Like the other regional social reform movements in the 19th century, the Arya Samaj movement was initiated by an urban educated elite, in response to the new economic, social and political forces set in motion by the colonial rule. The townbased trading classes provided the social base of the Arya Samaj movement in Punjab. The socio-political movement, derived from ancient rite of shuddhikaran, or purification on a mass scale was started by the Arya Samaj, and its founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati and his followers like Swami Shraddhanand. In 1893, the Arya Samaj split into two in Punjab, one section led by moderates such as Lala Hans Raj and Lala Lajpat Rai who retained the control over D.A.V. College, Lahore. The Arya Samaj that had its largest following in western and northern India had far more members than the Brahmo Samaj that was more a Bengal movement.