Karsandas Mulji (25 July 183228 August 1871) was a

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Guj ...

journalist, writer and social reformer from India. According to 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica his death occurred in 1875, which may be more likely as it is mentioned that he was appointed to administer a state in

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it ...

in 1874.

Biography

Born to a family belonging to the Kapol Caste, a trading caste of western

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, he was repudiated by his family because of his views on widow remarriage. He became a vernacular schoolmaster and started ''

Satyaprakash ''Satyaprakash'' () was a Gujarati language weekly founded by social reformer and journalist Karsandas Mulji with an intention of social reform. Launched in 1855, it ran until 1861 and later was merged with ''Rast Goftar'', another newspaper pub ...

,'' a weekly in Gujarati, in which he attacked what he perceived to be the immoralities of the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great Monarch, king" or "high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Em ...

s or hereditary high priests of the Pushtimarg

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

, to which the Bhatias belonged. In a libel suit, the Maharaj Libel Case, brought against him in the

High Court at Bombay High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

in 1862, he won a victory on the main issue. After a visit to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

on business in connection with the

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...

trade, which was not successful and brought on him

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

from his

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

, he was appointed in 1874 to administer a native state in

during the minority of the chief. He died there in August 1875. 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.

Biography

References

Further reading