CHAPTER 6

SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORMS AND THE NATIONAL AWAKENING

Arora IAS Short Notes

India Struggle for Independence(1857-1947) Notes

Revision Notes or Short Notes

Part-1

Social and Religious Reforms in 19th Century India

Context (1828):

• Raja Rammohan Roy laments the state of Hinduism:
  • Caste divisions hinder national identity.
  • Religious rituals impede progress.
• Need for reform driven by:
  • British conquest and exposure to Western ideas.
  • Introspection about Indian institutions.

Social Base of Reform:

• Newly emerging middle class.
• Traditionally and Western-educated intellectuals.

Colonial Impact:

• Occasioned reform, but didn’t create it.

Spirit of Reform:

• Spread across India:
  • Raja Rammohan Roy (Bengal) – Brahmo Samaj (1828)
  • Paramahansa Mandali, Prarthana Samaj (Maharashtra)
  • Arya Samaj (Punjab, North India)
  • Regional and caste movements (Kayasth Sabha, Sarin Sabha)
  • Backward castes movements (Satya Sodhak Samaj, Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Sabha)
  • Muslims (Ahmadiya, Aligarh movements)
  • Sikhs (Singh Sabha)
  • Parsees (Rehnumai Mazdeyasan Sabha)

Commonalities:

• Regional and religious expressions of a shared consciousness.
• Not just religious – focused on social improvement.
• Humanist in inspiration.

Focus on Worldly Existence:

• Otherworldliness and salvation not a priority.
• Raja Rammohan Roy – possible afterlife for utility, not belief.
• Akshay Kumar Dutt, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar – agnostics.
• Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Vivekananda – secular use of religion for material well-being.

Religion and Social Practices:

• Deeply intertwined (e.g., Hindu daily life governed by religious rules).
• Religious reform – a prerequisite for social reform.

 

Part-2

19th Century Indian Society: A Web of Social Evils

Religious Condition

• Dominated by Superstition:Max Weber observed Hinduism becoming a mix of “magic, animism and superstition.”
• Distorted Practices:Animal sacrifice and physical torture replaced worship.
• Powerful Priesthood:Priests held immense, unhealthy influence over people.
• Idolatry and Polytheism:These practices strengthened the priests’ position.
• Deceptive Religious Systems:Raja Ram Mohan Roy criticized priests’ monopoly on scripture and rituals, calling it misleading.
• Blind Obedience:People obeyed not only God but also the whims of priests.

Social Condition

• Plight of Women:

  • Unwelcome at birth.
  • Married young, often against their will.
  • Expected to commit Sati upon widowhood (called “murder” by Ram Mohan Roy).
  • Shunned as widows, facing lifelong misery.

• Caste System:

  • Enforced segregation based on ritual status.
  • Hindered social mobility and individual initiative.
  • Perpetuated social divisions.
  • Untouchability: The worst humiliation, violating human dignity.

Other Social Evils:

• Numerous practices based on restrictions, blind faith, hierarchy, blind acceptance of authority, and blind belief in fate.

Reform Movements’ Response

• Goal:Eradicate these evils and pave the way for modernization.
• Idealized Past:Reformers believed the 19th century situation was a distortion of a once-ideal past.
• Selective Use of Past:They used the idealized past as a tool, not for blind adherence to tradition.
• Scriptural Basis for Reform:Reformers like Ram Mohan Roy, Vidyasagar, and Dayanand Saraswati used religious texts to challenge social evils.
• Not a Revival:Mahadev Govind Ranade, a leading reformer, argued the past cannot be revived but reformed for a new future.

 

Part-3

Intellectual Basis of Reform Movements in 19th Century India

 

Rationalism and Religious Universalism

• Social Relevance Through Reason:Reform movements judged social practices based on rational critique.
• Early Leaders:Raja Rammohan Roy and Akshay Kumar Dutt were leading figures in rationalism.

• Roy’s Views:

  • Rejected supernatural explanations.
  • Advocated for causality linking the entire universe.
  • Demanded demonstrability as the only truth criterion.

• Dutt’s Perspective:

  • Claimed reason as the sole preceptor for understanding the world.
  • Believed all phenomena (natural and social) could be analyzed mechanically.

Impact on Reform:

• Brahmo Samaj:Rejected the infallibility of Vedas based on reason.
• Aligarh Movement:Reconciled Islamic teachings with modern needs through reason.
• Emphasis on Social Utility:Reforms aimed to replace faith with reason for social good.

Secular Approach to Social Practices

• Akshay Kumar Dutt’s Example:

  • Advocated widow remarriage, opposed polygamy and child marriage.
  • Based arguments on societal effects, not religious sanction.
  • Cited medical opinions against child marriage.
  • Held advanced views on marriage: courtship, partnership, equality, and legal/customary divorce.

Maharashtra: A Different Approach

• Gopal Hari Deshmukh (Lokahitavadi):

  • Religion irrelevant for social reform.
  • Advocated changing religion if it hindered progress (man-made and potentially outdated).

Religious Universalism in Reform

• Raja Rammohan Roy:

  • Viewed different religions as expressions of universal theism.
  • Envisioned Brahmo Samaj as a universalist church.
  • Defended core principles across religions (monotheism in Vedas and Christianity).
  • Attacked polytheism (Hinduism) and Trinitarianism (Christianity).

Shared Ideas of Universality

• Syed Ahmed Khan:

• Believed all prophets shared the same “din” (faith).

• Keshub Chandra Sen:

  • All established religions hold truth.
  • Universalist perspective led to social implications: recognizing fellow countrymen as brothers, dismantling caste.

Universalism’s Influence

• Political and Social Outlook:Shaped by universalism until religious particularism rose later in the 19th century.

• Examples:

  • Raja Rammohan Roy: Considered Muslim lawyers more honest than Hindu counterparts.
  • Vidyasagar: Did not discriminate against Muslims in his social work.
  • Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay: Judged superiority based on “dharma” (righteousness), not religion.

Clarifying “Muslim Yoke”

• Not a religious but a political term describing pre-colonial rule’s arbitrary nature.
• Emphasis on “tyranny,” not “Muslim.”
• Syed Ahmed Khan: Pre-colonial rule was neither Hindu nor Muslim, but based on oppression.

Limits of Universalism

• Religious identity still influenced social outlook.
• Challenge of Colonial Culture: Universalism gave way to religious particularism, not secularism.

 

Part-4

Cultural and Ideological Struggle in 19th Century India

 

Context:

• 19th century: Struggle against traditional and colonial cultures.

Focus of Reform Movements:

• Religious Sphere:

  • Opposed idolatry, polytheism, and priest control.
  • Sought to simplify rituals for a more personal experience.
  • Translated religious texts and encouraged individual interpretation (breaking the hold of religious dogmas).

• Caste System:

  • Recognized as a social evil hindering progress and democracy.
  • Leaders like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ranade, Dayanand, and Vivekananda criticized it.
    • Dayanand offered a utopian view of the four varnas based on virtue.
  • Lower caste movements led by Jyotiba Phule and Narayana Guru strongly opposed the system.
    • Narayana Guru’s call: “One religion, one caste, one God for mankind” (later changed to “no religion, no caste, no God”).

Women’s Upliftment:

• Crucial for social progress and a reformed society.
• Education and improved status for women were essential.

Modernization vs. Westernization:

• Reformers aimed to modernize, not blindly adopt Western culture.

Challenges of Reform:

• Breaking traditions caused emotional and social tension.

• Examples:

  • First widow marriage in Bengal faced public scrutiny.
  • First inter-caste marriage in Maharashtra required police protection.
  • Rukmabhai’s defiance of child marriage created a stir.
  • Leaders like Ranade and Telang struggled between tradition and modernity.

Outcome:

• Reforms, though limited, paved the way for a new India and its citizens.
• This struggle led to the emergence of “new men” and a “new society.”

 

Part-5

Response to Colonial Culture in 19th Century India

 

Context:

• Colonial rule challenged traditional Indian culture.

Response:

• Defense of Indigenous Culture:

  • Cultivation of vernacular languages.
  • Creation of an alternate education system.
  • Revival of Indian art, literature, dress, and food.
  • Defense of religion and traditional medicine.
  • Reassessment of pre-colonial technology and knowledge.

• Examples:

  • Raja Rammohan Roy’s debates with Christian missionaries.
  • Tattvabodhini Sabha’s activities.
  • Memorial on education signed by 70,000 in Madras.
• Resentment against the Lex Loci Act (1845-1850).

Later Movements:

• More assertive defense against colonial cultural dominance.
• Not necessarily retrogressive, aimed at reviving cultural identity.
• Examples (names not mentioned in excerpt).

Challenges:

• Some movements became sectarian and obscurantist.
• Lack of integration between cultural and political struggles.

Significance:

• Cultural-ideological struggle formed national consciousness.
• Intellectual and cultural break for a new vision of India.
• Resistance against colonial cultural hegemony.
• Led to a “modern cultural situation” with “new men, new homes, and a new society.”

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