Quick Facts
The 3rd of January, 1831, was her birthday. Naigaon, British India, was her birthplace. 10th of March, 1897. Pune, Maharashtra, British India, was the place where she died. Jyotiba Phule is her husband's name. Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha, Satyashodhak Samaj, Mahila Seva Mandal are some of the organisations involved. Women's Education and Empowerment Movement, Social Reform Movement
Introduction
Savitribai Jyotirao Phule was a renowned Indian social reformer, educator, and poet who aided women's education and empowerment in the nineteenth century. Savitribai is credited for creating the first girl's school in Pune in Bhide Wada with her husband Jyotirao Phule, who was one of the few literate women of the time. She worked hard to educate and emancipate children, widows, advocated for widow remarriage, and campaigned against child marriage and sati pratha. She is regarded as an icon of the Dalit Mang caste, alongside B. R. Ambedkar and Annabhau Sathe. She was a key player in Maharashtra's social reform movement. She was an outspoken opponent of untouchability and a tireless advocate for the abolition of caste and gender inequality.
Early Years
Savitribai was born on January 3, 1831, in Naigaon (now in Satara district), British India, to Khandoji Neveshe Patil and Lakshmi, their eldest daughter, in a farming family. In 1840, the nine-year-old Savitribai was married to the 12-year-old Jyotirao Phule, as was customary at the time. Jyotirao went on to become an anti-caste social reformer, thinker, writer, and social activist. He is one of Maharashtra's major characters in the social reform movement. Savitribai began her study after her marriage. After seeing her eagerness to learn and educate herself, her husband taught her to read and write. She passed her third and fourth-year exams in a regular school and became interested in teaching. Ms Farar's Institution in Ahmednagar provided her with instructions. In all of Savitribai's social endeavors, Jyotirao was by her side.
Women's Empowerment and Education
Jyotirao and Savitribai founded the first indigenously administered school for girls in Pune (then Poona) in 1848, when the latter was still in her teens. Despite being shunned by their family and society for their decision, the Phule's were provided shelter by a friend, Usman Sheikh, and his sister, Fatima Sheikh, who also gave the Phule's a location to establish the school in their home. Savitribai became the school's first instructor. Later, Jyotirao and Savitribai established schools for children from the untouchable Mang and Mahar castes. In 1852, there were three Phule schools open. The British government honoured the Phule family for their services to education on November 16, that year, and Savitribai was awarded the finest teacher. In the same year, she founded the Mahila Seva Mandal, which aims to raise awareness among women about their rights, dignity, and other social issues. She was successful in organising a barbers strike in Mumbai and Pune to protest the common practice of widows' heads being shaved.
By 1858, the Phule's had closed all three of their schools. Many factors contributed to this, including the cessation of private European donations following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Jyotirao's resignation from the school management committee due to a disagreement over curriculum, and the government's withdrawal of assistance. Jyotirao and Savitribai, along with Fatima Sheikh, were undeterred by the conditions and took on the task of educating individuals from disadvantaged communities as well. Savitribai built 18 schools and taught children from many castes over the years. Savitribai and Fatima Sheikh began teaching women and people from low-caste backgrounds. Many people, notably those from Pune's upper caste, were offended by this and opposed Dalit education. Locals intimidated Savitribai and Fatima Sheikh, and they were also harassed and humiliated socially. When Savitribai walked towards the school, she was pelted with cow manure, dirt, and stones. Such horrors, however, would not prevent Savitribai from achieving her aim, and she would wear two saris. Saguna Bai, who later became a leader in the education movement, later joined Savitribai and Fatima Sheikh. Meanwhile, in 1855, the Phule's established a night school for agriculturists and labourers so that they could work during the day and attend school at night.
Savitribai began paying stipends to children who attended school in order to reduce the school dropout rate. She was a role model for the young girls she taught. She encouraged them to engage in creative endeavours such as writing and painting. During that time, one of Savitribai's students, Mukta Salve, wrote an essay that became the face of Dalit feminism and literature. She held parent-teacher meetings at regular intervals to raise parental awareness of the importance of education and encourage them to send their children to school on a regular basis.
Jyotirao and Savitribai also built a care centre named 'Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha' in 1863, which may have been India's first-ever infanticide prohibition house. It was established so that pregnant Brahmin widows and rape victims could deliver their infants in a safe and secure environment, minimising widow killings and lowering infanticide rates. Jyotirao and Savitribai, who were otherwise childless, adopted a child from a Brahmin widow named Kashibai in 1874, delivering a powerful statement to the society's progressives. Yashavantrao, the adoptive son, went on to become a doctor.
Savitribai worked relentlessly against societal evils like child marriage and sati pratha, two of the most sensitive social concerns that were steadily eroding the very existence of women, whereas Jyotirao championed widow remarriage. She also worked to integrate child widows into society by teaching and empowering them, as well as advocating for their remarriage. Such endeavours were likewise met with tremendous opposition from the upper caste's conservative society.
Other Projects
She aided her husband in his efforts to abolish the practice of untouchability and the caste system, as well as gain equal rights for persons from lower castes and change Hindu family life. During a time when the shadow of an untouchable was viewed as dirty and people were hesitant to even bring thirsty untouchables water, the couple opened a well in their home for them.
She was also a member of the Satyashodhak Samaj, a social reform organisation founded by Jyotirao on September 24, 1873, in Pune. The samaj's goal was to free women, Shudras, Dalits, and other underprivileged people from oppression and exploitation. Its members comprised Muslims, Non-Brahmans, Brahmans, and government officials. The pair organised low-cost marriages in the samaj without the need of a priest or a dowry. In such weddings, both brides and grooms made promises that amounted to wedding vows. Savitribai was the leader of the women's section, and after her husband died on November 28, 1890, she became the samaj's chairwoman. Savitribai continued her husband's work through the samaj, heading it till her death.
Beginning in 1876, she and her husband toiled tirelessly during the famines. They not only distributed free meals in various regions but also established 52 free food hostels throughout Maharashtra. During the 1897 draught, Savitribai encouraged the British government to start relief activities.
In addition, the educator and social crusader spoke out against caste and gender prejudice. Her poems were collected in the volumes Kavya Phule (1934) and Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (1982).
Death
Yashwantrao, her adoptive son, worked as a doctor for the people of his community. In 1897, when the worldwide Third Pandemic of the bubonic plague devastated the area near Nallaspora, Maharastra, the brave Savitribai and Yashwantrao constructed a clinic on the outskirts of Pune to cure the disease's victims. She took the patients to her son's clinic, where he treated them while she looked after them. She caught the sickness while caring for the patients over time and died of it on March 10, 1897.
Legacy
Savitribai's tireless efforts to combat society's long-standing problems, as well as the rich legacy of good changes she left behind, continue to inspire future generations. Over the years, her reforming efforts have been recognised. In 1983, the Pune City Corporation erected a memorial in her honour. On March 10, 1998, India Post issued a stamp in her honour. In 2015, the University of Pune has renamed Savitribai Phule Pune University in her honour. On the 186th anniversary of her birth, Google created a Google doodle on January 3, 2017. The Savitribai Phule Award honours Maharashtra's female social revolutionaries.
