There were various reasons for this

• Several ideological influences in Britain, such as Evangelicalism, Utilitarianism and free trade thinking.
• For renewal of Charter of company
• Pro socio-religious reform thrust in contemporary England => because Progressive Whig Party came into power back in Britain. 
• Role of Christian missionaries was also noticeable.

But the Company’s government was still tentative about interfering for fear of adverse Indian reaction unless a section of the Indian society was prepared to support reform. Such a group was soon to emerge through the introduction of English education

• Status of woman became the main focus of the reforming activities of colonial state as well as educated Indians
• At that time, way in which  civilisations were ranked , position of woman was one of the important criteria & here Indians were increasingly under attack by western observers from missionaries to civilians . Indian civilisation was  despised because it assigned such a low status to women .
• Hence, Indian Intelligentsia responded to this civilisation critique by advocating & supporting reforms to improve status of woman in Indian society.
• But such reforms remained very restricted to only few women belonging to high class because women remained  recipient of male patronage & never became involved in these reformist projects as conscious subjects of their own history .

Upper Class Women vs Peasant Women

• Peasant woman were better compared to Upper caste woman during that time
• They didn’t practice Purdah System , Right to Remarry was there  & Sati was also not that widespread among Peasant class unlike Higher caste

a. Confined only to narrow social group

• Reformist spirit appealed only to a small elite group who were primarily the economic & cultural beneficiaries of the colonial  rule .

• Indeed the high caste  character of the early 19th century explains to a large extent the relative silence on caste question & untouchability which had to wait till Gandhi

b. Faith in benevolent nature of colonial rule

• They had great faith in the benevolent nature of colonial rule & infact existence of these classes depended on Colonial rule .
• Because of faith , they relied more on legislation for imposing reform from the above

c. Colonial Character of the reforms

• Dominant colonial assumption was religion was the basis for Indian society &  this religion was encoded in the scriptures . Social evils were thought to be result of the distortion of scriptures by self seeking people , in this case the cunning Brahmins who had the monopoly over this textual knowledge .
• Civilising mission of the colonial state thus seen to lie in giving back the natives the truth of their own little read & even less understood shastras .
• Whole debate over Sati was grounded in scriptures & its abolition was not based on fact that it is  morally & ethically wrong but when government was convinced that custom was not enjoyed by the scriptures .
• As the colonial rulers gave supreme importance to scriptures, the Indian reformers too, as well as their detractors, referred to ancient religious texts to argue their respective cases. The brutality or the irrationality of the custom, or the plight of women, whom the reform was intended for, were lesser concerns in a debate

Note : The intellectuals did not however attacked the social system as a whole; their attack centred only on the perversions and distortions that had crept into it. They did not advocate a sharp rupture in the existing social structure of the country. They did not stand for structural transformation; changes were sought within the framework of the very structure. They were advocates of reform and not revolution.

a. Female Infanticide

b. Sati Abolition

• Sati Abolition was the greatest achievement of Lord Bentinck .
• Sati is self immolation of wife on funeral pyre of dead husband. 
• According to social reformers , it has always been there much the exception rather than a rule in Hindu life & during Mughal period, it was practiced in Rajputs & Kingdom of Vijayanagara . But during British period, it revived on much larger scale & experienced highest rate of development.

Reasons for practice of Sati

• Earlier it was practiced by Upper Caste Hindus but during British rule, it started in peasant families of lower & intermediate  caste who achieved social mobility & then sought to legitimize their new status by imitating their caste superiors.
• Greed of the relatives –   Child marriage was widespread at that time & many a times bride who has not even lived with groom was forced to perform Sati in order to get property of that man.
• Sati was widespread in areas where Dayabhaga school of personal Hindu law was applicable  . Areas where ] Mitakshara school was applicable, it was less prevalent because Mitakshara school gives lesser rights to wife to inherit property

Campaign against it

• First started by Christian Missionaries
• But very strong campaign under Raja Rammohan Roy gave real momentum
• Finally  in 1829 , Governor General Bentinck prohibited Sati by Govt Regulation Act XVII. Pressure was also put by the Court of Directors because they wanted to present credible image of Company’s rule in India in the British Parliament before renewal of Charter pending in 1833.

Although it reduced very much after that but the idea & myth of Sati persisted in popular culture & was continually reaffirmed through epics, ballads & folktales . Case of surfaced even in 1987 ( Roop Kanwar Case of village Deorala in Rajasthan).

c. Widow Remarriage

d. Child Marriage

e. Thugee

f. Slavery

• Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’. It refers to the revival of Graeco-Roman (classical) learning in 15th-16th century after long winter of dark ages. In Indian context , intellectual revolution that took place in the nineteenth century in the fields of philosophy, literature, science, politics and social reforms is often known as Indian Renaissance. An important part of this Renaissance was reforming Hinduism from within on the basis of Post Enlightenment Rationalism.
• Very much like the Italian Renaissance, it was not a mass movement; but instead restricted to the upper classes. 
• Response of the educated Indian elite to civilisational critique was to reform  Hinduism from within,  in  the boundary  of post enlightenment rationalism . Such phenomenon is known as Bengal Renaissance
• Movement was started in Bengal by Raja Rammohan Roy who is often described as Father of Modern India .

Works done by Brahmo Samaj

• It propagated Monotheism (discarded the faith in divine Avataras) .
• It was against  idolatry and idol worship
• It attacked Casteism & Untouchability
• Any scripture could enjoy the status of ultimate authority transcending reason & conscience .
• It took no definite stand on the Doctrine of Karma & Transmigration of soul & left it to the individual Brahmos to believe either way.
• Worked for respectable position of the women in the society and for this
  1. Condemned Sati
  2. Favoured abolition of Purdah System
  3. Discouraged Child Marriages & Polygamy
  4. Crusaded for widow remarriage etc

• After Roy’s death in 1833, the leadership of the Brahmo movement was taken over by Debendranath Tagore who provided the movement with a better organisational structure and ideological consistency
• But the movement was actually taken out of the limited elite circles of Calcutta literati into the district towns of east Bengal by Bijoy Krishna Goswami and Keshub Chandra Sen in the 1860s.
  1. Goswami bridged the gap between Brahmoism and the popular religious tradition of Vaishnavism
  2. Sen’s specific focus was to reach larger numbers of non-Westernised Bengalis in the eastern Gangetic plains and to take the movement outside Bengal to other provinces of India

Schisms & other Developments

First schism in the Samaj in 1866

Basically, as Meredith Borthwick has shown, it was a schism between Keshav’s followers, for whom social progress and reform were more important than anything else, and the followers of Debendranath, who preferred to maintain their identification with Hindu society.This rift was, as it became clear soon, more about an identity crisis than about any fundamental difference of ideology: while some of the Brahmos wanted to define themselves as separate from the Hindus, others began to seek a position within the great tradition of Hinduism.

Second Schism in 1878

• A band of Keshub Chandra Sen followers left him
• On account of
  1. Marriage of Sen’s minor daughter to Prince of Cooch Bihar
  2. Also because he became devout follower of Ramakrishna and tried to bridge Brahmanism and Brahmo Samaj.
• They Started  Sadharan Brahmo Samaj and worked mainly for the social work & female education and famine relief . Consisted of Anand Mohan Bose & SN Shastri
• Thus Brahmo samaj also contributed prominent nationalists who later formed the backbone of the moderate phase of congress

In 1881, Sen formed his Naba Bidhan (New Dispensation) and started moving towards a new universalist religion. But by this time , successive ideological rifts and organisational divisions had weakened the Brahmo movement, confining it to a small elite group.

Limitations

• Limited to urban areas only
• Lot of internal rivalries

Achievements of Brahmo Samaj

• Abolition of Sati : Pressure was  put by the samajis & as a result Anti Sati legislation was passed  by Lord William Bentinck in 1829

• Worked for
  1. Abolition of the caste system and dowry system
  2. Emancipation of the women
  3. Improving educational system

• Brahmo Samaj ultimately failed and emerged as sectarian religious order after continuous schisms but nevertheless , its achievements were huge
  1. Rabindranath Tagore  admitted the failure of Samaj but also recognised the very important role played by Samaj of providing a shock to static Indian society and made it to think on rationalist lines.
  2. According to Bipin Chandra Pal , main impact of Samaj  was on Political Culture . It was from Brahma Samaj that idea of free thinking individual emerged who would be able to absorb democratic & western ideals.

• Derozio (Anglo-Indian Teacher at Hindu College) started Young Bengal Movement
• At age of 17, he started Young Bengal Movement.
• He was much more modern than Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
• He was a free thinker and a rationalist, helped promoting  a radical & critical outlook among his students who questioned authority, loved liberty and worshipped truth.
• Most radical at that time & was inspired by French Revolution
• First nationalist poet of Modern India
• Derozians, the followers of Derozio, were staunch rationalists; they measured everything on the yardstick of reason. He organised debates where ideas and social norms were freely debated. In 1828, he motivated them to form a literary and debating club called the Academic Association.
• In  1838, they formed ‘Society for the Acquisition of General Knowledge‘, where they discussed various aspects of Western science, and stood for a number of social reforms, such as the prohibition of caste taboos, child marriage,  polygamy etc.
• Young Bengal followed classical economics, and was composed of free traders who took inspiration from Jeremy Bentham, Adam Smith, and David Ricardo.
• They were passionate advocates of women’s rights and demanded education for them.
• He  was dismissed from the Hindu College in 1831 because of his radical views, and shortly afterwards he died of Cholera at the young age of 22.
• Derozians carried forward Rammohan’s tradition of educating the people in social, economic and political questions through newspapers, pamphlets and public associations. They carried on public agitation on public questions such as the revision of the Company’s Charter, the Freedom of the Press, better treatment for Indian labour in British colonies abroad, Trial by Jury, Protection of the Ryots from oppressive Zamindars, and Employment of Indians in the higher grades of government services. 

Why they didn’t succeed?

• Social conditions were not yet ripe for their ideas to flourish. The common people , who were not acquainted  with those ideologies, considered those young as arrogant. 
• Their total faith in the British and in English education, their rationalism and scientism derived from the west, set them apart from the masses of Indians and they never succeeded in organising any social movement in support of their proposed reforms.

• He was son of Dwarkanath Tagore , father of Rabindra Nath Tagore and a close friend of Raja Ram Mohan Roy .
• In 1839 , he started Tattvabodhini Sabha to disseminate the knowledge of the Upanishads
• Tattvabodhini Patrika was the principal organ of the Sabha to propagate the ideas .
• After death of Raja Rammohan Roy, he became the main organiser of Brahmo Samaj.
• In 1850 , he wrote  book called Brahmo Dharma where he
  • Emphasised on monotheism
  • Supported rationality and reject scriptural infallibility
  • Rejected Caste distinctions and idolatry
• Inspired his sons into reform movement ,most famous being Rabindranath Tagore
• He was part of Landholders Society and played important role in formation of British India Association

Introduction

• His original name was Ishwarachandra Bandopadhyay.
• He was born on 26 September 1820 in the Paschim Midnapore District of West Bengal to impoverished Brahmin parents.
• During the period from 1829 to 1841, Ishwar Chandra studied Vedanta, Vyakaran, Literature, Rhetorics, Smriti and Ethics in Sanskrit College. And in 1839 the title ‘Vidyasagar’ was conferred on him for his unusual talent.
• In 1841, at the age of twenty one years, Ishwar Chandra joined the Fort William College as a head of the Sanskrit department. In 1851 , Vidyasagar became a professor and later on the Principal of the Sanskrit College

Works toward Education

• He firmly believed that the regeneration of India was possible only through education.
• His work was aimed at extending the benefits of learning to common people. He stressed upon instruction through vernacular language.
• He also opened the doors of the colleges and other educational institutions to lower caste students, which was earlier reserved only for the Brahmins. For his immense generosity and kind-heartedness, people started addressing him as “Daya Sagar” (ocean of kindness).
• Having spent his early life in village Ishwar Chandra could realize the sorrowful condition of the womenfolk. He rightly believed that the emancipation of women was not possible as long as they remained ignorant. Ishwar Chandra, therefore, took upon himself the task of promoting the cause of female education.

Pioneer in the women upliftment

• Started girls schools in Bombay and Calcutta
• Encouraged women to study in the colleges
• He also collaborated with Drinkwater Bethune in establishing the Hindu Female School (at present known as Bethune School and College) in 1849.
• Took initiative in pushing the Widow Remarriage Act ,1856
• Instrumental in passing the Special Marriages Act of 1872.
• Wrote book for women emancipation titled BAHUVIVAH

Social Reforms

• He initiated the concept of widow remarriage and raised concern for the abolition of child-marriage and polygamy. He demonstrated that the system of polygamy  was not sanctioned by the ancient Hindu Shastras.
• He took the initiative in proposing and pushing The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act XV of 1856 in India during Governor-Generalship Lord Canning.

Bengali Connoisseur

• He brought a revolution in the education system of Bengal. In his book, “Barno-Porichoy” (Introduction to the letter), Vidyasagar refined the Bengali language and made it accessible to the common strata of the society.
• Vidyasagar invented Bengali prose through translation as well as own writings. 

• Paramhans Mandali’s transformation into Prarthana Samaj was the direct consequence of two visits of KC Sen to Bombay in 1864 & 1867
• It was founded by Atmaram  Pandurang in 1867 inspired from the Brahmo Samaj & the main spirit behind formation was MG Ranade who was ably assisted by KT. Telang & Bhandarkar 
• All leading members were Western educated Maratha Chitpavan Brahmins .
• It’s ideology was almost similar to Brahmo Samaj
  • Preached Monotheism
  • Denounced idolatry & priestly domination
  • Denounced caste distinctions
  • Favoured Widow Remarriage & raising age of marriage for both males & females . 
• Later they connected themselves with Maharshtrian Bhakti Tradition .
• Prarthana Samaj maintained distinction from Brahmo Movement of Bengal & the most notable distinction was they were moderate & more accommodative. They didn’t signal a sharp break & this gradualist approach made it more acceptable
• It’s branches were opened in Surat, Ahmedabad , Poona & reached even in South India where leader was Veerasalingum Pantulu
• It faced crisis in 1875 when  Swami Dayanand visited Gujarat & Maharashtra & offered possibilities of a more radical & self assertive religious program .  A group of Samaj members under SP Kelkar broke & felt attracted to Arya Samaji ideology of Dayanand .

Side Topic : MG Ranade

• He was co-founder of Prarthana Samaj
• He was a product of the Elphinstone College, Bombay & was Judge of the Bombay High Court during 1891- 1901.
• He held that the caste distinction was the main blot on Indian social system. 
• Under his guidance the Paramhans Sabha was reorganised in 1867 under the name Prarthana Samaj. 
• He was the founding member of Indian National Congress , member of Bombay Legislative Council and founding member of Indian Social Conference (1887)
• He was the editor of the Anglo Marathi paper – Induprakash

• He was from Satara , Maharashtra
• In 1873, Phule established the Satyashodhak Samaj, an organization for challenging Brahmanic supremacy.
• He promoted  women education along with his wife Savitribai Jyotirao Phule  by opening women schools.
• He also worked for widow remarriage and to prevent female infanticide, he opened homes for newborn infants.
• He wrote book titled  GULAMGIRI

Ideology of Satyashodak Samaj

• It was against  untouchability & caste system  
• It opposed idolatry and  Brahmin’s role as intermediary between person and god 
• Promotion of rational thinking
• It also rejected Vedic supremacy

• Started by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905
• Aims
  • Create a band of dedicated workers for nation building
  • Carry out activities for the upliftment of Indians 

• Sri Narayan Guru was social reformer born in 1854 in Kerala into Ezhava family

• He championed
  • bhakti for spiritual freedom
  • social equality
  • rejected casteism
  • Rejected divisiveness based on caste, religion etc
• He was a pioneer reformer who rejected the caste system and stressed on the equality of man. He gave the universal message, “One caste, one religion, one God”
• He was influenced by Vedanta.
• He supported Temple entry  movements.
• Sri Narayana Guru  condemned animal sacrifice
• He urged the Ezhavas to leave the toddy tapping profession and even to stop drinking liquor.

• Dr. Palpu, a devotee of Guru established the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam) in 1903 to further Narayana Guru’s message