Jyotiba Phule ● Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was born on April 11, | UTKARSH in ENGLISH

Jyotiba Phule
● Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was born on April 11, 1827 in present-day Maharashtra.
● In the year 1841, Phule was admitted to the Scottish Missionary High School (Pune), where he completed his education.
● His ideology was completely based on freedom and socialism.
● Major works – Gulamgiri (1873), Tritiya Ratna (1855), Powada: Chhatrapati Shivajiraj Bhonsle Yancha (1869), Shaktarayach Asud (1881) etc.
● Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was influenced by Thomas Paine's book 'The Rights of Man' and believed that the only way to combat social evils was to educate women and lower class people.
● Phule along with his followers formed the Satyashodhak Samaj in the year 1873, which means - 'Seekers of Truth' so that the lower classes in Maharashtra could get equal social and economic benefits.
● On May 11, 1888, he was honored with the title of 'Mahatma' by Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar, a social worker from Maharashtra.
● In the year 1848, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule taught his wife (Savitribai) to read and write, after which the couple opened the first indigenously run school for girls in Pune, where they both worked as teachers.
● He believed in gender equality and followed his beliefs by involving his wife in all his social reform activities.
● Mahatma Jyotirao Phule had established three schools by the year 1852, but these schools were closed by the year 1858 due to paucity of funds after the rebellion of the year 1857.
● Jyotirao opposed the orthodox beliefs of Brahmins and other upper castes and termed them as 'hypocrites'.
● He established an ashram for young widows and supported widow remarriage.
● In the year 1868, Jyotirao decided to build a communal bath outside his house, showing his sense of belonging to all human beings, also, he started eating food with members of all castes .
● He started a public awareness campaign which later influenced the ideologies of Dr. BR Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi.
● Died: November 28, 1890