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Reform Movements: Core Idea
- The 19th-century socio-religious reform movements emerged from an interaction between inherited Indian traditions and new intellectual, social and political forces.
- The objective was not merely religious purification; it was the well-being of the individual and society, social regeneration and ultimately national progress.
- Colonial rule created several conditions favourable to reform, but the socio-cultural regeneration of 19th-century India was occasioned by colonial presence, not created by it.
- Reformers sought to remove social evils while preserving, reinterpreting or reconstructing elements of Indian cultural traditions.
- The movements gradually helped create an intellectual climate based on reason, individual dignity, social equality, education and a wider conception of human welfare.