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Key Points at a Glance
- Brahmo Samaj (1828)
- Founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in Calcutta — first major socio-religious reform organisation
- Advocated monotheism; opposed idol worship, sati, and child marriage
- Promoted women's education and widow remarriage using rational Vedantic arguments
- Combined insights from Christian and Islamic monotheism with Hindu thought
- Roy is called the "Father of the Indian Renaissance"
- Arya Samaj (1875)
- Founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati at Bombay; motto: "Krinvanto Vishwam Aryam" (Make the World Noble)
- Proclaimed infallibility of the Vedas; opposed idol worship, caste discrimination, child marriage, and foreign rule
- Introduced shuddhi (purification) ceremony to reconvert people to Hinduism
- Spread education through the Gurukul residential school system
- Ramakrishna Mission (1897)
- Founded by Swami Vivekananda in memory of his guru Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
- Combined Vedanta philosophy with practical social service
- Motto: "Atmano Mokshartham Jagad Hitaya Cha" (For one's own liberation and the good of the world)
- Vivekananda's Chicago speech (11 September 1893) electrified the world with "Sisters and Brothers of America"
- Theosophical Society (1875)
- Founded in New York by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Russian) and Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (American)
- Shifted to Adyar (Chennai) in 1882; combined Hindu/Buddhist spirituality with Western occultism
- Promoted ancient Indian wisdom and attracted Indian intellectuals
- Annie Besant (joined 1889) became its most influential Indian-phase president
- RPSC 2021 directly tested this
- Aligarh Movement (1875)
- Founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan — established Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College at Aligarh (1875; became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920)
- Advocated Western education for Muslims while retaining Islamic identity
- Established the Scientific Society to translate Western works into Urdu
- Initially opposed Congress as a Hindu-dominated body
- Prarthana Samaj (1867)
- Founded in Bombay by Atmaram Pandurang — largely inspired by the Brahmo Samaj
- Focused on social reforms: widow remarriage, inter-caste dining, women's education
- Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar were its key leaders
- Ranade founded the Social Conference of India (1887) to pursue broader social reforms
- Young Bengal Movement (1820s–30s)
- Inspired by Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809–1831), a Eurasian teacher at Hindu College, Calcutta
- Encouraged free-thinking, rationalism, and criticism of Hindu tradition among his students ("Derozians")
- Derozio was dismissed in 1831 before his death
- His students became important public intellectuals, journalists, and reformers
- Sati Abolition (Regulation XVII, 1829)
- Lord Bentinck abolished sati (widow immolation) under the influence of Ram Mohan Roy's persistent campaign
- Roy published A Conference Between an Advocate and Opponent of Burning Widows Alive (1818–19) as the key textual weapon
- He petitioned the government directly for legislative action
- After the act, upper castes of Bengal counter-petitioned — Roy submitted a support petition in response
- Widow Remarriage Act (1856)
- Passed under Lord Dalhousie due to the campaign of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891)
- Vidyasagar collected 25,000 signatures and published Marriage of Hindu Widows (1855) — using Parasara Smriti as scriptural argument
- Also championed women's education and opened 35 girls' schools in Bengal
- B.R. Ambedkar (1891–1956)
- Represented the most systematic challenge to Hindu caste society from within it
- Founded Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (1924) and Independent Labour Party (1936)
- Led symbolic acts: Mahad Satyagraha (1927) — Dalits drinking from a public tank; burning of Manu Smriti (1927)
- Converted to Buddhism (14 October 1956) with 500,000 followers — 6 weeks before his death; known as "Babasaheb"
- Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890)
- Pioneering lower-caste reformer from Maharashtra (Mali/gardener caste)
- Founded Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-Seeking Society, 1873) to challenge Brahmin supremacy
- Opened the first school for girls in Pune (1848) with wife Savitribai Phule — India's first woman teacher; also opened India's first school for "untouchables" (1852)
- His book Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873) drew on American abolitionism to critique caste oppression
- Sikh Reform Movements
- Singh Sabha Movement (1873): Purified Sikhism from Hindu accretions; promoted Gurmukhi literacy and education
- Akali Movement (1920–25) — also called Gurdwara Reform Movement: non-violent agitation to wrest control of Sikh shrines from corrupt mahants
- Culminated in the Sikh Gurdwara Act (1925) — restoring shrines to the Sikh community