Social reform movements in the 19th and early 20th century

The social reform movements of the 19th and early 20th century were India’s response to the deep challenges thrown up by colonial rule. While pre-colonial India had seen movements against social discrimination — central to Buddhism, the Bhakti tradition, and Sufi movements — what made the 19th century different was the modern context and the creative mix of ideas. Reformers drew simultaneously on modern Western liberalism and on a fresh reading of traditional Indian texts.

The mix of ideas

Reformers did not simply borrow from the West or blindly return to the past. They combined both.

• Raja Ram Mohun Roy attacked the practice of sati on two grounds: appeals to humanitarian and natural rights doctrines (modern Western ideas), and appeals to Hindu shastras (traditional authority).
• Ranade wrote The Texts of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows and Vedic Authorities for Widow Marriage, arguing that the shastras themselves sanctioned widow remarriage.
• The content of the new education was modernising and liberal. Courses in the humanities and social sciences drew from the literature of the European Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment. Their themes were humanistic, secular, and liberal.
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan interpreted Islam to emphasise the validity of free enquiry (ijtihad) and pointed to similarities between Koranic revelations and the laws of nature discovered by modern science.
• Kandukuri Viresalingam wrote The Sources of Knowledge, showing his familiarity with navya-nyaya logic, while also translating the works of the biologist Julius Huxley.

The modern framework of change

Sociologist Satish Saberwal identified three aspects of the modern framework that shaped reform in colonial India:

1. Modes of communication — New technologies sped up the movement of ideas. The printing press, telegraph, microphone, steamship, and railways allowed reformers from Punjab and Bengal to exchange ideas with reformers from Madras and Maharashtra. Keshav Chandra Sen of Bengal visited Madras in 1864. Pandita Ramabai travelled across the country. Christian missionaries reached remote corners of present-day Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.
2. Forms of organisation — Modern social organisations were set up, such as the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal and the Arya Samaj in Punjab. The All-India Muslim Ladies Conference (Anjuman-e-Khawatn-e-Islam) was founded in 1914.
3. Nature of ideas — New ideas of liberalism, freedom, homemaking, marriage, and new roles for mothers and daughters emerged. There was a new self-conscious pride in culture and tradition.

The role of public debate and media

Reformers debated not just in public meetings but through newspapers and journals. Translations of writings from one Indian language to another were common. For instance, Vishnu Shastri published a Marathi translation of Vidyasagar’s book in Indu Prakash in 1868.

The question of education

The value of education became central. It was seen as crucial for a nation to become modern while retaining its ancient heritage. The idea of female education was debated intensely. Jotiba Phule opened the first school for women in Pune. Reformers argued that for society to progress, women had to be educated. Some believed that in pre-modern India, women were educated; others contested this, saying it was true only of a privileged few. Attempts to justify female education thus drew on both modern and traditional ideas.

Reinterpreting tradition

Reformers actively debated the meanings of tradition and modernity. Jotiba Phule recalled the glory of the pre-Aryan age, while Bal Gangadhar Tilak emphasised the glory of the Aryan period. The 19th century reform movement initiated a period of questioning, reinterpretation, and both intellectual and social growth.

Common themes, significant differences

The varied social reform movements had common themes, but also significant differences.

• For some reformers, concerns were confined to the problems faced by upper-caste, middle-class women and men.
• For others, the injustices suffered by discriminated castes were central questions.
• For some, social evils had emerged because of a decline of the true spirit of Hinduism.
• For others, caste and gender oppression was intrinsic to the religion itself.

Debates within Muslim communities …