Rukhmabai
Rukhmabai | |
---|---|
Born | 22 November 1864 |
Died | 25 September 1955 | (aged 90)
Occupation(s) | Doctor, women's emancipation |
Rukhmabai (22 November 1864 – 25 September 1955) was an Indian
Early life
Rukhmabai was born to Janardhan Pandurang and Jayantibai in a
Two and a half years later, 11-year-old Rukhmabai was married to the 19 year old Dadaji Bhikaji, a cousin of her step-father. It was agreed that deviating from the contemporary social norms, Dadaji would stay with Rukhmabai's family as a gharjawai and be fully provided for by them. The expectation was for him to acquire education in due course and "become a good man". Six months into the marriage, Rukhmabai having reached puberty, the traditional event of Garbhadhan was held signalling the time for ritual consummation of marriage. But Dr Sakharam Arjun, being an eminent physician of reformist tendencies, did not permit early consummation.[1]
This displeased Bhikaji, now aged 20, who also resented the attempts of Rukhmabai's family to make him "a good man". In addition to his aversion for education, the compulsion to go to sixth standard of school at an age when he should have been at the university was particularly distressing. In the meanwhile, Bhikaji lost his mother and against the advice of Sakharam Arjun, took to living with his maternal uncle Narayan Dhurmaji. The environment of Dhurmaji's home pushed Bhikaji further into a life of indolence and waywardness. He eventually accumulated debts which he hoped to clear using the property that accompanied Rukhmabai into the house. Rukhmabai refused to move in to the household of Dhurmaji to live with Bhikaji, a decision supported by her step-father.[1]
In contrast, in the same years Rukhmabai studied at home using books from a Free Church Mission library. Because of her father's association with religious and social reformers she also came into contact with prominent names like Vishnu Shastri Pandit, a strong proponent of women's causes in Western India at the time, along with European men and women exposing her to liberal reformism. With her mother, she also regularly attended the weekly meetings of the Prarthanä Samäj and Arya Mahilä Samäj.[2][1][3]
"Restitution of conjugal rights" case by Bhikaji
In March 1884, Bhikaji sent a legal notice to Sakharam Arjun via his lawyers Chalk and Walker, asking him to desist preventing Rukhmabai from joining him. Eventually Sakharam Arjun sought legal help and via lawyers Payne-Gilbert, and Sayani provided grounds for Rukhmabai's refusal to join Bhikaji.[4]
In 1885, the case of Bhikaji seeking "
Dissolution of Marriage
After the series of court cases which resulted in the
Everywhere it is considered one of the greatest blessings of God that we are under the protection of our beloved Queen Victoria's Government, which has its world wide fame for best administration. If such a Government cannot help unyoke us Hindu woman, what Government on earth has the power to relieve the daughters of Ind from their present miseries? This 50th year of our Queen's accession to the most renowned throne is the jubilee year in which every town and every village in her dominions is to show their loyalty in the best way it can, and wish the mother Queen a long happy life, to rule over us for many years with peace and prosperity. At such an unusual occasion will the mother listen to an earnest appeal from her millions of Indian daughters and grant them a few simple words of change into the book on Hindu law- that 'marriages performed before the respective ages of 20 in boys and 15 in girls shall not be considered legal in the eyes of the law if brought before the Court.' This mere sentence will be sufficient for the present to have enough check on child marriages, without creating a great vexation among the ignorant masses. This jubilee year must leave some expression on us Hindu women, and nothing will be more gratefully received than the introduction of this mere sentence into our law books. It is the work of a day if God wished it, but without His aid every effort seems to be in vain. So far, dear lady, I have dwelt on your patience, for which an apology is necessary. With best compliments -I remain yours very sincerely, Rukhmabai.
Rukhmabai's Testimony to the Government of India. Daily Telegraph, 15 July 1887. page 2.
It has been claimed that Queen Victoria overruled the court and dissolved the marriage.[8] However no primary documentary evidence has been provided to support Queen Victoria's direct intervention in the case.
In July 1888, a settlement was reached with Bhikaji and he relinquished his claim on Rukhmabai for a payment of two thousand rupees. Bhikaji remarried in 1889[9] and Rukhmabai went on to become a widely revered feminist and medical practitioner.
Influence on Age of Consent Act, 1891
The case generated a great deal of debate both within India and England. It drew written commentaries from reformers like
Ultimately, the publicity and debate generated by this case helped influence the enactment of the "Age of Consent Act" in 1891, which changed the age of consent from 10 to 12 years across British India.[8]
Career
Rukhmabai received support from the likes of Edith Pechey (then working at the Cama Hospital) who not only encouraged her but helped raise funds for her further education.[16] Other supporters included Shivajirao Holkar who donated 500 Rupees for "demonstrating courage to intervene against traditions",[17] suffrage activists like Eva McLaren and Walter McLaren, the Countess of Dufferin's Fund for Supplying Medical Aid to the Women of India, Adelaide Manning and others who helped establish "The Rukhmabai Defence Committee" to help gather fund towards supporting her cause of continuing education. In 1889, Rukhmabai set sail to study medicine in England.[18]
In 1894, she received her Doctor of Medicine from the London School of Medicine for Women having also studied at the Royal Free Hospital. Doctors Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi were the first Indian women to have received medical degrees in 1886.[19] But only Ganguly went on to practice medicine, making Rukhmabai the second woman to both receive a medical degree and practice medicine.[20]
In 1895, she returned to India and worked as the Chief
Later life
In 1929 after her retirement, she published a pamphlet titled "Purdah - the need for its abolition" arguing that young widows were being denied the chance to actively contribute to Indian society.[21][22]
Death
Rukhmabai died, aged 90, from lung cancer on 25 September 1955.
In popular culture
- In 2008, the specifics of the legal case between Rukhmabai and her husband were published as a book titled Enslaved Daughters: Colonialism, Law and Women's Rights (ISBN 9780195695731) by author Sudhir Chandra.[1]
- In 2016, the story of Rukhmabai was adapted into a Marathi film titled Doctor Rakhmabai starring Tannishtha Chatterjee directed by Anant Mahadevan and produced by Dr Swapna Patker.[23]
- Rukhmabai by Sudhir Chandra explores the life and times of a child bride turned rebel-doctor. Published by Pan Macmillan India in 2024, the book is a biography based on decades of research.
Recognition
- 19?? - A hospital in Surat was named after her[24][8]
- On 22 November 2017, Google commemorated Rukhmabai's 153rd Birthday with a Google Doodle on their Indian front page. Although this gave her name as "Rukhmabai Raut"[25] there is no evidence that she ever used the surname of her father, step-father or of Dadaji. She signed herself as "Rukhmabai" in her medical writings[26] and her registration with the Registrar of the General Medical Council also only uses "Rukhmabai".[27]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-569573-1.
- ^ S2CID 144336522.
- ISBN 978-0-520-91945-7.
- ISBN 9780195695731.
- ISBN 9781135264468. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
- JSTOR 4404742.
- ^ Robb, George; Erber, Nancy (1999). Disorder in the Court: Trials and Sexual Conflict at the Turn of the Century. Springer. pp. 42–44.
- ^ ISBN 9781851093557.
- ^ Vallée, Gérard, ed. (2007). Florence Nightingale on Social Change in India: Collected Works of Florence Nightingale, Volume 10. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. pp. 775–776.
- ^ Malabari, Behramji M. (1888). ""A Hindu Lady"- and her woes". In Giduma, Dayaram (ed.). The Life and Life-work of Behramji M. Malabari. Bombay: Education Society. pp. 113–117.
- ^ Malabari, Behramji M. (1888). "Rukhmabai and Damayanti". In Giduma, Dayaram (ed.). The Life and Life-work of Behramji M. Malabari. Bombay: Education Society. pp. 132–134, 222–248.
- ^ Burton, Antoinette (2011). Empire in Question: Reading, Writing, and Teaching British Imperialism. Duke University Press. pp. 199–201.
- ISBN 9781349405732.
- ^ a b "Rukhmabai | Making Britain". www.open.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ISSN 0002-8762.
- ^ a b Jayawardena, Kamari (2014). White Women's Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia during British Rule. Routledge.
- ^ "Latest Telegrams". The Express and Telegraph. 21 January 1888. p. 2.
- S2CID 159894938.
- ^ "Google doodle for Rukhmabai Raut, but India's first woman doctor Kadambini Ganguly remains forgotten". 23 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ Jovita Aranha (31 August 2017). "The Phenomenal Story of Kadambini: One of India's First Women Graduates & Doctors". Retrieved 22 November 2017.
- ^ ISBN 9781576071014.
- ^ Sorabji, Richard. Opening Doors: The Untold Story of Cornelia Sorabji, Reformer, Lawyer and Champion of Women's Rights in India.
- ^ Royal Maratha Entertainment (3 March 2017), Doctor Rakhmabai | Official Teaser | Tannishtha Chatterjee, retrieved 23 November 2017
- ISBN 9781848853751. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- ^ Rukhmabai Raut’s 153rd Birthday - Google - 22 November 2017
- PMID 29005240.
- .