Journal articles on the topic 'Arya-Samaj'

The time of revival of the Hindus and the conversion of all the people into Hinduism through organizations such as the Brahma Samaj and the Arya Samaj took place in the latter half of the 19th century. Iyothee, one of the great thinkers of modern India, renounced Hinduism when he examined his society and the reasons for experiencing his social and caste oppression. In this study, the researcher has explained in detail and clearly, with sufficient supporting evidence, the quest for the education of Iyothee, the anti-Hindu religious sentiments of Iyothee, the Dravida Mahajana Sabha and the 10 demands, the village school, and the right to proportion, the reasons for the decline of the Paraiyars, the need for social change, the disguised brahmins, and the Dalits and the toil, and the role played by Iyothee in his society and caste oppression.

<em>Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824&ndash;1883) was a visionary reformer and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His revolutionary ideas challenged orthodoxy, promoted rational thinking, and advocated for social and religious reform. This paper examines his contributions to social thought, focusing on education, gender equality, caste reform, and the promotion of Vedic ideals. It also explores his enduring legacy and its impact on modern Indian society. References to primary texts and scholarly interpretations highlight the significance of his work.</em>

This article explores how an early twentieth century Indian Sufi Muslim, Khwaja Hasan Nizami (1879-1955), treated various aspects of Hinduism in multiple Urdu publications. During the 1920s Nizami was identified as a primary activist in a “tabligh” campaign to counter Arya Samaj efforts to draw neo-Muslim populations back into the Hindu fold. Despite these politically charged activities, Nizami’s engagement with devotional and spiritual aspects of Hinduism suggests a willingness to continue the Hindu-Muslim cooperation of the Khilafat movement period (1919-1924) in order to embrace a national Indian identity based on mutual religious respect and tolerance.

<em>Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-1883), a 19th-century Indian philosopher, reformer, and founder of the Arya Samaj movement, is widely celebrated for his progressive views on women&rsquo;s education and empowerment. His philosophy was rooted in the Vedas, which he believed held the principles of universal truth and righteousness. Swami Dayanand sought to reform Indian society by returning to these ancient texts, which he interpreted as egalitarian and empowering.</em> <em>&nbsp;At a time when traditional societal norms often relegated women to subordinate roles, his ideas were revolutionary and continue to resonate in contemporary discourses on gender equality.</em> <strong>&nbsp;</strong>

The category of Hindu new religious movements is conventional and useful, but has imprecise boundaries. Scholars tend to include within it some groups that have claimed they are not Hindu (Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission) or not religious (Transcendental Meditation). Within its wide range are world-affirming groups dedicated to transforming the physical and social world as well as world-transcending groups that find the status of the world doubtful and their purpose at another level or in another realm. The four articles in this special issue of Nova Religio on Hindu new religious movements represent several aspects of this category, and the potential for accommodation of basic differences, social harmony, and even world-transcendence.

<em>This paper examines the political thought of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, focusing on his vision for social reform, education, and governance. By emphasizing Vedic principles, Swami Dayanand Sarswati laid the foundation for self-reliance and national awakening, which influenced India's struggle for independence. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a 19th-century reformer and the founder of the Arya Samaj, played a crucial role in shaping the socio-political consciousness of India. His ideas on self-governance, nationalism, and social reform influenced the Indian independence movement and the evolution of modern Indian political thought. This paper examines his contributions to political thought, emphasizing his advocacy for Swaraj (self-rule), critique of colonialism, and commitment to social equality.</em>

<em>Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a prominent social reformer and founder of the Arya Samaj, played a vital role in reshaping the educational landscape of India. His philosophy emphasized Vedic knowledge, moral values, and holistic education to uplift society. This paper explores his educational ideology, its foundational principles, and its long-term impact on Indian education. Swami Dayanand Saraswati, a pivotal figure in 19th-century India, was not only a spiritual leader but also a visionary reformer who emphasized the need for an educational system that aligned with the principles of the Vedas while embracing modern advancements. This paper delves into his philosophy of education, its theoretical framework, practical implementation, and its enduring impact on Indian society.</em>

A Lahore-based offshoot of the Arya Samaj, the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal first appeared in 1922. Ambedkar Babasaheb established the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1936. One of the most significant monetary revolutions in India's history took place as a consequence of the Currency Act of 1835. It transitioned India from a bimetallic system, known as the "Double Standard," to a silver standard, which is monometallic. An oversupply of silver caused the Indian rupee's value to decline. Centralized authorities have a hard time using appropriate knowledge and judgement when allocating national resources. An important turning point in Indian financial history occurred because of the Currency Act of 1835. Consequently, the "Double Standard" or bimetallic system came to an end in India, and the country adopted a monometallic silver standard.

One of the major spheres in which the communal divide in India especially in the north has manifested itself is that of language, around the controversy over Hindi and Urdu. It raged in colonial Punjab as well, despite the fact that neither language was spoken over the larger part of it. In a sense, therefore, it was imported from the then North-Western Provinces (now UP), where the original dialect had given rise to a common language (Khari Boli, Hindustani) with two scripts, around which Hindi and Urdu came to be created as literary languages. Though Urdu remained in colonial times the main print and school language in pre-1947 Punjab, the language controversy continued to play a communally divisive role. In Punjab, the Arya Samaj was the main torchbearer for Hindi, with even nationalists like Lala Lajpat Rai in its camp.

Vedic civilization has seen changes in its history- from Satya Yug to current Kali Yug. There were equal rights and duties of both men and women at the beginning. Interpretations of Veda, brought out of the Puranas and externalities made the status unequal. Sanatan Dharma, which is still mainstream of Hinduism, has been challenged by reformist Arya Samaj. As a result, there are interpretive differences as well as practices. Such differences can be seen in contemporary Nepal for the last 130 years. Continuing the differences, classicism has been reviving in the education. This revival also commenced with the same dualism. In this qualitative approach of exploration, two different gurukuls of girls have been observed and analyzed from the field for the purpose of exploring the recent practices. The observation was based on respective scriptures as well as experts' interviews. These data have analyzed the confronting practices on gender in Veda and rooted ideas in contemporary Nepal.

Aim of the Study: This paper explores the conflict between traditional ideologies of Indian Patriarchy and an anti-traditional struggle for individual space in Manju Kapur’s Difficult Daughters. The protagonist, Virmiti, encounters her submissive position within a male-controlled society as well as struggles for a new identity for marginalized women in Arya Samaj Indian family. Methodology: In this paper we employ the theoretical concept of gender being a cultural product by Nancy J. Chodorow (1995). By applying this theory, this paper argues that, the cultural specific norms for a female are considered gender normative while Virmiti performs gender non-conformity within a gender biased society and “operate[s] psychologically” (Chodorow, 1995) to define her identity. Findings: Virmiti fights for her own space and individuality by criticizing the division between male and female roles in a phallocentric Indian culture. Conclusion: So this paper discusses that challenging patriarchal stereotypes is not an easy task rather a woman has to strive hard against patriarchy to construct her new identity.

Late-19th and early-20th centuries in Punjab were times of ferment and formation of new class, caste, gender, and religious identities. The quest for a localized modernity at this historical juncture was spear-headed by reform movements of Arya Samaj, Singh Sabha, and Ahmaddiya reform movement, that predicated their quest on the construction of ‘modern womanhood’. The new technology of print was used effectively by reform patriarchies to disseminate these representations of modern womanhood. While much has been written about these patriarchal reform movements that projected their own modernity through ‘liberal improvements’ in the condition of their women and by opening up to ideas of education and companionate marriages, the presence of women in this history has been elided over. This essay examines the print spheres in late-19th and early-20th century Punjab, especially the periodical press, to trace women’s responses to reform prescriptions about their education and deportment. It is in this interplay between dominant discursive formations and alternative modes of articulation by women that multiple cultural meanings emerge.

Religious conversions by Dalits in colonial India have largely been examined as mass movements to Christianity, with an implicit focus on men. However, why did Dalit women convert? Were they just guided by their men, family, and community? This paper explores the interrelationship between caste and gender in Dalit conversions afresh through the use of popular print culture, vernacular missionary literature, writings of Hindu publicists and caste ideologues, cartoons, and police reports from colonial north India. It particularly looks at the two sites of clothing and romance to mark representations of mass and individual conversions to Christianity and Islam. Through them, it reads conversions by Dalit women as acts that embodied a language of intimate rights, and were accounts of resistant materialities. These simultaneously produced deep anxieties and everyday violence among ideologues of the Arya Samaj and other such groups, where there was both an erasure and a representational heightening of Dalit female desire. However, they also provide one with avenues to recover in part Dalit women's aspirations in this period.

Cow protection, a potent tool in the hands of cow vigilantes for atrocities against Muslims and Dalits, has become a heavily politicised issue in contemporary India. Its roots, connecting the themes of caste-Hindu religious sentiment, communalism and economic reasoning, can be traced to the late nineteenth century, though basic problems over the intriguingly complex use of cattle are clearly much older. This article relates contemporary cow protection debates specifically to Arya Samaj arguments against cow slaughter in the late nineteenth century and publication of a special issue of the journal Kalyan, titled Gau Ank, in 1945. The discussion shows how cow protection debates in the Constituent Assembly of India and in subsequent post-independence judicial verdicts were heavily influenced by these two earlier discourses. Analysing two landmark judicial decisions on cow slaughter, the article argues further that recent judicial endorsement of cow protection legitimises Hindu majoritarian sentiments in the law, while depriving millions of Indians, not just Muslims, of fundamental rights to food and livelihood. The conclusion attempts to consider some possible solutions to the current impasse.

<em>The Indian society for centuries suffered from so many social evils. The chief among them are caste system, deplorable condition of women, illiteracy, child marriage, idol worship, the sati system, polygamy, the dowry system etc. The various reform movements like Arya samaj, Ramkrishna Mission, Indian Social Conferences, Mohammedan Literacy Society, Aligarh Movement, Ahmadiya Movement were started to combat the above ills. No doubt, it was because of their continuous efforts and hard labour that many of the above social evils were rooted out. These movements put a great pressure on the British Government to pass various laws from time to time to abolish the social evils. Definitely, certain social evils were so deep rooted that it was not easy to get rid of them in a short time. Some of them like the dowry system, illiteracy, etc. still continue and pose a great challenge to the modern reformers. Certainly, some new reform movements should be started to get rid of these social evils that still persist in India.</em>

Lala Lajpat Rai was a prominent figure of the Arya Samaj, the influential nineteenth-century Hindu socio-religious reform movement. He is also seen as having sown the seeds of Hindu nationalism in the first decade of the twentieth century. Exploring Lajpat Rai’s thought between the 1880s and 1915, this article traces how felt imperatives of Hindu nation-building impelled him to regularly re-define Hinduism. These first prompted Rai to articulate a ‘thin’ Hinduism, defined less in terms of an insistence on a complex set of beliefs and more in broad, simple terms. They then induced him to culturalise Hinduism and make a distinction between ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Hindu culture’. The article ends by comparing the Hinduism and Hindu nationalism of Lajpat Rai and V.D. Savarkar, the chief ideologue of the Hindutva ideology, which is considered the main influence on India’s Hindu nationalist movement. It argues that while formulations of a thin and culturalised Hinduism enabled both men to articulate a ‘Hindu nationalism’, their nationalisms in fact remained qualitatively different. By scrutinizing intellectual trends and processes occurring in Rai’s thought, the article demonstrates that the modern ideology of Hindu nationalism impacted how Hindu religion was defined and re-defined and how such re-definitions can still produce distinct forms of Hindu nationalism.

Polazeći od paradoksa da Romi kao tradicionalni unutarevropski migranti u današnjoj “migrantskoj krizi” Evrope jedva predstavljaju temu, tekst obrađuje negativnu figuru “neradničkog nomada” koji od prvih početaka akademske refleksije o Romima u 18. stoljeću suodređuje njihovo razumijevanje u jednakoj mjeri kao i pitanje etničkog, rasnog i jezičnog porijekla; osobito u umjetnostima, predodžba o Romima obilježena je orijentalisitčkom figurom slobodnjaštva i seksualizirane drugosti premda sama književna građa često daje uporišta za drugačije samorazumijevanje Roma, protivno radno-teorijskom stereotipu. Nasuprot tome, rijetko prisustvo Roma u teorijskom diskursu filozofije odaje karakteristike anonimnog recikliranja povijesti Roma za pojmovni aparat filozofije. Taj se proces može očitati na postmodernoj kritici Kanta i formaciji pojma “nomadsko mišljenje” koje se u radu povezuje s Kantovom poredbom skeptika kao nomada i podvrgava detaljnijoj retoričkoj i logičkoj analizi. U drugom dijelu rada tematizira se ponovno “otkrivanje” Roma u kontekstu indijske kulturne i nacionalne politike 20. stoljeća na ideološkim pretpostavkama neohinduističkog pokreta Arya Samaj iz kasnog 19. stoljeća za “oplemenjivanje” (arijanizaciju) svijeta i konfrontira s predratnim nacističkim pokretom za “arizaciju” cijelog kulturnog svijeta u zloglasnom projektu Ahnenerbe [Nasljeđe predaka]. U završnom dijelu rada nacistička uzurpacija arijstva valorizira se kao potpuna simbolička deprivacija Roma koja čini podlogu za najradikalniji oblik obeščovječenja u nacističkom holokaustu bez potrebe za ikakvim opravdanjem, i konfrontira s paradigmatskim razumijevanjem čovječnosti, sadržanim u samom imenu “Rom”.

This article attempts to examine the portrayal of the character of Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips’s Joker (2019). In the initial part of the film, Arthur exhibits signs that reveal he is headed towards committing a violent crime. Arthur displays signs of psychopathy and a lack of empathy. This article links criminal behaviour analysis to the Bible of the Arya Samaj, an Indian text, to find out how ancient Indian literature’s empirical theories, which are intertwined with philosophical and religious content, shed light on criminal behaviour. The primary purpose of this article is to analyse the behavioural pattern in the character of Fleck and establish links to Dayanand Saraswati’s Satyarth Prakash, which discusses different types of Avidyas, a key concept in Indian philosophy that can be translated as ignorance or unwisdom, which is seen as a fundamental cause of suffering and bondage. It is certainly a significant factor in a person’s personality and behaviour. The major aim of this character analysis is not only to establish the link between Indian ancient texts and criminological behavioural patterns but also to reconceptualize evil through the lenses of Vedic hermeneutics. Vedic hermeneutics is the study of interpreting and understanding the ancient Vedic texts of Hinduism, where an important aspect is the recognition of different levels of meaning within the texts.

<em>Swami Dayanand Saraswati, was a renowned philosopher, social reformer, and religious leader in 19th-century India</em><em>, </em><em>also known as Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati,&nbsp; His teachings and contributions had a profound impact on Indian society and played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement. This article explores the life, ideology, and significant contributions of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, as well as sheds light on the Arya Samaj, the organization he founded.Swami Dayanand Saraswati, with his unwavering commitment to social and religious reform, left an indelible mark on the cultural fabric of India. </em><em>&nbsp;</em> <em>He said the four Vedas which are&nbsp;Rigveda,&nbsp;Yajurveda,&nbsp;Samaveda, and&nbsp;Atharvaveda&nbsp;are the only true uncorrupted sources of Dharma, revealed by the Supreme Lord, at the beginning of every creation, also because they are the only perfectly preserved knowledge without alterations using&nbsp;</em><em>Sanskrit prosody or Chhandas</em><em>&nbsp;and different techniques of counting the number of verses with different&nbsp;</em><em>Vedic chanting</em><em>&nbsp;techniques. He advocated that all human beings are equally capable of achieving anything. He said all the creatures are the eternal Praja or citizens of the Supreme Lord. . He says, that confusion regarding the Vedas arose due to the misinterpretations of the Vedas, and Vedas promote Science and ask Humans to discover the Ultimate Truth, which he has emphasized throughout his Commentary on the Vedas</em>

The poet makes his identity only by his personality, in which his personality and work is the witness. Poet Raghuveer Sahay was rich in such a personality, his personality was full of compassion, charity but the ability to share his hand in pain and honesty, needless to say, poet Raghuveer's personality is as bottomless as the ocean and the waves rising in it The ripples were similar to Dr. Shobha Saheb Rao Rane says that - “Raghuveer Sahay was rich in sociable personality; That is why the number of his friends and family continued to increase.” In short, Raghuveer being a talented poet and the work done by him is proof of that, his personality was influenced by the influences of Arya Samaj and Congress ideology.&#x0D; Abstract in Hindi Language:&#x0D; कवि अपने व्यक्तित्व से ही अपना पहचान बनाता हैं, जिसमें उसका व्यक्तित्व एवं कृतित्व ही साक्षी है। कवि रघुवीर सहाय ऐसे ही व्यक्तित्व के धनी थे, उनके व्यक्तित्व में दया, परोपकार पर पीड़ा में हाथ बटाने की क्षमता व ईमानदारी कुट-कुट के भरी हुई थी, कहने की आवष्यकता नहीं कवि रघुवीर का व्यक्तित्व समुद्र की भांति अथाह एवं उसमें उठने वाली लहरों के समान तरंगित उद्धेलित था। डॉ. शोभा साहेब राव राणे कहती है कि -‘‘रघुवीर सहाय मिलनसार व्यक्तित्व के धनी थे; इसी कारण उनके मित्र परिवार की संख्या निरन्तर बढ़ती गई।’’ संक्षेपतः रघुवीर प्रतिभा सम्पन्न कवि होने एवं उनके द्वारा किया गया कृत्तित्व उसका प्रमाण है, उनका व्यक्तित्व आर्य समाज के प्रभावों एवं कंाग्रेसी विचारधारा से प्रभावित था।&#x0D; Keywords: प्रेरक, प्रेरणा, शिक्षा-दीक्षा, संघर्षशील, अवसरवाद, विद्रोह, आक्रेाश और शोषण।

Contrary to popular notions of a perpetual antagonism between ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Islam’, played out on Indian soil over the centuries, this article examines the relatively recent origins of a Hindu–Muslim conflict in South Asia, situating it in the reconfigurations of ‘religion’ and religious identity that occurred under British colonial rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The multivalent and somewhat fluid categories of religious identification found in pre-modern India gave way to much more rigid and oppositional modern and colonial epistemic categories. While much has been written on how colonial policies and incipient Hindu and Muslim nationalisms shaped the contours of modern Hindu–Muslim conflict, little work has been done on the important role religious actors like Muslim and Hindu scholars and reformers played in shaping the discourse around what constituted Hinduism and Islam, and the relationship between the two, in the modern period. This study examines the first-known public theological debates between a Hindu scholar and a Muslim scholar, respectively, Swami Dayānanda Sarasvatī (1824–1883), founder of the reformist Arya Samaj and first exponent of a Hindu polemic against other religions, and Mawlānā Muḥammad Qāsim Nānautvī (1832–1880), co-founder of the seminary at Deoband and an important exponent of Islamic theological apologetics in modern South Asia, and how they helped shape oppositional modern Hindu and Muslim religious theologies. A key argument that Nānautvī contended with was Dayānanda’s claim that Islam is idolatrous, based on the contention that Muslims worship the Ka’ba, and thus, it is not a monotheistic religion, Hinduism alone being so. The terms of this debate show how polemics around subjects like monotheism and idolatry introduced by Christian missionaries under colonial rule were internalized, as were broader colonial epistemic categories, and developed a life of their own amongst Indians themselves, thus resulting in new oppositional religious identities, replacing more complex and nuanced interactions between Muslims and followers of Indian religions in the pre-modern period.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The middle class is placed between labour and capital. It neither directly awns the means of production that pumps out the surplus generated by wage labour power, nor does it, by its own labour, produce the surplus which has use and exchange value. Broadly speaking, this class consists of the petty bourgeoisie and the white-collar workers. The former are either self-employed or involved in the distribution of commodities and the latter are non-manual office workers, supervisors and professionals. Thus, in terms of occupation, shopkeepers, salesmen, brokers, government and non-government office-workers, writers, teachers, and self-employed professionals, such as engineers, pleaders, doctors, etc., constitute the middle class. Most of these occupations require at least some degree of formal education. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This middle class is primarily a product of capitalist development and the expansion of the functions of the state in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Though the petty bourgeoisie and managers did exist in precapitalist society, they constituted a tiny class. Industrial development and expansion of markets require not only a larger managerial class than earlier, but also impel the state to shoulder the responsibilities of monitoring market competition and resolving the contradictions of capitalist development. This includes formation and implementation of welfare programmes to minimise tension in society. For carrying out these functions, the state also requires a managerial class. Formal education contributes to the expansion of this class. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is difficult to estimate the size of this class in contemporary India. It is certainly very large. According to the calculations made by Ranjit Sahu (1986), the number of white-collar employees is larger than that of industrial workers.&rsquo; A large majority of the members of the middle class belong to the upper and middle castes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While scanning literature on the subject, one is disappointed at the absence of studies on middle-class movements per se, whereas one finds studies on peasant, working-class or tribal movements. This is not because the middle-class movements are few in number, nor because scholars have an aversion towards the middle class. They do take cognisance of the role of the middle class in various movements. But these movements are primarily analysed in terms of the issues that they raise, such as social reform movements, the nationalist movement, human rights movements, ecology movements, and so on. Or, these movements are called &lsquo;mass movements&rsquo;, as the issues are not class specific, nor affecting mainly the middle class. The issues are posed as societal problems. The leaders of such movements, who belong to the middle class, mobilise other classes for support. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In this section, I shall deal with the studies on those movements in which I believe the middle class played a prominent role as initiators, and those where a majority of the participants belong to the middle class. Though students also belong to this class, we have dealt with their movements separately. British rule established and introduced a capitalist economy, a new administrative system and English education in the early nineteenth century. Consequently, a tiny educated class emerged in urban areas (Desai 1957; Mishra 1978). The members of this class were upper-caste Hindus. Muslims were, for a variety of reasons late in availing of an English education (Seal 1968). A few individuals in different parts of the country not only raised questions but also revolted against certain customs and traditions of the Hindu social system. These individuals, known as social and religious reformers, were all those who were advocates of alterations in social customs which would involve a break with traditionally accepted patterns; they were those who, convinced themselves that altered ways of thinking and behaving were positive values, sought to convince others to modify or entirely transform their ways of life&rsquo; (Heimsath 1964: 4). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The reformers took up several issues. They included elimination of or change in certain caste regulations and rituals: the sari system, widow remarriage, child marriage, status of women, girls&rsquo; education, prohibition, etc. Though a few talked against the caste hierarchy and untouchability, most of the reformers (except a few who led the anti-Brahmin movement), did not challenge the social structure. They adopted a gradualist approach. Heimsath argues, In India, social reform did not ordinarily mean a reorganisation of the structure of society at large, as it did in the West, for the benefit of underprivileged social economic classes. Instead it meant the infusion into the existing social structure of new ways of life and thought: the society would be preserved, while its members would be transformed (1964: 5). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The reformers either revolted individually or formed associations. These associations were of three types: general (or voluntary) associations; caste reform associations and religious reform bodies (generally called samaj) (Heimsath 1964). The Indian National Social Conference was formed in 1887. Social reform associations came into existence at provincial and local levels. Some of them were formed around one issue, such as widow remarriage or marriageable age, child marriage, whereas others took up general issues related to social reform, protesting against &lsquo;conservatism&rsquo;, including protests against religious heads, superstitions, caste restrictions for crossing the sea, etc. They were loose organisations whose activities were largely confined to programmes, conferences and passing resolutions. A few of them turned into charity organisations and undertook welfare programmes&mdash;particularly in education. Some reformers confined their activities to their caste. They formed caste associations and persuaded caste fellows to join for the reformation of certain unacceptable practices which they felt were either inhuman or did not fit in with the changing times. The most prominent associations were related to religious reforms. Raja Rammohan Roy, who protested against the sati system, formed the Brahmo Samaj which remained the centre for social reform activities in Bengal (Kopf 1979). The Prarthana Samaj came into existence in Bombay under the leadership of Mahadev Govind Ranade (Tucker 1977). The Arya Samaj, formed by Dayanand Saraswati, was the predominant influence in Punjab and north India (Jones 1968; Jordens 1977; Vable 1983). On the whole, social reform movements were weak in south India, despite the presence of a large number of western-educated persons. Heimsath observes that &lsquo;the region produced no reformer of national standing and only a few with lasting local influence&rsquo; (1964: 253). It should be noted that the backward-caste movement as an anti-Brahmin movement was prominent in the Madras Presidency; which we have dealt with later. The main thrust of the socio-religious reform movements was to revive or rejuvenate Hindu religion and society. This was, according to many scholars, to counter the impact of western culture and the efforts of proselytisation by Christian missionaries (Heimsath 1964; Jones 1968; Bhatt 1973; Sun 1977; Jordens 1977). K. P. Gupta (1974), in his study on the Ramakrishna Mission, refutes this position. He argues that the &lsquo;innovative potentiality&rsquo; of Hinduism was more responsible for its rejuvenation rather than the threat or impact of other religions or cultures. According to A.R. Desai, the traditional social structure and religion were not able to cope with the new economic structure which was based on individualism. The reformers were therefore striving &lsquo;to extend the principle of individual liberty to the sphere of religion (1957: 258). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The social reform movements among Hindus and Muslims contributed to the development of nationalism on regional and religious lines. There were several kinds of nationalisms competing with each other. Anil Seal argues, There were keen internal rivalries, but these were between caste and caste, community, not between class and class. Moreover, those groups which felt a similarity of interest were themselves more the product of bureaucratic initiative than of economic change. Since these groups can be largely identified with the men educated in western styles, and since it was these men whose hopes and fears went into the building of the new associations that emerged as the Indian National Congress, a conceptual system based on elites, rather than on classes, would seem more promising (1968: 341). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These elite belong to the middle class. Granting that the initiative came from the bureaucracy, it was intended to bring about economic change in society in general and the middle class in particular. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The middle class participated at various stages of India&rsquo;s freedom movement. The major events of their collective action were the partition of Bengal in 1906, the non-cooperation campaign in the early 1920s, the anti-Simon agitation in the mid-1920s, Civil Disobedience movements in the early 1930s, and the Quit India movement in 1942. Besides this, there were a number of local-level campaigns&mdash;organised and spontaneous&mdash;against the British Raj. Though there are a large number of studies on the freedom movement, most of them are mainly focused on the leadership and their decisions. In his study on popular movements between 1945 and 1947, Sumit Sarkar argues that, &lsquo;in this as well as in other periods of modern Indian history, the decisions and actions of leaders, British or Indian, cannot really be understood without the counterpoint provided by pressures from below¹ (1982: 677). A few studies on the Bang-bhang movement, the Civil Disobedience movement and the Quit India movement, point out that there were close links between local politics and national agitations (Stoddart 1975). Use of religious and communal idioms and violence are examined by some other scholars (Irschick 1976; Hennigham 1979). The communal dimension of the participants has been highlighted by some studies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Social reform among the Muslims began with the Aligarh movement led by Syed Ahmad Khan. The main thrust of the movement was to persuade the Muslim landed gentry to take an English education. Without English education, it was feared that the Muslims would be unable to compete with the Hindus and would remain backward. M.S.Jain (1965) argues that che spirit behind the Aligarh movement was to reassert Muslim superiority over the Hindus, which the former had lost during the early phase of the British rule. The movement generated the urge for a &lsquo;separate and independent status&rsquo; for the Muslims. The Ullama of Uttar Pradesh opposed the Aligarh movement and the subsequent demand for a separate state for Muslims (Faruqi 1963). The Khilafat movement (1919-24) led by the Muslim intelligentsia and the Ullama, mobilised a cross section of the Muslims. Their claim was that the Sultan of Turkey was the custodian and defender, the protector of the holy places known as Jazirat al-Arab. The movement was supported by all the Muslim groups and by the Indian National Congress (Dixit 1969; Hasan 1981). Religious symbols, like the mosque, the haji, sufi shrines, provided a sense of belonging to the common fraternity of Islam in India (Hasan 1981). Generally, the &lsquo;divide and rule&rsquo; policy of the British rulers, Muslim orthodoxy, and the educational and economic backwardness of the Muslims, are considered to be responsible for the growth of communal Muslim politics (Desai 1957; Smith 1963). Prabha Dixit (1974) argues that a search for power was responsible for communal politics (see also Broomfield 1968). It is the argument of many scholars that the nationalist movement failed to develop secular symbols. The nationalist movement was dominated by the Hindus who used Hindu religious symbols and idioms for the freedom movement (Smith 1963; Ahmad 1969). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Seal (1968) and Brass (1970) refute the general argument regarding the backwardness of the Muslims. They point out that they were far from being backward in the Muslim-minority provinces. Gopal Krishna argues that &lsquo;it would seem that sociologically the communal movement was a movement of the privileged rather than of the deprived sections of the Muslim population (1981: 55). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A number of Hindu and Muslim communal organisations have come into existence in post-independence India. Through various programmes, they strengthen communal identities and stereotypes for each other. Sensitive issues are raised and articulated. These organisations play an important role in rousing communal sentiments. The number of communal riots has increased since the 1950s. Apart from a large number of journalistic writings and government-appointed inquiry commissions&rsquo; reports, a few case studies by social scientists and activists are now available (Shah 1970; Engineer and Shakir 1985; Van der Veer 1987; Brass 1996, 1998; Horowitz 2001). They highlight not only communal antagonisms, but also economic factors in mobilising members of both communities against each other. Some studies focus on the manipulation of the elite in rousing sentiments leading to riots (Patel 1985). By now we have a good deal of documents on communal riots which include government reports and also reports by independent citizens as well as human rights groups and non-government organisations (NGOs). Systematic comparative studies on communally based mobilisation into riots need to be undertaken to understand the complexities of the phenomenon. There is a good deal of literature on secularisation, nationalism and communal politics. This requires a full-fledged review. We have excluded it from the scope of the present work. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The upper-caste Hindu middle class launched struggles in Bihar and Gujarat against reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes. Upper-caste government servants also launched agitations against the roster system which provided certain benefits to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe employees. These agitations were primarily the result of the conflict of economic interests between upper and deprived caste groups; the middle-class leaders of these agitations raised the issue of &lsquo;merit&rsquo;, &lsquo;secularism&rsquo; and &lsquo;efficiency&rsquo;. While analysing the 1981 anti-reservation agitation in Gujarat, I.P. Desai argues that the economic structure was not able to provide employment opportunities for the lower strata of the higher castes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The higher castes therefore wish to prevent the mobility of lower castes and contain the discontent among the lower strata of higher castes by appealing to the concealed caste sentiment among them and speaking publicly against casteism, communalism, reservation and all that is particularistic, narrow and parochial. Thus although &ldquo;merit&rdquo; appears to be a progressive slogan, it is in fact a weapon for defending the moribund Hindu hierarchy and maintain [the] social economic status quo (1985: 135). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By now, there are a few articles on the Gujarat anti-reservation agitation (Yagnik 1981; Bose 1985; Shah 1987) providing information about the socio-economic and political dimensions of the conflict between the upper castes and the deprived groups. Shah (1987) argues that these two agitations were essentially struggles within the middle class. They were fights between the upper- and middle-caste members on the one hand, and the new entrants from the low castes on the other. Some sections of the middle class&mdash;white-collar government employees, school and university teachers, etc.&mdash;launched movements on economic issues affecting them, such as, revision of pay scales, bonus, job security. Though there is no systematic study on the struggles, a few descriptive accounts and analyses of the demands are available. A few of the recent movements led by the middle class began with economic issues, like price rise, scarcity of essential commodities and unemployment. But in the course of the development of these movements, these issues were sidetracked and the movements raised populist issues, which appeal to various classes. They raise moral and cultural issues. They sometimes provide an ideological basis for &lsquo;democratic capitalism&rsquo; and sometimes also for &lsquo;non-capitalist development strategy&rsquo; (Khoros 1980). Take the case of the 1974 Gujarat movement, popularly known as the Nav Nirman (reconstruction) movement, and the Bihar movement known as the movement for total revolution. Though both these movements began with economic issues, they also raised the issues of corruption, democratic rights and social reform- These issues were not spelled out, nor were they linked with the economic and political structure of the society. They succeeded in ousting the chief minister in Gujarat and the Congress party in Bihar (Desai 1974; Wood 1975; Jones and Jones 1976; Barik 1977; Shah 1977). Ghanshyam Shah (1977) observes that they wanted more economic benefits by bringing about certain changes in the system. &lsquo;They do not believe in changing the basic aspects of the system. They have a stake in the system. To them Revolution is a slogan.&rsquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the end of the nineteenth century, the educated Hindu middle class of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh launched a series of agitations for the removal of Urdu and for its replacement by Hindi in the Devnagri script. Muslim intellectuals also launched a counter-agitation in defence of Urdu (Das Gupta 1970; Brass 1977). The middle class of south India launched struggles during the 1950s and 1960s against the &lsquo;imposition&rsquo; of Hindi and for the retention of English. For them it was a struggle against Hindu imperialism (Hardgrave 1965; Forrester 1966; and Rao 1979). The middle class of linguistic groups such as Marathi, Gujarati, Tclugu and Punjabi, demanded the formation of linguistic states in the 1950s. They launched agitations for these demands (Phadke l979; Nijhawan 1982). For maintenance of their cultural identity, the middle class among the Tamilian, the Punjabi, the Naga, the Mizo populations, the tribals of Chhota Nagpur area, spearheaded agitations for the formation of separate states within or outside the Indian Union. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We have already discussed the demands of the Naga, the Mizo, and the tribals of Chhota Nagpur and other tribals for separate states or districts (see Chapter 3). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu was a backward caste or non-Biahmin movement with which we have dealt earlier. It was also directed against north Indians, and demanded a separate state named &lsquo;Dravidisthan&rsquo;, i.e., homeland of the Dravidians outside the Indian Union (Hardgrave 1964, 1965, 1979; Irschick 1976; Ram 1979). Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy, a leader of the Dravidian movement said, &lsquo;Tamil Nadu was all along a nation and still it is a nation and that is known as Dravidian. Civilisation, customs and manners of Tamils are different from that of Bengalees and Bombayans.... Hindi language and literature are opposed to the interests of Tamilians in general and to all other non-Brahmins elsewhere, in particular.&rsquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Sikh community of Punjab also demanded a separate state called Khalistan. The Shri Anandpur Sahib Resolution demanded that one of the aims of the Akali Dal be &lsquo;maintaining the feeling of a separate independent entity of the Sikh Panth and creation of an environment in which the &ldquo;National Expression&rdquo; of the Sikhs can be full and satisfactory&rsquo; (Dhillon 1974; Puri 1981, 1983; Kumar et al. 1984; Kumar 1984). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Assam agitation, which began in the late 1970s with the formation of the All Assam Students&rsquo; Union, also raised issues regarding the identity of the Assamese and the development of Assam. In a sense, it was a &lsquo;nationality&rsquo; movement (Mira 1982; Gohain 1985, Basu 1992). Regional or linguistic identities have been sharpened in India since independence and they have become a potential force in mobilising the middle class which faces competition from other classes in the economic field. Robert Hardgrave asserts: Regionalism is rooted in India&rsquo;s cultural and linguistic diversity. Projected in geographical terms, it is at the state level both an ethnic and economic phenomenon. It is an expression of heightened political consciousness, expanding participation and increasing competition for scarce resources.... Economic grievances expressed in charges of unfairness, discrimination or Centre neglect may be fused with cultural anxiety over language status and ethnic balance. It is this fusion that gives regionalism its potency. Language and culture, like religion, are at the core of an individual&rsquo;s identity and when politicized take a potentially virulent form (1983: 1171). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Most social scientists have seen these movements as &lsquo;dysfunctional&rsquo; or a threat to national &lsquo;unity&rsquo; and &lsquo;integration&rsquo;. They believe that the Indian nation state should maintain its boundaries and hold its territory together. Therefore, they are unable to view these struggles as movements for &lsquo;self-determination&rsquo; (Mohanty 1982). <strong>Nativism:</strong> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is a very thin line between &lsquo;nativism&rsquo; and &lsquo;nationalism&rsquo;: Katzenstein argues, &lsquo;Nativism ... is distinct from movements of ethnic, linguistic or regional subnationalism, and is specifically anti-migrant. Sub-national movements, such as in India the Akali Dal or Dravida Munnetia Kazhagam, may contain nativist elements, similarly, the mobilisation of anti-migrant sentiment may rely on ethnic, linguistic or regional loyalties&rsquo; (1976: 44). According to Myron Weiner, nativism is one form of ethnic politics. Nativism is that form of ethnic identity that seeks to exclude those who are not members of the local or indigenous ethnic groups from residing and/or working in a territory because they are not native to the country or region: nativism is anti-migrant. To the extent that the D.M.K., the Akali Dal, the Andhra Mahasabha, and the Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti were not anti-migrant, they should not be classified as nativist (1978: 296). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nativist movements are not of recent origin, there were a few such movements before independence. For instance, the movement against the non-mulki developed in Hyderabad soon after World War I, when the local educated population expressed its opposition to the government policy of recruiting Muslims from northern India into the state administrative services (Weiner 1978; Reddy and Sharma 1979). Similarly, the anti-Bengali movement in Assam protested against the domination of their educational and administrative services by Bengali Hindus (Weiner 1978; Das 1982). In post-independence India, the widely known movements are: the Telengana Nativist movement, the Shiv Sena movement in Maharashtra and the Assam movement- The Telengana nativist agitation began in 1969. Initially, the agitation was aimed at the continuance of Telengana &lsquo;safeguards&rsquo; and mulki rules formulated at the time of the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. At a later stage, it demanded separation of the region from the rest of Andhra Pradesh (Reddy and Sharma 1979). The Shiv Sena (i.e., the army of Shivaji) movement was initiated in 1966 in Bombay. It demanded that as Bombay was the capital of Maharashtra, Maharashtrians should be given the opportunity to make the most of what their capital city had to offer. They asked that 80 per cent of all jobs and economic opportunities in Bombay should be reserved for Maharashtrian; (Joshi 1970; Katzenstein 1976; Gupta 1982). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Assam movement began in 1978. Its main demands included the detection, deportation and deletion of foreigners&rsquo; names from electoral rolls. The movement aimed at the ouster of the Bengali middle class which enjoyed a major share in government jobs (Weiner 1978; Das 1982). Similarly, during the late 1960s the Kannada Chaluvaligar (i.e., agitation) demanded restrictions against Tamil, Malayali, and Telugu migrants to Bangalore and preference for the local Kannada-speaking population (Weiner 1978). The underlying reason for the issue of nativism is competition for government jobs between the natives and the migrants. The cities and regions where nativist movements took place have the following characteristics: The locale contains a substantial number of middle-class migrants belonging to culturally distinguishable ethnic groups originating from another section of the country; There is a native middle class, expanding under the impetus of a growth in secondary and higher education; There is a highly competitive labour market in which the native middle class seeks employment in private and public sector firms and in government, where middle-class positions are already held by migrants or their descendents; There are limited opportunities for the native middle class to find employment outside their own locale (Weiner 1978: 293). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A small section of the urban middle-class intelligentsia&mdash;university and college teachers, researchers and lawyers&mdash;has formed organisations at state and national levels for the protection of &lsquo;civil&rsquo; and &ldquo;democratic¹ rights. They raise issues related to violation of &lsquo;civil¹ and democratic rights of various strata of society, including the oppressed classes (Desai 1986). The existing constitutional channels, such as the judiciary, the state assemblies and Parliament are used for challenging the government&rsquo;s decisions and the power of vested interests. The media is used to highlight issues and create public opinion. Fact-finding committees are appointed. The intelligentsia has also raised ecological issues. They organise conferences, publish reports and submit memoranda to the government. Studies on these organisations and their mobilisation efforts are many (Ray 1986). We shall discuss the studies on human rights movements <strong>Participants:</strong> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Students and intellectuals have provided leadership to most middle-class movements. Though some of the populist, national and nativist movements draw support from peasants and other sections of society when they raise emotional and general issues; they continue to be dominated by the middle class. Myron Weiner observed, &lsquo;nativism is largely a middle-class sentiment, not a movement among the industrial labour force or the peasantry, even though there are culturally distinguishable migrants in the industrial labour force in many cities and in some rural areas&rsquo; (1978: 293). Some scholars argue that political leaders excite regional or nativist sentiments in the middle class for their political ends. Iqbal Narain asserts that the political elite exploits situations of regional deprivation and unrest and converts them into movements to forge and strengthen its individual and factional support bases (1984). While studying regionalism in Telengana, Ram Reddy and Sharma observed that factional politics exploited the regional sentiments of the people of Telengana for strengthening their political positions. Similarly, Subrarnanyam argues, Political leaders, when they feel that their due share is not received and they are being overshadowed and ignored, search for some kind of spontaneous rationale to infuse emotions among the people and project themselves as the protectors of public interests, and thus tensions and conflicts are created in an unparallel community in a democratic polity (1984:130). &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; However, Javed Alam propounds another theory. He argues, &lsquo;Re-gionalistic demands get flared up because of contradictions among the ruling classes.... The locally placed ruling classes seek greater power to further their own interests when such interests are perceived as not being served by the all India classes&rsquo; (1984: 17). He does not support his argument with evidence. As a result of their assumptions that these movements are created by the political elite, scholars do not examine the mobilisation aspect of the movement. They study primarily the decision-making process among the elite. Y.D. Phadke&rsquo;s study on the Samyukta Maharashtra movement (1979) is a case in point. Those who adhere to such conspiracy theories do not explain why political leaders succeed in arousing nativist emotions in certain states and why they fail in others. Most studies on middle-class movements discussed above are brief. Some deal with the political decision-making process and the factors responsible for the movement. Some of the movements were &lsquo;spontaneous&rsquo; and short-lived. They did not have an organisational structure, whereas some movements were well-organised. Many scholars do not analyse the organisational aspects of the movements. The studies on the Shiv Sena by Dipankar Gupta, the Nav Nirman and the Bihar movements by Ghan-shyam Shah and the Nav Nirman movement by P.M. Sheth, analyse the organisational structure of these movements. At this stage of our knowledge, it is difficult to find a pattern in organisational structures in different types of middle-class movements

The nineteenth century India was an era of revivalism and renaissance where multiple organisations such as Brahmo Samaj, Singh Sabha, Dev Samaj, Prarthana Samaj etc. worked towards reformation, development and eradicating social evils from the society. The laying of foundation of Arya Samaj by Dayanand Saraswati in 1875 during this scenario marks a crucial event in the pages of history. The Arya Samaj draw its inspiration from Vedas and indigenous culture. It based itself on the values of equality, karma and merit. It opposed child marriage, purdah system, ban on widow marriage and other evil practices prevailing in the society. Among all the socio-religious reform movements of that time, the &quot;question of women&quot; assumed a crucial place and no other movement was as contributing and successful in imparting education as was the Arya Samaj. Apart from its contribution in education of boys, the paper would focus on the initiatives taken by it in the emancipation of women through the most important pillar in development i.e. education. From the three major dimensions of Arya Samaj- social, religious and educational, our focus would be to study the third one in detail.

Swami Dayananda advocated moralistic and social reforms in India in the 19th century like Martin Luther and John Calvin lead Protestant reforms in Europe. About twenty years before the Ramakrishna Mission was created and forty seven years after Raja Rammohan Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha, Swami Vivekananda organized the first Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875. Through social participation, labour, nationalism, and pride, the Arya Samaj carried the Vedic legacy to Punjab and areas of northern and western India, while the Brahmo Samaj brought about social reform in Bengal. Arya Samaj led the revival of the Vedic principles that had suffered from religion and social relations and saw education as a catalyst for social change, the skills of men and women in arts and sciences, in life and in technology to enhance the intellectual views to transpire natural skills and develop talents. Lala Lajpat Rai launched the "DAV Movement" in 1886. As a result of Arya Samaj reformers like Mahatma Hans Raj, Pandit Gurudutt Vidyarthi’s laborious endeavors, this movement gained momentum. Dayanand Anglo Vedic Schools were set up in 1886 at Lahore by the endeavors of Mahatma Hansraj in the reminiscence of Swami Dayanand Saraswati.

The Arya Samaj movement, founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati in 1875, was a significant socio-religious reform movement in India during the 19th and 20th centuries. The movement emerged as a response to the social, cultural, and economic changes brought about by British colonial rule in India. Punjab, a region in northwestern India, was a key site for the movement's activities, and the Arya Samaj had a profound impact on the region's socio-cultural landscape.

The research article entitled &lsquo;Christian Influence and Comparative Reformation: An analysis of Brahmo Samaj and Contemporary India in the 19th Century Religious Movements&rsquo;. The 19th century was a landmark period in India's socio-religious history, when numerous movements arose aiming at reforming religious identity, social standards, and ethical values. Herein, the Brahmo community came into existence as a progression-oriented attempt to promote the cause of monotheism and social equality. In the smaller group, particular emphasis was laid on the upliftment of women through education and social reforms. This paper analyses the influence of Christian theological concepts, ethical teachings, and mission on the Brahmo Samaj movement with the help of historical sources, missionary records, and writings of Brahmos such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Keshab Chandra Sen. On the basis of leaders' writings, Hindu philosophy is interpreted as shaped under the influence of Christian practices. By comparing this movement with contemporary movements like Arya Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, the paper examines scriptures, caste, iconography, and women's rights, as well as the differences in their views on these matters. While movements like Arya Samaj depended more on the idea of going back to Vedic purity, hence revivalist, Brahmo Samaj took on a universal approach, something that appealed to Christian ethical ideas: personal conscience, social service, and rational worship. Hence, through this comparative approach, one gets to see the complicated and sometimes contradictory process of amalgamation between Western and indigenous ideas. Thus, in a way, it lays a distinct pathway for Indian reform. Ultimately, this research is motivated by an internal need and an attempt at an external negotiation. Providing an insight into how religious reform has shaped India's response to modernity. This defines Brahmo Samaj not only as a reformist sect within Hinduism, but also serves as a bridge between Eastern spirituality and Western ethical rationalism. The major objectives of the study were to explore the extent and nature of Christian theological and ethical influences on the ideological development and reformative programs of Brahmo society in 19th century India; to compare the religious and social reform methods of Brahmo Samaj, especially women's rights, education, and in the context of social modernization, with others like Arya Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, with contemporary movements; to analyze how Christian influence affected the Brahmo Samaj and its reformist policy during 19th-century India; to compare Indian religious and social reform movements with Christian-initiated reformation movements in Europe; to examine the impact of the Brahmo Samaj in formulating contemporary Indian religious thinking and its exchange with Western philosophies; to understand which Christian missionary activities influenced socio-religious reforms in India; and to analyse the various effects of Brahmo Samaj's reformist activities on contemporary Indian society. This research focuses on the impact of Christian theology on the Brahmo community in the 19th century, and it is a historical-descriptive research methodology was followed to explore the reform initiatives. The research adopted a qualitative methodology, drawing primarily on historical records, religious texts, missionary writings, and focusing on secondary sources of information, such as early reports from the Brahmo Samaj. These sources are the theological foundation of Brahmo Samaj, its involvement with Christian ideas, and they provide valuable insights into larger social and religious reforms. Analysis was conducted through thematic coding, specifically the Christian impact of monotheism, Brahmo Samaj's approach towards social reform, women's movement, and its comparison with contemporary movements like Arya Samaj and Prarthana Samaj by throwing special light on the issues. This methodology facilitates a nuanced understanding of how this method influences the religious and social transformation of the Brahmo Samaj. It gave shape to the viewpoint, allowing it to be understood in a precise manner. The analysis of qualitative data of the study involves interpreting non-numerical information to uncover patterns, themes, and insights. It's a systematic process of understanding and interpreting data to draw meaning from the information gathered. The process typically includes familiarization with the data, coding, identifying themes, and interpreting findings. The major findings of the study were the result of this research shows that the religious reforms of the Brahmo Samaj were significantly influenced by Christian theological principles, especially social equality, in matters of campaigning for monotheism and rationalism. It was like other contemporary movements such as the Arya Samaj, which rejected Western ideas; on the other hand, Prarthana Samaj was separate from society, which focused on traditional Hindu rituals. Incorporation of Christian concepts of Brahmo society, abolition of Brahmin tradition, and women's education takes progressive positions on issues such as advocacy and promotion of social justice. Raja Rammohan Roy, inspired by the Christian ideal of human dignity and equality, with Hindu and Christian values, such as campaigning for remarriage and women's rights, introduced corresponding reforms; in contrast, Aryan society focused on reviving the Vedic tradition and was resistant to change. This focus on Hinduism was in contrast to the inclusive approach of Brahmo society, which adopted aspects of Christianity to challenge the traditional caste structure and gave a more egalitarian outlook to the society; meanwhile, the Society of Prayer, although Reformed in its aims, was still based on Christian theology. did not integrate the principles into its methodology, but instead developed social practices through Hindu devotional practice; and focused on propagating reforms. Thus, the unique blend of Christian ideas with Indian Reformationism is more lead towards an inclusive and radical social agenda, which distinguishes it from his contemporaries.

Abstract This article discusses Chaudhari Mulkiram (April 1910–August 1954) and the contesting ideologies, memories, histories, and socio-political conditions surrounding his career from the 1920s to the mid-1950s. Mulkiram belonged to the Dhangar, a sub-caste of the Khatik caste in Meerut. He was the first Dalit of the United Provinces (UP) who qualified for the Public Service Commission in 1939. This article shows his socio-religious and socio-political relations and responses to the Arya Samaj, Congress, and Scheduled Caste Federation. It reveals how the representatives of these agencies portrayed his life and work. This article also discusses how his relations and responses helped and influenced his caste members in the western UP. It argues that the Arya Samaj, Harijan Sevak Sangh, and Congress used the first generation of Dalit civil servants like Mulkiram to cultivate local leaders and to mobilize local Dalits, peasants, labourers, and villagers to act in their political interests against Ambedkar’s movement. Hence, in the 1940s and early 1950s, Mulkiram presented himself as a Gandhi bhakt, Jan Neta (public leader), and Sanyasi (household monk and socio-religious reformer).

Hinduism seems as a flexible and reformative religion from the view of its history and followers. In the contemporary era, due to the European domination&nbsp;over India and encountering with the religious ideas of Islam and Christianity, religious reform was brought out in Hinduism. Additionally, some factors such as class differences, Sati custom, idol worship and superstitions among Hindu people, caused Hindu religious thinkers came to understand the necessity of religious reform. Hindu thinkers&rsquo; efforts led to create two reformist and revivalist movements Arya samaj by Swami Dayanande Saraswati and Brahmo Samaj by Ram Mohan Roy. The present article reviews these movements and introduces their founders and studies their changes in brief. The research method is descriptive and based on the library data and the necessity of that is with regard to increasing knowledge in the scope of new studies about the religions.&nbsp;

A number of movements emerged in India during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Such movements can be seen in two broad categories namely organizational political movements and social reform movements. Among the political movements, the Congress Party, Common Ownership Movement, Justice Party and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam are notable. Among the social reform movements Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, Self-Respect Movement, Dravidar Kazhagam etc. are noteworthy. Although the forms of movements are different, each has unique principles. As far as the Congress is concerned, its primary objective is the liberation of the country. Based on that objective, its policies were formulated. As for the Communal Movement, its direct policy was to prioritize labor over capital, prevent the exploitation of the proletariat, and create economic balance. The Justice Party operated with the principle of socio-economic political development of the non-parish. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam determined that winning the political arena was the only way to restore Dravidian identity and especially to rebuild the sovereignty of Tamils.