Gulamgiri

1. Lack of Knowledge is the Root Cause of Misery

Without knowledge, intelligence was lost, without intelligence morality was lost and without morality was lost all dynamism!

The cycle of abjection. Phule argues that the fundamental reason for the Shudra farmer's suffering is a deliberate lack of knowledge. This ignorance leads to a loss of intelligence, which in turn erodes morality and dynamism. Without these qualities, farmers lose their economic standing and sink into misery.

Brahmins control knowledge. The text asserts that Brahmins historically prohibited education for Shudras and Atishudras through selfish scriptures like the Manusamhita. This control over knowledge ensured their continued dominance and the farmers' perpetual ignorance, making them easy targets for exploitation.

Consequences of ignorance. This enforced ignorance prevents farmers from understanding their rights, managing their finances, adopting better farming techniques, or participating effectively in government or society. They remain vulnerable to religious manipulation and economic exploitation, perpetuating their abject condition.

2. Brahmins Systematically Exploit Farmers Through Religion

The ancient and cunning Arya Brahmin scripture-writers have so smoothly machinated to tie up the farmer in their selfish religion that from even before he is born, when his mother gets her menses and the garbhadhan rituals are performed, till he dies, various things are looted from him.

Life-cycle exploitation. Brahmins have devised religious rituals for every stage of a farmer's life, from conception to death and beyond, as pretexts to extract money, food, and goods. These rituals, often based on fear of ill-fortune or promises of virtue, drain the farmer's meager resources.

Examples of religious looting:

• Charging for rituals during pregnancy, birth, and death (shrādha)
• Demanding dakshina (fees) for prayers, blessings, and temple visits
• Organizing feasts (Brahmin-bhojan) where farmers provide food but get leftovers
• Exploiting farmers during festivals, pilgrimages (yātras), and eclipses

Maintaining control. This religious system not only extracts wealth but also reinforces Brahmin authority and keeps the farmer superstitious and dependent. Farmers are taught to worship idols, cows, and snakes, believe in ghosts and magic, and trust shamans over doctors, further wasting their resources and endangering their lives.

3. Government Departments Dominated by Brahmins Loot Farmers

Because the white government officers are mostly engrossed with luxury, they do not have time enough to enquire into the real conditions of the farmers and because of this negligence most government departments are dominated by Brahmin employees.

Negligence and complicity. Phule criticizes the British government's white officers for their laziness and pursuit of luxury, which leads them to neglect the real conditions of the farmers. This negligence allows Brahmin employees to dominate government departments and exploit the ignorant farmers unchecked.

Brahmin control in offices:

• Brahmin clerks manipulate court documents and statements to favor those who bribe them.
• They instigate disputes between farmers over land and water rights.
• They delay cases and harass illiterate farmers who cannot navigate the system.
• They fabricate evidence and influence judgments to fine or sentence farmers.

Exploitation through the system. This dominance ensures that farmers face injustice in revenue collection, legal disputes, and access to resources like water. Even well-intentioned laws or policies are subverted by Brahmin employees for their own gain, leaving the farmer penniless and without recourse.

4. Historical Subjugation: Aryans Enslaved Native Shudras

After a long time had passed, when they could no longer survive on the fruit of the forest near the town, they started hunting, and fishing, and when even that was not sufficient, they started cultivating the land and that must have been very useful.

Aryan invasion narrative. Phule presents a historical account where the Arya Brahmins, originating from Iran, invaded India and subjugated the native peoples, referred to as Dasyus, Astiks, and Rakshasas. He argues that the victorious Aryans enslaved the survivors, who became the Shudras and Atishudras.

Creation of caste system. The Arya Brahmins then created a rigid caste system and wrote selfish laws (like those in the Manusamhita) to maintain their dominance and keep the Shudras in perpetual servitude. These laws prohibited Shudras from education, owning property, and even touching Brahmins or their dead.

Suppression of native culture. The Aryans destroyed the republican states of the native peoples and suppressed their history and culture. Phule suggests that the Dasyus were originally powerful and prosperous, but their defeat and subsequent enslavement by the Aryans led to their current degraded state.

5. Farmers Are Crushed by Taxes, Debt, and Neglect

Our cowardly English government has allowed these customs to continue and spends thousands of rupees on this, which are collected from the taxes on the honest sweat and labour of the farmer.

Increased tax burden. Phule argues that the British government, needing funds for high salaries and pensions for European and Brahmin employees, constantly increases taxes on farmers. These taxes, including land revenue and local funds for education (which doesn't reach farmers), push them into debt.

Debt cycle. Unable to pay taxes or cover farming costs, farmers borrow from Brahmin and Marwadi moneylenders. These moneylenders use false accounts and manipulate the Brahmin-dominated courts to seize the farmers' land and assets, leaving them destitute.

Lack of support. Despite collecting taxes, the government fails to provide essential support like irrigation when needed, protection from wild animals, or relief during droughts. This neglect, combined with the debt burden and religious exploitation, leaves the farmer in a desperate and hopeless condition.

6. The Abject Living Conditions of the Farmer

Here is the farmer, ploughing his land, controlling eight bullocks and pushing the plough in a land strewn with sharp and dry grass, unclad, barefoot, with a strip of cloth to cover his head and a small pouch of tobacco at his waist; and here is the white soldier, pantalooned, a red coat over a shirt, with a silver embroidered rakish cap on his head and on his feet boots of soft foreign leather over cotton stockings, a leather corset on his waist and a triggered gun on his shoulder, parading on the breezy ground for an hour in the morning or in the evening.

Extreme poverty. Phule vividly contrasts the luxurious life of European soldiers and Brahmin employees with the severe poverty of the farmer. Farmers and their families live in dilapidated, unsanitary houses, wear torn clothes, and often lack sufficient food, surviving on coarse grains, roots, or even mango pits.

Hard labor, poor diet. Farmers work day and night in harsh conditions, often without proper tools or cattle, while subsisting on meager meals of bhakri with salt or chutney. This poor diet and constant labor lead to ill health, with little access to medicine or doctors.

Lack of basic amenities. Their homes lack ventilation, clean water, and sanitation, contributing to disease. Despite being the foundation of the nation's wealth through their labor and taxes, they are denied basic necessities and dignity, living in conditions worse than beasts.

7. Educated Shudras Fail to Support Their Community

But these seven-and-a-half children seal their own mouths about how the Brahmin employees of the government destroy their ignorant caste relations because most government office-are dominated by Brahmins, and become close friends of Brahmins and begin to rail against the government in associations and meetings established by the Brahmins.

Assimilation and betrayal. Phule criticizes the few Shudras who manage to get educated and find government employment. Instead of helping their ignorant caste brethren, they become friends with Brahmins, adopt their ways, and remain silent about the exploitation of farmers.

Fear of Brahmins. These educated Shudras fear losing their jobs or facing social ostracism from Brahmins if they speak out or associate too closely with their less fortunate caste members. They even participate in Brahmin-led associations that criticize the government but ignore the plight of the farmers.

Loss of identity. By prioritizing their own advancement and seeking acceptance from the dominant caste, these educated Shudras abandon their community and fail to use their knowledge and position to advocate for farmer education and rights, perpetuating the cycle of ignorance and exploitation.

8. Brahmins Hypocritically Preach Unity While Maintaining Inequality

Now it is clear from this hollow advice that their intention is merely to cheat the farmer with false promises of progress and upliftment.

False calls for unity. Phule exposes the hypocrisy of Brahmins who, seeing their influence wane due to conversions to Christianity, suddenly call for unity among all castes, including Shudras, Parsis, and Muslims. He argues this is a cunning tactic to maintain their dominance.

Continued discrimination. Despite calls for unity, Brahmins continue to practice caste discrimination, refusing to inter-dine or inter-marry with Shudras, denying them access to temples, and treating them as impure. They even discriminate against other Brahmins (like Deshasthas) until it suits them (like the Peshwas did with Konkanasthas).

Self-serving motives. Phule asserts that Brahmins only seek unity when it benefits them, such as when facing external threats (like Muslims or Christians) or when their traditional sources of income from farmers are drying up. Their true intention is not genuine progress for all but maintaining their own privileged position.

9. Government Must Prioritize Farmer Education and Representation

Therefore our multi-faceted government should in proportion to the taxes that it collects, the various local funds and other collections, close down all the Marathi and English schools in villages, and, looking upon the farmer with kindness, start a school for making teachers from amongst the farmers themselves, and spend money in each taluk, from the local fund to provide food, clothes and books to farmers' children, and start boarding schools for them.

Education as liberation. Phule argues that education is the only way to liberate farmers from Brahmin cunning and ignorance. He criticizes the current education system, which is dominated by Brahmins and fails to reach or benefit farmers.

Proposed education reforms:

• Close existing village schools run by Brahmins.
• Establish schools specifically for farmers' children, run by teachers from farmer castes.
• Provide free food, clothes, and books in boarding schools funded by local taxes collected from farmers.
• Make education compulsory up to a certain age.
• Offer incentives like guaranteed Patil positions for educated farmers.

Representation in government. To combat Brahmin dominance and ensure justice, Phule suggests limiting the number of Brahmins in government jobs proportionate to their population and appointing qualified individuals from farmer castes to positions like Mamledar and other offices.

10. Concrete Reforms Needed for Agricultural Improvement

The benevolent government should educate all the farmers, and until they become mature enough to use machines to do the usual things on the farms like European farmers, all the white people and the Mussalmans should slaughter goats and sheep instead of slaughtering cows and oxen; or they should import cattle and slaughter and eat them here, because otherwise there will not be sufficient supply of cattle for the farms, and there will not be enough compost and other fertiliser as well, and so neither the farmer, nor the government will benefit.

Protecting vital resources. Phule suggests practical measures to improve agriculture and the farmer's condition. He highlights the importance of cattle for farming and fertilizer and asks the government to discourage the slaughter of cows and oxen by Europeans and Muslims, suggesting alternative sources of meat.

Infrastructure and resource management:

• Build small dams and bunds using soldiers and police manpower to conserve water and improve soil fertility.
• Construct lakes and maintain irrigation systems, ensuring timely water supply at reasonable rates.
• Return village pastures included in government forests and allow farmers to collect silt for fertilizer.
• Abolish the oppressive Forest Department.

Incentives and support. Phule proposes annual competitions and awards for best farming practices to encourage improvement. He also suggests training farmers in related skills like ironwork and carpentry and taking them abroad to learn modern agricultural techniques. Finally, he calls for protecting crops from wild animals and compensating farmers for losses.

Last updated: May 14, 2025