Table Of ContentTHE EMERGENCE OF FEMINISM IN INDIA,
1850–1920
To my parents:
Kusuma Anagol and Jayakumar Anagol
The Emergence of Feminism
in India, 1850–1920
PADMA ANAGOL
Cardiff University, UK
First published 2005 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright© Padma Anagol 2005
Padma Anagol has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act,
1988, to be identifi ed as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Anagol, Padma
The emergence of feminism in India, 1850-1920
1.Feminism – India – Maharashtra – History – 19th century 2.Women’s rights – India
– Maharashtra – 19th century 3.Equality – India – Maharashtra – 19th century
I.Title
305.4’2’0954’09034
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Anagol, Padma.
The emergence of feminism in India, 1850-1920 / by Padma Anagol.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7546-3411-6 (alk. paper)
1. Feminism—India—Maharashtra—History—19th century. 2. Women’s rights—India—
Maharashtra—History—19th century. 3. Equality—India—Maharashtra—History—19th
century. I. Title.
HQ1744.M33A53 2006
305.420954’09034—dc22
2006000580
ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-3411-9 (hbk)
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
A Note on Translation and Citation ix
1 Women’s Agency and Resistance in Colonial India: An Introduction 1
2 Discriminating Converts: Christian Women’s Discourse and Work 19
3 Beyond Kitchen and Kid: Hindu Women’s Discourse and Work 57
4 Women’s Assertion and Resistance in Colonial India 105
5 Women, Crime and Survival Strategies in Colonial India 141
6 Women as Agents: Contesting Discourses on Marriage and Marital
Rights 181
7 Indian Feminism and Its Legacy: A Concluding Note 219
Appendix 227
Bibliography 241
Index 255
Acknowledgements
I have found writing the ‘acknowledgements’ the most overwhelming aspect of
this book, although a pleasurable one. My love of history was kindled during my
undergraduate studies in Mysore through Mr Prasanna Kumar, my first history
teacher and the flames kept ablaze during my postgraduate days in the Centre for
Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. I was indeed fortunate
to be taught by some of India’s finest historians and if Prof. K.N. Panikkar, Prof.
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya, Prof. Bipan Chandra, Dr Majid Siddiqui, Dr Madhavan
Palat and Prof. Romila Thapar do happen to read this book, I hope they may see
that their lessons were not taught in vain.
An early incarnation of this work took the form of a doctoral thesis. I would
like to thank The Association of Commonwealth Universities who awarded me the
Commonwealth Scholarship that saw the beginnings of a doctorate under the able
guidance of Prof. Kenneth Ballhatchet who honed my skills as a ‘researcher’.
Regrettably, he did not live to see the end product as he succumbed to a stroke
soon after the commencement of my degree. In 1988, Prof. David Arnold kindly
undertook the task of supervision and I owe him a special word of thanks for
encouraging me to bring it to completion. I would like to thank the Department of
History, Bath Spa University and the Cardiff School of History and Archaeology,
Cardiff University for various reasons: the first for showing enough faith in my
abilities to give me a full-time teaching position when I was still a doctoral student
and the latter for their trust in a ‘freshly’ graduated student no doubt, an eager one
as I was in 1995. I have availed grants from both institutions, which allowed me to
make valuable field trips to India. In addition, my colleagues at Cardiff have
provided a congenial environment to work in for which I am grateful.
A work such as this one represents could not have been possible without the
large-hearted warmth and generosity of many people in India and Britain. Several
friends on whose time and energy I have made countless demands are: Vyankatesh
Kulkarni, Naila Khan, Sheila Smith, Andrea Hintze, Jane Buckingham, Satinder
Gill and Florence Stratton. The intimate connection between Modern British
History and empire is an inescapable one but Laura Nym Mayhall, John Shaw and
Adrian Gregory gave these connections new meanings through sharing references
and most of all, by offering useful comments on drafts of articles. Further, over the
years, Laura Mayhall has been a wonderful friend and sister who capably read the
entire draft of the monograph and produced comments within a week. Colleagues
who have always been encouraging and giving are Geraldine Forbes, Clare
Acknowledgements vii
Midgley, Margaret Ward, Philippa Levine, David Hardiman, Parita Mukta and
Barbara Ramusack. I have known Chris Bayly since my graduate days and he has
always been very supportive and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him
for his many kindnesses over the years.
When I initiated this project Rosalind O’Hanlon gave me several useful
references that proved to be a good guide especially as I started out on my first
field trip in 1988. The search for primary sources took me to many cities and towns
both in Britain and India. In this connection I would like to thank the Chief
Librarians of Oriental and India Office Collections, British Library, School of
Oriental and African Studies Library, Wellcome Institute Archives, London,
Centre for South Asian Studies, Cambridge, Maharashtra State Government
Archives, Mumbai, Mumbai Marathi Grantha Sangrahalaya, Bombay, Pune Marathi
Granthalaya, Shasakiya Vibhagiya Granthalaya, Pune, Jawaharlal Nehru Library,
University Of Bombay, Kalina Campus, Jayakar Library, University of Poona, Kesari
and Mahratta Office, Poona and finally Kolhapur University Library. Local historians
who are truly gifted and extremely enthusiastic about helping younger scholars and to
whom I am grateful are: Prof. Vidyut Bhagvat, Prof. Sarojini Chawalar, Prof. Raja
Vora, Prof. Mali and Prof. Ram Bapat. Dr Tikekar, who fortunately occupies the
position of both a scholar and an archivist, on several occasions, has gone out of his
way to help me track sources. The staff members of Huzur Paga School, Seva Sadan
Society and Mukti Mission were extremely accommodating and patient with my
queries and I would like to thank them for their cooperation in allowing me to
photocopy large amounts of materials from their collections. Despite making many
field trips over the last two decades, I have never failed to be impressed by the
admirable interest and pride shown by local scholars and ordinary people of
Maharashtra in their history, society and culture. The living connections between the
past and the present are always brought home starkly during my research trips, when I
have learnt much and absorbed the vibrant Maharashtrian way of life.
Many friendships that took root during my doctoral days continue and I count
myself privileged in this respect. Among them, I warmly thank Ashok and Chitra
Kulkarni who had housed me as a poor doctoral student but continued to shower
the same affection on subsequent visits. My extended family members are scattered
all over India and the West yet, they have always responded to my calls for help in
the last decade. I am especially grateful to those relatives who, by the fact of living
in the Northern or Southern Maharashtra belt, have been crucial in providing me
the comforts that only a ‘home away from home’ can give. They are: Dr Shrikant
and Dr Manjari Anagol, Prof. Malathi Anagol and Mahavir Anagol, Suresh and
Sarita Bahirshet, Shakuntala Ambannavar, Gunadhar and Sushila Anagol, Ratan
and Usha Anagol, Chitragupta and Lata Anagol, Dr Sunanda and Dr Dinesh
Bargale, Dr Neema, Vinay and Dr Namita Anagol. I believe that no words can
repay their unconditional support that has taken many forms. Equally, my sisters
Seetha, Meena and Kanthi and my lovely niece, Shilpa, have always been there
when I needed them. I owe considerable debt to my brother-in-law, Mr Narasimhlu
(Siddharth) and Devaki Jain for persuading my father to send me to Nehru
viii The Emergence of Feminism in India
University for postgraduate work; otherwise I have no doubt that my career may
have very well taken a different path. One person who has singularly made this
project a realizable one is Patrick McGinn alias Swataha, from whom I have taken
more than I have given, and without whom I really do not believe this book would
have seen print.
Many of the ideas formulated in the various chapters of this book were first
tried out on unsuspecting audiences in conferences and seminar series over the last
decade and I thank them for giving me the valuable opportunity of dialogue. They
are: the Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies; Series on
‘Women and Crime’ in Institute of Commonwealth Studies; the Annual
Conference of the British Association of Asian Studies; the seminar series on
‘conversions’ in the Department of Religious Studies, Cardiff University; Centre
for Asian Studies, Cambridge University; Conference on ‘Britishness’ in Centre de
Recherches Historique, L’ Ecole Des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales, Paris and
Cardiff Historical Association, Cardiff, Wales. Equally, many of my students have
risen bravely to the challenge of their ranting tutor especially in my Special Subject
‘Gender and Imperialism, India 1829–1929,’ and I wish to thank them all for their
stimulating discussions.
Erika Gaffney, my commissioning editor, has been extraordinary in many
ways: first of all for being a canny reader and spotting potential in my manuscript
and patiently waiting for me to turn it into a book. Her generosities are many,
especially her empathy through the many illnesses and surgeries I have undergone
that have considerably delayed the production of this book. My heartfelt thanks go
to her and her team including Meredith Coeyman and Melissa Riley-Jones. A
special word of thanks goes to Lesley Stewart who helped me make up my mind in
paring an early version of this manuscript which was double the present word
count. Two anonymous readers were responsible for generating a contract with
Ashgate and I would like to thank them for their wonderful feedback. Their faith in
my project as expressed in their reports egged me on during difficult times.
Some subsections of the chapters in this book have formed parts of articles that
have been published previously. I would like to thank Oxford University Press for
permission to reproduce some material in chapter 5 of this book from the following
article: ‘The Emergence of the Female Criminal in India: Infanticide and Survival
under the Raj’, History Workshop Journal, 53 (Spring 2002): 73–94. For
permission to cite some portions of my article ‘Indian Christian Women and
Indigenous Feminism’, from C. Midgley (ed.), Gender and Imperialism
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998), in chapter 2 of this book, I wish
to thank Manchester University Press. Finally, the last section of chapter 6 of this
monograph has drawn upon material used in ‘The Age of Consent Act (1891)
Reconsidered: Women’s Perspectives and Participation in the Child Marriage
Controversy in India’, South Asia Research, 12/2 (November 1992), for which I
wish to thank Sage Publications.
A Note on Translation and Citation
A phonetic style that dispenses with the use of diacritical marks has been adopted
that allows for a simpler and easier form, which helps the reader to enunciate
accurately. In keeping with the normal standards I have translated all the titles of
articles and books in Marathi language but not the title of journals or newspapers.
In addition, Marathi phrases used in the book are always translated and these
appear in square brackets throughout the monograph. The archive or private
collection from which the source was derived is mentioned in the bibliography
although individual chapters contain the abbreviated form of the name of the
archive where official sources are quoted or cited from including the Native
Newspaper Reports. Wherever such abbreviations occur it has been indicated for
the first time and the full reference has been given followed by the abbreviated
form, for example,, Maharashtra State Archives, hereafter (MSA).
Some idiosyncrasies of the language and culture of the Maharashtrian region
have posed challenges in translation as well as citation. The term ‘Pandita’ occurs
in the name of a few women pioneers and this refers to the honorific title earned by
the lady in a given area of expertise either through an open competition such as
with Anasuyabai Pandita or as one conferred by royalty as in the case of
Godavaribai Pandita. In the Maharashtrian tradition, the norm was to recognize or
address unmarried women by their father’s surname and married women by their
husbands’ surnames, however, learned women were recognized by their maiden
names followed by the title. The exception to this rule is the extremely well known
Pandita Ramabai, whose international audience anglicized the style of addressing
her as ‘Pandita Ramabai’ instead of ‘Ramabai Pandita’. For this reason I have
retained the anglicized version and used the full name both in references within
chapters as well as the bibliography. Some women writers came from aristocratic
backgrounds and had titles attached to their names (for example, ‘Shrimant
Sagunabai alias Tai Saheb Pant Pratinidhi’) whilst others used nom de plumes.
These have proved impossible to translate and abbreviate in any form, hence I have
used the entire name of the authoress whilst citing them in both the chapters and
the bibliography. Quite a few women writers used pseudonyms especially when
writing to the ‘Correspondence of Readers’ columns in the Women’s Press. These
pseudonyms are retained and wherever possible if the identity of the author is
known I have made that clear. The names of women petitioners including prisoners
have been considerably distorted in the anglicized spelling adopted in the British
