Great Reformers and Reform Movements
ICSE Class 8 · History & Civics · Chapter 9
What this chapter covers
- Need for socio-religious reforms
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- Dayanand Saraswati and Swami Vivekananda
- Jyotiba Phule and Annie Besant
- Kandukuri Veeresalingam and Sree Narayana Guru
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Singh Sabhas
- Impact of the reform movements
Key points
- In the nineteenth century, sati, child marriage, the ill-treatment of widows, untouchability, purdah and lack of education for girls were widespread.
- English education and the press spread ideas of reason and equality; reformers answered both cruel customs and British claims of superiority.
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj (1828) and helped end sati (1829).
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar won legal widow remarriage (1856) and spread education for girls.
- Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj (1875); Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission (1897).
- Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule opened a girls' school in Pune (1848); Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj (1873).
- Annie Besant led the Theosophical Society in India and founded the Central Hindu College.
- Kandukuri Veeresalingam led widow remarriage in the Telugu region; Sree Narayana Guru fought caste in Kerala.
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded a school at Aligarh (1875) that became the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College (1877); the Singh Sabhas reformed Sikh practice from 1873.
- The reformers improved the position of women and lower castes and prepared the ground for the national movement.
Questions answered
What was sati, and which law of 1829 dealt with it?
Sati was the custom of a widow burning herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The law of 1829, passed under Lord William Bentinck with the support of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, made it illegal.
Give two ideas of the Brahmo Samaj.
It worshipped one formless God and rejected idol worship and costly rituals. It also opposed caste divisions and supported the rights of women.
How did Vidyasagar use his learning to support widow remarriage?
He showed from the ancient Sanskrit texts that a widow was allowed to remarry, and petitioned the government, which passed the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act in 1856.
What did the Arya Samaj mean by "Go back to the Vedas"?
It meant that Hindus should follow the teachings of the Vedas and give up later customs such as idol worship, meaningless rituals and caste by birth, which had no support in them.
Why is Vivekananda's speech at Chicago in 1893 important?
It presented Hinduism as a religion of tolerance and respect for all faiths, won respect for Indian thought abroad and made Indians proud of their culture.
Name the society founded by Jyotiba Phule, and state its aim.
The Satyashodhak Samaj (1873). Its aim was to win equal rights for the lower castes and free them from the control of priests.
Mention two contributions of Annie Besant to India.
She founded the Central Hindu College at Benares and started a Home Rule League in 1916. She also became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
Why was Narayana Guru's act at Aruvippuram in 1888 so important?
He, a man from a so-called low caste, installed an idol of Shiva, which tradition allowed only Brahmins to do. It showed that God and worship belong to everyone.