NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History Chapter 8 Women, Caste and Reform

NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History Chapter 8 Women, Caste and Reform Social Science

We have given NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History Chapter 8 Women, Caste and Reform which will enable you to come up with methods and strategies that will aid in total focus. These free NCERT Solutions are prepared just for you according to the latest CBSE guidelines. So, you will be able to score excellent marks in this assessment. You will experience the wonder and beauty in all that you are learning.

Chapter 8 Women, Caste and Reform NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History

Let's Recall 

1. What social ideas did the following people support?

Rammohun Roy 

Dayanand Saraswati 

Veerasalingam Pantulu 

Jyotirao Phule 

Pandita Ramabai 

Periyar 

Mumtaz Ali 

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar 

Solution

Rammohun Roy: the banning of the practice of 'Sati' 

Dayanand Saraswati: Widow remarriage 

Veerasalingam Pantulu: Education of women and widow remarriage 

Jyotirao Phule: Equality among castes 

Pandita Ramabai: Women's Education 

Periyar: Equality for untouchables. 

Mumtaz Ali: Women's Education

Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar: Widow remarriage

2. State whether true or false:

(a) When the British captured Bengal they framed many new laws to regulate the rules regarding marriage, adoption, inheritance or property, etc.

(b) Social reformers had to discard the ancient texts in order to argue for reform in social practises.

(c) Reformers got full support from all sections of the people of the country.

(d) The Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed in 1829.

Solution

(a) True

(b) False

(c) False

(d) False

Let's Discuss

3. How did the knowledge of ancient texts help the reformers promote new laws?

Solution

The reformers tried to convince people that widow burning, caste distinctions, child marriage, etc had no sanction in ancient texts. Their knowledge of ancient texts gave them immense confidence and moral support which they utilised in promoting new laws. They didn't get feared when people raised voice against the reforms they had brought.

4. What were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school?

Solution

The following were the different reasons people had for not sending girls to school.

• They feared that schools would take girls away from home, thereby preventing them from doing their domestic duties.

• They felt that travelling through public places in order to reach school would have a corrupting influence on girls.

• They felt that girls should stay away from public spaces.

5. Why were Christian missionaries attacked by many people in the country? Would some people have supported them too? If so, for what reasons?

Solution

In the nineteenth century, Christian missionaries set up schools for tribal groups and lowercaste children. These children were trained to find a foothold in the changing world. Soon the poor left the villages and started looking for jobs in cities. People who looked down on the lower castes did not like the work of missionaries. Social reformers would have supported missions for their work against social ills.

6. In the British period, what new opportunities opened up for people who came from castes that were regarded as "low"?

Solution

• The British period saw the rise of cities. Many of the poor living in Indian villages and small towns at the time began leaving their villages and towns to look for jobs that were opening up in the cities. As the cities were growing, there was a great demand for labour - labour for digging drains, laying roads, constructing buildings, working in factories and municipalities, etc.

• This demand for labor was met by people migrating from the villages and towns. There was also the demand for workers in the various plantations, both within the country and abroad. The army too offered opportunities for employment.

• Many of these migrating people belonged to the low castes. For them, the cities and the plantations represented the opportunity to get away from the oppression that upper-caste landowners exerted over their lives.

7. How did Jyotirao and the reformers justify their criticism of caste inequality in society?

Solution

Jyotirao Phule developed his own ideas about social justice. He did not accept the Brahmans' claim that they were superior, since they were Aryans. Phule argued that the Aryans were foreigners, who came from outside of the subcontinent, and defeated and subjugated the native Indians. As the Aryans came to establish their dominance, they began looking at the Indians as inferior and lower caste people. According to Phule, the upper classes had no right to their land and power: in reality, the land belonged to indigenous people, the so-called low castes.

8. Why did Phule dedicate his book Gulamgiri to the American movement to free slaves?

Solution

Jyotirao Phule was concerned with all forms of inequalities and injustices existing in society - whether it was the plight of the upper-caste women, the miseries of the labourer, or the humiliation of the low castes. In dedicating his book Gulamgiri to America's anti-slavery movement, he linked the conditions of both slaves in America and India. The comparison also includes an expression of hope that one day, like the end of slavery in America, there would be an end to all kinds of caste discriminations.

9. What did Ambedkar want to achieve through the temple entry movement?

Solution

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar started a temple entry movement in 1927, which was participated by his Brahman followers. Brahman priests were outraged when lower-castes used water from the temple tank Dr. Ambedkar led three such movements for temple entry between 1927 and 1935. His aim was to make everyone see the power of caste prejudices within the society.

10. Why were Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker critical of the national movement? Did their criticism help the national struggle in any way?

Solution

Jyotirao Phule and Ramaswamy Naicker were critical of the national movement because the nationalists often made seating arrangements following caste distinctions at feasts. The lower castes were made to sit at a distance from the upper castes. Their criticism helped the national struggle to a great extent. Ramaswamy Naicker inspired the untouchables to fight for their dignity by initiating the Self Respect Movement.