Social and religious Reforms and Reformers in india

In December 1829, Sati was declared illegal. The Bengal Regulation of 1795 and 1804 declared infanticide illegal. In 1856, the Widow Remarriage Act was passed. The Act of 1870 made it compulsory for parents to register the birth of all babies.

Native Marriage Act of 1872: Popularly known as the Civil Marriage Act, it forbade the marriage of girls under 14 and boys under 18. The Age of Consent Act 1891: forbade the marriage of girls under the age of 12.

The Sharda Act of 1930: Provisions similar to those of the Native Marriage Act The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 1978 raised the age of marriage for girls from 15 to 18 years and for boys from 18 to 21 years. Act V of 1843 declared slavery illegal in India. The Penal Code of 1860 also declared trade in slavery illegal.

Rammohan Roy (1772-1883) and Brahmo Samaj

believed in monotheism and opposed idol worship. established the "Atmiya Sabha" in Calcutta (1815) in order to propagate monotheism and fight against the evil customs and practises of Hinduism. defended Hinduism and its Vedanta philosophy, as found in the Vedas and the Upanishads, from ignorant attacks by Christian missionaries. established the Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta (1828) in order to purify Hinduism and preach monotheism.

Brahmo Samaj after Rammohan Roy

Debendranath Tagore: Established the Tattvabodhini Sabha (1839) at Calcutta to propagate Rammohan Roy's ideas. He formally joined the Brahmo Samaj in 1843 and reorganised it. carried on the socio-religious reform work initiated by Rammohan Roy until 1866.

Keshab Chandra Sen: Joined the Samaj in 1857.

The development of differences between the older groups led by Debendranath and the younger groups led by Sen over the issues of social reforms (particularly the caste system) and of the relationship between Hinduism and Brahmanicism

Sen formed the Indian Reform Association (1870) and persuaded the British government to enact the Native Marriage Act of 1872, which legalised Brahmo marriages and fixed the minimum ages for the groom and the bride at 18 and 14, respectively.

The Second Schism in Brahmoism occurred in 1878, under Anandmohan Bose and others who formed the Sadhrana Brahmo Samaj.

Prathana Samaj

Founded in 1867 in Bombay by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang as an offshoot of the Brahmo Samaj It was later joined by M.G. Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar, who infused new strength into it. It was a reform movement within Hinduism and concentrated on social reforms like interdating, intermarriage, remarriage of widows, and uplift of women and depressed classes.

Dayanand Saraswati (1824–83) and Arya Samaj (1875)

started the "Shuddhi" movement for the reconversion of those Hindus who had once been willingly or forcibly converted to other religions.

considered the Vedas as eternal and infallible; opposed idolatry, ritual, and priesthood; attacked child marriages and the caste system based on birth; encouraged inter-caste marriages and widow remarriage; organised social services during natural calamities.

Differences arose within the Arya Samaj, resulting in a split in 1892 after Dayanand's death in 1883. The "Gurukula Section," led by Swami Sharaddhanand, advocated the adoption of the ancient system of Hindu education and established institutions for boys only. The other one, called the "College Section," led by Lajpat Rai and Hans Raj, stood for the spread of English education and established a number of Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) schools, both for girls and boys, the most important being the one at Lahore.

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1922)

He established a monastery at Baranagar (1887) after the death of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. attended the World Parliament of Religions (1893) in Chicago, USA. Again, she visited the USA in 1899 and also spoke at the Congress of the History of Religions in Paris (1900). declared Vedanta to be a fully rational system. condemned the caste system and the current Hindu emphasis on rituals, ceremonies, etc.

Ramakrishna Mission is a social service and charitable society, founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 at Belur, with the objective of carrying on humanitarian relief and social work through the establishment of schools, colleges, hospitals, orphanages, etc.

Theosophical Society

Founded in New York (USA) in 1875 by Blavatsky and Olcott to form a universal brotherhood of men and promote the study of ancient religions and philosophies, Arrival of Mrs. Annie Besant in India in 1883 and her succession to the presidency of the society after the death of Olcott She founded the Central Hindu School at Varanasi, which was later developed into the Banaras Hindu University by Madan Mohan Malaviya.

History of Modern India

Pt. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

struggling in favour of widow remarriage. In 1856, the British passed the Hindu Widow's Remarriage Act, which was also a result of his intensive campaigning against child marriage and polygamy. campaigned in favour of the education of women.

20 became the principal of Sanskrit College at Calcutta in 1851 and introduced the study of Western thought into it.

M.G. Ranade

UR, the socio-religious reformer of Maharashtra. One of the prominent members of the Prarthana Samaj source of inspiration for the foundation of the Deccan Education Society. started the Indian National Social Conference in 1887.

Jyotiba Phule, belonging to a low caste of Mali from Maharashtra, struggled against upper-caste dominance and Brahminical supremacy through his Satyashodak Samaj (1873). Ghulam-Giri wrote in 1872, exposing the conditions of the backward castes. He pioneered the widow remarriage movement in Maharashtra and worked for the education of women.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Initially an active member of the Deccan Education Society (founded by G.G. Agarkar in 1884 at Poona), she left it because of serious differences with Tilak. Founded the Servants of Indian Society in 1905 at Bombay with the aim of training Indians in different fields for the service of their motherland. He founded the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920 at Bombay, left the AITUC in 1929, and started the Indian Trade Union Federation.

Aligarh Movement started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817–98) for the social and educational advancement of Muslims in India. Sir Syed's journal Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq advocated a rational approach to religion. ACE Founded in 1875, a modern school at Aligarh soon developed into the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (1877) and later into a full-fledged university. HO And in 1866, he founded the Muhammadan Educational Conference to spread liberal ideas among the Muslims.

Deoband Movement

began with the foundation of the Dar ul Ulum at Deoband in 1866 by Maulana Husain Ahmad and others.

Its aim was to improve the spiritual and moral conditions of the Muslims. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was also a member of this movement.

Ahrar Movement

Founded in 1910 under Maulana Muhammad Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasan Imam, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, and Mazhar-ul-Haq It was against the loyalist politics of the Aligarh movement and advocated active participation in the nationalist movement.

Ahmadiyya Movement (Qadiani Movement)

Founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1837–1908) at Qadiani in Punjab, Its aim was reforming Islam and defending it against the onslaughts of Christian missionaries and the Arya Samajists.

Muhammad Iqbal (1873–1938)

highlighted the need for a reconstruction of Muslim religious thought in light of the problems posed by the modern world. Through his poetry, he influenced the contemporary Muslim religious attitude. Parsi Reform Movement leader N Naoroji Furdunji edited in the 1840s the Fam-l-Famshid, a journal aimed at defending the cause of Zoroastrianism.

He also published Tarikha Farthost (1850), where he convincingly argued that Zoroaster predated Jesus Christ. In 1851, a small group of educated Parsis from Bombay founded the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha (Parsis' Reform Society) with funds provided by K.N. Kama.

Furdunji Naoroji became its president, and S.S. Bengali became the secretary. In 1850, S.S. Bengali began publishing a monthly journal, Jagat Mitra (Friend of the World), to further the acceptance of his ideas among literate Parsis. In 1851, he started another journal, Jagat Premi (Lover of the World), to spread knowledge of ancient Iran.

Miscellaneous Reformers

In western India, Prof. D.K. Karve took up the cause of widow remarriage, and in Madras, Veerasalingam Pantulu made herculean efforts in the same direction. Prof. Karve opened a widow's home in Poona in 1899. He crowned his work by setting up the Indian Women's University in Bombay in 1916.

B.M. Malbari started a crusade against child marriage.

The All India Women's Conference was organised in 1936.

The Ahmadiyya movement was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad-al-Qadian in Gurdaspur, Punjab. He claimed to be an incarnation of Lord Krishna. Radhaswami Satsang was founded by Tulsi Ram or Shiv Dayal Sahib. Deva Samaj was founded by Shiva Narain Agnihotri.

Resistance to British Rule

The year 1857 marked the completion of 100 years of British rule in India. It was a period of mounting distress and unhappiness for India. Dalhousie's regime marked the high watermark of the expansion of British dominion in India and the history of modern India.