Why In The News?

• November 28 marks the death anniversary of great Indian activist and reformer, Jyotiba Phule.

About Jyotiba Phule:

Birth:

• On 11th April, 1827 in Khatgun village which is today in the Satara district of Maharashtra.

Title:

• His family belonged to the ‘mali’ caste and their original title was ‘Gorhay’.
• On May 11, 1888, he was bestowed with the title of Mahatma by a Maharashtrian social activist Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar.

Ideology and influence:

• His ideology centered around liberty, egalitarianism, and socialism.
• He drew inspiration from Thomas Paine’s book The Rights of Man.

Marriage:

• He was married off when he was only 13 with Savitribai.
• The couple went on to establish the country’s first school for girls in Bhidewada, Pune, in 1848.

Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha:

• In 1863, Jyotiba and Savitribai began Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha, India’s first home dedicated to prohibiting infanticide and supporting pregnant Brahmin widows and rape victims.

Satyashodhak Samaj:

• Phule along with his followers formed Satyashodhak Samajin 1873 which meant ‘Seekers of Truth’ and was dedicated towards the removal of the socio-economic backwardness of Dalits.
• It is believed that it was Phule who first used the term ‘Dalit’ for the depiction of oppressed masses often placed outside the ‘varna system’.

Literary works:

• Gulamgiri (Slavery), Shetkarayacha Aasud (Cultivator’s Whipcord), and Tritiya Ratna.