UPSC History Arts and Cultural Movements Short Notes - Social and Cultural Reforms

 Social and Cultural Reforms

• Raja Rammohan Roy established the Brahmo Samaj at Calcutta in 1828 in order to purify Hinduism and to preach monotheism.
• He established the Atmiya Sabha in 1815.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy is most remembered for helping Lord William Bentinck to declare the practice of Sati a punishable offence in 1829.
• Henry Vivian Derozio was the founder of the Young Bengal Movement.
• The Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati at Bombay in 1875:
• He believed the Vedas were the source of true knowledge. His motto. Was "Back to the Vedas".
• He was against idol worship, child marriage and caste system based on birth.
• The first Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) School was founded in 1886 at Lahore.
• The Prarthana Samaj was founded in 1867 in Bombay by Atmaram Pandurang.
• The original name of Swami Vivekananda was Narendranath Dutta [1863-1902).
• He was famous disciple of Shri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa.
• Swami Vivekananda participated at the Parliament of Religions held in Chicago [USA) in September 1893 and raised the prestige of India and Hinduism very high.

• The Theosophical Society was founded in New York [USA) in 1875 by Madam H.P. Blavatsky, a Russian lady, and Henry Steel Olcott, an American colonel.
• Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar helped J.D. Bethune to establish the Bethune School.
• Jyotiba Phule   founded   the Satyashodak Samaj In 1873.
• The Aligarh Movement was started by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan [1817- 98) for the social and educational advancement of the Muslims in India.
• Baba Dayal Das founded the Nirankari Movement.
• The Namdhari Movement was founded by Baba Ram Singh.