Savitri Bai Phule & Rani Velu Nachiyar

General Studies Paper – 1

Context: The Prime Minister of India paid tributes to social reformer Savitri Bai Phule & Rani Velu Nachiyar on their Jayanti.

Savitribai Phule (3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897)

• She was a woman from the Mali Community and went on to become an educator, a challenger to caste hierarchies and barriers, and a writer.
• Married Jyotirao Phule at an early age.
• At a time when it was considered unacceptable for women to even attain education, she with her husband went on to open a school for girls in Pune, in 1848.
• This became the country’s first girls’ school.
• They opened more such schools for girls, Shudras, and Ati-Shudras (the backward castes and Dalits, respectively) in Pune, leading to discontent among Indian nationalists like Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

Major Contributions:

• Social Reformer: Along with Jyotirao, Savitribai started the Balhatya Pratibandhak Griha (Home for the Prevention of Infanticide) for pregnant widows facing discrimination.
• Savitribai Phule advocated inter-caste marriages, widow remarriage, and eradication of child marriage, sati, and dowry systems, among other social issues.
• Satyashodhak Samaj: In 1873, the Phule’s set up the Satyashodhak Samaj (Truth-seekers’ society), a platform open to all, irrespective of their caste, religion or class hierarchies, with the sole aim of bringing social equity.
• Satyashodhak Marriage, as an extension, started with the aim of rejecting Brahmanical rituals where the marrying couple takes a pledge to promote education and equality.
• Relief work during famine and Bubonic plague: Savitribai became involved in relief work during the 1896 famine in Maharashtra and the 1897 Bubonic plague.
• Literary Works: Savitribai Phule published her first collection of poems, called Kavya Phule (Poetry’s Blossoms), at the age of 23 in 1854.
• She published Bavan Kashi Subodh Ratnakar (The Ocean of Pure Gems) in 1892.

Rani Velu Nachiyar (3 January 1730 – 25 December 1796)

• She was the first queen to fight against the British colonial power in India.
• She is known by Tamils as Veeramangai.
• Early Life: She was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of Raja Chellamuthu Vijayaragunatha Sethupathy and Rani Sakandhimuthal of the Ramnad kingdom.
• Skills Acquired: She was trained in war to match weapons usage, martial arts like Valari, Silambam (fighting using a stick), horse riding, and archery.
• She was a scholar in many languages and she had proficiency with languages like French, English and Urdu.
• Marriage: She married the king of Sivagangai.
• Succession: She succeeded her husband in 1780 and granted powers to the Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780.