Slide 1

SOCIAL REFORMERS

A SOCIAL SCIENCE POJECT

DONE BY

ATHARV BIRADAR OF CLASS VIII A

NEED OF THE HOUR

Two hundred years ago things were totally different children were married off at an early age .In some parts of the country widows were praised if they chose death by burning themselves in the funeral pyre of their husbands . Differences between men and women were not the only ones in the society. Kshatriyas and brahmins considered themselves as the upper caste and considered the other peasants money lenders potters weavers as lower caste. They also considered some as untouchables as the work they did were polluting i.e. it could lead to the loss of caste status of the upper caste. Thus a change was necessary during this period.

Walking towards change

From the early nineteenth century we find debates and discussions about social customs and practices taking on a new character. An important reason for this is the cheaper forms media which allows more people to access more information and express their own ideas thus this took an important turn in social reforms.

RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY

Sri Raja Ram Mohan Roy a social reformer born in Calcutta in 1772 initiated many debates which formed a reform group called as the brahmo Sabah. He felt that changes were necessary in society. He with he help of British abolished sati.

MAHATAMA GHANDI

Sri Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi (Father of the Nation) was the pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He was the pioneer of 'satyagraha'resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violencewhich led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi led nationwide campaigns to ease poverty, expand women's rights, build religious and ethnic amity, end untouchability, and increase economic self-reliance

BASVESHWARA

Basava(11341196), also known as Bhakti Bhandari Basavanna or Basaveshwara was a philosopher, Statesman and a social reformer from present-day Karnataka, India. Basava fought against the inhuman practice of caste system, which discriminated people based on their birth, and certain rituals in Hinduism. He spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas. Basavanna used Ishtalinga to eradicate untouchability, establish equality among all human beings and a means to attain spiritual enlightenment. These are rational and progressive social thoughts coupled with established perception of God in Hindu society. He was a great philosopher.

SRIMANTA SANKARDEVA

Srimanta Sankardev(14491568), was a 15th16th century Assamese polymath: a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, social-religious reformer and a colossal figure in the socio-cultural and religious history of Assam, India. . The religion he preached is practised by a large population, and Sattras (monasteries) that he and his followers established continue to flourish and sustain his legacy.

KABIR

Kabir(14401518)was amysticpoet andsaintofIndia, whose writings have greatly influenced theBhakti movement. Kabir is the first Indian saint to have harmonizedHinduismand Islam by preaching a universal path which both Hindus and Muslims could tread together.

VIVEKANADA

Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 4 July 1902) was the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda was also known as a great scholar. His real name was Narendra Nath Dutta. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He was considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America. He introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar(18201891) was a philosopher, academic, educator, writer, translator, printer, publisher, entrepreneur, reformer, and philanthropist. His efforts to simplify and modernise Bangla prose were significant. He was a Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance. Vidyasagar championed the uplift of the status of women in India, particularly in his native Bengal.

Unlike some other reformers who sought to set up alternative societies or systems, he sought, however, to transform orthodox Hindu society from within. Vidyasagar introduced the practice of widow remarriages to mainstream Hindu society. In earlier times, remarriages of widows would occur sporadically only among progressive members of the Brahmo Samaj.

PANDITA RAMABAI

Ramabai was born on April 23, 1858 in Dakshina Kannada District, Mala, Gangamoola, Karnataka. She was a social reformer who tried her level best to educate women .

VIRCHAND GHANDI

Virchand Gandhi was from Mahuva. He advocated female education. He is a 19th-century Indian patriot who was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi and contemporary to Swami Vivekanand. He and swami vivekananda drew equal attention at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. He won a silver medal in same. His statue still stands at the Jain temple in Chicago

DAYANAND SARASWATI

Dayanand Saraswati was born on 12 February in 1824 in Tankara, near Morbi in the Kathiawad region (now Rajkot district of Gujarat). His original name was Mool Shankar because he was born in Dhanu Rashi and Mul Nakshatra.

Dayanand's mission was not to start or set up any new religion but to ask humankind for Universal Brotherhood through nobility as spelt out in Vedas. For that mission he founded Arya Samaj enunciating the Ten Universal Principles as a code for Universalism Krinvanto Vishwaryam meaning the whole world be an abode for Nobles (Aryas). His next step was to take up the difficult task of reforming Hinduism with dedication despite multiple repeated attempts on his personal life.

JYOTIRAO PHULE

Mahatma Jyotirao Govindrao Phule(11 April 1827 28 November 1890) was an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer, writer and theologist from Maharashtra. He and his wife, Savitribai Phule, were pioneers of women's education in India. His work extended to many fields including education, agriculture, caste system, women and widow upliftment and removal of untouchability. He is most known for his efforts to educate women and the lower castes as well as the masses. He, after educating his wife, opened the first school for girls in India in August 1848.

In September 1873, Jyotirao, along with his followers, formed the

Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth) to attain equal rights

for peasants and the lower caste and his contributions to the field of

education. Phule is regarded as an important figure of the Social Reform

Movement in Maharashtra.

MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE

Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade (18 January 1842 16 January 1901) was a distinguished Indian scholar, social reformer and author. He was a founding member of the Indian National Congress and owned several designations as member of the Bombay legislative council, member of the finance committee at the centre, and the judge of Bombay High Court .

A well known public figure, his personality as a calm and patient optimist

would influence his attitude towards dealings with Britain as well as reform in India. During his life he helped to establish thePoona Sarvajanik

Sabha and the Prarthana Samaj, and would edit a Bombay Anglo-Marathi daily paper, the Induprakash, founded on his ideology of social and religious reform.

SIR SYED AHMED KHAN

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan commonly known as Sir Syed, was an Anglo-Indian Muslim philosopher, pragmatist, and social activist of nineteenth century India. In 1842, Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah ZafarII conferred upon Sir Syed the title of Javad-ud Daulah, conferred upon Sir Syed's grandfather Syed Hadi by Emperor Shah Alam II around the middle of the 18th century.

Committed to working for the upliftment of Muslims, Sir Syed founded a modern madrassa in Muradabad in 1859; this was one of the first religious schools to impart scientific education.

Upon his transfer to Aligarh in 1864, Sir Syed began working wholeheartedly as an educator. He founded the Scientific Society of Aligarh, the first scientific association of its kind in India.

SOME PICTURES OF SOME OTHER REFOMERS

CAN YOU NAME THEM