
 INTRODUCTION

• India in the 19th century witnessed a series of reform

movements under- taken in various parts of the
country.
• These movements were oriented toward a re-
structuring of the Indian society along modem lines.
• The conquest of India by the British during the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exposed some
serious weaknesses and drawbacks of Indian social
institutions.
• Several individuals and
movements sought to bring about
changes in the social and religious
practices with a view to reforming
and revitalizing the society.
• These efforts, collectively known
as the Renaissance, were complex
social phenomena.
• The socio-religious movements can
be viewed as the expression of the
social aspirations of the newly
emerging middle class in colonial
India
PERSPECTIVES
• Historical view:J.N. Farquhar held that: The stimulating forces are almost
exclusively Western, namely, English education and literature, Christianity,
Oriental research, European science and philosophy and the material
elements of Western civilization.
• The importance of Western impact on the regenerative process in the
society in nineteenth century is undeniable it is more complex
than colonial benevolence.
• The reform movements should be seen as a response to the challenge
posed by the colonial intrusion.
• They were indeed important just as attempts to reform society but even
more so as manifestations of the urge to contend with the new situation
engendered by colonialism.
• In other words the socio-religious reform was not an end in itself, but was
integral to the emerging anti-colonial consciousness.
REVIVALISM
• The urge for reform was the need to rejuvenate the
society and its institutions in the wake of the colonial
conquest.
• This aspect of the reform movement, however,
introduced an element of revivalism, a tendency to
harp back on the Indian past and to defend, Indian
culture and civilization.
• Although this tended to impart a conservative and
retrogressive character to these movements, they
played an important role in creating cultural
consciousness and confidence among the people.
EARLY REFORM MOVEMENTS- • The earliest expression of reform was in
Bengal, initiated by Rammohun Roy. He
CHARACTERISTICS founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1814, which
was the forerunner of Brahmo Samaj
organized by him in 1829.
• The spirit of reform soon manifested itself in
other parts of the country. The Pararnahansa
Mandali and Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra
and Arya Samaj in Punjab and other parts of
north India were some of the prominent
movements among the Hindus.
• Among the backward castes too reformation
struck roots: The Satya Sodhak Samaj in
Maharashtra and Sri Narayana Dharma
Paripalana Sabha in Kerala.
• The Ahmadiya and Aligarh movements, the
Sing Sabha and the Rehnumai Mazdeyasan
Sabha represented the spirit of reform
among the Muslims, the Sikhs and the
Parsees respectively.
OBJECTIVES OF THE REFORM
MOVEMENT
• The reform perspectives of the movements and their leaders were
characterized by a recognition of interconnection between religious and
social issues.
• They attempted to make use of religious ideas to bring about changes in
social institutions and practices.
• Keshub Chandra Sen, an important Brahman leader, interpreted the
"unity of godhead and brotherhood of mankind" to eradicate caste
distinctions in society.
• The major social problems which came within the purview of the reform
movements were: Emancipation of women in which sati, infanticide, child
and widow marriage were taken up
• Casteism and untouchability Education for bringing about enlightenment
in society
• In the religious sphere the main issues were: Idolatry Polytheism
Religious superstitions Exploitation by priests
TYPES OF • Reforms from within
• Through Social legislation.
REFORM • Through institutional reform.
MOVEMENTS
 • Sati-1829- R R Roy.
• Charter act of 1833 removal of slavery.
Social legislation • Bengal regulation act 1795&1804-female infanticide
• 1891-Age of consent- BM Malabari
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM- ARYA
SAMAJ

• The Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati

• The word Arya means a noble human being--one who is thoughtful
and charitable, who thinks good thoughts and does good actions--he
or she is an Arya. The universal Arya Samaj (Vishwa Arya Samaj) is a
gathering of such people.
• Swami Dayanada founded Arya Samaj on two basic tenets. They
were

• Infallible authority of the Vedas

• Monotheism.
• He has explained these two principles in his book Satyartha Prakash
that he published in 1874 from Allahabad.He held the Vedas only as
the infallible authority of Hinduism.
 • Swami launched the Shuddhi (purification) movement, conversion of non-Hindus to
Hinduism.
ARYA SAMAJ • This was begun to realise the ideal of unifying India notionally, socially, and religiously.
AND CONTRA- • It would not leave the Hindu-fold for a separate identity. Instead it wanted to revive
Hinduism from within.
ACCULTURATION • It aimed to recover the lost values of Aryanism, to re-establish the original Aryan vigor, and
to reassert itself against internal and external dangers.
• Campaigned for ancient Aryan type-coeducation leading to the establishment of gurukulas
or educational institutions on Vedic pattern
 • On a militant platform, it condemned Brahmanic rites and rituals, idol worship,
and superstitious practices.
• The word sanghatan means union. Therefore it implies in the programme of
RADICALISM & the Arya Samaj the organization of Hindus for self-defence.

ARYA SAMAJ • The Arya Samaj declared that no Hindu should take lying down the insults
hurled against his religion by the preachers of other religion.
• The samaj spread the image of Hinduism as a missionary religion by
propagating its track record of embracing various non-Hindu races such as
Greeks, Scythians, Kushans, Sakas, and Hunas who lost their identity in Hindu
society by becoming Hindus.
DIFFERENCES
WITH
BRAHMO
SAMAJ
 • The Young Bengal movement was
launched in Calcutta by a group of
radical Bengali free thinkers, called
Derozians, emerging from Hindu
College.
• It is based on the spirit of free
thought and revolt against the
existing social and religious
structure of Hindu society.
• Henry constantly encouraged
students to think freely, to question
and not to accept anything blindly.
His teachings inspired the
development of the spirit of liberty,
equality and freedom. His activities
YOUNG BENGAL brought about intellectual
revolution in Bengal.

MOVEMENT
CONTINUED...
• Derozio criticized the social practices and religious beliefs
of orthodox Hinduism.
• Organizationally they started Academic Association and society for
acquisition of GK
• The ideology ridiculed old traditions, defied the social and religious
rites, demanded education for women, and to flaunt their
independence indulged in wine-drinking and beef-eating.
• Accused of irreverence by his students’ orthodox Hindu parents, he
was forced to resign by the directors of Hindu College in 1831 due to
his radical teachings.
• Derozio died of cholera soon after at the young age of 22 in 1831.
• Drinking which the Derozians had introduced as a symbol of
emancipation began to spread in an alarming manner amongst
people who were untouched by the nobler marks of Derozian free
thought.
• Derozio was perhaps the first nationalist poet of Modern India .His
famous poem is To India – My Native Land.
 IMPACT AND LIMITATIONS OF YBM
• Arising out of the tradition of the French Revolution and English
radicalism, this movement had a distinct element of free
thought in it which offended Rammohan’s sense of decency
and theistic idealism.
• Because of their limited and shaky ideology, the movement was
never able to fully capture the public’s attention. They did not
succeed in creating a movement because social conditions were
not yet ripe for their ideas to flourish.
• The Derozians lacked much positive content and they failed to
develop a definite progressing ideology.
• Radical politics of a Western type were hardly possible in
Bengal at that time and the rich promise we see in the
Derozians never matured into anything solid.
• Derozians did not take up the peasant’s cause and there was no
other class or group in Indian society at the time which could
support their advanced ideas.
• Derozio’s ideas on the acceptance of the rational spirit were
accepted partly as long as they were not in conflict with basic
tenets of Christianity, and as long as they critiqued orthodox
Hinduism.
RAMAKRISHNA
MISSION
• The Ramakrishna Mission is an embodiment of
the synthesis of ancient Indian and modern
western cultures. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
(1836-86) was the founder of this socio-religious
movement.
• Two objectives of the Mission are:
• To bring into existence a band of monks
dedicated to a life of renunciation and
practical spirituality, to spread the universal
message of Vedanta
• To carry on preaching, philanthropic and
charitable works, looking upon all men,
women and children, irrespective of caste,
creed or colour
 • It was by genuine liberalism that Ramakrishna
aimed to remove all kinds of dogmatism, which
the orthodoxy blindly upheld.
• Ramakrishna broke the barriers, which
separated various Hindu cults and took them
together towards a search for the Reality.
• His views introduced a synthesizing and
CONSEQUENCES assimilating force into Hinduism.

• Hinduism received a new vigor and a spirit of

unity. It was a trend described at times as Neo-
Hinduism.
REFORM AMONGST MUSLIMS-ALIGARH
MOVEMENT
• The most important movement for the spread of
modern education and social reform among
Muslims was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
• He wanted to reconcile western scientific education
with the teachings of the Quran which were to be
interpreted in the light of contemporary rationalism
and science even though he also held the Quran to
be the ultimate authority.
• He advocated a critical approach and freedom of
thought and no dependence on tradition or custom.
• He was also a zealous educationist—as an official,
he opened schools in towns, got books translated
into Urdu and started the Mohammedan Anglo-
Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875.
CAUSES AND OBJECTIVES
• He also struggled to bring about an improvement
in the position of women through better
education by opposing purdah and polygamy,
advocating easy divorce, and condemning the
system of piri and muridi.
• He believed in the fundamental underlying unity
of religions or ‘practical morality’. He also
preached the basic commonality of Hindu and
Muslim interests
• Active participation in politics at that point, he
felt, would invite hostility of the Government
towards the Muslim masses.Therefore, he
opposed political activity by the Muslims.
• The ideology of the followers of the movement
was based on a liberal interpretation of the Quran
and they sought to harmonise Islam with modern
liberal culture.
 • In his enthusiasm to promote the educational and employment
interests of the Muslims, he allowed himself to be used by the
HOWEVER, colonial government in its obnoxious policy of divide and rule
• In later years, started propagating divergence of interests of
Hindus and Muslims.