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 1819In 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.

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.