Satyashodhak Samaj in Maharashtra: Mahatma Jyotiba Phule

 

Satyashodhak Samaj in Maharashtra: Mahatma Jyotiba Phule

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Disenchanted with the Brahmin leadership of the Social Reform Movement many reformers dissociated themselves from existing reform bodies to start their own. Most prominent among them was Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, the Social Reformer who emerged from the lower castes. The accent on Nationalism before reform, the gradual nature of the transformation advocated, the lack of concerted attempts to reform the caste system were some of the reasons that alienated Mahatma Phule from the Brahmin led Social Reform Movements. A strong advocate of female emancipation and female education, he founded a school for girls in Poona. He actively supported the widow remarriage Movement and opposed Polygamy and Child Marriages.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule founded the Satya Shodhak Samaj for the uplift of lower castes and prevent their exploitation by Brahmins and upper castes. Rationality and equality were the principles on which he based the Satya Shodak Samaj. The former principle was used to overthrow tradition and deny the supremacy of the scriptures. The principle of equality was used to attack the caste system. The Samaj worked to undermine the cultural and religious sanction for priest hood by conducting rituals and ceremonies without Brahmins. In its attack on the caste system it drew from both western rationalism as well as indigenous sources of social revolt like the Bhakti.  What distinguished the Samaj was its non elitist mass nature. In propagating its ideology it made wide use of the vernacular. The backbone of its support came from the Maratha peasantry (Maratha Kunbis, Malis, Kolis etc.). It also gained support from untouchables. The commercial bourgeoisie comprising of tradesmen, contractors etc. were another source of support.