Arya Samaj

Founded in 1875 by Dayanand Saraswati (b. 1824–d. 1883), the Arya Samaj (the Society of Nobles), became one of the most influential Hindu socio-religious reform movements in north India in the twentieth century, gaining widespread popularity in Punjab and the United Provinces. The Arya Samaj was born of Hinduism’s encounter with British colonialism and Christianity, which sparked multiple efforts to redefine Hinduism in accordance with Abrahamic conceptions of religion. Responding to colonial-missionary criticisms of Hinduism for its polytheism, excessive ritualism, idolatry, and caste system, the Samaj redefined Hinduism as a simplified monotheism, free of idol-worship and the notion of hereditary castes. The Arya Samaj’s efforts to reform Hinduism brought it into conflict with self-proclaimed “orthodox” Sanatanist Hindus, who defended idol-worship, Brahmin-led ritualism, and hereditary caste hierarchy as integral to Hinduism. The Samaj’s central message was “Back to the Vedas”; it saw itself as reviving the original Hinduism supposedly found in the Vedas. Whether the Samaj advocated Hindu “revival” or “reform”—terms often standing in for conservatism and progressivism, respectively—has been a matter of debate among historical actors and scholars. Education has been vital to Arya Samajist agenda, with disagreements even contributing to the Samaj’s split in 1893. The two factions, the College faction and the Gurukul faction, were named after the educational institutions they supported: the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic (DAV) College and Gurukul Kangri, respectively. The DAV College aimed to provide a balanced Western and Vedic education, becoming the center of a vast educational network. Less influential, Gurukul Kangri formed the core of a smaller network invoking the traditional gurukul education, and strongly prioritized Sanskrit and Vedic studies. Samajist reform involved the education of women and “Untouchable” and “low” castes. Arya Samaj’s caste-related reformism entailed efforts to admit low-castes into caste Hindu society by investing them with the sacred thread. The Samaj also aimed to convert low-caste Muslims and Christians to Vedic truth and caste Hindu society. These conversions challenged the caste hierarchy, but were driven by Hindu majority-making, entailed attacks on Islam and Christianity, and contributed communal conflict in the 1920s. Indeed, the Samaj’s relationship to Hindu nationalism is the subject of scholarly debate, with many arguing that it laid ground for the later Hindu nationalism represented by the Hindu Mahasabha, V.D. Savarkar, and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Apart from Hindu nationalism, scholars have highlighted the Samaj’s entanglement in anti-colonial national politics.