\n| Raja Ram Mohan Roy<\/td>\n | Brahma Samaj<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Question 12.
\nDescribe the 3 levels of social change in India during the colonial rule as suggested by the sociologist Sathish Sabarval.
\nAnswer:
\na) Communication system
\nb) organizational forms
\nc) Nature of ideas
\nDuring the colonial period, there were a lot of changes in the communication system. Different technological advances increased the speed of communication. Printing Press, telegraph, microphone, steamships and railway helped people to communicate fast. Using the latest means of communication, reformists in different areas exchanged their views.<\/p>\n They could travel to different parts of the country and propagate their ideas. For example, in 1864, Keshav Chandra Sen from Bengal visited Madras. Pandita Ramabai traveled to different parts of the country. Some reformists even went abroad to visit different places and see things. Christian missionaries reached even the remotest villages in Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya.<\/p>\n Organizational forms: During this period many modem cultural organizations were formed. In Bengal, there was Brahma Samaj and in Punjab, there was Arya Samaj. In 1914 all India Muslim Women Conference . was established, Indian reformists conducted public, meetings to spread their ideas. They also made use of media like newspapers, bulletins, and journals. Some of the books of the reformists were translated into different Indian languages. For example, the 1868 book \u201cIndu Prakash\u201d by Vidyasagar was translated by Vishnu Sastri into Marathi.<\/p>\n Nature of ideas: The ideas propagated at this time were revolutionary and drastic. The new ideas of liberalism and freedom spread among the people. There were new concepts with regard to marriage and family. Mothers and daughters were assigned<\/p>\n Question 13.
\nExplain the contributions of women social reformists.
\nAnswer:
\nIn the middle decades the 19th century, the idea of woman education was discussed widely and intensively. Social reformer Jyotiba Phule opened the first school for girls in 1848 in Pune. All social reformers advocate women’s education. They argued that for the progress of society, women had to be educated. Many of them believed that many women of pre-modern India were educated.<\/p>\n But some did not agree with this view. They pointed out that, only a few privileged women had such education in the pre-modem India. However, reformers wanted to give priority to women’s education. They started discussing the meanings of tradition and modernity. People like Jyotiba Phule showed that India was a great country before the coming of the Aryans. But people like Bal Gangadhar Tilak stressed the glory India had during the Aryan era. In short, the reformers of the 19th century questioned meaningless rituals and traditions prevalent in society. At the same time, they pointed out the good traditions.<\/p>\n Thus they started an era of social revolution. There were some questions that reform movements raised. Some movements gave importance to the problems faced by women in the upper castes. But some concentrated on the inequalities of jati system. Some people felt that jati system was against essential Hindu principles. Some argued jati and gender-related persecutions were part of religious dogma.<\/p>\n Muslim reformists raised their voices against polygamy and the purdah system. In an All-India Muslim Women Conference, Jahanara Shanavas got an anti-polygamy resolution passed. Jahanara argued that polygamy was against the teachings of the Koran. She asked educated women to end this injustice. This resolution against polygamy became an issue of great debate and discussion, especially in the Muslim papers. A women-oriented paper – Tahzib-i-Niswan – supported the resolution. But some papers opposed it. Debates were common among communities.<\/p>\n For example, Brahma Samaj strongly opposed \u2018Sati\u2019. But some conservative Hindus in Bengal formed an organization called \u2018Dharma Sabha\u2019 and demanded that Sati should be continued. They said that reformers have no right to interpret holy books. They complained to the British government against the reformers. Many Dalits turned against the inequalities preached by upper caste’ Hindus. The A13-year old girl named Muktabar, a student in Jyotiba Phule\u2019s school in Pune wrote very strongly against a religion that upheld the rights of a few upper castes and rejected the rest.<\/p>\n Question 14.
\nDescribe the Social Reform Movements of the 19th and 20th century India
\nAnswer:
\nColonialism brought many changes to Indian society. The 19th and 20th century Reform Movements came up to find solutions to the problems faced by society. There were many useless and harmful social customs and rituals in the society. The worst things were Sati, child marriage, and Jati- discrimination. There were also female infanticide and untouchability. Fights against social ills had started in India even before the colonial period. Buddhism and Bhakti-Sufi Movements had tried to eradicate many evils. There are two special features about the Reformists of the 19th century.<\/p>\n First, they were brought up in modern background. Secondly, they were influenced by the Western concepts of liberalism and new reading and interpretation of the traditional literature of India and Indian concepts. In objecting Sati, Rajaram Mohan Roy made use of Western concepts like humanity and natural rights and also the Hindu Sastras. Ranade, the leader of the Prarthana Samaj also made use of Western concepts and Hindu Sastras in justifying widow- remarriage. In his books \u201cThe Text of the Hindu Law on the Lawfulness of the Remarriage of Widows\u201d and \u201cVedic Authorities for Widow Remarriage\u201d, he has shown that Hindu Sastra had approved widow re-marriages.<\/p>\n Modern education was liberal. Its contents included European Renaissance, Religious Reform Movements and Philosophical Thoughts. Their theme was humane, secular and liberal.<\/p>\n Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan was the leader of the Aligarh Movement. His interpretation of the Koran stressed free research. He pointed out the similarities between the revelations of the Koran and the natural laws discovered by modem science.<\/p>\n Viresalingam was the leader of the Reform Movement in Andhra Pradesh. His book \u2018Sources of Knowledge\u2019 shows his scholarship about modern jurisprudence and oratory. He also translated Julius Huxley\u2019s book.<\/p>\n Question 15.
\nGive short notes on Westernization, Secularization, Modernization, and Sanskritization.
\nAnswer:
\nWesternization, Secularization, Modernization, and Sanskritization are different concepts and in different contexts, they are used differently. Even then these
\nconcepts often stand together or in a hierarchical order. This mutual relationship between these ideas is quite natural in the Indian context.<\/p>\n Sociology may have its own interpretations of each of them. Colonial modernity is full of paradoxes. Let us take the example of Western education. Western education was brought to India by the British colonial government. This helped the growth of an educated middle class. This middle class had big dreams about western philosophical thoughts and liberal democracy. At the same time, they were ashamed of the colonial rule of their motherland and they upheld the traditional wisdom and scholarship. of ancient India. In the Reform Movement of the 19th century also we had this tendency. In short, the educated middle class and reformists received Western concepts and at the same time, they upheld India\u2019s tradition.<\/p>\n Colonial modernity not only presented new ideas, but it also caused the re-thinking and re-interpretation of Indian traditions. Culture and tradition are living concepts. People study them .and make timely changes. For example, we can think of the traditional dress, sari, worn by Indian women. Today some Indian women wear a sari, with a Western touch. The old and the new are fused. They wear saris and at the same time, they use petticoats and a blouse.<\/p>\n In India, we have many structural and cultural diversities. India is a land of diversity. These diversities are found in geography, race, language, religion, politics, and culture. It is these diversities that cause different things like Sanskritization, Modernization, Westernization, Secularization and so on to influence the diverse people. First, we talk about Sanskritization. There is a reason for that. Sanskritization had started even before the colonial rule. Through many ways, it continued to exist during and after the colonial rule.<\/p>\n The other three happened during the colonial period. These were brought about by Western concepts like freedom and individual rights. Awareness of these concepts made Indians feel about the injustice of colonial rule. It also gave them a sense of shame. It also created in them a desire to go back to their own tradition and heritage.<\/p>\n Question 16.
\nAs a process of cultural change, explain the effect of modernization!
\nAnswer:
\nModernization has a long history. Modernization means the path Western Europe and America followed in the 17-19 centuries. Spokespersons for modernization say that other societies also must follow this very same path. From 19th<\/sup> century, there have been changes in the viewpoints regarding modernization. Modernization was evaluated relating it to creative and desirable values. People and societies wanted to become modem. In the 20th century, this view became strong. The progress in technology and manufacturing process was considered modernization. The shift from traditional society to a more cultured society is also called modernization.<\/p>\nIt was considered the opposite of tradition In India, modernity began during the colonial rule. It is this colonial background that marks our modernization and secularization different from those of the Westerners. Modernization and secularization are mutually related. They both are modem concepts. So we discuss them together here. Sociologists have tried to define and interpret the meaning and content of the process of modernization. In their views the following are the features of modernization:<\/p>\n |