Savitribai Phule and the Foundations of Anti-Caste Feminism in India

On 3 January 2026, India observes the 195th birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule. As one of the most significant and transformative social reformers in the nation's history, she is widely acknowledged as the first woman teacher of modern India.

Born on 3 January 1831 in Naigaon, in present-day Maharashtra, Savitribai Phule emerged at a historical moment when Indian society was rigidly structured. Caste hierarchy, patriarchal norms, and deeply entrenched social inequalities defined the era. Her life and work represent a decisive and conscious intervention against these intersecting structures of oppression, particularly the mutually reinforcing systems of patriarchy and caste domination.

At a time when women were systematically denied education and oppressed caste communities were subjected to social exclusion, Savitribai Phule’s actions constituted a radical break from the prevailing social order. Her pioneering contributions to women’s education, social equality, and the upliftment of oppressed people form the moral, ethical, and intellectual foundations of anti-caste social reform in India.

Yet, despite the historical significance of her work, Savitribai Phule’s legacy continues to be marginalised. This is especially true within dominant Savarna feminist discourses, which often fail to address caste as a central axis of oppression.

On 19 March 1998, the Government of India issued a postal stamp in honour of Savitribai Phule, formally recognising her contribution to Indian social reform. Later, in 2015, the University of Pune was renamed Savitribai Phule Pune University, marking an important institutional acknowledgment of her historical significance. Google also paid tribute to her in 2017 with a special doodle, bringing her legacy to global public attention.

While these gestures reflect growing public recognition, symbolic commemoration cannot substitute for a deeper engagement with the radical social philosophy Savitribai Phule represented. Such recognitions often coexist with the continued marginalisation of her anti-caste feminist thought within dominant academic and political discourses.

Education as Social Reform and Ethical Commitment

In 1848, Savitribai Phule, along with her companion and collaborator Jyotirao Phule, established the first school for girls in Pune. This marked a revolutionary moment in the history of education in India. This initiative did not merely introduce institutional schooling for women; it fundamentally challenged the social belief that education was the exclusive domain of Savarna men.

At a time when educating women—particularly those from oppressed and marginalised communities—was considered immoral and dangerous, Savitribai Phule’s entry into the public sphere as a teacher was an act of defiance. Importantly, the educational project envisioned by the Phules was not restricted to elite women. Rather, it consciously centred on the education of oppressed people, directly questioning the moral and cultural authority of caste society.

Savitribai Phule carried out her teaching work under conditions of extreme hostility. She faced daily harassment, casteist slurs, and public humiliation while travelling to school. She was often attacked with stones, cow dung, and verbal abuse. These acts of aggression were intended to discipline her into silence and conformity.

Yet, Savitribai persisted with remarkable courage. She demonstrated a deep ethical commitment to education as a means of structural transformation rather than an act of charity. For her, education was a process of cultivating self-respect, critical consciousness, and a sense of equality among those who had been historically denied dignity.

Beyond formal schooling, Savitribai and Jyotirao Phule also intervened in everyday social practices. They opened a well in their own house for Dalits, directly challenging an oppressive social system that denied oppressed people access to water. This act was a concrete challenge to the Brahmanical order of purity and pollution, illustrating how Savitribai’s reformist praxis extended beyond classrooms into the realm of everyday social relations.

Women’s Rights and Collective Organising

Savitribai Phule was a pioneering advocate of women’s rights in a society deeply shaped by both caste oppression and patriarchal control. In 1852, she founded the Mahila Seva Mandal, an organisation that worked toward women’s education, dignity, and basic human rights.

At a time when women’s lives were confined to domestic spaces, the Mandal created a platform for collective discussion and action. Savitribai’s vision of women’s emancipation was not confined to elite reformist frameworks. Instead, it foregrounded the lived realities of women from oppressed communities, recognising that caste, class, and gender oppression were deeply intertwined.

Savitribai also played a crucial role in the Satyashodhak Samaj, founded by Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule in 1873. The Samaj aimed to dismantle the oppressive social order and challenge religious orthodoxy. Through this movement, Savitribai actively campaigned against child marriage, widow oppression, and religious exploitation.

Her involvement underscores her role not merely as an educator but as a collective organiser. She helped translate the principles of social equality into everyday practices, reinforcing the idea that social reform must be both ideological and material.

Literary Interventions and Feminist Consciousness

Savitribai Phule’s reformist vision was powerfully articulated through her literary writings. Her poetry collection, Kavya Phule (1854), stands as an early example of anti-caste feminist writing in India.

Through her poems, she addressed the degraded conditions of women and oppressed people, exposing the injustices inflicted by caste hierarchy. She urged the oppressed to pursue knowledge as a means of self-emancipation, emphasising education as a weapon against ignorance and domination.

In 1897, when a devastating plague epidemic struck Pune, Savitribai Phule once again demonstrated her commitment to ethical responsibility. She personally participated in relief work, caring for the sick and abandoned. In doing so, she openly defied caste-based norms governing purity and physical contact—norms that dictated social distance even during human suffering.

Tragically, Savitribai contracted the disease during her relief work and passed away on 10 March 1897. Her actions during the epidemic reflected a moral politics grounded in compassion, solidarity, and social duty.

Savitribai Phule and the Question of Feminist Memory

Despite her pioneering contributions, Savitribai Phule’s legacy remains inadequately recognised within mainstream feminist histories in India. Dominant Savarna feminist narratives often isolate gender from caste, tending to foreground Savarna reformers while marginalising anti-caste women thinkers.

This selective remembrance obscures the fact that Savitribai’s feminism was inseparable from her critique of caste hierarchy. By overlooking her work, these narratives reproduce the very exclusions that Savitribai sought to dismantle.

Her life challenges liberal frameworks that seek gender equality without addressing structural injustice. The erasure of Savitribai Phule from dominant narratives reflects deeper epistemic exclusions within Indian social thought, where anti-caste perspectives continue to be marginalised.

Conclusion

Savitribai Phule envisioned a society free from discrimination, untouchability, and gender injustice. As the first woman teacher of modern India, she transformed education from a tool of privilege into an instrument of social justice.

January 3rd must be celebrated as Teachers’ Day—not merely as a commemorative date, but as a political and ethical reminder of what education ought to represent. Savitribai Phule’s life teaches us that a teacher is a force who confronts inequality and expands the horizons of freedom for the most marginalized.

To acknowledge 3rd January as Teachers’ Day is to affirm an idea of education grounded in equality, compassion, and resistance. Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule was not merely a pioneer of women’s education; she was a foundational thinker whose legacy continues to challenge society to reimagine feminism and social justice.

Author: Akhilesh Kumar is an Ambedkarite activist and a PhD scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, at the Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies.