British India - Society

Indian society had deteriorated considerably in the years by the time the British had become the rulers of India. Social evils were crippling the society and situation was slowly getting out of hand. Indian society was hopelessly divided on the issue of caste, and the influence of the priests had reached astounding levels. The upper castes considered themselves superior to the lower castes, and some of the lowest castes were considered untouchables. It had reached such a level, that they were not even allowed to visit the same places of worship, and had to build their own. The society still believed in many backward and outdated ideas, and the position of women was extremely low. The practice of sati, where the widow was burnt alive together with her husband on the funeral pyre was now even more prevalent. Widows were not allowed to re-marry .The life of a widow was extremely hard, she was required to live a life of extreme austerity and moderation. The education of women had also largely suffered, for society believed that educated women would enslave their husbands. The practice of dowry (where the bride's family gives substantial gifts to the bridegroom at the time of marriage) had also become prevalent. Another notable feature was that the British, unlike previous foreign invaders did not make any attempt to integrate into Indian society, remaining aloof and considering themselves superior. However, their arrival brought new ideas and concepts, which began influencing elements within Indian society. Indians exposed to western ideas and education realized the sorry state that Indian society had fallen into. They realized that the reason India had fallen from greatness and was overrun by a small trading company was because of the internal weaknesses in its society.

The beginning of the nineteenth Century was a time in Indian history when many of the traditional beliefs and ideas were challenged by new radical ideas from the Western world. The British had just colonized India and gradually the effects began percolating down. New liberal ideas from the Western world were introduced, some of which were good and some were controversial. Although most of them were good for society in the long run, the common people were still very hesitant to accept them. Among the educated class as well, there were the conservatives. However, there were a section of Indians, who began to take a closer look at Indian society and recognized the evils that had embedded themselves into it. They were impressed in particular by modern science and the doctrines of reason and humanism. Thus a movement began, of social reformers who were keen to remove the evils and strengthen Indian society. Social reformers were people who were dedicated to regenerating Indian society. They wanted Indians to accept the new modern beliefs and make decisions based on logic and reason, and not on what their priests or customs forced them to do. They strived for a modern India where social evils, inequality, narrow-minded thinking etc. were all removed so that their society would return to its former glory. We shall now take a look at some of the notable social reformers of the period.

Raja Rammohun Roy

Raja Rammohun Roy was the central figure in this awakening and is rightly regarded as the first great leader of modern India. Raja Rammohun Roy was a social reformer who had a great love for eastern culture and values. However, he realized that it was decaying and one source of hope was the new ideas from the West. He had tremendous respect for Western culture and technology and believed that we could learn a lot from them. He can be described as a person whose thought process was a synthesis of the East and West, his goal was to take the good points of both cultures and evolve Indian society into that ideal.

Raja Rammohun Roy worked hard at this goal, he spent considerable time researching and studying cultures across the world. He knew over a dozen languages including Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, English, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He studied the Quran along with Persian and Arabic literature in Patna. He was so thorough that he chose to study the Bible in its original form and for that purpose he learnt Hebrew and Greek. Raja Rammohun Roy was a believer in the theory of one God, monotheism. After his research he wrote a book called the "Gift to Monotheists" in Persian. This book put forward weighty arguments, which supported the theory of one God.

He settled in Calcutta in 1814 and set up the Atmiya Sabha. This organization carried out a persistent struggle against the social evils of the society, and many young men joined this organization. He opposed the worship of idols, the caste system and the prevalence of meaningless religious rituals. He held that all ancient texts preached monotheism. He translated the Vedas and five of the principal Upanishads into Bengali to prove his point. Although Raja Rammohun Roy cited ancient authority for his views, he relied largely on the power of human reason. He placed human reason above any scriptures or traditions. Raja Rammohun Roy did not restrict himself to Hinduism, but also published works on reforming Christianity.

Raja Rammohun Roy did not want India to simply blindly ape the West but to be able to learn from it and refine and reform its own culture. He put forth the idea that the new India would mix the best of both worlds and would have a truly rich and progressive culture. He stood against the imposition of western culture on India, and stood for the reform of Hinduism and opposed its supersession by Christianity.

In 1828 he founded a new religious organization called the Brahma Samaj later to be known as the Brahmo Samaj, whose purpose was to purify Hinduism and preach the ideals of the worship of one God. It was based on the twin pillars of reason, the Vedas and the Upanishads. It condemned social evils and placed human dignity above all else. Raja Rammohun Roy was a man of action, he supported many causes, which were just. His agitation against the social evil of sati played an important part in enlightening people's minds. He was also a propagator of modern education. He played an important part in developing Indian journalism. He was as fearless as a lion and would not hesitate to support a just cause.

Raja Rammohun Roy was boycotted and ostracized by the orthodox sections of the society. They condemned him for criticizing idolatry and his philosophic admiration of Christianity and Islam. They organized a social boycott against him, which even his mother joined. Raja Rammohun Roy ignored all these pressures and pushed ahead in achieving his ideal of a new India.

Henry Vivian Derozio

Henry Vivian Derozio was the founder and driving force behind the Young Bengal movement, a group of radical young people who were keen on reforming Indian society. Henry Vivian Derozio believed that India was a great country, which had lost and forgotten its glory, which was evident in some of his poems. Henry Vivian Derozio was a prodigy and at a very young age became a lecturer at the Hindu College in Calcutta. He preached his radical ideas to his students there and finally the College removed him. He died shortly afterwards of cholera at the young age of 22. Even during his short existence he had influenced a large number of young people and the Derozians as they would later come to be known attacked social evils at every level. The reason they were not very successful was because they were not able to translate their ideas into actual work. They could not mobilize a large movement, as they had no link with the common man. However they carried forth a number of the ideas of Raja Rammohun Roy and attacked the British government for many of its decisions.

The work of Debendranath Tagore and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

The Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Rammohun Roy had existed without much significance but was revived by Debendranath Tagore. He was a product of the best of traditional Indian learning and the new western education. He founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha in 1839, which propagated the ideas of Raja Rammohun Roy. In time it came to include followers of Raja Rammohun Roy and Derozians. It also included many independent thinkers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Akhay Kumar Dutt.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great social reformer of the period and the probable successor to Raja Rammohun Roy. He also believed in the blending of western and eastern cultures. He contributed significantly to the development of Sanskrit and Bengali literature. He fought vehemently for widow rights and pushed hard for widow remarriage, which resulted in a law that made it legal. He protested against child marriage and worked for women's rights. He worked hard at promoting education for women, which was an uphill task. People believed that educated girls could lose their husbands, or that girls who had received western education would turn their husbands into slaves. In spite of pressure from society and threats on his life Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar continued his struggle against the social evils that plagued Indian society.

After the revolt of 1857, the work of social reform still continued and was taken up by people like Ramakishna, Vivekananda (a disciple of Ramakrishna who founded the Ramakrishna mission), Swami Dayanad (founded the Arya Samaj), Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muhammed Iqbal amongst several others.

The reformers were all great figures and are still remembered and revered today. Most of them gave up their own comfortable lives and struggled to reform Indian society. Their efforts helped greatly in reforming Indian society and in the enactment of laws that began to prevent many social evils like sati etc. Some of their efforts continue even today, for instance the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj are still active organizations today and continue the work started by Raja Rammohun Roy and Swami Dayanand. These reformers gave the Indian people a different viewpoint to everything they had earlier believed in, and reformed India into the tolerant and modern country that it is today.

reat country, which had lost and forgotten its glory, which was evident in some of his poems. Henry Vivian Derozio was a prodigy and at a very young age became a lecturer at the Hindu College in Calcutta. He preached his radical ideas to his students there and finally the College removed him. He died shortly afterwards of cholera at the young age of 22. Even during his short existence he had influenced a large number of young people and the Derozians as they would later come to be known attacked social evils at every level. The reason they were not very successful was because they were not able to translate their ideas into actual work. They could not mobilize a large movement, as they had no link with the common man. However they carried forth a number of the ideas of Raja Rammohun Roy and attacked the British government for many of its decisions.

The work of Debendranath Tagore and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

The Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Rammohun Roy had existed without much significance but was revived by Debendranath Tagore. He was a product of the best of traditional Indian learning and the new western education. He founded the Tatvabodhini Sabha in 1839, which propagated the ideas of Raja Rammohun Roy. In time it came to include followers of Raja Rammohun Roy and Derozians. It also included many independent thinkers like Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Akhay Kumar Dutt.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great social reformer of the period and the probable successor to Raja Rammohun Roy. He also believed in the blending of western and eastern cultures. He contributed significantly to the development of Sanskrit and Bengali literature. He fought vehemently for widow rights and pushed hard for widow remarriage, which resulted in a law that made it legal. He protested against child marriage and worked for women's rights. He worked hard at promoting education for women, which was an uphill task. People believed that educated girls could lose their husbands, or that girls who had received western education would turn their husbands into slaves. In spite of pressure from society and threats on his life Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar continued his struggle against the social evils that plagued Indian society.

After the revolt of 1857, the work of social reform still continued and was taken up by people like Ramakishna, Vivekananda (a disciple of Ramakrishna who founded the Ramakrishna mission), Swami Dayanad (founded the Arya Samaj), Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muhammed Iqbal amongst several others.

The reformers were all great figures and are still remembered and revered today. Most of them gave up their own comfortable lives and struggled to reform Indian society. Their efforts helped greatly in reforming Indian society and in the enactment of laws that began to prevent many social evils like sati etc. Some of their efforts continue even today, for instance the Brahmo Samaj and Arya Samaj are still active organizations today and continue the work started by Raja Rammohun Roy and Swami Dayanand. These reformers gave the Indian people a different viewpoint to everything they had earlier believed in, and reformed India into the tolerant and modern country that it is today.