Subject Name Social Work Paper Name History and Philosophy of Social Work Module Name/Title Indian Ideologies in the Modern Period-1 Paper Coordinator Dr

Home , Hindu reform movements

Subject Name Social Work Paper Name History and Philosophy of Social Work Module Name/Title Indian Ideologies in the Modern Period-1 Paper Coordinator Dr. Ruchi Sinha Content Writer/Author Prof. Murli Desai (CW) Content Reviewer Prof Manish Jha Module Id 10

Objectives To study the influence of Christianity and modern ideologies in India, during the British rule, and the emergence of Hindu reform movements. Keywords Modern Period in India, Christianity, British Colonisation, Hindu Reform Movements

Introduction to the Modern Period in India

Nehru (1981) noted that before the British rule, India’s banking system was efficient and well-organised throughout the country. It was a highly developed manufacturing country exporting her products to Europe and other countries. In fact, it was as advanced industrially and financially as any country prior to the Industrial Revolution. On the other hand, after the death of Aurangzeb, the Mughal rule became weak and many independent kingdoms came up.

The European nation-states started trade with India after Vasco da Gama found the new sea route to India in 1498. In 1600, a small group of British merchants formed a company called the East India Company in India. This gave opportunity to the trading British to interfere in the affairs of these small kingdoms. The British at that time were politically much more advanced, as they had established nation-states through the power of the parliament over that of the king. Their nationalism gave them the impulse to expand trade and rule countries that were not yet nation-states. By 1767, the traders had become the rulers of India (Fernandes & Dutta, 1999). The British rule brought the modern ideologies and launched the modern period in India.

Learner Outcome 2

1. Identify the context and implications of British colonisation of India with reference to influence of the modern ideologies; 2. Analyse the role of Christianity during the British rule with reference to education and a new approach to religion; and 3. Review the context, approach and implications of the Hindu Reform Movements that led to socio-religious reforms and construction of Hinduism.

Implications of British Colonialism

As discussed earlier, British colonialism and Eurocentrism led to secular hierarchies, imposition of the colonial state, deindustrialization and economic exploitation, destruction of pre-existing global system, imposition of individualism etc. in all the colonies, so also in India. Ravindranath Tagore (1995) noted that under the British rule, for the first time India had to deal not with kings, but with a nation – “we, who were no nation ourselves”.

Implications of Eurocentrism

Amin (2008) notes that Eurocentrism has invented the ‘eternal west’ and has taken the centre-stage of the world. It denies the pre-Renaissance development in the orient that is the region Middle East onwards, reducing them to the periphery of the world. Fernandes and Dutta (1999) noted that the introduction of the British educational and legal structures devalued the local systems of knowledge and jurisprudence and promoted Eurocentrism, a tendency to view the European cultural practices as superior to all others. Its focus on human behaviour in terms of norms or average behaviours, led to the concepts of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ (Richard, 1996, cited in Schriver, 2004). Consequently, it became impossible to contemplate any other future for the world than its progressive Europeanisation (Amin, 2008).The British rule was seen as an agent of progress and as a mission. Many Indians in turn saw their salvation in being more like the British (Nandy, 1998).

Role of Christianity during the British Rule

Chrisitianity and Colonisation: The church of the Christians of South India, known as the Syrian Christians, was founded by St. Thomas, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The earliest historical evidence of a church in South India dates from the sixth century AD. Later in the European countries, there was a close collaboration between the church and the state and so the church played a crucial role in colonisation. The church had its own agenda of spreading Christianity in the colonies. For the Portuguese who came to South Asia in the 16th century, religion was crucial in the construction of the colonial political community. Conversion to the religion of the rulers was the basis for the social, economic and political recognition of a group. However, for the British, religion was not directly linked to colonisation (Fernandes & Dutta, 1999) .

Introduction of Education: On the eve of the British conquest, India had a network of institutions which imparted religious knowledge to Brahmins. There was no institution of secular study. Christian Missionaries started English schools, which were open to all peoples (Singhal, 1983). This education exposed the Indians to the modern ideologies of rationalism and liberalism and the values of freedom, equality and justice. However, it also imparted the attitude that India had no culture worth the name, and that Indians needed to remould themselves with the Europeans to be considered civilised (Swami Nirvedananda, 1993). Fernandes and Dutta (1999) noted that the introduction of the British educational and legal structures devalued the local systems of knowledge and jurisprudence and shaped new terms of discourse about society and about what is good and bad.

Concept of ‘Hinduism’: Grewal (1999) noted that the Christian missionaries began the use of the term ‘Hinduism’ for the Brahminical systems of religious practice. They perceived ‘Hinduism’ as a monolithic whole, although religions in India evolved independently and did not constitute a single historically evolved religion. They imposed a conceptual unity on a plural empirical reality and a secular identity was thus transformed into a religious identity (Panikkar, 1998).

New Approach to Religion: Besides the education system, the Christian missionaries exposed the Indians to a new approach to religion. They also started to build dispensaries and orphanages in India. They worked against illiteracy, disease and poverty, especially among the tribals and Dalits. The evangelistic purpose and the call to service, in every form, were inseparable parts of their religious obligations (Abraham, 1993). The missionaries attacked 4

customs such as child marriage, polygamy, female infanticide, Sati and so on. They tried to show how Christianity believed in the innate equality of all human beings and how it was free from the many superstitions and the rigid ritualism that characterised popular Hinduism.

Hindu Reform Movements

Historical Context

In the 19th century, the educated Indians started getting influenced by the Western liberal thought. Values such as rationalism, individualism, humanism embedded in European society during the Renaissance period, began to take roots in India as well. Besides these values, the Hindu elites were led by the liberal ideals of democracy and democratic procedures in political and social organisation, equality, value of education, science and knowledge and the need for rationality in public life (Gore, 1965). Their first reaction was one of admiration and acceptance of everything western. Repelled by some of the social customs and practices of Hinduism, many Hindus were attracted towards Christianity, and some notable conversions took place in Bengal (Nehru, 1981).

Some educated upper caste elite perceived societal problems to have roots in the religion and started working towards reforming it. Their argument was essentially to the effect that their religion was fundamentally right and what was required was only the shedding of the extraneous impurities that had entered into the social life of the people. Revival of Hinduism, synthesis of religious faiths and modernisation were, therefore, considered necessary (Gore, 1965). Many reformers believed that cultural regression of the Hindus was due to the loss of the original Aryan qualities which they shared with the westerners. They borrowed their fundamental values from the western worldview and tried to Christianize Hinduism (Nandy, 1998).

Raja Ram Mohan Roy

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) of Bengal was the first person to make efforts to defend Hinduism against the criticism of Christian missionaries from outside, and the danger of it being debased by superstitions and ritualistic practices from within. He went back to the Vedic and Upanishadic thought for the purpose. Raja Ram Mohan Roy established Brahmo 5

Samaj in 1828 in Bengal. It worked for the emancipation of women and abolition of the caste system. Prarthna Samaj in Bombay was its offshoot. He introduced the ideas of organised religion, a sacred text, monotheism, etc. The religious and social reform activities, that he began, took root and set the pattern for similar activities in other parts of the country (Gore, 1965).

Dayanand Saraswati

A Gujarati, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, established the Arya Samaj in 1875, which mainly influenced the Hindus of the Punjab. Its slogan was ‘Back to the Vedas’ as Dayanand held the Vedas to be divine revelation. Opposing the modernist views, he urged a regeneration of Hindus through adherence to a purified Vedic faith. The chief objective of the Arya Samaj was to bring about social and religious revival through the renaissance of the early Hindu doctrines. It worked to abolish the caste system, deny the monopoly of the Brahmins over the Vedas, and liberate women from a number of disabilities. Spread of education was a remarkable feature of the philanthropic activities of Arya Samaj (Swami Nirvedananda, 1993).

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhans and Swami Vivekanand

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhans (1834-86) preached selfless devotion to God and sought self- realisation. He preached the old religion of India founded on the Vedas and the Upanishads and systematised in later commentaries. People, who visited him, were powerfully influenced by him. Many who had been completely westernized felt that here was something they had missed. His dynamic disciple, Swami Vivekanand (1863-1902) preached the teachings of his guru. While Ramkrishna was a mystic depending upon intuition and vision, Vivekanand was an intellectual, relying mainly upon reason. He interpreted Indian thought impressively to Western peoples and provided a bridge between East and West. He founded the non-sectarian Ramakrishna Mission at Belur, in 1897, which adopted a comprehensive programme of social services (Singhal, 1983).

Swami Vivekanand tried to Christianise Hinduism by: • Attempting to cast it as an organised religion with an organised priesthood, church and missionaries 6

• Accepting the idea of proselytization and religious conscientisation, • Attempting to introduce the concept of a text book (the Vedas and the Geeta), • Accepting the idea of linear, objective and causal history, • Accepting of ideas akin to monotheism, and • Accepting puritanism and this-worldly ascetism (Nandy, 1998).

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar too fought institutionalised violence against Indian women, giving primacy to social reform over politics. His diagnosis of Hinduism did not grow out of feelings of cultural inferiority; it grew out of perceived contradictions within Hinduism itself. His was an effort to protect not the formal structure of Hinduism but its spirit, as an open, anarchic federation of sub-cultures and textual authorities which allowed new readings and internal criticisms. He sought to create a new political awareness which would combine a critical awareness of Hinduism and colonialism (Nandy, 1998).

Approaches

Apart from seeking a change in attitudes or values through a process of community education, a good deal of the reformist’s attention was devoted to seeking new legislation which would either consolidate the changes already effected or help in bringing them about. Besides religious revival and translation of scriptures, setting up schools and encouraging education, setting up hospitals, care of the blind, deaf and dumb, orphanages, homes for widows, relief for the poor, and so on, were some of the other activities undertaken by the reformers. Full time functionaries were necessary for these activities, in form of voluntary workers. Simplicity in personal life, self-example and signing pledges, were some of the approaches they used (Gore, 1965).

Implications

Implications of Legislation: In spite of reforms in legislation, the orthodox masses under the traditional lead of Brahmins and Pundits continued their old socio-religious practices (Swami Nirvedananda, 1993). As Gore (1987) noted, a reformist activity which is heavily based on 7

law often becomes ineffective because a change in law, which is not supported by a change in popular attitudes and in social context, cannot achieve its goal.

Construction of Hinduism: The British had started conceptualising Indians as a monolithic Hindu community. In fact, it was during the colonial period that India was identified as ‘Hindustan’ and the people who inhabited it as ‘Hindus’, following a religion called ‘Hinduism’ (Omvedt, 1996). The reformers strengthened the construct of Hinduism, based on Brahminism, which led to increase in the Hindu hegemony (Grewal, 1999). The bunching together of all the indigenous sects and labelling them as Hindus was alien to the earlier tradition where religious identity was by sect and the term ‘Hindu’ was not used. This led to the notion of majority and minority communities based on religion, preventing the possibility of other kinds of classification and identities (Thapar, 1998).

Neglected Issues: The reformers were against untouchability but not against the caste system. They, therefore, could not deal with caste persecution. The Dalits started getting converted to Christianity. The problems of the poor and the rural were also neglected.

Opposition to the Hindu Reform Movement: In the 1880s, a debate arose on whether social reform should precede political reform or vice versa. The orthodox opposition argued that the foreign rule alone was responsible for all the ills; that the social reformers were playing into the hands of the foreign rulers who would welcome the excuse that people must remove the social injustices before they could advance politically. Lokmanya Tilak led the opposition to the social reform movement, which according to him, would divide the mass support essential for the nationalist cause.

Summary

This module identifies the context and implications of British colonisation of India with reference to influence of the modern ideologies. It reviews the role of Christianity during the British rule with reference to education and a new approach to religion. Finally, it discusses the context, approach and implications of the Hindu Reform Movements that led to socio- religious reforms and construction of Hinduism.