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CLASS VIII SOCIAL SCIENCE GIST OF THE LESSONS TAUGHT HISTORY CHAPTER 7- Women, Caste, and Reform Indian society has changed...

CLASS VIII SOCIAL SCIENCE GIST OF THE LESSONS TAUGHT HISTORY CHAPTER 7- Women, Caste, and Reform Indian society has changed a lot in the last two hundred years. The condition of children, especially girls, is much better now. Today, most girls have the opportunity to be educated, make decisions about their own lives, and enjoy political rights like voting, etc. Of course, these rights are not actually enjoyed by all. Poor people have little or no access to education, and in many families, women cannot choose their husbands. But two hundred years ago, things were very different. Most children were married off at an early age. Both Hindu and Muslim men could marry more than one wife. In some parts of the country, widows were praised if they chose death by burning themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Women, who died in this manner, whether willingly or otherwise, were called “sati”, meaning virtuous women. Women’s rights to property were also restricted. Besides, most women had virtually no access to education. In many parts of the country people believed that if a woman were educated, she would become a widow. On the other hand, in most regions of India, people were divided along lines of caste. People were divided along lines of caste. ❖ Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered themselves as “upper castes”. ❖ Traders and moneylenders (often referred to as Vaishyas) were placed after them. ❖ Then came peasants, and artisans such as weavers and potters (referred to as Shudras). ❖ At the lowest rung were those who laboured to keep cities and villages clean or worked at jobs that upper castes considered “polluting”, that is, it could lead to the loss of caste status. The upper castes also treated many of these groups at the bottom as “untouchable”. ❖ They were not allowed to enter temples, ❖ They were not allowed to draw water from the wells used by the upper castes or bathe in ponds where upper castes bathed. ❖ They were seen as inferior human beings. Over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many of these norms and perceptions slowly changed. From the early nineteenth century, debates and discussions about social customs and practices took on a new character. One important reason for this was the development of new forms of communication. The discussions could reach a wider public and become linked to movements for social change. In this regard, the contribution of Raja Rammohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was noteworthy. Contribution of Raja Rammohan Roy/ Raja Ram Mohan Roy/ Raja Rammohun Roy Raja Rammohun Roy founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Sabha (later known as the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta. People such as Rammohun Roy are described as reformers because they felt that changes were necessary in society, and unjust practices needed to be done away with. They thought that the best way to ensure such changes was by persuading people to give up old practices and adopt a new way of life. Rammohun Roy was keen to spread the knowledge of Western education in the country. He was keen to bring about greater freedom and equality for women. He wrote about the way women were forced to bear the burden of domestic work, confined to the home and the kitchen, and not allowed to move out and become educated. Rammohun Roy was particularly moved by the problems widows faced in their lives. He began a campaign against the practice of sati.  Rammohun Roy was well-versed in Sanskrit, Persian, and several other Indian and European languages. He tried to show through his writings that the practice of widow burning had no sanction in ancient texts. By the early nineteenth century, many British officials had also begun to criticise Indian traditions and customs. They were, therefore, more than willing to listen to Rammohun who was reputed to be a learned man. In 1829, sati was banned. The strategy adopted by Rammohun was used by later reformers as well. Whenever they wished to challenge a practice that seemed harmful, they tried to find a verse or sentence in the ancient sacred texts that supported their point of view. They then suggested that the practice as it existed at present was against early tradition. Contribution of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Another reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could remarry. His suggestion was adopted by British officials and a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage. Those who were against the remarriage of widows opposed Vidyasagar and even boycotted him. By the second half of the nineteenth century, the movement in favour of widow remarriage spread to other parts of the country. In the Telugu-speaking areas of the Madras Presidency, Veerasalingam Pantulu formed an association for widow remarriage. Around the same time, young intellectuals and reformers in Bombay pledged themselves to work for the same cause. In the north, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, who founded the reform association called Arya Samaj, also supported widow remarriage. Yet, the number of widows who actually remarried remained low. Those who married were not easily accepted in society and conservative groups continued to oppose the new law. When the first schools were opened in the mid-nineteenth century, many people were afraid of them. They feared that schools would take girls away from home, and prevent them from doing their domestic duties. Moreover, girls had to travel through public places to reach school. Many people felt that this would have a corrupting influence on them. They felt that girls should stay away from public spaces. Therefore, throughout the nineteenth century, most educated women were taught at home by liberal fathers or husbands. Sometimes women taught themselves. Rashsundari Debi was one of those who secretly learned to read and write in the flickering light of candles at night. In the latter part of the century, Schools for girls were established by the Arya Samaj in Punjab and Jyotirao Phule in Maharashtra. In aristocratic Muslim households in North India, women learned to read the Koran in Arabic. They were taught by women who came home to teach. Some reformers such as Mumtaz Ali reinterpreted verses from the Koran to argue for women’s education. The first Urdu novels began to be written in the late nineteenth century. Amongst other things, these were meant to encourage women to read about religion and domestic management in a language they could understand. From the early twentieth century Muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women. They founded a primary school for girls in Aligarh. Another remarkable woman, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta. She was a fearless critic of conservative ideas, arguing that religious leaders of every faith accorded an  inferior place to women. By the 1880s, Indian women began to enter universities. Some of them trained to be doctors, some became teachers. Many women began to write and publish their critical views on the place of women in society. Tarabai Shinde, a woman educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna, (A Comparison between Women and Men), criticising the social differences between men and women. Pandita Ramabai, a great scholar of Sanskrit, felt that Hinduism was oppressive towards women, and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper-caste Hindu women. She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husbands’ relatives. Here women were trained so that they could support themselves economically. Needless to say, all this more than alarmed the orthodox. For instance, many Hindu nationalists felt that Hindu women were adopting Western ways and that this would corrupt Hindu culture and erode family values. Orthodox Muslims were also worried about the impact of these changes. By the end of the nineteenth century, women themselves were actively working for reform. They wrote books, edited magazines, founded schools, and training centres, and set up women’s associations. From the early twentieth century, they formed political pressure groups to push through laws for female suffrage (the right to vote) and better health care and education for women. Some of them joined various kinds of nationalist and socialist movements from the 1920s. In the twentieth century, leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose lent their support to demands for greater equality and freedom for women. Nationalist leaders promised that there would be full suffrage for all men and women after Independence. However, till then they asked women to concentrate on the anti-British struggles. With the growth of women’s organisations and writings on these issues, the momentum for reform gained strength. People challenged another established custom – that of child marriage. Several Indian legislators in the Central Legislative Assembly fought to make a law preventing child marriage. In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed without the kind of bitter debates and struggles those earlier laws had seen. According to the Act, no man below the age of 18 and no woman below the age of 16 could marry. Subsequently, these limits were raised to 21 for men and 18 for women. Some social reformers also criticised caste inequalities. Rammohun Roy translated an old Buddhist text that was critical of caste. The Prarthana Samaj adhered to the tradition of Bhakti which believed in the spiritual equality of all castes. In Bombay, the Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste. Many of these reformers and members of reform associations were people of upper castes. Often, in secret meetings these reformers would violate caste taboos on food and touch, to get rid of the hold of caste prejudice in their lives. During the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting up schools for tribal groups and “lower”-caste children. These children were thus equipped with some resources to make their way into a changing world. ❖ At the same time, the poor began leaving their villages to look for jobs that were opening up in the cities. There was work in the factories that were coming up, and jobs in municipalities There was work in the factories that were coming up, and jobs in municipalities. With the expansion of the cities, new demands for labour were created. The poor from the villages and small towns, many of them from low castes, began moving to the cities. ❖ Drains had to be dug, roads laid, buildings constructed, and cities cleaned. This required coolies, diggers, carriers, bricklayers, sewage cleaners, sweepers, palanquin bearers, and rickshaw pullers. ❖ Some also went to work in plantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Indonesia. Working in the new locations was often very hard. ❖ But the poor, the people from low castes, saw this as an opportunity to get away from the oppressive hold that upper-caste landowners exercised over their lives and the daily humiliation they suffered. There were other jobs too. The army, for instance, offered opportunities. Several Mahar people, who were regarded as untouchable, found jobs in the Mahar Regiment. The father of B.R. Ambedkar, the leader of the Dalit movement, taught at an army school. Who could produce shoes? Leather workers have been traditionally held in contempt since they work with dead animals which are seen as dirty and polluting. During the First World War, however, there was a huge demand for shoes for the armies. Caste prejudice against leatherwork meant that only the traditional leather workers and shoemakers were ready to supply army shoes. So, they could ask for high prices and gain impressive profits. In the Bombay Presidency, as late as 1829, untouchables were not allowed into even government schools. When some of them pressed hard for that right, they were allowed to sit on the veranda outside the classroom and listen to the lessons, without “polluting” the room where upper-caste boys were taught. By the second half of the nineteenth century, People from within the non-Brahman castes began organising movements against caste discrimination and demanded social equality and justice. The Satnami movement in Central India was founded by Ghasidas who worked among the leather workers and organised a movement to improve their social status. In eastern Bengal, Haridas Thakur’s Matua sect worked among Chandala cultivators. Haridas questioned Brahmanical texts that supported the caste system. In what is present-day Kerala, a guru from the Ezhava caste, Shri Narayana Guru, proclaimed the ideals of unity for his people. He argued against treating people unequally based on caste differences. According to him, all humankind belonged to the same caste. One of his famous statements was: “oru jati, oru matam, oru daivam manushyanu” (one caste, one religion, one God for humankind). All these sects were founded by leaders who came from non-Brahman castes and worked amongst them. They tried to change those habits and practices which provoked the contempt of dominant castes. They tried to create a sense of self-esteem among the subordinate castes. Jyoyirao Phule One of the most vocal among the “low-caste” leaders was Jyotirao Phule. He was born in 1827. He studied in schools set up by Christian missionaries. On growing up, he developed his own ideas about the injustices of caste society. He set out to attack the Brahmans’ claim that they were superior to others since they were Aryans. Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent and defeated and subjugated the true children of the country – those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans. As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at the defeated population as inferior, as low-caste people. According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power: in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes. Phule claimed that before the Aryan rule, there existed a golden age when warrior-peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fair ways. He proposed that Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras (untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination. The Satyashodhak Samaj, an association Phule founded, propagated caste equality. In 1873, Phule wrote a book named Gulamgiri, meaning slavery. Some ten years before this, the American Civil War had been fought, leading to the end of slavery in America. Phule dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to free slaves, thus establishing a link between the conditions of the “lower” castes in India and the black slaves in America. As this example shows, Phule extended his criticism of the caste system to argue against all forms of inequality. He was concerned about the plight of “upper”-caste women, the miseries of the labourer, and the humiliation of the “low” castes. This movement for caste reform was continued in the twentieth century by other great dalit leaders like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in western India and E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker in the south. Ambedkar Ambedkar was born into a Mahar family. As a child he experienced what caste prejudice meant in everyday life. In school he was forced to sit outside the classroom on the ground and was not allowed to drink water from taps that upper-caste children used. After finishing school, he got a fellowship to go to the US for higher studies. On his return to India in 1919, he wrote extensively about “upper”-caste power in contemporary society. In 1927, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from the temple tank. Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. He aimed to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within society. E.V Ramaswamy Naicker In the early twentieth century, the non-Brahman movement started. The initiative came from those non-Brahman castes that had acquired access to education, wealth, and influence. They argued that Brahmans were heirs of Aryan invaders from the north who had conquered southern lands from the original inhabitants of the region – the indigenous Dravidian races. They also challenged Brahmanical claims to power. E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, or Periyar, as he was called, came from a middle-class family. Interestingly, he had been an ascetic in his early life. He had studied Sanskrit scriptures carefully. Later, he became a member of the Congress, only to leave it in disgust when he found that at a feast organised by nationalists, seating arrangements followed caste distinctions – that is, the lower castes were made to sit at a distance from the upper castes. Convinced that untouchables had to fight for their dignity, Periyar founded the Self-Respect Movement. ❖ He argued that untouchables were the true upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture which had been subjugated by Brahmans. ❖ He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God-given. ❖ Untouchables had to free themselves, therefore, from all religions to achieve social equality. Periyar was an outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures, especially the Codes of Manu, the ancient lawgiver, and the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana. He said that these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahmans over lower castes and the domination of men over women. These assertions did not go unchallenged. The forceful speeches, writings, and movements of lower-caste leaders did lead to rethinking and some self-criticism among upper-caste nationalist leaders. But orthodox Hindu society also reacted by founding Sanatan Dharma Sabhas and the Bharat Dharma Mahamandal in the north, and associations like the Brahman Sabha in Bengal. The object of these associations was to uphold caste distinctions as a cornerstone of Hinduism and show how this was sanctified by scriptures. Debates and struggles over caste continued beyond the colonial period and are still going on in our times. The Brahmo Samaj The Brahmo Samaj was formed in 1830. Keshub Chunder Sen – one of the main leaders of the Brahmo Samaj. Objectives of the Brahmo Samaj It prohibited all forms of idolatry and sacrifice. It believed in the Upanishads and forbade its members from criticising other religious practices. It critically drew upon the ideals of religions – especially Hinduism and Christianity – looking at their negative and positive dimensions. Henry Louis Vivian Derozio and The Young Bengal Movement Henry Louis Vivian Derozio was a teacher at Hindu College, Calcutta. Objectives of the Young Bengal Movement In the 1820s, he promoted radical ideas. He encouraged his pupils to question all authority. Referred to as the Young Bengal Movement, his students attacked tradition and custom, demanded education for women, and campaigned for the freedom of thought and expression. The Ramakrishna Mission and Swami Vivekananda Named after Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda’s guru, the Ramakrishna Mission stressed the ideal of salvation through social service and selfless action. Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), whose original name was Narendra Nath Dutta, combined the simple teachings of Sri Ramakrishna with his well-founded modern outlook and spread them all over the world. After hearing him in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, the New York Herald reported, “We feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation”. Indeed, Swami Vivekananda was the first Indian in modern times, who re-established the spiritual pre-eminence of the Vedanta philosophy on a global scale. But his mission was not simply to talk of religion. He was extremely pained at the poverty and the misery of his countrymen. He firmly believed that any reform could become successful only by uplifting the condition of the masses. Therefore, his clarion call to the people of India was to rise above the narrow confines of their ‘religion of the kitchen’ and come together in the service of the nation. By sending out this call, he made a signal contribution to the nascent nationalism of India. His sense of nationalism was, however, not narrow in its conception. He was convinced that many of the problems facing mankind could only be overcome if the nations of the world came together on an equal footing. Therefore, his exhortation to the youth was to unite based on a common spiritual heritage. In this exhortation, he became truly ‘the symbol of a new spirit and a source of strength for the future’. The Prarthana Samaj The Prarthana Samaj was established in 1867 in Bombay. Objectives of the Prarthana Samaj The Prarthana Samaj sought to remove caste restrictions abolish child marriage encourage the education of women end the ban on widow remarriage Its religious meetings drew upon Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian texts. The Veda Samaj The Veda Samaj was established in Madras (Chennai) in 1864. The Veda Samaj was inspired by the Brahmo Samaj. Objectives of the Veda Samaj It worked to abolish caste distinctions. It promotes widow remarriage and women’s education. Its members believed in one God. They condemned the superstitions and rituals of orthodox Hinduism. The Aligarh Movement The Mohammedan Anglo‐Oriental College, founded by Sayyid Ahmed Khan in 1875 at Aligarh, later became the Aligarh Muslim University. Objectives of the Movement The institution offered modern education, including Western science, to Muslims. The Aligarh Movement, as it was known, had an enormous impact in the area of educational reform. The Singh Sabha Movement Reform organisations of the Sikhs, the first Singh Sabhas were formed at Amritsar in 1873 and at Lahore in 1879. Objectives The Sabhas sought to rid Sikhism of superstitions, caste distinctions, and practices seen by them as non‐Sikh. They promoted education among the Sikhs, often combining modern instruction with Sikh teachings. What social ideas did the following people support? 1. Rammohun Roy—He reformed against the practice of Sati. It was due to his efforts that a law banning Sati pratha was passed in 1829. 2. Dayanand Saraswati - He supported girl education 3. Veerasalingam Pantulu- He supported the education of women. 4. Jyotirao Phule- He demanded equality for all castes and also supported education for girls. 5. Pandita Ramabai—She advocated women's education and widow remarriage and opened a shelter home for widows. 6. Periyar - He criticised caste discrimination. 7. Mumtaz Ali - He reformed the education of Muslim women 8. Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar—He advocated for women's education and campaigned for widows' rights to remarry. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws? The reformers tried to convince people that widow burning, caste distinctions, child marriage, etc had no sanction in ancient texts. Their knowledge of ancient texts gave them immense confidence and moral support which they utilised in promoting new laws. They did not fear when people raised their voices against the reforms they had brought. The reformers, as we know were keen to bring a change in society. So, they took help from the religious texts by finding out the verses to support their ideas. Raja Rammohan Roy and many others used various verses from ancient texts to give weightage to their ideas. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would some people have supported them too? If so, for what reasons? Christian Missionaries were attacked in the country by many people because they suspected that they were involved in forced conversion using the money power of poor and tribal people from Hinduism to Christianity. If some people supported them, they were poor and belonged to tribal communities. It was because they felt this might improve the economic condition and education of the poor and tribals. As these people had always faced oppression and were not allowed to visit schools, they saw missionaries as those who would provide them with an education that could bring a change in their lives. How did Jyotirao and other reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality in society? Jyoti Rao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker also criticized the national revolution, believing that there were no distinctions between anti-colonialists and colonialists. Both, they said, were foreigners who used force to conquer and exploit the native population.  Phule believed that the upper castes were active in the nationalist movement against the British to re-establish their dominance and dominate the lower castes after the Britishers left. However, Phule was still anti-upper caste voters, whom he referred to as “outsiders.” Ramaswamy Naicker was a member of the Congress Party, and his experiences taught him that the party was not free of the evil of casteism. For example, as the party’s nationalists organized a feast, separate seating arrangements were made for people from the upper and lower castes. This convinced Naicker that the lower castes must fight their war. Their criticism influenced the views of nationalist politicians. As a result, reformists began to restructure their thinking to eliminate caste inequality. As a result, the national struggle became a vehicle for eradicating caste, religious, and gender distinctions. Jyoti Rao Phule, born in 1827 was most vocal amongst the low caste leaders. He attacked the Brahmans’ claim of their superiority to others. He argued the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside the subcontinent. They defeated and subjugated the true children of the country and looked at the defeated population as inferior. According to Phule, the “upper” castes had no right to their land and power. In reality, the land belonged to the so-called low castes. Phule opined that there existed a golden age when warrior-peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just and fair ways. He proposed that the Shudras (labouring castes) and Ati Shudras (untouchables) should unite to challenge caste discrimination. The Satyashodhak Samaj association founded by Phule propagated caste equality. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement? Ambedkar belonged to the Mahar caste. He made three attempts which are known as temple entry movements between the years 1927-1935. His sole purpose behind these movements was to show people the power of caste prejudices in society. Why were Jyoti Rao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way? Both Jyoti Rao Phule and Naicker were critical of the national movement in their times. Jyoti Rao Phule was critical of nationalism preached by upper castes. He wrote that they advise Shudra, Muslim, and Parsi youth to forget their differences and come together for the progress of the nation, later it will be “Me here and you over there” all over again. E V Ramaswamy Naicker became a member of Congress. But left it in disgust when he found out that at a feast, organised by nationalists, the seating arrangement was based on caste distinctions. Their assertions, forceful speeches, and writings did lead to rethinking and self-criticism among the upper caste nationalist leaders. TERMS TO REMEMBER: Sati: It means virtuous women. These women chose death by burning themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Untouchable: Untouchables were considered to be the lowest by the upper-caste people. They were denied entry into temples, restaurants, etc. Gulamgiri: A book written by Jyotirao Phule. It means slavery. Stripurushtulna: A book published by Tarabai Shinde. It means a comparison between women and men. Conservative: Those who want to stick to old traditions and customs and oppose new changes. Suffrage: The right to vote. DATELINE: 1927-1935: Ambedkar leads three temple entry movements during this period 1929: The Child Marriage Restraint Act passes 1875: The Arya samaj found 1867: The Prarthana Samaj was established 1864: The Veda Samaj was established 1859: A law was passed to permit widow remarriage 1840: Paramhans Mandali was found 1830: Raja Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj 1829: Sati Pratha was banned 1772-1833: Raja Rammohan Roy brings a lot of reformation in Indian society during this period. PORTIONS OMITTED FROM THE CHAPTER Activities – Pages 79, 81, 86, 87, 89 Sources - Pages 81, 83, 87, 88, 89 Let’s Imagine- Page 91 ________________________________________________________________________________________________