3.3.9 Socio-religious reform movements notes

1. 3.3.9.1Raja Rammohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj

   Rammohan Roy, the first great modern reformer, argued for one God, for rational reading of the scriptures, against sati, idolatry and caste abuses, and for English education, and founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828.

   Standard · 5 min · Full course
2. 3.3.9.2Brahmo Samaj after Rammohan: Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen

   Debendranath Tagore gave the Brahmo Samaj a lasting form, Keshab Chandra Sen made it a social-reform movement, and the 1866 and 1878 splits produced three Brahmo bodies.

   Standard · 5 min · Full course
3. 3.3.9.3Young Bengal movement and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

   Derozio's students questioned all authority in the 1820s–30s, and Vidyasagar later turned that spirit into practical reform: girls' education and the law on widow remarriage.

   Standard · 4 min · Full course
4. 3.3.9.4Prarthana Samaj, Ranade and reform in western India

   In western India, reform moved from the secret Paramahansa Mandali (1849) to the Prarthana Samaj (1867), whose lay leaders, above all M.G. Ranade, built the social-reform movement of Maharashtra.

   Standard · 5 min · Full course
5. 3.3.9.5Jyotiba Phule and the Satyashodhak Samaj

   Jyotirao Phule attacked Brahmin dominance and caste from below, educated girls and low castes, and founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) to seek truth and equality.

   Standard · 4 min · Full course
6. 3.3.9.6Arya Samaj: Dayananda Saraswati and the Shuddhi movement

   Dayananda Saraswati's Arya Samaj (1875) called Hindus back to the Vedas, attacked idolatry, caste by birth and child marriage, built schools, and used Shuddhi to bring converts back.

   Standard · 4 min · Full course
7. 3.3.9.7Ramakrishna Mission and Swami Vivekananda

   Ramakrishna's teaching of harmony of faiths became, through Vivekananda, a movement of service to the poor and a confident assertion of Indian spiritual thought.

   Standard · 4 min · Full course
8. 3.3.9.8Theosophical Society and Annie Besant

   The Theosophical Society, led in India by Annie Besant, praised Hindu philosophy at a time when educated Indians doubted it, built schools, and in Besant's hands became a base for the Home Rule movement.

   Standard · 4 min · Full course
9. 3.3.9.9Muslim reform movements: Aligarh, Deoband and Ahmadiyya

   After 1857 Muslim reform took two routes: Aligarh, which sought modern education and cooperation with the British, and Deoband, which protected Islamic learning and later joined the Congress.

   Standard · 5 min · Full course
10. 3.3.9.10Sikh and Parsi reform: Singh Sabha, the Akali movement and Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha

    Sikh reformers purified the faith through the Singh Sabhas (1873) and then won control of the gurdwaras in the Akali movement (1920–25), while Parsi reformers modernised their community through the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha (1851).

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
11. 3.3.9.11Caste movements in the south: Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali and Periyar

    In Kerala and Madras, lower-caste and non-Brahmin movements under Sree Narayana Guru, Ayyankali and Periyar fought for temple entry, roads, schools and a share of power.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
12. 3.3.9.12B.R. Ambedkar and the Depressed Classes movement

    Ambedkar turned the depressed classes' protest into a political movement, demanding equal rights, separate representation and, in the end, a break with caste Hinduism.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
13. 3.3.9.13Women's question and organisations: Pandita Ramabai to the All India Women's Conference

    From the 1880s Indian women began to speak and organise for themselves: they wrote against patriarchy, opened schools and homes, and by the 1920s formed national organisations that took up education, legal rights and the vote.

    Standard · 6 min · Full course

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