Movements

● Socio-Religious Reform Movements: General Features

● A General Survey of Socio- Cultural Reform Movements

Chapter 8

Socio-Religious Reform Movements: General Features

Factors Giving Rise to Desire for Reform

The dawn of the nineteenth century witnessed the birth of a new vision—a modern vision among some enlightened sections of the Indian society. This enlightened vision was to shape the course of events for decades to come and even beyond. This process of reawakening, sometimes, but not with full justification, defined as the ‘Renaissance’, did not always follow the intended line and gave rise to some undesirable by-products as well, which have become as much

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a part of daily existence in the whole of the Indian subcontinent as have the fruits of these reform movements.

Impact of British Rule Social Conditions Ripe for Reform Religious and Social Ills Depressing Position of Women The Caste Problem Opposition to Western Culture New Awareness among Enlightened Indians Middle Class Base The Intellectual Criteria Two Streams Direction of Social Reform Fight for Betterment of Position of Women Steps taken to Ameliorate Women’s Position Struggle Against Caste-Based Exploitation Factors that Helped to Mitigate Caste-based Discrimination Views Summary Views Debendranath Tagore and Brahmo Samaj Keshab Chandra Sen and the Brahmo Samaj Views Significance of the Brahmo Samaj Young Bengal Movement and Henry Vivian Derozio Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Balshastri Jambhekar Paramahansa Mandali Satyashodhak Samaj and Jyotiba or Jyotirao Phule Gopalhari Deshmukh ‘Lokahitawadi’Gopal Ganesh Agarkar The Servants of India Society Social Service League The Ramakrishna Movement and Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda Views View Dayananda Saraswati and Arya Samaj The ten guiding principles of the Arya Samaj are—Seva Sadan Dev Samaj Dharma Sabha Bharat Dharma Mahamandala Radhaswami Movement Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Movement Vokkaliga Sangha Justice Movement Self-Respect Movement Temple Entry Movement Indian Social Conference Wahabi/Walliullah Movement Titu Mir‘s Movement Faraizi Movement Ahmadiyya Movement Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the Aligarh Movement The Deoband School (Darul Uloom)Parsi Reform Movements Sikh Reform Movements The Theosophical Movement Significance of Reform Movements Positive Aspects Negative Aspects Summary