• The growth of the modern middle class in India was the result of a two fold process – the destruction of the old class on the one hand, and the rise of new groups of landholders, businessmen and intellectuals on the other.
• The modern Indian middle class made its first appearance in the newly founded cities of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, and in the towns which became the subsidiary centres of British commercial activity and administration.
• The combined economic and political changes laid the foundation for the unity of Indian people.
• The different regions of India were brought nearer to one another by the extension of the means of communication – roads, railways, posts and telegraph.
Causes of the Social and Cultural Awakening
• The first and foremost was the establishment of British rule, which created conditions favourable to intellectual growth.
• A second contributory factor was the pain staking efforts of the orientalists to bring into the limelight India’s past.
• A third factor in the spread of the reform movement was the highly creative literature, which was marked by a marvellous fusion of the old and the new, a grand intermingling of the best literary traditions of ancient India with the good features of the culture of the modern world outside.
• The fourth factor was the detrimental effect of the Christian missionaries.
Reform Movements
• The earliest expression of reforms was in Bengal, initiated by Raja Ram Mohun Roy.
• He founded the Atmiya Sabha in 1814, precursor of his Brahmo Samaj (1829).
• Hinduism had the
o Paramahansa Mandali and Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra
o Arya Samaj in the Punjab and other parts of North India;
• The upper castes had
o Kayastha Sabha (UP)
o Sarin Sabha (Punjab)
• The backward castes had
o Satya Shodhak Samaj (Maharashtra) and
o Sri Narayana Darma Paripalana Yogam (SNDPY, Kerala)
• The Muslims had the Ahmadiya and Aligarh movements.
• The Sikhs had the Singh Sabha.
• The Parsis had Rahnumai Mazdeyasan Sabha.
• Reforms movements may be broadly identified with 4 major trends in Indian society. These are:
1. Reforms from within.
2. Reform through legislation.
3. Reform through symbols of change.
4. Reform through social work.
• Raja Ram Mohun Roy believed that the philosophy of Vedanta was based on the principle of reason.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar worked for the uplift of the status of Indian women.
o He waged a long struggle in favour of Hindu widow remarriage, backing his advocacy with quotations from traditional Hindu religious texts.
o In 1856 Hindu Widow Remarriage Act was passed.
o His other contribution to Indian culture was evolving a technique of teaching Sanskrit and writing of a Bengali primer.
• The advocates of ‘reform through legislation’ were Keshab Chandra Sen in Bengal, M.G. Ranade in Maharashtra, Veereshalingam in Andhra etc.
Reform through symbol of change
• This was a manifestation of non-conformist individual activity, limited to the ‘Derozians’ or ‘Young Bengal’ who represented a radical stream within the reform movement.
• They were passionate advocates of women’s rights and demanded education for them.
• Derozio attacked old and decadent customs, rites and traditions.
• He was teacher at Hindu College from 1826 to 1831 and he was removed in 1831 because of his radicalism.
• The prominent members of ‘Young Bengal’ were - Dakshinaranjan Mukherjee, Ram Gopal Ghose and Krishna Mohan Banerji.
Reform Through Social Work
• Manifested in the activities of Dayananda Saraswathi’s Arya Samaj, Rama Krishna Mission, Swami Vivekananda and Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra.
• To Gopal Hari Deshmukh in Maharashtra, popularly known as Lokahithawadi, whether social reform had the sanction of religion or not was immaterial.
• Arya Samaj, started by swami Dayand in 1875, preached not only the repudiation of the caste system but the revival of Hindu society of the Vedic period based only on 4 castes.
• Arya Samaj stood for extending the right to study the scriptures even to the lowest castes – the Shudras.
• The Arya Samaj stood for equal rights of men and women in social and educational matters.
• The Arya Samaj organized a network of schools and colleges in the country. The DAV College was founded in 1886.
Raja Ram Mohun Roy and Brahmo Samaj
• The first Indian who tried to pull the Indian society out of the medieval age.
• His new ideas gave birth to Indian Renaissance.
• He was a “bridge between the past and future”.
• He was called as the “Father of Modern India”.
• Born in village Radhanagar, Hooghly District, Bengal on May 22, 1772 in an orthodox Brahmin family.
• His father: Rama Kanth Roy.
• His grandfather: Krishna Chandra Benerjee, whose title was Ray Rayan.
• Ray Rayan title was later contracted into Roy.
• Raja Ram Mohun Roy was a profound scholar of Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, English, Bengali, Greek, latin and Hebrew.
• He worked under the East India Company – 1803 to 1814.
His literary works are:
Tuhfat-ul-Muwah-hidin (Gift to Monotheists), a treatise in Persian published in 1803
Manazarutul Aadyan a discussion in Persian on various religions
Translation of some parts of Vedanta and the Kena Upanishad.
Translation of Vedanta Sutras into English.
• He published precepts of Jesus – the guide to peace and happiness, which contained his conviction about the simplicity and morality of the Christian religion.
• The turning point in his life was the performance of Sati by his elder brother’s wife in 1811.
• In 1822, he published “Modern Encroachments on the Ancient Rights of Females according to the Hindu law of Inheritance”.
• As a result of his sustained efforts, the Governor General Lord William Bentinck passed Regulation XVII on Dec. 4, 1829 which declared Sati illegal.
• He founded the Atmiya Sabha (1815–19).
• In 1828, he established the Brahmo Sabha, later the Brahmo Samaj.
• The Brahmo religion laid emphasis on the love of mankind.
• He silently worked for the foundation of the Hindu college, Calcutta.
• In Dec 1821 he launched a Bengali weekly, Sabad Kaumudi or “The Moon of Intelligence”, which was the first Indian newspaper edited, published and managed by Indians.
• In 1822, he began publication of another weekly in Persian – Mirat-ul-Akhbar or “The Mirror of Intelligence”.
• In 1830, Raja Ram Mohun Roy went to England as an envoy of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar Shah II, who invested him with the title of Raja to the court of King William IV.
• He died in England on Sept 27, 1833.
• Maharshi Dwarakanath Tagore and the Pandit Ram Chandra Vidyavagish managed Brahma Samaj for about 10 years. Then a true leader was found in Devendranath Tagore, Dwarkanath’s eldest son.
• Before joining the Brahmo Samaj, Devendranath Tagore organized the Tattvaranjini Sabha at Jorasanko (Calcutta), later renamed as Tattvabodhini sabha.
• In 1840, the Tattvabodhini School was founded, where Akshay Kumar Dutta – was appointed as a teacher. Its members were Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Rajendra Lal Mitra, Tara Chand Chakravarty, Peary Chand Mitra.
• Tattvabodhini Sabha, published a monthly journal called Tattvabodhini Patrika.
• Devendranath along with 20 of his associates formally joined the Brahmo Samaj on Dec 21, 1843.
• He stood against the ultra radical trend of missionary attacks on Indian culture launched by Alaxendar Duff.
• He compiled a religious text ‘Brahmo Dharma’.
• He introduced the Brahmo form of worship or Brahmopasana.
Keshav Chandra Sen and Sangat Sabha
• In Devendranath’s absence Keshav Chandra Sen joined in Brahmo Samaj in 1857 and became full-time missionary of the Samaj.
• He established in 1859 a small society known as Sangat Sabha (‘Friendly Association’). Its main objective was to discuss the spiritual and social problems of the day.
• Brahmo rites are mentioned in the Anushthana Paddhati.
• In 1861, a fortnightly journal named as Indian mirror was started with Keshav Chandra Sen as editor. The Mirror had a distinguished career, becoming the first Indian daily paper in English.
• As a result of Keshav Chandra Sen mission Ved Samaj was established in Madras and Prarthana Samaj in Maharashtra.
The First Schism
• In the Brahmo Samaj in 1866, when Devendranath’s group, calling itself Adi Brahmo Samaj, separated from Keshav Chandra Sen’s group, which assumed the name of Brahmo Samaj of India or the New Dispensation or Convention (Nav Vidhana).
• Slogan of Adi Brahmo Samaj was “Brahmoism is Hinduism”.
• The slogan of Nav Vidhana was “Brahmoism is Catholic and Universal”.
• In 1872, he persuaded the government to place on the statute book the Brahmo Marriage Act, which legalized marriage according to Brahmo rites.
• Keshav Chandra Sen also established the Indian Reform Association.
Second Schism
• Keshav Chandra Sen had his daughter married to Maharaja of Cooch–Behar in 1878, both the bride and bridegroom being under-age. To boot, the marriage was conducted in accordance with Hindu rites and in violation of the Brahmo Marriage Act of 1872.
• Keshav Chandra Sen died in 1884.
Sadharana Brahmo Samaj
• The constitution of Sadharana Brahmo Samaj, drafted by Anand Moham Bose.
• Important member’s:
Sivanth Sastri,
Anand Mohan Bose,
Bipan Chandra Pal,
Dwarak Nath Ganguly
Sir Surendra Nath Bennerjee.
Journals:
Tattva-Kaumudhi
Brahmo Public Opinion
Indian Messenger
Sanjibani
Nabyabharat
Modern Review
Prabase
Young Bengal Movement
• Owed its origin to a most remarkable personality of the 19th century – Henry Louis Vivian Derozio who came to Calcutta in 1826 and was appointed in the Hindu college as a teacher of English literature and History.
• He edited Hesperus and Calcutta Literary Gazette.
• He was connected with Indian Gazette as well.
Prarthana Samaj
• As a result of Keshav Chandra Sen’s visit to Maharashtra, the Prarthana Samaj (‘Prayer Society’) was founded in 1867.
• Founder: M.G. Ranade, described as “the prophet of cultural renaissance in Western India”.
• Other important leaders: Dr. Atmaram Panduranga and R.G.Bhandarkar.
• The two main planks of the Samaj were worship and social reform.
• M.G.Rande views regarding theism are set out in 39 articles which he drew up under the title “A Theist’s Confession of Faith”.
• Two other champions of social reform with M.G.Ranade were Dhondo Keshav Karve and Vishnu Shastri.
• Ranade and Karve launched the widow remarriage movement and started Widows’ Home Association, to provide education to widows.
Jyotiba Phule and Satya Shodhak Samaj
• He organized a powerful non-Brahmin movement.
• Born in 1828 in a Mali family.
• In 1854, he opened a school for the ‘untouchables’ and started a private orphanage to help widows.
• He founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj in 1873.
• He wrote two critical works – Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak and Ghulamgiri.
Veda Samaj
• Keshav Chandra Sen during his visit to Madras in 1864 persuaded the people to establish the Veda Samaj.
• Founder: K. Sridarulu Naidu.
• He changed the Veda Samaj into the Brahmo Samaj of Southern India in 1871.
• He translated the books of Brahmodharma into Tamil and Telugu.
Dayananda Saraswathi and Arya Samaj
• Mula Shankar, later known as Dayanand Saraswathi, was born in 1824 in a Brahmin family, in the petty state of Morvi, in Kathiawar, Gujarat.
• He spent two and a half years at Mathura as a disciple of a blind saint scholar Swami Virjananda.
• He came to the conclusion that “Aryans were chosen people, the Vedas the chosen gospel and India the chosen land.
• He founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875. A few years later the headquarters of the Arya Samaj were established at Lahore.
• He translated the Vedas.
• He wrote three books;
1. Satyartha Prakash in Hindi.
2. Veda Bhasya Bhumika, an introduction to his vedic commentary.
3. Veda Bhasya, a Vedic commentary in Sanskrit on the Yajurvada and the major part of the Rig Veda.
• It was very successful in the Punjab and to a certain degree also in UP, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Dayanand Saraswati looked upon the Vedas as ‘India’s Rock of Ages’.
• He gave the slogan ‘Go back to the Vedas’, and ‘the Vedas are the source of all knowledge’.
• He rejected the authority of the later Hindu scriptures like the Puranas.
• The Arya Samaj denounced the infinite number of meaningless rites, and the worship of the images of different gods and goddesses.
• Arya Samaj stood for the fourfold Varna system to be determined by merit and not by birth.
• It stood for equal rights of man and woman.
• Activities of the Arya Samaj were very controversial.
Shuddhi Programme,
Programme for protection of the cow.
• In 1882 the Arya Samaj formed a ‘Cow Protection Association’.
Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Mission
• The Rama Krishna monastic order and mission was officially established in 1887 (formally registered under Societies’ Registration Act in 1909) by Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Swamy Ramakrishna Paramahansa of Dakshineshwar.
• “The only god in whom I believe, the sum total of all souls, and above all, my God the wicked, my God the afflicted, my God the poor of all races” – Vivekananda.
• In 1893, he went to America and attended the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago.
• Vivekananda established two principal centres:
1. At Belur near Calcutta.
2. Mayavati near Almora, where the men trained as Sanyasis.
• Vivekananda believed in the philosophy of Vedanta.
• Vivekananda pamphlet, ‘I am a Socialist’.
• The concept of Daridra-Narayana popularized by Gandhiji, had its origin in Vivekananda.
• ‘Indian Unrest’ book written by Valentine Chirol.
Theosophical Movement
• The Theosophical Society was founded by Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott in New York in 1875.
• The founders arrived in India in Jan 1897, and established the headquarters of the Society at Adyar near Madras.
• In 1888, Mrs. Annie Besant joined the Society in England.
• Theosophical Society opened the Central Hindu College at Varanasi in 1898.
• This movement encouraged participation in the Boy Scout Movement.
Orthodox Hindu Societies
The Bharat Darma Mahamandala
• It was an all India organisation; an apex body of various orthodax Hindu organisations.
• Founded by Pandit Din Dayalu Sharma in Hardwar in 1887.
• Objective: to bring together all leaders of the orthodox Hindu community and to work together for the preservation of Sanatan Dharma.
• Pandit Din Dayalu founded the Hindu college, Delhi, on May 15, 1899.
• The offshoots of the Mahamandala were the Sanatan Dharma Sabhas.
• Pandit Madan Mohun Malavia was very closely associated with the Mahamandala and the Sanatan Dharma movements.
Dharma Sabha
• Founder: Radhakant Deb. Year of Establishment: 1830.
Reformist Movements
The Veda Samaj
• Founded in Madras in 1864 by K. Sridharulu Naidu.
• Doraiswami Iyengar, openly talked of abandoning the sacred thread.
Swami Naryana Sect
• Swami Sahajanand, founded this sect in Gujarat.
• This sect was a sort of protest against the epicurean and luxurious practices of Vaishnavism.
• This sect preached monotheism.
DAV Education Movement
• First Dayananda Anglo-Vedic (DAV) School was opened in Lahore in 1886. Lala Hans Raj worked as honorary Principal.
• In May 1889, the Punjab University granted affiliation to the DAV College.
• By 1910, the DAV trust framed rules and regulations governing the schools affiliated to it.
• Foundation of Arya Kanya Pathshala in Jullundar in 1890.
• Foundation of Kanya Mahavidhyalaya (college) in 1896.
• The Kanya Mahavidhyalaya published literature for women’s education and founded the Hindi monthly ‘Panchal Pandita’ in 1898, to preach and propagate female education.
• Lala Hansraj became the leader of the moderates, who came to be known as the “College Party”.
• The leadership of the militants, later known as the “Gurukul” wing, was centred around Pandit Lekh Ram and Lala Munshi Ram (later known as Swami Shraddhanand).
• The Gurukul focused on Aryan ideology, the study of Sanskrit and the Vedic scriptures.
• In 1893, the Arya Samaj formally broke up.
• In March 1892, Lala Munshi Ram (Swamy Shraddhanand) founded the Gurukul Kangri in Hardwar.
The Shuddhi Movement
• Militant Arya Samajists developed their own ritual of conversion called Shuddhi.
• The Shuddi Sabha conducted reconversions during the 1880s and early 1890s.
• In Dec 1923, eighty representatives from Hindu, Jain and Sikh caste associations agreed to form a new organisation – the Bharatiya Hindu Shuddhi Sabha – to work for the goal of reconversion.
Jat Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste)
• It is founded in Lahore in 1922 by Bhai Paramand.
Sarvadeshik Hindu Sabha
• Hindus founded the Punjab Hindu Conference in 1909.
• In 1915, this conference renamed itself the Sarvadeshik Hindu Sabha and in 1921, the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.
• By the mid-1930s, the Mahasabha, under the leadership of V.D. Savarkar, began to expound a Hindu nationalism.
Radhaswami Movement
• Founded in 1861 by Tulsi Ram, of Agra.
• Tulasi Ram was also popularly known as Shiv Dayal Saheb or Swamiji Maharaj.
• The Radhaswamis believe in one Supreme Being, the supremacy of the Guru, a “company of pious people” (satsang).
• The sect recognizes no temples, shrines or sacred places.
Deva Samaj
• Founded in 1887 at Lahore by Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, an erstwhile follower of Brahmo Samaj.
• The teachings of the Samaj were compiled in book form in Deva Shastra.
• The movement lost its popular appeal after 1813, when Agnihotri appointed his second son, Devanand, as his successor.
Madras Hindu Associations
1. The Madras Hindu Social Reforms Association founded by Veresalingam Pantulu in 1892.
2. The Madras Hindu association founded by Mrs. Annie Besant in 1904.
Sathnamis of Chhattisgarh
• Founder of Sathnami sect: Ghasi Das.
• He propounded the concept of Satnam, a single true god, and urged his followers to abandon idol worship.
• After Ghasi Das’s death in 1850, his son Balak Das took over the leadership of the Sathnamis.
The Satya Mahima Dharma
• Mukund Das, known as Mahima Gosain founded this in 1860s, assisted mainly by Govind Baba and Bhima Bhoi.
• Gosain preached the existence of one deity Alakh Param Brahma.
• Idol worship was in vain.
• Headquarters: Joranda in Orissa.
The Paramahansa Mandali
• Founded by Dadoba Panderung and Bal Shastri Jambhekar of Maharashtra in 1849.
• Dadoba in his book Dharma Vivechan, outlined 7 principles of this movement.
• The Paramahamsa Mandali meets in secret usually.
Social Movements
Seva Sadan
• The Parsi social reformer Behramji M. Malabari founded this Seva Sadan in 1885.
Servants of India Society
• Founded in 1915 by Gopala Krishna Gokhale.
Indian (National) Social Conference
• Founded by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao.
• It was the social reform cell of the Indian National Congress.
• First session was held in Madras in Dec 1887.
• It launched the famous “Pledge Movement” to inspire people to take an oath to prohibit child marriage.
Social Service League
• Founder: Narayan Malhar Joshi, a leading member of the Servants of India Society in 1911
• Objective: to collect and study social facts and discuss social problems with a view to forming public opinion on questions of social service.
Seva Samiti
• Founded by a member of the Servants of India Society, Hridayanath Kunzru.
• Founded in 1914 at Allahabad.
• Objective: to organize social service during natural disasters.
Lokahithawadi
• Gopala Hari Desmukh popularly known as ‘Lokahithawadi’.
• He was a judge and a member of the Governal-General’s Council in 1880.
• He attended the Delhi Darbur in 1876 wearing handspun khadi.
• He urged the people to be self-reliant and seek Western learning.
Rahanumai Mazdayasanan Sabha (Religious Reform Association)
• Dadabhai Naoroji, J.B. Wacha, S.S. Bengali and Naoroji Furdonji founded this organisation in 1851.
• Objective: the re-generation of the social condition of the Parsis and the restoration of the Zoroastrian religion to its pristine purity.
• Rast Goftar (Voice of Truth) was its weekly organ.
• First conference was held in 1890.
Anti Untouchable Movements
Aravipuram Movement
• Launched by Sri Narayana Guru on Shivaratri day of 1882 and consecrated an idol of Shiva at Aravipuram.
• Sri Naryana Guru was born in a low-caste Ezhava family, had studied Sanskrit, Malayalam, Tamil and astrology.
• Aravipuram Prashita was a historic event.
• On the wall of the temple Sri Narayana Guru inscribed the words: “Devoid of the dividing walls of caste or race, or hatred of rival of faith, we all live here in brotherhood”.
• Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (Society for the Propagation of Sri Narayana Guru’s Tenets).
• Two new leaders, Dr. Palpu and Kumaran Asan joined him.
• Dr. Palpu was the first Ezhava to receive education in Western medicine.
• Kumaran Asan was a well-known writer and poet.
Temple Entry Movement
• The avarnas or members of depressed classes in various parts of South India.
• In Kerala, Sri Narayana Guru, N. Kumaran Asan and T.K. Madhavan led the movement.
• After 1924, the anti-untouchability programme became a part of the Gandhian constructive programme.
• In Nov 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore issued a proclamation throwing open all government-controlled temples to all Hindus irrespective of caste.
Nair Service Society
• Powerful Nair leaders: K. Ramakrishna Pillai and Mannath Padmanabha Pillai.
• Mannath Padmanabha Pillai founded the Nair Service Society in 1914 in Travencore.
Satya Shodhak Samaj
• Founded in 1873 by Jyotiba Phule.
• His book was Gulaamgiri (1872).
Bahujana Samaj Movement
• Maharaja (Shahu) of Kolhapur supported this movement.
• Objective: creating an anti-Congress front against Bal Gangadar Tilak.
• After 1919, Baskar Rao Jadhav claimed to speak for the Bahujan Samaj.
• From 1920 Mukundrao Patil began to publish a Satyashodhak paper, Din-Mitra.
• The Satyashodhak message was spread in the countryside through tamasha – the folk drama tradition of Maharashtra.
Praja Mithra Mandali
• This was an anti-Brahman platform founded by a Madras-based politician, C.R. Reddy.
• Earlier in 1905-06, a Vokkaliga Sangha and a Ligayat Education Fund Association were founded in Karnataka.
Sikh Movements
The Nirankari Movement
• Founded in the 1840s by Baba Dayal Das, who emphasised the worship of god as nirankar (formless god).
• Shabad means preaching of the guru.
• Hukmnamas – injunctions.
The Namdhari Movement
• This was an offshoot of Kuka movement in Punjab, founded by Balak Singh.
• Balak Singh’s followers saw in him a reincarnation of Guru Govind Singh.
• In 1857, Balak Singh’s disciple Baba Ram Singh formally inaugurated the Namdhari movement.
• Namdharis dressed in white, with a white turban.
• The Namdharis were staunch opponents of the foreign rule (British rule).
• In July 1872, sixty-five Namdharis were arrested and executed.
• Baba Ram Singh was also arrested and exiled to Burma, where he died in 1885.
The Singh Sabha
• Thakur Singh Sandhawalia and Giani Gian Singh founded the Singh Sabha of Amritsar on Oct 1, 1873.
• Objectives:
1. To restore Sikhism to its pristine purity.
2. To publish historical religious books and periodicals
3. To propagate knowledge using Punjabi.
4. To involve Englishmen in the educational programme of the Sikhs.
Lahore Singh Sabha
• First meeting in 1879.
• The Lahore Sabha was even more democratic than the Amritsar Sabha and accepted members of all castes including untouchables.
• In 1880, a General Sabha was established in Amritsar, which was renamed the Khalsa Diwan, to provide a central organisation for all Singh Sabhas.
Gurudwara Reform Movements
• Before 1920, the Sikh Gurudwaras were governed by the Udasi Sikh mahants.
• Mahants issued a hukamnama (injunction) against the Ghadarites.
• Mahants honoured General Dyer, the butcher of Jallianwalabagh massacre, with a saropa.
• The Gurudwaras came under the control of an elected committee known as the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) in 1920.
• The movement turned into the Akali movement.
Movements for the Emancipation of Women
Individual Activists
• Raja Ram Mohun Roy worked for the abolition of sati.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar championed female education, supporter of widow remarriage, and opponent of polygamy.
o His efforts led to the passing of the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act in 1856.
o He opened a number of schools for girls in Bengal and was closely associated with the Hindu Kanya Vidyalaya founded by J.E.D. Bethune.
• Kandukuri Vereshalingam Panthulu published Viveka Vardhani.
o Opened his first girls’ school in 1874.
o In 1878 lauched an anti-nautch movement (against hiring of dancing girls for celebrations).
• Mahadev Govind Ranade and his wife Ramabai.
o He founded the National Social Conference.
o She founded the Sharda Sadan, a school for widows in Bombay at Mukti, near Pune.
o Her greatest legacy was her effort, the first in India, to educate widows.
• Swami Dayananda Saraswathi encouraged female education and widow remarriage and condemned child marriage, dowry and polygamy.
• Rai Salig Ram (also known as Huzur Maharaj), of the Radhaswami sect, advocated female emancipication in his work, Prem Patra.
• The Parsi social reformer Behramji Malabari, captured the attention of British people with his aricles in The Times (of London) on the evils of child marriage and the tragedy of enforced widowhood for young women.
• Khwaja Altaf Hussain Hali, Shaikh Muhammad Abdullah and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain worked for the education of Muslim girls.
• Dhondo Kesav Karve encouraged widow remarriage and he founded the female school and widow homes in Pune.
o He also founded the first Indian women’s university in 1916.
• Gangabai (popularly known as Mataji Maharani Tapaswini) was a Brahman women of the Deccan, who settled down in Calcutta with a mission to promote female education.
• Gangabai Founded the Mahakali Pathshala in Calcutta in 1893.
• Sister Subbalakshmi was the first Hindu widow in the Madras Presidency to study for her graduation.
o She opened widow homes, female schools and an institution for teacher training.
o She opened ICC House, a school for child widows up to the age of 18 and Sharada Vidyalaya, a high school and boarding school for adult widows.
o She closely associated with the Women’s India Association and the All-India Women’s Conference.
Associations for Women
• The Bharat Mahila Parishad was a part of the National Social Conference to provide a forum for the discussion of social issues.
• The Arya Mahila Samaj founded by Ramabai, wife of M.G. Ranade, to provide a support network for newly educated women.
• The Stri Zarthosti Mandal (Parsis Women’s Circle) served as a training ground for women.
• The Bharat Stree Mahamandal founded by Sarladevi Choudarani at Allahabad in 1910. It was the first permanent association of Indian women.
• The Women’s Indian Association founded by an Irish feminist and theosophist, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, in 1915.
o Annie Besant became its first President.
o This association sent a delegation to the Secretary of State, Montagu, to grant franchise for woman.
o Its journal: Stri Dharma
The National Council of Women for India
• This was an all-India organisation established in 1925, affiliated to the International Council of Women.
• Mehribai Tata (wife of Dorab Tata) played key role in its advancement.
All India Women’s Conference (AIWC)
• The AIWA first met at Pune in Jan 1927, through the efforts of Margaret Cousins.
• In 1941, the AIWC established its quarterly journal Roshni, and in 1946 setup a central office.
• The AIWC created a great deal of public opinion in favour of the Child Marriage Rstraint Act or Sharda Act.
• Muthulakshmi Reddy, the first woman legislator, was appointed to the Madras Legislative Council in 1927.
Islamic Reform Movements
Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam
• Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam founded in Lahore in 1866 by Muhammad Shafi and Shah Din, both followers of Sayyid Ahmad Khan, the founder of the Aligarh movement.
• In 1869, the Anjuman-i-Islamiyah was organisation in Lahore to teach Muslim youths the principles of Islam and elements of Western education.
Ahl-i-Hadith
• The death of Saiyid Ahmed Raebarelwi, the founder of the Wahabi movement in India, divided his followers into two groups.
• Radical group considered Sayid Ahmed Raebarelwi as the imam-i-mahdi.
• Moderate group leader was Saiyid Nazir who didn’t regard Saiyid Ahmed as mahdi and his concept of jihad and founded the Ahl-i-Hadith, a branch of Tariqah-i-Muhammadiyah.
• The leaders of Ahl-i-Hadith rejected Sufism and condemned polytheism.
Titu Mir’s Movement
• Mir Nithar Ali, popularly known as Titu Mir, was an ardent follower of Sayid Ahmed Raebarelwi.
The Fara’idi Movement
• Founded by Haji Shariat Ullah influenced by the teachings of Shah Wali Ullah and the doctrines of al-Wahab of Saudi Arabia.
• Haji Shariat Ullah called for return to fara’id (the obligatory duties of Islam) such as daily prayers (namaz), fasting in Ramzan, paying charities (zakat) and pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj).
• Under Haji’s son Dudu Miyan, from 1840 onwards, this movement became revolutionary.
Ta’aiyuni Movement
• An offshoot of Wahabi movement, founded by Maulana Karamat Ali, who sailed the rivers of Bengal and Assam for nearly 40 years in a flotilla.
• Ta’aiyuni movement didn’t agree with the Fara’idis view that India under the British rule was dar-ul-harb or enemy territory.
• dar-ul-aman means a land of peace.
• dar-ul-islam means a Islamic territory.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and Aligarh Movement
• His articles in Tahzib-al-Akhlaq, which he started in 1870.
• Aligarh was the centre of his activities.
• The range of his activities is known as the Aligarh movement.
• He founded the Aligarh School on May 24, 1875, on the birth anniversary of Queen Victoria. This school was upgraded in 1877 to a college and named Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College, the forerunner of the Aligarh Muslim University.
• In 1887, when Badr-ud-din Tyabji was elected President of the Indian National Congress, Syed Ahmad Khan emerged actively in opposition to it.
Ahmadiya Movement
• Fouded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadiyan in 1889.
• In 1889 he claimed to be masih (messiah) and mahdi, and later also to be an incarnation of the Hindu god Krishna and Jesus returned to earth.
• The Ahmadiyas opposed jihad or sacred war against the non-Muslims.
Deoband Movement
• The Islamic Seminary at Deoband was founded in 1867 by two theologians, Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi.
• Rashid Ahmad Gangohi advised the Muslim community in India to cooperate with the Congress in its activities.
• Supporter of the Deoband school Shibli Numani. He founded the Nadwad-i-Ulama and Dar-ul-Uloom in Lucknow in 1894-96.
Social Reforms in the 19th Century
• One of the earliest social reforms carried out through legislation was the abolition of Sati in 1829.
• The practice of killing infant girls was prohibited in British India by Regulation VI of 1802.
• The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act, 1856.
• A Widow Remarriage Association was started in Bombay in 1866.
• Prof. D.K. Karve founded the Widows’ Home in Poona in 1896.
• Keeping slaves or trafficking in them became an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), enacted in 1860.
• The Brutal custom of “hook-swinging” was suppressed in 1865.
• Another act passed in 1872, abolished polygamy and marriage of minor girls (below 14 years) and sanctioned inter-caste marriages and remarriage of widows.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar opened nearly 35 girls’ schools in 1857-58 in Bengal.
• Prof. Karve founded several educational institutions in Maharashtra, the most notable being India’s first Women’s University in Bombay in the early 20th century.
Lower castes State(s)
Mahar and Matang Maharashtra
Chamar West India and North India
Mala and Madiga Andhra
Holeya Karnataka
Pallar, Shanan and Pariya Tamilnadu
Ezava Kerala
Backward Castes State(s)
Jat, Ahir and Gujjar Western UP, Haryana and Punjab
Maratha Maharashtra
Vellela Madras
Kamma, Kapu and Reddy A.P
Vakkaliga, Lingayath and Bant Karnataka
Upper Castes States
Rajput, Brahmin and Bhumihar North India
Brahmin South India and West India
• Caste Disabilities Removal Act of 1850 and Special Marriage Amendment Act of 1872 helped undermine the edifice of caste.
• As far back as 1897 K. Ranga Rao started schools in Mangalore for the free education of lower castes.
• In 1898, the Prarthana Samaj of Bombay started the Depressed Classes Mission Society of India in Bombay as an independent association to organize educational facilities for lower castes.
• In 1909, the Depressed Classes Mission Society of Madras was launched.
Sankritisation Movements
• The Chamars of Jaunpur embrassed the Siva-Narayana sect and tried to elevate their status by imitating Brahmanical forms.
• The untouchable Pallars of northern Tamilnadu similarly claimed a Kshtriya status from 1871 onwards.
• Ezhavas of Kerala, attacked the Brahmin domination, demanded the entry into temples and tried to ‘sanskritise’ some of their customs.
• In Tamilnadu, the Nadars, who were the untouchable toddy-tappers, developed into a merchantile community and claimed Kshtriya status.
• The Mahars of Maharashtra claimed Kshatriya origin.
Jyotiba Phule’s Movement
• He started this movement in 1870s.
• His books:
1. Gulaamgiri (1872)
2. Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak
• His organization: Satya Shodhak Samaj, proclaimed the need “to save the lower castes from the hypocritical Brahmins and their opportunistic scriptures”
• The Satya Shodak Samaj was founded on Sept 24, 1873.
• Mahars came under the influence of an ex-army man, Gopal Baba Walankar, claimed Kshtriya status.
Shri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Movement Yogam (SNDPY) Movement
• The untouchable Ezhvas or Iravas of Kerala.
• Leader: Shri Narayana Guru.
• He formed the SNDPY in 1902-03.
• This organisation’s objective was to give temple entry right to the untouchables.
• SNDPY was influenced by Gandhian nationalism under their leader T.K.Madhavan.
• The Adi-Andhra Dalits in Kerala were also influenced by SNDPY.
• The untouchable poor peasants of Faridpur, called Namshudras (loyalists to the British government and against the national movement).
Adi Movements
• Adi movements from the 1920s onwards there was a rise of dalit movements.
• Adi-Dravida movement in Tamilnadu
• The Adi-Andhra movement in Andhra and Kerala, which held its first conference in 1917.
• The Adi-Karnataka movement.
• The organisation of Purayas and Cherumans in Kerala.
• The Adi Hindu movement, mainly centred around Kanpur in UP.
Indian National Congress and Harijan Movements
• All-India meetings were held under the auspices of the Bombay Presidency Social Reform Association in 1910, for improvement in the condition of untouchables.
• The Indian National Congress at that time didn’t have social reform in its agenda, but in 1917, after the first Depressed Classes Conference was organized in Bombay, and the dalits and non-Brahmins made proposals for separate electorates, the Congress reversed its policy of excluding social reform from its agenda.
• The first All-India Depressed Classes Conference was held in March 1918, issued an All-India Anti-Untouchability Manifesto.
• In 1922, Indian National Congress appointed a committee “to formulate a scheme embodying practical measures to be adopted for bettering the condition of so-called untouchables”.
• In 1923, Congress again passed a resolution requesting the All-India Hindu Maha Sabha also to take up this matter and make efforts to remove this evil from the Hindu community.
• In 1931, the Karachi Congress Session propounded a program of fundamental rights which called for equal access for all to public employment etc.
• Mahatma Gandhi began a fast unto death on the separate electorate issue on September 20, 1932 and was able to secure an agreement between the caste Hindus and untouchables’ leaders through the Poona Pact signed on September 24, 1932.
• On September 25, 1932 a Conference of the Hindus at Bombay passed a resolution “that henceforth, amongst Hindus, no one shall be regarded as an untouchable by reason of his birth”.
• Ranga Iyer introduced a bill in the Central Legislature on the subject of temple entry.
• Baroda and Travancore States proclaimed temple entry in 1933 and 1936 respectively.
• Mahatma Gandhi started All-India Anti-untouchability League or Harijan Sevak Sangh in September 1932.
• In 1933, Mahatma Gandhi founded the weekly Harijan.
• Mahatma Gandhi went on a 12,500 miles “Harijan Tour” between 1933 and August 1934.
• The Congress governments of Bombay and Madras passed temple entry bills.
• Free education for the Harijans from the primary classes onwards, was introduced by the Central Provinces and Bihar Congress governments.
• Self respect movement in Tamilnadu turned radical.
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkhar and his Depressed Classes Movement
• He belonged to the untouchable Mahar caste.
• In 1924 Ambedkhar founded the Depressed Classes Institute (Bahishkrit Hitkarini Sabha) in Bombay.
• In 1927, he started a Marathi fortnightly, Bahishkrit Bharat.
• He established the Samaj Samta Sangh in 1927.
• In December 1927 he led the Mahad Satyagraha to establish the rights of untouchables to draw water from public wells and tanks.
• He also organized temple entry movements like the Parvati temple Satyagraha of 1928 and the Kalasam temple Satyagraha of 1930-35.
• There were similar Satyagrahas in Kerala, such as the Vaikom temple road Satyagraha of 1924-25 and the Guruvayoor Satyagraha of 1930-32.
• In 1942, Ambedkar formed the Scheduled Caste Federation.
• The Scheduled Caste Federation then launched Satyagrahas in Bombay, Poona, Lucknow, Kanpur and Wardha, demanding that the Congress make known its proposals to dalits.
• In the 1950s, Ambedkhar embraced Buddhism.
Backward Caste Movements
• Strongest in South and West India.
• In North and East India,
The Kurmis and Yadavas of Bihar,
The Kolis of Gujarat,
The Kaibarttas of West Bengal,
The Jats of Rajasthan and Punjab,
The Telis of Orissa,
And even the high-castes Kayasthas of UP and Bihar followed the path of Sanskritisation in the first quarter of the 20th century.
• Kaibarttas of Midnapur began calling themselves Mahishayas and started a Jati Nirdharni Sabha in 1897 and a Central Mahishaya Samiti.
• Brahmins – who accounted for 3.2% of the Madras Presidency’s population, but formed about 70% of Madras University graduates between 1870 and 1918, held about 72.6% of the district Munsifs posts in 1912.
• The Justice Movement launched in 1915-16 by C.N. Mudaliar, Dr. T.M. Nair and P. Thyagaraja Chettiar in Madras Presidency.
• They made non-Brahmin Manifesto in December 20, 1916.
Anti-Brahmin Movements
• Vokkaligas and Lingayats of Mysore state, Nairs of Travencore state with leaders like Ramakrishna Pillai.
Justice Party Movement
• November 20, 1916, Dr. T.M. Nair, Sir Pitti Theagaraja Chettiar and the Raja of Panagal came together to form the South Indian Liberal Federation (SILF).
• SILF soon launched a newspaper called Justice.
Self-Respect Movement
• E.V. Ramaswami Naicker, popularly known as Periyar.
• Periyar lauched the Self-Respect Movement in 1925.
• His journal: Kudi Arasu.
• At the Salem Conference in 1944, the Justice Party was renamed as Dravida Kazhagam.
• Preiyar came up with the concept of Dravidanadu.
• When Periyar’s marriage to Maniammai, a woman much younger to him, sparked a controversy, some leading lights of the Dravida Kazhagam lead by C.N.Annadurai walked out and formed the Dravida Munnetra Khazhagam (DMK) in 1949, and 3 years later DMK decided to enter electoral politics.
• Begar – forced labour.
• The Alurs (Yadav) and Kurmis of Bihar opposed the begar system in the decade 1910-20.
• The Alurs refused to sell cow-dung, cattle, curd and milk to land-owning upper caste at concessional rates.
Reforms by the Maharaja of Kolhapur
• Reforms to uplift the lower caste came from a member of the ruling class – the Maharaja of Kolhapur, in the 1920s.
• He trained non-Brahmins to perform the Vedic ceremonies and rituals.
• He also reserved 50% of the civil service posts in his state for non-Brahmins.
• The Maharaja went along with the British who wanted to put Kolhapur against Tilak – led Chitpavan Brahmin nationalists.
• Bhaskar Rao Jadhav’s non-Brahmin party was bitterly hostiled to the Congress after 1919.
PEASANT MOVEMENTS
• The Champaran and Kaira Satyagrahas under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1918.
• Under colonial India, essentially 3 types of agrarian zones were created. These were:
1. Zamindari areas of Bengal and Taluqdari areas of UP.
nazarana - illegal dues
begar - forced labour
2. Ryotwari areas in madras presidency, where the government itself acted as the landlord.
3. Tribal zones
Some Important Peasant Uprising and Movements
Faqir and Sanyasi Rebellion
• In Bengal, a large number of uprooted and homeless people joined Hindu or Muslim groups of religious medicants, known as Sanyasis or Faqirs who formed large communities and earned their livelihood from beggary.
• By 1772, there was a great Sanyasi rebellion and encompassing a wide belt from Rangpur to Dakha.
• Leader: Manju Shah Fakir.
Indigo Riots (1859–60)
• In eastern India, in 1860, the terribly oppressed indigo peasants launched “non-cultivation of indigo” movements.
• Began with the ryots of Govindpur village in Nadia district.
• Support by the intelligentsia like Harish Chandra Mukherji, editor of Hindoo Patriot.
• Complete Hindu-Muslim unity existed.
• The same story was repeated in 1867-68 in Champaran (Bihar).
Deccan Riots (1874-75)
• The cotton boom provided some prosperity to the peasants in the early 1860s disappeared overnight with the ending of the American civil war in 1864.
• Beginning with Sirur taluk in December 1874, by May-Sept 1875, the anti-Sahukar (money-lender) Deccan riots affected 33 places in 6 taluks.
• The Government passed the Agriculturists’ Relief Act, 1879 which imposed restrictions on alienation of peasants’ land and on the operations of the Civil Procedure Code.
• Consequently, the peasant could not be arrested and sent to civil jail for failure to pay debts.
Revolt of the Ramosis
• The Ramosis of Maharashtra once served in the inferior ranks of police in the Maratha administration.
• Chittur Singh, who revolted in Satara in 1822 as a protest against heavy assessment, gathered these Ramosis under his banner.
• In 1825, chronic scarcity in the Deccan further distressed them and they broke into revolt in 1826 under the leadership of Umaji.
• British government recruited them as hill police.
Wasudeo Balwant Phadke’s Uprising
• Wasuadeo Balwant Phadke raised a force of Ramosi peasants.
Pabna Agrarian Unrest
• In the Permanent Settlement Areas of East Bengal (now in Bangladesh).
• In reaction to this high-handedness of the zamindars the peasants of a number of districts of East Bengal launched a movement between 1870 and 1885.
• The main form of resistance was legal and was generally peaceful.
• The 3 principal leaders of the League were Shah Chandra Roy, Shambhu Pal and Khoodi Mollah.
• The peasant discontent smouldered till the Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885.
Pagal Panthis Uprising
• Its members came mostly from the primitive tribes, Hajong and Garo, living in the Mymensingh district of Bengal (now in Bangladesh).
• Founder: a darvesh or a mendicant called Karam Shah, son and successor of Tipu.
No-revenue Movements
• In Kamrup and Darrang districts of Assam.
• Similarly in Maharashtra, after the famines of 1896-97 and 1899-1900, a number of non-payments of revenue campaigns were launched under the auspices of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, which had recently been captured by Tilak.
• Punjab Alienation Act in 1902-03.
Moplah Uprisings
• In the Malabar region, by Moplah Muslim peasants.
• 22 revolts were recorded during 1836-1854.
Peasant Movements in the First Half of the 20th Century
Champaran Indigo Satyagraha (Bihar)
• Forced by European planters to cultivate indigo on 3/20th of their holding - known as tinkathia system.
• Persuaded by a local man, Raj Kumar Shukla, in 1917, Mahatma Gandhi offered Civil Disobedience and refused to leave when ordered.
• Mahatma Gandhi ordered an inquiry, which involved touring with men like Rajendra Prasad and J.B. Kripalani.
Kheda Satyagraha
• In Kheda district of Gujarat, Mahatma Gandhi went to alleviate the Kunbi-Patidar peasants’ distress due to failure of crops.
• With the help of leaders like Indulal Yajnik and Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi toured the district.
Kisan and Eka Movements
• Some active member’s of Home Rule League (like Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan Dwivedi, with the support of Madan Mohan Malaviya) began organizing the peasants of UP on modern lines into Kisan Sabhas in 1918.
• It was Baba Ramchandra, a Maharashtra Brahmin, who took the initiative to organize the peasants of Awadh against the landlords.
• He had been wandering among the peasants since 1909, dressed like a Sanyasi quoting from the Ramacharitmanas to awaken them.
• In June 1920, Baba Ramchandra and other tenants, from Pratapgarh and Jaunpur districts went to Allahabad and persuaded Gauri Shankar Mishra and Jawaharlal Nehru to visit the villages.
• Awadh Kisan Sabha set up at Pratapgarh in Oct 1920.
Second Moplah Uprisings
• Moplah were organized by the Congress and Khilafatists during the Non-Cooperation days.
• The arrest of established Congress and Khilafat leaders like K. Mahadevan Nair, Gopala Menon, Yakub Hasan and P.Moideen Koya in Feb 1921 left the field clear for radical preachers.
Bardoli Satyagraha (Gujarat) in 1928
• Followers of Mahatma Gandhi like the Mehta brothers, had carried out a sustained campaign since 1922.
• Not only the landowning peasants of Kunbi-Patidar castes but also the low caste untouchables and tribes like Kali-paraj (‘dark people’) participated in the movement.
• They gave the tribals a less derogatory name of Raniparaj (‘inhabitants of the forest’).
• Bombay government announced an enhanced revenue by 22%.
• A result of the Maxwell-Broomfield inquiry was that enhancement of land revenue in
Bardoli was reduced from 22% to 6.03%.
All-Indian Kisan Sabha
• United Provinces of Kisan Sabha, founded in 1918.
• The Andhra Provincial Ryots Association was started in 1928.
• Bihar Kisan Sabha in 1929 by Swami Sahajanand Saraswathi.
• The formation of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934.
• The All-India Kisan Sabha was formed in April 1936 at Lucknow with Swami Shajanand as President and N.G. Ranga as General-Secretary.
• The first session of the All-India Kisan Sabha was addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru. Others participants included Ram Manohar Lohia, Sohan Singh Josh, Indulal Yagnik, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Deva, Kamal Sarkar.
• A Kisan Sabha manifesto was finalized and this was adopted by the Congress at Faizabad session.
• The Kisan Sabha held its 2nd session along with the Faizpur Congress Session in 1932.
Peasant Movements during Indian National Congress Ministries (1937-39)
• In Bengal, Kisan Sabha activities included a successful agitation against Canal Tax in Burdwan, and the Hat Tola movement in North Bengal.
• This was against a levy collected by the landlords from peasants at hat (weekly market).
• In Punjab, Kisan Sabhas emerged in the early 1930s through the efforts of Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Kirti Kisan, the Congress and Akali acitivists.
• 2 Major issues were resettlement of land revenue and increase in canal tax or water rate.
• Major struggles broke out, especially after the Haripur session of the Congress in 1938, in Jaipur, Kashmir, Rajkot, Patiala, Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore etc.
TRADE UNION MOVEMENTS
• In 1877, the workers of the Empress Mills in Nagpur made a protest strike on the issue of their wage rates.
• In 1875, first committee to inquire into the conditions of factory labour was appointed.
• In 1890, the Indian Factory Labour Commission was appointed.
• In 1890, N.M. Lokhandy established the Bombay Millhands Association.
• Lokhandy’s was the first labour organisation to be formed in the country but it was not a trade union in the strict sense.
o Kamgar Hitvardhak Sabha (1909),
o Social Service League (1911),
o Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of India (1897),
o Printers, Union of Calcutta (1905),
o The Postal Union in Bombay
• Mahatma Gandhi established and developed the Textile Labour Association of Ahmedabad.
Early Trade Union Movement
• The Madras Labour Union, formed in 1918 by B.P. Wadia, was the first modern trade organisation of India. It principally comprised textile workers of the Buchingham and Carnatic Mills. Soon thereafter, two unions were formed in Bombay, one in Calcutta (the Indian Seamen’s Union) and four in Madras.
• Majur Mahajan, the Textile Labour Association of Ahmedabad and the B.B & C.I. Railway Employees Union.
• In 1920, establishment of All-India Trade Union Congress. The first session of the Congress was held at Bombay in Oct 1920, presided over by Lala Lajapat Rai, President of the Indian National Congress.
• According to the Directory of Trade Unions, 1925 the number of trade unions in 1924-25 was 167.
• The Gaya session of the Congress (1922) went a step further and decided to assist the AITUC in organizing workers.
• In 1926, the Indian Trade Union Act was enacted, which gave legal status to trade unions and was modelled on the British Trade Unions Act of 1906.
Left Trade Unions
• Communist-dominated trade unions were founded after 1923.
• As a result of the Communist influence on trade unions, “1928 was a year of intense industrial unrest”.
All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)
• The early leaders of the AITUC included Lala Lajpat Rai, N.M. Johsi and V.V.Giri.
• In 1929, Communists succeeded in securing the approval of the AITUC to its affiliation to the Third International in Moscow. This lead to a split; the moderates, led by N.M. Joshi, left the AITUC and formed the All-India Trade Union Federation (AITUF).
• Another split in the AITUC in 1931, when communists formed the Red Trade Union Congress (RTUC).
• National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) was formed in 1933.
• In 1936, the AITUC and NTUF came closer together. In 1938, both held a commission session at Nagpur. Unity was finally achieved in 1940 – 11 years after the first split – when NTUF was dissolved and its trade unions affiliated themselves to the AITUC.
• The Bombay Industrial Disputes Act of 1938 and the Shops and Establishments Act of 1939, were passed by the Congress ministries.
• A conference of a large number of trade unions was held in Lahore in Nov 1941, which decided to set up a new central trade union organisation called the Indian Federation of Labour.
• Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) established in May 1944.
• One reason for establishing a new central trade union organisation i.e., INTUC was that the AITUC, after the Nagpur unity in 1938, had been dominated by the Communists.
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