write a brief note on the Sikh reforms that took place during the period of Indian renaissance ( no spamming)
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1. Background and Causes of the Reform Movement
Indian Society in the 19th century was caught in a vicious web created by religious superstitions
and dogmas. All religions in general and Hinduism in particular had become a compound of
magic, animism, and superstitions. The abominable rites like animal sacrifice and physical
torture had replaced the worship of God. The priests exercised an overwhelming and unhealthy
influence on the mind of people. The faithful lived in submission, not only to God, the powerful
and unseen, but even to the whims, fancies, and wishes of the priests.
Social Conditions were equally depressing. The most distressing was the position of women.
The birth of a girl was unwelcome, her marriage a burden and her widowhood inauspicious.
Another debilitating factor was Caste. It sought to maintain a system of segregation,
hierarchically ordained on the basis of ritual status, hampering social mobility and fostered
social divisions. There were innumerable other practices marked by constraint, status,
authority, bigotry and blind fatalism. Rejecting them as features of a decadent society, the
reform movements sought to create a social climate for modernization.
The conquest of India by the British during the 18th and 19th century exposed some serious
weaknesses and drawbacks of Indian social institutions. The response, indeed, was varied but
the need to reform social and religious life was a commonly shared conviction. It also brought in
completely new sets of ideas and social world. The exposure to post-Enlightenment rationalism
that came to signify modernity brought a change in the outlook of a select group of Indians.
The introduction of western education and ideas had the far reaching impact on the Indian
Society. Through the glasses of utility, reason, justice, and progress, a select group of individuals
began to explore the nature of their own society. There was a gradual emergence of public
opinion. The debates between the Orientalists, scholars of Eastern societies like India on one
side, and the Utilitarians, Liberals and Missionaries on the other also enabled the penetration
of ideas, at least amongst the upper section of society. The resultant cultural change led to
introspection about Indian traditions, institution, and culture.
The socio intellectual revolution that took place in the nineteenth century in the fields of
philosophy, literature, science, politics and social reforms is often known as Indian Renaissance.
An important part of this Renaissance was reforming Hinduism from within on the basis of PostEnlightenment rationalism. The Renaissance was especially focused in Bengal and is popularly
known as the Bengal Renaissance. However, the use of ‘renaissance’ is slightly problematic as in
European history it is used to refer to the “rebirth” or revival of Greco-Roman learning in the
fifteen and sixteenth centuries after the long winter of the dark medieval period. But in Indian
context, it implied rediscovering rationalism from within India’s past.
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