Early Women Writers

Soyarabai

Maharashtra

Late 13th-mid 14th century

Sant (the Hindi word for saint) Soyarabai was born in Maharastra, India, into the then-“Untouchable” Mahar caste. She was more famously known as the wife of the “Untouchable” saint and poet, Chokhamela, of whom she was a disciple. She wrote and sung abhangas (a kind of devotional poetry written in Marathi for the Hindu God Vithoba), addressed to God, on the subjects of patriarchy, poverty, and the ill-treatment of lower castes by the upper classes (particularly by Brahmins). She belonged to the schools of mysticism, Dalit poetry, and the Varkari tradition.

Marathi

Poetry, Devotional Poetry

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