Social and Religious Reforms went hand in hand in India

Social and Religious Reforms went hand in hand in India:

In the 19th century, social and religious reforms went hand in hand in India due to following reasons-

(1) The nineteenth century saw the rise of a series of religious and social reform movements. In religion, they attacked bigotry, superstition, and social life, and in social life, they advocated the abolition of caste, child marriage, re-marriage of a widow, education of a female child, abolition of the dowry system, etc. Both of these reforms went together.

(2) Raja Ram Mohan Roy popularly known as the father of Modern India was devoted to the work of religious and social reforms. In religion, he condemned idol worship and polytheism and in social life, he attacked the caste system and persuaded the Government to abolish Sati and child marriages. He stood for modern education and the introduction of English education, for the propagation of science and modern technology.

(3) In fact in nineteenth-century Indian Society, all the social evils had religious sanctions.

(4) Some of the Hindu reformers felt that reinterpretations of the Vedas and other religious textbooks are required. Many religious beliefs and practices were considered outdated and irrational. Ancient texts were re-examined to show that they did not justify prevailing social evils.

(5) Similar ideas and reforms were introduced by several socio-religious reformers. They founded certain institutions and prepared some groups of social workers. Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj (1828). Prarthana Samaj was founded in Bombay with a view to uplifting the Indian masses from poverty and superstitions and blind social norms. They advocated the rational approach to religion which necessarily entailed social reform. Thus Social and Religious Reforms went side by side in India in the nineteenth century.


Raja Ram Mohan Roy & Brahmo SamajTheosophical Society & Annie Besant
Swami Dayanand Saraswati & Arya SamajSir Sayyid Ahmad Khan & the Aligarh Movement
Swami Vivekananda & Ramakrishna MissionSocial Changes in Modern India– NIOS

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