Question

write a brief note on the Sikh reforms that took place during the period of Indian renaissance ( no spamming)​

Answer 1

Answer:

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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