Cultural reorientation in the colonial Punjab the case of the Brahmo Samaj and Dev Samaj

Abstract

The present work attempts to study the Brahmo Samaj and the Dev Samaj as movements of social change resulting from cultural reorientation among the Hindus of the colonial Punjab. The BrahmoSamaj and Dev Samaj ideology combined syncretism with radical reform among the urban-educated middle-class Punjabi Hindus who were not comfortable with Hindu orthodoxy. It focusses on the life, ideology, institutions and activities of the Brahmo Samaj leaders like Navin Chandra Rai, Dyal Singh Majithia, Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, Ruchi Ram Sahni and Dev Samaj like Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, Harnarain Agnihotri, Amar Singh and P.V.Kanal. It highlights the institutional development, organisation and activities of the Brahmo Samaj and the Dev Samaj. It traces the ideals and establishment of educational institutions of the Brahmo Samaj and the Dev Samaj. It focuses on the relationship of the Brahmo Samaj and the Dev Samaj with the other Hindus and the Muslims, the Christians and the Sikhs. It underlines the process of cultural reorientation in the colonial Punjab focusing on the Brahmo Samaj and the Dev Samaj Movement. newline