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The Dev Samaj, a religious and social reform society, was founded at Lahore by Pandit Shiv Narayan Agnihotri in:
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Answer: Option A — 1887
Detailed Solution
The Dev Samaj was founded at Lahore on 16 February 1887 by Pandit Shiv Narayan Agnihotri.
About Shiv Narayan Agnihotri:
- He was born in 1850 in the Kanpur district of the United Provinces.
- He was a teacher of drawing (an engineer by training) in Lahore.
- He was first a member of the Brahmo Samaj, and worked as its preacher in Punjab.
- Later, he differed with the Brahmo Samaj and founded his own society, the Dev Samaj.
- He was later called "Dev Guru Bhagwan" by his followers.
About the Dev Samaj:
- It emphasised the importance of moral conduct and the "eternal soul" over the belief in God; in its later phase, it rejected belief in a supreme God, and focused on ethics and a scientific approach to life.
- It taught the "Dev Dharma", based on the guidance of the founder (Dev Guru).
- It stressed good conduct, such as not drinking alcohol, not eating meat, not smoking, not gambling, not taking bribes, and serving others.
- It opposed caste discrimination and child marriage.
- It supported widow remarriage and inter-caste marriage.
- It strongly supported the education of women.
Its work in education:
- It set up many schools and colleges, especially for girls, in Punjab, Haryana and other places.
- The Dev Samaj College for Women (Ferozepur) and other institutions still exist.
- Its headquarters later moved to Chandigarh after partition.
Its publications:
Agnihotri wrote many books on religion and ethics, in Hindi and Urdu, such as "Deva Shastra".
Why not the other options?
- ✗1857, 1875 and 1905 were the years of other events.
Quick tip
Remember: Dev Samaj = Shiv Narayan Agnihotri, Lahore, 1887 (moral conduct; women's education; former Brahmo preacher).
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Socio-Religious Reform Movements — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Socio-Religious Reform Movements, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
In the 19th century, reformers worked to remove social evils and revive Indian society. This topic covers organisations such as the Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, Prarthana Samaj, Ramakrishna Mission, Theosophical Society, Satyashodhak Samaj and the Aligarh Movement, along with their founders and the social reforms they achieved. Questions usually ask who founded an organisation and when, or which reformer is linked to a reform. For example, Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Brahmo Samaj and campaigned against sati, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar championed widow remarriage, and Jyotiba Phule founded the Satyashodhak Samaj. A table of organisation, founder, year and place covers most questions. Practise the socio-religious reform movements questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.