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SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS MCQs

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From the 100 in PrepShark’s SOCIO-RELIGIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS set (Indian History). Pick an answer, then open the explanation.

Question 01
A reformer argues that the shastras themselves permit widows to remarry, citing a verse of the Parashara Samhita that allows a woman to take another husband in specified circumstances. This line of argument most closely matches the method of
1. Option A: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
2. Option B: Keshab Chandra Sen
3. Option C: Jyotiba Phule
4. Option D: Henry Vivian Derozio
Answer and explanation
Answer: A. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
**Why A is correct.** **Vidyasagar** built his case for widow remarriage on the **Parashara Samhita**, arguing that it was the smriti meant for the **Kali age** — reform justified **from within the shastras**. **Why B is incorrect.** **Keshab's** followers sought a **civil marriage** law that by-passed Hindu law. **Why C is incorrect.** **Phule** attacked brahmanical texts as instruments of domination rather than citing them. **Why D is incorrect.** **Derozio** and his students appealed to **reason** and rejected scriptural authority altogether.
Question 02
Which one of the following was **NOT** a feature of the Satyashodhak Samaj?
1. Option A: It conducted marriages and other ceremonies without Brahmin priests
2. Option B: It sought to restore the authority of the Vedas over social life
3. Option C: It rejected the claim that Brahmins were spiritually superior
4. Option D: It promoted education among the lower castes and women
Answer and explanation
Answer: B. It sought to restore the authority of the Vedas over social life
**Option B is the answer.** Phule regarded the Vedas and Brahmanical scriptures as **instruments of domination**; restoring their authority was the programme of other movements, never of the **Satyashodhak Samaj**. **Option A is correct as stated.** The Samaj performed **marriages without Brahmin priests**. **Option C is correct as stated.** It denied any **hereditary superiority** of Brahmins. **Option D is correct as stated.** **Education** of lower castes and women was central to its work.
Question 03
The Hindu College of Calcutta, founded in 1817, owed its origin chiefly to
1. Option A: an initiative of the Board of Control in London
2. Option B: the education policy of Lord William Bentinck
3. Option C: the Baptist missionaries of Serampore
4. Option D: the efforts of David Hare and Calcutta's Indian notables, with the support of Chief Justice Edward Hyde East
Answer and explanation
Answer: D. the efforts of David Hare and Calcutta's Indian notables, with the support of Chief Justice Edward Hyde East
**Why D is correct.** The college grew out of a meeting of Calcutta notables at the house of **Sir Edward Hyde East**, with **David Hare**, the watchmaker-philanthropist, among its key promoters. **Why A is incorrect.** It was a **local** Indian initiative, not one of the Board of Control. **Why B is incorrect.** Bentinck's tenure began in **1828**, eleven years later. **Why C is incorrect.** The **Serampore** missionaries ran their own college at Serampore.
Question 04
Consider the following statements regarding the Veda Samaj: 1. It was founded in Madras following a visit by Keshab Chandra Sen. 2. It was later renamed the Brahmo Samaj of Southern India. 3. It was founded by Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Option A: 1 only
2. Option B: 1 and 2 only
3. Option C: 1 and 3 only
4. Option D: 1, 2 and 3
Answer and explanation
Answer: B. 1 and 2 only
**Statement 1 is correct.** The **Veda Samaj** was founded in **Madras** in **1864** after **Keshab Chandra Sen's** visit. **Statement 2 is correct.** Under **K. Sridharalu Naidu** it was renamed the **Brahmo Samaj of Southern India** in the **1870s**. **Statement 3 is incorrect.** **Raghupati Venkataratnam Naidu** was born in **1862**, two years before the Samaj was founded; its early leaders were men such as **Sridharalu Naidu**.
Question 05
A follower of Sree Narayana Guru, he organised an inter-dining of members of different castes at Cherai in 1917 and founded the Sahodara Sangham. Identify him.
1. Option A: Ayyankali
2. Option B: Kumaran Asan
3. Option C: Sahodaran K. Ayyappan
4. Option D: Dr. P. Palpu
Answer and explanation
Answer: C. Sahodaran K. Ayyappan
**Why C is correct.** **K. Ayyappan** organised the **misrabhojanam** (inter-dining) at **Cherai** in **1917** and founded the **Sahodara Sangham**; he came to be known as **'Sahodaran'** Ayyappan. **Why A is incorrect.** **Ayyankali** led the **Pulayas** of Travancore. **Why B is incorrect.** **Kumaran Asan** was a poet and an early secretary of the **SNDP Yogam**. **Why D is incorrect.** **Dr. Palpu** led the **Ezhava Memorial** of 1896 and helped found the SNDP.

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