Write an essay on satyashodhak movement in Maharashtra.
Answers
Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-seekers' Society) is a social reform society founded by Jyotirao Phule in Pune, India, on 24 September 1873. Its purpose was to liberate the less privileged in the then prevailing society such as women, Shudra, and Dalit from exploitation and oppression. Jyotirao's wife Savitribai was the head of women's section of the society.Phule established Satyashodhak Samaj with the ideals of human well-being, happiness, unity, equality, and easy religious principles and rituals.A Pune-based newspaper, Deenbandhu, provided the voice for the views of the Samaj.
The membership of the samaj included Muslims, Brahmans, and government officials.However, Non-Brahman castes dominated.Phule's own Mali caste provided the leading members and financial supporters for the organization.
The non-Brahmin movement, that was embodied in Satyashodhak Samaj, had not made much difference to any sections of the society in the 19th century and languished after the death of Phule. However, it was revived in the early 20th century by the Maratha ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur, Shahu Maharaj. In 1902, Shahu reserved 50 per cent civil service posts in Kolhapur state for all communities other than Brahmins, Prabhus and Parsi. He also sponsored religious ceremonies that did not need a brahmin priest to officiate.By the 1920s, the samaj had established strong roots among the rural masses in Western Maharashtra and Vidarbha and took a strong economic overtone in its message.
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Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-seekers' Society) was a social reform society founded by Jyotirao Phule in Pune, Maharashtra, on 24 September 1873. espoused a mission of education and increased social rights and political access for underprivileged groups, focused especially on women, Shudras, and Dalits, in Maharashtra.[1][2] Jyotirao's wife Savitribai was the head of women's section of the society. The Samaj disbanded during the 1930s as leaders left to join the Indian National Congress party under Mahatma Gandhi.[3]
Jyotirao Phule was born into a low caste family in 1827 and was educated at a Christian missionary school. After he completed his own education, he and his wife focused on expanding educational opportunities for low caste communities.[1] The Protestant Christian tilt of Phule's education strongly affected the theoretical underpinnings of the Satyashodhak Samaj.[3] The Satyashodhak movement espoused a framework that could be called religious. It emphasized the equality inherent in all men, as bestowed upon them by a divine creator. It maintained faith in one god, rejected any kind of intermediary between god and man (referring here to the necessity of brahman priests in religious rituals), and rejected the caste system.[4] The Samaj also developed arguments against brahman social and political superiority.
Phule claimed that brahmans were Aryan invaders who came from Iran, invaded India, conquered and slaughtered the Kshatriya forefathers of the Shudras, enslaved the remaining population, and then used scripture, law, and custom to conceal their crimes.[4] The Samaj argues that brahman dominance is not an inherent trait; rather, the varnas were manufactured in a strategic move meant to establish and protect brahman social standing. The artificial origins of the system gave low caste communities the right to contest it at the time. The Samaj insisted that, in order to reclaim their social standing, low caste groups should oppose priests as middleman between men and god in religious rituals and ceremonies.[1] The Samaj also advocated for social changes that went against Brahminic traditions, including less expensive weddings, inter-caste marriages, the end of child marriage, and the right of the widow to remarry.[1]
The Samaj's original commitment to education and charitable activities was combined with the espousal of this anti-brahman rhetoric as the organization spread across Maharashtra. The organization attracted individuals of all castes, religions, and professions, including brahmans, Muslims, lawyers, merchants, peasants, land-owners, agricultural laborers, Rajputs, untouchables, and government officials.[1] Phule thought that the Samaj could uplift disadvantaged communities through collective action and organized movement, and the first step to doing so was educating low caste individuals about the misdeeds of the Brahmans. In order to spread their ideas more effectively, the Samaj published the Deenabandhu newspaper from 1877 to 1897.[1] In addition, the Samaj emphasized the special importance of English education because it played a vital role in building occupational skills and served as the basis for the intellectual emancipation of disadvantaged groups.[1] Phule also believed that an English education might open opportunities for employment with the British Government. The Samaj's view of the colonial government went against nationalist groups at the time. They cultivated relations with British officials in order to seek benefits for low caste groups and saw the British government as the most likely power to offer low caste groups fair treatment. In fact, when Phule was criticized by Brahmans about his unwillingness to fight for national liberation, he responded that Shudras should expand their scope of freedom by directing their complaints to a benevolent, if misguided, British government.[4]