When People Revolt

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Introduction

Early Years

Before two hundred years, society was totally different.
Most children were married off at an early age.
Both Hindu and Muslim men could marry more than one wife.
'Sati Pratha' (a widow burn herself on the funeral pyre of their husbands) was prevailing in Hindu society.
Women’s rights to property were also restricted.
Most women had virtually no access to education.
In most regions, people were divided along lines of caste.
→ Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered themselves as “upper castes”.
→ Traders and moneylenders, referred to as Vaishyas were placed after them.
→ Peasants and artisans such as weavers and potters referred to as Shudras were at the lowest rung.
Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of these norms and perceptions slowly changed.

Working Towards Change

From the early nineteenth century, after the development of new forms of communication, debates and discussions about social customs and practices started.
These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers and reform groups.
→ Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833) was one such reformer who founded Brahmo Sabha in Calcutta.
Reformers were those people who felt that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with.
He was interested in spreading Western education and bringing about freedom and equality for women.
He wrote about how women were confined to domestic work, not allowed to move out and become educated.

Changing the lives of widows

Rammohun Roy campaigned against sati.
In 1829, sati was banned.
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar suggested from ancient texts that widows could remarry, leading to the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856.
Veerasalingam Pantulu in Madras and Swami Dayanand Saraswati of Arya Samaj also supported widow remarriage.

Girls begin going to school

Reformers like Vidyasagar and others set up schools for girls.
People feared it would affect girls’ domestic duties and morality.
Most girls were taught at home by liberal fathers or husbands.
Arya Samaj in Punjab and Jyotirao Phule in Maharashtra established girls’ schools.
Muslim girls learned the Koran at home, taught by women teachers.
→ Mumtaz Ali reinterpreted Koran verses to support women’s education.

Women write about women

Begums of Bhopal founded a primary school for girls in Aligarh.
Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain opened schools in Patna and Calcutta.
By the 1880s, women entered universities, became doctors and teachers.
Tarabai Shinde wrote Stripurushtulna.
Pandita Ramabai wrote about upper-caste women’s lives and founded a widows’ home.
Women wrote books, edited magazines, founded schools, and formed political pressure groups for suffrage and health rights.

Caste and Social Reform

Some reformers criticized caste inequalities.
Rammohun Roy translated a Buddhist text critical of caste.
Prarthana Samaj and Paramhans Mandali worked for caste equality.
Christian missionaries set up schools for tribal and lower-caste children.
Urban labor demand drew lower castes away from oppressive village systems.

Demands for equality and justice

Movements by Non-Brahman castes started in the late 19th century.
Satnami movement by Ghasidas in Central India for leatherworkers.
Matua sect by Haridas Thakur in eastern Bengal for Chandala cultivators.
Shri Narayana Guru of Kerala called for unity and equality.

Gulamgiri

Jyotirao Phule challenged Brahman supremacy.
Claimed Aryans were foreigners who oppressed natives.
Founded Satyashodhak Samaj for caste equality.
Wrote Gulamgiri in 1873, dedicated to American anti-slavery fighters.

Who could enter temples?

Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family and faced caste discrimination.
In 1927, started temple entry movements.
Led three such movements between 1927 and 1935 to challenge caste prejudice.

The Non-Brahman movement

Non-Brahman castes who gained education and wealth began organizing.
Claimed Brahmans were descendants of Aryan invaders who suppressed Dravidians.
E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar) founded Self Respect Movement.
Criticized Hindu scriptures and their use for caste and gender domination.
Orthodox Hindu society responded by forming Sanatan Dharma Sabhas and other associations.
Caste debates and struggles continue even today.

MCQs

1. Name the class that belonged to the lower most strata in the social ladder of ancient India

(a) Brahmans

(b) Kshatriyas

(d) Shudras

► (d) Shudras

2. Who was the important reformer who reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue for women's education

(a) Mumtaz Ali

(b) Annie Besant

(d) Sarojini Naidu

► (a) Mumtaz Ali

3. Name the uppermost caste in the social ladder that existed in ancient India

(a) Kshatriyas

(b) Shudras

(d) Brahmans

► (d) Brahmans

4. His support for women upliftment made him pass the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. Who is being referred to here?

(a) Keshab Chandra Sen

(b) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

(d) Dadabai Naoroji

► (c) Ishwara Chandra Vidyasagar

5. Monotheism means

(a) Belief in many gods

(b) Widow remarriage

(d) Child Marriage

► (c) Belief in one god

6. Name the personality, from the list given below, who secretly learned to read and write in the flickering light of candles at night.

(a) Rashsundari Debi

(b) Rama Bai Ranade

(d) Sarojini Naidu

► (a) Rashsundari Debi

7. Name the person who founded the Theosophical Society in India.

(a) Madame Blavatsky and Col

(b) Sarojini Naidu

(d) Raja Ram Mohan Roy

► (a) Madame Blavatsky and Col

8. Name the social reformer who worked for the upliftment of women in Maharashtra

(a) Jyotirao Phule

(b) Rama Bai Ranade

(d) Annie Besant

► (a) Jyotirao Phule

9. Among the following, which class belonged to the traders and money lenders

(a) Brahmans

(b) Shudras

(d) None of these

► (c) Vaishyas

10. Few important points with respect to Raja Ram Mohan Roy are given below. Select the one that is not true.

(a) Through Brahmo Samaj he attempted to reform Hindu society

(b) Rajaram Mohan Roy encouraged the study of local languages and wanted to abolish Western education.

(d) Rabindranath Tagore called him as the Father of Indian Renaissance

► (b) Rajaram Mohan Roy encouraged the study of local languages and wanted to abolish Western education.

11. Name the important women personality who wrote and published a book Stripurushtulna, criticising the social differences between men and women

(a) Sarojini Naidu

(b) Mumtaz Ali

(d) Rama Bai Ranade

► (c) Tarabai Shinde

12. Where did the first primary school for girls start at?

(a) Kanpur

(b) Maharashtra

(d) Bhopal

► (b) Maharashtra

13. Followers of Brahmo Samaj started another one in Bombay in 1867. Name this Samaj that fought against social customs like child marriage and remarriage for widows.

(a) Ramakrishna Mission

(b) Theosophical Society

(d) Arya Samaj

► (c) Prarthana Samaj

14. The Mohammedan Anglo Oriental College was founded by

(a) Muhammad Ali

(b) Shaukat Ali

(d) Deoband School

► (c) Sayyid Ahmed Khan

15. Who translated an old Buddhist text that was critical of caste.

(a) Pandita Ramabai

(b) Tarabai Shinde

(d) Jyotirao Phule

► (c) Raj Ram Mohan Roy

16. Under which Governor General did Raja Ram Mohan Roy initiative to ban Sati?

(a) Lord Mountbatten

(b) William Bentick

(d) Lord Ripon

► (b) William Bentick

17. With respect to ancient India, a list of statements related to the untouchables are given below. Point out the one that is not true.

(a) They were not allowed to draw water from the wells used by the upper castes

(b) They were not considered as inferior human beings

(d) They were not allowed to enter temples

► (b) They were not considered as inferior human beings

18. In which language women of the aristocratic Muslim households of North India learnt to read and write the Koran?

(a) Persian

(b) Hindi

(d) English

► (c) Arabic