B.A. FIRST YEAR NATIONALISM IN INDIA UNIT 2 Chapter- 3 SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN THE 19TH CENTURY NOTES

Major Religious And Social Problems Of 19th Century

Caste System And Untouchability

India Is The Largest Democracy In The World. In 21st Century India Is
Constantly On The Path Of Progress Fighting Against Religious Superstitious
And Social Evils India Is Divided Into Several Caste And Religion Traditionally
Indian Society Was Divided Into Four Groups Brahmans Kshatriya Vaishya
And Shudras. This Varna System Take The Discriminatory In The Society.
Sudras considered as dalit who are at the bottom of the society. Due to the
caste system untouchability was prevalent in the Indian society it roots lies
deep into our social and religious system. the untouchables were not allowed
to touch public think drink water from the water sources of the village or cities
were not even allowed to visit temple nor were they allowed to marry anyone
from any other caste group
The Number Of Delete One More Than 20% Of The Entire Hindu Population.
Untouchables Were The Victim Of Discrimination And Many Other Forms Of Restrictions

SATI PRATHA

Sati Vada Custom In Some Hindu Communities Where Are A Widow Set Into
The Funeral Fire Along With Her Husband's Body. The Word Is Derived From
The Goddess Sati Also Known As Dakshayani.
Sati Sacrifice Her Life In The Fire Of Yagya As Her Father Raja Daksha Insulted
Her Husband Lord Shiva. Raja Ram Mohan Roy Term As The Practice Of Sati As
A Gross Injustice Done To Women Calling It Shameful For The Entire Hindu Society
The Result Of His Efforts Was That The Government Declared
The Practice Of Sati A Punishable Offence And Made A Rule To
Punish Those Who Were Encouraged Or Engaged In Such
Practices In 1829 By Passing A Law Against The Practice Of Sati
The Burning Of Widows Alive As Was Stopped First This Was
Implemented In Bengal And Then In1830 It Was Also Implemented In Madras And Bombay

INFANTICIDE

This Cruel Practice Was Prevalent In North India The Girls
Were Killed In The Womb And In Their Childhood As They
Were Often Considered As An Economic Burden In The
Society Or Due To The Other Reasons Both The Progressive
Indian And The Britishers Sharply Criticized
This Practice Ultimately Infant Killing Was Currently Is
Considered As A Crime Equivalent To Simple Murder.
Infanticide Was Declared An Offence Equivalent To
Homicide Under 21st Act Of Bengal In 1975 In 1870
Some More Laws Were Enacted To Stop This Practice

WIDOW REMARRIAGE

This Is An Extremely Prominent Issue For The Brahma Samaj
To Address And It Has Done Commendable Work To Make It Popular
But The Most Important Contribution To This Field
Was That Of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He Was The Teacher Of Sanskrit College At Calcutta.
He Argued Based On Sanskrit And Vedic References That The
Vedas Allow Widow Remarriage. He Sent An Application
Containing About 1,000 Signatures To The Government His
Efforts Eventually Led To The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act In
1856 According To Which Widow Marriage Was Considered
Valid And Children Born From Such Marriages Were Declared Valid.

CHILD MARRIAGE

Social Reformers Also Strongly Opposed Child Marriage Which
Resulted The Native Marriage Act In 1872 Under The Act The
Marriage Of Below The Age Of 14 Years Old Girl Was
Forbidden. But This Law Was Not Very Sufficient. The Sharda
Act Was Passed In 1938 Due To The Relentless Efforts Harvilas Sharda.
By This Act The Marriage Of A Boy Below 18 Years Of Age And A
Girl Under 14 Years Of Age Was Declared Illegal.
After Independence The Government Of India Enacted The
Prevention Of Child Marriage Act In 1978 By Which The Age Of
Marriage Of Per Child Was Increased From 18 To 21 Years. Also
There Is A Provision Of Punishment Against Those Who Married A Child.

WOMEN EDUCATION

In The 19th Century There Was A Misconception In The Society That
Hindu Scriptures Do Not Allow Female Education And On Receiving
Education The God Will Punisher With Legalism
The First Attempt In This Direction Was Made By Christian Missionaries
And Established Calcutta Tarun Stree Sabha In 1819
In 1849 The Calcutta Education Council President J E D
Bethun Founded The Bethun School It Was The First Strong
Step Initiative Towards Female Education.
But In The Field Of Women Education, IswarChand Vidyasagar
Contribution Is Great He Was Associated With At Least 35
Girl's Schools In Bengal And His Work In The Field Of
Women Education Will Always Be Remembered.
In 1914 The Female Medical Service Did Our Command Able
Job By Training Women In The Field Of Nursing And Midwifery
Indian Women University Started By Professor D.K. Karve Was
Considered As A Milestone In The Direction Of Human Education In 1916
In The Same Year Lady Hardinge Medical College Was Established In Delhi.

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Raja Rammohan Roy

Ram Mohan Roy Was A Man Of The Modern Era.
He Struggled For Reform Against Social Evils In The Society
Tagore Said Ram Mohan Roy Was The Only Person In His Time
In The Whole World Of Man To Realise Completely The
Significant Of The Modern Age.
Roy Also Established Religious Society Amitya Sabha The Idea Of
Nationalism And The Idea Prescribed By The Vedas. Amitya Sabha
Was Later Called The Brahmo Samajwhich Aimed At Uplifting The
Dignity Of Human Beings Reforming Social Evils Such As Sati And
Idolatry. Roy Was Also Opposed The Caste System In Indian
Society. According To Him it Has Destroyed The Unity Of The Country.

Vivekananda

Vivekananda Main Goal Was To Strength The Youth Of India By
Removing Both Physical And Mental Weakness
For Them Strength Is Life And Weakness Is Death
Vivekananda Was Against Religious Orthodox And Superstitious.
His Speech And Lectures Use To Argue Vigorously Against Social Evils.
In 1893 Swami Vivekananda At The World Religious
Conference In Chicago Broadcast The Real Culture
And Philosophy Of India To The World
His Lecture And Speeches Proved That Hinduism Is No Less Than Anyone

Dayanand Saraswati

Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya samaj in 1875.
Their main goal was to proper get and reform Hindu
religion and to re-establish Vedic religion in true forms.
Dayanand Saraswati Believed In The Teaching Of The Vedas And
Gave A Slogan “Vedon Ki Aur Loto”
Due To This Spread Of Idolatry And Other Superstitious They Have
Opposed The Worship Of Hinduism. He Was Very Aggressively Opposed
To All Social Evils Like Caste System Child Marriage Widow Marriage
Women Education Inter Caste Marriage Untouchability Etc

Jyotiba Phule

His First And Most Important Work Was For The Education Of
Women And His First Follower Was His Wife . In 1848
Jyotiba Opened A School For Girls To Create a Equal
Society For Their Fantasize And Aspiration. It Was The First Girls School In The Country.
His Wife Savitribai Used To Work There As A Teacher. Jyotiba Phule
Was Against Child Marriage As Well As A Supporter Of Widow Remarriage
He Was The First Person Who Gave The Untouchables The Name Dalit.
He Raised The Satyashodhak Samaj On 24 September 1873 To Uplift The
Lower Caste Is And Untouchables.

DR. BHIMRAV AMBEDKAR

Dr Ambedkar's Main Objective Was To Fight For The Rights Of
The Lower Castes And The Untouchables And Root Out This Evil From The Society.
Under The Section 1919 Of The Government Of India At That
Time Ambedkar Demanded Separate Election For The Lower
Castes And Untouchables.
He Also Demanded Reservation For Such Communities.
To Generate Socio Political Awareness Among The Untouchables On 20 July
1924 The Bahishkrit Hitkarni Sabha Was Established In Bombay.
The Constitution Of India In 1950 Give The Benefits Of Reservation To
Scheduled Castes And Scheduled Tribes. Dr Ambedkar Biggest Contribution
In The Making Of Modern India He Was The Chairman Of Of The Drafting Committee.

Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi Was Determined To Eradicate Untouchability From Society.
His Ideas Were Based On Humanism And Logic. In 1932 He
Founded The All India Harijan Association.
Gandhi Was A Strong Opponent Of Big Industry And Mechanization
He Believed That The System Of Industrialism Is The Name Of A
System Based On The Exploitation Of Man By Man .
Gandhi Talk About Setting Up A Small Scale Industries Handicrafts
Handloom Industries And All Such Other Industries Related To
Workers Which Can Provide A Maximum Number Of People.