Dayaram Gidumal Shahani (30 June 1857 – 7 December 1927) or Rishi Dayaram, was an Indian social reformer, judge, poet, and scholar. He was known as the godfather of

Sindhi Hindus Sindhi Hindus are Sindhis who follow the Hindu religion, whose origins lie in the Sindh region and spread across modern-day India and Pakistani Sindh province. After the Partition of India in 1947, many Sindhi Hindus were among those who fled ...

Life

Born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

, Dayaram received his early education in Persian at home from Akhoond Noor Mahammed. He later studied at

Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

in Bombay and joined the Civil Service. He rose to the position of Judicial Commissioner in Sindh but chose not to accept a position as High Court Judge. He helped establish the D.J. Sindh College in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

and supported education for women. He was a scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. He retired in 1911 to Bombay where he lived in a "Blue Bungalow" on the beach. He founded the Seva Sadan along with

Behramji Malabari Behramji Merwanji Malabari (18 May 1853 – 12 July 1912) was an Indian poet, publicist, author, and social reformer best known for his ardent advocacy for the protection of the rights of women and for his activities against child marriage.Chis ...

. He published numerous books including ''Sata saheliyun'' (Seven girl-friends, 1906) and ''Chabak mana lai ain rihan'' (Lashes for the mind, 1923–29). Works in English include ''The History of a Humble Soul'' (a biography of Sadhu Hiranand), ''Something about Sindh'' (1882) and a biography of Malabari with an introduction by

Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...

. He wrote on religion and spiritualism under the pen-names of Zero, Bijal and Sigma.

Family

Dayaram married when young Yashoda and had two sons and three daughters. His second marriage was at the age of 56 to a young girl Urmila aged 26 in his Ashram in 1913. He withdrew himself from society after this: it was apparently to protect the girl who had become pregnant after a relationship with another boy in the ashram.

References

External links

Biography
* The Life and Life-work of Behramji M. Malabari (1888) * The status of woman in India (1889) * Hiranand - the soul of Sindh (1903) {{authority control Writers from Sindh 19th-century Indian judges 1857 births 1927 deaths Sindhi people People from Hyderabad, Sindh Sindhi-language writers Sindhi Hindu saints