Parsi Reform Movements Sikh Reform Movements Young Bengal Movement Prarthana Samaj Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Satyashodak Samaj and Jyotiba Phule
Parsi Reform Movements
- The Parsi Religious Reform Association was founded at Bombay by Furdunji Naoroji and S.S. Bengalee in 1851.
- They advocated the spread of women’s education.
- They also wanted to reform their marriage customs.
- Naoroji published a monthly journal, Jagat Mithra.
- The momentum gathered through these reform movements and went a long way in uplifting the entire community.
- Dadabai Naoroji and Naoroji Furdoonji were the pioneers of religious and social reform among the Parsi community.
- For the progress of women and the spread of modern education they, together, started a journal Rast Goftar ("The Truth Teller")
- Another important social reformer in the Parsi community was Sorabji Bengali.
Sikh Reform Movements
- Among the Sikhs, the movement for reform was started by the Singh Sabhas aimed at reforming the Sikh society
- They were started at Amristar and Lahore. The two Sabhas merged together and played an important role in the spread of education.
- The Khalsa College was founded at Amristar in 1892 and many schools were also started.
- In the early decades of the 20th century, the Gurudwaras were under the control of priests and Mahants.
- They treated them as their private property.
- Both Shiromany Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee and the Akali Dal party aimed at handing over the control of the Gurudwaras to the representative of the Sikh community.
- The leaders of the freedom movement supported them.
- In 1925 a law was passed which gave the right of managing the Gurudwaras to the Shiromany Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee
Young Bengal Movement
- Henry Vivian Derozio was the founder of the Young Bengal Movement.
- He was born in Calcutta in 1809 and taught in the Hindu College, Calcutta.
- He died of cholera in 1833 at the age of 24
- His followers were known as the Derozians and their movement the Young Bengal Movement.
- They attacked old traditions and decadent customs.
- They also advocated women’s rights and their education.
- They founded associations and organized debates against idol worship, casteism and superstitions.
Prarthana Samaj
- The Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 in Bombay by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang.
- It was an side branch of Brahmo Samaj. It was a reform movement within Hinduism and concentrated on social reforms like inter-dining, inter-marriage, widow remarriage and uplift of women and depressed classes.
- Justice M.G. Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar joined it in 1870 and infused new strength to it.
- Justice Ranade promoted the Deccan Education Society.
Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- Pandit Ishwar Chandra was a great educator, humanist and social reformer.
- He rose to be the Head Pandit of the Bengali Department of Fort William College.
- He firmly believed that reform in Indian society could only come about through education.
- Vidyasagar founded many schools for girls. He helped J.D. Bethune to establish the Bethune School.
- He founded the Metropolitan Institution in Calcutta.
- He protested against child marriage and favored widow remarriage which was legalised by the Widow Remarriage Act (1856).
- It was due to his great support for the spread of education that he was given the title of Vidyasagar.
Satyashodak Samaj and Jyotiba Phule
- Jyotiba Phule belonged to a low caste family in Maharashtra.
- He waged a life-long struggle against upper caste domination and Brahmanical supremacy.
- In 1873 he founded the Satyashodak Samaj to fight against the caste system.
- He pioneered the widow remarriage movement in Maharashtra and worked for the education for women.
- Jyotiba Phule and his wife established the first girls’ school at Poona in 1851.
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- Quick Facts
- Atmiya Sabha formed in 1815 was the earlier form of Brahmo Samaj.
Maharishi Debendranath Tagore (father of Rabindranath Tagore), who renamed it as Brahmo Samaj.
In 1817, Raja Rammohan Roy founded the Hindu College (now Presidency College, Calcutta) along with David Hare
Rammohan Roy started the first Bengali weekly Samvad Kaumudi and edited a Persian weekly Mirat-ul-akhbar.
The first Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) School was founded in 1886 at Lahore.
Effects of The Reform Movements
The reform movements brought about remarkable changes in the society and religion.
- Initially the great changes affected a small group of people, but gradually these ideas spread among many sections of the people
- The reform movements strengthened the Hindu and Muslim religions and made efforts to remove social evils among them. The educated Indians started to think reasonably,
- The reform movements helped in the revival of the past glory. They also helped in making up of a modern India
- It led to the progress of literature in different regional languages
- The caste system began to lose its hold on the society,
- There was a significant achievement in the field of freedom of women. Some legal measures were introduced to raise their status
- To travel abroad, which was considered as a sin before, was accepted
- The reform movements created the rise of a middle class which consisted of the teachers, the doctors, the lawyers, the scientists, and the journalists who helped in the progress of India in different fields and
- The reform movements also contributed for the growth of Indian Nationalism as the reform activities united the people all over India and created a feeling of oneness to raise their status,
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