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system and worked towards its abolition. He tragedy of widowhood forced on young women.
opened the doors for lower castes to study Sanskrit He was best known for his ardent advocacy for
language and literature which was earlier allowed the protection of the rights of women and for his
to the Brahmins only. He also encouraged non- activities against child marriage.
Brahmins students to join the Sanskrit College. F ind Outind Out
His greatest contribution was to cause of widow’s What were the challenges faced by the social
uplift. His efforts were appreciated by governor reformers of the 19th century?
general Lord Dalhousie. The Widow Remarriage Act
1856 , was brought about by the uprising efforts of D.K. Karve opened an institution in Poona to
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. He was the inspiration educate young widows and gave them
behind the first lawful Hindu widow re-marriage on employment as teachers in girl’s school so that
7 December 1856. they would feel that they were not economic
bounders on their families.
Keshub Chandra Sen was a great
pioneer in eradicating the evils Jyotiba Phule and his wife started a girls’ school in
affecting the women as purdah, Poona. He also actively propagated remarriage of
polygamy, sati and neglect of the widows.
education. On his death, Max Ramabai Ranade established many social
Muller , the great historian, said institutions like Seva Sadan for rehabilitation of
that India has lost its most Keshub Chandra Sen
eminent son. distressed women. She vigorously worked for 25
years for women’s education, legal rights, equal
Swami Vivekananda was a great follower of Shri status and general awakening. She encouraged
Ramkrishna. He had a firm belief in humanism and them to enter the nursing profession. Thus more
equality of women. He made great efforts for and more women came forward to learn nursing.
women education and equal status for women in
society. Activity
Besides, Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Organise a debate in the class on the topic, ‘Is the
Vidyasagar, Swami Vivekananda, Keshub Chandra women of the 21st century really empowered’ with
Sen, Bengal produced many great social reformers the examples of famous women personalities.
such as Rabindranath Tagore, Dwarka Nath Tagore
etc. who played an important role in eradicating CASTE AND SOCIAL REFORMS
the social evils against women in Bengal. The caste system, which had existed in India since
ancient times, had divided society into high and
MAHARASHTRA low castes. In Hindu society, the Brahmins were
the most privileged caste, while the outcastes
In Maharashtra, reformers like Mahadev Govind
were the most underprivileged. In the subsequent
Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar founded the
Prathana Samaj in 1867 which opposed social years members belonging to the higher caste
evils like sati, child marriage and promoted the began ill-treating people belonging to lower caste.
And gradually, it became ingrained as a social
cause of female education and widow remarriage.
This was similar to the Brahmo Samaj. Ranade practice. The people belonging to lower caste
founded the National Social Conference in 1887 were resigned to their lot. They were uneducated
and served the people who belonged higher caste.
to focus on social reforms. The conference
advocated intercaste marriages and opposed They were deprived of basic social and economic
kulinism and polygamy. opportunities. They had to bear a lot of
restrictions. They were not allowed to enter
Parsi journalist Behramji Malabari captivated the temples or draw water from the common wells.
attention of the public with his article in The They were thought to have a polluting effect on
Times on the evils of child marriage and the
Contemporary Social Science-8
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