Old NCERT Summary (Bipan Chandra): Growth of New India - Religious & Social Reform After 1858- 3

Emancipation of Women

The social position of women in India during the 19th and early 20th centuries was generally subordinated and restricted by social customs, religious laws and patriarchal family structures. Reformers, organisations and later the national movement worked to change these conditions through social reform, education, political participation and legislation. The following points explain the background, social problems, reform initiatives and legal changes that shaped the emancipation of Indian women.

Social Condition and Customary Restrictions

• For centuries women were assigned an inferior social status by prevailing social practices and personal laws based on religion. Upper-class women often had a worse public status than peasant women because peasant women worked alongside men in the fields and had greater freedom of movement.
• The practice of purdah (seclusion of women) was common in many regions. Early marriage prevailed, with children sometimes married at very young ages. Widows generally faced severe restrictions: they were often not permitted to remarry, were expected to lead ascetic lives, and in some areas the practice of sati (self-immolation of widows, referred to in some sources as "Bati") was observed.
• Property and marital rights were unequal. Hindu women traditionally had limited inheritance rights and few legal remedies to terminate undesirable marriages. Muslim women had certain inheritance rights (but often less than men) and faced inequalities in divorce. Polygamy existed in some communities.
• Women were largely denied modern education and public employment; they were taught to accept subordination as a social virtue. The general view praised the roles of wife and mother but denied women independent social identity and public roles. Exceptional women such as Razia Sultana, Chand Bibi and Ahilya Bai Holkar did exist, but they were exceptions and did not alter the general condition of most women.

Early Reform Efforts (19th Century)

• Motivated by humanitarian and egalitarian ideas, social and religious reformers began campaigns to improve women's condition. Some appealed to individual rights and equality; others argued that authentic religious teachings-of Hinduism, Islam or Zoroastrianism-did not justify the inferior treatment of women and that religion in true spirit assigned them a dignified social position.
• Reform activity focused on spreading female education, encouraging widow remarriage, improving conditions for widows, discouraging child marriage, challenging purdah, campaigning against child marriage and demanding legal rights for women to participate in public life and professions.
• From the 1880s onwards institutional steps were taken for women's welfare: for example, the establishment of women's wards and hospitals such as the Dufferin hospitals (named after Lady Dufferin) improved access to modern medical care and safe childbirth for women.

Women and the National Movement

• The militant phase of the national movement in the 20th century gave a strong stimulus to women's public participation and emancipation. Women took part in protests against the partition of Bengal, the Home Rule movement and later mass movements such as non-cooperation and civil disobedience.
• Women engaged in political processions, picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor, spun and promoted khadi, endured imprisonment, faced police repression and sometimes violence during demonstrations, and participated in local self-government and trade-union activities. This political engagement changed public perceptions about women's capacities and roles.
• Notable women leaders emerged in national politics and public life. Sarojini Naidu served as President of the Indian National Congress and many women became ministers, parliamentary secretaries in provincial ministries after 1937, and elected representatives at local levels.

Women's Own Organisations and the Women's Movement

• By the 1920s and especially after, women began organising themselves. The most prominent organisation was the All India Women's Conference, founded in 1927, which worked on education, legal reform and social welfare for women.
• These organisations pressed for legal, social and economic rights and created platforms for women's leadership and public mobilisation, complementing the contributions of sympathetic male reformers.

Legislative and Constitutional Reforms After Independence

• The constitutional and legal framework after 1947 provided significant guarantees and reforms for women. Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India (1950) guaranteed equality before the law and prohibited discrimination on grounds including sex.
• The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 introduced provisions for marriage dissolution on specified grounds and made monogamy mandatory for Hindus; the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 made daughters equal co-heirs with sons in many cases, strengthening women's property rights.
• The Constitution's Directive Principles and employment guarantees affirmed women's right to work and promoted the principle of equal pay for equal work. Despite these provisions, social evils such as the demand for dowry continued and many social and structural obstacles persisted.

Conclusion on Emancipation

• Overall, the combined effect of 19th-century reformers, educational expansion, institutional measures, women's participation in the national movement, a distinct women's movement and post-independence legislation significantly advanced women's emancipation. However, social change remained incomplete: customary practices, economic inequalities, limited access to education and employment and patriarchal norms continued to impede full equality.

Struggle Against Caste

The caste system, with its graded hierarchy and the practice of untouchability, was a major target of social reform from the 19th century onwards. Reformers, social movements, political leaders and constitutional measures sought to dismantle caste-based disabilities and promote equality, but caste continued to be a deep-rooted social structure that required sustained social, economic and political action to reform.

Nature and Social Consequences of the Caste System

• The caste system divided Hindus into numerous jatis and broadly into four varnas. A person's caste of birth determined marital alliances, commensality (who one dined with), customary occupations and social loyalties. The system created a strict social hierarchy.
• At the bottom were the untouchables (later termed Scheduled Castes), who constituted roughly one-fifth of the Hindu population. Untouchables suffered severe disabilities: their touch could be considered polluting, they were denied entry to temples, access to common wells or tanks in many places, often forced to use separate or inferior water sources, and were excluded from many public services and schools.
• Untouchables were commonly restricted to occupations regarded as "unclean" (for example, scavenging, shoemaking, tanning, removing carcasses). Denial of land ownership and relegation to tenantry or casual labour added economic deprivation to social exclusion.
• The caste system was not only inhuman and anti-democratic but also fragmented society, obstructed national unity and impeded the spread of modern democratic values. Caste consciousness and endogamy were found among other religious communities (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs) as well, though often in less virulent forms.

Forces Undermining Caste Under British Rule

• Several modern developments under British rule weakened caste barriers. The introduction of railways, buses, modern industry and growing urbanisation increased interaction between castes and created economic opportunities beyond hereditary occupations.
• Commercialisation, free sale of land and new occupations allowed individuals from different castes to enter trades and professions previously closed to them, making the traditional link between caste and vocation difficult to maintain in an industrialising economy.
• Administrative changes introduced by the British-such as equality before law, removal of judicial functions from caste panchayats and gradual opening of administrative and military service to all castes-also eroded caste privileges. Modern secular education further challenged caste outlooks.

Social and Religious Reform Movements

• Major reform organisations and leaders of the 19th century attacked caste distinctions and untouchability. These included the Brahmo Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, the Theosophical Society and various Social Conferences. While some reformers accepted the four-varna idea in principle, they condemned caste rigidity and the practice of untouchability.
• These reformers argued that untouchability was contrary to human dignity and national progress and that religious texts could not be used to justify social disabilities.

Political Movements and Campaigners From the Depressed Castes

• As education and political awareness spread, lower castes organised to demand rights and dignity. Leaders from the depressed castes mounted sustained campaigns for social uplift and political representation.
• Jyotiba Phule (in Maharashtra) led a 19th-century movement against Brahmanical domination, emphasising modern education-especially for lower castes and girls-and establishing schools for them.
• B. R. Ambedkar, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste, devoted his life to fighting caste oppression. He organised the All India Scheduled Castes Federation and later played a central role in framing constitutional safeguards.
• Other organisations such as the All India Depressed Classes Association also worked for the political and social rights of depressed castes. In Kerala, Sri Narayan Guru campaigned against caste hierarchies and proclaimed the slogan "One religion, one caste and one God for mankind."
• In South India the Self-Respect Movement (1920s) mobilised non-Brahmin castes against Brahminical social privileges; numerous satyagrahas for temple entry and similar civil actions were organised by both upper and depressed castes.

Gandhian Campaign Against Untouchability

• Mahatma Gandhi consistently prioritised the abolition of untouchability in his public work. He used the term Harijan (children of God) for untouchables and campaigned for their social inclusion on humanitarian grounds.
• In 1932 Gandhi founded the All India Harijan Sangh to remove untouchability and promote the welfare of depressed classes. He argued that scriptural texts could not be allowed to override human dignity; if any text sanctioned untouchability it should be rejected.

Limits Under Colonial Rule and the Need for Political Freedom

• Colonial authorities were often cautious about pushing radical social reforms that might antagonise powerful orthodox groups; therefore, the fullest reforms against untouchability required political independence and democratic government.
• Social uplift was linked to economic progress, education and political rights. Leaders therefore saw eradication of caste disabilities as connected to land reforms, modern schooling and political representation.

Constitutional and Legal Measures After 1950

• The Constitution of India (1950) provided a legal basis to abolish untouchability. Article 17 explicitly declares that "untouchability" is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden; acts enforcing disabilities arising out of untouchability are offences under law.
• The Constitution also prohibits restrictions on use of public wells, tanks and bathing ghats, and access to public places such as shops, restaurants, hotels and cinemas on the basis of untouchability. The Directive Principles call on the State to secure social, economic and political justice and to promote welfare so that equality informs institutions of national life.

Ongoing Challenges

• Despite constitutional and legal safeguards, caste-based discrimination and social exclusion persisted, particularly in rural areas. Economic deprivation, social attitudes and local power structures continued to reproduce caste inequalities.
• The long-term struggle against caste thus required continued educational expansion, economic development, political mobilisation of depressed castes, land and labour reforms, and sustained social campaigns to change attitudes.

Summary

Both the emancipation of women and the struggle against caste were central dimensions of social reform in modern India. Reformers, social organisations, participation in the national movement, leaders from marginalised communities and post-independence constitutional and legislative measures together advanced equality and social justice. Nevertheless, the translation of legal equality into social reality remained, and remains, a continuing project requiring persistent social, economic and political effort.