TRANSITIONAL MOVEMENTS WITHIN THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Within nearly a century of British rule over the South Asian subcontinent, socio-religious movements reshaped much of the social, cultural, religious, and political life of this area. Three civilizations provided models for movements of dissent and protest that sought to ‘purify’ and restructure contemporary society. New associations, techniques, and forms of group consciousness came into being during these years as religious change encountered increased politicization and competing nationalism. The historic process of internal dissent and cultural adjustment was dynamic as the traditions of the past flowed into the colonial milieu, and were increasingly altered by that environment. There was no clear point of beginning or end of the transitional movements of pre-British history, as they reached forward into the colonial milieu linking that era with what went before.

Leadership of the transitional movements followed a pattern that extended back for many centuries. Professional religious practitioners, Brahmans, and the ‘ulamā accounted for the largest percentage of leaders, but they also came from merchant, peasant, untouchable and tribal segments of society. This diversity of leadership was parallelled by support from differing social groups as was illustrated by the Namdharis, who found their adherents primarily among the non-Jats, and the Nirankaris, whose members were drawn mainly from Sikh Jats. The variation in groups to which these movements appealed also followed well-established paths. Islamic movements, with the ‘ulamā as leaders, either attempted to reach all Muslims or focused almost exclusively on the ‘ulamā class of the religiously educated. Some movements were concentrated on a specific level of society, such as those of the Christian Nadars or Satnamis; both aimed at Hindu untouchables. Similarly, Satya Mahima Dharma flourished among the lower castes and tribals of Orissa.