Socio Religious Reforms in the 19th Century | History for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

 Page 1


Socio-Religious 
Reforms 
in the 19
th
Century
Page 2


Socio-Religious 
Reforms 
in the 19
th
Century
Causes of Social 
Awakening
The Impact of British rule
• The British conquest and the consequent dissemination of colonial 
culture and ideology led to an inevitable introspection about the 
strengths and weaknesses of indigenous culture and institutions.
The effort of the European Orientalists
• They put India’s glorious past into limelight. This includes work done by 
Sir William Jones, James Princep, Charles Wilkins, Max Muller etc. 
• Further, many Indian scholars such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta 
Deb, Rajendralal Mitra, MG Ranade etc. also contributed in 
reinterpreting India’s past.
Highly creative literature
• Marked by fusion of old and new
The detrimental effect of the Christian missionaries
• They held that propaganda of Christianity in India would serve Britain’s 
imperial interests; and would secure the empire. The Indians took it as 
an onslaught on their religion and social customs. They wanted to 
reform it so that evil social practices could be removed from society.
Page 3


Socio-Religious 
Reforms 
in the 19
th
Century
Causes of Social 
Awakening
The Impact of British rule
• The British conquest and the consequent dissemination of colonial 
culture and ideology led to an inevitable introspection about the 
strengths and weaknesses of indigenous culture and institutions.
The effort of the European Orientalists
• They put India’s glorious past into limelight. This includes work done by 
Sir William Jones, James Princep, Charles Wilkins, Max Muller etc. 
• Further, many Indian scholars such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta 
Deb, Rajendralal Mitra, MG Ranade etc. also contributed in 
reinterpreting India’s past.
Highly creative literature
• Marked by fusion of old and new
The detrimental effect of the Christian missionaries
• They held that propaganda of Christianity in India would serve Britain’s 
imperial interests; and would secure the empire. The Indians took it as 
an onslaught on their religion and social customs. They wanted to 
reform it so that evil social practices could be removed from society.
Social Conditions 
that facilitated the 
Reforms
Religious and Social Ills
Indian society in the nineteenth century was caught in a vicious web created by 
religious superstitions and social obscurantism. Hinduism had become steeped in 
magic and superstition. Idolatry and polytheism helped to reinforce their position, 
and their monopoly of scriptural knowledge imparted a deceptive character to all 
religious systems. 
Depressing Position of Women
Attempts to kill female infants at birth were not unusual. Child marriage was another 
bane of society. The practice of polygamy prevailed and in Bengal, under Kulinism, 
even old men took very young girls as wives. Several women hardly had a married life 
worth the name, yet (at least among the higher castes) when their husbands died 
they were expected to commit sati. If they escaped this social coercion, they were 
condemned to a life of misery and humiliation. 
The Caste Problem
This entailed a system of segregation, hierarchically ordained on the basis of ritual 
status. At the bottom of the ladder came the untouchables or scheduled castes, as 
they came to be called later. The untouchables suffered from numerous and severe 
disabilities and restrictions. The system splintered people into numerous groups. 
Caste consciousness, particularly with regard to marriage, prevailed also among 
Muslims, Christians and Sikhs who also practised untouchability, though in a less 
virulent form. Under a rigid caste system, social mobility was checked, social 
divisions grew, and individual initiative was thwarted. Above all, the humiliation of 
untouchability—so much a part of the caste system—militated against human dignity. 
Page 4


Socio-Religious 
Reforms 
in the 19
th
Century
Causes of Social 
Awakening
The Impact of British rule
• The British conquest and the consequent dissemination of colonial 
culture and ideology led to an inevitable introspection about the 
strengths and weaknesses of indigenous culture and institutions.
The effort of the European Orientalists
• They put India’s glorious past into limelight. This includes work done by 
Sir William Jones, James Princep, Charles Wilkins, Max Muller etc. 
• Further, many Indian scholars such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta 
Deb, Rajendralal Mitra, MG Ranade etc. also contributed in 
reinterpreting India’s past.
Highly creative literature
• Marked by fusion of old and new
The detrimental effect of the Christian missionaries
• They held that propaganda of Christianity in India would serve Britain’s 
imperial interests; and would secure the empire. The Indians took it as 
an onslaught on their religion and social customs. They wanted to 
reform it so that evil social practices could be removed from society.
Social Conditions 
that facilitated the 
Reforms
Religious and Social Ills
Indian society in the nineteenth century was caught in a vicious web created by 
religious superstitions and social obscurantism. Hinduism had become steeped in 
magic and superstition. Idolatry and polytheism helped to reinforce their position, 
and their monopoly of scriptural knowledge imparted a deceptive character to all 
religious systems. 
Depressing Position of Women
Attempts to kill female infants at birth were not unusual. Child marriage was another 
bane of society. The practice of polygamy prevailed and in Bengal, under Kulinism, 
even old men took very young girls as wives. Several women hardly had a married life 
worth the name, yet (at least among the higher castes) when their husbands died 
they were expected to commit sati. If they escaped this social coercion, they were 
condemned to a life of misery and humiliation. 
The Caste Problem
This entailed a system of segregation, hierarchically ordained on the basis of ritual 
status. At the bottom of the ladder came the untouchables or scheduled castes, as 
they came to be called later. The untouchables suffered from numerous and severe 
disabilities and restrictions. The system splintered people into numerous groups. 
Caste consciousness, particularly with regard to marriage, prevailed also among 
Muslims, Christians and Sikhs who also practised untouchability, though in a less 
virulent form. Under a rigid caste system, social mobility was checked, social 
divisions grew, and individual initiative was thwarted. Above all, the humiliation of 
untouchability—so much a part of the caste system—militated against human dignity. 
Other Conditions 
that facilitated the 
Reforms
Opposition to Western Culture
The establishment of colonial rule in India was followed by a systematic attempt to 
disseminate colonial culture and ideology as the dominant cultural current. 
Faced with the challenge of the intrusion of colonial culture and ideology, an attempt 
to reinvigorate traditional institutions and to realize the potential of traditional 
culture developed during the nineteenth century. 
New Awareness among Enlightened Indians
There was an awareness that a vast country like India had been colonized by a 
handful of foreigners because of weaknesses within the Indian social structure and 
culture.
Some English-educated Bengali youth developed a revulsion for Hindu religion and 
culture, gave up old religious ideas and traditions and deliberately adopted practices 
most offensive to Hindu sentiments, such as drinking wine and eating beef. 
The response, indeed, was varied but the need to reform social and religious life was 
a commonly shared conviction.
Page 5


Socio-Religious 
Reforms 
in the 19
th
Century
Causes of Social 
Awakening
The Impact of British rule
• The British conquest and the consequent dissemination of colonial 
culture and ideology led to an inevitable introspection about the 
strengths and weaknesses of indigenous culture and institutions.
The effort of the European Orientalists
• They put India’s glorious past into limelight. This includes work done by 
Sir William Jones, James Princep, Charles Wilkins, Max Muller etc. 
• Further, many Indian scholars such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta 
Deb, Rajendralal Mitra, MG Ranade etc. also contributed in 
reinterpreting India’s past.
Highly creative literature
• Marked by fusion of old and new
The detrimental effect of the Christian missionaries
• They held that propaganda of Christianity in India would serve Britain’s 
imperial interests; and would secure the empire. The Indians took it as 
an onslaught on their religion and social customs. They wanted to 
reform it so that evil social practices could be removed from society.
Social Conditions 
that facilitated the 
Reforms
Religious and Social Ills
Indian society in the nineteenth century was caught in a vicious web created by 
religious superstitions and social obscurantism. Hinduism had become steeped in 
magic and superstition. Idolatry and polytheism helped to reinforce their position, 
and their monopoly of scriptural knowledge imparted a deceptive character to all 
religious systems. 
Depressing Position of Women
Attempts to kill female infants at birth were not unusual. Child marriage was another 
bane of society. The practice of polygamy prevailed and in Bengal, under Kulinism, 
even old men took very young girls as wives. Several women hardly had a married life 
worth the name, yet (at least among the higher castes) when their husbands died 
they were expected to commit sati. If they escaped this social coercion, they were 
condemned to a life of misery and humiliation. 
The Caste Problem
This entailed a system of segregation, hierarchically ordained on the basis of ritual 
status. At the bottom of the ladder came the untouchables or scheduled castes, as 
they came to be called later. The untouchables suffered from numerous and severe 
disabilities and restrictions. The system splintered people into numerous groups. 
Caste consciousness, particularly with regard to marriage, prevailed also among 
Muslims, Christians and Sikhs who also practised untouchability, though in a less 
virulent form. Under a rigid caste system, social mobility was checked, social 
divisions grew, and individual initiative was thwarted. Above all, the humiliation of 
untouchability—so much a part of the caste system—militated against human dignity. 
Other Conditions 
that facilitated the 
Reforms
Opposition to Western Culture
The establishment of colonial rule in India was followed by a systematic attempt to 
disseminate colonial culture and ideology as the dominant cultural current. 
Faced with the challenge of the intrusion of colonial culture and ideology, an attempt 
to reinvigorate traditional institutions and to realize the potential of traditional 
culture developed during the nineteenth century. 
New Awareness among Enlightened Indians
There was an awareness that a vast country like India had been colonized by a 
handful of foreigners because of weaknesses within the Indian social structure and 
culture.
Some English-educated Bengali youth developed a revulsion for Hindu religion and 
culture, gave up old religious ideas and traditions and deliberately adopted practices 
most offensive to Hindu sentiments, such as drinking wine and eating beef. 
The response, indeed, was varied but the need to reform social and religious life was 
a commonly shared conviction.
Social and 
Ideological Base
Middle Class Base
The social base of the regeneration seen in the nineteenth century  = newly 
emerging middle class and the educated intellectuals
The nineteenth century intelligentsia searched for its model in the European ‘middle 
class’, which had brought about the great transformation in the West from medieval 
to modern times through movements like the Renaissance, the Reformation, the 
Enlightenment and democratic revolution or reform. 
However, the intelligentsia of nineteenth century India did not grow from trade or 
industry (which were firmly under the control of British agencies); their roots lay in 
government service or the professions of law, education, journalism or medicine
The Intellectual Criteria 
What gave these reform movements an ideological unity were rationalism, religious 
universalism and humanism. 
Rationalism was brought to judge social relevance. Raja Rammohan Roy and Akshay
Kumar Dutt used a rational approach to study tradition; they evaluated the 
contemporary socioreligious practices from the standpoint of social utility and to 
replace faith with rationality. As a consequence, in the Brahmo Samaj the infallibility 
of the Vedas was repudiated, while the Aligarh movement emphasised reconciliation 
of Islamic teachings with the needs of the modern age. 
Many of the intellectuals set aside the authority of religion and evaluated truth in any 
religion by the criteria of logic, reason or science. onnection with land in the form of 
the intermediate tenures.