SST GRADE -8 Indian Renaissance

How did Ram Mohan Roy’s propagate his ideas?

Ram Mohan Roy did not however believe in blindly aping the — west, north did he believe in blindly relying on India’s own past. The ideal situation would be to balance the best of the East and the West and reconstruct society accordingly.

What were his views on religion?
A comparative study of the Vedas, the Koran and the Bible (the old Testament and New Testament) convinced Raja Ram Mohan Roy about the basic unity in the fundamental truths of all religions. According to him religion was central to an individual’s life. Every aspect of social life revolved around religious beliefs. He propagated the religious ideas based on the philosophy of the Vedas.

1. There is only one God who is the creater and preserver of the universe/monotheism)
2. All men are children of the ‘one God of all human beings’ and therefore equal (brotherhood of man)
3.  It was not necessary to worship, idols and perform rituals and sacrifices. God could be reached through prayer and devotion.

With reference to the reform movements in various parts of India, discuss:
(a) Reform movement in South India
(b) The Aligarh Movement
(c) Reforms among the Sikhs
(a) Veeresalingam, a prominent social reformer in South India,was deeply disturbed by the deplorable condition of Women in general and widow remarriage and education for women in particular. Sri Narayan Gum carried on a lifelong struggle against the caste system. His crusade was based on the principle of  one caste, one religion, one god for mankind.

(b) Sir Syed Ahmed Khan started a reform movement called the Aligarh Movement. He had a significant role in awakening the Muslims to the need to change with the times. He believed that only through Western education and knowledge of English, the Muslim community could progress and scientific temper be developed. His greatest achievement was the foundation of Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875. This College later on grew into the Aligarh Muslim University.
(c) The Singh Sabha was set up in Amritsar and Lahore for the religious and social reforms among Sikhs. It set up the Khalsa college in Amritsar and opened many schools and promoted the Gurumukhi script and Punjabi literature.

Write short notes on the following:
(a) Ram Mohan Roy’s achievements in the field of education
(b) Jyotiba Phule
(c) Reforms among Parsees

(a) Raja Mohan Roy opened an English medium school which combined traditional Indian learning with Western knowledge. He assisted David Hare, a Scottish watchmaker,to establish the Hindu College in Calcutta. He also founded the Vedanta College which offered courses of study in Indian learning and Western sciences.

(b) Jyotirao Govindrao Phule and his wife, Savitribai Phule, were dedicated social reformers in Maharashtra. Jyotirao was popularly known as Mahatma Phule. He challenged the superiority of the brahmanas and the authority of the scriptures. He took up the cause of the low-caste members of society. He organized Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 to mobilize the low-caste members and oppressed sections of society in a movement for equality. He also pressed for the education of girls.
(c) In reform movement among the Parsees an association was set up and it started a movement against religious orthodoxy. Modem ideas and changes were introduced to elevate the position of the Parsee women. Education of woman, raising the marriageable age of girls and widow remarriage were some of the major concerns of the reforms.

Many great humanists and social reformers propagated their ideas in an effort to arrest the stagnation of Indian society. In this context, discuss:
(a) The Arya Samaj
(b) Vivekananda’s belief and achievements
(c) The Prarthana Samaj

(a) Swami Dayanand founded a society known as Arya Samaj in 1875.
The Social reforms advocated by Arya Samaj are on the following practices

1.  Caste system and untouchability
2. Child marriage

The Samaj supported and encouraged

1. Education for Women
2. Widow remarriage

(b) Swamiji proclaimed the essential unity of all religions and emphasized the importance of religious tolerance, brotherhood, peace and harmony among Indians. He condenmed the caste system social and economic inequalities, superstitions and ritualism and urged Indians to act responsibly
(c) It was founded in Bombay Under the supervision of R.G. Bhandarkar and Mahadev Govind Ranade. It worked on the same lines as the Brahmo Samaj and worked for the abolition of caste system, polygamy, child marriage.

With reference to Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, an outstanding social and religious reformer, discuss his contribution in the following fields:
(a) Education in Sanskrit College
(b) Women’s education
(c) Widow remarriage

(a)Education in Sanskrit College:
Vidyasagar denounced caste discrimination and as the principal of the Sanskrit College he admitted non-brahmana students. He was strongly opposed to the monopoly of the brahmanas on the study of Sanskrit and the ancient Vedic texts.
(b)Women’s education:
Vidyasagar was a staunch supporter of women’s education and helped Drink water Bethune to establish the first Indian school for girl in Calcutta in 1849. As inspector of school he opened thirty five schools for girls.

(c)Widow remarriage:
The great misery and sufferings of the Hindu widows in Bengal pained him deeply. He started a bold movement advocating the remarriage of widows. His efforts bore fruit. Lord Dalhousie passed the widow Remarriage Act in 1856. The first legal Hindu Widow remarriage was celebrated in Calcutta in December 1857, with the support of Vidyasagar.

he central figure of the Indian Renaissance was Raja Ram Mohan Roy-the pioneer of the Modern Age in India. In this context answer the following questions:

(a) Discuss briefly Raja Ram Mohan’s views and ideas on religious reform of Hindu society.
(b) What was the programme of the Brahmo Samaj?
(c) Explain Raja Ram Mohan’s views on education.

(a) To reform society, it was important to first reform religion. He propagated the following religious ideas based on rationalism and the philosophy of the Vedas.

1. There is only one God who is the creator and preserver of the universe.
2. All men are children of the one god of all human beings and therefore equal.
3. It was not necessary to worship idols and perform rituals and sacrifices. God could be reached through prayer and devotion.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy condemned the domination of the priests who were responsible for misleading the people and perpetuating ritualism and socio-religious practices like sati.
He published Bengali translations of the Vedas and the Upanishads to prove that all the ancient religious texts preached monotheism.
The Brahmo Samaj launched a relentless struggle against the following evil social practices:

1.  Sati Practice
2. Caste distinctions and untouchability
3. Child Marriage
4. Poloygamy

The Brahmo Samaj supported:

1. Education of women
2. Widow remarriage

(c) Raja Mohan Roy was a great champion of Modem Western education. He believed it would serve as an instrument for the spread of progressive ideas and accelerate the pace of social change. He believed that the salvation of India lay in adopting western principles of reason and humanism and acquiring the knowledge of Modem science.