who started a society for widow remarriage in 1866 in maharashtra
Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856 To protect what it considered family honour and family property, upper-caste Hindu society had long disallowed the remarriage of widows, even child and adolescent ones, all of whom were expected to live a life of austerity and abnegation.[2] The Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act of 1856, enacted in response to the campaign of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar,[3] provided legal safeguards against loss of certain forms of inheritance for remarrying a Hindu widow,[2] though, under the Act, the widow forsook any inheritance due her from her deceased husband.[4] Especially targeted in the act were Hindu child widows whose husbands had died before consummation of marriage.[5]
Satyashodhak Samaj The non-Brahmin movement, that was embodied in Satyashodhak Samaj, had not made much difference to any sections of the society in the 19th century and languished after the death of Phule. However, it was revived in the early 20th century by the Maratha ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur, Shahu Maharaj. In 1902, Shahu reserved 50 per cent civil service posts in Kolhapur state for all communities other than Brahmins, Prabhus[a] and Parsi. He also sponsored religious ceremonies that did not need a brahmin priest to officiate.[5] By the 1920s, the samaj had established strong roots among the rural masses in Western Maharashtra and Vidarbha and took a strong economic overtone in its message. At that time the organization styled itself the representative of the Bahujan samaj. It also defined the brahmins,merchants and moneylenders as the oppressors of the masses.[6] The Samaj also conducted activities in Satara District, Kolhapur State and other places in this area that were designed to harass Brahmins, and to drive them from their positions as priests, government officials, money-lenders, and teachers in the rural areas.[7] Prior to 1920s,the samaj opposed the Indian national movement because it was a movement led by the elites. Later followers of the Samaj during 20th century included educationalist Bhaurao Patil and Maratha leaders such as Keshavrao Jedhe, Nana Patil, Khanderao Bagal and Madhavrao Bagal.[8] By the 1930s,given the mass movement nature of the Congress party under Mahatma Gandhi,the samaj leaders such as Jedhe joined the Congress, and the samaj activities withered away.[9]