WOMEN ZIP PDF

# Sources of History "To awaken the people, it is the woman who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves." -Jawaharlal Nehru Do you agree with Jawaharlal Nehru? Have a discussion or debate on this point in class. ## Enrichment Activity: Be...

# Sources of History "To awaken the people, it is the woman who must be awakened. Once she is on the move, the family moves, the village moves, the nation moves." -Jawaharlal Nehru Do you agree with Jawaharlal Nehru? Have a discussion or debate on this point in class. ## Enrichment Activity: Become a detective... Talk to at least 10 women you know—family members, teachers, doctors, classmates, neighbors, household helps, vegetable sellers and so on. Make sure at least three of them are over 60 years old. Ask them whether they went to school, till which class they studied, and what work each of them does. Write a report comparing what the older women have to say with what girls your age have to say. Do you feel life is easier for women now than it was 50 years ago? ## Women across the world have been exploited and oppressed for centuries. This was particularly true of 17th and 18th century India. In the 19th century, Indians exposed to Western ideas and thought understood that no society could progress until the women of that society progressed. An educated woman, especially an educated mother, could have a powerful influence on society. Women form almost half the population of any country. How could any society, whose women were still in shackles, hope to become free? # The Status of Women in the 18th Century What was the status of women in India in the 18th century? What were the unwanted practices perpetrated against women that so disturbed liberal thinkers in India? - **The position of women in society:** In communities across India, women were not treated with respect. It was widely believed that women could not think for themselves and that they should be kept inside the house. All major decisions in a woman's life were taken by her father, her husband and, later, her son. Women did not have the right to inherit their father's property - **Limited access to education:** Women were discouraged from attending schools and colleges. It was believed that once educated, women would be unwilling to do household work or obey their husbands unquestioningly. - **Child Marriage:** Girls were married off at a very young age, sometimes when they were just 5 or 6 years old. They became mothers when they were barely 15 or 16, when they were neither physically nor emotionally ready for marriage or motherhood - **The plight of widows:** Widows (even child widows) in many Hindu families were not allowed to remarry. Their heads were shaved. They were forced to wear only white clothes, they were allowed to eat only bland vegetarian food. They were treated as outcastes, and often sent away to temple cities like Brindavan and Benaras to fend for themselves. - **Sati:** The practice of sati (the burning alive of women on the funeral pyre of their husbands) had become common in many parts of India. Widows were told that this was the only way they could attain salvation. Some women chose to commit sati voluntarily, as for them it was preferable to the life of misery they would be forced to lead as widows. - **Female infanticide:** The birth of a girl child was seen as a curse in many parts of India. Many female infants died of neglect, while some were deliberately killed. ## There were some exceptional women who, despite all this suppression, managed to make a name for themselves. - **Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923)** and **Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865-1887)** were the first two Indian women to graduate as doctors in Western medicine. Ganguly was also one of the first graduates from Bethune College, Calcutta. - While learning medicine, Kadambini met with considerable opposition from her teachers and orthodox members of society. Later, Kadambini and her husband fought to improve the plight of women coal miners in eastern India.. # The Social Reformers In the 19th century, several social reformers fought hard to change the treatment of women in Indian society. They felt that education was the first step towards women's emancipation. Once educated, women would themselves become aware of their rights. They could then think of social legislation. ## Raja Rammohun Roy Raja Rammohun Roy was born into an orthodox Bengali family in 1772. When he was 16, he witnessed a forced sati in his family, and was shocked by it. He started the Atmiya Sabha, and began a persistent struggle against the social evils prevalent in Bengal. He founded the Brahmo Samaj in 1828, which aimed to preach monotheism (belief in one god), to improve the position of women in society, and to remove superstitious practices. He persuaded the British government to abolish sati, which Lord Bentinck did. For this achievement, Rammohun Roy is called the **Father of Modern India**. Rammohun Roy encouraged the study of English, and firmly believed in the advantages of Western education. He was instrumental in the opening of the Hindu College in Calcutta, and in the setting up of a modern Indian newspaper. In 1855, the Hindu College was opened to all communities and renamed the Presidency College. ## Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Born into a poor Bengali family, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great Sanskrit scholar who later became the principal of Sanskrit College in Calcutta. Fearless and honest, he was a man of simple living. His whole life was spent in the uplift of women girls, and the underprivileged. Vidyasagar started a movement in favour of widow remarriage and was instrumental in the passing of the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. He opened several schools for girls and ran some of them at his own expense. He too earned the wrath of the orthodox Indians. Vidyasagar, along with John Bethune, started Bethune School and Bethune College, institutes for women's education in Calcutta. ## Swami Dayanand Saraswati and the Arya Samaj Swami Dayanand Saraswati was born in Gujarat in 1824. A brilliant Sanskrit scholar, he spoke out strongly against idol worship at a very young age. He quoted the Hindu scriptures to support his stand on various issues. He condemned sati, supported widow remarriage, and opposed child marriage. He preached against caste differences and untouchability. Dayanand Saraswati started the Arya Samaj at Rajkot in 1875. The Arya Samaj aimed at reviving society along Vedic lines. According to Dayanand Saraswati, the Vedas contained the essence of life and knowledge. After his death in 1883, his followers started Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) schools and colleges, which aimed to provide an education that was both scientific and spiritual, in many parts of the country. ## Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, about whom you read in the last chapter, was a great supporter of women's liberation. He was against the purdah system. ## As a result of the efforts of these social reformers, Indian society started changing. But the British showed little interest in the social progress of India after the Revolt of 1857. A few laws were passed like the Sharda Act (Child Marriage Restraint Act) in 1929, fixing the minimum marriageable age as 14 for girls and 18 for boys. But no serious effort was taken to see that the laws were enforced. ## Case Study: Women and Reforms in Bengal and Maharashtra ### Bengal The first stir in social reforms started in Bengal as Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj, and this region had maximum exposure to Western ideas and education. Raja Rammohun Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar were some of the earliest reformers. After the death of Raja Rammohun Roy, the Brahmo Samaj carried on his work under the leadership of stalwarts like Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen. Henry Vivian Derozio was also closely associated with the Reform Movement and women's education. He started the Young Bengal Movement to inspire in the youth the ideals of 'liberty, equality and fraternity' (the slogan of the French Revolution). He fought against superstitious beliefs and questioned orthodoxy. ### Maharashtra Bombay was the other great centre of social reform in India in the 19th century. Followers of the Brahmo Samaj started the Prarthana Samaj in Bombay in 1867. The Samaj fought against social customs like child marriage, and for the remarriage of widows and women's education. Among its prominent members were Atmaram Pandurang, R G Bhandarkar and Mahadev Govind Ranade. Ranade founded the Widow Remarriage Association and the Deccan Educational Society. Dadabhai Naoroji, one of the co-founders of the Indian National Congress, fought for legal rights for women so that they could inherit property. Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Gopal Lokahitwadi were two other prominent social reformers who worked for the empowerment of women. Jotirao Phule's wife, Savitribai Phule, was one of the first women teachers in India. She, along with her husband, opened several schools for girls in and around Poona. In the course of time, the efforts of the social reformers bore fruit. Slowly, more and more women started attending school and college. The freedom struggle was a catalyst that sped up the emancipation of women. Women like Sarojini Naidu, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Annie Besant were at the forefront of the struggle, standing shoulder to shoulder with the men. Pandita Ramabai was one of the first women of modern times to master the Vedas and use this knowledge to challenge the orthodox Hindus. After independence, India was one of the first countries in the world to grant women the right to vote. The Indian Constitution has ensured equality for women in every field. While a lot still remains to be done, much has improved. Millions of girls attend school today and millions more are part of the earning workforce of the nation.