India reforms itself
Before India could fight the British, it had to fight some of its own worst customs. That fight began in the early 1800s, and the people who led it are called the social reformers.
In the nineteenth century, Indian society carried heavy burdens: Sati — the burning of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres, child marriage, a ban on widow remarriage, untouchability, and blind ritual in the name of religion. A new class of educated Indians, reading both their own scriptures and Western books, decided these customs were wrong — and that religion itself, properly understood, did not require them.
Out of this awakening came a series of reform movements. Exams test them mainly as matching questions — movement, founder, year, place. This page gives you the story and the table.
This period of awakening is called the Indian Renaissance, and Raja Ram Mohan Roy is called the Father of the Indian Renaissance and India's first modern man.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy and the Brahmo Samaj
Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833) of Bengal knew Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic and English, and had studied the scriptures of several religions. He concluded that true Hinduism taught the worship of one formless God, and that idol worship, caste cruelty and Sati were later corruptions.
In 1815 he formed the Atmiya Sabha, a discussion circle. In 1828, at Calcutta, he founded the Brahmo Sabha, which grew into the Brahmo Samaj — the first great reform movement of modern India.
One God, no idols, no caste barriers, and reason above ritual. The Samaj treated all religions with respect and drew ideas from Christianity and Islam as well as the Upanishads. It campaigned against Sati, child marriage and the seclusion of women, and for modern education.
Roy's greatest victory. He campaigned for years with writings and petitions, showing that the scriptures did not command Sati. Governor-General Lord William Bentinck was persuaded, and by Regulation XVII of 1829, Sati was declared illegal and punishable. One reformer plus one willing ruler ended a custom centuries old — the model every later reform followed.
After Roy's death the Samaj was carried on by Debendranath Tagore (father of Rabindranath), who joined in 1842, and later by Keshab Chandra Sen, whose energy spread it beyond Bengal. The two men differed, and the Samaj split — but its ideas had already changed the country.
Keshab Chandra Sen's campaigning led to the Native Marriage Act (Civil Marriage Act) of 1872, which discouraged child marriage and polygamy and allowed inter-caste marriage. The orthodox answered the reformers too — Radhakanta Deb founded the Dharma Sabha in 1830 to defend old customs, including Sati.
Who founded the Brahmo Samaj, when and where?
Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in 1828 at Calcutta. It began as the Brahmo Sabha and became known as the Brahmo Samaj. It preached one formless God, rejected idol worship, and fought social evils like Sati.
Dayananda Saraswati and the Arya Samaj
Half a century later came a different kind of reformer. Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj at Bombay in 1875. Where the Brahmo Samaj respected all religions equally, Dayananda declared that the Vedas alone held the complete truth — his slogan was “Back to the Vedas.”
The Arya Samaj was a revivalist movement — it wanted to revive a purified Vedic religion — but its social programme was fiercely reformist: it attacked idol worship, caste by birth, untouchability and child marriage, and championed widow remarriage and education, founding the DAV (Dayanand Anglo-Vedic) schools.
Dayananda's book is the Satyarth Prakash (The Light of Truth). The Arya Samaj also ran the Shuddhi movement, to bring back into Hinduism people who had converted to other religions — a programme that made it controversial.
The other great movements
Learn this table well — nearly every exam question on this topic comes from it.
| Movement | Founder | Year | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmiya Sabha | Raja Ram Mohan Roy | 1815 | Calcutta |
| Brahmo Samaj | Raja Ram Mohan Roy | 1828 | Calcutta |
| Dharma Sabha (orthodox reply) | Radhakanta Deb | 1830 | Calcutta |
| Young Bengal Movement | Henry Vivian Derozio | 1820s | Calcutta |
| Prarthana Samaj | Atmaram Pandurang, guided by M.G. Ranade | 1867 | Bombay |
| Satyashodhak Samaj | Jyotirao Phule | 1873 | Pune |
| Arya Samaj | Dayananda Saraswati | 1875 | Bombay |
| Theosophical Society (in India) | Blavatsky and Olcott; later Annie Besant | 1879 (Adyar, 1882) | Madras |
| Ramakrishna Mission | Swami Vivekananda | 1897 | Belur |
| Aligarh Movement | Sir Syed Ahmad Khan | 1875 (MAO College) | Aligarh |
The Prarthana Samaj (1867) was the Brahmo Samaj's counterpart in western India, founded by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang with Mahadev Govind Ranade as its guiding spirit. It worked quietly from within society for widow remarriage, inter-caste dining and marriage, and women's education. Ranade also founded the Widow Remarriage Association.
Most reformers came from the upper castes. Jyotirao Phule of Pune did not, and his Satyashodhak Samaj (1873) — the Truth-Seekers' Society — fought for the lower castes and against Brahmin domination itself. With his wife Savitribai Phule, he opened schools for girls and for children of all castes. Savitribai is honoured as one of India's first woman teachers.
Swami Vivekananda, the disciple of the saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 at Belur near Calcutta. He preached that service to man is service to God, and the Mission built schools, hospitals and relief work. His address at the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893 made him world-famous and filled Indians with new confidence.
Among Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan led the Aligarh Movement. He believed Muslims must take to modern, scientific education to move forward, and founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which later became Aligarh Muslim University.
The fight for women
Every movement above touched the condition of women, but a few reformers made it their life's work.
| Reformer | Cause | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Abolition of Sati | Regulation of 1829, under Bentinck |
| Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar | Widow remarriage | Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 |
| Keshab Chandra Sen | Against child marriage and polygamy | Native Marriage Act, 1872 |
| B.M. Malabari | Against child marriage | Age of Consent Act, 1891 |
| Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule | Girls' education | First girls' schools at Pune, from 1848 |
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great Sanskrit scholar of Bengal, used the scriptures themselves to argue that widow remarriage was lawful — the same method Roy had used against Sati. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act was passed in 1856, a year before the Revolt.
Three anniversaries hold the whole topic: 1828 Brahmo (Roy, Calcutta), 1875 Arya (Dayananda, Bombay), 1897 Ramakrishna Mission (Vivekananda, Belur). Fit every other movement around these three.
Everything on one look
The founders, the years, and the laws they won.
- Brahmo Samaj, 1828 — Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Calcutta
- Prarthana Samaj, 1867 — Atmaram Pandurang and Ranade, Bombay
- Satyashodhak Samaj, 1873 — Jyotirao Phule, Pune
- Arya Samaj, 1875 — Dayananda Saraswati, Bombay
- Aligarh Movement, 1875 — Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
- Ramakrishna Mission, 1897 — Swami Vivekananda, Belur
- Young Bengal — Henry Vivian Derozio
- 1829 — Sati abolished (Roy and Bentinck)
- 1856 — Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act (Vidyasagar)
- 1872 — Native Marriage Act (Keshab Chandra Sen)
- 1891 — Age of Consent Act (Malabari)
- Satyarth Prakash — Dayananda's book
- Chicago address, 1893 — Vivekananda
- Brahmo Samaj was founded in 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy — not by Debendranath Tagore, who joined later
- Arya Samaj was founded by Dayananda Saraswati in 1875 at Bombay — not by Roy, a common wrong pairing
- Brahmo Samaj treated all religions as equal; Arya Samaj held the Vedas supreme — reform versus revival
- Prarthana Samaj was founded by Atmaram Pandurang — Ranade guided it but did not found it
- Ramakrishna Mission was founded by Vivekananda (1897), not by Ramakrishna himself
- Satyashodhak Samaj (Phule, 1873) fought caste domination — the only major movement led from the lower castes
- Sati was abolished in 1829 under Bentinck — before the Revolt, not after
- Vidyasagar won the Widows' Remarriage Act in 1856
- The Dharma Sabha (Radhakanta Deb, 1830) was the orthodox counter-movement, not a reform body
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the MAO College in 1875, which became Aligarh Muslim University
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy is called the Father of the Indian Renaissance
- Roy founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1815 for religious discussion
- The Brahmo Samaj was founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1828 at Calcutta
- The Brahmo Samaj preached one formless God and rejected idol worship
- Sati was abolished in 1829 by Lord William Bentinck after Roy's campaign
- Debendranath Tagore and Keshab Chandra Sen carried the Brahmo Samaj forward
- Keshab Chandra Sen's efforts led to the Native Marriage Act of 1872
- Radhakanta Deb founded the Dharma Sabha in 1830 to oppose the reformers
- The Young Bengal Movement was led by Henry Vivian Derozio
- The Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 at Bombay by Atmaram Pandurang
- M.G. Ranade was the guiding spirit of the Prarthana Samaj
- Jyotirao Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in 1873 at Pune
- Savitribai Phule was among India's first woman teachers
- The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1875 at Bombay
- Dayananda's slogan was Back to the Vedas, and his book is the Satyarth Prakash
- The Arya Samaj ran the Shuddhi movement and founded the DAV schools
- Swami Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 at Belur
- Vivekananda addressed the Chicago Parliament of Religions in 1893
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan founded the MAO College at Aligarh in 1875
- The MAO College later became Aligarh Muslim University
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar won the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856
- B.M. Malabari's campaign led to the Age of Consent Act of 1891