India as a country is known for its glorious past, blossoming present and is believed to witness a

prodigious future. But the present status that we as Indians celebrate is not an outcome of an
unprompted growth but is due to the anticipation shown by some luminary and lionhearted people
who came ahead to shape the present India. It is very important for all of us to acknowledge such
reform drives in case we want to qualify competitive exams like SSC, Banking etc. Let’s look at the
list of social and religious movements in India in a way that we take pride in being Indians as well as
register them in our minds as GK Notes for our upcoming or ongoing exams.

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Emergence of Social and Religious Movements in India

In the 19th Century, many dynamic & thoughtful people from all parts of the country came forward
and joined hands to begin various social and religious reform drives to eradicate the ordeals of being
the oldest civilization of the world.

During that time a major population of India offended the culture and beliefs brought in by the west
but some gradually understood that modern western thoughts will provide the key to a new and
developed society.

The ideas that all the reform leaders of the time had in common were –

 One God and basic unity of all religions.

 Devalue priesthood, rituals, idolatry and polytheism.
 Improve the status of girls & women in the country.
 Foster feeling of self-respect, self-reliance and patriotism.

Outcome – Social and Religious Movements in India

The determination of the reform leaders finally brought our society on a path to social, religious and
mental well being. Impact of modern western culture soon gave birth to a new awakening in India.

The major outcomes of the social & religious reform movements were –

 Creation of national awakening among the masses.

 The revival of Hinduism as a tolerant.
 The onslaught on the indignities committed on women, untouchables & other oppressed
sections of the society.
 An attack on the hereditary character and rigidness of the caste system.
 The sense of co-existence of cultures and religions.

After understanding the emergence and impact of the social & religious movements in India, let’s
now look at the List of Social and Religious Movements in India.

Read below articles and boost your exam preparation:

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Down here is the detailed list of Social and Religious Movements in India listed along with the
founder, year and place of origin. Run through the list of social & religious movements in India
properly and devise a strategy to remember them! kabya

SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS:

PART I
What are Social Religious Reform Movements?
 The Indian society in the first half of the 19th century was caste ridden,
decadent and rigid.

o It followed certain practices which are not in keeping with humanitarian

feelings or values but were still being followed in the name of religion.
 Some enlightened Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chand
Vidyasagar, Dayanand Saraswati and many others started to bring in reforms
in society so that it could face the challenges of the West.
 The reform movements could broadly be classified into two categories:

o Reformist movements like the Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the
Aligarh Movement.
o Revivalist movements like Arya Samaj and the Deoband movement.
 The reformist as well as the revivalist movement depended, to varying degrees,
on an appeal to the lost purity of the religion they sought to reform.
 The only difference between one reform movement and the other lay in the
degree to which it relied on tradition or on reason and conscience.
What are the Factors which gave Rise to Reform Movements?
 Presence of colonial government on Indian soil: When the British came to
India they introduced the English language as well as certain modern ideas.

o These ideas were those of liberty, social and economic equality, fraternity,
democracy and justice which had a tremendous impact on Indian society.
 Religious and Social Ills: Indian society in the nineteenth century was caught
in a vicious web created by religious superstitions and social obscurantism.
 Depressing Position of Women: The most distressing was the position of
women.

o The killing of female infants at birth was prevalent.

o Child marriage was practiced in society.
o The practice of polygamy prevailed in many parts of country.
o The widow remarriage was not allowed and the sati pratha was prevalent on
a large scale.
 Spread of Education and Increased Awareness of the World: From the late
19th century a number of European and Indian scholars started the study of
ancient India’s history, philosophy, science, religions and literature.

o This growing knowledge of India’s past glory provided to the Indian people a
sense of pride in their civilization.
o It also helped the reformers in their work of religious and social reform for
their struggle against all types of inhuman practices, superstitions etc.
 Awareness of the Outside World: During the last decades of the nineteenth
century, the rising tide of nationalism and democracy also found expression in
movements to reform and democratise the social institutions and religious
outlook of the Indian people.

o Factors such as growth of nationalist sentiments, emergence of new

economic forces, spread of education, impact of modern Western ideas and
culture and increased awareness of the world strengthened the resolve to
reform.
What was the Brahmo Samaj Movement?
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded Brahmo Sabha in 1828, which was later
renamed as Brahmo Samaj.
 Its chief aim was the worship of the eternal God. It was against priesthood,
rituals and sacrifices.
 It focused on prayers, meditation and reading of the scriptures. It believed in
the unity of all religions.
 It was the first intellectual reform movement in modern India. It led to the
emergence of rationalism and enlightenment in India which indirectly
contributed to the nationalist movement.
 It was the forerunner of all social, religious and political movements of modern
India. It split into two in 1866, namely Brahmo Samaj of India led by Keshub
Chandra Sen and Adi Brahmo Samaj led by Debendranath Tagore.
 Prominent Leaders: Debendranath Tagore, Keshub Chandra Sen, Pt. Sivnath
Shastri, and Rabindranath Tagore.

o Debendra Nath Tagor headed the Tattvabodhini Sabha (founded in

1839) which, along with its organ Tattvabodhini Patrika in Bengali, was
devoted to the systematic study of India’s past with a rational outlook and to
the propagation of Rammohan’s ideas.
 Rammohan Roy progressive ideas met with strong opposition from orthodox
elements like Raja Radhakant Deb who organised the Dharma Sabha to
counter Brahmo Samaj propaganda.
What was the Prarthana Samaj?
 The Prarthana Samaj was established in Bombay by Dr. Atma Ram
Pandurang in 1876 with the objective of rational worship and social reform.
 The two great members of this Samaj were R.C. Bhandarkar and Justice
Mahadev Govind Ranade.

o They devoted themselves to the work of social reform such as inter-caste

dining, inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage and improvement of the lot
of women and depressed classes.
 The four point social agenda of Prarthana Samaj were

o Disapproval of caste system

o Women education
o Widow remarriage
o Raising the age of marriage for both males and females
 Mahavdev Govind Ranade was the founder of the Widow Remarriage
Association (1861) and the Deccan Education Society.

o He established the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha as well.

o To Ranade, religious reform was inseparable from social reform.
o He also believed that if religious ideas were rigid there would be no success
in social, economic and political spheres.
 o Although Prarthana Samaj was powerfully influenced by the ideas of
Brahmo Samaj, it did not insist upon a rigid exclusion of idol worship and a
definite break from the caste system.
What was the Satyashodhak Samaj?
 Jyotiba Phule organized a powerful movement against upper caste domination
and brahminical supremacy.
 He founded the SatyashodhakSamaj (Truth Seekers’ Society) in 1873.
 The main aims of the movement were:

o Social service
o Spread of education among women and lower caste people
 Phule’s works, Sarvajanik Satyadharma and Gulamgiri, became a source of
inspiration for the common masses.
 Phule used the symbol of Rajah Bali as opposed to the brahmins’ symbol of
Rama.
 Phule aimed at the complete abolition of the caste system and socio-
economic inequalities.
 This movement gave a sense of identity to the depressed communities as a
class against the Brahmins, who were seen as the exploiters.
What was the Arya Samaj Movement?
 The Arya Samaj Movement was revivalist in form though not in content, as
the result of a reaction to Western influences.
 The first Arya Samaj unit was formally set up by Dayananda Saraswati at
Bombay in 1875 and later the headquarters of the Samaj were established at
Lahore.
 Guiding principles of the Arya Samaj are:

o God is the primary source of all true knowledge;

o God, as all-truth, all-knowledge, almighty, immortal, creator of Universe, is
alone worthy of worship;
o The Vedas are the books of true knowledge;
o An Arya should always be ready to accept truth and abandon untruth;
o Dharma, that is, due consideration of right and wrong, should be the guiding
principle of all actions;
 o The principal aim of the Samaj is to promote world’s well-being in the
material, spiritual and social sense;
o Everybody should be treated with love and justice;
o Ignorance is to be dispelled and knowledge increased;
o One’s own progress should depend on the uplift of all others;
o Social well-being of mankind is to be placed above an individual’s well-
being.
 The nucleus for this movement was provided by the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic
(D.A.V.) schools, established first at Lahore in 1886, which sought
to emphasise the importance of Western education.
 The Arya Samaj was able to give self-respect and self confidence to the
Hindus which helped to undermine the myth of superiority of whites and the
Western culture.
 The Arya Samaj started the shuddhi (purification) movement to reconvert to
the Hindu fold the converts to Christianity and Islam.

o This led to increasing communalisation of social life during the 1920s and
later snowballed into communal political consciousness.
 The work of the Swami after his death was carried forward by Lala Hansraj,
Pandit Gurudutt, Lala Lajpat Rai and Swami Shraddhanand, among others.
 Dayananda’s views were published in his famous work, Satyarth Prakash (The
True Exposition).
What was the Young Bengal Movement?
 The young Bengal movement was a movement led by thinkers of the Hindu
College of Calcutta. These thinkers were also known by the name Derozians.

o This name was given to them after one teacher of the same college, Henry
Louis Vivian Derozio.
 Derozio promoted radical ideas through his teaching and by organizing an
association for debate and discussions on literature, philosophy, history and
science.

o They cherished the ideals of the French Revolution (1789 A.D.) and the
liberal thinking of Britain.
o The Derozians also supported women’s rights and education.
 The main reason for their limited success was the prevailing social
condition at that time, which was not ripe for the adoption of radical ideas.

o Further, support from any other social group or class was absent.
o The Derozians lacked any real link with the masses, for instance, they
failed to take up the peasants’ cause.
o In fact their radicalism was bookish in character. But, despite their
limitations, the Derozians carried forward Roy’s tradition of public education
on social, economic, and political questions.
What was the Ramakrishna Movement?
 Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a mystic who sought religious salvation in
the traditional ways of renunciation, meditation and devotion.
 He was a saintly person who recognized the fundamental oneness of all
religions and emphasized that there were many roads to God and salvation and
the service of man is the service of God.
 The teaching of Ramakrishna Paramhansa formed the basis of
the Ramakrishna Movement.
 The two objectives of the movements were:

o To bring into existence a band of monks dedicated to a life of renunciation

and practical spirituality, from among whom teachers and workers would be
sent out to spread the Universal message of Vedanta as illustrated in the
life of Ramakrishna.
o In conjunction with lay disciples to carry on preaching, philanthropic and
charitable works, looking upon all men, women and children, irrespective of
caste, creed or color, as veritable manifestations of the Divine.
 Swami Vivekananda established Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, named after
his Guru Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa. The institution did extensive
educational and philanthropic work in India.

o He also represented India in the first Parliament of Religion held in Chicago

(U.S.) in 1893.
 He used the Ramakrishna Mission for humanitarian relief and social work.
 The mission stands for religious and social reform. Vivekananda advocated
the doctrine of service- the service of all beings.
o The service of jiva( living objects) is the worship of Shiva. Life itself is
religion.
o By service, the Divine exists within man. Vivekananda was for using
technology and modern science in the service of mankind