Conditions in India during the second half of the 18th and throughout the 19th centuries

Modern Religious and Secular Movements in India :

Historic-political, socio-economic, and religio-cultural conditions in India during the second half of the 18th and throughout the 19th centuries.

            Around 1800, India was in a pitiable condition. Neither the earlier Hindu governments nor the Muslim rulers who ruled from the 12th century succeeded in creating or maintaining peace. As such, India had not known peace during 1200-1800 AD. Even under the best of Mughal rulers, there were frequent fightings. There were no reform movements during that period.

            Indian civilization and culture during the 18th century was at its lowest. No important book was known to be produced in any of the Indian languages. The lack of appreciation and patronage given to indigenous arts led to the disappearance of many old works of art, due to ignorance and carelessness. Some were taken away by foreigners. No creative work in any field was produced during this period. In the societal life, during this period, social evils perpetrated in the name of religion were rampant.

1. Caste system and Untouchability: Rigid casteism was one of the major social evils of that time. Besides the high castes and the low castes, there were large numbers of out-castes considered as untouchables. The so-called high castes considered that they would be defiled if the shadows of the untouchables fell on them. Highways were not open to the latter. There was neither inter-dining nor inter-marriages between the high and low castes. Social ostracization and education of only the privileged few kept a vast majority of the populace as slaves. Those who produced wealth through hard labour were deprived of the fruits through cunning manipulation of religion by the Brahmins.

            An understanding of creation according to the teachings of Hinduism justified the hierarchical society and the rigid casteism. One’s loyalty was limited to one’s caste. No one cared what happened to people of other castes. Justice was in the hands of caste-councils who punished those who broke the caste rules. There were no schools and only the three upper castes i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas were allowed to be educated in the Vedas, mostly at home. Therefore, people lived in much ignorance.

2. Prohibition of foreign travel: It was considered a sin to cross the seas and to go and live in foreign countries with peoples who have different cultures. If anyone did go, he/she lost his/her standing in his/her caste unless he/she underwent purificatory rites upon returning to India. This discouraged people from going abroad for studies and people lived in isolation from the rest of the world.

3. Low status of women: Hinduism has had a very low status for women. Manu, the greatest law-giver of Hinduism prescribed that a woman should be under the control of her father before marriage, under her husband in marriage and under the control of her son in old age. Thus a woman was allowed no freedom at any stage of life. The higher castes (except the Brahmins) believed that after the death of the husband, the wife’s chastity and faithfulness is proved only by self-immolation in the funeral pyre of the dead husband and thereby committing Sati. Such a woman was regarded as satimata. Some Hindu communities encouraged this practice where it altered inheritance patterns. Moreover, it was considered a curse to live as a widow in the traditional joint family system.

            Those widows who refused to follow this practice were not allowed to re-marry. It was considered evil for a widow to re-marry whereas a widower could re-marry for any number of times. Due to such customs, there were many child widows and youthful widows who had to live the rest of their lives in much sorrow and seclusion. In some communities, their heads had to be shaved and ornaments removed. The kinds of clothes they were allowed to wear were the saffron coloured sarees worn by Sanyasis. They became slaves in the household of their relatives. Young girls were married off to old men even before they had attained puberty and when the husband died, they were declared as widows and denied the possibility of remarriage.

4. Devadasi system: This was a Hindu custom to dedicate girls to serve in temples. The term devadasi means female servant of God. The girls were dedicated to sing and dance before the idols. But corrupt priests and worshippers used them to satisfy their lust. Thus the devadasis became “sacred” prostitutes.

5. Female infanticide: Among the high castes, dowry was the deciding factor in marriage. Therefore, many parents considered it a liability to have girl-babies, for it was the girl’s father who had to pay the dowry to the boy’s father. This extravagant expenditure led to the cruel practice of letting girl babies to die. Female infanticide was common among the economically poor.

6. Human/Animal sacrifice: There was a belief that some of the gods and goddesses required human sacrifices and that, such sacrifices are highly meritorious. For this purpose often children were kidnapped and slaughtered and their blood was offered specially to the goddess Kali – in order to please her and to get benefits from her. In spite of the teachings of Gautama Buddha and Mahavira against animal sacrifice and Ahimsa (Non-violence), the practice of animal sacrifice continued during this period although in a lesser degree.

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