HISB94H3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Satara District, Jyotirao Phule, Savitribai Phule
Document Summary
Phule was born in 1827 into a family that belonged to the mali caste, traditionally occupied as gardeners, vegetable vendors, and florists. [2] the original surname of the family had been gorhe and had its origins in the village of katgun, in present-day satara district, maharashtra. Phule"s great- grandfather worked as a chaugula, a lowly village servant, in katgun but moved to khanwadi in pune district. He prospered there but his only son, shetiba, who was of poor intelligence, subsequently squandered what had been gained. Shetiba moved to poona with his family, including three boys, in search of some form of income. The boys were taken under the wing of a florist who taught them the secrets of the trade. Their proficiency in growing and arranging became well known and they adopted the name of phule (flower-man) in place of gorhe.
