Faith, Reason, and Reform: The Common Threads of 19th Century Religious Movements

Socio-Religious Reform Movements: General Features

The dawn of the nineteenth century witnessed the birth of a new modern vision among enlightened sections of Indian society. This process of reawakening — sometimes called the 'Renaissance', though not with full justification — was driven by a collision between a stagnant, decadent Indian society and the dynamic forces of Western modernity introduced by colonial rule.

Unlike earlier invaders who had been absorbed by Indian culture or had interacted with it positively, British conquest was qualitatively different. It arrived at a moment when Europe had been transformed by science and the scientific outlook, while India presented a picture of social stagnation, superstition, and internal decay. The colonisers did not become part of the land — they remained alien rulers.

The socio-cultural regeneration of 19th-century India was occasioned by the colonial presence, but not created by it. The internal social ills of Indian society made reform urgent in their own right.

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Religious and Social Ills

• Hinduism had become deeply enmeshed in magic, superstition, and idolatry.
• Priests exercised an overwhelming and unhealthy control over the minds of people, reinforced by their monopoly of scriptural knowledge.
• Polytheism and idolatry strengthened priestly domination.

Degraded Position of Women

The position of women was the most distressing aspect of Indian society:

• Female infanticide: Killing female infants was common among upper-class Bengalis and Rajputs who saw girls as an economic burden.
• Child marriage: Widespread across communities.
• Polygamy: Prevalent among Hindus and Muslims; under Kulinism in Bengal, even old men married very young girls.
• Sati: High-caste widows were expected to immolate themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres. Raja Rammohan Roy described it as 'murder according to every shastra'.
• Purdah: Confined women to domestic seclusion.
• Denial of education: Literacy for women was almost non-existent.
• Unequal inheritance: Hindu women had no right to inherit property or to end an undesirable marriage. Muslim women could inherit but only half as much as men.
• No widow remarriage: Especially among higher castes, widowhood meant lifelong misery.

The Caste Problem

• Caste created a hierarchical system of segregation based on ritual status.
• At the bottom: the 'untouchables' (scheduled castes/dalits), subjected to severe, humiliating disabilities.
• Caste governed education, occupation, marriage, dining, access to water, entry into temples, and even residence.
• It splintered society into countless groups, checking social mobility, thwarting individual initiative, and — critically — obstructing the growth of united national feeling and democracy.
• Caste consciousness, including untouchability, existed in attenuated forms among Muslims, Christians and Sikhs as well.

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1. Presence of colonial rule: British administration, whatever its intentions, introduced forces that undermined caste rigidities — equality before law, open educational system, mobility of population, private property in land, modern commerce and industry.
2. Social ills themselves: The degradation was so severe that enlightened Indians recognised reform as a necessity.
3. Spread of Western education and awareness: Exposure to Enlightenment ideas — rationalism, liberty, equality — convinced educated Indians that their social ills needed to be confronted.
4. Consciousness of defeat: Awareness that a vast civilisation had been colonised by a handful of foreigners produced both shame and a determination to reform the internal weaknesses that had enabled this.
5. Rising nationalism and democracy in the late 19th century found expression in movements to reform and democratise social institutions.
6. New economic forces: Modern commerce, industry, and urbanisation created new economic avenues independent of caste.

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Social Base: The Middle Class

The reform movements were rooted in the newly emerging middle class and educated intellectuals — both traditionally educated and Western-educated. However, there was a significant contrast:

• Ideals were broadly middle-class, drawn from awareness of Western developments.
• Social base was predominantly non-middle-class.

Importantly, this intelligentsia did NOT grow from trade or industry (firmly under British control). Their roots lay in government service, law, education, journalism, and medicine — often combined with some connection to land through intermediate tenures.

The 19th-century intelligentsia modelled itself on the European middle class that had powered transformations through the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, and democratic revolution.

Ideological Bases: Three Pillars

1. Rationalism

• Social relevance was judged by reason, not tradition.
• Raja Rammohan Roy believed in the principle of causality and demonstrability as the sole criterion of truth.
• Akshay Kumar Dutt declared: 'Rationalism is our only preceptor' — all natural and social phenomena could be analysed by purely mechanical processes. He even brought medical opinion to support arguments against child marriage.
• Swami Vivekananda held that the same method of investigation applied to sciences must be the basis on which religion justifies itself.
• In the Brahmo Samaj, the infallibility of the Vedas was repudiated.
• The Aligarh Movement emphasised reconciling Islamic teachings with the modern age; Syed Ahmed Khan went so far as to say religious tenets were not immutable.

2. Religious Universalism

• Reformers looked beyond sectarian boundaries to universal principles common to all religions.
• Raja Rammohan Roy considered different religions as national embodiments of universal theism. He defended monotheism (Vedas) and unitarianism (Christianity) while attacking polytheism (Hinduism) and trinitarianism (Christianity).
• Syed Ahmed Khan argued that all prophets had the same 'din' (faith) and that every country had different prophets for the same universal truth.

3. Humanism

• A new humanitarian morality: humanity can progress, and moral values are those that favour human progress.
• Emphasis on the individual's right to interpret scriptures in the light of human reason and welfare.
• General attack on priestly domination of religious practices.
• Reformers called on people to work for betterment in the real world rather than strive for salvation after death.

Key Insight: Religion as Entry Point for Social Reform

Because religion was the dominant ideology of the times, and because almost all social ills derived their legitimacy from religion, it was impossible to challenge social practices without engaging religion first. As reform movements matured, they gradually dissociated from religion and adopted a secular approach.

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Both streams appealed, to varying degrees, to the lost purity of their religion. The difference was in the degree to which each relied on tradition versus reason.

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All social reform movements shared a broadly two-point agenda:

1. Betterment of the status of women in society.
2. Removal of disabilities arising out of untouchability (caste-based exploitation).

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The Problem

• Women were considered inferior adjuncts to men, with no identity of their own.
• Suppressed by: purdah, early marriage, ban on widow remarriage, sati, illiteracy.
• Hindu women: no right to inherit property or end an undesirable marriage.
• Muslim women: could inherit but only half as much as men; no equality in divorce.
• Polygamy prevalent among both Hindus and Muslims.
• Their glorification as wives and mothers was the only social recognition they received.

Key Legislative Milestones (Chronological)

Key Reformers for Women's Cause

• Raja Rammohan Roy: Led the campaign against sati (1829 Regulation).
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–91): Principal of Sanskrit College, Calcutta; cited Vedic texts to prove widow remarriage was sanctioned; associated with 35 girls' schools in Bengal; primarily responsible for Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856.
• B.M. Malabari: Parsi reformer; relentless efforts led to Age of Consent Act, 1891; also advocated widow remarriage.
• Karsondas Mulji: Started Satya Prakash (Gujarati, 1852) for widow remarriage.
• D.K. Karve: Married a widow in 1893; Secretary of Widow Remarriage Association; opened widows' home in Poona; founded Indian Women's University (1916).
• Veerasalingam Pantulu: Promoted widow remarriage in Madras.
• Vishnu Shastri Pandit: Founded the Widow Remarriage Association in the 1850s.
• Justice Govind Mahadeo Ranade, K. Natarajan, Narmad: Also advocated widow remarriage.
• Jagannath Shankar Seth and Bhau Daji: Active promoters of girls' schools in Maharashtra.

Women's Education Milestones

• 1819: Calcutta Female Juvenile Society — set up by Christian missionaries; the first such institution.
• 1849: Bethune School — founded by J.E.D. Bethune (president, Council of Education, Calcutta); first fruit of the powerful women's education movement of the 1840s–50s.
• 1854: Charles Wood's Despatch on Education — laid great stress on female education.
• 1880s: Dufferin Hospitals — began providing health facilities to women.
• 1916: Indian Women's University — founded by D.K. Karve; Lady Hardinge Medical College also opened in Delhi in 1916.

Women's Organisations

Pandita Ramabai Saraswati founded the Arya Mahila Samaj to serve the cause of women. She pleaded for reform of the educational syllabus before the English Education Commission, which was referred to Queen Victoria — this resulted in medical education for women at Lady Dufferin College.

Sarojini Naidu: Became president of the Indian National Congress (1925) and later Governor of United Provinces (1947–49).

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The Nature of Caste Oppression

The later-Vedic four-fold varna system had splintered into numerous sub-castes over centuries. Caste determined: education, property ownership, occupation, dining companions, marriage partners, water sources, temple entry, dress, food, and place of residence. The worst-hit were the untouchables (dalits/scheduled castes) — subjected to humiliating, inhuman disabilities based on the principle of inequality by birth.

Factors That Helped Undermine Caste

1. British colonial administration (unintentionally):

• Private property in land and free land sale disrupted caste-vocation linkages.
• Modern commerce, industry, and urbanisation created new economic avenues.
• Introduction of equality before law in a uniformly applied legal system dealt a severe blow to social and legal inequalities.
• Judicial functions of caste panchayats were taken away.
• Administrative services opened to all castes; the new education system was entirely secular.

2. Social reform movements:

• Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Theosophists, Social Conference worked to spread education among untouchables and remove temple and water restrictions.
• Most defended the chaturvarna system while attacking untouchability specifically.
• The Arya Samaj aimed to reconstruct Hindu society on the original four-fold division while upholding the right of even the lowest castes to study the scriptures.

3. National movement:

• Took inspiration from liberty and equality principles.
• Mass participation in demonstrations, satyagrahas, and meetings diluted (in a limited manner) caste divisions.
• Congress provincial governments after 1937 introduced free education for Harijans in some provinces.
• Rulers of Travancore, Indore, and Devas opened all state temples by proclamation.

4. Gandhi's campaign:

• Founded the All India Harijan Sangh (1932).
• Argued Shastras did not sanction untouchability; even if they did, truth cannot be confined within a book.
• Believed: 'Untouchability question is one of life and death for Hinduism. If untouchability lives, Hinduism perishes, and even India perishes.'

5. Lower caste movements themselves:

6. Constitution of free India:

• Abolishes untouchability; any disability arising from untouchability declared unlawful.
• Forbids restriction on access to wells, tanks, bathing ghats, hotels, cinemas, clubs.
• Directive Principle: State shall strive for a social order in which justice — social, economic, and political — shall inform all institutions of national life.

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• Initially: Narrow social base — limited to upper and middle classes and upper castes, trying to balance modernised views with existing social conditions.
• Later: Reform movements penetrated the lower strata of society and adopted a secular approach, dissociating from religion.
• Early instruments: Social Conference, Servants of India Society, Christian missionaries; enlightened individuals — Jyotiba Phule, Gopalhari Deshmukh, K.T. Telang, B.M. Malabari, D.K. Karve, Sri Narayana Guru, E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, B.R. Ambedkar.
• With onset of 20th century: The national movement provided leadership and organisation for social reform.
• Media used: Indian languages, novels, dramas, poetry, short stories, the press, and from the 1930s, cinema.

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• GS Paper I — Social reform and nationalism: These reform movements are the social precondition of the nationalist movement. Without clearing the ground of caste and gender oppression, modern democratic nationalism was impossible.
• Rationalism as a tool: The use of reason rather than scriptural authority by reformers (Rammohan Roy, Akshay Kumar Dutt, Vivekananda) connects to the history of ideas — relevant to questions on Indian intellectual history.
• Two streams (reformist vs revivalist): The distinction is important for questions on Brahmo Samaj vs Arya Samaj, or Aligarh Movement vs Deoband Movement — all reducible to this binary.
• Legislative timeline for women: This is a direct UPSC data point — dates of sati abolition, widow remarriage, age of consent, Sarda Act, and Child Marriage Restraint Act are frequently tested.
• Ambedkar's Mahad Satyagraha (1927): Connects to questions on dalit assertion, constitutional history, and the annihilation of caste.
• AIWC (1927): Founded by Margaret Cousins — the only major women's organisation founded by a non-Indian woman — first with an egalitarian approach. Frequently tested in conjunction with Bharat Stree Mahamandal (1910, Sarla Devi Chaudhurani).
• Sri Narayana Guru's slogan ↔ Sahadaran Ayyapan's modification: A linked factual pair frequently tested.

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1. Sati Regulation year and scope: The regulation banning sati was Regulation XVII of 1829 of the Bengal Code — applicable initially to Bengal Presidency alone, extended in modified form to Madras and Bombay in 1830 (not 1829). Do not say it applied to all of India immediately.
2. Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act 1856 vs Age of Consent Act 1891: Two different Acts — Vidyasagar is associated with the 1856 Act (widow remarriage); B.M. Malabari is associated with the 1891 Act (age of consent/child marriage). These two reformers are frequently swapped.
3. Sarda Act ages: Boys — 18, Girls — 14. Not 16/14 or 18/16. A very commonly confused detail.
4. Age of Consent Act (1891) minimum age: Set the minimum marriage age for girls at 12 (not 14 or 16).
5. Bharat Stree Mahamandal vs AIWC: Bharat Stree Mahamandal (1910) was founded by Sarla Devi Chaudhurani in Allahabad — first major organisation SET UP BY A WOMAN. The AIWC (1927) was founded by Margaret Cousins (an Irishwoman, not Indian) — first with an egalitarian approach. Their founding dates and founders are frequently swapped.
6. AIWC first conference venue: Ferguson College, Pune — not Bombay or Allahabad.
7. Bethune School year: 1849, not 1819 (that was the Calcutta Female Juvenile Society, set up by Christian missionaries).
8. D.K. Karve's Indian Women's University: Founded in — not 1914 or 1920.

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• Ideological pillars: Rationalism + Religious Universalism + Humanism
• Social base: Emerging middle class (government service, law, education, journalism, medicine — NOT trade/industry)
• Two streams: Reformist (Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Aligarh) vs Revivalist (Arya Samaj, Deoband)
• Two-point social agenda: Women's upliftment + Anti-untouchability
• Sati abolished: 1829 (Bengal), 1830 (Madras + Bombay) — Rammohan Roy
• Female infanticide illegal: Bengal Regulations 1795 and 1804
• Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act: 1856 — Vidyasagar (cited Vedic texts)
• Vidyasagar: 35 girls' schools in Bengal
• Age of Consent Act 1891: minimum age 12 — B.M. Malabari
• Sarda Act 1930: boys 18, girls 14
• Child Marriage Restraint Amendment 1978: girls 18, boys 21
• Bethune School: 1849 — J.E.D. Bethune
• Calcutta Female Juvenile Society: 1819 — Christian missionaries
• Indian Women's University: 1916 — D.K. Karve
• Bharat Stree Mahamandal: 1910 — Sarla Devi Chaudhurani — Allahabad — first major women's org by a woman
• Ladies Social Conference: 1904 — Ramabai Ranade — Bombay
• AIWC: 1927 — Margaret Cousins — first egalitarian — Ferguson College, Pune
• Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: Arya Mahila Samaj founder
• Ambedkar: Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha 1924 — 'Educate, Agitate, Organise'
• Mahad Satyagraha: March 1927 (Chawdar tank); December 1927 (burnt Manusmriti)
• Ambedkar: All India Harijan Sangh — NO (that was Gandhi, 1932); All India Scheduled Castes Federation — YES (Ambedkar)
• Sri Narayana Guru: 'One religion, one caste, one God' → Sahadaran Ayyapan changed to 'No religion, no caste, no God'
• Self-Respect Movement: E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (1920s, South India)
• Jyotiba Phule: low-caste Mali family; anti-Brahmin movement; education of lower castes and girls
• Non-Brahmin movement: encouraged by Maharaja of Kolhapur