Social Reform

Missionary Journals and a Rhetoric of Rescue: The Church of England Zenana Missionary Society and India’s Women (1880-1940)

Sabera Bhayat 2 Comments

Christian female missionaries played a prominent role in the spread and development of female education in colonial India. The missionary aim of ‘evangelisation through education’ placed literacy and learning high on the agenda of ‘women’s work for women’.[1] Such work and its attendant successes, setbacks, obstacles, and failures, were extensively recorded by female missionaries, and … Continue reading Missionary Journals and a Rhetoric of Rescue: The Church of England Zenana Missionary Society and India’s Women (1880-1940)

Islamic Reform and Female Education: Social Reforms for Muslim Women in Late Colonial India

Sabera Bhayat 2 Comments

Muslim reformers in nineteenth century India identified a need for Islamic reform due to a perceived decline of Islam in India. These reformers saw evidence of this decline in the adherence of Indian Muslims to false customs and practices disguised in the name of religion, and the accusations of ‘Muslim backwardness’ by colonial authorities.[1] Muslim … Continue reading Islamic Reform and Female Education: Social Reforms for Muslim Women in Late Colonial India

Indian Women’s Social Reform: Why Child Marriage, and Why Not Purdah?

Sabera Bhayat 2 Comments

Missionary Criticisms and the Religious Selection of Reform Social reforms in child marriage and female education were pursued in the late nineteenth century for the uplift of women’s conditions in Indian society. British criticisms on the treatment of women in India, encouraged Indian reformers to pursue changes to their conditions. The circumstances of British colonialism … Continue reading Indian Women’s Social Reform: Why Child Marriage, and Why Not Purdah?