ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

Education as Emancipation: Phule’s Vision in Gulamgiri

Jyotirao Phule’s book Gulamgiri (Slavery, 1873) is a foundational text in the history of anti-caste activism and social reform in India. The book is in the form of essays and written as dialogue between the writer and Dhondiba, a character. Phule argues that education is the most potent instrument of emancipation, challenges the Brahminical monopoly over knowledge, and lays the groundwork for modern Dalit and feminist thought. This Research paper examines how Gulamgiri elaborates education not merely as a means of individual progress, but as a central strategy for resistance and social and political transformation. It exposes how religious scriptures were used to perpetuate myths and traditions that sustained inequality and subjugation of the Shudras and Ati-Shudras (marginalised communities). It places Jyotirao Phule’s vision within the larger context of nineteenth-century reformist movements and postcolonial theory, a portrayal upon contemporary scholarship to assess the work’s continuing relevance in society. The findings suggest that Phule’s educational philosophy foreshadows later emancipatory pedagogies and remains vital in struggles for justice, equality, and fraternity. The book, primarily written in Marathi, has an everlasting impact on regional literature, and its translation has changed the Indian way of Dalit writing. Phule dedicated the book to the African American movement to end slavery, linking the two struggles for freedom.