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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 1875(1875-08-28) (aged 43) [1]

Karsandas Mulji (25 July 1832 – 28 August 1875) [1] was a alumnus of Elphinstone college, Gujarati journalist. He was deeply influenced by the English culture too an extent that he had dislike for institutional religious authority and had penchant for reading Christian sermons and later started translating English sermons & conduct manuals into Gujarati thereby also bringing a distinctively Protestant ethic into Gujarati’s cultural world.[2][3][4] Karsandas Mulji was appointed to administer a state in Kathiawar in 1874.[5]

Family and Social Background[edit]

Born to a family belonging to the Kapol Caste, a most elite commercial caste of western India. He was latter 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[edit]

He used to previously write for the Rast Goftar and Stribodh magazines, but readership of these magazines were mostly limited to Parsis.[7]

Unhappy with the limited readership of these magazines, Mulji in the year 1855 founded a Gujarati weekly named Satyaprakash with the help of Mangalbhai Naththubhai. He edited it while Rustomji Ranina was the publisher. However Satyprakash was published for merely 6 years before closing in 1861 and latter dissolving into Rast Goftar, the same newspaper which he had previously left due to it's less audience.[8] His articles addressed forward Hindu caste leaders and attacked social, religious customs & practices. Mulji addressed various social issues such as female education, excessive money spending in pompous weddings, weeding ceremonies, and the funeral ritual of chest beating.[9]

Biographies[edit]

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.[4]

Death[edit]

According to 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica [1] his death occurred in August 1875, which may be more likely as it is mentioned that he was appointed to administer a state in Kathiawar in 1874 during the minority of the chief.[1][10][3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mulji, Kursendas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 960.
  2. ^ a b Scott, J. B. (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. ISSN 0002-7189.
  3. ^ a b Scott, J. Barton (1 March 2015). "Luther in the Tropics: Karsandas Mulji and the Colonial "Reformation" of Hinduism". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 83 (1). Oxford University Press: 181–209. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfu114. hdl:1807/95442. ISSN 0002-7189.
  4. ^ a b 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.
  5. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mulji, Kursendas" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 960.
  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. ISSN 1479-2443. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023.
  7. ^ Mehta, Hasit (2012). Sahityik Samyiko. Ahmedabad: Rannade Prakashan. p. 50.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Motivala, Bhavanidas Narandas (1935). Karsondas Mulji: a Biographical Study. Karsondas Mulji Centenary Celebration Committee.
  10. ^ "વીર પત્રકાર કરસનદાસ મૂળજી -Navgujarat Samay". Navgujarat Samay (in Gujarati). 3 May 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2017.

Further reading[edit]

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