Women, Caste and Reform Women empowerment is one term that most of you are familiar with in today’s times. Today, we find women leading in almost all walks of life- be it in the army or in the medical sector or in the field of scientific research. But the situation was not the same in our country some 200 years back. It is quite beyond our imagination the extent of humiliation women had to endure in the past. Women went through a lot of adversities. Child marriages, polygamy, the humiliation of widows were very much common at that time. One of the obnoxious practices of that time was the ‘Sati Daha Pratha’ or simply ‘Sati’ in which a woman had to die after the death of her husband in the same pyre. CBSE Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 8 talks about these social evils and how society was freed from them. Area of Concerns: ● The major area of concern was the condition of women as a whole. There was a stupendous level of gender discrimination in India at that time. Women were simply treated as commodities. ww.vedantu.com ● Young girls were married off with elderly men even before they attained 10 years of age. Many a time, the grooms were dying old men. After the death of these men, the widowed women were made to die on the same pyre as their husbands’. The horrifying practise of burning the innocent women to death was called ‘Sati Daha Pratha’ and the women were hailed as ‘Sati.’ It was one of the worst practices in India. ● Another area of concern was the discrimination prominent between men and women. ● People were also segregated in terms of caste. The so-called upper castes of the society consisted of Brahmins and Kshatriyas. Subsequently, the traders and moneylenders were called Vaishyas and usually placed under the upper castes. ● The bottom-most caste was termed as the Shudras and artisans and peasants like weavers, potters came under this caste. ● The lower castes were treated as ‘untouchables’ by the upper castes. It was another shameful practise within the religion. ww.vedantu.com ● The reform was initiated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and the situation had started to change. ● The reform was not so easy. It was achieved through several movements against the supporters of these practices. Beginning of the Era of Change ● During the initial stage of the nineteenth century, there were several debates and arguments regarding social customs and practices. ● New types of communications were established which included books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and pamphlets. ● These means of communications were very easily accessible. ● Common people were able to express their thoughts. ● A new and reformed thought had loomed large towards change. ● People like Raja Rammohun Roy led the movement towards change. ● Raja Rammohun Roy also played a very crucial role in expanding women education in India. It was Raja ww.vedantu.com Rammohun Roy who was the proposer of expansion of western education and women education in India. ● The movement against the notorious ‘Sati’ was initiated by Raja Rammohun Roy and was banned by William Lord Bentinck. It was one of the most famous movements in the history of India. ● Another famous reformer during this period was Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was the main architect of the Widow Remarriage Act. He introduced several ancient Sanskrit texts in support of widow remarriage. ● In the southern part of India, the movement against widow remarriage was carried out by Veersalingam Pantulu. ● Widow remarriage was also supported by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, one of the renowned social reformers and establisher of Arya Samaj. Women Education in India: ● Most of the reformers had realized the significance of women education. ww.vedantu.com ● Several schools for girls were established by Vidyasagar in Calcutta and some other reformers in Bombay. ● The main constraint for girls in attaining schools was the way of thinking of their family members. Most of the family members of the girls thought that the schools would take away their girls from them. ● Moreover, the practise of going outside was not entertained by the family members of the girls. For this purpose, girls were taught by either father or husband throughout the mid-nineteenth century. ● Arya Samaj in Punjab and Jyotirao Phule in Maharashtra had established several schools for girls. ● One of the major practices at that time was teaching of women by women. ● Begums of Bhopal had played a crucial role in promoting education in India in the Muslim community. ● Several schools for girls were established in Patna and Calcutta by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. ww.vedantu.com ● Women education had gained an escalation after 1880. Since then, women had started to enter universities, and some of them even became doctors. ● Some of the major women reformers of this era were Tarabai Shinde, Pandita Ramabai etc. ● By the beginning of 1900 women were presented with opportunities to carry on with their education. ● In spite of notable reforms, the orthodox mentality of the family members of the women was the main constraint of the women education in India. ● In the early part of the twentieth-century political pressure, groups were created by women to enact laws for female suffrage (the right to vote) and improved physical condition and education for women. ● Some of the above-mentioned reformers had participated in various nationalist and socialist movements from the 1920s. ww.vedantu.com Caste and Social Reforms ● The caste system was a curse in ancient India. This caste system is still persistent in several parts of India. ● The initial reformers of the caste system were Raja Rammohun Roy and Prarthana Samaj. ● Paramhans Mandali was established in Bombay in view of the abolition of the caste system. ● Various schools were established by the Christian Missionaries especially for the tribal groups and lower caste children. ● Demand for labour was increased due to the expansion of cities. Various types of jobs were created such as coolies, diggers, carriers, bricklayers, sewage cleaners, sweepers, palanquin bearers, rickshaw pullers etc. Most of the labourers belonged to the lower castes. Few of them went abroad to get rid of the oppression of the upper castes. ● There were several movements to drive away from the inequality and caste-based society in India. The Satnami movement, initiated by Ghasidas, was one of these. ww.vedantu.com ● Haridas Thakur’s Matua Movement was another notable movement to upgrade the social status of the Chandala cultivators. ● Each and every movement was led by some non- Brahmin people. Their main motto was to form a sense of self-esteem among the lower caste people. ● One of the most famous movements of lower castes was founded by Jyotirao Phule. His most notable work in the movement was the book written by himself named ‘Gulamgiri’. The actual meaning of Gulamgiri is slavery. The book was dedicated to all the Americans who fought to free the slaves of America. His basic idea was to connect the people of lower castes in India and the black slaves in America. ● Another renowned activist of the anti-caste movement was none other than B.R. Ambedkar. He had conducted several movements between 1927 to 1935 for entering in the temples by the lower castes. ● The famous non-Brahmin movement commenced in the early twentieth century. The major initiative ww.vedantu.com of the movement was taken by the non-Brahmins who acquired education and influence. ● The main founder of the non-Brahmin movement was E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker or Periyar. He belonged to a middle-class family. He was also the founder of the self-respect movement. Periyar also became a member of Congress and later left it because the caste system also prevailed inside the Congress too. Important Questions and Answers Q1. Write a short note on Brahmo Samaj Ans. The Brahmo Samaj was established in the year 1828 by Raja Rammohan Roy and Debendranath Tagore to restrict all types of idolatry and sacrifice. The members of Brahmo Samaj were the firm believers of Upanishads. It restricted the members from criticising other religious practices. The main aim of Brahmo Samaj was to architect the ideals of religions- mainly of Hinduism and Christianity. They found the merits and demerits of both religions. It is mainly based on Brahmoism, which again is a monotheistic movement ww.vedantu.com for reform of the Hindu religion. The Samaj itself and the members did not discriminate between religion, creed, caste or any other variable. Q2. What was the role played by Derozio and Young Bengal? Ans. Fundamental ideas were promoted by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio. He was the teacher of Hindu College, Calcutta. He always encouraged his students to question all authority. He had initiated the famous Young Bengal Movement. The main target of the movement was to attack each and every tradition and custom, demand education for women and campaign for the freedom of contemplation and expressions. The Young Bengals revolted against the religious and social structure of the society, especially the Hindu society and rooted for radical thinking. Krishna Mohan Banerjee, Pery Chand Mitra, Radhanath Sikdr are a few prominent names of the Young Bengal Movement. Q3. Write a short note on the Aligarh Movement: ww.vedantu.com Ans. Sayyid Ahmed Khan had established the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in the year 1875. In the years that followed, the college was converted into Aligarh Muslim University. The university offered modern education including western science to the Muslims. The establishment of the University was termed as Aligarh Movement. The Aligarh Movement had played a very vital role in the educational sector reform movement in India.