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Q62 (IAS/2020) History & Culture › National Movement (1857–1947) › Social reform movements Official Key

In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around 1. women's right to gain education 2. age of consent 3. restitution of conjugal rights Select the correct answer using the code given below :

Result
Your answer:  ·  Correct: B
Explanation

The correct answer is Option 2 (2 and 3 only). The 1884 case of Rakhmabai was a landmark legal battle that significantly influenced social legislation in colonial India.

  • Restitution of Conjugal Rights: The case began when Rakhmabai’s husband, Dadaji Bhikaji, filed a suit seeking the "restitution of conjugal rights" after she refused to live with him, citing that the marriage was performed in her childhood without her consent.
  • Age of Consent: The public debate generated by this case highlighted the horrors of child marriage and the lack of legal agency for child brides. This discourse was instrumental in the enactment of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which raised the age of consent from 10 to 12 years.

While Rakhmabai later became a doctor, the 1884 litigation itself did not revolve around women's right to education; it was strictly a legal fight regarding marital rights and the validity of infant marriages.

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PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. In the context of Indian history, the Rakhmabai case of 1884 revolved around 1. women's right to gain education 2. age of consent 3. rest…
At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 10/10
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This question is a classic 'Hidden Current Affairs' trap. While it looks like static history, it was likely triggered by the Google Doodle (Nov 2017) or the biopic 'Doctor Rakhmabai'. Standard books cover the Age of Consent Act 1891 but often omit the specific litigant (Rakhmabai) who sparked it.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Did the Rakhmabai case of 1884 concern a woman's right to gain education?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 5/5
"debates on the age of consent for marriage when Rakhmbai refused to obey. ... The case was instrumental in the drafting of the Age of Consent Act in 1891."
Why this source?
  • Explicitly links the Rakhmabai case to debates on the age of consent, indicating the case's primary focus was marital consent and age, not education.
  • Says the case was instrumental in drafting the Age of Consent Act (1891), showing legislative impact concerned consent rather than educational rights.
Web source
Presence: 4/5
"still in school, her husband, Dadaji, insisted that Rakhmabai come and live with him in his house. Rakhmabai... refused. Early in 1884, one of India’s most influential and publicized trials began. After Rakhmabai refused to stay with her husband, the court gave her two options – to either comply or face imprisonment."
Why this source?
  • Describes the immediate cause of the trial as Rakhmabai's refusal to live with her husband while still in school, showing the dispute was about marital obedience/consummation.
  • Shows the court compelled compliance or imprisonment, indicating the legal issue centered on marital rights and consent rather than a legal right to education.
Web source
Presence: 5/5
"Dr. Rakhmabai Bhikaji was a pioneer in the field of medicine and women’s rights in the 19th century. Her efforts to be granted the right to choose was instrumental in raising the age of consent for women in 1891."
Why this source?
  • Identifies Rakhmabai as a pioneer in medicine and women's rights but links her efforts to being 'granted the right to choose' and raising the age of consent, again tying the case to choice/consent.
  • Mentions her medical studies as biographical context, not as the legal issue at stake in the 1884 case.

India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: Print Culture and the Modern World > Source E > p. 124
Strength: 4/5
“In 1926, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein, a noted educationist and literary figure, strongly condemned men for withholding education from women in the name of religion as she addressed the Bengal Women's Education Conference: 'The opponents of female education say that women will become unruly … Fie! They call themselves Muslims and yet go against the basic tenet of Islam which gives Women an equal right to education. If men are not led astray once educated, why should women?'”
Why relevant

Quotes Begum Rokeya arguing that religion should not be used to withhold women's education, presenting a contemporaneous discourse linking women's rights and access to education.

How to extend

A student could use this to infer that late‑19th/early‑20th social debates included claims about women's educational rights and therefore look for 1880s legal cases that engaged similar themes.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 8: Socio-Religious Reform Movements: General Features > Direction of Social Reform > p. 198
Strength: 4/5
“Pandita Ramabai Saraswati founded the Arya Mahila Samaj to serve the cause of women. She pleaded for improvement in the educational syllabus of Indian women before the English Education Commission which was referred to Queen Victoria. This resulted in medical education for women which started in Lady Dufferin College. Later Ramabai Ranade established a branch of Arya Mahila Samaj in Bombay. In 1925, the National Council of Women in India, a national branch of the International Council of Women, was”
Why relevant

Describes reformers like Pandita Ramabai pressing for improved and professional education for women (e.g., medical education), showing organized campaigns for women's educational access in the period.

How to extend

One could extend this pattern to hypothesize that legal disputes involving women then (such as Rakhmabai's) might touch on education or related social reforms, and so check case details.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 30: Development of Education > Evaluation of British Policy on Education > p. 573
Strength: 3/5
“3. Mass education was neglected leading to widespread illiteracy (1911—84 per cent and in 1921—92 per cent) which created a wide linguistic and cultural gulf between the educated few and the masses. 4. Since education was to be paid for, it became a monopoly of upper and richer classes and city dwellers. 5. There was an almost total neglect of women's education because (i) the Government did not want to arouse wrath of orthodox sections; and (ii) it had no immediate utility for the colonial rule. 6. Scientific and technical education was by and large neglected. By 1857 there were only three medical colleges at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, and only one good engineering college at Roorkee which was open only to Europeans and Eurasians.”
Why relevant

Notes British-era neglect of women's education and that education was largely for the upper classes, providing background context for why legal/social challenges about women's education could arise in the 19th century.

How to extend

A student could combine this structural background with knowledge of specific cases (like Rakhmabai) to assess whether such a case might involve educational access or social mobility issues.

Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 90: Landmark Judgements and Their Impact > MOHINI JAIN CASE (1992) > p. 631
Strength: 3/5
“t MOHINI JAIN CASE (1992) • Name of the Case: Year of Judgement: Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: 1992 • Name of the Case: Popular Name: Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: Capitation Fee case • Name of the Case: Related Topic: Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: right to education • Name of the Case: Issue: Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: • Name of the Case: Related Article/ : Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: 21 & 41 • Name of the Case: Schedule: Mohini Jain vs. State of Karnataka: Supreme Court Judgement: It ruled that the right to education is a fundamental right under Article 21.”
Why relevant

Summarizes Mohini Jain (1992) as a legal case explicitly about the 'right to education', showing that courts have been arenas for adjudicating education rights.

How to extend

Using this pattern, a student could reasonably search for whether earlier landmark cases (e.g., 19th‑century ones) similarly raised education issues, or contrast later jurisprudence with older cases like Rakhmabai.

Indian Polity, M. Laxmikanth(7th ed.) > Chapter 90: Landmark Judgements and Their Impact > UNNI KRISHNAN CASE (1993) > p. 632
Strength: 2/5
“~UNNI KRISHNAN CASE (1993) | Case Na: Unni Krishnan vs. State of A.P. | Case | Case Na: Popular News | Case Na: Right to education | Case Na: Articles 21 & 45 | Case Na: Schedule Supreme Court Judgement: It held that the right to education is a fundamental right under Article 21 and that this right directly flows from the right to life. But, it declared that only children have the right to free education until they complete the age of 14 years. After that age, the obligation of the state to provide education depends on its economic capacity.”
Why relevant

Describes Unni Krishnan (1993) holding that right to education is connected to fundamental rights, illustrating a legal framework where private litigants can raise education claims.

How to extend

A student might extend this rule to consider whether the Rakhmabai litigation could have been framed (or later interpreted) as involving educational entitlement or related personal rights.

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Statement analysis

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