Caste and Social Reform
Rammohun Roy translated an old Buddhist text which was critical about castes. Prarthana Samaj adhered to the tradition of Bhakti which believed in the equality of all castes. In Bombay, Paramhans Mandali worked for the abolition of caste. These reformers were mostly from upper castes and often in the secret meetings they violate caste taboos on food and touch, to get rid of caste prejudice.
During the 19th century, Christian missionaries began to set up schools for tribal groups and lower caste people. Poor from the villages and small towns, many of which were from lower castes, began moving to cities for the demand of labor and some even went to plantations in Assam, Mauritius, etc. Working in new locations was hard, but however, the poor and people from lower castes saw this as one of the important opportunity to get away from the oppressive hold of upper caste landowners and also the humiliations suffered by them. Army also offered opportunities and a number of people from the Mahar community found jobs in Mahar Regiment.
CBSE Class 8 History Chapter 8 – Women, Caste and Reform
Even after independence from British rule, women still hadn’t achieved independence and are struggling for it. But reformers have tried to reform our society and have succeeded to a large extent.
Differences were not only in gendered context but people were also divided along caste lines and certain castes were considered “polluting” and “untouchables”. They weren’t allowed to enter temples, or draw water from wells and were seen as inferior humans. Over the years many of these norms and perceptions have changed slowly.
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