INDIA TOWARDS A NEW ERA

INDU J S
 This is a description on 'Sati'; an evil practice that prevailed in India. Several
 such social evils and practices prevailed in India. Can you name some of them?
• Child marriage
• Prohibition on widow remarriage
• Human sacrifice
• Female infanticide
• Slavery
 Raja Rammohan Roy
 Raja Rammohan Roy who gained western education
strongly condemned the evil practices like Sati and
child marriage that prevailed in India. His campaign
against Sati persuaded Lord William Bentinck, the
British Governor General to abolish Sati. He
founded Brahma Samaj to propagate his ideology
and gave the message that the ideals of all religions
are basically the same. He strongly believed caste
system to be the major source of disparity in Indian
society. He is known as the 'Father of Indian
Renaissance'.
 Jyotirao Phule

Jyotirao Phule condemned caste system and

promoted widow remarriage.He argued that free
and compulsory education should be provided to
children up to twelve years and gave primary
concern to the education of the weaker section
and women. For these purposes he founded the
'Satya Shodak Samaj'.
 Pandita Rama Bhai

Pandita RamaBhai founded Arya Mahila Sabha, an

organization for the uplift
of women. She fought against the social inequalities faced by
women and
worked tirelessly for women's education and the
empowerment of widows.
 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan led the movement for the spread
of modern education among Muslims. He established
Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh that
later became the famous Aligarh Muslim University. One
of his remarks on the Hindu-Muslim unity is given below:
'Both Hindus and Muslims breath the air of India, drink
the water of Ganga and Yamuna. We both feed upon the
products of the Indian soil. We are together in life and
death.'
 Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda fought against the caste inequalities and

promoted education among women. He gave emphasis to the
'Universal Brotherhood' and remarked - "For our own
motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and
Islam, is the only hope". He was the disciple of Sri
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He founded theRamakrishna
Mission to propagate the teachings of his master. The Mission
established several educational institutions all over India. He
played an important role in awakening the nationalistic feeling
and self respect among Indians.
 Swami Dayananda
Saraswati

Swami Dayananda Saraswati was the leader of

Indian renaissance who attacked caste system
and condemned idol worship. To disseminate his
ideology, he founded 'Arya Samaj'. He gave the
call,'go back to Vedas'.
THANKS
Indu JS