Quiz on Social Reform Movements in India

1. Keshab Chandra Sen is one of the renowned leaders of this movement – it was born out of differences of opinion amongst members of another movement. This movement (or rather the organization) was first formed in 1866.
Answer: Brahmo Samaj of India
Brahmo Samaj of India was created by Mr. Sen because he felt the Brahmo Samaj didn’t address many an important issue. He held radical views that included inter-caste marriage, removal of purdah for women etc.

2. One of the most famous social reformers, he was born to an orthodox Bengali Brahmin family in 1774. His first article appeared when he was sixteen, in which he condemned idol worship by Hindus, as a result of which he was thrown out of his house! To purify Hinduism from various ‘evils’ that he believed had crept into it, he decided to form a new society called ‘Brahmo Samaj’. Who was he?
Answer: Raja Rammohun Roy
The Brahmo Samaj (One God society) worked towards removing idol worship, caste divisions etc. Roy was most instrumental in the abolition of Sati (or Satti or suttee). Satidaha was the practice of burning Hindu widows on the funeral pyre of their husbands.

3. This social reformist joined the Hindu College of Calcutta in 1826 (at the age of 17) as a teacher. He encouraged free thought and inquisitiveness of the part of his pupils. His students were collectively called ‘Young Bengal’ and they refused to accept various rites and rituals that were prevalent in India at that time. What is the name of the teacher?
Answer: Henry Louis Vivian Derozio
Derozio was dismissed from the college for his teachings. He died in 1831 at the age of 22. However his students ensured that the Young Bengal movement carried on in its mission.

4. A very famous Bengali, he was instrumental in the foundation of the Hindu Balika Vidyalaya at Calcutta. This was one of the earliest schools committed towards education of females. He also campaigned for reformation of the Hindu marriage system. It was through his efforts that the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 was enacted by the Government. Who was this learned and revered person?
Answer: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
He was assisted by a British official called Drinkwater Bethune in his efforts to develop Female education in India.


5. This society was formed in 1864 by K. Sridharalu Naidu. This movement was inspired to fight the causes of Brahmo Samaj in South India. In 1871, the name of this society was changed to Brahmo Samaj of South India. What was this society known before that?
Answer: Veda Samaj
Naidu translated Brahmo Samaj literature into Telugu and Tamil and tried to carry out social reforms in South India; however his death in 1874 weakened this reform movement.

6. This movement was based and carried out reforms in Western India. Founded in 1866 by Mahadev Govind Ranade, this movement took inspiration from religious sermons by Tukaram and Jnaneswara. This society had distinguished scholars like Ramakrisha Bhandarkar in its ranks. What was the name of this society?
Answer: Prarthana Samaj
Ranade also emphasized the importance of collective action against social evils; to club various societies together, he formed the Indian National Social Conference in 1887.

7. This religious movement was started with an intention to teach people about Hinduism in its pure form. Dayanand Saraswati founded this movement in 1875. The members of this movement were guided by ten principles, one of which was studying of Vedas. The rest were on virtue, morality and humility. This movement sought to remove caste distinctions and social inequality (rampant at that time). What was the name of this religious movement?
Answer: Arya Samaj
Dayanand was born Mula Shankara in 1824 in a place called Kathiawad. He wrote a lot of books to spread his message, the most famous of them being ‘Satyarth Prakash’.

8. Swami Vivekanand participated in the Parliament of Religions, held in Chicago (U.S.A) in 1893.
Answer: true
He was a great success at this meeting and was able to impress one and all with his address on Hinduism. Vivekanand (1863 – 1902 ) was a student of Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

9. He was a priest at a temple at Dakshineswar (near Kolkatta). Social reformers like Dayanad Saraswati, Keshab Chandra Sen used to come to him for advice and religious discussions. After his death, one of his pupils Swami Vivekanand founded a mission named after him.
Answer: Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The Ramakrishna Mission was founded in 1897 and spread the teachings of Ramakrishna through out India; it also has many branches in foreign countries.

10. To improve the condition of the Moslems in India, this reformist founded many a movement. He was known for his efforts to improve Moslem-British relations. His greatest achievement was the founding of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875.
Answer: Syed Ahmed Khan
He was strongly opposed to the Indian National Congress. The Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College later became the Aligarh University.

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Lord Kingsford Bombing Case - Khudiram Bose & Prafullah Chaki

Khudiram Bose was a freedom fighter, who was one of the youngest revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement. He was born on 3rd December 1889. Trailokyanath Basu, his father was a Tahsildar of the town and mother Lakshmipriya Devi was a religious lady. His birth place was Bahuvaini in Medinipur district, West Bengal.

Khudiram Bose was influenced by the notion of karma in the Bhagvad Gita , and was involved in revolutionary activities to free mother India from the clutches of British rule. Dissatisfied with the British policy of the partition of Bengal in 1905, he joined Jugantar - the party of revolutionary activists. At the tender age of sixteen, Bose left bombs near police stations and made government officials his victims. On the charges of carrying out a series of bomb attacks he was arrested.

In Muzzafarpur, Bihar,on 30th April, 1908 Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki planned to assasinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate Kingsford. The magistrate was known for his blatant judgements against the freedom fighters. They waited for Kingsford's carriage to come in front of the gate of European Club and blew up a carriage which was not carrying Kingsford. As a result of this unfortunate incident two innocent British ladies - Mrs.Kennedy and her daughter were killed. Both the revolutionaries fled the crime scene. Later Prafulla committed suicide and Khudiram was arrested.

On the charges of bomb attacks carried out by Khudiram Bose, he was sentenced to death at the age of 19.He was hanged to death on 11 August 1908.

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Delhi conspiracy Case - Rash Behari Bose

The British never got a chance to punish freedom fighter Rash Behari Bose for scripting the 1912 bomb attack on the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge. Bose planned the attack perfectly and got it executed through Basant Kumar on 23 December 1912 in Delhi. He was back in Dehradun the same day and on 24 December, he condemned the attack at a meeting here. The British never doubted his integrity towards them. But, in fact, the truth was entirely different.
Founder President of the Indian National Army Rash Behari Bose took 37-day leave from the Forest Research Institute, located here, to script the famous 1912 bomb attack on Lord Hardinge. Bose took leave from 25 November to 31 December 1912 to fashion the incident.
In 1912, British India decided to shift the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi. To mark the arrival of Lord Hardinge in the new capital, a procession was taken out. A bomb was thrown on the Viceroy and his wife when they were passing through Chandni Chowk, near the Punjab National Bank.
The incident took place at around 11.45 a.m. The explosion was heard six miles away. A picric acid bomb weighing between half and three-quarters of a pound exploded against the howdah.The attacked injured Hardinge and killed his Mahawat. The Viceroy’s back was badly lacerated by some of the nails, screws and gramophone needles with which the bomb had been packed.
Five hundred uniformed and 2,500 plain clothes policemen officer were deployed in the processional route. The event sent a shiver down the British spine. As the bomb exploded, the detectives rushed off in the wrong direction and Rash Behari Bose and his associates escaped comfortably after committing the act.
After completing his 37 day leave, Bose rejoined office at Forest Research Institute on 2 January 1913. After working for a few months regularly, he took long leave from 10 August 1913 to 10 May 1914. On 14 May 1914, he was terminated for long absenteeism from service.
The 1912 bomb attack took the British imperialists by surprise. David Peterson, Assistant Director of Criminal Intelligence (Delhi), was entrusted with the job of conducting an inquiry into the incident. He took two-years to complete the investigation and termed Rash Bihari Bose the mastermind of the attack on the Viceroy. But, by the time the British realised the role of Bose in the attack, this revolutionary had escaped to Japan and continued the struggle against British rule from abroad.
Rash Behari was born on 25 May, 1886, in Palara-Bighati (Hooghly) village. He served one of his longest terms as a government employee at the FRI. He joined the Forest Research Institute on 7 September 1906. Before coming to the Doon Valley, Behari had served for 4 months at the Foreign Department Press (Shimla) as an examiner. After this, he joined Government Monotype Office (Shimla) as a copy holder and served there for seven months. He joined Central Research Institute (Kasauli, HP) as second clerk before joining FRI as a clerk in 1906.
He was promoted to the rank of Head Clerk, drawing a monthly salary of Rs 65. Rash Behari formed the Indian National Army (INA) with Captain Mohan Singh and Sardar Pritam Singh on 1 September, 1942. Bose was elected Founder President.When Rash Bhirai Bose died on 29 January 1945, highlighting his contribution to India's independence struggle, Subhash Chandra Bose said, "He was the father of the Indian independence movement in East Asia."

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