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Karsandas Mulji

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Karsandas Mulji
Karsandas Mulji
Born(1832-07-25)25 July 1832
Vadal, Near Mahuva, Bhavnagar, Gujarat
Died28 August 1871(1871-08-28) (aged 39) [1]
Alma materElphinstone College
OccupationEditor
Notable workSatyaprakash

Karsandas Mulji (25 July 1832 – 28 August 1871) was a journalist, social reformer and administrator.

He was an alumnus of Elphinstone college and an English-educated Gujarati journalist with an acute dislike for institutional religious authority and a penchant for reading Christian sermons.[2]

Karsandas Mulji was appointed by the Victoria's British India's Bombay Government to administer state of Kathiawar in 1867.[1][3][4]

Family and social background

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Born to a Gujarati Vaishnav family. He was raised by his mother's aunt after he lost his mother when he was quite young. Karsandas attended Elphinstone College for his education and took part in Gnan Prasarak Mandal's events. Karsandas started working as a journalist in 1851, when Dadabhai Naoroji created the Anglo-Gujarati Newspaper Rast Goftar.[5] He was later repudiated by his family because of his views on widow remarriage.[2] After a visit to England on business in connection with the cotton trade, which was not successful and brought on him excommunication from his caste because of the notion prevalent at those times regarding crossing the seas.[1][6]

Professional life

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Mulji used to previously write for the Rast Goftar and Stribodh magazines, but readership of these magazines were mostly limited to Parsis.[7] Narmadashankar Lalshankar, popularly known as Narmad, Mahipatram Rupram and Karsandas Mulji were members of Buddhivardhak Sabha.[8] He was a nominated Fellow of the University of Bombay. He was also a member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.[9]

Unhappy with the limited readership of these magazines, with the help of Mangalbhai Naththubhai, Mulji in the year 1855 founded a Gujarati newspaper named Satyaprakash targeting orthodox Hindus. He edited it while Rustomji Ranina was the publisher. However Satyprakash was published for merely six years before closing in 1861 and latter dissolving into Rast Goftar, the same newspaper which he had previously left due to its lesser audience.[10] His articles addressed forward Hindu caste leaders and attacked social, religious customs, and practices. Mulji addressed various social issues such as female education, excessive money spending in pompous weddings, wedding ceremonies, and the funeral ritual of chest beating.[11]

Biographies

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Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth wrote his biography in Gujarati entitled Uttam Kapol Karsandas Mulji Charitra (1877) with an introductory sketch in English. Karsandas Mulji: A Biographical Study (1935) is another critical biography written by B. N. Motiwala.[3][4]

Death

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According to 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica [1] his death occurred on 28 August 1871.[3][9] Karsandas Mulji Municipal Library Matheran is named after him.

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His biopic titled Maharaj was released in 2024. In his film, Siddharth P. Malhotra dramatises the historic Maharaj libel case of 1862, in which imperial British justices mediate a dispute between progressive reform and religious conservatism in a subject country.[12][13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mulji, Kursendas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 960.
  2. ^ a b Barton Scott, J (12 January 2015). "Luther in the Tropics: Karsandas Mulji and the Colonial "Reformation" of Hinduism". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 83 (1): 181–209. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfu114. hdl:1807/95442. ISSN 0002-7189. JSTOR 24488134. Retrieved 27 June 2024 – via JSTOR, University of Toronto Libraries, Academia.
  3. ^ a b c Murali Ranganathan, ed. (1 February 2009). Govind Narayan's Mumbai: An Urban Biography from 1863. London: Anthem Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-85728-689-5.
  4. ^ a b Govind Narayan's Mumbai: An Urban Biography from 1863. Anthem Press. 1 February 2009. ISBN 978-0-85728-689-5.
  5. ^ Kothari, Urvish (31 October 2023). "Karsandas Mulji led & won the most famous fight against Gujarati Vaishnavite leaders in 1862". ThePrint. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  6. ^ Scott, Dr. J. Barton (2017). "TRANSLATED LIBERTIES: KARSANDAS MULJI'S TRAVELS IN ENGLAND AND THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE VICTORIAN SELF". Modern Intellectual History. 16 (3). Cambridge University Press: 803–833. doi:10.1017/S1479244317000579. hdl:1807/95443. ISSN 1479-2443. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023.
  7. ^ Mehta, Hasit (2012). Sahityik Samyiko. Ahmedabad: Rannade Prakashan. p. 50.
  8. ^ Yājñika, Acyuta; Sheth, Suchitra (2005). The shaping of modern Gujarat: plurality, Hindutva, and beyond. New Delhi ; New York, New York: Penguin Books. pp. 75–76. ISBN 978-0-14-400038-8.
  9. ^ a b Motivala, Bhavanidas Narandas (1935). Karsondas Mulji: a Biographical Study. pp. 22–23.
  10. ^ Yagnik, Achyut; Sheth, Suchitra (2005). The shaping of modern Gujarat: plurality, Hindutva and beyond (1. publ ed.). New Delhi: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-400038-8.
  11. ^ Motivala, Bhavanidas Narandas. In 1862, He was involved in the Maharaj Libel Case. (1935). Karsondas Mulji: a Biographical Study. Karsondas Mulji Centenary Celebration Committee.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ The untold story of Karsandas Mulji, the journalist who won the fight against the Maharaj Indian Express, July 1, 2024.
  13. ^ Mitra, Shilajit (21 June 2024). "'Maharaj' movie review: Junaid Khan's debut film means well, runs dull". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 July 2024.

Further reading

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