Indian society in the early 19th century: caste, education and women
Early 19th century society was held back by lack of education and the low status of women, with a rigid caste system and practices like sati and child marriage.
Two causes that held society back
In the first half of the 19th century, two things kept Indian society from progress: lack of education and the subordination of women. Most people could not read. Education was limited to a few upper-caste men. Only Brahmins could read the Vedas, which were in Sanskrit, so priests alone explained the scriptures. They laid down costly rituals for birth and death, and no one could question them. Europe had once been similar. The Bible was in Latin and only the clergy read it, until the Renaissance and the Reformation changed things.
The caste system
- Hindu society followed the varna system. Brahmins prayed and worshipped, Kshatriyas fought, Vaishyas farmed and traded, and Shudras served the other three.
- It began as a division by occupation, but became hereditary: you could not change your caste even if you changed your work.
- Upper castes explained the scriptures, and lower castes had no access to them. This bred superstition and concentrated power in the upper castes.
- Lower castes were exploited, and the worst treated faced untouchability.
- So caste became a major barrier to a healthy, democratic and progressive society.
- Today Article 15 of the Constitution bars discrimination by religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Your lesson's box labels this Article 14, which is about equality before the law.
Practices the reformers fought
| Practice | What it meant | Later step |
|---|---|---|
| Sati | A widow forced to burn herself on her husband's funeral pyre | Banned in 1829 by Lord William Bentinck, after Raja Ram Mohan Roy's campaign |
| Child marriage | Girls married very young, often to much older men | Your lesson says a law of 1860 raised the marriage age of girls to 10 (strictly, the Indian Penal Code of 1860 made 10 the age of consent); the Sharda Act (1929) barred marriage of girls under 14 and boys under 18 |
| Ban on widow remarriage | Widows could not marry again and lived hard, lonely lives | Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1856 |
| Female infanticide | Killing a baby girl soon after birth | Declared illegal |
| Polygamy | A man having more than one wife | Opposed by Vidyasagar and Sir Syed Ahmed Khan |
| Untouchability | Treating some castes as impure and keeping them apart | Condemned by every reform movement; abolished by the Constitution (Article 17) |
Why women's position was so low
- Women had no right to property and no access to education.
- Fear of invaders, and of losing family honour, kept them confined.
- Dowry and the sharing of ancestral property made a girl seem a burden.
- Female infanticide, child marriage, sati and polygamy were common in some sections of society.
The education scene
- Many children, especially girls, never went to school.
- Teaching took place in pathshalas, madrasas, mosques and gurukuls.
- Subjects were religion, Sanskrit, grammar, arithmetic and philosophy. Science and technology were not taught at all.
- Superstition ran deep: some believed an educated girl would soon become a widow.
- Reformers of every community, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Parsi, saw modern education as the key to change.
Activity: compare sex ratios from the Census
Sex ratio is the number of females per 1000 males. Child sex ratio counts girls per 1000 boys aged 0 to 6. Your lesson shows the child sex ratio falling sharply between the 1961 and the 2011 Census, well below the level of about 950 thought normal.
- 1Open the Census tables on censusindia.gov.in, or ask at a library for a recent yearbook.
- 2Copy the sex ratio of every state from the latest Census into a table.
- 3In the 2011 Census, Kerala had the highest sex ratio (1084 females per 1000 males) and Haryana the lowest. Check these in your table.Your lesson prints the early 2011 counts: 914 for India's child sex ratio and 877 for Haryana. The final 2011 tables give 918 and 879.
- 4Mark five states below 914, the figure your lesson uses, and five states above 950.
- 5Write two reasons for a low ratio, such as preference for sons and the killing of girls before or after birth, and one step to change it.
The Constitution now abolishes untouchability (Article 17) and forbids discrimination by caste or sex (Article 15). Government schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao work to save and educate the girl child, the cause the reformers began.
2 marks: “Name two customs of the early 19th century that harmed women, and say what each meant.” Sati: a widow was forced to burn herself on her husband's funeral pyre. Child marriage: girls were married very young, often to much older men. Others were female infanticide, polygamy and the ban on widow remarriage.
2 marks: “Give two reasons why the 19th century reformers opposed the caste system.” It fixed a person's place by birth, not by work or merit, so caste could not change even when work did. It bred inequality and exploitation and went against humanity and the original spirit of the scriptures.
6 marks: “Describe the condition of Indian society in the early 19th century.” Opening line, then: little education, limited to upper-caste men; priests controlled the scriptures; hereditary caste and untouchability; women without property or education; sati, child marriage, female infanticide, polygamy and no widow remarriage; schools without science; close.
Society's two chains: no books (lack of education) and no voice (women kept subordinate).