Page 104 - SST Class 05

undeveloped. Due to high illiteracy, many social evils had Know It!

entered the Indian society, like casteism, superstitions, Sati v It was at the behest of Raja
custom etc. They decided to first root out these evils. They Ram Mohan Roy that the
Sati custom was abolished.
took steps to eradicate these social evils. This period of
cultural and social awakening is called Indian Renaissance .
,
The prominent social reformers of this period were Raja Ram Mohan Roy Henry
,
Derozio , Debendranath Tagore Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Swami Dayananda .

Raja Ram Henry Debendranath Ishwar Chandra Swami
Mohan Roy Derozio Tagore Vidyasagar Dayananda

Bankim Chandra Bhartendu Rabindranath Subramaniam Surendranath
Chatterjee Harishchandra Tagore Bharati Bannerjee
This social awakening resulted into the rise of Indian nationalism. The Indians started
newspapers which carried Indian sentiments and views. The important newspapers of
this period were the Indian Mirror , Kesari , Hindu , Tribune etc. The important writers
and poets of this time included Bankim Chandra Chatterjee , Bhartendu

Harishchandra , Rabindranath Tagore Subramaniam Bharati etc.
,

Formation of Political Organisations
The British government was little interested in the Indians’ welfare. The Indians felt
that their voice was not being heard by the British government. Thus, the need for an
organisation was felt which could raise their voice. So, political organisations came to
be formed from the middle of the nineteenth century. In the beginning, some regional

organisations were formed. The first national-level organisation was founded by
Surendranath Bannerjee in 1883. It was named the Indian National Conference .

Indian National Congress
The British were much surprised when the 1857 uprising had taken place. They did not
want any such event to recur. So, they wanted that an Indian organisation should be

104 Contemporary Social Science-5