Hist 4538
Feb 25, 2004
Hindu Revival and Reform
Reading Questions
• What were the key differences between the moderate and the extremist nationalists?
• How did moderates and extremists feel about British rule?
The Ideology of Stewardship
• Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
• Concept that British role in India was to guide Indians towards self-government
• Accepted by many educated Indians, including Hindu reformers
• Reformers eager to improve Hinduism along Western lines
• Founded 1828 by Ram Mohan Roy
• “Inoculating” Hinduism against missionaries by incorporating Christian elements
• Also convinced that India had much to teach the West
• Internal struggle over the pace of reform
Keshub Chandra Sen (1838-1884)
• Advocated elimination of caste
• Admired British rule, eg Victoria’s 1877 coronation durbar
• Pushed for widow remarriage, female education, elimination of child marriage
• Lost support when he married off his own 13-year-old daughter
• Also controversial because he drew heavily on Christian teachings
• Founded 1875 by Dayananda Saraswati
• Sought to revive “true” Hindu tradition, going back to the Vedas
• Saw no Vedic basis for child marriage, untouchability, subjection of women
• Critical of the Brahmo Samaj
Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901)
• Successful judge in British legal system
• Advocated widow remarriage, ban on child marriage, no seclusion of women
• But married 11-year-old girl
Ramabai Ranade (1862-1924)
• Educated by husband
• Tormented by female relatives as a result
Views on Stewardship and Reform
Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”[1]
Take up the white man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Keshub Chandra Sen (see Hay 48)
Dayananda Saraswati (see Hay 59-60)
I had to undergo a great deal of harassment to be able to study. But I never gave it up. I was able to survive the torture only because of my two brothers-in-law. It was their kind and affectionate behavior that saw me through those trying times. They used to assure me, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid of these women even if they scold you.’ And they used to argue with them for me. But it was he [my husband], above all, with his loving, calm, and solemn advice, who was a pillar of strength in those trying time. Otherwise a young, immature girl like me would never have been able to endure such harassment and torment.