In which year 'The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act' was passed ?
- (a)1856
- (b)1858
- (c)1859
- (d)1862
Correct — A, 1856. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act (Act XV of 1856) legalised the remarriage of Hindu widows across British India; it received assent on 26 July 1856. The reform was driven by Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, who used scriptural authority (notably the Parashara Smriti) to argue that remarriage was sanctioned. The bill was moved during Lord Dalhousie's administration and became law in 1856.
- (b)1858 — 1858 is when the Crown took over the government of India from the East India Company (Government of India Act 1858 and the Queen's Proclamation), not the year of the Remarriage Act.
- (c)1859 — No widow-remarriage law was passed in 1859; it is a distractor year (the Bengal Rent Act of 1859 dealt with tenancy, an unrelated subject).
- (d)1862 — 1862 is when the High Courts began functioning under the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 — a judicial reform, not this social one.
The 19th-century social-reform movement used colonial legislation to attack customs affecting women. The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 removed the legal bar on a Hindu widow's remarriage and gave such marriages legal validity — though the same Act made a remarrying widow forfeit any inheritance she held from her deceased husband. It stands with the abolition of Sati as a landmark of women-centred reform.
Anchor the reform to its author and its year: Vidyasagar -> widow remarriage -> 1856. The tempting wrong years belong to other landmarks (1858 Crown rule, 1862 High Courts), so the real test is separating the events by date.
- The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act = Act XV of 1856, given assent on 26 July 1856.
- Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar led the campaign, citing the Parashara Smriti.
- The bill was introduced during Lord Dalhousie's administration and became law in 1856.
- Sati had already been outlawed earlier, by Regulation XVII of 1829.
- Confusing 1856 (widow remarriage) with 1829 (Sati) or 1891 (age of consent)
- Crediting Raja Rammohan Roy for the 1856 Act instead of Vidyasagar
A straight 'which year / who was behind it' question. Lock the pair Vidyasagar - 1856 - widow remarriage.
Who among the following wrote the book "Bahubivah"?
- (a) Raja Rammohun Roy
- (b) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- (c) Pandita Rambai
- (d) Rabindranath Tagore
Answer(b) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Same reformer — Vidyasagar, whose marriage-reform writings underpinned the 1856 Widow Remarriage Act.
Who among the following was associated as Secretary with Hindu Female School which later came to be known as Bethune Female School?
- (a) Annie Besant
- (b) Debendranath Tagore
- (c) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- (d) Sarojini Naidu
Answer(c) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Vidyasagar again — the architect of the Widow Remarriage Act, here in his women's-education work.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which social reformer's campaign led to the enactment of the Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856?
- (a)Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
- (b)Raja Rammohan Roy
- (c)Dayananda Saraswati
- (d)M. G. Ranade
Answer(a) Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The practice of Sati was legally abolished in British India in which year?
- (a)1829
- (b)1856
- (c)1858
- (d)1872
Answer(a) 1829 — by the Bengal Sati Regulation under Lord William Bentinck.