In which year 'The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act' was passed ?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

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.

Why the other options are wrong — (b) 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) 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 is when the High Courts began functioning under the Indian High Courts Act, 1861 — a judicial reform, not this social one.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2019 Q45 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2019 Q45 — History PYQ with Answer