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IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India - THE NON-BRAHMIN MOVEMENT IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN INDIA

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

Modern India 1857-1964

THE NON-BRAHMIN MOVEMENT IN WESTERN AND SOUTHERN INDIA

Structure
20.0 Objectives
20.1 Social and Cultural Background
20.2 Cultural Struggle in Maharashtra
20.2.1 Jotirao Govindrao Phule (1 827- 1890)
20.2.2 Non-Brahmin Movement in early Twentieth Century
20.2.3 Character of the Movement
20.3 Non-Brahmin Movements in South India
20.3.1 Self-Respect Movement in Tamil Nadu
20.3.2 Justice Party and Non-Brahmin Politics
20.3.3 E.V. Ramasami Naicker (1879-1973) and Self-Respect Movement
20.3.4 Self-Respect Movement in Andhra
20.3.5 Non-Brahmin Movement in Karnataka
20.4 Comparative Analysis of the Movements
20.5 Let Us Sum up
20.6 Key Words
20.7 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

20.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this unit you will learn about:

the social and cultural struggle against the British ideas as well as the traditional social order, in the west and south of India.
the nature of the challenge these posed for both the British rule and traditional social order.
the variations of the character and nature in these movements from region to region.
the basic limits of these movements.

20.1 SOCIAL AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND

The social and cultural struggle in the nineteenth century was a resistance offered simultaneously against the ideological hegemony of the British colonial rule and the traditional- social and cultural order. With the formation of a "community of intellectuals", at regional level and on the national place, there developed an awareness of the weaknesses of the traditional order, which could be combated with modem western ideas. The birth of.modem ideas was however, influenced by the specific material, social and political conditions under colonialivn and in different parts of the country these ideas came up through different movenx: nts. The nineteenth century,saw the emergence of a number of socio-cultural movements which bought to reform and regenerate Indian culture and traditional institutions.

Casteism which=produces inequality and social division, inhuman practices like Sati, infanticide and polytheism etc., were criticised with the help of new ideals of freedom, reason, toleration and human dignity. The English educated middle class were united in waging a series of social and cultural battles, against caste inequality and its hierarchy that went with it. They also worked for the general emancipation of women by taking up issues like widow marriage, female education and equal property rights. Ratipnali~m~and religious universalism were no doubt two important ideas used by the nineteenth century intellectuals which gave birth to radical social critiques like that of Jotibao Phule in Maharashtra. These intellectual struggles were informed by an ideology or a world view which was broadly the same: "while opposing the hegemonic values of a feudal society they in Western and Southern were adv~uating the introduction and acceptance of values characteristic of a bourgeois order". Influenced as it was oy western liberalism, this world view resulted in the retreat of several ideas as is evident from the character of some recent radical social and cultural movements. This we shall see in the following sections.

20.2 CULTURAL STRUGGLE IN MAHARASHTRA

The traditional social stratification in Maharashtra was governed by Varnashrama dharma, t that is the division of society into an unequal hierarchical order comprising Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. The social interaction between different castes governed by this stratification was maintained by strict rules of pollution and purity. At the top, was I the Brahmin caste with many rights and privileges which maintained their social control over society by developing a religious ideology which gave legitimacy to many superstitions and inhuman practices. At the lowest end were the Ati-Sudras or untouchable outcastes deprived ofeducation and all other rights.

In Maharashtra the Hindus were 74.8 per cent of he total population. According to the Census of 1881, the Kunbis or Marathas were the main community about 55.25 per cent of the total population. Kunbis were also economically powerful in rural society. Being a rich peasant class they controlled agricultural production. However, the influence of the traditional ideology and the institution of caste made them subservient to the Brahmins. The Brahmins, on the other hand, exercised considerable influence over other castes due to their ritualistic power and monopoly over learning and knowledge. During the British period the Brahmins successfully adopted the new English education and dominated the colonial administration. The new intelligentsia therefore, came mostly from the already advanced Brahmin caste, occupying strategic positions as officials, professors, lower bureaucrats, writers, editors or lawyers. This created fear among the non-Brahmin castes. It was this traditional social order which came under heavy fire both from The Christian missionaries and the nationalist intelligentsia that had imbibed western liberal ideas. We can divide the reform movements into two distinct strands. The early radical reforms like Jotirao Govindrao Phule tried for a revolutionary reorganisation of the traditional culture and society on the basis of the principles of equality and rationality. The later moderate reformers like Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901), however, gave the argument of a return to the Dast traditions and culture with some modifications. It was the earlv radical tradition of Phule which gave birth to the non-Brahmin movement in Maharashtra.