In the 18th century, the Indian society suffered from various evil practices such as sati system, purdah system, child marriage and female infanticide. People in the society believed in superstitions and religious dogmatism.
How was the society during 18th century in India?
Social life and culture in the 18th century were marked by stagnation and dependence on the past. There was, of course, no uniformity of culture and social patterns all over the country. Nor did all Hindus and all Muslims form two distinct societies. People were divided by religion, region, tribe, language, and caste.
The Indian society during the 19th century suffered from a number of social evils including the caste system, untouchability, illiteracy, Sati, child marriage, polygamy, superstitions, infanticides (human sacrifice) etc.
Two great social evils of eighteenth-century India, apart from the caste system, were the custom of sati and the condition of the widows. … Even in Rajputana and Bengal it was practiced only by the families of rajas, chiefs, big zamindars and upper castes.
What was life in the 18th century like?
The population was growing wildly. Cities were dirty, noisy, and overcrowded. … The rich, only a tiny minority of the population, lived luxuriously in lavish, elegant mansions and country houses, which they furnished with comfortable, upholstered furniture. Their calendars included dinner parties, opera, and the theater.
Was 18th century a dark age for India?
Historians have traditionally viewed India’s eighteenth century as a dark era of warfare, political chaos, and economic decline sandwiched between stable and prosperous Mughal and British hegemonies.
THE decline of community; the rise of individualism; consumerism; falling values; family breakdown; youth crime; drugs and alcohol abuse; poverty; immigration and racism; and crime. These, according to an influential think tank, are the 10 modern social evils facing British society today.
Sati is one of the social evils of Indian society present in olden days. It is a Hindu funeral custom where a widow immolates herself on her husband’s pyre or commits suicide. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the founder of Brahmo Samaj, worked for abolishing Sati.
The social evils prevalent in India in the 18th and 19th century are as under :
- Child marriage.
- Sati ( immolation of the wife after the death of her husband in the same pyre with the husband)
- Caste system and untouchibilty.
- 4. Female infanticide.
- Ban on widow re-marriage.
- Dowry.
Social reformers of India
- Vitthal Ramji Shinde.
- Ramalinga Swamigal.
- Mother Teresa.
- Kandukuri Veeresalingam.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
- Swami Vivekananda.
- Prabodhankar Thackeray.
- Shadananan Nair.
What was the most successful reform movement in India?
These movements started reviving ancient Indian traditions and thoughts and believed that the western thinking ruined Indian culture and ethos.
- BRAHMO SAMAJ (Reformist) …
- ARYA SAMAJ (Revivalist) …
- THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. …
- RAMAKRISHNA MISSION. …
- SATYASHODHAK SAMAJ. …
- ALIGARH MOVEMENT (Reformist)