Indian history · British era · Social reform

Social and Religious Reform Movements in 19th-Century India: Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Brahmo Samaj, Vidyasagar, Arya Samaj, Jyotiba Phule, Ramakrishna Mission and Aligarh — Exam Notes

Alongside political change, the 19th century saw a powerful movement to reform Indian society — against sati, child marriage, caste discrimination and the denial of education to women. Reformers drew on both Indian traditions and Western ideas. This guide sets out each reformer and organisation with dates and achievements, in the table-friendly form exams use.

By PunjabExams Editorial Team · Updated 29 October 2026 · 7 min read · How we prepare guides

Why reform movements arose

• Contact with Western education, science and liberal ideas through English schools and colleges.
• The work of Orientalist scholars (Asiatic Society, 1784) revealed India's classical heritage, giving reformers confidence to argue from Indian texts.
• The printing press and newspapers spread debate.
• Christian missionary criticism of Indian customs prompted both reform and revival.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833)

Called the "father of the Indian Renaissance" and the "maker of modern India".

After Ram Mohan Roy

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891)

• Principal of the Sanskrit College, Calcutta; opened it to non-Brahmin students.
• Led the campaign for widow remarriage, citing the shastras. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act was passed on 26 July 1856 (Lord Canning was Governor-General). The first legal widow remarriage took place in Calcutta in December 1856.
• Campaigned against polygamy and child marriage; contributed to the Age of Consent Act, 1891 debates.
• Opened many schools for girls; worked with J. E. D. Bethune to found the Bethune School (1849).
• Wrote the Bengali primer Barnaparichay, simplifying the Bengali alphabet.

Reform in western India

Prarthana Samaj (1867)

Founded in Bombay by Atmaram Pandurang with inspiration from Keshab Chandra Sen. M. G. Ranade and R. G. Bhandarkar were leading members. It worked for inter-caste dining and marriage, widow remarriage and women's education.

Jyotiba Phule (1827–1890) and Savitribai Phule (1831–1897)

• Opened a school for girls in Pune in 1848, with Savitribai Phule as teacher — among the first such schools run by Indians. Savitribai is remembered as India's first woman teacher of modern times.
• Founded the Satyashodhak Samaj ("Society of Seekers of Truth") on 24 September 1873 to fight caste discrimination and Brahmanical dominance.
• Wrote Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873), comparing the condition of lower castes with slavery in America.
• Opened a home to prevent infanticide for widows.
• Title "Mahatma" given in 1888.

Other western Indian reformers

• Gopal Hari Deshmukh ("Lokhitwadi"): wrote against caste and superstition.
• Pandita Ramabai: founded the Arya Mahila Samaj (1882) and Sharada Sadan (1889) for widows.
• D. K. Karve: opened a widows' home and founded SNDT Women's University (1916).
• Behramji Malabari: campaigned for the Age of Consent Act, 1891.

Arya Samaj (1875)

• Founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati on 10 April 1875 in Bombay; its main centre became Lahore (1877).
• Slogan: "Back to the Vedas"; rejected idol worship, caste by birth and ritualism.
• His main book: Satyarth Prakash (1875).
• Shuddhi movement for reconversion.
• After his death (1883), the movement split into the DAV (Dayanand Anglo-Vedic) group — led by Lala Hansraj and Lala Lajpat Rai, DAV College Lahore (1886) — and the Gurukul group of Swami Shraddhanand, who founded the Gurukul Kangri at Haridwar (1902).

Ramakrishna Mission (1897)

• Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886), a priest at Dakshineswar, taught that all religions lead to the same God.
• His disciple Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) spoke at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, on 11 September 1893.
• Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897, with headquarters at Belur Math, combining spirituality with social service.
• His birthday, 12 January, is National Youth Day.

Theosophical Society

Founded in New York in 1875 by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel H. S. Olcott; headquarters moved to Adyar, Madras, in 1882. Annie Besant led it in India, founded the Central Hindu College, Benares (1898) — which later became the core of Banaras Hindu University — and started the Home Rule League (1916).

Reform among Muslims

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and the Aligarh movement

• Founded the Scientific Society (1864) to translate Western works into Urdu.
• Founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh, in 1875 (classes began 1875; foundation stone by Lord Lytton in 1877); it became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.
• Published the journal Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq.
• Urged Muslims to take up modern education.

Others

• Deoband movement (1866), Darul Uloom Deoband, founded by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi — a revivalist movement that later supported the Congress.
• Ahmadiyya movement (1889) of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Qadian (Punjab).

Reform in south India and among Sikhs and Parsis

Reform laws under British rule

Key points to remember

• Ram Mohan Roy — Brahmo Sabha 1828; sati abolished 1829 (Bentinck); died Bristol 1833.
• Vidyasagar — Widow Remarriage Act 1856.
• Phules — girls' school 1848; Satyashodhak Samaj 1873; Gulamgiri.
• Dayanand — Arya Samaj 1875; Satyarth Prakash; "Back to the Vedas".
• Vivekananda — Chicago 1893; Ramakrishna Mission 1897.
• Sir Syed — MAO College 1875 (→ AMU 1920); Narayana Guru — SNDP 1903.

Practice questions

1. Q1. The Brahmo Sabha was founded in 1828 by:

   • (a) Debendranath Tagore
   • (b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy
   • (c) Keshab Chandra Sen
   • (d) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy — Ram Mohan Roy founded it on 20 August 1828.

2. Q2. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act was passed in:

   • (a) 1829
   • (b) 1856
   • (c) 1872
   • (d) 1891
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) 1856 — It was passed on 26 July 1856, after Vidyasagar's campaign.

3. Q3. 'Gulamgiri' was written by:

   • (a) B. R. Ambedkar
   • (b) Jyotiba Phule
   • (c) Periyar
   • (d) Narayana Guru
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Jyotiba Phule — Jyotiba Phule wrote Gulamgiri in 1873.

4. Q4. The Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 at:

   • (a) Lahore
   • (b) Bombay
   • (c) Calcutta
   • (d) Haridwar
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Bombay — Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded it in Bombay on 10 April 1875.

5. Q5. The Ramakrishna Mission was founded by:

   • (a) Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
   • (b) Swami Vivekananda
   • (c) Keshab Chandra Sen
   • (d) Swami Dayanand
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Swami Vivekananda — Vivekananda founded it on 1 May 1897.

6. Q6. Who said 'One caste, one religion, one God for man'?

   • (a) Periyar
   • (b) Sree Narayana Guru
   • (c) Jyotiba Phule
   • (d) Ayyankali
   Show answer

   Answer: (b) Sree Narayana Guru — It was Sree Narayana Guru's message.

Frequently asked questions

Who abolished sati?

Lord William Bentinck, by Regulation XVII of 4 December 1829, supported by Raja Ram Mohan Roy's campaign.

Who was India's first woman teacher of modern times?

Savitribai Phule, who taught at the girls' school opened in Pune in 1848.

What is the Sarda Act?

The Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929, which fixed the minimum marriage age at 14 for girls and 18 for boys.

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