Savitribai Phule, who is one of India’s first modern feminists, was born on January 3, 1831. Today, the country observes the 192nd birth anniversary of the great social reformer. She is credited for being India’s first woman teacher who worked for the upliftment of women and untouchables through education and literacy.

Who was Savitribai Phule?

Savitribai Phule was born in Naigaon, Maharashtra. She was a child bride to Jyotirao Phule, who was also an activist and social reformer. Her husband supported her education and her social work which led to the establishment of India's first school for girls, Bhide Wada, in Pune in 1848. She is prominently remembered as Dnyanjyoti Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule.

Savitribai completed her teaching training at the American Missionaries institute in Ahmednagar and Pune's Normal School.

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She believed that education was necessary for the empowerment of the depressed class and women.

Her contributions and impact

It was not easy for the Phule’s to persuade women and the untouchables to study at a time when education was limited to a section.

At the ages of 21 and 17, Jyotirao and Savitribai opened schools for women in 1848 which was the first initiative by Indians for women's education.

By 1851, they had set up three schools and Savitribai was teaching 150 students. She established 17 more schools in the country. The couple also set up schools for Dalits and lower-caste women and encouraged all to attend school by offering them stipends.

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Savitribai initiated Mahila Seva Mandal to create awareness about women's rights in 1852 and members of all castes were made to sit together.

She also led several campaigns against child marriage and supported widow remarriage.

The Phules also started the Literacy Mission in India in 1854-55 and the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society for Truth-Seeking) through which they aimed to promote Satyashodhak marriage, in which no dowry was taken.

For her contributions to the field of women’s education, Savitribai was called one of the “crusaders of gender justice” in a paper published in the International Journal of Innovative Social Science & Humanities Research, Indian Express reported.

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Savitribai Phule was also a hard-hitting, radical writer and poet who questioned the Brahmanical hegemony and openly criticised social evils like Sati, child marriage, class distinctions, gender inequalities and the caste system.

Through her poems in Marathi, she advocated values such as humanism, liberty, equality, brotherhood, rationalism, and the importance of education among others.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)

First Published:Jan 3, 2023 6:33 AM IST