CAUSES OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AWAKENING IN THE 19TH CENTURY

CAUSES OF SOCIO-CULTURAL AWAKENING IN THE 19TH CENTURY

(i) Conditions favouring intellectual growth and awak­ening grew from the political, economic, social and cultural impact of British domination and repression.
(ii) Researches into India's past by Europeans as well as Indian scholars like Max Muller, Sir William Jones, Raja Rammohan Roy, Radhakanta Deva, Bhagwan Lal Indraji, RG. Bhandarkar, and M.G. Ranade led to its reinterpreta­tion. What ensued was a cultural and spiritual rediscovery of India.

(iii) Creative literature by scholars and writers such as Bankim Chandra, Keshav Chandra Sen, Madhusudan Dutt who combined the literary traditions of the past and the modern cultural developments awakened minds.
(iv) The Christian missionaries often denounced the customs and beliefs of Hinduism. Indian intellectuals thus realised the need for socio-religious reform to purge the
Indian society of its ills.