Socio-Religious Reform Movements

The Deoband School

The orthodox section among the Muslim ulema organised the Deoband Moovement. It was a revivalist movement whose twin objectives were :

(i) to propagate among the Muslims the pure teachings of the Koran and the Hadis and

(ii) to keep alive the spirit of jihad aganist the foreign rulers.

The new Deoband leader Mahmud-ul-Hasan (1851-1920) sought to impart a political and intellectual content to the religious ideas of the school. The liberal interpretation of Islam created a political awakening among its followers.

Sikh Reform Movement

Punjab also came under the spell of reforms. Baba Dayal Das founded the Nirankari Movement. He insisted the worship of God as nirankar (formless). The Namdhari Movement was founded by Baba Ram Singh. His followers wore white clothes and gave up meat eating. The Singh Sabhas started in Lahore and Amritsar in 1870 were aimed at reforming the Sikh society. They helped to set up the Khalsa College at Amritsar in 1892.They also encouraged Gurmukhi and Punjabi literature. In 1920, the Akalis started a movement to remove the corrupt Mahants (priests) from the Sikh gurudwaras. The British government was forced to make laws on this matter. Later, the Akalis organised themselves into a political party.

Parsi Reform Movement

The Parsi Religious Reform Association was founded at Bombay by Furdunji Naoroji and S.S. Bengalee in 1851. They advocated the spread of women’s education. They also wanted to reform their marriage customs. Naoroji published a monthly journal, Jagat Mithra . The momentum gathered through these reform movements and went a long way in uplifting the entire community. By the middle of the twentieth century most of them were highly placed in various capacities and have made a significant contribution to India’s development.

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