Born on 3 January 1831 in a Dalit family in Nayagaon in the Satara district of Maharashtra, Savitribai Phule was India’s first female teacher. Her father’s name was Khandoji Nevase and her mother’s name was Lakshmi. In addition to being a teacher, Savitribai Phule was also the first leader of India’s women’s liberation movement, a social reformer, and a Marathi poet. She faced strong opposition from society in her efforts to educate girls.
Before independence, women in India were considered of secondary status. They did not have the right to education, like they do today. In fact, in the 18th century, it was considered a sin for women to go to school. What Savitribai Phule did at this time was no ordinary achievement. When she went to school, people would throw stones at her. Despite all this, she never wavered from her goal of giving girls and women the right to education. She is considered the forerunner of modern Marathi poetry. Savitribai Phule, India’s first female teacher, along with her husband, social worker Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, established a school for girls in 1848.
Married at the age of nine
Savitribai was married at a very young age. She got married to Jyotirao Phule in 1840 at the age of just nine. Soon after the marriage, she moved to Pune with her husband. She was not educated at the time of marriage, but she was very interested in studies. Impressed by her passion for reading and learning, her husband taught her to read and write. Savitribai trained as a teacher in Ahmednagar and Pune and became a qualified teacher.
Established the first school for 9 girls
Savitribai and her husband, Jyotiba Phule, established the first school for women in Pune on January 3, 1848. The school had nine students from different castes. In one year, Savitribai and Jyotiba Phule succeeded in opening five new schools. The government of the time also honored them for their work.
It must have been very difficult for a female principal to run a girls’ school in 1848. There was a social restriction on the education of girls at that time. Savitribai Phule not only studied herself during that period, but she also made arrangements for the education of other girls. She was a true pioneer in the field of women’s education in India.
People pelt stones, throw filth
Before independence in India, evil practices such as untouchability, sati pratha, child marriage, and widow remarriage were prevalent in society. Savitribai Phule’s life was very difficult. Due to her work for the upliftment of Dalit women and her voice against untouchability, she faced opposition from a large section of society. When she went to school, her opponents would throw stones and dirt at her. Savitribai would carry a spare saree in her bag and change into it after reaching school. A century ago, when girls’ education was considered a curse, she started a new initiative in the entire country by opening the first girls’ school in Pune, the cultural capital of Maharashtra.
Their aim was to give rights to women in the society
The plight of the widows in the country also pained Savitribai a great deal. So in 1854, she opened a shelter for widows. After years of continuous improvements, she was able to convert it into a large asylum in 1864. Destitute women, widows, and child daughters-in-law who were abandoned by their families began to find a place in this shelter home. Savitribai would teach and write to all of them. She also adopted Yashwantrao, the son of a widow who was sheltered in this institution. (I recommend you to read “Locating Savitribai Phule’s Feminism in the Trajectory of Global Feminist Thought” in this PDF by Renu Pandey, Professor, Department of History, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, to learn more about the work done by Savitribai Phule in the field of women’s empowerment.)
At that time, Dalits and low-caste people were forbidden to go to the common wells in the villages to get water. This greatly troubled Savitribai and her husband. So, they dug a well of their own so that these people could also get water easily. There was a lot of opposition to their move at that time.
Several efforts to improve the lives of widows, rape victims
Savitribai made great efforts to improve the plight of pregnant rape victims and child widows abandoned by society, often driven to contemplate suicide. Alongside her husband, she established a care center named the “Childicide Prevention Home” in 1853 at their home in Pune, dedicated to ensuring the safe delivery of these women’s children.
She also led a strike against barbers to advocate for the rights of widows, aiming to end the harmful practice of shaving widows’ heads, prevalent during that period.
Promoted inter-caste marriages
Savitribai made a unique effort to stop children from dropping out of school. She used to give stipends to children to help them attend school. At a time when the caste system was at its peak in the country, she encouraged inter-caste marriages. She and her husband founded the Satyashodhak Samaj in September 1873, which conducted marriages without priests or dowry. The purpose of establishing this society was to enable low-cost marriages, inter-caste marriages, the end of child marriage, and the remarriage of widows.
Savitribai and Jyotirao had no children of their own, so they adopted Yashwant, the son of a widow. Yashwant later became a doctor. In 1897, there was a plague epidemic in Pune.
Performed the last rites of her husband, herself died of plague
Savitribai’s husband, Jyotirao, died in 1890. Defying all social norms at that time, she performed the last rites of her husband and lit his funeral pyre. About seven years later, when the plague spread throughout Maharashtra in 1897, she set out to help people in the affected areas. During her time there, she herself became a victim of the plague and breathed her last on March 10, 1897.