Jyotirao Phule
Mahātmā Jyotirao
Phule | |
---|---|
British India (Maharashtra, India) | |
Other names | • Jyotiba Phule[2] • Mahatma Phule[2] |
Alma mater | • Scottish Mission highschool, Poona (1842)[2] |
Notable work | • Brahmananche Kasab (1869) [1]
• Shetkaryancha Aasud[2] (1883)
• Gulamgiri[2] (1873)
• Trutiya Ratna (1855) |
Spouse | Savitribai Phule |
Children | 1 |
Family | • Govindrao Phule (father) [2]
• Chimanabai Phule (mother) social reformation |
Jyotirao Govindrao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste
Early life
Jyotirao Phule was born in Poona (Now
Govindrao married Chimnabai and had two sons, of whom Jyotirao was the youngest. Chimnabai died before he was aged one.[16] The then backward Mali community did not give much significance to education and thus after attending primary school where he learnt the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, Jyotirao was withdrawn from school by his father. He joined the other members of his family at work, both in the shop and in the farm. However, a man from the same Mali caste as Phule's recognised his intelligence and persuaded Phule's father to allow him to attend the local Scottish Mission High School.[17][18][a] Phule completed his English schooling in 1847. As was customary, he was married at the young age of 13, to a girl of his Mali community, chosen by his father.[20]
The turning point in his life was in 1848, when he attended the wedding of a Brahmin friend. Phule participated in the customary marriage procession, but was later rebuked and insulted by his friend's parents for doing so. They told him that he being from a Shudra caste should have had the sense to keep away from that ceremony. This incident profoundly affected him and shaped his understanding of the injustice inherent to the caste system.[21]
Social activism
Education
In 1848, aged 21, Phule visited a girls' school in Ahmednagar run by Christian missionary Cynthia Farrar.[22][23] It was also in 1848 that he read Thomas Paine's book Rights of Man and developed a keen sense of social justice. He realized that exploited castes and women were at a disadvantage in Indian society, and also that education of these sections was vital to their emancipation.[24] To this end and in the same year, Phule first taught reading and writing to his wife, Savitribai, and then the couple started the first indigenously run school for girls in Pune.[25][b] He also taught his sister Sagunabai Kshirsagar (his maternal aunt's daughter) to write Marathi with Savitribai.[26][15] The conservative upper caste society of Pune didn't approve of his work. But many Indians and Europeans helped him generously. Conservatives in Pune also forced his own family and community to ostracize them. During this period, their friend Usman Sheikh and his sister Fatima Sheikh provided them with shelter. They also helped to start the school on their premises.[27] Later, the Phules started schools for children from the then untouchable castes such as Mahar and Mang.[28] In 1852, there were three Phule schools in operation 273 girls were pursuing education in these school but by 1858 they had all closed. Eleanor Zelliot blames the closure on private European donations drying up due to the Rebellion of 1857, withdrawal of government support, and Jyotirao resigning from the school management committee because of disagreement regarding the curriculum.[29]
Women's welfare
Phule watched how
He championed
In 1863, Pune witnessed a horrific incident. A Brahmin widow named Kashibai got pregnant and her attempts at abortion didn't succeed. She killed the baby after giving it birth and threw it in a well, but her act came to light. She had to face punishment and was sentenced to jail. This incident greatly upset Phule and hence, along with his longtime friend Sadashiv Ballal Govande and Savitribai, he started an infanticide prevention centre. Pamphlets were stuck around Pune advertising the centre in the following words: "Widows, come here and deliver your baby safely and secretly. It is up to your discretion whether you want to keep the baby in the centre or take it with you. This orphanage will take care of the children [left behind]." The Phule couple ran the infanticide prevention centre until the mid-1880s.[32]
Phule tried to eliminate the stigma of social untouchability surrounding the exploited castes by opening his house and the use of his water well to the members of the exploited castes.[33]
Views on religion and caste
Phule appealed for reestablishment of the reign of mythical
Phule saw Vishnu's avatars as a symbol of oppression stemming from the Aryan conquests and took Mahabali (Bali Raja) as hero.[39] His critique of the caste system began with an attack on the Vedas, the most fundamental texts of Hindus.[40] He considered them to be a form of false consciousness.[41]
He is credited with introducing the Marathi word dalit (broken, crushed) as a descriptor for those people who were outside the traditional varna system.[42]
At an education commission hearing in 1882, Phule called for help in providing education for lower castes.[43] To implement it, he advocated making primary education compulsory in villages. He also asked for special incentives to get more lower-caste people in high schools and colleges.[44]
Satyashodhak Samaj
On 24 September 1874, Phule formed Satyashodhak Samaj to focus on rights of depressed groups such women, the Shudra, and the Dalit.[31][45][46] Through this samaj, he opposed idolatry and denounced the caste system. Satyashodhak Samaj campaigned for the spread of rational thinking and rejected the need for priests.
Phule established Satyashodhak Samaj with the ideals of human well-being, happiness, unity, equality, and easy religious principles and rituals.[46] A Pune-based newspaper, Deenbandhu, provided the voice for the views of the Samaj.[47]
The membership of the samaj included Muslims, Brahmins and government officials. Phule's own Mali caste provided the leading members and financial supporters for the organization.[45]
Occupation
Apart from his role as a social activist, Phule was a businessman too. In 1882 he styled himself as a merchant, cultivator and municipal contractor.
Phule was appointed commissioner (municipal council member) to the then Poona municipality in 1876 and served in this unelected position until 1883.[52]
Published works
Phule's akhandas were organically linked to the abhangs of Marathi Varkari saint Tukaram.[53] Among his notable published works are:
- Tritiya Ratna, 1855
- Brahmananche Kasab, 1869
- Powada : Chatrapati Shivajiraje Bhosle Yancha, [English: Life Of Shivaji, In Poetical Metre], June 1869
- Powada: Vidyakhatyatil Brahman Pantoji, June 1869
- Manav Mahammand (Muhammad) (Abhang)
- Gulamgiri, 1873
- Shetkarayacha Aasud(Cultivator's Whipcord), July 1881
- Satsar Ank 1, June 1885
- Satsar Ank 2 June 1885
- Ishara, October 1885
- Gramjoshya sambhandi jahir kabhar, (1886)
- Satyashodhak Samajokt Mangalashtakasah Sarva Puja-vidhi, 1887
- Sarvajanik Satya Dharma Poostak, April 1889
- Sarvajanic Satya Dharmapustak, 1891
- Akhandadi Kavyarachana
- Asprushyanchi Kaifiyat
Legacy
According to Dhananjay Keer, Phule was bestowed with the title of Mahatma on 11 May 1888 by another social reformer from Bombay, Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar.[8]
Indian Postal Department issued a postage stamp in year 1977 in the honour of Phule.
An early biography of Phule was the Marathi-language Mahatma Jotirao Phule Yanche Charitra (P. S. Patil, Chikali: 1927).[54] Two others are Mahatma Phule. Caritra Va Kriya (Mahatma Phule. Life and Work) (A. K. Ghorpade, Poona: 1953), which is also in Marathi, and Mahatma Jyotibha Phule: Father of Our Social Revolution (Dhananjay Keer, Bombay: 1974). Unpublished material relating to him is held by the Bombay State Committee on the History of the Freedom Movement.[55]
Phule's work inspired B. R. Ambedkar, the first minister of law of India and the chief of Indian constitution's drafting committee. Ambedkar had acknowledged Phule as one of his three gurus or masters.[56][57][58]
There are many structures and places commemorating Phule. These include:
- The full-length statue inaugurated at the premises of Vidhan Bhavan (Assembly Building of Maharashtra State)[citation needed]
- Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai, formerly known as Crawford Market, in Mumbai
- Mahatma Phule Museum in Pune
- Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra
- Mahathma Phule Mandai, the biggest vegetable market in Pune
- Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University
- Subharti College of Physiotherapy was formerly named after him.
In popular culture
- Jan Natya Manch in 1992.[59]
- Mahatma Phule (1954), an Indian Marathi-language biographical film about the social reformer was directed Pralhad Keshav Atre.
- Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, an Indian drama television series based on Savitribai Phule's and Jyotiba Phule's life was aired on DD National in 2016.
- Savitri Jyoti, an Marathi drama television series based on the life and work of Savitribai and Jyotiba Phule was aired on Sony Marathi in 2019- 2020.[60][61]
- Savitribai Phule, an Indian Kannada-language biopic was made about Phule in 2018.[62]
- Satyashodhak (2024), is an Indian Marathi-language biographical journey through the life of Mahatma Jyotirao Phule.
References
Notes
- ^ The Scottish Mission school was operated by the Free Church of Scotland and educated pupils from a wide range of castes.[19]
- Bombay in In 1847, the Students' literary and scientific society started the Kamalabai high school for girls in the Girgaon neighborhood of Bombay. The school is still operational in 2016. Peary Charan Sarkar started a school for girls called Kalikrishna Girls' High School in the Bengali townof Barasat in 1847. The Parsi community Mumbai had also established a school for girls in 1847.
- ^ Varnashramadharma has been described by Dietmar Rothermund as the Indian societal system that "regulates the duty (dharma) of every man according to his caste (varna) and age-grade (ashrama)".[36]
Citations
- ^ "The Polemics of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule on His Birth Anniversary". 28 November 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g "पुरोगामी विचार समर्थपणे पुढे नेणारे महात्मा फुले". Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ "Remembering Jyotirao Phule: The Pioneer Of Girls' Education In India". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ "Mahatma Jyotirao Phule: Reformer far ahead of his time". Hindustan Times. 27 June 2019. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ a b "Remembering the pioneer of women's education in India: Contributions by Jyotirao Phule". India Today. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ "Savitribai Phule: The pioneer of women's education in India". The Week. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-4985-2488-9.
- ^ a b Keer (1974), p. 247.
- ^ "Who was Jyotirao Phule?". The Indian Express. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ "जोतिबा फुले 'महात्मा' कसे बनले?". BBC News मराठी (in Marathi). Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), pp. 3, 105–106.
- ^ a b c d O'Hanlon (2002), pp. 105–106.
- from the original on 25 June 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
- ISBN 9789353053130.
- ^ a b "सामाजिक व शैक्षणिक क्रांतीचे जनक महात्मा जोतिबा फुले | Sakal". www.esakal.com. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Keer (1974), pp. 1–3.
- ISBN 978-93-86042-93-4.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), p. 110.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), p. 105.
- ^ Phule, Jotirao (1991). Selections: Collected Works of Mahatma Jotirao Phule Vol II. Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. pp. xv.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Phule, Jotirao (1991). Selections: Collected Works of Mahatma Jotirao Phule Vol II. Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra. pp. xvi.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Cynthia Farrar the missionary woman who inspired Jyotirao Phule". The Satya Shodhak.
- ^ "American Marathi mission..." Sakal. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), pp. 110–113.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), p. 118.
- ^ "सावित्रीबाई: स्त्रीमुक्तीच्या आद्य प्रणेत्या". Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ Mohan, Siddhant (7 April 2017). "Remembering Fatima Sheikh, the first Muslim teacher who laid the foundation of Dalit-Muslim unity". Two Circles. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
- ISBN 978-81-250-2192-6.
- ISBN 9788125021926.
- ^ "How Savitribai Phule, India's first female teacher, dealt with abusers hell bent on preventing her from educating girls". India Today. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- ^ a b c O'Hanlon (2002), p. 135.
- ^ a b Figueira (2012), p. 147.
- ^ ANI (11 April 2017). "PM Modi pays tributes to Mahatma Phule on his birth anniversary". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ Figueira (2012), p. 148.
- ^ Figueira (2012), pp. 143–157.
- ^ Rothermund, Dietmar (1968). "Emancipation or Re-integration". In Low, D. A. (ed.). Soundings in Modern South Asian History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 132.
- ISBN 978-8-17022-497-6.
- ^ Malli, Karthik (30 September 2022). "Jotirao Phule and the history of Marathi print culture". The Caravan. Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
- ISBN 978-81-250-4175-7.
- ^ O'Hanlon (2002), p. 147-149.
- ^ Figueira (2012), p. 149.
- ISBN 978-8-19038-876-4.
- ISBN 978-81-89479-58-9.
- ^ "Mahatma Jyotirao Phule: Reformer Far Ahead of his Time". Hindustan Times. 4 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ^ JSTOR 44158153.
- ^ a b "Life & Work of Mahatma Jotira". University of Pune. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-52152-640-1.
- ^ Keer (1974), p. 172.
- ISBN 978-155587-697-5.
- ^ Kale, Govind Ganapat (11 April 2020). "Snapshots from Mahatma Jotirao Phule's life, through the eyes of his close aide". www.thenewsminute.com. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- JSTOR 44158153.
- ^ Keer (1974), p. 143.
- ISBN 9780761933816.
- ^ O'Hanlon (1992), p. 107.
- ^ Sarkar (1975), pp. 32–33, 40.
- ISBN 9789353053130. Retrieved 24 April 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Greatness of Mahatma Jotiba Phule". 11 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "मेरा जीवन तीन गुरुओं और तीन उपास्यों से बना है- बाबासाहब डॉ बीआर अम्बेडकर". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "Life As Message". Tehelka Magazine, Vol 9, Issue 24. 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ "सावित्री-जोतिरावांच्या चरित्रावर मालिका". Loksatta (in Marathi). Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- ^ "TRP मिळत नसल्यानं सावित्रीबाई फुलेंवरची मालिका अखेर बंद". Maharashtra Times (in Marathi). Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
- from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
Bibliography
- Figueira, Dorothy Matilda (2012), Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority Through Myths of Identity, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-79148-783-9
- ISBN 978-81-7154-066-2
- O'Hanlon, Rosalind (1992), "Issues of Widowhood in Colonial Western India", in Haynes, Douglas E.; Prakash, Gyan (eds.), Contesting Power: Resistance and Everyday Social Relations in South Asia, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0-52007-585-6
- O'Hanlon, Rosalind (2002) [1985], Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth-Century Western India (Revised ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-52152-308-0
- Sarkar, Sumit (1975), Bibliographical Survey of Social Reform Movements in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, Motilal Banarsidass/Indian Council of Historical Research
Further reading
- Gavaskar, Mahesh (1999). "Phule's Critique of Brahmin Power". In Michael, S. M. (ed.). Untouchable, Dalits in Modern India. Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 43–56. ISBN 978-1-55587-697-5.
- Guha, Ramachandra, ed. (2011). Makers of Modern India. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-67405-246-8.
- Dr. J. P. Dodamani (tra. Kannada).(2011). Mahatma Jyotirao Phule
- Wayne, Tiffany K., ed. (2011). Feminist Writings from Ancient Times to the Modern World: A Global Sourcebook and History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-31334-581-4.