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1. 8 REFORM MOVEMENT
INTRODUCTION
The impact of western culture on India led to a great awakening in
India. Many social reformers came forward and advocated changes in
society and reforms in Hindu religion. The leaders of the reform
movements toured different regions of the country to spread their
views. Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra vidyasagar, swami
Dayanand, Ramakrishna Parma hansa, swami Vivekananda were among
the reformers who tried to reform Hindu society. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
was the chief reformer among the Muslims.

2. There was reform movement amongst Sikhs. Veeresalingam and shri
Narayanan guru led reform movement in the south. These reform
movements began in the second half of the 19th century and played a major
role in modernising India.
Reform Movements in the North
Raja Rammohan Roy (1774-1833)
He was born in an orthodox family of Bengal. He
Was well-versed in both oriental and western
Learning and made him a deep thinker. He wanted
Traditional Indian teaching to co-exist with English language and western
education so he founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828 in order to purify and

3. Reform Hinduism. He published a Bengali translation of the Vedas and principles of
the Upanishads to give the people knowledge of their religion. He fought against
the evil customs of sati and it was due to its efforts that Lord William Bentinck
banned sati in 1829.He was a strong champion of women’s rights and was against
child marriage and polygamy. He advocated widow remarriage and demanded that
women must be given the right to inheritance. He was a supporter of western
education and started his own school in Calcutta. He helped David hare in opening
the Hindu college at Calcutta, which later became the presidency College. In 1825
he founded the Vedanta College for the teaching of western as well as Indian
learning. He is considered a pioneer among social reformers of India. A number of
books and journals published by him spread his ideas.
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-1891)
He was a great advocate of women’s rights and worked all his life for improving
their status in India. He was greatly interested in the education of women. He
founded the Hindu Balika Vidyalaya at Calcutta. He led a campaign against child

4. Marriage and polygamy. It was due to his efforts that the government passed the
“Widow Remarriage Act” in 1856,drafted by Lord Dalhousie. Ishwar Chandra
Vidyasagar encouraged lower castes to join his college. He introduced the western
thought in his college. Vidyasagar made remarkable contribution to education of
girls and the upliftment of women.
Henry Vivian Derozio (1809-1831)
He was an Anglo-Indian who started the “Young Bengal Movement”. In 1826, he
joined the Hindu College of Calcutta, as a teacher. He was 17 years old. He
supported women’s education and believed in the ideals of French revolution –
liberty, Fraternity and equality. His followers were called Derozians . The Derozians
opposed caste system and other social evils. Derozio died at the young age of 22.

5. Ramakrishna Param Hansa (1834-1886)
Ramakrishna, a priest and a saint, was a socio-religious reformer. He taught respect for all
religions. He believed all religions were just different paths to reach one goal
- Salvation or realisation of God. His holy function, simplicity and wisdom inspired all
those who gathered around him. He believed that service to humanity was the best
form of worship. His most famous disciple was Narendra Nath Dutta, who la
ter on became famous as Swami Vivekananda.
Belur Math- headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission.

6. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)
Swami Vivekananda was a great disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He had
studied Indian and Western philosophies. He was deeply disturbed by the poverty
and the suffering of the people, he wanted to reawaken the people of India. He
wanted them to be fearless, self-confident and self-reliant. So he carried the
message of his guru not only in India, but all over the world. He represented
Hinduism at the “World Parliament of Religions” held at Chicago in 1893 and made
a great impact. He revived the image of spiritual India. He founded the
Ramakrishna mission in 1896. it preached unity and oneness of all religions.
Vivekananda asked people to cultivate the sprit of liberty, equality and free
thinking.

7. Annie Besant
The Theosophical Society was founded in 1882 in New
York by Madam Blavatsky and colonel H. S. Olcott. They
Came to India later and set up its headquarters at Adyar,
Near Madras in 1886. the Theosophical Society under
Annie Besant wanted to revive the ancient religion of Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.,
and also preached the brotherhood of man. She translated the Bhagwat Gita into
English. She preached against child marriage, caste hatred, polygamy, etc. she was
in favour of national system of education. She laid the foundation of the Central
Hindu High School at Banaras which grew into the Banaras Hindu University in later
years.
Jyotiba Phule
Jyotiba Phule founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873. Jyotiba and his wife
started a school a school at Poona. He was against the domination of Brahmins and

8. Worked for the upliftment of lower classes. He was given the name of “Mahatma”
for his good work.
Mahadev Govind Ranade
Mahadev Govind Rande and Ramakrishna Bhandarkar founded the Prarthna Samaj
in 1867 in Bombay. They advocated the worship of supreme god and Condemned
the rigidity of the caste system and domination of the priests. It opposed child
marriage, practice of untouchability, and advocated widow remarriage. The samaj
opened night classes to educate labourers, and orphanages and schools for girls.

9. Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883)
Religious Reformers: Swami Dayanand was one of the greatest
Religious and social reformers of the 19th century. He founded
The Arya Samaj in 1875. he opposed idol worship, caste system
and religious creeds. He believed the Vedas contain the truth of
Science as well as truth of religion. He started a movement known as Shuddhi in
which he reconverted those Hindus who had been converted to other religions. He
preached directly to the masses in simple language which they could understand.
Social Reformers: Swami Dayanand preached social equality. He opened the doors
of the Arya Samaj to the Shudras and other depressed classes. He opposed child
marriage and the Purdah System.
Educational Reforms: Swami Dayanand was in favour of study of Sanskrit and Vedas
along with English education and western sciences. The Arya Samaj opened many
schools and colleges for boys and girls. The influence of Dayanand and the Arya
Samaj in promotion of education, upliftment of women, weakening of the caste

10. System is greater than any other reform movement in India.
Reform movements in the South.
Chembai Sridharan Naidu
Inspired by the Brahma Samaj, the Veda samaj was established in Madras in 1864.
Sridharan was the leader of the Samaj and he translated a number of Brahma
Samaj into Tamil and Telugu . The Samaj worked for abolition of caste system,
education of girls and advocated widow remarriage.
Kandukuri Veeresalingam
He was another great leader of the reform movement in South India. Born in an
Orthodox Brahmin family of Andhra. In 1876 he started a telugu journal and in
1878 founded the Raja Mundhari Social Reform Association. His greatest
contribution was the upliftment of girls’ education and widow-remarriage.

11. Narayana Guru
He is famous for the work he did for the emancipation of
oppressed sections of society in Kerala. He was born in
1854 in an Ezhava family. He studied Sanskrit and worked
for social reform . He also laid the foundations of many
temples in Kerala without the images of Gods and
Goddesses. Narayana Guru founded the Shri Narayana
Dharma Paripalana Yogam in 1903. It worked for social
reforms and demanded that there should be open entry
into temples, which the priestly class did not allow. He
regarded all distinctions based on religions and caste as
meaningless. He advocated the principle of “One God
and One Religion”.

12. Reform Movements Among Muslims
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898)
When the rest of the society was going through the major and important changes,
the Muslim community was still under the clutches of backwardness. Sir Syed
Ahmad Khan was the man who did his best to reform the Muslim society and
change their social and political outlook.
Social Reforms: he wanted to raise the status of women in society. He advocated
the removal of Purdah and spread education
Among women. He also condemned the customs
Of polygamy and easy divorce.
Educational Reforms: He advised the Muslims to
Receive English education and learn western
Sciences and culture and adopt modern ways and

13. Ideas. He founded the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875. He
had many western books translated into Urdu for the benefit of the Muslims. His
reforms were basically meant for the upliftment of the Muslim community
Reform Movement among the Sikhs
The Singh Sabhas at Lahore and
Amritsar in 1870, were first to start the
Movement for reforms among the Sikhs
It was with their help that the Khalsa
College of Amritsar was founded in 1892 and many schools were also opened.
They promoted the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, promotion of education among
the Sikhs and production of religious literature. The main aim of the Akalis was to
purify the management of the gurudwaras or Sikh shrines. A law was passed in
1925 and the right of managing Gurudwaras was given to the Shriomani
Gurudwara Prabandhkar Committee (SGPC).

14. Reforms among the Parsees
Dadabhai Naroji (1825-1917), U.B. Wacha and Naroji Furdoonji were important
reformers of the Parsees community. They started journal Rast Guftar for spread of
education among girls. They worked for the upliftment of
Women, were able to reform marriage customs and helped
Parsees to get rid of orthodox outlook. The Parsees became
One of the most modern and advanced communities in India
The Growth of the Press
The development of the press in the 19th century helped reformers in great way.
Newspapers and Journals spread the idea of reformers and stilled the feeling of
patriotism among the Masses. Some of the newspapers which played an important
role were- The Hindu, The Kesari, The Indian Express etc. all these newspapers
along with many others helped in spread of knowledge and information.

15. Other Important Reformers
David Hare (1775-1842)
David Hare was a Scottish watchmaker and philanthropist
Who worked in Bengal. He founded many prestigious
Educational institution in Kolkata, such as Hindu school. He also set up the Calcutta
School Society which started many Schools to teach in English and Bengali. He died
of cholera in 1842.
William Carey (1761-1834)
William Carey was a British Missionary, an educationist, a translator and an activist.
He also opened the first university in India offering degrees. He lived and worked in
Serampore. He translated the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Arabic, Hindi and
Sanskrit. Serampore college became the first degree-granting institution in Asia. In
1820, Carey founded the Agri Horticultural Society in India at Alipore, Kolkata for

16. Study and research in Botany.
Hermann Mogling (1811-1881)
He was a German missionary who was involved in the
missionary work in Mangalore. He mastered the Kannada
Language and contributed significantly to Kannada literature. He founded the first
Kannada newspaper, Mangalooru Samachara (Mangalore news). He produced 36
literary works, considered to be ground-breaking and exceptional Kannada
literature. He also set up many churches and schools in Karnataka.
Conclusion
The Indian Renaissance of the 19th century brought many radical changes in the
society. Many steps were initiated for the emancipation and empowerment of
women. Discriminatory practices such as Sati and female infanticide were

17. Abolished. Many other social evils and superstitions practices were stopped. Girls
were provided access to modern education. Inequalities based or caste were
reduced. Western education was made available to the Indians.