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GPSC (Gujarat)Stage 2: Main Examination
Gujarat: 19th-century Social Reform
What the official syllabus says
GPSC Main Examination, Paper IV: General Studies-I, (A) History.
- Social reform movement in India and Gujarat in the 19th century.
This page covers the Gujarat part of the line.
Topics in detail
Gujarat's reform movement grew in Surat, Ahmedabad and among Gujaratis in Bombay. It was carried by writers, journalists and teachers as much as by organisations, so learn the people with their journals and causes.
Reformers and their causes
- Durgaram Mehta: the Manav Dharma Sabha at Surat (1844); against superstition, for widow remarriage
- Narmad (Narmadashankar Dave) of Surat: the journal Dandiyo, widow remarriage, the Gujarati dictionary Narmakosh, 'Jay Jay Garavi Gujarat'
- Karsandas Mulji: the journal Satyaprakash and the Maharaj Libel Case (1862)
- Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth: sea voyage to England (1860) and excommunication by his caste; teacher training
- Dalpatram: poet of reform and of local industry; associated with the Gujarat Vernacular Society
- Bholanath Sarabhai and the Prarthana Samaj at Ahmedabad (1871)
- Swami Dayanand Saraswati, born at Tankara in Saurashtra, founder of the Arya Samaj
- Swaminarayan Sampradaya's earlier campaign against sati, female infanticide and addiction
Institutions, press and education
- Gujarat Vernacular Society, Ahmedabad (1848), founded with Alexander Kinloch Forbes; the journal Buddhiprakash
- Forbes's Ras Mala, an early history of Gujarat
- Mumbai Samachar (1822) and the growth of the Gujarati press
- Early schools for girls in Ahmedabad and Surat; the role of Parsi reformers
Princely Baroda
- Sayajirao Gaekwad III: compulsory primary education (from Amreli, 1893), laws against child marriage and for widow remarriage, the library movement, the Bank of Baroda (1908)
- Baroda as a model of reforming princely rule
Economic change and society
- Ranchhodlal Chhotalal and the first textile mill of Ahmedabad (1861); the rise of a mill-owning class
- Caste councils (mahajans and panchs) and their changing authority
Issues to analyse
- Why Surat and Ahmedabad led the movement
- The role of literature and journalism in reform
- Resistance from orthodoxy and caste councils
- Links with reform in Bombay and with the later Gandhian programme
Reformers at a glance
| Reformer | Base | Remembered for |
|---|---|---|
| Durgaram Mehta | Surat | Manav Dharma Sabha (1844) |
| Narmad | Surat | Dandiyo; widow remarriage; Narmakosh |
| Karsandas Mulji | Bombay | Satyaprakash; Maharaj Libel Case (1862) |
| Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth | Ahmedabad | Sea voyage (1860); teacher training |
| Dalpatram | Ahmedabad | Poetry of reform; Gujarat Vernacular Society |
| Bholanath Sarabhai | Ahmedabad | Prarthana Samaj (1871) |
| Sayajirao Gaekwad III | Baroda | Compulsory education; social legislation |
Women, Parsis and the new literature
- Vidyagauri Nilkanth and Sharda Mehta, the first women graduates of Gujarat (1901), and their work for women's education
- Parsi reformers: Dadabhai Naoroji and the Rast Goftar (1851)
- Nandshankar Mehta's Karan Ghelo (1866), the first Gujarati novel, and the use of literature for public education
Overlaps
- Prelims General Studies lists religious and social reform in Gujarat in the 19th century and Gujarati literature.