1. What social ideas did the following people support?
Rammohun Roy
Dayanand Saraswati
Veerasalingam Pantulu
Jyotirao Phule
Pandita Ramabai
Periyar
Mumtaz Ali
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Ans:
Rammohun Roy – Ban of Sati
Dayanand Saraswati – Widow Remarriage
Veerasalingam Pantulu – Widow Remarriage
Jyotirao Phule – Equality amongst castes
Pandita Ramabai – Women’s education
Periyar – Equality for untouchables
Mumtaz Ali – Women’s education
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar – Widow remarriage
2. State whether true or false:
(a) When the British captured Bengal they framed many new laws to regulate the rules regarding marriage, adoption, the inheritance of property, etc.
(b) Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue for reform in social practices.
(c) Reformers got full support from all sections of the people of the country.
(d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1829.
Ans:
(a) True
(b) False
(c) False
(d) False
3. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws?
Ans:
Reformers like Ram Mohan Roy used their knowledge of ancient texts, such as Sanskrit and Persian scriptures, to challenge harmful social practices. For example, Ram Mohan Roy showed that the practice of widow burning (Sati) had no basis in ancient texts. This method of referencing ancient texts became a common strategy for other reformers. They would find verses in sacred texts to support their reformist views, claiming that certain practices, like widow remarriage or education for women, were consistent with ancient traditions. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar used this approach to argue for the remarriage of widows, claiming it was not against Hindu law.
4. What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school?
Ans:
There were several reasons why people were reluctant to send girls to school:
a. Fear that schools would take girls away from home and disrupt family life.
b. Concern that schooling would prevent girls from fulfilling their domestic responsibilities.
c. Discomfort with the idea of girls traveling through public spaces to reach school.
d. The belief that education outside the home could corrupt the girls’ moral values.
e. A general mindset that girls should stay within the domestic sphere and avoid public spaces.
5. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would some people have supported them too? If so, for what reasons?
Ans:
Christian missionaries were attacked because they were involved in converting poor and tribal people to Christianity, which many people saw as a threat to their religion and traditions. Additionally, missionaries set up schools for poor and tribal children, which provoked resistance from those who believed education for these groups would disrupt the social order.
However, some people supported the missionaries because they provided education and healthcare to marginalized communities. They saw the missionaries as a source of empowerment for the poor and downtrodden, helping them escape poverty and oppression.
6. In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people who came from castes that were regarded as “low”?
Ans:
During the British period, people from lower castes began to find new opportunities:
a. Many moved to urban areas in search of labor, away from the oppressive control of upper-caste landowners in rural areas.
b. Some went to work in plantations in places like Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad, and Indonesia, where labor was in high demand.
c. This migration helped them escape daily humiliation and provided a chance to improve their economic and social standing.
7. How did Jyotirao, the reformer, justify his criticism of caste inequality in society?
Ans:
Jyotirao Phule criticized caste inequality by arguing that the upper castes, who claimed to be of ‘Aryan’ descent, were actually outsiders who did not originally belong to the land. He believed that the land had always belonged to the lower castes, and that the Aryans had imposed a discriminatory caste system. Phule’s vision was of a society where lower-caste people could live peacefully and equally, free from the domination of upper castes.
8. Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American movement to free slaves?
Ans:
Jyotirao Phule dedicated his book Gulamgiri (Slavery) to the American movement to abolish slavery because he saw a parallel between the conditions of lower-caste people in India and black slaves in America. By dedicating the book to those who fought to free slaves, Phule linked the struggles of the oppressed in India with the global fight for freedom and equality.
9. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement?
Ans:
Ambedkar’s temple entry movement, initiated in 1927, aimed to challenge caste-based discrimination and assert the rights of Dalits to access temples, which had been traditionally denied to them. His goal was to expose the caste prejudices ingrained in society and show that Dalits, too, were entitled to the same rights and respect as anyone else.
10. Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way?
Ans:
Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker were critical of the national movement because they believed it was dominated by upper-caste leaders who were only interested in replacing British rulers with their own control over India. Phule felt that the upper castes, who sought to fight the British, would only replace them and continue the oppression of lower castes. Naicker, although a member of the Congress party, felt that the party was tainted by casteism and didn’t address the concerns of lower castes.
Their criticism helped strengthen the national struggle by pushing the movement to focus not only on political independence but also on social equality. Their advocacy for a caste-free society contributed to making the national movement more inclusive, focusing on the eradication of caste discrimination, gender inequality, and religious oppression.