The making of nationalist movement

              The making of nationalist movement

Sovereign – The capacity to act independently without outside interference

Demands of congress in modrate phase

It demanded a greater voice for Indians in the government and in administration.

 It wanted the Legislative Councils to be made more representative, given more power, and introduced in provinces where none existed.

 It demanded that Indians be placed in high positions in the government. For this purpose it called for civil service examinations to be held in India as well, not just in London

Other demands included the separation of the judiciary from the executive,

the repeal of the Arms Act and the freedom of speech and expression.

The Congress demanded reduction of revenue, cut in military expenditure, and more funds for irrigation.

Repeal – To undo law; to officially end the validity of something such as a law

Publicist – Someone who publicises an idea by circulating information, writing reports, speaking at meetings

“Freedom is our birthright”

In Bengal, Maharashtra and Punjab, leaders such as Bepin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai were beginning to explore more radical objectives and methods. They criticized the Moderates for their “politics of prayers”, and emphasized the importance of self-reliance and constructive work.

people must fight for swaraj. Tilak raised the slogan, “Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it!

Partition of bengal

In 1905 Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal.

The British argued for dividing Bengal for reasons of administrative convenience.

Swadeshi movement,

The partition of Bengal infuriated people all over India. All sections of the Congress – the Moderates and the Radicals, as they may be called – opposed it.

Large public meetings and demonstrations were organised and novel methods of mass protest developed.

The struggle that unfolded came to be known as the Swadeshi movement,

The Swadeshi movement sought to oppose British rule and encourage the ideas of self-help, swadeshi enterprise, national education, and use of Indian languages. To fight for swaraj, the radicals advocated mass mobilisation and boycott of British institutions and goods.

Revolutionary violence The use of violence to make a radical change within society Council – An appointed or elected body of people with an administrative, advisory or representative function

A group of Muslim landlords and nawabs formed the All India Muslim League at Dacca in 1906.

the Congress and the Muslim League signed the historic Lucknow Pact and decided to work together for representative government in the country

The Growth of Mass Nationalism

1. The First World War

It led to a huge rise in the defence expenditure of the Government of India. The government in turn increased taxes on individual incomes and business profits. Increased military expenditure and the demands for war supplies led to a sharp rise in prices which created great difficulties for the common people.

2. Villages were pressurised to supply soldiers for an alien cause. A large number of soldiers were sent to serve abroad.

3. in 1917 there was a revolution in Russia. News about peasants’ and workers’ struggles and ideas of socialism circulated widely, inspiring Indian nationalists.

The advent of Mahatma Gandhi

arrived in India in 1915 from South Africa.

Mahatma Gandhi spent his first year in India travelling throughout the country, understanding the people, their needs and the overall situation.

 First role in movement was Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad satyagraha where he came into contact with Rajendra Prasad and Vallabhbhai Patel

The Rowlatt act( 1919, indefinitely extending the emergency measures of preventive indefinite detention, incarceration without trial and judicial review)

The Act curbed fundamental rights such as the freedom of expression and strengthened police powers.

The Rowlatt Satyagraha

Gandhiji asked the Indian people to observe 6 April 1919 as a day of non-violent opposition to this Act, as a day of “humiliation and prayer” and hartal (strike).

In April 1919 there were a number of demonstrations and hartals in the country and the government used brutal measures to suppress them. The Jallianwala Bagh atrocities, inflicted by General Dyer in Amritsar on Baisakhi day (13 April), were a part of this repression

Knighthood – An honour granted by the British Crown for exceptional personal achievement or public service. Due to jjallian wala massacre  Rabindranath Tagore expressed the pain and anger of the country by renouncing his knighthood.

Khilafat agitation and the Non-Cooperation Movement

In 1920 the British imposed a harsh treaty on the Turkish Sultan or Khalifa

Indian Muslims were keen that the Khalifa be allowed to retain control over Muslim sacred places in the erstwhile Ottoman Empire. The leaders of the Khilafat agitation, Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, now wished to initiate a full-fledged Non-Cooperation Movement. Gandhiji supported their call and urged the Congress to campaign against “Punjab wrongs” (Jallianwala massacre), the Khilafat wrong and demand swaraj

Effacts of non coopration

Thousands of students left governmentcontrolled schools and colleges. Many lawyers such as Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari and Asaf Ali gave up their practices. British titles were surrendered and legislatures boycotted. People lit public bonfires of foreign cloth. The imports of foreign cloth fell drastically between 1920 and 1922.
Picket – People protesting outside a building or shop to prevent others from entering
Mahants – Religious functionaries of Sikh gurdwaras Illegal eviction – Forcible and unlawful throwing out of tenants from the land they rent.
The happenings of 1922 -1929
Mahatma Gandhi, abruptly called off the Non-Cooperation Movement when in February 1922 a crowd of peasants set fire to a police station in Chauri  Chaura. Twenty two policemen were killed on that day.
Simon Commission
In 1927 the British government in England decided to send a commission headed by Lord Simon to decide India’s political future. The Commission had no Indian representative. The decison created an outrage in India. All political groups decided to boycott the Commission. When the Commission arrived it was met with demonstrations with banners saying “Simon Go Back”.
 Purna Swaraj (complete independence) in 1929 under the presidentship of Jawaharlal Nehru. Consequently, “Independence Day” was observed on 26 January 1930 all over the country.
HSRA
Revolutionary nationalists such as Bhagat Singh and his comrades  founded the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in 1928 at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi.
 Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, threw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly on 8 April 1929.
The March to Dandi
According to  salt law, the state had a monopoly on the manufacture and sale of salt. Mahatma Gandhi along with other nationalists reasoned that it was sinful to tax salt since it is such an essential item of our food.
Gandhiji and his followers marched for over 240 miles from Sabarmati to the coastal town of Dandi where they broke the government law by gathering natural salt found on the seashore, and boiling sea water to produce salt.
The government tried to crush the movement through brutal action against peaceful satyagrahis. Thousands were sent to jail.
The combined struggles of the Indian people bore fruit when the Government of India Act of 1935 prescribed provincial autonomy and the government announced elections to the provincial legislatures in 1937. The Congress formed governments in 7 out of 11 provinces.
In September 1939, after two years of Congress rule in the provinces, the Second World War broke out.
Quit India movement, August 1942
Mahatma Gandhi decided to initiate quit India immediately, he told them. To the people he said, “do or die” in your effort to fight the British.
  Sarojini Naidu She was the first Indian woman to become President of the Indian National Congress (1925).
Subhas Chandra Bose A radical nationalist, raised the Azad Hind Fauj or the Indian National Army (INA), to free India from British control.
 Chakravarti Rajagopalachari  free India’s first Indian Governor-General.
General”constituencies Election districts with no reservations for any religious or other community.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the Pashtun leader from the North West Frontier Also known as Badshah Khan, he was the founder of the Khudai Khidmatgars, a powerful non-violent movement.
Cabinet mission
 In March 1946 the British cabinet sent a three-member mission to Delhi to examine the demand of muslim league's for “Pakistan” and to suggest a suitable political framework for a free India. 
This mission suggested that India should remain united and constitute itself as a loose confederation with some autonomy for Muslim-majority areas.
“Direct Action Day”
the Muslim League decided on mass agitation for winning its Pakistan demand. It announced 16 August 1946 as “Direct Action Day”. On this day riots broke out in Calcutta, lasting several days and resulting in the death of thousands of people.

question related to marginalisation

Q1. What is marginalization?

Ans. Marginalization refers to the reduce power and importance of certain people in our country. Example Tribals or Adivasi, OBC’s, Religious minorities and women.

Q2. Who are Adivasi?  

Ans . Adivasi term literally means ‘original inhabitants’or communities who lived, and often continue to live, in close association with forests.  Around 8 per cent of India’s population is Adivasis   there are over 500 different Adivasi groups in India.

Q3. Why are tribal communities poor?

 Losing their land and access to the forest means that tribal lose their main sources of livelihood and food.  

Most Adivasis have migrated to cities in search of work where they are employed for very low wages in local industries and at construction sites.  

45 percent of tribal groups in rural areas and 35 percent in urban areas live below the poverty live. This leads to deprivation in other areas.   

 Many tribal children are malnourished. Literacy rates among tribals are also very low.

Q4.  . “Muslims are marginalized community” Give two reasons?  

Muslims are marginalized community in India because in comparison to other communities, they have over the years been deprived of the benefits of socio- economic development.  Like other minorities, Muslim customs and practices are sometimes quite distinct from  others .

Some not all Muslim may wear a burqa, sport a long beard, wear a fez, and these become ways to identify Muslims.

Because of this they tend to be identified differently and some people think they are not like ‘rest of us’.

Often this becomes the excuse to treat them unfairly, and discriminate against them.

Q5. How does the constitution of India protect the right of the minorities?

Ans.   1. Constitution provides safeguards to religious minorities as part of our fundamental rights.

 2. Safeguards are present to protect minority communities against the possibility of being culturally dominated by the majority.

3. They also protect them against any discrimination and disadvantage that they may face.

Q6. Briefly describe the religious beliefs of Adivasis.  

These often involve the worship of ancestors, village and natural spirits, the last associated with and residing in various sites in the landscape – ‘mountain-spirits’, ‘riverspirits’, ‘animal-spirits’, etc.  

The village spirits are often worshipped at specific sacred groves within the village boundary while the ancestral ones are usually worshipped at home.  

Adivasis have always been influenced by different surrounding religions like Shakta, Buddhist, Vaishnav, Bhakti and Christianity.

Q7. Mention the state inhabited by Adivasis.

Ans. Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Q8.Glossary

 Hierarchy: A graded system or arrangement of persons or things.  

 Ghettoisation: A ghetto is an area or locality that is populated largely by members of a particular community due to various social, cultural and economic reasons.  . Mainstream:     In this chapter it is used to refer to a cultural context in which the customs and practices that are followed are those of the dominant community. often the powerful or dominant group.

Displaced:   people who are forced or compelled to move from their homes for big development projects including dams, mining etc.  

 Malnourished: A person who does not get adequate nutrition or food.

Q9. Mention the largest religious minority in our country.

Ans. Muslims are 13.4 per cent of India’s population and are considered to be a largest marginalized community in India.

Q10. what stereotypes are related to adivasis?

Ans; Adivasis are   portrayed in very stereotypical ways – in colourful costumes, headgear and through their dancing.

Besides this,   people believing that they are exotic, primitive and backward.

Adivasis are blamed for their lack of advancement as they are believed to be resistant to change or new ideas.

Q11. Where the adivasis from Jharkhand moved?

Ans; From the 1830s onwards, Adivasis from Jharkhand and adjoining areas moved in very large numbers to various plantations in India and the world - Mauritius, the Caribbean and even Australia. India’s tea industry became possible with their labour in Assam.

Q12. What metals are important in present-day India? Why? Where do they come from? Are there Adivasi populations there?

Ans; Iron ,gold,copper are important metals in present days because these metals are backbone of our economy as well as industry. These metals are mined from Jharkhand,orrisa, chattisgarh etc which are highly tribled states.

civilising the natives

Civilizing the natives and educating the nation exercise questions

Q1 Why did William Jones  feel the need to study Indian history, Philosophy and Law?

Ans; William Jones felt the need to study Indian history, philosophy and law  because it will    help the British learn from Indian culture.

  it would also help Indian to rediscover their own heritage and understand the lost glories of their past. 

This would establish the British as guardians of Indian culture and gain total control.

Q2. Why did James Mill and Thomas Macaulay think that European education was essential in India?

Ans;  Macaulay felt that knowledge of English would allow Indians to read some of the finest literature the world had produced. 

It would make them aware of the developments in Western Science and philosophy.  .

It would supply the civil servents to british govt .

Introducing European ways of life would change their tastes and desires and create a demand for British goods, because Indians would begin to buy things that were produced in Europe.

Q3. Why mahatma Gandhi wanted to teach children handicrafts?

Ans  Mahatma Gandhi thought that practical knowledge is important then textual knowledge.

Ganhi believed that people had to work with hands learn craft and know how different things operated.

It would develop their mind and capacity to understand.

Q4. Why mahatma Gandhi think that English education had enslaved Indians/

Ans; mahatma Gandhi felt that colonial education created a sense of inferiority in the minds of Indians.

It made them see western civilization as superior and destroyed the pride of their own culture .

It is poison and sinful and enslaved them.

It crippled Indians and made them strangers in their own country.

Q5. What was Madrasa and when  first madrasa  was set up?

Ans; Madrasa is an Arabic word for a place of learning .  first Madrasa was set up in Calcutta in 1781 to promote the study of  Arabic , Persian and Islamic laws.

Q6. Where was first hindu college set up?

The Hindu College was set up in Benaras in 1791.

     Q6.  Which institutions known as ‘temples of darkness’?

Ans;  Oriental  institutions like Calcutta madrasa and the  hindu  college were known as temple of darkness.

Q7. Who introduced  Woods dispatch?

Charles wood in 1854 introduced woods dispatch.  According to it  education department  of the govt were set up to extend control over  education.

In 1857 university like Bombay madras and Calcutta were setup.

EXTRA QUESTION WOMEN CASTE REFORM

                           Extra Questions
 Q1. Describe the role of the following organizations towards abolition of caste based discrimination.

 1. Brahmo Samaj: - Raja Rammohan Roy established the Brahmo Samaj   in 1830, prohibited all forms of idolatry and sacrifice.
It believed in the Upanishads, and forbade its members from criticizing other religions practices.
 It critically drew upon the ideals of religious especially of Hinduism and looking at their negative and positive dimensions. 
2. Prarthana Samaj: - Established in 1867 at Bombay, the Prarthana Samaj sought to remove caste restrictions, abolish child marriage, encourage the education of women, and end the ban on widow remarriage. 
 3. Paramhans Mandali: - In Bombay, the Paramhans Mandali was founded in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste. Many of these reformers and members of reform associations were people of upper castes.
Q2. Describe the reform movement by the people of the lower castes against caste discrimination across India. 
 The Satnami movement in Central India, founded by a leader named Ghasidas who came from a “low” caste, worked among the leather workers and organized a movement to improve their social status. 
 In eastern Bengal, Haridas Thakur’s Matua set worked among ‘low’ caste chandala cultivators. Haridas questioned Brahmanical texts that supported the caste system. 
 In 1972 Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated. 
Brahman priests were outraged when the Dalits used water from
 the temple tank. Convinced that untouchable had to fight for their dignity,
 Periyar founded the self Respect Movement. 
He argued that untouchables were the true upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture which had been subjugated by Brahmans. 
He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as God –given.
Q3. Write about Sri Narayan Guru and Tara bai shinde's role in society.
Ans Shri Narayan Guru was  from Ezhava caste in Kerala ,  proclaimed the ideals of unity for people.argued against treating people unequally on the basis of caste differences. According to him, all human kind belonged to the same caste.
Q4. How did new opportunities open up for the people of the lower caste under the British?
Ans; During the course of the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting up schools for tribal groups and “lower” – caste children
 The poor began leaving their villages to look for jobs that were opening up in the cities.
 There were new demands of labour –drains had to be dug, roads, laid, buildings constructed, and cities cleaned.

Some also went to work in plantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia

The army,  offered opportunities. A number of Mahar people, who were regarded as untouchable, found jobs in the Mahar Regiment.

Q5. Who was jyotirao phule and why he wrote a book "Gulamgiri".

Ans Jyotirao Phule was low-caste” leader  Born in 1827,In 1873 Phule wrote a book named gulamgiri

meaning slavery.Phule dedicated his book to all those Americans who had fought to free slaves.

 ,Q6.  How did Jyotiba the reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality in society?
Ans; Jyotiba Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners who came from outside the subcontinent and deflated and subjugated the true children of the country those who had lived here from before the coming of the Aryans. 
 As the Aryans established their dominance, they began looking at the defeated population as inferior, as low –caste people. 
According to Phule, the “upper” caste had no right to their land and power: in reality the land belonged to  low castes. 
 Phule claimed that before Aryan rule there existed a golden age when warrior – peasants tilled the land .

some extra question women caste and reform

                   Some extra questions

        Q1. What was the condition of women in the earlier days? 

1. Women were married at an early age.
2. Women were forced to burn themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Woman who died in this manner, whether willing or otherwise, were called “sati”. 
3. Women’s right to property were also restricted
4. Women had   no access to education.
5. It  believed that if a woman was educated, she would become a widow.
6.  

Q2. Why in the earlier days most parents were apprehensive of sending their girls to schools?

1.       They feared that schools would take girls away from home, prevent them from   doing their domestic duties.

2.       Moreover, girls had to travel through public places in order to reach school.

3.       Many people felt that this would have a corrupting influence on them.

4.      They felt that the girls should stay away from public spaces.

Q3. Describe the contribution of the following towards the upliftment of women.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy: -

1.      He founded a reform association known as the Brahmo sabha (later known as the Brahmo samaj) in Calcutta.

2.       Due to his efforts the evil practice of sati was banned in 1829 by the British.

  Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar:

     Ishwarchandra Vidasagar, used the ancient texts to suggest that widows could   remarry. His suggestion was adopted by British officials and a law was passed in 1856 permitting widow remarriage.

Pandita Ramabai:-

 A great scholar of Sanskrit felt that Hinduism was oppressive towards women,

 and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper –caste Hindu women.

  She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husbands’ relatives.

7. Periyar:- 

1. An outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures, especially the codes of Manu, the ancient   lawgiver, and the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayan. 

2. He said that these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahmans over lower castes and the domination of men over women

summary of chapter women caste and refom

·                 Women, Caste and Reform

·                 Status of Women:

·         Two hundred years ago, the situation of women was altogether different compared to in the modern times.

·         The practice of child marriage was.

·         Both Hindu and Muslim men could marry more than one wife.

·         Burning of a widow on her husband’s pyre was a gory practice in many parts of India. This was called the sati system.

·         A widow who died in this manner was praised as a woman of high virtues.

·         Women did not have the right to property. Most of the women had no access to education.

                 Status of Shudras:

·         People were divided along the caste lines.

·         Brahmans and Kshatriyas were considered as the upper castes.

·          Traders and moneylenders were placed after them.

·         Peasants and artisans came at the third level.

·         People who did the so called “dirty” jobs were called the shudras.

·          People at the bottom of this hierarchy were treated as “untouchable”.

·          They could not enter temples, nor take water from wells (used by upper castes), bathe in ponds which were meant for the upper castes.

                Working Towards Change

·         Effect of Print Technology: From the early nineteenth century, books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and pamphlets began to be printed in India.

·         Printing enhanced the access of knowledge to the masses because printed material was much cheaper than manuscripts.

·         Ordinary people could now read various texts and many of them could write to express their ideas in their own languages.

·         People could debate all kinds of issues; like social, political, economic and religious. Such discussions could reach out to a wider public and could bring social change.

Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833):

·         Raja Rammohun Roy was a pioneer social reformer.

·         He founded the Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta.

·         He promoted women’s education.

·         He began a campaign against the practice of sati.

·         It was because of Rammohan Roy’s efforts that the British banned the practice of sati in 1829.

               Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar:

·         Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar was also from Bengal.

·         He also used ancient texts to convince people against social evils.

·         He worked towards widow remarriage.

·         Based on his suggestions, the British officials passed the widow remarriage law in 1856.

·         Veerasalingam Pantulu was a reformer in the Telugu-speaking areas of the Madras Presidency.

·         He formed an association for widow remarriage.

·         Swami Dayanand Saraswati also supported widow remarriage. He founded the Arya Samaj.

·        Girls begin going to school

·         Many reformers promoted girls’ education as a means to improve the condition of women.

·         Vidyasagar set up schools for girls in Calcutta.

·         Many other reformers set up schools for girls in Bombay.

·         Initially, people were skeptical about girls’ school. They thought that education would pollute the minds of the girls.

·         They also feared the schools would take away the girls from home and away from their domestic duties.

·         Throughout the nineteenth century, most educated women were taught at home by liberal men in their families. Some of the women taught themselves as well.

·         In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Arya Samaj established girls’ schoosl in Punjab.

·         Similarly, Jyotirao Phule established girls’ schools in Maharashtra.

·         In North India, Muslim women from aristocratic families learnt to read the Koran in Arabic.

·         Mumtaz Ali was among the social reformers who interpreted the verses from the Koran to argue for women’s education.

·         From the early twentieth century, some Muslim women played important role in women’s education.

·         The Begums of Bhopal; for example; founded primary schools for girls at Aligarh.

·         Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta.

·         By the 1880s, Indian women began to enter universities. Some of them became doctors, some became teachers.

·         Many women became writers and published their critical views on the status women in society.

·         Tarabai Shinde was from Poona. She got education at home.

·         She had authored a book, Stripurushtulna which means ‘A Comparison between Women and Men’. She criticized the social differences based on gender; in her book.

·         Pandit Ramabai was a great scholar of Sanskrit.

·         She wrote about the miserable lives of upper caste Hindu women.

·         She founded a widows’ home at Poona. Widows who had been badly treated by their husbands’ families were provided shelter at the widows’ home.

·         They were also trained so that they could sustain themselves economically.

·         From the early twentieth century, women began to form political pressure groups.

·         They worked for female suffrage, and health and education for women. From the 1920s, some of them also joined different nationalist and socialist movements.

·         Nationalist leaders; like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose supported the demands for greater equality and freedom for women.

·         They assured of universal adult franchise after the independence.

·         The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1929.

·         The minimum age for marriage was fixed at 18 for men and 16 for women.

·          This was subsequently amended to 21 for men and 18 for women.

CASTE AND SOCIAL REFORM

·         Raja Rammohun Roy quoted the ancient Buddhist text to criticize the caste system.

·         Prarthana Samaj followed the Bhakti tradition which believed in spiritual equality of all castes.

·         The Paramhans Mandali was founded in Bombay in 1840 to work for the abolition of caste. Most of these reformers and members of these associations were from upper castes.

·         During nineteenth century, Christian missionaries started setting up schools for tribal groups and lower caste children.

·         Education gave them a tool to change their world. At the same time, many poor began to migrate to cities in search of jobs. Some also went to work in plantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia.

         

By the second half of the nineteenth century, people from the Non-Brahman castes also began to organize movements against caste discrimination.

The Satnami movement in Central India was founded by Ghasidas. He worked among the leatherworkers and organized a movement to improve their social status.

Haridas Thakur’s Matua sect worked in eastern Bengal. He worked among the Chandala cultivators.

Shri Naryana Guru was a guru from Ezhava caste in the modern day Kerala. He argued against unequal treatment of people on the basis of caste. He believed that all human beings belonged to the same caste.

Gulamgiri (written by jyotiba phule in 1873,  dedicated to American who had fought against slavery)

Jyotirao Phule was one of the most vocal amongst the low caste leaders. He was born in 1827. He studied in Christian missionary school. He attacked the Brahmans’ claim to superiority. He argued that the Aryans were foreigners who subjugated the true children of the country. He said that the upper caste had no right to land and power and the land belonged to the low caste people who were the original inhabitants of the land in the peninsula. Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj to promote caste equality.  

Who could enter temples?

·         Ambedkar had led many movements to get the right of temple entry for the dalits. The dalits were not allowed to enter into the temples. Ambedkar led three such movements between 1927 and 1935.

·         E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker came from a middle class family. He was also called as Periyar. He founded the Self Respect Movement.

·         He felt that untouchables were the true upholders of an original Tamil and Dravidian culture. He felt that all religious authorities saw social divisions and inequality as something which was God-given.

·         Hence, untouchables had to free themselves from all religions if they were to achieve social equality.

women caste extra questions

1.      Describe the condition of women in the earlier days?

Ans; a) Women had to face many social evils like sati,child marriage, polygamy,female infanticide,devdasi ,purda system, and illiteracy .

b) They could not do marriage with their choice.

c) Right to property was also denied to them.

2. What was ‘sati’?

Ans; Women were forced to burn themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Woman who died in this manner, whether willing or otherwise, were called “sati” meaning virtuous women.

3.Most of the parents in early time were lukewarm to sending their girls to schools. Why?

Ans; a) Most parents were  not ready to  sending their girls to school because they feared that schools would take girls away from home, prevent them from doing their domestic duties.

b)      Moreover, girls had to travel through public places in order to reach school.

c)       Many people felt that this would have a corrupting influence on them. They felt that the girls should stay away from public spaces.

3.      Describe the contribution of the following towards the upliftment of women.

a)      Raja rammohun roy b) Ishwer Chandra Vidyasagar c) pandita rama bai

5 Give a few examples of educated women and the impact they had on society.

Ans; 1. Muslim women like the Begums of Bhopal played a notable role in promoting education among women. They founded a primary school for girls at Aligarh.

2. Another remarkable women Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain started schools for Muslim girls in Patna and Calcutta.  

 3.  . Tarabia Sinde:- a women educated at home at Poona, published a book, Stripurushtulna, ( A comparison between women and Men), criticizing the social differences between men and women.

 5. Pandita Ramabai:- A great scholar of Sanskrit,  and wrote a book about the miserable lives of upper –caste Hindu women. She founded a widows’ home at Poona to provide shelter to widows who had been treated badly by their husband’s relatives.  

6. How did new opportunities open up for the people of the lower caste under the British?  

Ans; a) During the course of the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries began setting upØ schools for tribal groups and “lower” – caste children.    b) There was work in the factories that were coming up, and jobs in municipalities.  

c) There were new demands of labour –drains had to be dug, roads, laid, buildingsØ constructed, and cities cleaned.   

d)     Some also went to work implantations in Assam, Mauritius, Trinidad and Indonesia