NCERT Textbook: Women, Caste & Reform | Old & New NCERTs for IAS Preparation (Must Read) - UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


Have you ever thought of how children lived about two 
hundred years ago? Nowadays most girls from middle-
class families go to school, and often study with boys. On 
growing up, many of them go to colleges and universities, 
and take up jobs after that. They have to be adults before 
they are legally married, and according to law, they can 
marry anyone they like, from any caste and community, 
and widows can remarry too. All women, like all men, 
can vote and stand for 
elections. Of course, these 
rights are not actually 
enjoyed by all. Poor people 
have little or no access to 
education, and in many 
families, women cannot 
choose their husbands. 
Two hundred years ago 
things were very different. 
Most children were married 
off at an early age. Both 
Hindu and Muslim men 
could marry more than 
one wife. In some parts of 
the country, widows were 
praised if they chose death 
by burning themselves on 
the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this 
manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, 
meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were 
also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access 
to education. In many parts of the country people believed 
that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.  
Women, Caste and 
Reform
7
Fig. 1 – Sati, painted by 
Balthazar Solvyn, 1813
This was one of the many 
pictures of sati painted by the 
European artists who came 
to India. The practice of sati 
was seen as evidence of the 
barbarism of the East.
Chap 7.indd   78 8/31/2022   5:02:04 PM
Reprint 2024-25
Page 2


Have you ever thought of how children lived about two 
hundred years ago? Nowadays most girls from middle-
class families go to school, and often study with boys. On 
growing up, many of them go to colleges and universities, 
and take up jobs after that. They have to be adults before 
they are legally married, and according to law, they can 
marry anyone they like, from any caste and community, 
and widows can remarry too. All women, like all men, 
can vote and stand for 
elections. Of course, these 
rights are not actually 
enjoyed by all. Poor people 
have little or no access to 
education, and in many 
families, women cannot 
choose their husbands. 
Two hundred years ago 
things were very different. 
Most children were married 
off at an early age. Both 
Hindu and Muslim men 
could marry more than 
one wife. In some parts of 
the country, widows were 
praised if they chose death 
by burning themselves on 
the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this 
manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, 
meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were 
also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access 
to education. In many parts of the country people believed 
that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.  
Women, Caste and 
Reform
7
Fig. 1 – Sati, painted by 
Balthazar Solvyn, 1813
This was one of the many 
pictures of sati painted by the 
European artists who came 
to India. The practice of sati 
was seen as evidence of the 
barbarism of the East.
Chap 7.indd   78 8/31/2022   5:02:04 PM
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         79
Differences between men and women were not the 
only ones in society. In most regions, people were divided 
along lines of caste. Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered 
themselves as “upper castes”. Others, such as traders 
and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishyas) were 
placed after them. Then came peasants, and artisans 
such as weavers and potters (referred to as Shudras). 
At the lowest rung were those who laboured to keep 
cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper 
castes considered “polluting”, that is, it could lead to 
the loss of caste status. The upper castes also treated 
many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”. 
They were not allowed to enter temples, draw water 
from the wells used by the upper castes, or bathe in 
ponds where upper castes bathed. They were seen as 
inferior human beings.
Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of 
these norms and perceptions slowly changed. Let us see 
how this happened. 
Working Towards Change
From the early nineteenth century, we find debates and 
discussions about social customs and practices taking on 
a new character. One important reason for this was the 
development of new forms of communication. For the 
first time, books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and 
pamphlets were printed. These were far cheaper and far 
more accessible than the manuscripts that you have read 
about in Class VII. Therefore ordinary people could read 
these, and many of them could also write and express their 
ideas in their own languages. All kinds of issues – social, 
political, economic and religious – could now be debated 
and discussed by men (and sometimes by women as well) 
in the new cities. The discussions could reach out to a 
wider public, and could become linked to movements for 
social change. 
These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers 
and reform groups. One such reformer was Raja 
Rammohun Roy (1772–1833). He founded a reform 
association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known 
as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as 
Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because 
they felt that changes were necessary in society, and 
unjust practices needed to be done away with. They 
thought that the best way to ensure such changes was 
by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt 
a new way of life.
?
Activity
Can you think of the 
ways in which social 
customs and practices 
were discussed in the 
pre-printing age when 
books, newspapers and 
pamphlets were not 
readily available?
Chap 7.indd   79 4/21/2022   12:23:24 PM
Reprint 2024-25
Page 3


Have you ever thought of how children lived about two 
hundred years ago? Nowadays most girls from middle-
class families go to school, and often study with boys. On 
growing up, many of them go to colleges and universities, 
and take up jobs after that. They have to be adults before 
they are legally married, and according to law, they can 
marry anyone they like, from any caste and community, 
and widows can remarry too. All women, like all men, 
can vote and stand for 
elections. Of course, these 
rights are not actually 
enjoyed by all. Poor people 
have little or no access to 
education, and in many 
families, women cannot 
choose their husbands. 
Two hundred years ago 
things were very different. 
Most children were married 
off at an early age. Both 
Hindu and Muslim men 
could marry more than 
one wife. In some parts of 
the country, widows were 
praised if they chose death 
by burning themselves on 
the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this 
manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, 
meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were 
also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access 
to education. In many parts of the country people believed 
that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.  
Women, Caste and 
Reform
7
Fig. 1 – Sati, painted by 
Balthazar Solvyn, 1813
This was one of the many 
pictures of sati painted by the 
European artists who came 
to India. The practice of sati 
was seen as evidence of the 
barbarism of the East.
Chap 7.indd   78 8/31/2022   5:02:04 PM
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         79
Differences between men and women were not the 
only ones in society. In most regions, people were divided 
along lines of caste. Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered 
themselves as “upper castes”. Others, such as traders 
and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishyas) were 
placed after them. Then came peasants, and artisans 
such as weavers and potters (referred to as Shudras). 
At the lowest rung were those who laboured to keep 
cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper 
castes considered “polluting”, that is, it could lead to 
the loss of caste status. The upper castes also treated 
many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”. 
They were not allowed to enter temples, draw water 
from the wells used by the upper castes, or bathe in 
ponds where upper castes bathed. They were seen as 
inferior human beings.
Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of 
these norms and perceptions slowly changed. Let us see 
how this happened. 
Working Towards Change
From the early nineteenth century, we find debates and 
discussions about social customs and practices taking on 
a new character. One important reason for this was the 
development of new forms of communication. For the 
first time, books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and 
pamphlets were printed. These were far cheaper and far 
more accessible than the manuscripts that you have read 
about in Class VII. Therefore ordinary people could read 
these, and many of them could also write and express their 
ideas in their own languages. All kinds of issues – social, 
political, economic and religious – could now be debated 
and discussed by men (and sometimes by women as well) 
in the new cities. The discussions could reach out to a 
wider public, and could become linked to movements for 
social change. 
These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers 
and reform groups. One such reformer was Raja 
Rammohun Roy (1772–1833). He founded a reform 
association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known 
as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as 
Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because 
they felt that changes were necessary in society, and 
unjust practices needed to be done away with. They 
thought that the best way to ensure such changes was 
by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt 
a new way of life.
?
Activity
Can you think of the 
ways in which social 
customs and practices 
were discussed in the 
pre-printing age when 
books, newspapers and 
pamphlets were not 
readily available?
Chap 7.indd   79 4/21/2022   12:23:24 PM
Reprint 2024-25
80	 OUR 	P ASTS 	–	III
Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of 
Western education in the country and bring about greater 
freedom and equality for women. He wrote about the way 
women were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, 
confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to 
move out and become educated.
Changing the lives of widows 
Rammohun Roy was particularly moved by the problems 
widows faced in their lives. He began a campaign against 
the practice of sati.
Rammohun Roy was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian 
and 	 several 	 other 	 Indian 	 and 	 Europeon 	 languages. 	 He 	 tried	
to show through his writings that the practice of widow 
burning had no sanction in ancient texts. By the early 
nineteenth century, as you have read in Chapter 6, many 
British 	 officials 	 had 	 also 	 begun 	 to 	 criticise 	 Indian 	 traditions	
and customs. They were therefore, more than willing to 
listen to Rammohun who was reputed to be a learned man. 
In 	 1829, 	 sati 	 was 	 banned.	
The strategy adopted by Rammohun was used by 
later reformers as well. Whenever they wished to 
challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried 
to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts 
that supported their point of view. They then suggested 
that the practice as it existed at present was against 
early tradition.
Fig. 2 – Raja Rammohun Roy, 
painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1833
Fig. 3 – Hook swinging 
festival
In	this	popular 	festival, 	
devotees underwent a 
peculiar form of suffering 
as part of ritual worship. 
With hooks pierced 
through their skin they 
swung themselves on 
a	 wheel. 	In	the	early	
nineteenth century, when 
European	officials 	 began	
c r i t i c i s i n g 	Indian 	customs 	
and rituals as barbaric, 
this was one of the rituals 
that came under attack. 
Chap 7.indd   80 22-03-2024   09:24:12
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4


Have you ever thought of how children lived about two 
hundred years ago? Nowadays most girls from middle-
class families go to school, and often study with boys. On 
growing up, many of them go to colleges and universities, 
and take up jobs after that. They have to be adults before 
they are legally married, and according to law, they can 
marry anyone they like, from any caste and community, 
and widows can remarry too. All women, like all men, 
can vote and stand for 
elections. Of course, these 
rights are not actually 
enjoyed by all. Poor people 
have little or no access to 
education, and in many 
families, women cannot 
choose their husbands. 
Two hundred years ago 
things were very different. 
Most children were married 
off at an early age. Both 
Hindu and Muslim men 
could marry more than 
one wife. In some parts of 
the country, widows were 
praised if they chose death 
by burning themselves on 
the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this 
manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, 
meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were 
also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access 
to education. In many parts of the country people believed 
that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.  
Women, Caste and 
Reform
7
Fig. 1 – Sati, painted by 
Balthazar Solvyn, 1813
This was one of the many 
pictures of sati painted by the 
European artists who came 
to India. The practice of sati 
was seen as evidence of the 
barbarism of the East.
Chap 7.indd   78 8/31/2022   5:02:04 PM
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         79
Differences between men and women were not the 
only ones in society. In most regions, people were divided 
along lines of caste. Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered 
themselves as “upper castes”. Others, such as traders 
and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishyas) were 
placed after them. Then came peasants, and artisans 
such as weavers and potters (referred to as Shudras). 
At the lowest rung were those who laboured to keep 
cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper 
castes considered “polluting”, that is, it could lead to 
the loss of caste status. The upper castes also treated 
many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”. 
They were not allowed to enter temples, draw water 
from the wells used by the upper castes, or bathe in 
ponds where upper castes bathed. They were seen as 
inferior human beings.
Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of 
these norms and perceptions slowly changed. Let us see 
how this happened. 
Working Towards Change
From the early nineteenth century, we find debates and 
discussions about social customs and practices taking on 
a new character. One important reason for this was the 
development of new forms of communication. For the 
first time, books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and 
pamphlets were printed. These were far cheaper and far 
more accessible than the manuscripts that you have read 
about in Class VII. Therefore ordinary people could read 
these, and many of them could also write and express their 
ideas in their own languages. All kinds of issues – social, 
political, economic and religious – could now be debated 
and discussed by men (and sometimes by women as well) 
in the new cities. The discussions could reach out to a 
wider public, and could become linked to movements for 
social change. 
These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers 
and reform groups. One such reformer was Raja 
Rammohun Roy (1772–1833). He founded a reform 
association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known 
as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as 
Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because 
they felt that changes were necessary in society, and 
unjust practices needed to be done away with. They 
thought that the best way to ensure such changes was 
by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt 
a new way of life.
?
Activity
Can you think of the 
ways in which social 
customs and practices 
were discussed in the 
pre-printing age when 
books, newspapers and 
pamphlets were not 
readily available?
Chap 7.indd   79 4/21/2022   12:23:24 PM
Reprint 2024-25
80	 OUR 	P ASTS 	–	III
Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of 
Western education in the country and bring about greater 
freedom and equality for women. He wrote about the way 
women were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, 
confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to 
move out and become educated.
Changing the lives of widows 
Rammohun Roy was particularly moved by the problems 
widows faced in their lives. He began a campaign against 
the practice of sati.
Rammohun Roy was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian 
and 	 several 	 other 	 Indian 	 and 	 Europeon 	 languages. 	 He 	 tried	
to show through his writings that the practice of widow 
burning had no sanction in ancient texts. By the early 
nineteenth century, as you have read in Chapter 6, many 
British 	 officials 	 had 	 also 	 begun 	 to 	 criticise 	 Indian 	 traditions	
and customs. They were therefore, more than willing to 
listen to Rammohun who was reputed to be a learned man. 
In 	 1829, 	 sati 	 was 	 banned.	
The strategy adopted by Rammohun was used by 
later reformers as well. Whenever they wished to 
challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried 
to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts 
that supported their point of view. They then suggested 
that the practice as it existed at present was against 
early tradition.
Fig. 2 – Raja Rammohun Roy, 
painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1833
Fig. 3 – Hook swinging 
festival
In	this	popular 	festival, 	
devotees underwent a 
peculiar form of suffering 
as part of ritual worship. 
With hooks pierced 
through their skin they 
swung themselves on 
a	 wheel. 	In	the	early	
nineteenth century, when 
European	officials 	 began	
c r i t i c i s i n g 	Indian 	customs 	
and rituals as barbaric, 
this was one of the rituals 
that came under attack. 
Chap 7.indd   80 22-03-2024   09:24:12
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         81
 “We first tie them down to the pile” 
Rammohun Roy published many pamphlets to spread his 
ideas. Some of these were written as a dialogue between the 
advocate and critic of a traditional practice. Here is one such 
dialogue on sati: 
ADVOCATE OF SATI:
Women are by nature of inferior understanding, 
without resolution, unworthy of trust … Many of them, 
on the death of their husbands, become desirous of 
accompanying them; but to remove every chance of 
their trying to escape from the blazing fire, in burning 
them we first tie them down to the pile. 
OPPONENT OF SATI: 
When did you ever afford them a fair opportunity 
of exhibiting their natural capacity? How then can 
you accuse them of want of understanding? If, after 
instruction in knowledge and wisdom, a person cannot 
comprehend or retain what has been taught him, we 
may consider him as deficient; but if you do not educate 
women how can you see them as inferior.  
Fig. 4 – Swami Dayanand 
Saraswati
Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj 
in 1875, an organisation that 
attempted to reform Hinduism. 
For instance, one of the most famous reformers, 
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to 
suggest that widows could remarry. His suggestion was 
adopted by British officials, and a law was passed in 1856 
permitting widow remarriage. Those who were against 
the remarriage of widows opposed Vidyasagar, and even 
boycotted him. 
By the second half of the nineteenth century, the 
movement in favour of widow remarriage spread to other 
parts of the country. In the Telugu-speaking areas of 
the Madras Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu formed 
an association for widow remarriage. Around the same 
time, young intellectuals and reformers in Bombay 
pledged themselves to working for the same cause. In 
the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the 
reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported  
widow remarriage. 
Yet, the number of widows who actually remarried 
remained low. Those who married were not easily accepted 
in society and conservative groups continued to oppose 
the new law.  
Source 1
?
Activity
This argument was 
taking place more 
than 175 years ago. 
Write down the 
different arguments 
you may have heard 
around you on the 
worth of women. In 
what ways have  the 
views changed?
Chap 7.indd   81 4/21/2022   12:23:30 PM
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5


Have you ever thought of how children lived about two 
hundred years ago? Nowadays most girls from middle-
class families go to school, and often study with boys. On 
growing up, many of them go to colleges and universities, 
and take up jobs after that. They have to be adults before 
they are legally married, and according to law, they can 
marry anyone they like, from any caste and community, 
and widows can remarry too. All women, like all men, 
can vote and stand for 
elections. Of course, these 
rights are not actually 
enjoyed by all. Poor people 
have little or no access to 
education, and in many 
families, women cannot 
choose their husbands. 
Two hundred years ago 
things were very different. 
Most children were married 
off at an early age. Both 
Hindu and Muslim men 
could marry more than 
one wife. In some parts of 
the country, widows were 
praised if they chose death 
by burning themselves on 
the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women who died in this 
manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, 
meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were 
also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access 
to education. In many parts of the country people believed 
that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.  
Women, Caste and 
Reform
7
Fig. 1 – Sati, painted by 
Balthazar Solvyn, 1813
This was one of the many 
pictures of sati painted by the 
European artists who came 
to India. The practice of sati 
was seen as evidence of the 
barbarism of the East.
Chap 7.indd   78 8/31/2022   5:02:04 PM
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         79
Differences between men and women were not the 
only ones in society. In most regions, people were divided 
along lines of caste. Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered 
themselves as “upper castes”. Others, such as traders 
and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishyas) were 
placed after them. Then came peasants, and artisans 
such as weavers and potters (referred to as Shudras). 
At the lowest rung were those who laboured to keep 
cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper 
castes considered “polluting”, that is, it could lead to 
the loss of caste status. The upper castes also treated 
many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”. 
They were not allowed to enter temples, draw water 
from the wells used by the upper castes, or bathe in 
ponds where upper castes bathed. They were seen as 
inferior human beings.
Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of 
these norms and perceptions slowly changed. Let us see 
how this happened. 
Working Towards Change
From the early nineteenth century, we find debates and 
discussions about social customs and practices taking on 
a new character. One important reason for this was the 
development of new forms of communication. For the 
first time, books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and 
pamphlets were printed. These were far cheaper and far 
more accessible than the manuscripts that you have read 
about in Class VII. Therefore ordinary people could read 
these, and many of them could also write and express their 
ideas in their own languages. All kinds of issues – social, 
political, economic and religious – could now be debated 
and discussed by men (and sometimes by women as well) 
in the new cities. The discussions could reach out to a 
wider public, and could become linked to movements for 
social change. 
These debates were often initiated by Indian reformers 
and reform groups. One such reformer was Raja 
Rammohun Roy (1772–1833). He founded a reform 
association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known 
as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as 
Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because 
they felt that changes were necessary in society, and 
unjust practices needed to be done away with. They 
thought that the best way to ensure such changes was 
by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt 
a new way of life.
?
Activity
Can you think of the 
ways in which social 
customs and practices 
were discussed in the 
pre-printing age when 
books, newspapers and 
pamphlets were not 
readily available?
Chap 7.indd   79 4/21/2022   12:23:24 PM
Reprint 2024-25
80	 OUR 	P ASTS 	–	III
Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of 
Western education in the country and bring about greater 
freedom and equality for women. He wrote about the way 
women were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, 
confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to 
move out and become educated.
Changing the lives of widows 
Rammohun Roy was particularly moved by the problems 
widows faced in their lives. He began a campaign against 
the practice of sati.
Rammohun Roy was well versed in Sanskrit, Persian 
and 	 several 	 other 	 Indian 	 and 	 Europeon 	 languages. 	 He 	 tried	
to show through his writings that the practice of widow 
burning had no sanction in ancient texts. By the early 
nineteenth century, as you have read in Chapter 6, many 
British 	 officials 	 had 	 also 	 begun 	 to 	 criticise 	 Indian 	 traditions	
and customs. They were therefore, more than willing to 
listen to Rammohun who was reputed to be a learned man. 
In 	 1829, 	 sati 	 was 	 banned.	
The strategy adopted by Rammohun was used by 
later reformers as well. Whenever they wished to 
challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried 
to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts 
that supported their point of view. They then suggested 
that the practice as it existed at present was against 
early tradition.
Fig. 2 – Raja Rammohun Roy, 
painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1833
Fig. 3 – Hook swinging 
festival
In	this	popular 	festival, 	
devotees underwent a 
peculiar form of suffering 
as part of ritual worship. 
With hooks pierced 
through their skin they 
swung themselves on 
a	 wheel. 	In	the	early	
nineteenth century, when 
European	officials 	 began	
c r i t i c i s i n g 	Indian 	customs 	
and rituals as barbaric, 
this was one of the rituals 
that came under attack. 
Chap 7.indd   80 22-03-2024   09:24:12
Reprint 2024-25
WOMEN, CASTE AND REFORM         81
 “We first tie them down to the pile” 
Rammohun Roy published many pamphlets to spread his 
ideas. Some of these were written as a dialogue between the 
advocate and critic of a traditional practice. Here is one such 
dialogue on sati: 
ADVOCATE OF SATI:
Women are by nature of inferior understanding, 
without resolution, unworthy of trust … Many of them, 
on the death of their husbands, become desirous of 
accompanying them; but to remove every chance of 
their trying to escape from the blazing fire, in burning 
them we first tie them down to the pile. 
OPPONENT OF SATI: 
When did you ever afford them a fair opportunity 
of exhibiting their natural capacity? How then can 
you accuse them of want of understanding? If, after 
instruction in knowledge and wisdom, a person cannot 
comprehend or retain what has been taught him, we 
may consider him as deficient; but if you do not educate 
women how can you see them as inferior.  
Fig. 4 – Swami Dayanand 
Saraswati
Dayanand founded the Arya Samaj 
in 1875, an organisation that 
attempted to reform Hinduism. 
For instance, one of the most famous reformers, 
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, used the ancient texts to 
suggest that widows could remarry. His suggestion was 
adopted by British officials, and a law was passed in 1856 
permitting widow remarriage. Those who were against 
the remarriage of widows opposed Vidyasagar, and even 
boycotted him. 
By the second half of the nineteenth century, the 
movement in favour of widow remarriage spread to other 
parts of the country. In the Telugu-speaking areas of 
the Madras Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu formed 
an association for widow remarriage. Around the same 
time, young intellectuals and reformers in Bombay 
pledged themselves to working for the same cause. In 
the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the 
reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported  
widow remarriage. 
Yet, the number of widows who actually remarried 
remained low. Those who married were not easily accepted 
in society and conservative groups continued to oppose 
the new law.  
Source 1
?
Activity
This argument was 
taking place more 
than 175 years ago. 
Write down the 
different arguments 
you may have heard 
around you on the 
worth of women. In 
what ways have  the 
views changed?
Chap 7.indd   81 4/21/2022   12:23:30 PM
Reprint 2024-25
82 OUR PASTS – III
Girls begin going to school
Many of the reformers felt that education for girls was 
necessary in order to improve the condition of women. 
Vidyasagar in Calcutta and many other reformers in 
Bombay set up schools for girls. When the first schools 
were opened in the mid-nineteenth century, many 
people were afraid of them. They feared that schools 
would take girls away from home, prevent them from 
doing their domestic duties. Moreover, girls had to travel 
through public places in order to reach school. Many 
people felt that this would have a corrupting influence 
on them. They felt that girls should stay away from 
public spaces. Therefore, throughout the nineteenth 
century, most educated women were taught at home by 
liberal fathers or husbands. Sometimes women taught 
themselves. Do you remember what you read about 
Rashsundari Debi in your book Social and Political Life 
last year? She was one of those who secretly learned 
to read and write in the flickering light of candles  
at night.
In the latter part of the century, schools for girls were 
established by the Arya Samaj in Punjab, and  Jyotirao 
Phule in Maharashtra.
In aristocratic Muslim households in North India, 
women learnt to read the Koran in Arabic. They were taught 
by women who came home to teach. Some reformers such 
as Mumtaz Ali reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue 
for women’s education. The first Urdu novels began to be 
written from the late nineteenth century. Amongst other 
things, these were meant to encourage women to read 
about religion and domestic management in a language 
they could understand. 
Women write about 
women
From the early twentieth 
century, Muslim women  
like the Begums of Bhopal 
played a notable role in 
promoting education among 
women. They founded a 
primary school for girls at 
Aligarh. Another remarkable 
woman, Begum Rokeya 
Sakhawat Hossain started 
schools for Muslim girls in 
Patna and Calcutta. She 
Fig. 5
Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar
Fig. 6 – Students of Hindu Mahila 
Vidyalaya, 1875
When girls’ schools were first set 
up in the nineteenth century, it 
was generally believed that the 
curriculum for girls ought to be 
less taxing than that for boys. 
The Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya 
was  one of the first institutions 
to provide girls with the kind of 
learning that was usual for boys 
at the time.
Chap 7.indd   82 4/21/2022   12:23:31 PM
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