L 8 Women Caste and Reform

8.
Women, Caste and Reform
1. What social ideas did the following people support.

a) Rammohun Roy:
i) He began a campaign against the practise of Sati.
ii) He founded the Brahmo Samaj in Kolkata.
iii) In 1829 Sati was banned.
b) Dayanand Saraswati:
Dayanand Sarswati founded the reform association called Arya
Samaj and also supported widow remarriage.
c) Veeraslingam Pantulu:
He formed an association for widow remarriage in the Telugu
speaking areas of the Madras presidency.
d) Jyotirao Phule:
i) One of the most vocal amongst the ‘low caste’ leaders was
Jyotirao Phule.
ii) He fought against caste discrimination and propagate caste
equality.
iii) He founded the Satyashodhak Samaj.
e) Pandita Ramabai:
i) Pandita Ramabai was a great scholar of Sanskrit.
ii) She founded a widow's home at Pune to provide shelter to
widows who had been treated badly by their husband’s families.
f) Periyar:
Periyar fought for the dignity of untouchables and started the self
respect movement.
g) Mumtaz Ali:
Mumtaz Ali was a reformer who reinterpreted verses from the
Quran to argue for women’s education.
h) Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar:
Ishwarcandra Vidyasagar supported the idea of education for girls,
which was necessary in order to improve the condition of women.
2. State whether true or false:
a) When the British captured Bengal they framed many new laws to
regulate the rules regarding marriage, adoption, inheritance of
property, etc. [True]
b) Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue

for reform in social practices. [False]
c) Reformers got full support from all sections of the people of the
country. [False]
d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1829. [False]
3. Answer the following:
1. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers

promote new laws?
Ans:
i) The reformers used ancient texts to convince people the social evils
like caste distinctions, child marriage, sati, etc. that had no sanction
in ancient texts.
ii) The knowledge of these texts gave reformers a sense of confidence
in and moral support to promote new laws.
2. What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls
to school?
Ans:
i) They feared that schools would take girls away from home,
prevent them from doing their domestic duties.
ii) Some were afraid that girls had to travel through public places
in order to reach school. This would corrupt them.
iii) They felt that girls should stay away from public spaces.
3. 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 by the people because:
i) They did not appreciated the activities of the missionaries.
ii) They felt that if the people adopted their western ways and culture
they would get corrupted and loose their values.
Yes, those who liked western culture, English language,
western education supported the Christian missionaries.
4. In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people

who came from castes that were regarded as “low”?
Ans.
i) In the British period the Christian missionaries opened the new
schools for the tribal groups and lower - caste children.
ii) With the growth of colonial cities demand for labour increased
which provided job opportunities for the people of lower castes.
iii) Many went to work at plantations in different places.
iv) People who were regarded as untouchables found jobs in the
Mahar regiment.
v) There were other jobs too. The army, insistence, offered
opportunities.
5. How did Jyotirao the reformers justify their criticism of caste

inequality in society?
Ans:
i) Jyotirao Phule attacked the Brahmans on claims of their
superiority to others.
ii) According to Phule the upper castes had no right to their land and
power.
iii) Phule claimed that their existed a golden age when warrior-
peasants tilled the land and ruled the Maratha countryside in just
and fair ways.
iv) He proposed that Shudras and AtiShudras should unite to
challenge caste discrimination.
v) The Satyashodhak Samaj an association, founded by Phule,
propagated caste equality.
6. Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American

movement to free slaves?
Ans:
i) In 1873, Phule wrote a book named Gulamgiri, means slavery.
ii) Phule dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to
free slaves.
iii) He established a link between the conditions of the “lower” castes
in India and the black slaves in America.
7. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry

movement?
Ans:
i) In 1927, Ambedkar started a temple entry movement.
ii) His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices
within society.
iii) Brahman priests were outraged when Dalits used water from the
temple tank.
8. Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the

national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle
in any way?
Ans:
i) Jyotirao Phule spoke strongly against inequality of caste in the
society.
ii) Ramaswamy Naiicker or Periyar fought for the untouchables and
said that they were the true upholders of the original Tamil and
Dravidian cultures.
iii) Yes, their criticism helped in the national struggle. New laws were
made and upliftment of the low caste was of utmost importance.
*******************

L 8 Women Caste and Reform

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

L 8 Women Caste and Reform

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

L 8 Women Caste and Reform

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

8.

Women, Caste and Reform

1. What social ideas did the following people support.

b) Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue

d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1829. [False]

3. Answer the following:

1. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers

3. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the

4. In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people

5. How did Jyotirao the reformers justify their criticism of caste

6. Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American

7. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry

8. Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the

You might also like