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Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar(1820-1891) – Bengal
- Vidyasagar argued that the Hindu scriptures were progressive.
- He provided evidence from scriptures that there was no sanction for burning of widows or for the prohibition on the remarriage of widows.
- He was the pioneer of Modern Bengali Prose.
- Due to the efforts of Vidyasagar, Lord Dalhousie passed Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Reform Act of 1856.
- As a Pioneer his son Narayana Chandra married a widow.
- It was also to the credit of Vidyasagar that the First Age Of Consent Act was enacted in 1860.
- The age for marriage was fixed as ten years.
- It was raised to twelve and thirteen years in 1891 and 1925 respectively.
- Sadly, as reported in the Age of Consent Committee (1929), the law remained on paper.
Prarthana Samaj 1867 – Bombay
- A movement similar to the Brahmo Samaj, but founded in in, was Prarthana Samaj.
- Founder: Dr. Atma Ram Pandurang
The two distinguished members
- R.C. Bhandarkar
- Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade.
- They promoted inter-caste dining, inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage and improvement of women and depressed classes.
- They founded night schools, Asylum and Orphanages for the downtrodden people.
Ranade (1842-1901) was the founder of the
- Widow Marriage Association -1861,
- Poona Sarvajanik Sabha -1870,
- Deccan Education Society -1884.
- When Ranade died in 1901, his leadership was taken over by Chandavarkar.