Poona Sarvajanik Sabha

The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, or Poona Public Society, was an Indian political association founded in the 1870s in Bombay. It was established by Mahadev Govind Ranade, a prominent social reformer and judge.1

The Sabha's early goals included opposition to the caste system, promoting widow remarriage, encouraging female education, and abolishing child marriage. It was similar in purpose to the Brahmo Samaj and had a significant influence in Maharashtra. The organization was part of the burgeoning nationalist movement in British India, which emerged in reaction to British rule and the spread of Western civilization. Ranade, a leader of this "emulative school of nationalism," also mentored Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who later became a key figure in the Indian National Congress.21