Historical figures have shaped our present for us, it was their constant efforts and dedication to national betterment that we are able to live a free life. But most of the time we fail to remember and recognise them, but the entertainment industry at times works to remind us of them. The same has happened with Karsandas Mulji, a famous historical personality whose biopic recently surged. This biopic was streamed on Netflix which made people aware of this famous personality and his contribution to society. Therefore, today’s blog is dedicated to him so that you can know about this transforming personality.
Who was Karsandas Mulji?
Karsandas Mulji was one of the Indian journalists, social reformed and administrators who was born on July 25th in the year 1831 and lived till August 28 1871. He was an alumnus of Elphistone College and English English-educated Gujarati Journalist. He had an acute dislike for institutional religion. Mulji was also appointed by Victoria’s British India’s Bombay Government to administer the state of Kathiawar in 1867.
Karsandas Mulji Family
Karsandas Mulji was born in a Gujarati Vaishnav family and was raised by his mother’s aunt after he lost his mother when he was quite young. He attended Elphinstone College for his education and took part in Gnan Prasarak Mandal’s events. He then started working as a journalist in the year 1851 when Dadabhai Naoroji created the Anglo-Gujarati Newspaper Rast Goftar.
Social Background of Karsandas Mulji
After working as a journalist, later on, Karsandas Mulji was repudiated by his family because of his views on widow remarriage. After a visit to England for business connection with the cotton trade, which was unsuccessful it brought an excommunication from his caste because of the notion prevalent at those times regarding crossing the seas.
Professional Journey of Karsandas Mulji
Karsandas Mulji had formerly contributed to the Rast Goftar and Stribodh magazines, which primarily attracted a Parsi audience. Narmadashankar Lalshankar, commonly referred to as Narmad, along with Mahipatram Rupram and Karsandas Mulji, were part of Buddhivardhak Sabha. He served as a nominated Fellow at the University of Bombay. He was likewise a member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
Dissatisfied with the narrow audience of these magazines, Mulji, with assistance from Mangalbhai Naththubhai, established a Gujarati newspaper called Satyaprakash in 1855 aimed at traditional Hindus. He revised it when Rustomji Ranina was the publisher. Nonetheless, Satyprakash was in circulation for just six years before ceasing in 1861 and subsequently merging into Rast Goftar, the very newspaper he had formerly departed from due to its smaller readership. His writings targeted progressive Hindu caste leaders and criticized social and religious traditions and practices. Mulji tackled several social concerns, including women’s education, extravagant spending on lavish weddings, wedding celebrations, and the chest-beating ritual associated with funerals.
Biogrpahies & Pop Culture
Biographies were written on Karsandas Mulji, Mahipatram Rupram Nilkanth wrote his popular biography in Gujarati entitled Uttam Kapol Karsandas Mulji Charitra (1877) with an introductory sketch in English. Aside from this, a critical biography is also written by B.N. Motiwala, titled Karsandas Mulji: A Biographical Study (1935).
In fact, recently his biopic was released on Netflix and titled Maharaj in the year 2024. In his film, Siddharth P. Malhotra dramatises the historic Maharj Libel case of the year 1862. The case was related to imperial British justices mediating a dispute between progressive reform and religious conservatism in the subject country.
Karsandas Mulji Death
As per several sources like Encyclopedia Britannica 1911, Karsandas Mulji died on August 28, 1871. In fact, Karsandas Mulji Municipal Library Matheran is named after him.