Historical story

Chapter-30 - Age-era status of women in society (e)

Contribution to English Education

New ideas emerged in the minds of Indian people due to English education and due to the lifestyle of English women. Educated Indians opposed the purdah system considering it to be meaningless. It was the result of the efforts of English-educated people that thousands of women left the veil and participated in the national movement.

The Theosophical Society and the Deccan Education Society did remarkable work in this direction. The educated section of the society gave full support to the program of women's education and showed eagerness to send their girls to school. In many places, arrangements were made for free morning educational institutions.

In AD 1854, in the suggestions related to education of Charles Wood, advice was also given regarding the education of women. Although the British government remained indifferent to women's education, there was an increase in girls' educational institutions in the second half of the 19th century. In AD 1882, the Hunter Commission gave grants to local institutions for the education of the girl child.

Reforms by British Government

Between the 18th and the 19th century, the British authorities made many laws to stop the social evils like Sati, child marriage, female slaughter, slavery etc. He declared widow-remarriage legal. Special emphasis was placed on social reform during the time of William Bentinck. In January 1832, during the Ajmer court, William Bentinck inspired the Rajput kings and British officials to adopt a new social policy.

Such events were organized in large numbers in different parts of the country at that time. After the revolution of AD 1857, the implementation of social reform laws was relaxed because in AD 1858, Queen Victoria had declared that the government would not interfere in the religious and social affairs of the Indian people.

Prohibition of the practice of Sati

The British government issued orders to stop the practice of sati in AD 1813 and AD 1817 and empowered the British officials that a minor or pregnant woman could be prevented from committing sati and if she was coerced to do sati. Even a woman can be prevented from committing sati. These edicts were only official orders, not laws. For this reason, it did not prove effective in stopping the practice of Sati.

In Bengal, a progressive group of Indians under the leadership of Raja Ram Mohan Roy was agitating to end the practice of Sati. Therefore, on 4 December 1829, Governor General William Bentinck declared the practice of Sati illegal by a government order. In AD 1830, this law was also implemented in Bombay and Madras, according to which the practice of sati was prohibited and giving any kind of aid to sati was declared a punishable offense.

The conservative elements strongly opposed this law, but this law was not abolished by the efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Within a few years, this law became applicable in the native states also. On 26 April 1846, the Jaipur Patron Parishad declared the practice of Sati a punishable offense in the state of Jaipur. By the end of AD 1856, this evil was completely eradicated in all the states of Rajasthan except Mewar. By AD 1861, the practice of Sati was banned in almost all of India, due to which the incidents of Sati kept decreasing. At present, this practice has completely ended.

Ban on child marriage

In order to ban child marriage, the minimum age of conjugal cohabitation for a girl was fixed at 10 years in the Indian Penal Code in E.1860, but in view of the dire consequences of cohabitation from girls of this age, there was a demand to increase this age. Started. The idea of ​​the government was that through education, there would be self-awakening in the society and child marriage would automatically end.

On this Bahramji went to Malabari England and attracted the attention of the government with his articles and speeches in the newspapers there. Social reformer K. T. Tailang said that the need for reform is more in determining the age of cohabitation of a girl and not in fixing the age of marriage. Dayaram Gidumal, a friend of Malabari, suggested that the age of conjugal cohabitation be increased from 10 years to 12 years.

When the government was considering the minimum age for cohabitation, the opponents of the government became active. He called the reform of Hindu marriage practices by the government a disgrace to the national pride. Lokmanya Tilak said in the Bombay Presidency that there should be a control on the age of marriage, but for this education is needed, not law.

Ranade was in favor of fixing the age of marriage by law. Mahadev Ranade was in favor of increasing the age of conjugal cohabitation to 14 years. In those days, an eleven-year-old girl, Phulmani Dasi, had such brutish intercourse with her husband that she died. Phoolmani's husband was tried for murder, but he got away with the help of the law of AD 1860, in which the age of conjugal cohabitation was fixed at 10 years.

This incident forced the government to re-fix the minimum age of cohabitation. On 19 March 1821 the government passed the cohabitation-age bill According to which the minimum cohabitation age for girls was fixed at 12 years.

Lokmanya Tilak opposed this law, as the cohabitation age was fixed by the government. Tilak said that such restrictions should be imposed by the society itself and the foreign government should not interfere in the social life of Indians. After the debate on the bill, the general public forgot it and child marriages started happening as before.

Ban on female-slaughter

In medieval society, the practice of female-slaughter was prevalent among some castes including Rajputs and Jats. This malpractice was especially associated with the Rajputs, but this practice was also prevalent among the Meenas of Jahazpur, the Merons and the Meos and Jats of Bharatpur. In the castes where this practice was prevalent, this practice was not prevalent in the ruling families and feudal families of those castes. The British officials first came to know about this inhuman practice in AD 1789.

In the laws of AD 1795 and AD 1804, the crime of female-slaughter, murder was declared in the British territories, but this evil continued uninterrupted. The British authorities tried to stop this brutal act by putting pressure on the people. As a result of the efforts of British officials like John Ludlow, John Sutherland, Wilkinson etc., female-slaughter was declared illegal in the states of Rajputana around AD 1831.

In AD 1834, the state of Kota and Mewar banned female-slaughter. Some rules were made to stop this practice in Bikaner state in AD 1837 and in Jodhpur state in AD 1839.

A.G. of Rajputana in AD 1844. As a result of the joint efforts of Political Agent Ludlow in Sutherland, Jaipur and Political Agent Robinson of Neemuch, female slaughter was declared illegal in all the states of Rajasthan. During this period, the cause of female slaughter was not the dowry system but the renunciation.

The father of the girl had to dedicate a large amount of money to the barons and the bhatas to get his daughter married, which was called tyag. To avoid this amount of sacrifice, Rajputs used to kill their daughters. In AD 1843, the British made a decree in the Rajputana states that the vassal Rajput whose annual income is 1000 rupees or more, he will give 25 rupees to Charan and 9 rupees to Bhat as sacrifice on the marriage of his daughter.

Bhomye Rajput will give Rs 10 to Charan and Rs 5 to Bhat. The common Rajput will pay Rs.5 to Charan and Rs.4 to Bhat. This order was carved on the stones and displayed before the pargana courts of the states. In AD 1877, Hitaishini Sabha Udaipur decided that only those Rajputs whose annual income exceeds Rs 500 would give the amount of sacrifice. This amount shall not exceed 10 percent of the annual income of that Rajput.

Any Rajput can spend up to 25 percent of his annual income on the occasion of marriage of son and daughter. The Charans who came from outside in Mewar State will not be abandoned. The Brahmins and moneylenders were also informed that they should also spend only a maximum of 25 percent of their annual income in the marriage of their daughter.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the practice of female-slaughter declined in the British territories but continued uninterrupted in the princely states of Rajputana. In AD 1870, it was made mandatory to register the birth of every child by passing a law. In those areas where female-slaughter was more prevalent, it was ascertained from time to time by counting the girls that there is still no female-slaughter, yet in the 19th century in Jodhpur state alone, the number of female-slaughter was found every year. There used to be 300-400 incidents.

Widow-remarriage

Widow-remarriage has been demanded since the 16th century when Raghunandan Bhattacharya of Bengal tried unsuccessfully to remarry his widowed daughter. In the 18th century, Raja Rajvallabh, a resident of Vikrampur, tried to remarry his young widow, but he did not succeed. Widow-remarriage movement gained momentum in the 19th century.

'News Mirror' of 14 March 1835 Some unmarried girls from noble Brahmin families supported widow-remarriage through their writings describing the sad condition of widowed women in the society and expressed hope that the British government would adopt a sympathetic approach in this direction. Some newspapers in Bombay were also promoting widow remarriage.

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, the great social reformer of Bengal, carried forward this movement despite the staunch opposition of the conservatives. In January 1854, he published a book in which he proved through evidence that widow-remarriage was scriptural. The orthodox pundits wrote books against him, but they could not dissuade Vidyasagar.

Vidyasagar sent an application with the signatures of 984 persons to the government demanding that widow remarriage be declared valid. Many eminent persons of Bengal also sent similar applications to the government. On the other hand, orthodox pundits also sent applications signed by thousands of people that widow-remarriage is not scriptural, but with the efforts of Vidyasagar and other reformers, the government passed the Widow-Remarriage Act on 26 July 1856.

Widow-remarriage was declared legal by this law. Vidyasagar performed widow-marriage within three months of the passage of this law. After this many widow marriages took place. Vishnushastri holds 'Widow Sahayak Sabha' in Bombay Widow-remarriage was encouraged through Nevertheless, widow-remarriage was very rare in Hindu society because a widowed woman lost her right in the property of her ex-husband upon remarriage.

Ban on postage

This inhuman practice was prevalent in many castes of India, especially among the tribals and tribes. The Government of India instructed the British officials to put pressure on the local rulers to get this practice declared illegal. Since this practice was more prevalent in the tribal areas of Rajputana, pressure was put on the rulers of Rajputana kingdoms, especially Mewar and Kota. In the middle of the 19th century, the first Kota state declared this practice illegal and a punishable offense.

By October 1853 A.G.G. On the instructions of all the rulers except Maharana Mewar, by declaring the postal practice illegal and motivated to help the helpless.

The Maharana of Mewar himself believed in the postal system, yet under the pressure of the British declared the postal practice illegal in Mewar and made a provision of six months imprisonment for those who violated the law. Yet this evil practice did not end in Mewar. In order to remove innocent widows and old people from their path, they were declared as dakans and their murders continued, the government also punished those killers.

At the end of the 19th century, Colonel Walter, the resident of Mewar, visited the areas affected by this practice and promised the tribal chiefs that they would not kill a woman on suspicion of being a dakan, but would complain to the government and the government He will punish that Dakan. The government will punish those who break this promise.

The tribal representatives of Magrapal gave consent to Walter to stop the postal practice in Rikhbdev and also promised to arrest the criminals involved in this crime in future and present them before the court. Similar action was taken at other places also. Over time, this evil practice weakened. At present it is completely finished.

Ban on slavery

Native kings, feudatories and other rich people used to buy poor girls and send them with dowry as maidservants for the marriage of their daughters. Domestic slaves and maidservants worked as hereditary servants in the homes of the wealthy. They were addressed by names like Gola, Goli, Dawdi, Vadaran, Daroga, Chakar Hazuriya, Das, Khanzada, Chela etc. Their life was very difficult.

उन्हें पीढ़ी दर पीढ़ी स्वामी तथा उसके परिवार की सेवा करनी पड़ती थी तथा स्वामी की लड़कियों के दहेज में जाना होता था। इस सब के बदले में उन्हें साधारण भोजन एवं वस्त्र प्राप्त होते थे। राजमहलों, सामन्तों की हवेलियों तथा सम्पन्न लोगों के यहाँ दासियों का दैहिक शोषण किया जाता था। ई.1833 के चार्टर एक्ट द्वारा ब्रिटिश भारत में दास-दासी प्रथा को गैर-कानूनी घोषित कर दिया गया किंतु देशी राज्यों में यह प्रथा चलती रही।

ब्रिटिश अधिकारियों के दबाव देने पर ई.1839 में जयपुर राज्य की संरक्षक परिषद के अध्यक्ष जो कि ब्रिटिश पॉलिटिकल एजेंट भी था, ने जयपुर राज्य में दास-व्यापार को प्रतिबंधित किया तथा दासों के गोला-गोली जैसे अपमानजनक सम्बोधनों पर रोक लगाई।

1 दिसम्बर 1840 को जोधपुर राज्य में भी दास व्यापार को प्रतिबंधित किया गया। राजपूताने के समस्त शासक ई.1848 में इस बुराई को समाप्त करने के लिए सहमत हो गए किंतु अधिकांश देशी राज्यों ने इस कुप्रथा पर ई.1862-63 तक रोक नहीं लगाई।

उन्नीसवीं सदी के अंत में पुष्कर में गौरीशंकर ओझा के सभापतित्व में एक सम्मेलन आयोजित किया गया जिसमें गोला कहे जाने वाले समुदाय के लगभग 200 व्यक्ति उपस्थित हुए। सम्मेलन में उपस्थित लोगों में अपने स्वामियों का इतना अधिक भय था कि उन्होंने इस सम्मेलन में केवल एक ही प्रस्ताव पारित किया कि उन्हें गोला न कहकर रावणा-राजपूत कहा जाए।

अंग्रेज अधिकारी दास-प्रथा को समाप्त करने में विशेष सफलता अर्जित नहीं कर पाए क्योंकि राजपूताना के शासक एवं सामंत हर हाल में इस प्रथा को बनाए रखना चाहते थे। ई.1916 में जोधपुर राज्य की ओर से एक अधिसूचना जारी की गई कि घरेलू दासों के स्वामी उन्हें खाना, कपड़ा और विवाह, जन्म तथा मृत्यु का व्यय प्रदान करते हैं, इसलिए स्वामियों को दासों से काम लेने तथा अपनी पुत्रियों की शादी में दासों की पुत्रियों को दहेज में देने का पूरा अधिकार है।

ई.1921 की जनगणना के अनुसार राजपूताने में घरेलू दास-दासियों की संख्या 1,60,755 थी। इनमें से आधे दास ऐसे थे जिनका जन्म अपने मालिक के घर में हुआ था। अंत में राष्ट्रीय एवं अंतर्राष्ट्रीय दबाव के चलते ई.1926 में जोधपुर राज्य ने दास-प्रथा पर रोक लगाई किंतु यह प्रथा देश के आजाद होने तक अघोषित रूप से चलती रही।

लड़के-लड़कियों के क्रय-विक्रय पर रोक

राजपूत रियासतों सहित देश के विभिन्न हिस्सों में बच्चों के क्रय-विक्रय की कुप्रथा प्रचलित थी। राजपूताने में बंजारा जाति अनाज तथा नमक के साथ-साथ बच्चों को खरीदने एवं बेचने का काम करती थी। राजपूताने में बच्चों को खरीदने वाले लोगों की संख्या काफी थी। कुछ लोग इन बच्चों को दास-दासी के रूप में अपनी कन्या के दहेज में दिया करते थे।

कुछ जोगी-जोगड़े अपने चेलों की संख्या बढ़ाने के लिए बच्चे खरीदते थे। कुछ लोग वेश्यावृत्ति करवाने के लिए लड़कियों को खरीदते थे। कुछ सम्पन्न सामंत इन्हें अपनी रखैल के रूप में रखते थे। एक बार मेवाड़ राज्य के भैरजी नामक आदमी ने ब्रिटिश प्रशासित क्षेत्र से 54 रुपये में 11 वर्ष की लड़की खरीदी। जब अंग्रेजों को उसका पता लगा तो उन्होंने महाराणा को लिखा कि वह भैरजी से लड़की छुड़वा कर वापिस उसके घर वालों को सौंपे।

इस पर महाराणा ने जवाब दिया कि भैरजी ने कोई गलत काम नहीं किया है। राज्य में यह प्रथा प्रचलित है। ई.1838 में कोटा के रामचंद्र ने अपना पुत्र 15 रुपये में बेचा। बच्चों के बेचने से जो रकम प्राप्त होती थी उसका 40 प्रतिशत हिस्सा राज्य कोष में कर के रूप में जमा करवाया जाता था। रामचंद्र ने 6 रुपये राजकोष में जमा करवाए। अंग्रेजों को इस घृणित कार्य का पता चल गया। उन्होंने इस प्रथा को समाप्त करने का निर्णय लिया।

राजपूताना की अधिकांश रियासतों ने ई.1847 में लड़के-लड़कियों के क्रय-विक्रय को असंवैधानिक घोषित किया। जयपुर संरक्षण परिषद ने 5 फरवरी 1847 को जयपुर राज्य में नागाओं, दादूपंथियों, सादों इत्यादि द्वारा चेला बनाने के लिये की जाने वाली बच्चों की खरीद को असंवैधानिक घोषित किया। कोटा राज्य में ई.1862 तक बच्चों को खरीदना-बेचना जारी रहा। धीरे-धीरे इस प्रथा पर पूर्णतः रोक लग गई।