Dr Rukhmabai Raut ~ Happy 160th Birthday

Sepia toned oval photograph portrait of a woman, looking slightly to the left. What is visible of her clothing appears to be a pale blouse under pleated fabric over her right shoulder.

Dr Rukhmabai Raut (1864-1955). Source: M. Balfour and R. Young (1929).

22 November 2024 marks the 160th birthday of Dr Rukhmabai Raut, the second Indian woman to practice Western Medicine and a campaigner for women's rights.

Rukhmabai was born on 22 November 1864 in Bombay* (modern day Mumbai) of British ruled-India, to Jayantibai and Janardhan Pandurang. At the age of two Rukhmabai’s father passed away. Belonging to the Sudhar (carpenter) caste, remarriage was permissible, and later Jayantibai married the renowned doctor, social reformer and widower, Dr Sakharam Arjun.

Three-quarter length sepia portrait of a man in a long tunic or coat and a hat. He holds a cane in his left hand and has his right hand on his hip.

Dr Sakharam Arjun (1839-1885). Source: Archives of the Acworth Leprosy Hospital via Wikimedia Commons.

Rukhmabai always showed an enthusiasm in studying, and was strongly encouraged by her stepfather. Following local customs, her education was to end with primary school. For her maternal grandfather had arranged for the 11-year-old Rukhmabai to marry the 19-year-old Dadaji, a distant relative of Sakharam. Although powerless to challenge the age-old Hindu custom of child marriage, Sakharam refused permission for the marriage to be consummated and denied Rukhmabai to live with her husband. Instead, Rukhmabai continued to live with her mother and stepfather.

Oval black and white portrait of a woman looking left. Her hair is parted in the middle and pulled back. She seems to be wearing a shirt and tie under a dark garment. A necklace with a round pendant is visible.

Dr Edith Pechey (1845-1908). Source: M. Balfour and R. Young (1929).

Over the years, Rukhmabai had become resourceful in acquiring her education - borrowing her stepfather’s books, learning from his liberal colleagues and conversing with like-minded women at zenana parties.
She first met Dr Edith Pechey (see Edinburgh Seven) at a zenana party: the senior medical officer at the Cama Hospital for women in Bombay, Edith would often encourage Rukhmabai to proceed to England and study medicine. It was this dream that gave Rukhmabai hope to keeping moving forward in the difficult times that lay ahead.

Meanwhile, Dadaji had become a dissipated, drunken and debt-ridden man. When he summoned his wife to live with him (again) and she refused, Dadaji filed a suit for the “restoration of conjugal rights” in 1884. The case became an international cause célèbre, fiercely debated across the Empire. While the British did not dare interfere with local Hindu customs, Rukhmabai courageously wielded her pen under the pseudonym ‘A Hindoo Lady’. Through her publications in The Times of India she heavily criticised the practice of child marriage, creating a stir. In 1885, the case came to court and Justice Robert Pinhey delivered a judgement in favour of Rukhmabai.

Sepia toned landscape photograph of a large many-floored building fronted by a lawn

Bombay High Court, Mumbai, 1902. Part of the Colonial Office photographic collection 1069/179. Source: The National Archives UK.

Justice Pinhey’s judgement however, was short-lived. For in 1886, an appeal before the Bombay High Court went in Dadaji’s favour. The revised verdict now in alignment with Hindu law ruled that Rukhmabai must join her husband. Refusal to comply with the court's ruling would result in a six month imprisonment. Undeterred, Rukhmabai responded that she would rather go to jail.

Her decision enraged Hindu conservatives, like the nationalist leader Tilak who vilified Rukhmabai in the print media. She appealed the verdict to the Privy Council, as well as to Queen Victoria. Finally in 1888, the marriage was dissolved and Dadaji received financial compensation.

Black and white landscape photograph of a building, taken from across an intersection.

The London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women, Hunter Street, London (founded 1874). Source: G.A.Riddell (1926), Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Liberated from marriage, Rukhmabai’s dreams were within reach. However, sailing to England cross the black waters (kala pani) was regarded a Hindu taboo. With the help of Pechey’s diplomacy and perseverance, Rukhmabai’s grandfather eventually gave in. He granted permission for Rukhmabai’s travels on three conditions: (1) do not consume beef; (2) do not marry an Englishman; and (3) do not convert to Christianity.
With the funds raised by Edith, Rukhmabai set sail for England. In London, Rukhmabai lodged with Eva McLaren, a suffragist who introduced her to a world of women rights campaigners, progressives and writers who unlocked her imagination to another way of life. Meanwhile in India, Rukhmabai’s fiery stance against child marriage helped catalyse a legal shift in the age of consent for Indian girls from 10 to 12 - the Age of Consent Act 1891. Rukhmabai however, felt 15 should be the minimum age.
In 1890, Rukhmabai enrolled at the London School of Medicine for Women when the pioneering physician Elizabeth Garret Anderson was the dean. She gained clinical experiences from the Royal Free Hospital, Lying-in institution at Brighton and the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin. With England not allowing women to sit for the professional exams, Rukhmabai proceeded to sit her exams in Edinburgh and Glasgow (Scottish Triple Qualification) in 1894, and Brussels (Doctor of Medicine) in 1895. The Triple Qualification entitled Dr Raut to place her name on the British Medical Register, following on from her predecessors Dr Annie Jagannadham and Dr Kadambini Ganguli.

Double page spread from a register. Handwritten numbers, names and signatures. Dr Rukhmabai Raut's entry is second from the bottom.

Dr Rukhmabai Raut’s entry on the Licentiate Register of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 1894. Source: The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Archives.

Excerpt from a printed register showing the name, address and qualifications of Dr Rukhmabai Raut.

Dr Rukhmabai Raut joined The Medical Register in 1894. Her entry can be seen on The Medical Register for 1895, p.1137. Source: General Medical Council Press Office.

Rukhmabai returned to India with her professional qualifications. Through the Dufferin Fund, she was appointed Chief Medical Officer for the women’s Hospital in Surat and later in Rajkot, where she was called upon by the royal families. Early in her career, Rukhmabai was involved in the public health efforts during the plague and was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind medal. As a keen educator, she created lectures for the women of Surat, for which Edith was happy to support through collecting funds. Her connection with Edith continued till the end, as Rukhmabai writes:

“from her [Edith] death bed she wrote on my recent arrival in Europe, begging me to land at Folkestone and visit her, and it will be an everlasting grief to me that she was gone, alas! before I reached England.”

Raut, 1908

Black and white three-quarter-length portrait of a woman in a saree. Her hair is parted in the middle and pulled back. Her left arm rests on a baluster or ledge of some kind.

Dr Rukhmabai Raut LRCPEd, LRCSEd, LFPSG, MD (Brux) Source: Women of Brighton via Wikimedia Commons.

Rukhmabai retired in 1930 and returned to Mumbai where she continued advocating for women’s rights and liberation through her writing. She never remarried, but her life was full of love, surrounded by numerous family members, friends, and all of their children. In 1955, Rukhmabai passed away at the age of 90.
Rukhmabai defied the laws of Hinduism to rewrite the role of Indian women. Her gentle determined spirit never diminished amidst the intersecting injustices of her social position, inspiring a generation of independent women.

Dr Theeba Krishnamoorthy, Guest blogger

*In 1995, the anglicized form of the city name ‘Bombay’ was officially changed to ‘Mumbai’.

Sources used in writing this post:
• Jayawardena, K. (2014) The White Woman’s Other Burden: Western Women and South Asia During British Rule. New York and London: Routledge.
• Balfour MI and Young R. The Work of Medical Women in India. London: Oxford University Press, 1929.
• Rao, K. (2021) Lady Doctors: The untold stories of India’s first women in medicine. India: Westland Non-Fiction.
• Raut, R. (1894) ’Final Examination: Schedule of the course of study for the joint qualifications in medicine and surgery’. Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Archives.
• London School of Medicine for Women and related collections (1874-1891), including writings about Edith Pechey by Rukhmabai Raut (1908). The London Archives, H72/SM/C/01/02/001.

Image sources:

Library, Archive and Museum

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