Page 63 - SST Class 08

Sri Narayana Guru 2. ___________ led the movement for widow
remarriage in Maharashtra.
Narayana Guru was a great saint and social
reformer. He was born in the Ezhava community 3. ___________ was one of the founders of the
which faced many social injustice. He proclaimed Prathana Samaj.
the ideals of unity of all people within one sect, a 4. Periyar breathed his last at a ripe age of 95 in
single caste, and one guru. To promote his ‘ideas, ___________ .
he founded a spiritual organization called
5. Mahatma Gandhi founded the ___________ .
Narayan Dharma Paripalana Yogam . He founded
an ashram at Aluva in the year 1913, which was IMPLICATION OF THE WORK
called the Advaita Ashram . He also started a
Sanskrit School where children of all castes were PROGRESS OF SOCIAL REFORMERS
given education. He did not differentiate between The religious and social reformers played a key
people on the basis of their religion, caste, colour role in enlightening the people of Indian society
or beliefs. and laying down the basis of rational and liberal
thinking. It was largely due to their efforts that the
Mahatma Gandhi
British introduced legislation against social evils.
Mahatma Gandhi was much pained to see the The main features of the progress in social reforms
unfair division created by the caste system and in the post 1857 period were following.
untouchablity in particular. He desired abolition
of all types of inequalities—inequalities based q Regulation prohibiting infanticide had been
passed in 1795 and 1802.
upon birth, caste, creed, wealth etc. He worked
for the upliftment of the untouchables, whom he q In 1829, sati was banned.
called children of god . He started the publication
of a weekly paper Harijan , which was published q In 1843 slavery was declared as illegal.
in English and Hindi. He q In 1856, widow remarriage were made legal.
also founded the Sabarmati q In 1872 intercaste and inter communal
Ashram in Gujarat in 1916. marriages were made legal.
People of all castes and
q In 1929 according to the Sharda Act, the
religions were welcome to
join the ashram. He also marriageable age of girls was made 14 years
made tours in different parts and for the boys 18 years.
of the country to spread the Mahatma Gandhi q Other laws relating to women’s right to
message of the equality. property and entry in temple for Dalits were
passed.
Quiz Time
Fill in the blanks : These reforms had attained great importance
during the freedom struggle. Gandhiji also
1. As a result of child marriage, the girls often campaigned for abolition of untouchability.
became ___________ in childhood.

v In the 18th century, the Indian society was characterised by numerous social evils like the sati system,
polygamy, purdah, and untouchablity. Women and the downtrodden sections of the society were worst
affected by these evils.
v In Bengal, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshub Chandra Sen, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, etc. contributed a lot for
eradicating many of the prevailing evil practice and for the education of women.

Social Awakening in India
63