Dayaram Gidumal: The Eminent Poet & Scholar of Sindh

Dayaram Gidumal Shahani (1857-1927) or Rishi Dayaram, was a notable social reformer, judge, poet, and scholar in the region of British India.

Born in the Sindh provimce, Dayaram Gidumal received his early education in Persian at home from Akhoond Noor Mahammed. He after that studied at Elphinstone College in Bombay and joined the Civil Service. He rose to the position of Judicial Commissioner in Sindh province but chose not to accept a position as High Court Judge.

He helped developed the D.J. Sind College in Karachi city and supported education for women. He was a scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Sanskrit. He retired in the year of 1911 to Bombay where he lived in a “Blue Bungalow” on the beach. He founded the Seva Sadan along with Behramji Malabari. He issued numerous books involving 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. He wrote on religion and spiritualit under the pen-names of Zero, Bijal and Sigma.

Dayaram married young to Yashoda and had 2 sons and 3 daughters. His second marriage was at the age of 56 to a young girl Urmila aged 26 in his Ashram in the year of 1913. He withdrew himself from society after this but it was apparently to secure the girl who had become pregnant after a relationship with another boy in the ashram.