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Q78 (IAS/2020) History & Culture › National Movement (1857–1947) › Social reform movements Official Key

The Vital-Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience was published by

Result
Your answer:  ·  Correct: A
Explanation

The correct answer is Option 1: Gopal Baba Walangkar.

Gopal Baba Walangkar, a pioneer of the Dalit movement in Maharashtra, started the monthly journal Vital-Vidhvansak (Destroyer of Brahmanical Pollution) in 1888. This publication is historically significant as the first journal specifically dedicated to the upliftment and mobilization of the untouchable communities.

  • Gopal Baba Walangkar: An ex-serviceman influenced by Jyotiba Phule, he used this journal to challenge the caste hierarchy and advocate for the rights of the Depressed Classes.
  • Why other options are incorrect: While Jyotiba Phule (Option 2) founded the Satyashodhak Samaj, his primary works included Gulamgiri. M.K. Gandhi (Option 3) published Harijan much later in 1933, and B.R. Ambedkar (Option 4) started journals like Mooknayak and Bahishkrit Bharat in the 1920s.

Therefore, Walangkar remains the earliest figure to establish a dedicated media platform for the "untouchable" audience.

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Q. The Vital-Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal to have the untouchable people as its target audience was published by [A] Gopal Baba Wa…
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Origin: Mixed / unclear origin Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 0/10
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This is a 'Bouncer' question derived from specialized history of the Dalit movement, not standard textbooks like Spectrum or NCERT. It tests knowledge of the 'precursors' to Dr. Ambedkar in Maharashtra. If you didn't know it, skipping was the only safe option.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Was the journal Vital-Vidhvansak, the first monthly journal aimed at untouchable people, published by Gopal Baba Walangkar?
Origin: Weak / unclear Fairness: Borderline / guessy
Indirect textbook clues
History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 4: Advent of Gandhi and Mass Mobilisation > Mahad Satyagraha > p. 54
Strength: 5/5
“Ambedkar launched news journals and organizations. Mook Nayak (leader of the dumb) was the journal to articulate his views and the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (Association for the welfare of excluded) spearheaded his activities. As a member of the Bombay legislative council he worked tirelessly to secure removal of disabilities imposed on untouchables. He launched the 'Mahad Satyagraha' to establish the civic right of the untouchables to public tanks and wells.”
Why relevant

This snippet shows that leaders from the Dalit/untouchable movement (e.g., Ambedkar) launched specific journals (Mook Nayak) to articulate untouchable issues — demonstrating a pattern of activists publishing targeted periodicals.

How to extend

A student could use this pattern to infer that a distinct journal aimed at untouchables (Vital-Vidhvansak) is plausible and then check publisher/editor records for Gopal Baba Walangkar versus other activists.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 9: A General Survey of Socio-Cultural Reform Movements > Gopal Ganesh Agarkar > p. 216
Strength: 4/5
“Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-1895) was an educationist and social reformer from Maharashtra. A strong advocate of the power of human reason, he criticised the blind dependence on tradition and false glorification of the past. He was a cofounder of the New English School, the Deccan Education Society and Fergusson College. He was a principal of Fergusson College. He was also the first editor of Kesari, the journal started by Lokmanya Tilak. Later, he started his own periodical, Sudharak, which spoke against untouchability and the caste system.”
Why relevant

This snippet shows social reformers (Gopal Ganesh Agarkar) founded and edited periodicals that addressed social issues including untouchability, illustrating that reform journals often targeted caste and social reforms.

How to extend

Use this rule (reformers publishing journals against untouchability) to narrow likely publishers to known reform figures and then compare Walangkar's known activities or publications.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 9: A General Survey of Socio-Cultural Reform Movements > Balshastri Jambhekar > p. 214
Strength: 3/5
“Balshastri Jambhekar (1812-1846) was a pioneer of social reform through journalism in Bombay; he attacked brahminical orthodoxy and tried to reform popular Hinduism. He started the newspaper Darpan in 1832. Known as the father of Marathi journalism, Jambhekar used the Darpan to awaken the people to awareness of social reforms, such as widow remarriage, and to instil in the masses a scientific approach to life. In 1840, he started Digdarshan which published articles on scientific subjects as well as history. Jambhekar founded the Bombay Native General Library and started the Native Improvement Society of which an offshoot was the Students Literary and Scientific Library.”
Why relevant

Early Marathi journalists (Balshastri Jambhekar) used newspapers and journals as instruments of social reform, indicating a regional print-culture tradition that could have produced a Marathi/vernacular journal like Vital-Vidhvansak.

How to extend

If Vital-Vidhvansak was a regional-language monthly, a student could check Marathi/region-specific press histories or catalogues for Walangkar's name.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 1: Sources for the History of Modern India > Newspapers and Journals > p. 9
Strength: 3/5
“Indian nationalists and revolutionaries living abroad published newspapers and journals—Indian Sociologist (London, Shyamji Krishnavarma), Bande Matram (Paris, Madam Cama), Talwar (Berlin, Virendranath Chattopadhyay), and Ghadar (San Francisco, Lala Hardayal) to infuse a feeling of nationalism among Indians living abroad. Newspapers depict almost all aspects of life in colonial India from around the 1870s onwards. From the 1920s onwards, newspapers tracked the major events during the freedom struggle. However, newspaper accounts cannot be seen as unprejudiced or completely objective. The accounts that were published in a newspaper in London by the pro-British Raj people were bound to be different from the report in an Indian nationalist paper.”
Why relevant

This snippet documents the wide practice of nationalists and reformers publishing specialized journals across places and communities, showing a general precedent for niche monthlies.

How to extend

Given the commonness of specialized journals, a student could search bibliographies of reformist/political periodicals of the relevant era for Vital-Vidhvansak and its publisher.

India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 5: Print Culture and the Modern World > 6.2 Print Comes to India > p. 120
Strength: 2/5
“By the close of the eighteenth century, a number of newspapers and journals appeared in print. There were Indians, too, who began to publish Indian newspapers. The first to appear was the weekly Bengal Gazette, brought out by Gangadhar Bhattacharya, who was close to Rammohun Roy.”
Why relevant

This snippet emphasizes the emergence of Indian-run newspapers and the print culture that enabled reformers to start periodicals, a necessary condition for someone like Walangkar to publish a monthly.

How to extend

Combine this with geographic/chronological info (where and when Walangkar was active) to check local press records or library catalogs for the journal title and publisher.

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Statement analysis

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Statement analysis

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