Social and Religious Reforms
The
English educated intelligentsia felt the need for reforming the society before
involving the people in any political programmes. The reform movements of
nineteenth century are categorised as 1. Reformist movements such as the Brahmo
Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the Prarthana Samaj, founded by Dr Atmaram
Pandurang and the Aligarh Movement, represented by Syed Ahmad Khan; 2. Revivalist
movements such as the Arya Samaj, the Ramakrishna Mission and the Deoband
Movement. 3. There were social movements led by Jyotiba Phule in Pune, Narayana
Guru and Ayyankali in Kerala and Ramalinga Adigal, Vaikunda Swamigal and later
Iyothee Thassar in Tamilnadu. All these reformers and their contributions have
been dealt with comprehensively in the XI Std. text book.
The
reformers of nineteenth century responded to the challenge posed by Western
Enlightenment knowledge based on reason. Indian national consciousness emerged
as a result of the rethinking triggered by these reforms. The Brahmo Samaj was
founded by Ram Mohan Roy in 1828. Other socio-cultural organisations like the
Prarthana Samaj (1867), the Arya Samaj (1875) were founded subsequently. Roy’s
initiative was followed up by reformers like Keshav Chandra Sen and Iswar
Chandra Vidyasagar. Abolition of sati and child marriage and widow remarriage
became the main concerns for these reformers. The Aligarh movement played a
similar role among the Muslims. Slowly, organisations and associations of
political nature came up in different parts of British India to vent the
grievances of the people.
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