MPPSC 2022 Prelims Q67: Prarthana Samaj was established in

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2022 Prelims Q67?

D. Correct — D, Maharashtra. The Prarthana Samaj was founded in Bombay in 1867 by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang, and grew into a major vehicle of Maharashtrian social reform after Mahadev Govind Ranade joined and pushed its work on widow remarriage, women's education and opposition to caste restrictions, alongside monotheistic worship broadly inspired by the Bengal Brahmo Samaj.

MPPSC 2022 Prelims Paper-I · Question 67 of 100

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

Prarthana Samaj was established in ________.

(a)Bengal
(b)Gujarat
(c)Bihar
(d)Maharashtra

Answer

Why

Correct — D, Maharashtra. The Prarthana Samaj was founded in Bombay in 1867 by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang, and grew into a major vehicle of Maharashtrian social reform after Mahadev Govind Ranade joined and pushed its work on widow remarriage, women's education and opposition to caste restrictions, alongside monotheistic worship broadly inspired by the Bengal Brahmo Samaj.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Bengal — Bengal was the base of the Brahmo Samaj (1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy), a related but separate monotheistic reform movement — not the Prarthana Samaj.
(b)Gujarat — No major 19th-century reform samaj of this name was founded in Gujarat; the Prarthana Samaj's home was Bombay in Maharashtra.
(c)Bihar — Not associated with the founding of the Prarthana Samaj, which began and worked chiefly in Bombay and western India.

Concept

The Prarthana Samaj (1867) was a Maharashtra-based theistic reform movement influenced by Bengal's Brahmo Samaj, but distinctly regional in focus — it emphasised practical social reform (widow remarriage, women's education, inter-caste dining) over theological debate.

MPPSC/UPSC often test the 'movement → founder → region' triad for 19th-century reform organisations; the trap is conflating Bengal's Brahmo Samaj with Maharashtra's Prarthana Samaj since both share monotheistic, reformist aims and even influenced one another.

Key facts

Founded in 1867 in Bombay by Dr. Atmaram Pandurang
Mahadev Govind Ranade later joined and became its most influential leader, widening its social reform agenda
Distinct from the Brahmo Samaj (Bengal, 1828, Raja Ram Mohan Roy) though both promoted monotheism and reform
Core causes: widow remarriage, women's education, opposition to caste restrictions

Portrait of Mahadev Govind Ranade, 19th-century Maharashtrian social reformer and jurist who co-founded the Prarthana Samaj

Study next

Brahmo Samaj (Bengal, 1828) vs Prarthana Samaj (Maharashtra, 1867)Arya Samaj (Punjab, 1875, Swami Dayanand Saraswati)M. G. Ranade's other reform work (Widow Remarriage Association, Deccan Education Society)19th-century socio-religious reform organisations mapped by founding regionWomen's education and widow remarriage movements in colonial India

Common traps

Confusing Prarthana Samaj (Maharashtra) with Brahmo Samaj (Bengal) since both are monotheistic reform bodies
Assuming Raja Ram Mohan Roy founded the Prarthana Samaj — he founded the Brahmo Samaj

MPPSC/UPSC test the region/founder pairing directly ('X Samaj was established in ___') or via matching lists of reform organisations to states and founders.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The Brahmo Samaj, one of the earliest socio-religious reform movements of modern India, was founded in 1828 by:
- (a)Atmaram Pandurang
- (b)Raja Ram Mohan Roy
- (c)Swami Dayanand Saraswati
- (d)Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
Answer(b) Raja Ram Mohan Roy — founded the Brahmo Samaj in Calcutta, Bengal, in 1828.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which social reformer joined and later became the most prominent leader of the Prarthana Samaj, expanding its work on widow remarriage and women's education?
- (a)Mahadev Govind Ranade
- (b)Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- (c)Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- (d)Jyotiba Phule
Answer(a) Mahadev Govind Ranade.