About Jyotirao Phule (1827–1890)

• Born: In Maharashtra into a socially backward Mali community.
• He was given a title of Mahatma by Vithalrao Krishnaji Vandekar.
• Father of Indian Social Revolution: Phule worked for upliftment of backward classes, and women and wanted abolition of caste system.
• Publications: Satyashodhak (Weekly newspaper), Gulamgiri, Brahmananche Kasab, Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak, Shetkaryacha Asud etc. 

Contribution of Phule towards upliftment of Subaltern Classes

• Shudras and Ati-Shudras (Untouchables): First to unite them as one oppressed group.
  • Satyashodhak Samaj (1873): Founded to organize lower castes against social order based on verna.
  • Knowledge (Tritiya Ratna) as Liberation: Opened schools for Mahar and Mang communities excluded from education.
  • His publication “Gulamgiri" (1873) compared caste oppression in India with American slavery to evoke global consciousness.
• Women: Started first school for girls in Pune in 1848.

• He also established Home for the Prevention of Infanticide (1863) (Baal Hatya Pratibandhak Griha) and advocated widow remarriage.

• Peasants: His collection of speeches "Shetkaryacha Asud” analysed exploitation of peasants by moneylenders and the bureaucracy.
• Poor Classes: Urged free, compulsory primary education before Hunter commission (1882); opposed ‘downward filtration’ theory.
  • Also proposed inexpensive Satyashodhak marriages without brahmin priests.