Volume-XI, Issue-V, September 2025 |
Pandita Ramabai: A Crusader of Women’s Rights in Colonial India Nikita Tiwari, Research Scholar, Department of History, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, West Bengal, India |
Received: 28.09.2025 | Accepted: 29.09.2025 | Published Online: 30.09.2025 | Page No: 156-161 | ||||
DOI: 10.29032/ijhsss.vol.11.issue.05W.142 | |||||||
ABSTRACT | ||
Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922) was a crusader of women’s rights who contributed in multifaceted domains such as education, health care, spirituality, and settlement regions. This article aimed to re-examine the overall conditions of women during colonial India. It is based upon primary sources that include her own written accounts, The High Caste Hindu Women (1887), in which she challenged the sacred texts of Manu that portray women as subordinate to men for living their lives. Even her own written autobiography, The Testimony of Inexhaustible Treasure (1883), depicted her implementation that worked for the welfare of women. Apart from that, annual reports of Sharda Sadan and Mukti Mission signify her true vision of women's empowerment on a broader scale. Ramabai emerged as an eminent figure who brought changes in a real sense, unlike male reformers who only wrote scriptural texts and never acknowledged the sufferings of women. Women’s struggle and resistance merged with Ramabai’s efforts to create a foundational base to fight for their autonomy against colonialism. The most crucial aspect that emerged from this is that Ramabai never thought of their personal interests; she courageously stood against social evils despite criticism faced from conservative sections of society. Being a widow, she understood the plights of other women and effortlessly worked to provide them with rehabilitative space in order to regain their autonomy in their own lives without any male domination. Her focus was based on long-term goals that she achieved through their global networks. This article argues that under these unfavourable conditions, Ramabai became a reformist, and her efforts were considered as radical and holistic, solely based on humanitarian concerns. | ||
Keywords: Ramabai, Women, Empowerment, Widows, Crusader |