Name: Fighting For Change: Reform Movements Across India
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 5 min 46 s
Description: The 19th century was a time of great social change across India. Various reform movements emerged as leaders fought for more rights.

Question

The condition of women in nineteenth-century India was pitiable. Elaborate this statement with regard to the social evils that plagued them.

Accepted Answer

The social evils that plagued Indian women in the nineteenth century were as follows:

Lack of education: In the nineteenth century, things were remarkably different from today. Girls were discouraged from attending school at the time. Some people feared that educated females would not be able to find a husband. Others believed that the husband of an educated girl would die young. The reformers of the period wanted women to become educated. They hoped that education would lead to a better life for them. Mahatma Phule, Savitribai Phule, and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar were the most vocal supporters of women's education.

The practice of Sati: In the orthodox society of that time, the widows were forced to burn on the pyre of their dead husbands, which was an inhumane practice. Society at that time saw widows as discards in society. For the betterment of their position and to stop Sati - Rammohun Ray actively advocated the banning of this practice. The British government approved it and declared Sati illegal in $1829$ .

Child Marriage: Children were married off at a young age during that historical period. The reformers objected, and after much struggle, the Child Marriage Restraint Act (also known as the Sarda Act) was passed in 1929. The Act set the minimum age for girls to marry at 18 and for guys to marry at 21.

Widow Remarriage: The Hindu society did not have the practice of widow remarriage. In some places, Sati was practised but mostly the Hindu widowed women were seen as inauspicious and were never part of the society. They were discouraged from remarrying. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act was passed in $1856$ by the efforts of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.

Gendered Division: Indian society had a deep gender division, and the practice of killing a newborn female child was part of the society. Polygamy was also in practice in India in Hindu and Muslim societies. Similarly, the purdah system was also part of society.

These issues plagued Indian society and the reformers worked to eradicate these social evils and advocated upliftment of the status of women.

The condition of women in nineteenth-century India was pitiable. Elaborate this statement with regard to the social evils that plagued them.

Important Questions on Reforms in Indian Society

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