History
Socio-Religious Reform Movements
Reform among Muslims, Parsis and Sikhs
Wahabi and Faraizi movements, Deoband (1866), Sir Syed and Aligarh, Ahmadiyya, the Parsi Rahnumai Sabha (1851), Singh Sabha (1873) and Akali reform for CGPSC.
Prerequisites
- Rammohan Roy, the Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj: the pattern of reform (societies, journals, schools) that other communities also used.
- Revolt of 1857: Muslim reform after 1857 was shaped by the revolt and by British suspicion of Muslims after it.
- Bhakti and Sufi Movements: the older roots of Sikhism and of Indian Islam.
The Hook: Two Colleges, Two Answers
Connect
In 1866, a group of ulema opened a madrasa in the small town of Deoband, near Saharanpur. Less than ten years later, in 1875, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan opened a school at Aligarh that would become the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College.
Both were Muslim responses to the defeat of 1857, and both were about education. Yet one taught traditional Islamic learning and later backed the Congress, while the other taught English and science and urged Muslims to stay away from the Congress. Why did the same crisis produce such different answers? And what were the Parsis and Sikhs doing at the same time?
Why it matters: Prelims asks matching questions (founder–organisation–place–year) on exactly these bodies. Mains asks you to compare the Aligarh and Deoband movements, or to assess how reform among different communities affected national unity.
Reform among Muslims
The background
- After 1857, the British blamed Muslims more than others for the revolt. Muslims lost ground in government jobs and the professions.
- Many in the community distrusted English education. They fell behind Hindus in it.
- Muslim reform had two directions: purify the faith and resist Western influence (Wahabi, Faraizi, Deoband), or adopt Western education while keeping the faith (Aligarh).
Early purifying movements
| Movement | Leader and region | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Waliullahi / Wahabi (वहाबी) movement | Inspired by Shah Waliullah (1703–1762) of Delhi; led by Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli (1786–1831), who died at Balakot (1831). Patna became a major centre | Return to pure Islam; later turned into armed resistance. The British crushed it in a series of trials in the 1860s |
| Faraizi (फ़राइज़ी) movement | Haji Shariatullah, then his son Dudu Mian, eastern Bengal | Insisted on the faraiz (obligatory duties) of Islam; also took up the cause of peasants against zamindars and indigo planters |
Deoband Movement (देवबंद आंदोलन)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | Darul Uloom, Deoband (Saharanpur, UP), 30 May 1866 |
| Founders | Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi |
| Aim | Spread the pure teachings of the Quran and Hadith; train ulema; keep the spirit of resistance to foreign rule alive |
| Education | Traditional Islamic learning; no English education |
| Politics | Opposed the British; welcomed the Indian National Congress (1885) and issued a fatwa against Sir Syed’s anti-Congress bodies |
Aligarh Movement (अलीगढ़ आंदोलन)
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (सर सैयद अहमद खान), 1817–1898, a judicial officer in Company service who stayed loyal in 1857.
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 1859 | Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (“The Causes of the Indian Revolt”): argued that the revolt came from British policy errors and the lack of Indians in the legislature |
| 1860s | Scientific Society (started at Ghazipur, moved to Aligarh in 1864) to translate Western books on science into Urdu |
| 1870 | Journal Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq (social reform) |
| 1875 | A school (madrasa) at Aligarh |
| 1877 | It became the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College; Lord Lytton laid the foundation stone |
| 1886 | Muhammadan Educational Conference |
| 1920 | MAO College became Aligarh Muslim University |
Ideas:
- Western, scientific education for Muslims, taught in a Muslim setting.
- Interpreted the Quran in the light of reason and science.
- Against purdah, polygamy and easy divorce; for women’s education (in a limited form).
- Loyalty to the British so that Muslims could regain jobs and trust.
- Opposed the Congress in the 1880s, arguing that Muslims would lose out in a representative system.
Mains analysis: Aligarh vs Deoband
| Point | Aligarh | Deoband |
|---|---|---|
| Education | English, science, modern subjects | Traditional Islamic learning |
| Attitude to the British | Loyal | Hostile |
| Attitude to the Congress | Opposed | Welcomed |
| Social base | Muslim landed and service elite | Ulema and religious students |
Both strengthened Muslim identity. Aligarh produced a modern Muslim middle class, part of which later shaped Muslim separatist politics. Deoband’s anti-colonial stance kept a section of the ulema with the national movement. A balanced answer avoids treating either as the whole of Muslim opinion.
Other Muslim reform bodies
| Body | Founder | Year and place | Key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mohammedan Literary Society | Nawab Abdul Latif | 1863, Calcutta | Modern education and Hindu–Muslim understanding |
| Ahmadiyya (अहमदिया) movement | Mirza Ghulam Ahmad | 1889, Qadian (Gurdaspur, Punjab) | Liberal, Western education; universal religion. His claim to be a prophet (of a kind) made orthodox Muslims reject the movement as heretical |
| Nadwat-ul-Ulama | Ulema including Shibli Nomani | 1890s; Darul Uloom at Lucknow | A middle path between Deoband’s tradition and Aligarh’s modernity |
Reform among Parsis
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha (रहनुमाई मज़्दयासनान सभा, “Religious Reform Association”) |
| Founded | 1851, Bombay |
| Founders | Naoroji Furdonji (its president), Dadabhai Naoroji, K.R. Cama, S.S. Bengalee and others |
| Journal | Rast Goftar (“Truth-Teller”), linked with Dadabhai Naoroji |
| Aims | Restore the Zoroastrian religion to its original purity; modernise Parsi social life |
| Social programme | Women’s education; ending purdah; raising the age of marriage; changes in marriage and inheritance customs |
The Parsis became one of the most Westernised and educated communities of Bombay. They gave the national movement leaders such as Dadabhai Naoroji and Pherozeshah Mehta.
Reform among Sikhs
Early movements
| Movement | Founder | Key point |
|---|---|---|
| Nirankari (निरंकारी) | Baba Dayal Das (died 1855), Rawalpindi | Worship of the formless God (Nirankar); against idol worship and Brahmanical rituals that had crept into Sikh practice |
| Namdhari / Kuka (नामधारी / कूका) | Baba Ram Singh, Bhaini Sahib (Ludhiana); dated to 1857 | Simple living, white dress; against caste and dowry; boycott of British goods, courts and schools. After the Kuka attack on Malerkotla (1872), the British executed many Kukas and deported Baba Ram Singh to Rangoon |
Singh Sabha Movement (सिंह सभा आंदोलन)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| First Singh Sabha | Amritsar, 1873 |
| Lahore Singh Sabha | 1879; the more radical “Tat Khalsa” wing, which insisted that Sikhism was a distinct religion |
| Aims | Purify Sikhism of non-Sikh practices; spread Gurmukhi and Punjabi; modern education |
| Education | Khalsa College, Amritsar (1892) |
| Law | Anand Marriage Act, 1909: legal recognition of the Sikh marriage ceremony (Anand Karaj) |
Akali Movement (Gurdwara Reform Movement)
- Aim: free the gurdwaras from hereditary mahants who were corrupt and backed by the British.
- SGPC (Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee) and the Shiromani Akali Dal were formed in 1920.
- Nankana Sahib massacre (February 1921): a mahant’s men killed many Akali reformers.
- The non-violent Akali agitations (such as Guru ka Bagh, 1922) won wide support, including from the Congress.
- Result: the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 put the main gurdwaras under the elected SGPC.
The Akali movement is a rare case where a religious reform movement became a mass, non-violent, anti-colonial struggle.
Chhattisgarh Angle
Reform in Chhattisgarh came less from new urban societies and more from its own sant traditions and from social reformers in the freedom movement:
- Kabirpanth (कबीरपंथ): the Dharamdasi branch of the Kabirpanth, with its seat at Kawardha (1806–1903) and then Damakheda (since 1903), spread Kabir’s message against idol worship and caste among peasant communities. See Impact of Bhakti and Sufi Movements.
- Satnam Panth of Guru Ghasidas and the Ramnami Samaj used devotion to claim dignity for lower castes. See Women’s Emancipation and Caste Reform.
How to use this in Mains
When asked about reform “among different communities”, add one line that Chhattisgarh’s reform tradition was sant-based and rural (Kabirpanth, Satnam Panth, Ramnami Samaj), unlike the urban, English-educated societies of Calcutta, Bombay and Lahore.
Memory Tricks
Muslim reform timeline: '66 Deoband, 75 Aligarh, 89 Ahmadiyya'
1866 Deoband (30 May) → 1875 Aligarh school → 1877 MAO College → 1886 Educational Conference → 1889 Ahmadiyya (Qadian) → 1920 AMU.
Sikh ladder: N–N–S–A
Nirankari (Baba Dayal) → Namdhari/Kuka (Ram Singh) → Singh Sabha (1873, Amritsar) → Akali (1920; Gurdwaras Act 1925).
Parsis: '51 and Rast Goftar'
Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha, 1851, Bombay. Paper: Rast Goftar (“truth-teller”). Founders include Naoroji Furdonji and Dadabhai Naoroji.
Don’t Confuse
| This | vs | That |
|---|---|---|
| Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli (Wahabi, died 1831 at Balakot) | vs | Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (Aligarh, 1817–1898) |
| Deoband: traditional, anti-British, pro-Congress | vs | Aligarh: modern, loyalist, anti-Congress |
| Ahmadiyya: Qadian, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, 1889 | vs | Aligarh: Sir Syed, 1875–77 |
| Naoroji Furdonji (president of the Rahnumai Sabha) | vs | Dadabhai Naoroji (co-founder; “Grand Old Man” of Indian nationalism) |
| Singh Sabha (1873, education and purification) | vs | Akali movement (1920, control of gurdwaras) |
| Namdhari/Kuka (Baba Ram Singh) | vs | Nirankari (Baba Dayal Das) |
Common Mistakes
MCQ traps
- “Sir Syed Ahmad Khan led the Wahabi movement.” Wrong. The Wahabi leader was Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli (Barelvi). The names look alike.
- “Deoband supported Sir Syed’s opposition to the Congress.” Wrong. Deoband welcomed the Congress.
- “MAO College was founded in 1920.” Wrong. The college came in 1877; it became Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.
- “The Ahmadiyya movement began at Aligarh.” Wrong. It began at Qadian, Punjab.
- “The Sikh Gurdwaras Act was passed in 1920.” Wrong. The SGPC and Akali Dal were formed in 1920; the Act came in 1925.
Practice
All questions below are original practice questions written in CGPSC style. They are not previous-year questions.
Level 1: Foundation
- The Darul Uloom at Deoband was founded in the year ______.
- Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s book on the causes of the revolt of 1857 is titled ______.
- The first Singh Sabha was set up at ______ in 1873.
Answers
- 1866 (30 May).
- Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (1859).
- Amritsar.
Level 2: Prelims MCQs
Q1. Consider the following statements about the Deoband movement:
- It was founded by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi.
- It promoted English education among Muslims.
- It welcomed the formation of the Indian National Congress.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 and 3 only
- (c) 1 and 3 only
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
(c) 1 and 3 only. Deoband (1866) taught traditional Islamic learning and did not promote English education; that was Aligarh’s programme. Deoband was anti-British and welcomed the Congress, unlike Sir Syed.
Q2. Match List I (Movement) with List II (Founder):
| List I | List II |
|---|---|
| A. Ahmadiyya | 1. Haji Shariatullah |
| B. Faraizi | 2. Baba Ram Singh |
| C. Namdhari (Kuka) | 3. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad |
| D. Mohammedan Literary Society | 4. Nawab Abdul Latif |
- (a) A-3, B-2, C-1, D-4
- (b) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4
- (c) A-4, B-1, C-2, D-3
- (d) A-1, B-3, C-4, D-2
Answer and explanation
(b) A-3, B-1, C-2, D-4. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadiyya movement at Qadian (1889). Haji Shariatullah began the Faraizi movement in eastern Bengal. Baba Ram Singh led the Namdharis. Nawab Abdul Latif founded the Mohammedan Literary Society in Calcutta (1863).
Q3. The Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha, founded in 1851, was a reform association of which community?
- (a) Sikhs
- (b) Parsis
- (c) Bohra Muslims
- (d) Jains
Answer and explanation
(b) Parsis. Founded in Bombay by Naoroji Furdonji, Dadabhai Naoroji, K.R. Cama, S.S. Bengalee and others, it aimed to restore Zoroastrianism to its original purity and to modernise Parsi social life. Its paper was Rast Goftar.
Q4. Which of the following led directly to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925?
- (a) The Singh Sabha movement
- (b) The Namdhari (Kuka) movement
- (c) The Akali movement
- (d) The Nirankari movement
Answer and explanation
(c) The Akali movement. The Akalis’ non-violent campaign (from 1920) to free gurdwaras from hereditary mahants led to the 1925 Act, which placed the main gurdwaras under the elected SGPC.
Level 3: Mains Answer Writing
Q1. (150–200 words) Compare the Aligarh and Deoband movements in their aims, methods and political attitudes.
Model answer outline
- Intro: Both were responses to the decline of the Muslim community after 1857, centred on education.
- Aligarh (Sir Syed Ahmad Khan): Scientific Society (1860s); MAO College (1877; AMU 1920); English and science; rational reading of the Quran; against purdah and polygamy; loyal to the British; opposed the Congress.
- Deoband (Nanautavi and Gangohi, 1866): traditional Islamic learning; training of ulema; hostile to British rule; welcomed the Congress.
- Common ground: both strengthened Muslim identity and education.
- Impact: Aligarh created a modern Muslim middle class, part of which turned towards separate politics. Deoband kept many ulema with the national movement.
- Conclusion: They show that Muslim reform was not one stream: modernist-loyalist and traditionalist-nationalist currents ran side by side.
Q2. (60 words) Why is the Akali movement called both a religious reform and a political movement?
Model answer outline
- Religious: it sought to free gurdwaras from corrupt hereditary mahants and put them under community control (SGPC, 1920).
- Political: the mahants were backed by the British, so the struggle became anti-colonial. Its non-violent mass protests (Nankana Sahib 1921, Guru ka Bagh 1922) drew Congress support.
- Result: Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.
Quick Revision Table
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Wahabi | Shah Waliullah (inspiration); Syed Ahmad of Rae Bareli (d. 1831, Balakot); Patna centre |
| Faraizi | Haji Shariatullah, Dudu Mian; eastern Bengal |
| Deoband | 30 May 1866; Nanautavi and Gangohi; pro-Congress |
| Sir Syed | Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind 1859; Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq 1870 |
| MAO College | School 1875; college 1877 (Lytton); AMU 1920 |
| Muhammadan Educational Conference | 1886 |
| Mohammedan Literary Society | 1863, Calcutta, Abdul Latif |
| Ahmadiyya | 1889, Qadian, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad |
| Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha | 1851, Bombay; Naoroji Furdonji, Dadabhai Naoroji; Rast Goftar |
| Nirankari | Baba Dayal Das |
| Namdhari/Kuka | Baba Ram Singh; Malerkotla 1872; deported to Rangoon |
| Singh Sabha | Amritsar 1873; Lahore 1879; Khalsa College 1892 |
| Anand Marriage Act | 1909 |
| Akali movement | SGPC 1920; Nankana Sahib 1921; Gurdwaras Act 1925 |
Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Muslim reform split into a purifying, anti-colonial stream (Wahabi, Faraizi, Deoband 1866) and a modernising, loyalist stream (Aligarh, MAO College 1877).
- Sir Syed pushed science and English education but opposed the Congress. Deoband welcomed the Congress.
- The Parsis organised early (Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha, 1851) and became a highly educated community that gave leaders to the nation.
- Sikh reform ran from the Nirankaris and Namdharis to the Singh Sabha (1873) and the Akali movement, which won the Gurdwaras Act (1925) through non-violent struggle.
- Chhattisgarh’s reform tradition was sant-based and rural: Kabirpanth, Satnam Panth and the Ramnami Samaj.
What’s Next
- Women’s Emancipation and Caste Reform: the laws and leaders that changed the position of women and lower castes
- Socio-Religious Reform Movements — Quick Revision
- National Movement (1885–1919): Muslim politics, the Muslim League and the early Congress
- Social Aspects of Chhattisgarh: communities and social change in the state
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