Socio Religious Reform Movements- Before 1857

Socio Religious Reform Movements

The colonization of India by the British during the 18^th and 19^th centuries exposed some serious weaknesses and drawbacks of Indian social institutions. Consequently, several individual Socio Religious Reform movements sought to bring about changes in social and religious practices to reform and revitalize society.

They were impressed by modern science, western ideas of reason, humanism, equality, and liberty, and felt that modern Western thought must be imbibed for society’s regeneration.

Factors responsible for socio-religious reform Movements:

Various factors resulted in the need for socio-religious reforms. These are the following:

1. Impact of the British rule

• British rule brought new ideas, rationalism, and a scientific outlook. It created conditions for intellectual growth.
• The spread of Western education strongly impacted a section of Indian society.
• European Orientalists like William Jones, Max Muller, and James Princep put India’s glorious past into the limelight through their work.
• Proselytizing efforts by Christian missionaries encouraged the Indian intelligentsia to reform their society and religion.

2. Social evils prevalent in nineteenth-century India:

Indian society was facing various issues that were against humanism and human dignity. Conditions of women degraded, and caste and untouchability flourished, which affected society badly.

(I) Condition of women

• Inferior status: In a very strict patriarchal set-up, women were considered inferior to men. They were completely dependent on men, and several restrictions were imposed on them.
• Sati: Under this custom, a Hindu woman, upon the death of her husband, would sacrifice herself by sitting atop her deceased husband’s funeral pyre.
• Female infanticide: Intentional killing of a baby girl or female fetus due to the preference for a male child.
• Widow remarriage was not permitted. Women were deprived of education. They were considered ideal wives and daughters and played only domestic roles rather than public ones.
• They had no property rights. Hindu scripture has mentioned the property rights for only married women, which is only Stridhan.
• Other social evils such as child marriage, Polygamy, and Purdah (veil) were prevalent in society.

(II) Caste system and untouchability

• The four-fold division of society in the later Vedic period was further subdivided into castes and sub-castes due to racial admixture, geographical expansion, and diversification of vocations. It gradually got associated with racial purity and defined the status of different castes.
• Caste became the determinant of social and economic aspects of a person’s life, such as profession, education, ownership of property, marriage, etc.
• A section of society called Dalit or ‘untouchables’ was excluded from the four varnas and was not allowed to visit temples use public wells, etc.

(III) Priestly dominance and superstitions

• The priests who attained the highest position in society had become very exploitative by conducting elaborate rituals.
• Though rare, human sacrifices for religious and occult practices were also performed.

Socio-religious reform movements Before 1857

Various socio-religious reform movements were initiated to deal with the issues mentioned above in society. Enlightened men and women have taken various steps, like forming organizations to deal with socio-religious issues.

(I) Raja Rammohan Rai (1772-1833) and Brahmo Samaj

• He is considered the father of the Indian Renaissance.
• He tried to incorporate both Western and Eastern philosophies in his works.
• He was a great scholar of Persian, Sanskrit, and several other European languages. He wrote Tufat-ul-Muwahiddin in Persian.
• He was a strong proponent of English education, including Western physical and social sciences.
• In 1825, Rajaram Mohan Roy established Vedanta College, where courses in both Indian and Western learning were offered.

Efforts with respect to the upliftment of women:

1. 1. His efforts against the practice of Sati were rewarded by passing the Bengal sati regulation in 1829, which banned the practice of Sati. In this endeavor, he appealed to the masses’ reason and compassions and showed that even ancient Hindu texts did not authorize this practice. He even called it “murder according to every Shastra.”
   2. He advocated against Polygamy and supported girl education and property rights for women.

Religious Views and Reforms

1. 1. He believed in monotheism and opined that all the principal ancient texts of the Hindus preached monotheism or worship of one God.
   2. In his book Precepts of Jesus, he criticized ritualism in Christianity.

In 1814, he established the Atmiya Sabha to propagate Vedanta’s monotheistic ideals and campaign against idolatry, caste rigidities, and meaningless rituals.