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Home , Ram Mohan Roy

Science, Technology and Development ISSN : 0950-0707

Versatile Movement of Intellectual Class: Western Impact on Indian Reformers

Dr . Shipra

P G Dept Of History

Magadh University , Bodh – Gaya , Bihar

Abstract :

The social reform movements began with individual revolts against existing customs, took shape under the influence of western methods of organization and propagation, and recruited their supporters from men who were English educated or who had imbibed western ideas indirectly. Although modernization in has come about due to westernization and it had great impact on India but, also it is true that the Indian mind could not surrender totally to the western impact. Some of the social doctrines underlying the movements were not unlike the ideas to be found in the multifarious living body of Hindu thought. However, western impact did involve a new awakening and expression but it was in the context of the genius of Indian tradition and culture. The western impact let to the creation of slumbering nation and provided an opportunity to think in a creative manner to build the future. The objective of writing this article is to enlighten of social reformers of India, how they were highly inspired with the western culture as well as with their impulsiveness towards nation to reform and entering in a new era of development. Just like Raja ’s favour for reform was in good measure his own, and it is worth nothing that his “Right of Women” was writing half a century earlier to Milli’s famous tract on “The Subject of Women”. Although Roy justifies women’s reform on the basis of Hindu Shasta’s (scriptures) and precedents, while it is true that reformers were not motivated by the ancient Indian texts.

Key words: western, impact, modernization, awakening, reformers, impulsiveness .

Introduction :

Western culture came from various parts in India, its influence started during the 19th century when the British established their colony in the country. They introduced the English language as well as certain modern ideas. These ideas were those liberty, social economic equality, fraternity, democracy and justice which had tremendous impact on Indian society also it provided the impulse for cultural renewal. However, the 19th century saw India make a late entry into the modern age from medieval times, due to caste intolerance, illiteracy which was prevalent everywhere, women’s status was at the lowest ebb. These were those reason that had made society lame, consequently these were the obstacles to fail entering into the new era. Fortunately for our country there were some enlightened Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chand

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Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati and many others were willing to fight and bring in reforms in society so that it could face the challenges of the west.

Western Culture’s Contribution Towards Reform And India’s Response:

Dissatisfaction with the social and religious life of country; cast system, women status, illiteracy, religious rigidities etc. prepared India’s an intellectual acceptance of western ideas –an acceptance, however, which did not lead to a passive reliance on the British to introduce alteration in Indian life or to an obedient acquiescence in the government’s policies. The main initiative from applying ideas of religious, social and political reform in practical ways for the betterment and advancement of Indian life came not from the British Governors, but from Indians themselves. The initial Indian response to British rule was one of enthusiasm to learn new political and social values.

This explains why Raja Ram Mohan Roy wanted the British to stay settled in India with their families for at least forty years so that western culture and may be British fully imbibed, and why Gokhale considered the British connection as providential, fated by providence itself to bring about the awakening and resurgence of the great Hindu people. Indeed, within time liberals understood that as not merely driving the foreigners out, but rather as freedom from old superstition, rigidities of caste system and taboos that hampered the development of one’s best self, freedom from the clutches of feudal landlords etc. consequently, they took serious steps towards religious reform, this movement was religious in nature rather than secular; it was because it believed that unless religion was first freed dogma and superstition, unless people were first freed from old devil practices like untouchability, pratha, child marriage and the various caste disabilities sanctified by religion, there was little hope for social, political, or economic progress.

Western Impact On Reformers In Indian Context And Consequences:

With the British conquest, a new era began in the history of education in India i.e. English affected the Indian mind, when the Indian reformers learned about liberal ideas and equality of rights among sexes in European countries they were much affected by their social system. During the turmoil phase of reform Christian missionaries played a vital role, due to the strong pressure exerted on the company on the Christian missionaries and humanitarians including some Indians, to encourage and promote modern education in India, the charter act of 1813 required the company to spend rupees one lakh annually for encouraging learned Indians and promoting the knowledge of modern sciences in India.

And soon educated Indians, who had been exposed to western thoughts and ideas, began to realize the reason for the backwardness of Indian society; all most all the liberals gave importance to education in their efforts to reform the society. Indeed Raja Ram Mohan Roy did marvellous work towards reform of society. He was the first Indian who raised a defensive reaction and set in motion the force which led to the correction of many of these social evils. As

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a religious reformer, educationist and social worker, he is the symbol of the efforts of Indian mind to face the challenge of transition and to arrive at synthesis of the currents and cross currents in Indian thought and way of life. Though his journal he analysed the effect of British economic policy upon the Indian rural economy. In effort to strength against the criticism of Christian missionaries, he advocated a return to purity of thought in the and the . As a social reformer, he pleaded for the abolition of caste distinctions and practices of sati. He published his first tract against sati in 1818 and continued to fight against it until the regulation was passed in 1829 by William Bentinck, which declared the practice of sati illegal and the people taking part in it punishable in the criminal courts.It was the first successful social movement against an age-old social evil. First it combined in Bengal later in madras and Bombay.

He was also the founder of Samaj in (1828), a sect against idolatry which included social reform as an integral part of its mission. The members of the untouchable castes were freely admitted to all the privileges of . He strongly urged the cause of western education and established many educational institutions. He was associated with the foundation College in Calcutta (which later came to be known as the Presidency College). He also maintained at his own cost an English school in Calcutta. In addition, he established a Vedanta College where both Indian learning and Western social and physical science courses were offered. He sent petitions to the government to adopt a wider system of public education in English. He also recognized the importance of vernaculars for spreading new ideas.

The religious and social reforms that the initiated set the pattern for similar activities in other parts of the country e.g. in Bengal he was followed by , Devendranath Tagor; the father of , was responsible for revitalising the Brahmo Samaj. Under him the first step was taken to convert the Brahmo Samaj into a separate religious and social community in 1839, he founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha based on Rammohan Roy’s ideas. He promoted a magazine to do a systematic study of India’s past in . The Samaj actively supported the movements for widow remarriage, the abolition of polygamy, women’s education and the improvement in the condition of the peasantry. Sasipada Banerjee and Kesab Chandra Sen were also followers of Brahmo Samaj; Keshab Chandra Sen carried on an intensive programme of social reform. He set up schools, organised famine relief and propagated widow remarriage. In 1872 the Government passed the Native (Civil) Marriages Act legalizing marriages performed according to Brahmo Samaj rites. Also all these leaders gave their effort into the field of famine relief, education of girls, improving the condition of widows, removal of caste restriction and the moment for encouraging temperance and charity.

The first school for hindu girls was started in 1849. It was Kesab Chandra Sen who in testified the work for women’s education in 1863. It was on the move of Iswarchandra Vidya Sagar that the Hindu widow’s remarriage act was passed in 1856 and he also gave his contribution in girls education in Bengal, that’s why Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar is considered as one of the pillars of Bengal renaissance. In other words, he managed to continue the reforms movement that was

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started by Raja Rammohan Roy. Vidyasagar was a well-known writer, intellectual and above all a staunch follower of humanity. Based on same theme Pramhamsa Sabha was founded in 1849. The Sarvajanik Sabha had been started in Poona in 1871 .The other important social reformers of that time were Telang, Agarkar, Chandavarkar and Krve etc.

Another reform movement was the in 1877 founded by the Swami Dayanand Saraswati, in Rajkot. He started preaching his doctrine of one God. He made his effort towards the meaningless rituals, decried and image worship and denounced the caste system. He wanted to purify Hinduism and attacked the evils that had lame into Hindu society. He also he propagated the motto “Back to the Vedas.”

Swami Vivekananda also laid the foundation of Ramkrishna Mission. It laid emphasis not on personal salvation but on social good and social service, he was under Brahmo Samaj influence. He graduated from the and was well-versed in Western philosophy. Vivekananda was very intellectual and possessed a critical and analytical mind. Vivekananda proclaimed the essential oneness of all religions. He took major step towards the caste- system, religious rituals, ceremonies and superstitions. He had a deep understanding of Hindu philosophy. Vivekananda’s main role was that of a social reformer rather than a religious leader, he attempted to combine Indian with Western material progress. He was the first to offer to the western world a detailed and systematic exposition of some of the central claims of the Hindu tradition, and his vibrant participation in the 1893 world’s parliament of religious marked a new phase in a

About the same time similar ideas on social reformers were popularised by Muslim reformers, Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan, 19 1875 he founded an educational institution, which developed into the Aligarh University later on. His philosophy influenced by western liberal and democratic traditions, aroused a measure of orthodox opposition which resulted in 1885 in the establishment of the Anjuman-e-Himayat-e- in Lahore.

In other words, the impact of westernization on social reformers was pervasive, consequently, the consequences was tremendous for instance Impact on institution; has influenced caste system, joint family system, it gave birth to new institutions like press, electoral system, Christian missionaries. Transvaluation; the system of slavery ended and members of all castes were free to get education, opportunities of education among women, equal economic opportunities. Governmental reforms; taken steps towards epidemics and effort to spread education. Re-definition of Hinduism; laudable act efforts on sati system, the curse of child marriage was put to an end widow marriage was sanctioned, efforts of eradicate the evil of untouchability was also made. Political and cultural movements; spread of education during the British period many schools, colleges and universities were opened to discriminate the modern education, press came into existence and many news papers and periodicals were published. Therefore, an educated class came into existence which became the vanguard of freedom movement.

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Excoriation Of Extremists towards Western Impact:

With the passes of time, perspectives changed and “extremists” as well as spiritual nationalists like Dayanand Saraswati , Lokmanya Tilak and began to highlight the negative aspects of alien rules as well as seek to instill a sense of national pride by claiming that the Indian heritage was not all the immoral and superstitious as the liberals had portrayed it to be. One of the main limitations of Indian renaissance was a lake of unity and a sound organization opposition from orthodox elements was there at every attempt of the reformers. For instance, Radhakanta Dev organised the Dharma Sabha to protest against reforms of Roy, Sayyid Ahmed Khan was attacked by the conservatives of Deoband movement.

Also the reformers lacked mass support as their ideas and programmes never went beyond the reach of middle classes and their problems.

Summary And Conclusion:

We are very lucky people today. We are free from foreign domination and also free from many other rigidities which our ancestors had to face. The Indian society in the first half of the 19th century was caste ridden, decadent and rigid. It followed certain practices which are not in keeping with humanitarian feelings or values but were still being followed in the name of region. That’s why the movement what was run by social reformers was more in religious nature rather than secular. Decades come and go but what remain are the impression and great acts of the social reformers. The impact of Western ideas gave birth to new awakening. The change that took place in the Indian social scenario is popularly known as the Renaissance. India is privileged to have number of great leaders like Dayanand Saraswati and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. They managed to bring revolutions by making noticeable changes in the society. The theme ‘social reformers’ deals with the socio-religious awakening, this was the result of the British era bringing about many changes in almost every aspect of Indian society. British imperialism led to the imposition of western ideas about rationality and scientific thinking on Indian society. With these western ideas some of the reformers took up the challenges of breaking the rigidities of caste-system, untouchability, while some fought for better education of girls and widow remarriage, abolition of sati system, property rights for women. The contributions, made by these, simple yet eminent souls towards humanity were really extraordinary. Their activities and thoughts guided the nation to entering into the new beginning.

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References:

Adi Hormusiji Doctor, (1997): Political Thinkers of Modern India (Pp. 3, 4).

Brsavaraj S. Naikar, (2007): Indian English Literature (Pp. 60, 61).

Charles Herman Heimsath, (2015): and Hindu Social Reform (pp. 56-58).

G.K. Madan, (1967): Indian Social Problems (Vol-2): Social Problems, Social Disorganization and Reconstruction (pp. 65-73).

Krishna Reddy, (2006): Indian Histo (Opt.) (pp.c113)

K.R. Sundarajan , Bithika Mukherji, (2003): Hindu Spirituality: Postclassical and Modern (pp.299-302).

Rajendra K. Sharma, (2004): Indian Society, Institutions and Change (pp.345-349).

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