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Introduction: Social & Cultural Awakening, The Lower Caste, Trade Union & Peasants Movements | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Introduction
The chief religious and social movements set afoot in the 19th cen­tury were the Brahmo Samaj, the Paramhans Sabha, the Theosophical Society, The Rama Krishna Mission, the Arya Samaj, the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan, the Ahmediya Move­ment, Gurudwara Prabandhak Commit­tee and several others. They have ex­ercised a healthy influences in reform­ing several religions.

Introduction: Social & Cultural Awakening, The Lower Caste, Trade Union & Peasants Movements | History for UPSC CSE

  • The Brahmo Samaj came into being in 1828 as a result of the cease­less efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy who had at first organised the Atmiya Sabha.
  • It preached the unity of God and being dissatisfied with the ortho­dox creed of idol worship, denounced it.
  • It accepted only rationalistic ex­planation of religious tenets and re­jected the dogmas. With the object of propagating his views the Raja started the Samavada Kaumadi.
  • His death in 1833 gave a rude shock to the Sabha, but it regained strength under the guidance of Devendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen.
  • The Paramhansa Sabha was founded in 1849 but its influence did not extend to a large number of people. Then Dr. Atma Ram established the Prarthana Samaj with the object of in­troducing rational worship and social reform.
  • The Theosophical Society was first started in U.S.A. in 1875 by Blavatsky in conjunction with Olcott. They came to India in 1879 and set up their headquarters at Adyar (Madras). Mrs. Annie Besant enrolled herself as a member of the society in 1889.    She was its chief organiser and promoter in this country and dedicated her life to its work. The aims of the Society were to rejuvenate ancient religions and lend them sufficient strength.

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  • The Rama Krishna Mission. Swami Vivekanand a seer of magnetic personality and world-famed expositor of the Hindu philosophy, founded the Rama Krishna Mission in 1889 with the object of expounding the Hindu religion of rational basis.
  • The Arya Samaj. Swami Dayanand who could not reconcile him­self to the dogmas in the Hindu reli­gion founded the Arya Samaj in 1875 with the object of purging it. His teach­ings are contained in the Satyarth Prakash and he has criticized almost all religions He desired to restore reli­gious view of the Rig Vedic period. He was a staunch opponent of idol wor­ship. He really did yeoman’s service to Hinduism and the wave of conversions to Christianity and Islam was checked considerably.
  • The Rahnumai Mazdayasan. It was a Parsi organisation brought into existence in 1851 under the patronage of Dadabhai Naurojee. It did commend­able service to the Parsi religion and community .
  • Christian Missionaries. There was a great influx of Christian Mission­aries in India after 1813. They came to this land with the object of carrying on proselytisation and in the beginning succeeded in converting some high caste Hindus to Christianity, but later on they diverted their attention to the depressed classes where they found much scope for their work. They succeeded in cre­ating a small Christian community in India but the indirect effect of their activities was that the Indians began to reform their religions to checkmate ex­ploitation of their shortcomings by the Christian Missionaries.
  • The Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee. The Sikhs did not lag be­hind other communities in matters of reform. They felt that their Gurudwaras were not being managed properly and the Mahants who held their charge had given themselves up to a life of luxury. So the Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee was constituted. It was recognised by the government who transferred the control of Gurudwaras to this committee.
  • The Prarthana Samaj opened night schools for the labourers. It also maintained a Depressed Classes Mis­sion, a Ladies Association and an Or­phanage and Founding Asylum at Pandharpur. Justice Ranade was one of its most active workers.
  • The Deccan Education Soci­ety was started in 1884 with the pur­pose of spreading the principle of ‘simple living and high thinking’. It also aimed at spreading education. The Fergusson College was founded by it. Gokhale and Tilak were its members.
  • Bhoodan Yajna. Acharya Vinoba Bhave realising the hard lot of the landless people in villages under­took to effect Agrarian revolution.
  • He started his work in 1950 and since then has been touring the country on foot appealing to big land­lords to donate land to him for distri­bution among the poor landless villag­ers.
  • The object of this movement is to secure economic justice in the coun­try. The Acharya has received sincere co-operation from all quarters of the country and several hundred thousand acres of land has been made available to him.
Facts To Be Remembered
  • Rammohan Roy believed that the philosophy of Vedanta was based on the power of human reason which was the final touchstone of the truth of any doctrine.
  • Rammohan Roy also raised demands for Indianisation of the supe­rior services, separation of the executive and judiciary, trial by jury, and judicial equality between Indians and Europeans.
  • Rammohan Roy was saddened by the news of the failure of the Revolution in Naples (1821) and cancelled all his social engagements. He celebrated the success of the Revolution in Spanish America (1823) by hosting a public dinner.
  • H.V. Derozio was removed from Hindu College (Calcutta) in 1831 because of his radicalism and died of cholera at the age of 22.
  • The Derozians carried forward Rammohan’s tradition of educating the people in social, economic and political questions through newspapers, pamphlets, and public associations.
  • K.P. Ghosh was’the famous pupil of H.V. Derozio.
  • Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar opened the gates of the Sanskrit College to non-Brahmin students because he was opposed to the monopoly of Sanskrit studies by priests.
  • As a Government inspector of schools, Vidyasagar organised 35 girls’ schools, many of which he ran at his own expense.
  • After the 1880’s when Dufferin hospitals, named after Lady Dufferin, the Viceroy’s wife, were started, efforts were made to make modern medicine and child delivery techniques available to Indian women.
  • By the 1880’s the total number of English-educated Indians was about 50,000.


Facts To Be Remembered
  • Keshav Chandra Sen founded the “Indian Reform Association” in 1870.
  • Swami Dayanand Saraswati wrote Satyartha Prakash, Satyartha Bhumika and Veda Bhashya Bhumika.
  • Saradamani was the wife of Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
  • Debendranath Tagore published a Bengali monthly, called Tattvabodhini Patrika.
  • Keshab Chandra Sen was the first social reformer to undertake extensive tours of India.
  • Keshab Chandra Sen infused the concept of ‘Bhakti’ into Brahmanism.
  • Dayanand Saraswati belonged to the Vaisya Caste.
  • Great split in the Arya Samaj occurred in 1892 over the question of the system of education to be followed.
  • Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an active member of the Deccan Education Society.
  • Viresalingam Panthulu founded the Rajahmundri Social Reform Association in Andhra Pradesh.
  • The principal objective of the above Association was education of women and promotion of widow remarriages.
  • ‘Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq” was published by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
  • Shibli Numani founded the Nadwah-ul-ulama in 1894.
  • Badruddin Tyabji was one of the founders of Deoband Movement.
  • Lord Baden Powell, after a private visit to India, lifted the colour bar and admitted Indians into his world-wide organisation
  • Shri Jai Prakash Narain, the leader of the Socialist Party, has fol­lowed the suit.
  • Aligarh Movement—Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the pioneer of Aligarh Movement attempted to modernize the Muslims and encouraged them to get English education. The Movement made valuable contribution to the educational, social and economic progress of the Muslims. It opposed to Indian national­ism and the All India Congress because it depended on the favour of the En­glish.
  • Arhar Movement—The Move­ment was founded under the leadership of Maulana Muhammed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasan Imam and others. These youngmen disliked the Loyalist politics of the Aligarh school. Influenced by the modern ideas they ad­vocated active participation on the mili­tant nationalist movement.
  • Ahmedia Movement—This Muslim Reform Movement was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed in 1899.    It emphasised the universal and humani­tarian character of Islam and tried to promote cordial relations among mem­bers of various communities. It started a number of schools and colleges where modern education was imparted.
  • Servants of India Society— Founded in 1905 by Gokhale with its headquarters at Poona. It imparted wel­fare work for the Adivasis, Harizans, Backward classes and tribals organized the work of political education and agi­tation, basing it on a careful study of public questions. Created among the people a deep and passionate love of India and seeking its highest fulfilment in service and sacrifice.
     Promoted good will and cooperation among the differ­ent communities.

Question for Introduction: Social & Cultural Awakening, The Lower Caste, Trade Union & Peasants Movements
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Who founded the Ghadar Party in 1913?
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Points To Be Remembered
  • A Hindu Social Reform Association was started in Madras in 1892 by the ‘young Madras party’.
  • Hunter is the author of the book Indian Mussalmans.
  • Dayanand Saraswati published a pamphlet (with religious inclina­tions) Gaukarunanidhi in 1881.
  • G.G. Agarkar started the Deccan Education Society and the jour­nals Kesari and Mahratta along with B.G. Tilak.
  • Prakasam and Krishna Rao started the radical newspaper Kistnapatrika from Masulipatam in 1904.
  • C.V. Raman Pillai’s historical novel Martanda Varma attempted an evocation of lost Nair military glory through its hero Ananda Padmanabhan.
  • There were 110 strikes in Bengal during the second half of 1920.
  • Baba Ramachander was an important peasant leader and founded the Kurmi-Kshtriya Sabha.
  • Ghandi started Ahmedabad Majdoor Mahajan.
  • A no-revenue campaign (around 1920) started under Jai Narayan Vyas in Marwar.
  • Ghadar Party— It was formed in 1913 in USA by Indian revolutionar­ies in USA and Canada. Its purpose was to wage revolutionary war against the British to India. The Ghadarists fixed 21st February, 1915 as the date for an armed revolt in the Punjab. Unfortu­nately, the authorities came to know of these plans and took immediate ac­tion. The rebellious regiments were dis­banded and their leaders were either imprisoned or hanged.
  • Red Shirts Movement— In­spired by the Dandi March of Gandhi, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as the “Frontier Gandhi” organised the Society of Khudai Khidmatgars, popularly known as Red Shirts. They were pledged to non-vio­lence and the freedom struggle.
  • Satya Shodhak Samaj— One of the earliest movements which took up the cause of the lower castes against Brahman domination was Satya Shodak Samaj of Jyotiba Phule in Maharashtra. It insisted on the discarding of sacrodotal authority of the Brahmanas and tried to make the lower castes con­scious of their rights through educa­tion.
Facts To Be Remembered
  • The first bill to make primary education compulsory was moved in the Imperial Council by G.K. Gokhale in 1911 and it was rejected.
  • The 19th century intelligensia in Bengal considered itself to be the middle class, that is between the zamindars and the peasants.
  • Lakshmanarasu Chetti was an important merchant in the Madras Native Association of the 1850’s
  • In Maharashtra, Khoti was the petty rent-collecting rights.
  • The new Bombay intelligensia leadership of the 1880’s and 1890’s was headed by the lawyer-triumvirate of Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang and Badruddin Tyabji.
  • D. Wacha was the Secretary of the Bombay Presidency Association (1885-1915), General Secretary of the Congress (1896-1913), member for 38 years of the Bombay Millowners’ Association executive committee, and man­aging agent of several textile mills.
  • K.T. Telang was a Prathana Samajist.
  • M.G. Ranade died in 1901.
  • K.N. Natarajan started the influential Indian Social reformer in 1980.
  • Sri Narayana Dharma Pratipalana Yogam—In the South the first step in the direction of organising a movement of lower castes was taken by the Ezhavas. Sri Narayan Guru founded the SNDP Yogam with a view to break the social taboos imposed by the Brahmanas.
  • Justice Movement—In 1915 T.N. Nair and P. Tyagaraja started the Jus­tice Movement to service jobs and rep­resentation for the non-Brahmanas in legislature.
  • All India Depressed Classes Federation—In 1920, B.R. Ambedkar organised this federation for the pro­tection of depressed classes against higher castes.
  • Vaikom Satyagraha—A satyagraha was organised in Kerala (March 1924) for the use of the temple roads by avarnas like Ezhavas and Pulayas. Many savarna organisations such as Nair ser­vice Society, Nair Samajam and Kerala Hindu Sabha supported the Satyagraha. On 30th march, the satyagrahis led by K.P. Kesava Menon, marched towards the temple. They were arrested and sentenced to imprisonment.
  • Harijan Sevak Sangh—In 1932 Mahatma Gandhi founded it which worked for the upliftment of the back­ward classes and provided necessary facilities for education, medical treat­ment etc. Ambedkar was also associ­ated with their sangh. However, he was not quite happy with the activities of the Harijan Sevak Sangh and the attitude of the Indian National Con­gress towards the lower castes. There­fore, he withdrew from the sangh and started a fresh movement for the pro­tection of interests of the lower castes.
The document Introduction: Social & Cultural Awakening, The Lower Caste, Trade Union & Peasants Movements | History for UPSC CSE is a part of the UPSC Course History for UPSC CSE.
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FAQs on Introduction: Social & Cultural Awakening, The Lower Caste, Trade Union & Peasants Movements - History for UPSC CSE

1. What is a social and cultural awakening?
Ans. A social and cultural awakening refers to a period of increased awareness and consciousness among individuals regarding social and cultural issues. It involves recognizing and questioning prevailing norms, traditions, and inequalities in society, often leading to movements for social reform and change.
2. Who are considered the lower caste in India?
Ans. In India, the lower caste refers to the socially disadvantaged groups that have historically been marginalized and subjected to discrimination based on their birth. These castes are often associated with occupations considered impure or menial, and they face social, economic, and political challenges. Examples of lower castes include Dalits (formerly known as untouchables), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
3. What is the significance of trade unions?
Ans. Trade unions are organizations formed by workers or employees to protect their rights and interests in the workplace. They play a crucial role in negotiating better wages, working conditions, and benefits for workers. Trade unions also advocate for workers' rights, provide collective bargaining power, and ensure their voice is heard in matters related to labor policies and practices.
4. What are peasants movements?
Ans. Peasants movements refer to collective actions and protests by agricultural workers or small-scale farmers to address issues related to land rights, agrarian reforms, and agricultural policies. These movements aim to challenge exploitative practices, inequitable land distribution, and unfair treatment of peasants by the state or landlords. Peasants movements often seek to improve the social, economic, and political conditions of rural communities.
5. How do banking exams relate to the topics discussed in the article?
Ans. Banking exams may include questions related to social and cultural awakening, the lower caste, trade union movements, and peasants movements. These topics are important for candidates appearing for banking exams as they provide a broader understanding of social and economic issues in India. Understanding these topics helps candidates analyze the impact of various social movements and policies on the banking sector, rural economy, and marginalized communities.
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