Behramji Merwanji Malabari JP (18 May 1853 – 12 July 1912) was an Indian poet, publicist, author, and social reformer best known for his ardent advocacy for the protection of the rights of women and for his activities against child marriage. Behramji Merwanji Malabari was born on 18 May 1853 at Baroda (present-day Vadodara, Gujarat). He was a son of Dhanjibhai Mehta, a Parsi clerk employed by the Baroda State, and Bhikhibai. His father, about whom nothing more is known "than that he was a mild, peace-loving man, with a somewhat feeble constitution and not overmuch force of character", died when the boy was six or seven. His mother then took him to Surat (on the coast, 140 km from Baroda), where Behramji was then educated at an Irish Presbyterian mission school. He was subsequently adopted by Merwanji Nanabhai Malabari, the childless owner of a drugstore who traded in sandalwood and spices from the Malabar Coast hence the name 'Malabari'. Merwanji had previously lost two wives before he married Behramji's mother.