Answer: The conquest of India by the British during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, exposed some serious weaknesses and drawbacks of Indian social institutions. As a consequence, several individuals and movements sought to bring about changes in the social and religious practices in order to reform and revitalise the society. Accordingly, the 19th century witnessed a series of reform movements in various parts of the country by social reformers, which were oriented towards a re-structuring of the Indian society along modern lines, including:

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy: He established the Atmiya Sabha (1814) and Brahmo Samaj (1828) which denounced polytheism, idol worship, practices like Sati, discarded faith in incarnations, and criticised the caste system. Moreover, he gave primacy to human reason and conscience over any scripture.
• Keshab Chandra Sen: As a member of the Brahmo Samaj, he opposed the prevailing caste practices and supported inter-caste marriages.
• Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: As the principal of Sanskrit College and the Secretary of Bethune School, he pioneered higher education for women, worked towards legalising widow remarriages and fought against child marriage and polygamy.
• Swami Dayananda Saraswati: He founded the Arya Samaj and led the Shuddhi movement to purify Hindu religion. Also, he envisaged a casteless and classless society, attacked Hindu orthodoxy, caste rigidities, untouchability, idolatry, polytheism, belief in magic, charms, animal sacrifices etc.
• Balshastri Jambhekar: He was a pioneer of social reform through journalism in Bombay. He attacked Brahmanical orthodoxy and tried to reform popular Hinduism.
• Jyotirao Phule: He organised a powerful movement against upper caste domination and Brahmanical supremacy. Moreover, as a firm believer in gender equality, he was a pioneer in women’s education along with his wife Savitribai Phule.
• Swami Vivekananda: He believed in the fundamental oneness of God and promoted two kinds of knowledge among the masses-secular knowledge about how to work for their economic uplift and the spiritual knowledge to have faith in themselves and strengthen their moral sense.
• Sree Narayana Guru Dharma Paripalana: It was started by Sree Narayana Guru Swamy (1856-1928) among the Ezhavas of Kerala, who were a backward caste of toddy-tappers and were considered to be untouchables, denied education and entry into temples. Sree Narayana Guru held all religions to be the same and condemned animal sacrifice. He also spoke against divisiveness on the basis of caste, race, and creed.

Thus, what brought about the urge for reform was the need to rejuvenate the society and its institutions in the wake of colonial conquest. This aspect of the reform movement, however, introduced an element of revivalism, a tendency to harp on the Indian past and to defend Indian culture and civilization. However, despite the fact that some of these movements imparted a conservative and retrogressive character, they played an important role in awakening cultural consciousness and boosting the confidence of the people.