Women, Caste and Reform Class 8 Revision Notes CBSE History Chapter 7

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Last Updated on March 23, 2024 by XAM CONTENT

Here you will find revision notes for CBSE Class 8 Social Science History Chapter 7 Women, Caste and Reform. It is a part of Revision Notes for CBSE Class 8 Social Science Series.

Women, Caste and Reform Class 8 Revision Notes CBSE History Chapter 7 (PDF Download)

Notes

  • Two hundred years ago, our country was infested with practices such as sati, child marriage and discrimination based on caste and sex.
  • Brahmans and Kshatriyas considered themselves as upper castes. Traders and moneylenders were referred to as Vaishyas. Then came the Shudras consisting of peasants and artisans such as potters. At the lowest step were those who laboured to keep cities and villages clean and were considered as untouchable.
  • New forms of communication such as books, newspapers, magazines, leaflets and pamphlets led to movements for social change through discussions and debates on social, political, economic and religious issues.
  • Raja Rammohun Roy founded a reform association known as the Brahmo Samaj which worked towards greater freedom and equality for women. He later began a campaign against the practice of sati and it was finally banned in 1829.
  • Due to the efforts of Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, in 1856, law was passed permitting widow remarriage.
  • In the mid nineteenth century, Vidyasagar in Calcutta and many other reformers in Bombay set up schools for girls.
  • By the end of the nineteenth century, women themselves were actively working for reform. They wrote books, edited magazines, founded schools and training centres, and set up women’s associations.
  • In the twentieth century, leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose lent their support to demands for greater equality and freedom for women.
  • Jyotirao Phule, emphasized that the ‘upper’ castes had no right to their land and power and in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes.
  • B. R. Ambedkar led various movements for temple entry of dalits and lower castes in India between 1927 and 1935.
  • E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker, or Periyar was an outspoken critic of Hindu scriptures and asserted that these texts had been used to establish the authority of Brahmans over lower castes and the domination of men.

Important Keywords

  • Reformer (noun): A person who makes changes to something in order to improve it. Origin: unknown.
  • Conservative (adj.): Averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values. Origin: Late Latin conservare.
  • Abolition (noun): the act of officially ending or stopping something. Origin: Latin abolere.
  • Subjugate verb.: Bring under domination or control, especially by conquest. Origin: Late Latin subjugare.
  • Ascetic (adj.): Characterised by severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons. Origin: Greek askein.
  • Assertion (noun): A confident statement of fact or belief. Origin: Latin asserere.
  • Exhortation (noun): An address or communication emphatically urging someone. Origin: unknown.
  • Sati: The woman who burn herself, willingly or unwillingly, on the funeral pyre of her dead husband.
  • Untouchable: Those people who did manial work like cleaning and scavenging were called untouchable.
  • Orthodox: Fanatic, fundamentalists.
  • Suffrage: Right to Vote.

Important Dates

  • 1829 : Sati was banned.
  • 1830 : Brahmo Samaj was formed.
  • 1856 : A law was passed permitting widow remarriage.
  • 1875 : Arya Samaj was founded by Swami Dayanad Saraswati.
  • 1929 : The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed.
  • 1927 : Ambedkar started a temple entry movement, in which his Mahar caste followers participated.

We hope the given revision notes for Women, Caste and Reform Class 8 helps you in your learning.

Also check

CBSE Class 8 Social Science Revision Notes for all chapters

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