MAINS QUESTIONS
Q1. The revolutionaries each made a substantial contribution to the nation’s emancipation in their own unique ways. Even if they couldn’t really relate to them on a personal level, the people were definitely filled with a feeling of patriotism and a desire to keep outsiders out of their country. Discuss. (250 words)
Paper & Topic: GS I National Movement
Introduction:
- Numerous internal and external forces operating on the minds of the youth during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in India contributed to the creation of revolutionary ideology. The provinces where the Indian revolutionary movement initially took root included Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, and Madras. However, because they were more politically engaged than other regions of the nation, these three states witnessed the majority of its action.
Body:
Revolutionaries’ contributions to Indian nationalism:
- The Revolutionaries sparked a sense of nationalism by spreading their message both inside and outside of the country.
- The Indian people were motivated by their fervent patriotism, fortitude, and sense of sacrifice.
- Both the development of socialist consciousness in northern India and the rise of nationalist consciousness throughout the entire nation were significantly influenced by them.
- Subversive revolutionary organisations developed across the nation not long after the period of revolutionary terrorism started.
- For instance, revolutionary centres were established all over India by the Anusilan Samiti, the most well-known and durable secret organisation with its headquarters in Calcutta. They engaged in two types of activity: assassinating tyrannical rulers, traitors, and informers; and committing dacoities to raise money for purchasing weapons and other stuff.
- It affected the Congress’s intention to include young people in an expedient rural rehabilitation initiative.
- Ras Behari Bose, Chander Shekhar Azad, Lala Hardyal M.A., Madan Lal Dhingra, and S. Ajit Singh were among the revolutionaries who were successful in spreading the Indian independence struggle to other nations.
Conclusion:
- Despite being defeated, the revolutionary movement had a significant influence on the rise of nationalism in India. The bravery and sacrifice of the revolutionaries were not in vain. It had widespread appeal. Famous Indians like Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Surya Sen, Rajguru, and others inspired people to identify with their nation.
- The revolutionaries were successful in stirring up the public, removing their dread of authority, and instilling terror in the ruling class, even though their professed goals of attaining independence through an armed insurrection were not met.
Discuss the role Indian women played in the nineteenth-century social and religious reform movements. (250 words)
Paper & Topic: GS I National Movement
Introduction:
- In the nineteenth century, the subject of women was at the centre of every attempt at socioreligious reform. Historians sometimes point to the reformist and renaissance ideals of the European enlightenment as the source of inspiration for the societal changes that started in nineteenth-century India.
- Reformers spoke out against harmful customs that harm women in Indian society, such as dowry, polygamy, the devadasi system, child marriage, the ban on widow remarriage, and sati as part of socioreligious reform movements. In addition, after becoming aware of their unalienable rights, educated women advanced to free the other women.
Body:
During the nineteenth century, Indian women participated in a range of social and religious reform movements, including:
Pandita Ramabai:
- Several female reformers, most notably Pundita Ramabai, contributed to the advancement of women.
- She spoke out against child marriage and child widowhood while promoting education for women.
- She established the Arya Mahila Sabha, which is acknowledged as the first feminist group in the nation. Its objective was to create a network of support for newly educated women.
- She founded the young widows’ organisation Mukti Mission, the needy women’s organisations Krupa Sadan and Sharda Sadan, and
- She established the widows’ school Sharda Sadan. Her creative work educating widows in India is her greatest legacy.
Nirupama Devi and Anurupa Devi:
- They received memberships in literary organisations with a predominance of men and began to be mentioned in Bengali literary circles.
Swati Kumari:
- Elite women founded comparable regional and sectarian organisations to emulate Ramabai’s Arya Mahila Samaj. Rabindranath Tagore’s sister Swarnakumari Debi founded Sakhi Samiti (Women’s Friendship League) in 1886 with the goal of educating women and widows.
- By housing willing spouses in the 1890s, Lilabati Mitra assisted Bidyasagar in performing widow remarriages.
- Kamini Roy organised Bethune School girls to hold rallies and don buttons in favour of the Ilbert Measure during the movement. She participated in social reform initiatives with Banga Mahila Samiti.
- She was a feminist during a time when women were not even allowed to attend school.
- Bhide Wada was established in 1848 by Savitrabhai Phule and her spouse, making it the first Indian-run girls school in Pune.
- She organised a campaign to remove prejudice and unjust treatment of people based on their caste and gender.
Laxmi Gowri Bayi:
- She freed every slave in Kerala in 1812 by royal decree, with the exception of those who had been chained to the ground for agricultural purposes.
- The authority to be independent of their Lords was granted to other castes, including the Kaniyans and the Ezhavas. The Sudras and others were no longer prohibited from donning gold and silver jewellery.
Organizations for women include:
- The majority of women’s organisations concentrated on eradicating purdah, forced widowhood, and child marriage in order to increase women’s health and literacy.
- A variety of women’s organisations had started to emerge by the end of the nineteenth century in various regions of India, including the Satara Abalonnati Sabha in Maharashtra, the Mahila Seva Samaj in Bangalore, the Banga Mahila Samaj, and the Aghorekamini Nari Samiti in Bengal.
- Others were women-only discussion boards, while some of them were active social reform organisations.
- Education, child marriage, issues with widows, and dowry issues were their top concerns.
- A self-help group called Aghorekamini Nari Samiti taught women how to educate one another and take care of the sick.
- The Aghorekamini Nari Samiti organised a demonstration against the tea planters’ mistreatment of their female employees.
Bengali Women’s College, also known as Banga Mahila Vidyalaya:
- It was India’s first liberal arts college for women. It was constructed in Kolkata in 1876 by the Brahmo Samaj’s liberal faction, succeeding Annette Akroyd’s 1873 establishment of the Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya (School of Hindu Women).
- In 1878, Banga Mahila Vidyalaya and Bethune College amalgamated.
Conclusion:
- Because of this, women contributed significantly to the advancement of society at a time when it was still mostly conventional. Women were more active in the movement as time went on, and eventually they had a significant impact on the struggle for Indian independence as well.
