Page 1
TYBA
SEMESTER - V (CBCS)
HISTORY PAPER - V
HISTORY OF MODERN
MAHARASHTRA
(1818 CE-1960 CE)
SUBJECT CODE : 97047
Paper 5 History of Modern Maharashtra 1818 CE 1960 English Version 2 1 Syllabus Mumbai University by munotes
Page 2
©
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
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August 2022, Print - I
Programme Co-ordinator
:
Anil R. Bankar
and
Editor
Associate Professor of History and
Head, Faculty of Humanities,
IDOL, University of Mumbai.
Course Co-ordinator
:
Shivdas Changdeo Ghadge
Assistant Professor, Dept. of History,
IDOL, University of Mumbai.
Course
Writer
:
Dr. Vincent D'mello
Head, Dept.of History,
St. Joseph College, Virar, Dist. Palghar
Published by
:
Director
Institute of Distance and Open Learning ,
University of Mumbai,
Vidyanagari, Mumbai - 400 098.
DTP Composed &
:
Mumbai University Press,
Printed by
Vidyanagari, Santracruz (E), Mumbai
Prof. Suhas Pednekar
Vice-Chancellor,
University of Mumbai
Prof. Ravindra D. Kulkarni
Prof. Prakash Mahanwar
Pro Vice-Chancellor,
Director,
University of Mumbai
IDOL, University of Mumbai
Page 3
CONTENTS
Unit No.
Title
Page No.
1.
Socio-Economic Conditions of Maharashtra in 19
th
Century
01
2.
Administration and Judiciary
11
3.
Tribal and Peasant Uprisings
20
4.
Mahatma Jotirao
Phule: Satyashodhak
Samaj and Universal
Humanism
33
5.
The Prarthana
Samaj
39
6.
Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic
Nationalism
47
7.
Moderates, Extremists and Revolutionaries in Maharashtra
55
8.
Response to Gandhian Movements in Maharashtra
75
9.
Samyukta
Maharashtra
Movement
87
10.
Contribution of Reformers in Education
93
11.
Contribution of Reformers Towards Emancipation of Women
106
12.
Contribution of Reformers towards Upliftment of Depressed
Classes
115
Page 4
T.Y.B.A. History
SEMESTER -V
Core Course V- History of Modern Maharashtra (1818 CE-1960 CE)
Objectives:
1. To acquaint students with regional history .
2. To understand political and socio-economic development s during the 19th
and 20th centuries.
3. To create understanding of the movement that led to the formation of
Maharashtra .
Module I: Beginning of the British Rule
(a) Socio -Economic conditions of Maharashtra in 19th Century
(b) Administration and Judiciary
(c) Tribal and Peasant Uprising s
Module II: Socio - Economic Awakening
(a) Mahatma Jotirao Phule - Satya Shodhak Samaj and Universal Humanism
(b) Prarthana Samaj
(c) Contribution of t hinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism
Module III: Political Developments in Maharashtra (1885 -1960)
(a) Moderates, Extremists and Revolutionaries in Maharashtra
(b) Response to Gandhian Movements in Maharashtra
(c) Samyukta Maharashtra Movement
Module IV: Emergence of New Forces
(a) Contribution of Reformers in Education
(b) Contribution of Reformers towards Emancipation of Women
(c) Contribution of R eformers towards Upliftment of Depressed Classes: V. R.
Shinde, Rajarshi Shah u Maharaj and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar
Page 5
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Ambedkar B.R., The Untouchables: Who Were they and Why they Became Untouchables ,
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Ballhatchet Kenneth, Social Po licy and Social Change in Western India : 1817 – 1830 , Oxford
University Press, London, 1961.
Banhatti Rajendra and Jogalekar G.N. (ed.) A History of Modern Marathi Literature ,Vol. I and
II, Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad, Pune 1998 (Vol.I) and 2004 (Vol.II) .
Chaudhari K.K., Maharashtra State Gazetteers, History of Mumbai , Modern Period, Gazetteers
Department, Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai, 1987.
Chaudhari, K.K, Maharashtra and the Indian Freedom Struggle , Govt. of Maharashtra,
Bombay 1985.
Choksy,R.D. , Economic Life in the Deccan,1888 -1896 , Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1965.
David M.D., Bombay the City of Dreams (A History of the First city in India) Himalaya
Publishing House, Bombay, 1995.
Desai, A. R. Social Background Of Indian Nationalism, Popul ar Prakashan, bombay, 1959.
Deshpande A. M., John Briggs In Maharashtra : 1817 -1835 , District Administration under Early
British Rule, Rawat Publishers, New Delhi, 1987.
Dobbin Christin, Urban Leadership in Western India, Politics and Communities in Bomb ay,
1840 - 1885, Oxford University Press, London, 1972.
Dossal Marriam, Imperial Designs and Indian Realities:The Planning of Bombay City – 1845 -
1875,Oxford University Press.Bombay 1991.
Edwardes S.M., Gazetteer of Mumbai City and Island -Vols. IIII , The Times Press, Mumbai,
1990 -1910.
Ganachari A. G., Nationalism and Social Reform in a Colonial Situation , Kalpaze, Publication,
New Delhi, 2005.
Ghugare Shivprabha, Renaissance in Western India: Karmveer V.R. Shinde, Himalaya
Publishing House, Bombay, 1983 .
Grover Verinder (ed.), Bhimrao Raoji Ambedkar, Deep and Deep Publications , New Delhi,
1998.
Heimsath, Charles Indian Nationalism and Hindu social reform , Princeton University Press,
1964.
Johnson Gordon, Provincial Politics and Indian Nationalism, C.U.P . Cambridge ‐1973
Jones K. W., Socio Religious Reform Movements in British India , Orient Longman, New Delhi,
1989.
Keer Dhananjay, Dr. Ambedkar : Life and Mission , Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1954.
Keer Dhananjaya, Mahatma Jotirao Phule: Father of our Soci al Revolution , Popular
Khade V. K., British Rule and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: The Movement for the Upliftment of the
Downtrodden , Kaushalya Prakashan Aurangabad 2011.
Page 6
Kumar Ravindar, Western India in the Nineteenth Century , Routledge and Kegan Paul,
London,196 8.
Lederle Mathew, Philosophical Trends in Modern Maharashtra , Popular Prakashan, Bombay,
1976.
Masselos J.C., Towards Nationalism, Group Affiliations and the Politics Associations in
Nineteenth Century Western India, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, 1974.
Morr is M. D ., The Emergence of Indian Labour in India: A Study of Bombay Cotton Mills , 1854 -
1947, Oxford University Press.Bombay 1965.
Nanda B.R (ed), Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj , Princeton University Press,
New Jerssy, 1977
Narullah S ajed and Naik J.P., A History of Education in India ( During ) the British
Period) ,Macmillan and Co. Ltd. Bombay,1951.
O‟Hanlon Rosalind, Caste, Conflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Cast Protest
in Nineteenth Century Western India, Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Omvedt, Gail, ‘ Dalits and Democratic Revolution‟ - Dr. Ambedkar & the Dalit Movement in
coloni al India , Sage Publication, New Delhi, 1994.
Omvedt, Gail, Cultural Revolt in Colonial Society: Non -Brahmin Movement in Western India :
1873 - 1930, Scientific Socialist Education Trust, Mumbai, 1976.
Patel S. and Thorner A., Bombay Mosaic of Modern Cult ure, OUP. Bombay 1995.
Patel S. and Thorner A., Bombay, Metaphor for Modern India, OUP. Bombay 1996.
Patil P. G., The Bountiful Banyan : Biography of Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil , Vol. I & II,
Macmillan, Mumbai, 2002.
Phadke Y. D., Social Reformers of Mahar ashtra, Maharashtra Information Centre, New Delhi,
1975.
Ravinder Kumar, Western India in the Nineteenth Century : A Study in the Social History of
Maharashtra ,Routledge and Kegan Paul,London and University of Toronto Press, Toronto,
1968.
Sunthankar B. R., History of Maharashtra – Vol. I and II , Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1993.
Sunthankar B.R., Maharashtra: 1858 -1920, Popular Book Depot, Mumbai, 1993.
Sunthankar B.R., Nineteenth Century History of Maharashtra -1818 -1857, Popular Book Depot,
Mumbai, 1988.
Tucker Richard, Ranade and the Roots of Indian Nationalism , Popular Prakashan, Mumbai,
1977.
Tucker Richard, Ranade and the Roots of Indian Nationalism , Popular Prakashan, Bombay,1977.
Wolpert S.A ., Tilak and Gokhale,: Revolution and Reform in Making of Mo dern India ,
University of Callifornia Press,1962.
Marathi Book s
Bagade Umesh, Maharashtratil Prabodhan aani Vargajatiprabhutva , Sugava Prakashan, Pune,
2006.
Bhave,V.K., Peshvekalin Maharashtra , ICHR, Delhi, 1976.
Page 7
Bhide G.L, Patil N.D., Maharashtratil Sama jsudharanecha Itihas , Phadke Prakashan, Kolhapur,
1993.
Chaudhari K.K., Zunzar Pune , Continental Prakashan, Pune.
Dixit Raja, Ekonisavya Shatakatil Maharashtra Madhyam Vargacha Uday , Diamond
Publications, Pune, 2009.
Ganachari Aravind, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar - Buddhipramanyavadi aani Thor Samaj Sudharak ,
Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 2016.
Gathal Sahebrao, Adhunik Maharashtracha Itihas (1818 -1960) , Kailas Prakashan, Aurangabad,
2010.
Javdekar S.D. Adhunik Bharat , Continental Prakashan, Pune, 1979 (Reprint)
Kadam, Manohar, Bhartiya Kamgar Chalvalinche Janak Narayan Meghaji Lokhande , Akshar
Prakashan, Bombay.
Kathare Anil, Adhunik Maharashtracha Itihas (1818 -1960) , (Third Ed.)Vidya Books,
Aurangabad, 2015.
Keer Dhananjay, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar , Popular Prakashan, 2013 (Eighth Reprint)
Keer Dhananjay, Mahatma Jotirao Phule -Aajachya Samaj Krantiche Janak , Popular Prakashan,
1966.
Keer Dhananjay, Rajarshi Shahu Chhatrapati, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 2001 (reprint)
Kelkar N.C., Lokmanya Tilak Yanche Charitra, Vol. I T o III , Varada Prakashan,Pune, 1988
(Second Ed)
Ketkar Kumar, Katha Swatantryachi (Maharashtra), Maharashtra Rajya Pathyapustak Nirmiti va
Abhyaskram Sanshodhan Mandal, Pune, 2003 (Reprint)
Malashe S.G., Apte Nanda, Vidhava Vivah Chalval 1800 -1900 , Anmil P rakashan, Pune, 1990
(Second Ed)
More Dinesh, Adhunik Maharashtratil Parivartanacha Itihas (1818 -1960), 2006.
More Sadanand, Lokmanya te Mahatma, Vol I and II, Rajhans Prakashan, 2007 (Second Ed)
Padhye Prabhakar and Tikekar S.R. Aajkalcha Maharashtra, Karnataka Press, Bombay, 1935.
Pandit Nalini, Maharashtratil Rashtravadacha Vikas, Modern Book depot, Pune, 1972.
Pawar G.M., Vitthal Ramji Shinde -Jeevan va Karya, Lokvangamayagriha, 2004.
Phadke Y. D. (Ed. ), Mahatma Phule Samagra Vangmaya, Maharashtra Rajya Sahitya aani
Sanskruti Mandal, (Revised Fifth Ed.) Mumbai, 1991
Phadke Y.D., Visavya Shatakatil Maharashtra , Mauj Prakashan, Mumbai.
Phadke Y.D., Visavya Shatkatil Maharashtra, Vol. I To V, Shrividya Prakashan , Pune. Phadke
Y.D, Visavya Shatkatil Mahara shtra, Vol. VI, Mouj Prakashan, Mumbai, 2007.
Phatak Narhar Raghunath, Adarsh Bharatsevak , Mouj Prakashan, Mumbai, 2011 (Second Ed)
Phatak Narhar Raghunath, Lokmanya, Mouj Prakashan, Mumbai, 2012 (Fourth Ed)
Sabale Deepa, Adhunik Maharashtracha Itihas , Education Publishers, Aurangabad, 2013.
Tikekar Aroon, Dhanagare D.N., P.N Paranjape (Edit), Maharashtra Charitra Granthmala (61
independent books), Gandharvaved Prakashan, Pune, 2010.
Page 8
Vohra Rajendra (Ed. ) , Aadhunikata aani Parampara -Ekonisavya Shatkatil Ma harashtra: Y.D.
Phadke Gaurav Granth , Pratima Prakashan, Pune, 2000.
Wagh Sandesh, Manjulkar Ambadas, Jadhav Ajitkumar, Adhunik Maharashtracha Itihas (1818 -
1960), Aksharlen Prakashan, 2010.
Walimbe.V.S. Ekonisavya Shatkatil Maharashtrachi Samajik Punarghat ana, Pune, 1962.
Page 9
1
1
SOCIO
-
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF
MAHARASHTRA IN 19
TH
CENTURY
Unit
Structure
1
.
0
Objectives
1
.
1
Introduction
1
.
2
Social
Conditions
of
Maharashtra in 19 th Century
1
.
2
.
1
Population
of
Maharashtra
1
.
2
.
2
Religion
1
.
2
.
3
The
Casteism
-
(Social
Structures
)
1
.
2
.
4
Rural
Society
1
.
2
.
5
Position
of
Women
1
.
2
.
6
Crime and
Punishment
1
.
2
.
7
Cultural
Condition
1
.
3
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in 19 th Century
1
.
3
.
1
Agrarian
Economy
1
.
3
.
2
The
Prices of
food
-
grain
1
.
4
Summary
1
.
5
Questions
1
.
6
Additional Readings
1
.
0
OBJECTIVES
:
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
.
Understand
the
Social
Conditions
of
Maharashtra in 19 th Century
2
.
Know the
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in 19 th Century
1
.
1
INTRODUCTION
In dealing with the social conditions of Maharashtra we will concentrate
on
the Hindu population in general. There were Musl
im settlements and
they
were
confined
to
those
regions
once
ruled
by
Muslim
rulers
such
as
Khandesh, Daulatabad, Ahmednagar, Janjira and the port
-
towns on the
West
-
Coast. The population of Maharashtra at the end of the Maratha rule
would
be
a
matter
of
con
juncture
because of
lack
of
reliable data.
During the time of the Maratha Empire agriculture was the main
occupation
of
the
majority
of
the
people
in
Maharashtra.
Some
of
them
had
taken
to
the
life of a military career. These soldiers who were employed in
Page 10
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE)
2
the Maratha
army did not dissociate themselves with their agricultural
activities. During
the period of Shivaji’s Swarajya the soldiers were
farmers first and soldiers
afterwards. Shivaji used to arrange the
programme of military campaigns
-
the
mulkhgiri
-
to
suit
the
needs
of
the
agriculturists;
the
soldiers
commenced
their campaigns on Dasara Day
(usually in the month of October) and
returned
to
their
village
homes
by
holi
(April
-
May)
This
practice
was
continued
in
the subsequent
periods
also.
1.2 SOCIAL
CONDITIONS OF MAHARASHTRA IN
THE 19 TH CENTURY
1
.
2
.
1
Population
of
Maharashtra
W. H. Sykes, Statistical Reporter to the Government of Bombay estimated
the total Population of Khandesh, Pune, Ahmednagar and Dharwar around
27 lakhs in 1828. This gives us a gener
al idea of the population figures. If
we
ignore
the
non
-
Marathi
-
speaking
areas
and
include
the
areas
like,
Nasik,
sholapur, Kolhapur and the Kokan, we can safely arrive at a figure of
between 35 to 40 lakhs. It may not exceed fifty lakhs even if we include
the
princely states covered by the Marathi
-
speaking regions. This is of
course
a tentative estimate of the population a hundred and fifty years ago.
The
religion wise figures are more difficult to arrive at. The areas ruled by
Muslims did not have Muslim
majorities; so the population of
Muslims
scattered throughout Maharashtra in 1818 may not be more than three to
four
lakhs
on
the
conservative estimate.
1.2.2
Religion
The Hindu Society was tradition
-
bound. It had become more conservative
as
we
approach
the end
of
the Maratha
period.
It
was
spiritually and
intellectually exhausted. The people reposed implicit faith in the wisdom
of
the
religious
literature
especially
the
Puranas
as
only
an
insignificant
number
was
reading
the
scriptures
or
the
‘Shastra’.
Their
ignorance
about
the
worldaffairs
was
monumental.
The
teachings
of
the
saint
philosophers
had
driven
the idea of ‘Fate’ deep into the soul of the people. They’d found
solace in
the rituals and listening to the religions discourses, the ‘Kirtans’
and t
he
devotional songs, the ‘Abhangas’. The scholar gentry was
complacent in
reciting
the
Sanskrit
verses
and
formulae,
mantras,
at
ceremonial
functions,
patronized by the Peshwa and Maratha nobles. Those
who lived in Pune,
the seat of the Central Government
of Marathas, came
in contact with the
foreigners, diplomats, soldiers and the Pindaris. The
Guards or Gardis or
Gardi’ belonged to non
-
Marathi
-
speaking people
who came to Pune for
services.
The
society
of
the
time is
described
by
G.
S.
Sardesai as
follows
:
-
‘‘ The religious outlook of the society and especially of the upper classes
of
that time was directed to pursuits of a superstitious nature, making caste
restrictions
rigid,
enjoying
various
practices
as
the
only
means
of
happiness
and salvation, and in
troducing thousands of minute rules and
Page 11
Socio
-
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in
19
th
Century
3
practices
entirety antagonistic to the material interests of a progressive
community.
The Bhakti cult or the Bhagavata religion had the same effect,
especially
among
the uneducated
masses.’’
The
Society
was
enslaved
by
superstition
and
insisted
on
duties
appropriate
to the castes. The upper classes or higher castes demanded that the lower
classes, the untouchables must serve the high caste people. The forced
labour demanded by the higher castes and the degradation of
the Mahar,
Mang and other low castes is adequately described by N. G. Bharve in his
research
paper
‘Peshwekalin
Dalit
Samaj
’
published
in
the
journal
of
B.
I.
S. M.
Pune,
Year,
1983.
1
.
2
.
3
The
Casteism
-
(Social
Structures
)
The traditional caste
-
r
idden society manifested its ugly features during the
declining period of the Maratha rule. The outcastes like Taral, Ramoshi,
Chambhar, Mahar, Mang, Berad were treated very harshly. If the members
of these castes committed any crime, a heavy fine was impo
sed on them
and inhuman punishment was awarded to them. They were treated as unfit
for the protection of law. Most of these outcastes were treated as criminal
castes. The inequality of the castes was the main feature of the social
structure. All were not e
qual before the law. Even among the high
-
castes
there were many sub
-
divisions. It was generally believed that the Hindu
Society
was
a
graded
society.
Some
of
the
Vedic
Pundits
would
declare
that
there
were
only
two
self
-
exclusive
groups
of
Hindus,
Brahmins
and
Shudras.
There were no Kshatriyas or Warriors by birth and the merchants
were
treated as among the Shudra caste only. The Brahmans however had
the
privilege to follow any trade or profession. They were appointed to
civil and
military
offices
and
many
a
Brahman
was
engaged
in
the
gold
and
jewellery
trade. Some of them were rich money
-
lenders who lent money to
the
sardars
and
the
Peshwas.
1
.
2
.
4
Rural
Society
The rural society was a well
-
integrated and compact society. Elphinstone
and Metcalf praised the sel
f
-
sufficiency of these Village Republics. The
caste and the
-
family were treated as important units. The individual person
had no independent position; he was a member of a particular family and
castes
and was bound by
the caste
-
regulations.
The rural socie
ty established interrelation by the time honoured method of
the
cultivators
receiving
services
and
goods
from
occupational
castes
in
the
scheme
of
social
scale.
Besides
the
upper
castes
that
is
the
Brahmanas
and
the ruling elites, the others had to render
public service. Their work was
given remuneration by the voluntary payment of goods at the harvest time
by the farmers. The recipients of such goods were known as ‘Balutedars’.
They
were
twelve
in
a
number
depending
upon
the
size
of
the
village
and
its
pop
ulation.
The
important
Balutedars
were:
-
Page 12
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE)
4
Carpenters, blacksmiths, shoe makers, Maharas; Guravs, Potters, barbers,
gold
-
smits, fishermen etc. (more about this in the next lesson). They were
treated
as
men
eligible
for
the
benefit
proper
to
that
‘Baluta’
or
‘social
service’
which
the
occupational
-
castes
were
supposed
to
render.
Among
the
untouchables,
village
servants
-
the
Mahars had
two
important
functions.
They
were
used
as
private
labourers
and
village
servants
doing
government
duties. They had to discharg
e duties as watchmen for the village and they
were
forced
to
work
on
the
fields
of
certain
mirasdars
or
men
of
high
station.
The
Mahars
had
acquitted
themselves
with
high
credit
in
the
military
service
risking their lives in daring adventures. They were
ho
wever not sufficiently
rewarded. In the battle of Kharda in 1795, Sidnak
Mahar was commanding
a battalion against the Nizam. The English
Company recruited them as
sepoys in their
army.
1
.
2
.
5
Position
of
Women
The position of women during the first decades of the
nineteenth century
was deplorable in general. Barring a few high
-
castes women and family
members of ruling classes the rest of the womenfolk had to live in an
undignified
way.
The
widows
of soldiers, the
prostitutes, the
‘devadasis’
or
women
throne
at
the
mercy
of
the
society
in
the
name
of
God,
the dancers, musicians and women who entertained men in public are
frequently mentioned in the folk
literature of the time. This creates an
impression
that
the
country
had
reached
the
lowest
depth
of
moral
decay.
I
t
is sufficient to point out that “women convicted of adultery were
employed
as
prostitutes
to
raise
a
body
of
female
slaves
for
the
use
of
the
state’’.
1
.
2
.
6
Crime and
Punishment
.
The
conventional
law
based
on,
the
Manusmriti
and
the
Yajnyawalkya
Smriti
was im
plemented with all severity. The Brahmanas were let off with
light
punishment
but
the
severities
of
the
punishment
progressively
increased
as
the law was applied to the criminals lower down the social
scale. The
uncertainties
of
fortunes
and
weakness
of
th
e
political
authority
rendered
thelife of women insecure and sale of women slaves was
practiced at some
places. The treatment of the prisoners was most cruel. In
Kolaba dark
underground dungeons were used for prisoners. In other
places dark cells
in some f
orts were used. The punishments were
barbarious such as cruel
mutilations,
throwing
down
the
prisoners
bound
hands
and
feet
from
the
high
spurs
of
the
Sahyadri
or
simply
blowing
him
out
from
the
mouth
of
the
guns.
The
deterrent
punishments
might
have
kept
down
the
number
of
revolts
and
risings.
However
the
terrors
of
the
punishments
in
Hell
for
violating
religious
practices
tormented
the
minds of
the
general
mass of
the
people
more
than
the known punishments for
crimes. Nevertheless, bribery and graft in ma
ny
forms
in
the
public
life
relived
the
horrors
to
a
great
extent.
Bribery
appeared
to
be
no crime.
Page 13
Socio
-
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in
19
th
Century
5
1
.
2
.
7
Cultural
Condition.
The strength of the government and the caste
-
system lay in keeping the
people poor and ignorant. There was no first rate literature and
no new
development of Hinduism. It was a declining period of arts. There were no
saint
-
philosophers
like
Eknath,
Tukaram
or
Ramdas.
There
were
no
independent
compositions.
The
only
names
that
figure
as
written
in
the
18th
century are those of Mahipati and
Moropant, and some Lyrists like
Ram
Joshi.
We
do
not
come
across
any
creative
talent.
The
economic
dissatisfaction was widespread. The small middle class, the merchants and
money
lenders
were
at
the
mercy
of
unworthy
rulers
and
pillage
bandits.
The
condit
ions
could
be
summed
as
full
of
‘Ladhai
(wars)
‘Pundai’
(depredations)
and
‘Bandai’ (revolts).
The Maratha Polity during the previous century before the British
conquest
had
gradually
absorbed
some
of
the
cultural
trends
which
prevailed
in
North
India.
Pes
hwas’
territory
was
in
Maharashtra
but
he
supervised
and
controlled the ‘Sardars or Chiefs’ who ruled in the North.
The Shindes and
Holkars had come under the influence of some of the
cultural trends in
modern
Madhya
Pradesh
and
Uttar
Pradesh.
Mahadji
Shin
de
had
introduced the fun and frolic of “Rang Panchami” the festival
of colours
during the Phalgun month. Peshwa Nana Saheb had also
inspired some of
the
artists
to
develop
performing
arts,
the
painting
of
portraits
of
the
Peshwa,
Mahadji Shinde, Nana Phad
nis and other chiefs.
But the buildings and
structures were demolished by the mercenaries
during the time of war and
the plunder and pillage of the Pindaris. The
temples and palaces that have
survived
the
attacks are
witnesses
to
the
grandeur of
the
Marath
a
period.
The
Marathi
language
was
slowly
being
developed
as
a
state
language
and
the Modi script had been accepted as the script for important documents.
Although the Marathi language of the 18th century was influenced by the
Urdu
and
Persian
language
whi
ch
was
the
court
language
of
the
Mughals,
it
continued
to
use
more
and
more
Sanskrit
words
in
official
documents.
The
conquest of the Maratha territory by the English did not change the
cultural
pattern. However the introduction of western ideas and instit
utions
had
influenced
the
important
cities
of
Maharashtra
namely
Pune,
Nasik,
Nagpur,
Kolhapur
and
the
city
of
Bombay.
The
work
of
the
Jesuit
missionaries
on
the west coast in the 18th century had influenced the
minds of the educated
people of Maharashtra
and slowly the western
culture and civilization was
influencing
the Maratha
society.
Check
your
progress:
-
Q 1.
What were the social and cultural condition of the Maharashtra in
19 th Century?
Page 14
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE)
6
1.3
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS OF MAHARASHTRA
IN THE 1
9 TH CENTURY
1
.
3
.
1
Agrarian
Economy
:
The economy of Maharashtra like most of the other regions in India was
mainly
based
on
agriculture.
The
methods
of
cultivation
were
with
the
use
of
the same primitive ploughs drawn by bullocks. The techniques of
irrigation,
seed storage and marketing were the traditional life
-
irrigation,
insufficient
stocks and distress sale of seeds during bad seasons. Large
tracts of land
in Satara, Pune, Ahmednagar, Sholapur and the Kokan were
treated as
uncultivable waste lands. Lack of
agricultural policy and the
destruction of
standing
crops
either
by
the
marauding
Pindaris
in
Khandesh
or
the
marching of enemy armies during the Anglo
-
Maratha
wars or the wars of
succession had ruined the agricultural economy of the
Deccan. The severe
fam
ine in northern Deccan in 1802
-
03 and its
visitation in other parts in the
subsequent period had added to the misery of
the people. The political
instability
following
the
second
Anglo
-
Maratha
war
had
unsettled
agricultural
activities.
The acceptance of
subsidiary alliance made with the Company by the
Peshwa, aggravated the sufferings of the agriculturists. In his anxiety to
raise funds for his state army under Captain Ford, the Peshwa resorted to
farming
out
of
the
land
revenue;
the
highest
bidder
got
th
e
right
to
collect
the
money from the farmers. In Ahmednagar, Bajirao II’s desperate effort
to
collect
the
maximum
possible
land
-
revenue
made
it
necessary
for
the
farmers to bring fallow land under cultivation. The pressure on the
jagirdars
however created
great
tension in the
domain
of
the
Peshwa.
The jagirdars vigorously resisted the Peshwa’s policy of grabbing their
patrimony. Most of the Jagirdars were the holders of ‘surinjams’ (tenures
with political
privileges and
power)
holding
lands
worth
Rs.
10,00
0 to Rs.
20,000. The Peshwa’s policy entailed attacks on the rights of
the
‘deshmukhs’;
‘deshpandes’
and
the
‘inamdars’
to
a
great
extent.
The
bad
agricultural
policies
of
the
Peshwa
were resented
but
the
condition
of
agriculture
before
the
British
Rule
in
Maharashtra
was
not
relatively
much
miserable with all sorts of adverse forces influencing it. It
had latent vitality
as
was
witnessed
in
the
valleys
of
Sahyadril,
the
country
south
of
Ahmednagar and the areas controlled by Patwardhans in the
Southern par
t
of
Maharashtra.
They
were
well
-
populated and
richly
cultivated.
1
.
3
.
2
The
Prices of
food
-
grain
Elphinstone gives the following description of Maharashtra when he was
passing
through
Chhattisgarh
to
the boundaries
of
Maharashtra.
“The country seems still an abu
ndant one, Ghee, owing to the number of
cattle, sells at the rate of 7 or 8 seers for a rupee, rice at 60, wheat flour at
80
and
at
Rypore
and
Dhundha
they
say
a
man
live
poorly
for
half
a
pice
but
very
comfortable
for
a
pice”.
This
was
the
description
of
the
country
in
which
he
was travelling
in the
first
decade of
the
19th
century.
Page 15
Socio
-
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in
19
th
Century
7
The
fall
of
Peshwa
Bajirao
II
brought
about
a
steep
fall
in
the
prices
of
grain
even when the harvests’ were poor. The reason for that phenomenon
was
the
natural
consequence
of
diminished
demand.
The
merchants
had
hoarded the grain expecting better prices but as there was no effective
demand,
the
prices
began
to
fall.
This
worsened
the
condition
of
the
cultivators of the land. The farmers faced a grim prospect of uneconomic
retu
rns and heavy land
-
taxes. They had to sell their land or borrow money
to pay the new masters. The rural community was under the shadow of a
great
calamity
as
famine
was
threatening
the
eastern
parts
of
Godavari
and
the
whole of
Khandesh.
The condition in t
he towns was worse than the rural regions. The disturbed
conditions and the greedy officials like the Kotwals in the capital city had
created panic in the towns. The conditions in the cities which were the seat
of political power like Kolhapur, Sangli, Mir
aj or Janjira, Sawantwadi and
other smaller towns were not free from the interference from the officials
in
the sale and purchase of goods. The merchants of the towns like
Paithan,
Pune,
Thane
or
Kalyan
had
links
with
the
rural
areas
and
the
disturbed
cond
itions made business difficult. The transportation and
movements of
goods were impeded because of geographical conditions.
The middlemen
also created many problems. The raids on the rich areas
made by the
Pindaris especially in northern Maharashtra made th
e life in
the cities and
towns
miserable.
Check
your
progress
1
.
Write
short
note
on
Economic
condition
in
Maharashtra
in 19 th
Century
1
.
4
SUMMARY
After the defeat of Mughal Emperor and the Nawab of Bengal and Oudh
in
1764 and the Sultan of Mysore in 1799; Brit
ishers defeated Maratha
ruler
with subsidiary alliance
in 1818.
Later
on Peshwa,
Bhosle and
Holkar
revolted against British rule except Shinde and Gaikwad. At the
same time
Maharashtra’s Economic Condition was backward. Peshwas
collected high
revenue after
subsidiary alliance. Social condition of Hindu
and Muslim
became
miserable,
because
of
casteism
it
was
divided
into
number
of
units.
People
were
poor and
ignorant
villages were self
sufficient.
1
.
5
QUESTIONS
:
1.
Evaluate
the
socio
-
cultural
conditions
in
Ma
harashtra
in 19 th
Century
2
.
Trace
the
economic
conditions
in
Maharashtra
in 19 th Century
Page 16
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE)
8
1
.
6
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Charles
Worthy
Noel, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
3
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
1839),
Asia
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
4
.
Chokesy
R.D., Mou
ntstuart Elphinstone, Popular Publishing House,
Bombay, 1971.
5
.
Dobbin
Christine, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India, Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
6
.
Dongarkerey
S.
R., History
of
the
University
of
Bombay, (1857
-
1957),
University of
Bombay,
Bombay,
1957.
7
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
8
.
Grant Duff, History
of
the
Marathas,
VOl.
I
&II
, Associated
Press,
New
Delhi, 1971.
9
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Cent
ury, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
10
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C., New
Delhi,
1975.
11
.
Varma
S. J., Mountstuart
Elphinstone
in
Maharashtra, (1801
-
1827),
Territories conquered from
the Peshwas, K.P. Bagehi Co. Calcutta,
1981.
REFE
RENCES
1
.
Ambedkar
B.R.,
State
and
Minorities,
Thakkar
&
Thakkar,
Mumbai
1942.
2
.
Chaudhari,
K.K,
Maharashtra
and
the
Indian
Freedom
Struggle,
Govt. of
Maharashtra, Bombay
1985.
3
.
Chaudhari
K.K.,
Maharashtra
State
Gazetteers,
History
of
Mumbai,
Modern Period, Gaze
tteers Department, Government
of
Maharashtra,
Mumbai,
1987.
4
.
David M.D., Bombay the City of Dreams (A History of the First
city
in
India)
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1995.
5
.
Dossal
Marriam,
Imperial
Designs
and
Indian
Realities:The
Planning
of
Bombay
C
ity
–
1845
1875,Oxford
University
Press.
Bombay
1991.
Page 17
Socio
-
Economic
Conditions of
Maharashtra in
19
th
Century
9
6
.
Edwardes S.M., Gazetteer of Mumbai City and Island
-
Vols. I
-
III,
The
Times
Press, Mumbai,
1990
-
1910.
7
.
Kadam,
Manohar,
Bhartiya
Kamgar
chalvalinche
Janak
-
Narayan
Meghaji Lokhande, Akshar Prakashan, Bomba
y. Keer
Dhananjay,
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar:
Life
and
Mission,
Popular
publication,
Mumbai.
8
.
Khade
V.
K.,
British
Rule
and
Dr.
B.R.
Ambedkar:
The
Movement
for the Upliftment of the Downtrodden, Kaushalya
Prakashan
Aurangabad
2011
9
.
Lederle Mathew, Philosophical
Trends in Modern Maharashtra,
Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay, 1976
10
.
Morris M. D.,
The Emergence of Indian Labour in India: A
Study of
Bombay Cotton Mills, 1854
1947, Oxford University
Press.Bombay
1965
11
.
Omvedt,
Gail,
‘Dalits
and
Democratic
Revolution’
-
Dr.
Ambe
dkar
&
the
Dalit
Movement
in
colonial
India,
Sage
Publication,
New Delhi,
1994.
12
.
Phadke Y.D., Social Reformers of Maharashtra, Maharashtra
Information
Centre,
New Delhi
1975.
13
.
Phadke
Y.D.,
Visavya
Shatakatil
Maharashtra,
Mauj
Prakashan,
Mumbai.
14
.
Patel S. and
Thorner A., Bombay Mosaic of Modern Culture,
OUP.
Bombay
1995
15
.
Patel S. and Thorner A., Bombay, Metaphor for Modern India,
OUP.
Bombay
1996
16
.
Suntankar
B.R.,
Nineteenth
Century
History
of
Maharashtra,
1818
1857.
Popular
Prakashan
Bombay
1988.
17
.
Suntankar
B.R.,
Nineteenth
Century
History
of
Maharashtra,
1857
1920, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay.
18
.
Wagh
Sandesh,
Dr.
B.
R.
Ambedkar
-
Brief
lifesketch,
Sugawa
publication,
Pune, 2011.
19
.
Dr.
Wagh
S.
M.,
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
-
Jivanchantra,
Akshar
lene
publication, Solapur,
2011.
20
.
Ambedkar
B.R., The
Untouchables,
Who
were
they
and why they
become
Untouchables,
Balrampur
(U.P.) 1969.
21
.
Lederle
M., Philisophical Trends in Modern Maharashtra, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1976.
22
.
Phadke
Y.D., Shau Chhatrapati and Lokmanya
(Marathi), Shree
Vidya
Prakashan,
Poona,
1986.
23
.
Sahastrabuddhe
P.G., Maharashtra Sanskriti (Marathi),Continental
Prakashan,
Poona,
1979.
Page 18
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE)
10
24
.
Tilak
B.G.,
Tilakanche
Kesaritil
Lekh
(
Marathi),
Part III,
Rajkiya
Khanda
III,
Kesari
Maratha
Sanstha
Poona,
1926.
25
.
Ke
er Dhananjay, Mahatma
Jyotirao
Phule,
Father
of
the
SocialReform, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1964.
26
.
Masani
R.P., Dadabhai
Naoroji,
George
Allon
and Unwin
Ltd.,
London, 1939
27
.
Moore
R.J., Liberalism
in
Indian
Politics,
(1872
-
1922),
Edwin
Arnold
Ltd.,
Lon
don,
1966.
28
.
Padhye
Tikekar, Aajkalcha
Maharashtra
(Marathi)
29
.
Walport
S.A.,
Tilak
and
Gokhale,
Revolution
and Reform in the
making of Modern India,
University of Columbia Press, Berkeley
and
Los Angeles,
1962.
Page 19
11
2
ADMINISTRATION AND JUDICIARY
Unit
Structure
2
.
0
Objectives
2
.
1
Introduction
2
.
2
Administration
2
.
2
.
1
Land
Tenures
2
.
2
.
2
Revenue
settlement
and
administration
2
.
2
.
3
Revenue
collection
during
last
days
of Peshwaship
2
.
3
Transition under the British Rule
2
.
4
Judiciary
2
.
5
Summary
2.6
Questions
2.7
Additional Readings
2.0
OBJECTIVES
:
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
)
Understand Land
Tenures.
2
)
Observe
revenue
settlement
and
administration.
3
)
Trace
the
transition
under
the
British
Rule.
4
)
Provide the students with a brief ins
ight of law and administration of
British
East
India
Co.
in
Maharashtra.
2
.
1
INTRODUCTION
:
After the fall of Marathas, the East India co. gained a lot of territory. They
became powerful and gradually became active in administrative affairs of
the
M
aharashtra
(i.e.
in
Bombay Presidency).
They
introduced
several
changes from time to time. Several Governors were also responsible for
tackling these issues. Lord Cornwallis the first Governor General laid the
foundation
of
administration
and judiciary
in
India
in
(1786
-
93).
The
new
influence
of modern ideas and the spirit of liberalism made them work out
plans for
better
administration
of
justice
and
also
provide
better
means
of
the
transport
and
communication.
The
non
-
government
Western
Christian
Mi
ssionaries
of
America
and
Scotland
worked
for
the
social
welfare
of
down
trodden
and unprivileged people.
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers. They wee
imbued
with
the
modern
ideas
of
humanism,
Liberalism
and
scientific
outlook.
They were allowed to continue the old land tenures for some
Page 20
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
12
time.
The
Marathas
were
following
the
system
of
Malik
Amber
in
revenue
settlement.
Land
was
classified
and
measured
and
tax
was
fixed
periodically.
Revenue
was
collected
by
village
headman
Patil,
Patel,
Kulkarni,
Deshmukh,
Deshpande etc.
Britishers
followed
the
Rayatwari
system
in
Maharashtra.
Land
-
tax
was
high
and
ryat
had
to
incur
debts
which ruined
the
peasantry.
According to term ‘Whiteman’s Burden’ Lord Elphinstone took interest in
giving
edu
cation
to
native
people.
Christian
Missionaries
had
already
started
the
work
of
learning regional
languages
and
Sanskrit.
Charter Act of 1813, and Bombay Native Education Society gave boost to
education
in Bombay
and Maharastra.
There were two groups of le
arning. One was the oriental learning and
other
was western learning. The Charter Act. of 1853 and ‘Wood 's
Despatch
provided
for
the
expansion of
education
in India.
Because of Western Education many public spirited men like Jagannath
Shankar
Sheth,
Jamsh
etji
Jeegibhoy,
Jambhekar,
Lokahitavadi
started
journalism
for
awakening of
mass
people.
2
.
2
ADMINISTRATION
2
.
2
.
1
LAND
TENURES
The
collapse
of
the
Maratha
Power
was
a
sad
event
in
the
life
of
the
people
of Maharashtra. They had experienced the vicissitudes of politi
cal
fortunes.
The disaster of the Panipat (1761) was still fresh in the memory
of the old
generation. The new generation however had not forgotten the
good old
days
of
expansion
of
Maratha
Power.
Their
armies
were
marching
throughout India. The army of the
Peshwa was defeated and the
people
were silenced
for
sometime.
The East India Company in their hour of victory did not perpetrate any
atrocities
on
the
people.
That
was
the
practice
of
the
victors
of
the
Medieval
Age.
These
Englishmen
though
basically
tra
ders,
merchants
and
soldiers
of
the Company were imbued with the modern ideas of humanism,
Liberalism
and
Scientific
outlook.
They
championed
the
ideas
of
‘Free
Trade’,
‘Western
Learning’
and
the
‘Whiteman’s
Burden’.
They
were
obsessed
with
the
belief
that
the people of the East are unfit for self rule,
their religion is mere
superstition
and
they
lack
spirit
of
nationalism
as
understood
in
the
West.
The Company was fortunate to have at that time a band of brilliant men in
their service. They carried out th
eir duty with a sense of mission but could
not rise above their low objective of colonial exploitation and denied
rights
and privileges which their own people demanded in their home
country. We
shall now attempt to describe their efforts to fashion the
Ind
ian people
according to the ideals envisaged by them during the
transition under their
Rule.
We shall study the first two topics in this unit namely (1) Land Tenures
Page 21
Administration
and
Judiciary
13
and
Revenue
Settlement
and
(2)
Education
and
the
Press.
Before
describing
the
new influenc
e and transition under the new rulers it would be
instructive to
give a brief account of the pattern generally followed by the
Marathas upto
the
end
of
their
rule.
Main
features
of
the
Maratha
system of Land
Tenures
There
were
two
systems
of
Land
Tenures
a
nd
Revenue
Settlement
followed
by
the
Marathas,
the
one
was
for
their
home
territory
and
the
other
for
other
lands. They termed the former as ‘Swarajya’ and the latter as
‘Samrajya’.
We
are
not
concerned
with
territories
outside
Maharashtra.
Prof
R.V.Oturk
ar
has provided us with useful
information
on
this
subject.
(
1
)
The Todarmal system modified by Malik Amber for Nizamshahi of
Ahmednagar in the 17th century was adopted with slight changes to
meet
the
needs
of
time.
(
2
)
The emphasis was on safeguarding the interes
t of the cultivator as he
was
regarded as
the
backbone
of
the
national
economy.
(
3
)
Land
-
Tenures
were
divided
into
two
broad
categories
i.e.
(a)‘Thal’
land
and (b) ‘Watans’. The land cultivated by original settlers was known
as
‘Thal’
land
and
the
tax
free
l
and
granted
by
the
king
in
recognition
of
the
services
to
the
State
was
known
as
‘Watan’.
This
was
prized
land
tenure
as
it
was
hereditary
and
carried
many
benefits and high
status.
(
4
)
Miras and Upari
–
Lands was another classification for the purpose of
reve
nue collection. Land assigned by the State to the Original settlers
was
known
as
‘Miras’
whereas
land
assigned
to
new
settlers
for
cultivation
was known as ‘Upari’ land. Usually the new settlers were
given fallow,
unused or waste land for cultivation. They
would loose
their
lease
-
hold
if
they
could
not
make
satisfactory
payment
to
the
state.
They were regarded
as tenants at will whereas the Mirasdars were
treated with respect as they
had the responsibility to pay the revenue
for
the
whole
village or
village
s
under
their
charge.
(
5
)
The Jagir system was discouraged by Chhatrapati Shivaji but during
the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu this system became popular. In fact it
became an instrument of territorial expansion as the Jagirdars were
allowed to collect ‘Chouth’ a
nd ‘Sardeshmukhi’ on behalf of the king in
territories outside Maharashtra. In Mahatashtra itself the Jagirdars had
civil
as well as
political
responsibility.
2.2.2
REVENUE
SETTLEMENT
AND
ADMINISTRATION
As already mentioned above the Marathas followed the
time
-
honoured
Malik
Amber
System
of
revenue
settlement.
Land
was
classified
and
measured
and
the
land
tax
was
fixed
periodically.
The
Maratha
government
was
more
concerned
with
more
yields
from
the
fields
and
extensive
cultivation.
It
helped
the
cultivato
rs
during
bad
seasons
by
remission
of
taxes
and
offering
“tagai”
or loans to
tide
over
difficulties.
The administration of
revenue was handled competently by the village
Page 22
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
14
headman
and
the
accountant
known
as
Patil
or
Patel
and
Kulkarni
respectively. The dist
rict level officers were ‘Deshmukh’ and
‘’Deshpande’
who
in
turn
were
under
the
control
of
the
‘Sarsubah’
equivalent,
to a
provincial
governor.
The
financial
transactions
were
supervised
by
the
finance
minister
or
‘Phadnis’.
The
farmers
in
their
villages
a
lso
had
to
pay
in
kind
for
the
services
rendered
to them by the village social servants called ‘Balutedars’ and
‘Alutedars’.
This was an integral
part
of
the
village economy.
2.2.3
REVENUE
COLLECTION
DURING
LAST
DAYS
OF
PESHWASHIP :
Bajirao II the last
Peshwa was in dire need of the funds to raise an army to
fight
the
company’s
forces.
He
resorted
to
farming
of
land
-
taxes.
It
meant
he
offered the commission to collect taxes to private agents who would
make
the
highest
bid.
No
doubt
huge
amounts
were
coll
ected
but
it
ruined
most
of
the
farmers
in Maharashtra.
2
.
3
TRANSITION
UNDER
THE
BRITISH
RULE
:
The final victory of the East India company was a foregone conclusion as
the Maratha Chiefs at Nagpur, Baroda, Indore and Gwalior had already
accepted the subsidiar
y alliance with the company. The problems of peace
were mainly that private treasures of the Peshwa had to be discovered and
seized to prevent him from further mischief. The Company’s officers were
anxious
to
under
take
that
activity
as
they
would
be
rewar
ded
with
a
portion
of
the hidden wealth either from the Peshwa or
his protégés.
Captain
Robertson and Colonel Protter found gold ‘Mohars’ and cash
worth several
millions. The temptation was too great. Briggs and Rind two
junior officers
had
a scuffle
over
the
discovery
of Peshwas’s
fabulous
wealth.
Professor R.D. Chokesey has described the sorry state to convey idea that
the
new
rulers
had
to
discipline
themselves
before
they
could
establish
their
authority
over
the defeated enemy.
2
.
3
.
1
Work
of
reconstruction
Th
e gains of the military victory had to be prudently consolidated. The
new
rulers could not allow their preconceived ideas and prejudices about
the
fallen enemy to colour their vision of strong and stable government in
an
alien
country.
They
experienced
man
y
handicaps.
They
came
from
a
distant
land, they did not know the language of the people. They
represented a
trading
company
but
they
had
to
tackle
the
problems
of
an
agrarian
economy. Mountstuart Elphinstone who was a Company
commissioner of
the Bombay De
ccan led a team of his dedicated officer to
act with vigour
and firmness. He exercised considerable restraint and
avoided repressive
measures.
He
devoted
much
of
his
time
as
a
Governor
of
Bombay
from
1819
to
1827
to
Land
Revenue
settlement.
Education
and
L
aw
and
Administration.
Page 23
Administration
and
Judiciary
15
We
shall
now
discuss
Land
Revenue
settlement
and
Education
in
this
lesson
and Law and Administration along with other two topics of this unit in the
next
lesson.
2
.
3
.
2
Land
Revenue
Settlement
The new rulers had to give priority to the sett
lement of land tenures and
revenue collections as the people of Maharashtra as in other part of India
mainly
depended on agriculture.
The success in this regard would determine the measures that could be
contemplated in accordance with current ideas about
humanism. liberalism
and modern science. Some of the guiding principles for the programme of
reconstruction
were
as
follows:
-
(
1
)
The
old
land
tenures
would
be
allowed
to
continue
for
sometime.
(
2
)
The
model
of
Permanent
settlement
of
revenue
was
not
to
be
adopted
.
The Madras Model of Ryatwari adopted by Thomas Munro
was to be
followed
with
changes
needed
in
the
particular
condition
of
Maharashtra.
(
3
)
The Company’s Government believed that the English officials were
competent and not corrupt whereas the Indian revenue
officials of
the
old
regime
were
clever
only
in
misappropriating
the
Government
collections.
Hence,
their
salaries
should
be
kept
low
and
they
should
be
vigilantly
watched.
(
4
)
The Western ideas of land tenure and right to the property should be
applied
in de
termining
the ownership of
land.
(
5
)
While assessing the land
-
revenue the rent of lands not sown by the
farmer was to be deducted as lands which were not actually
ploughed.
The
loss
of
crop
of
one
year
was
to
be
regarded
as
compensated
to
the
‘ryat’ by the adv
antage of another year. In case of
general stress and
pressure
a
general
relief
was to
be
granted
to
the
‘ryat’.
2
.
3
.
3
Administration
of
the
revenue
matters
The regime made vigorous attempts to centraIise resources. The officers
looked
at
the
farmers
with
mistru
st
and
suspicion.
Hence
while
fixing
the
rate
of land·tax there was over assessment which created tension among the
cultivators
and
unrest
everywhere.
It
was
not
because
of
malice
or
ill
-
feeling
towards the people but it was the result of misunderstanding
the
complex
system
of
land
-
tenures
and
assessment
in
Maharashtra
during
the
previous
regime of the Marathas. The English officers got confused with
the system
of
identical
rights
in
Iand.
For
property
became
simple
and
homogenous
and
land
was
regarded
as
a
factor
of
production.
The
land
revenue
system
of
the
Marathas
applied
the
squeeze
on
the
Mirasdars
and
the
jagirdars
that
is
the
upper strata of the land holders whereas the
Ryatwari system of fixing the
rate sapped the energy of the ryat and in
many ca
ses they had to incur
debts.
Page 24
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
16
Remission of land taxes during bad seasons was a time honoured system.
The
English
authorities
however
were
obsessed
with
the
idea
that
the
Indian
employees in the Revenue department need not be paid more; they must
be supervis
ed more. Thus their recommendations of granting remissions
were treated with distrust In 1824 when there was a famine, the Deccan
Commissioner
instructed
the
collectors
as
under.
“
If the
crop
of one
of
his
(ryats)
field
is
only
indifferent and
the
othe
r
field
for want of rain has been left fallow, remission shall be given in full
for the
latter.
But
should
the
crop
of
one
field
have
been
good
and
the
other
adjoining
field
have
been
left
waste
for
the
foraging
of
cattle
or
in
consequence of mere neglect
or contumacy, he should be made to pay
for
it
as
for
as
his
ability
will
permit.
2
.
3
.
4
Inam
Commission
The Company’s tax
-
collectors gained more confidence with the passage of
time.
The
depression
period
from
1820
to
1850
passed
off
without
any
major
peasant rebe
llions. The trading Company was obviously more
concerned
with cash
-
crops and therefore wanted more land for cultivation
of sugar
cane, cotton and such other crops. The Watanders therefore
preferred to
pay money in lieu of service to the Government. The Rev
enue
Department
had to be paid out of the revenue from hereditary watans. The
Government
therefore instituted an enquiry of the titles of the “Inamdars”
in the 1850s.
Many
Inamdars
were
dispossessed
of
their
lands
for
want
of
written
evidence.
2
.
3
.
5
Evaluation
o
f
the
Company’s
Ryatwari
System
Transition from freedom to colonial rule of British people was bound to be
painful. The nature also was not favourable both to the new rulers and
their
subjects in Maharashtra.
There
was a
bad season in
1818
-
1819 and
drough
t in 1820
-
1821. The periods of depression was followed a
cholera
epidemic.
The
ryat
was
completely
exasperated.
R.D.Choksey
writes
“Remissions were yearly in demand. The assessment was anything
but
a
success”.
The
ignorance
of
the
hereditary
rights
and
the
over
enthusiasm
to
bring
more
land
under
cultivation
created
a
sense
of
insecurity.
The
hereditary
revenue
collectors
knew
the ryat
as they
lived among
them.
The
white
saheb
wanted
more
collection
of
revenue.
The
Company’s
demand for cash crops favoured t
he rise of money lenders and lawyers as
land
litigation was
to
be
a routine
affair
which
ruined the
peasantry.
2
.
3
.
6
Check
your Progress:
-
Q.
1.Write
in
brief
‘Land
tenures
and
revenue
settlement’
new
transition
under
the British rule.
Page 25
Administration
and
Judiciary
17
2
.
4
JUDICIARY :
2.4.1 The
B
ritish
law
system
in
England
:
The Englishmen had unwritten constitution but the decisions of the courts
and the Common Law had given them a highly developed legal system.
There
was
well
organized
machinery
for
enforcement
of
laws and
a body
of
professiona
l lawyers to help the courts to interpret the laws. There were
settled
legal
procedures
and
the
people
know
where
to
file
their
cases
in
the
first
instance
and
where to appeal.
The system of laws and the legal procedures followed in Maharashtra as in
other
parts
of
India were
rudimentary.
2
.
4
.
2
The
Hindu
law
system
prevailing
in
Maharashtra
The
Hindu
Law
books
based
on
Manu
-
smriti
provided
for
unequal
justice
but
the Panchayat system had drawn the attention of Mountstuart
Elphinstone.
The inequality of justice in
the Hindu Community was based
on caste
-
considerations but the prevalent laws in England were equally
bad and as
severe as the criminal law of the Muslim rulers. Sir Spenser
Walpol has
criticized
the
whole
system.
He
points
out
that
members
of
Parliament
could
make any offence a capital felony. A men stealing forty
shillings could be
awarded
death penalty.
2
.
4
.
3
Code
Elphinstone
Mountstuart Elphinstone when he was a commissioner for Deccan had
come across many difficulties in the administration of the revenue sy
stem
and administration. When he became the Governor in 1819 he wanted to
establish “Rule of Law”, the proud legacy of Englishman, in the foreign
land
under his charge that is Maharashtra. He wanted to check the power of
money
and
high
birth.
He
appointed
a
senior
officer
Mr.
Borradiale
to
prepare
a catalogue of decisions given by the (learned men) in Hindu Law
in cases
referred
to
them
by
the
courts
and
the
statements
of
the
witnesses
regarding
the customs as well as the caste records in the books. Mr.
Bor
radiale was
to be advised by the ‘Sadar Adalat’(Court of Appeal in
civil and criminal
cases
as
organized
by
Lord
Cornwallis) in
the
compilation
of the
records.
Elphinstone directed the, committee set up for this purpose with Mr.
Steele
as its secretary to
scrutinize not the question of the doctrine
contained, in a
particular
law
-
book
but
to
ascertain
and
concentrate
attention
on
the
degree
of
esteem
in
which
it
was
held
by
the
common
people.
He
wanted
a
concise
digest
of
these
matters.
The Committee in asso
ciation with the Sadar Adalat compiled as Code of
Regulations
in
1827.
It
came
to
be
known
as
Code
Elphinstone
and
became
the
Law.
It
was
published
on
January
1,
1827
and
contained
26
Regulations
as
follows.
Preliminary = 1; Civil Justice Regulations = 9
C
riminal Justice
Page 26
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
18
Regulations = 5; Revenue Board
Regulations = 6; Military Regulations =
1;
Miscellaneous Regulations = 1;
Total
=
26.
This
code
remained,
in
operation
from
1827
to
1835
and
thereafter
it
was
modified
to suit
the changing
circumstances.
2
.
4
.
4
Admin
istration
of
Law
and
Justice
As already referred to above Lord Cornwallis had, set up a machinery to
enforce law and order in Bengal during his tenure as Governor
-
General.
According
to
the
old
practice
revenue
collectors
of
districts
were
empowered
to pres
ide over civil and revenue courts. They were allowed to
exercise
magisterial functions including administration of criminal justice.
Under the
influence of Cornwallis Code the collectors were relieved of
judicial duties
and
the
civil
courts
were,
placed
un
der
District
Judge.
City
courts
and
District
Courts were established each presided over by an
English Judge to deal
with
civil and revenue matters.
2
.
4
.
5
Comments
:
In the initial period that is from 1818 to 1828 the attention of the rulers
was
more on the maint
enance of peace and order in the large Presidency
of
Bombay. Besides Maharashtra it covered parts of Gujarat and Karnatak.
The systems and practices that were followed in the Botany island and the
port of Surat, the two big centers of trade and commerce of
the Company
were
kept
as
models
especially
for
urban
areas
like
Pune.
In
the
rural
areas
they
were
more
concerned
with
litigations
and
problems
concerning
revenue
collections. The troops of the Company were kept in readiness to
meet any
contingency. The n
ew laws, law courts and the general
administration were
all geared
up
to
maintain
peace and
order.
Check
your
progress:
-
Q.1
Write
in
Brief
New
influence
and
Transition
in
law
and
administration
under
the British Rule.
2
.
5
SUMMARY
After
th
e
end
of
Maratha
power,
the
new
rulers
started
their
new
administrative policy in land revenue matters and also set the pace for the
modernization of Maharashtra. The British domination led to the
enactment of the common Law and codified judicial system wi
thin their
territory. The British system changed the native law which were not equal
to all.
2
.
6
QUESTIONS
1
Give
an
account
of
Land
tenures
and
land
revenue
Settlement
during
the
British rule.
2
.
Assess
the
important
role
played
by
western
education
and
p
ress
on
the
eve of
the
British
rule.
3
.
State
the
important
role
played by
western educaton and
press
Page 27
Administration
and
Judiciary
19
2.7
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Charle
s
Worthy
Noel, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
3
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
1839),
Asia
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
4
.
Chokesy
R.D., Mountstuart Elphinstone, Popular Publishing House,
Bombay, 1971.
5
.
Dobbin
Christine, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India, Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
6
.
Dongarkerey
S.
R., History
of
the
University
of
Bombay, (1857
-
1957),
University of
Bombay,
Bombay,
1957.
7
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
8
.
Grant Duff, History
of
the
Marathas,
VOl.
I
&II
, Associated
Press,
New
Delhi, 1971.
9
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
10
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C., New
Delhi,
1975.
11
.
Varma
S. J., Mountstuart
Elphinstone
in
Maharashtra, (1801
-
1827),
Territories conquered from
the Peshwas, K.P. Bagehi Co. Calcutta,
1
981.
Page 28
20
3
TRIBAL AND PEASANT UPRISINGS
Unit
Structure
3
.
0
Objectives
3
.
1
Introduction
3
.
2
Tribal Uprising
3
.
2
.
1
The
Rising
of
the
Ramosis
3
.
2
.
2
The
Rising
of
the
Bhils
3
.
2
.
3
The
Rising
of
the
Kolis
3
.
2
.
4
Revolt of Gadkari
3
.
2
.
5
Gond
uprising
3
.
3
Peasant
Uprising
3
.
3
.
1
The
Deccan
Riots
3
.
3
.
2
Mahatma
Jotirao
Phule
a
nd
Peasants
Movement
3
.
3
.
3
Vitthal
Ramji
Shinde
and
Peasants’
Problem
3
.
3
.
4
Contribution
of
Sane
Guruji
3
.
3
.
5
Senapati
Bapat
and
Mulshi
Satyagrah
3
.
3
.
6
The
Faizpur
Session
and
the
peasants
3
.
3
.
7
Peasant
and
Workers
Party
3
.
4
Summary
3
.
5
Questions
3
.
6
Additional Readings
3
.
0
OBJECTIVES
After
the
st
udy
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
Study
the
historical
background
of
tribal
uprisings
in
Maharashtra.
Understand
the
Ramoshis,
Bhills
and
Kolis
uprisings
in
Maharashtra.
Study
the
peasants
unrest
in
Maharashtra.
Page 29
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
21
Understand
the
contribution
of
various
social
reformers
towards
the
peasants
movement
in
Maharashtra.
3
.
1
INTRODUCTION
As soon as the British took over Western India, Indian
tribes revolted
against them. In the Maharashtra the hills tribes
offered heroic resistance
to British rule.
The tribal uprising was the
resistance against the Zamindar,
moneylenders and the British rule.
There are many factors that led to the
tribes to revolts against the
British rule.
In Maharashtra, the agrarian discontent against the
British rule was due to
the exploitative agrarian policy of the British
rule.
The
heavy
land
tax
fixed
by
the
land
settlement,
fall
in
agricultural
produce,
growing
poverty
of
the
agricultural
masses
and their indebtness added to the
miseries of the peasants. The
British neglecte
d the agricultural industry
and their alliance with the
moneylenders
created
serious
unrest
in
the
minds
of
the
peasants. The British company uprooted the peasant and the
tribal of western
Maharashtra who had opposed vigorously their exploitive
economic
po
licies
and tried
to throw
them out
of the country.
3.2
TRIBAL
UPRISINGS
Indian tribes revolted against the Britishers, as soon as the
British
established their control over Western India. In Maharashtra
the hilly
tribes offered stiff resistance to the Brit
ish rule. Ramoshis,
Bhils, Kolis
and many other tribal people revolted against the rule of
East India
Company. The tribal uprising was the resistance against
the Zamindar,
moneylenders and the British rule. There are many
factors
that
led
to
the
tribes
to
revolts
against the
British
rule.
Causes
of
the
revolts
1
)
The tribes were not happy with the growing influence of the
British in
their own area of influence. From many years they
had been living
peacefully with the nature. The Mughals and
the Deccan kingdoms
hardly interfere in their day to day life.
However the British desire of
exploiting the natural resources
made
them
rebel
and
stand
of
against
the
government.
2
)
Most
of
the
tribes
like
Ramoshis
and
Kolis
attacked
moneylenders.
Their chief aim was to teach l
esson to the
moneylenders who uses to
cheat poor ignorant tribal. The
moneylenders had protection of the
British government. So
naturally
they
got
evolved
against
the
British
rule.
3
)
The British wished to create a monopoly over forest. Unlike
Indian
ruler, t
he British could not understand the attachment
of the tribes to
their original inhabitance. They lived in hilly
regions and forests. They
lived in harmony with the nature.
They didn’t like the British attitude
of exploitation of natural
wealth
for
the
sake
of
their
material
development.
The
tightening
of
British
control
over
their
forest
Page 30
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
22
zones,
creation
of reserved forests and attempt to monopolize forest
wealth
made
the tribes
rebellious.
4
)
The British disrupted the traditional economic set up. They
devoid t
he
tribal people of their traditional economic set up
and hence the tribal
were forced to serve as menial labours
and
miners.
They
were
instigated
against
British
by
the
hostile personalities like Vasudev
Phadke, Trimbak Dengle
and
Umaji Naik.
The
revolt
n
ormally
began
when
the
tribes
felt
oppressed
and
had
no
other way
but
fight.
The
tribes
organized
themselves for
an armed
resistance. These tribal people though no match for the
modern military
might of the British rule, their struggle against the
colonial
power,
provided
inspiration
to
the
other
people.
3
.
2
.
1
THE RISING OF THE RAMOSIS AT POONA
(1826
-
29)
Ramoshiss also known as Berad, was a nomadic tribe of
hunter gatherers
found in a large scale in western Maharashtra.
They served as a fighting
force in the Mara
tha army, well known for
their bravery. In the early
nineteenth century the commercial British
national forest policy
and the
conflict it created over forest use
forced them to start struggle against
British rule. The
Ramosis
served
in
the
Maratha
police
a
dministration
in
the
lower
ranks.
After the final defeat of the Marathas in 1818, the British
administration of
the
Bombay
Province
found
it
difficult
to
restore
order
in
the
region
immediately. The new administration was unable to absorb
the Ramosis in
th
e police administration. Consequently, a vast body of
unemployed but
armed men, including the Ramosis, were thrown upon the
former territories
of
the
Peshwa.
They
were
prepared
to
join
anyone
who
would
provide
them
suitable
employment,
and
even
to
help
in
the
attempt
to
overthrow
the
British
power.
In 1825, the economic distress resulting from scarcity, and reduction in the
number of soldiers in the local Poona garrison, adversely affected the
Ramosis. Hence, under the leadership of Umaji Naik and his assoc
iate,
Bapu Trimbakji Sawant, they rose in revolt and resorted to outlawry. From
1826 to 1829, they committed many excesses in the hills around the fort of
Torna. They proved to be so turbulent that the Government was forced to
pardon
many
of
their
crimes
a
nd
placated
them
by
granting
lands
as
well
as
by recruiting them as hill police. However, their risings were quelled by
the
British garrison. Nevertheless. the Ramosis continued to cause trouble
to
the
authorities
by
attacking their
oppressors
like
money
-
l
endersCheck
your progress:
-
Q
.
1
.
Trace
the
causes
of
Rising
of
the
Ramos
his
at Poona
?
3
.
2
.
2
THE
RISING
OF
THE
BHILS
Page 31
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
23
The Bhils were primitive and predatory peoples. Their settlements were
scattered
in
the Western
Ghats
and
in
the
Country
at
its
base.
Their
str
onghold
was
in
Khandesh.
They
controlled
the
mountain
passes
between
the
north
and
the
Deccan.
In
open
country
-
side,
they
lived
quietly
as
cultivators, and proprietors of the soil. However, in the hilly region, they
subsisted on the plunder of the rich lan
d
-
holders in the neighborhood.
They
had
suffered
exploitation
and
depredations
at
the
hands
of
the
Marathas
and
others
and
from
the
famine of
1802
-
04.
All these exciting causes rendered the conditions of Khandesh where the
Bhils were in the majority, highl
y anarchical. Thus driven by wars and
pestilence, against which they had no protection the Bhils, refractory by
temperament
entrenched
themselves
in
the
mountains
under
the
leadership
of their chiefs, the occupation of the Province of Khandesh by the Briti
sh
in
1818, naturally increased their restlessness. The Satpuras were the nest
of
these disaffected Bhils in the North, and Satmala and Ajanta in the
South.
Here, different
organised
gangs of
the
Bhils were
led
by
thirty
two
leaders.
In 1817, an insurrecti
on of the Bhils broke out in Khandesh, presumably
stirred
by
Trimbakji
after
his
escape
from
the
fort
of
Thana.
When
the
British
(Elphinstone) put pressure upon Peshwa Baji Rao II to secure the
seizure
and
arrest
of
Trimbakji,
the
Bhils
turned
anti
-
British
and
rose
in
revolt
against
them. Their explosion presented a tempestuous scene of a
tremendous
popular upsurge, and according to S.B.Chaudhary “this stirred
the country
to
its
depth.”
The
Government
of
Bombay
used
severe
military
action
against
them and s
imultaneously used judicious conciliatory
measures to stop the
eruption
of
the Bhils.
In
the
following
year
the
Bhils
broke
out
in
a
general
insurrection
on
all
sides
and ravaged the neighbouring plains. The British had to employ
several
detachments to sup
press them. The trouble continued until 1831
inspite of
vigorous
military
measures
of
the
Government.
Gradually
the
dual
measures
of coercion, anti
-
conciliation, at which the British were the
past
-
masters,
succeeded
in
quelling
the
disturbances
of
the
Bh
ils
and
converting
them
into
peaceful cultivators. Although a section of the Bhils
once again broke out in
revolt in Malwa in 1846, the rising was suppressed.
The two and a half
decades
of
struggle
with
the
British
cost
them
very
dearly.
Not
only
many
of
t
heir
leaders
were killed
or
captured
but
a
large
number
of
them
were killed
and
their
settlements
were destroyed
their
new
conquerors.
Check
your progress:
-
1
.
Assess
the
Role
of
Bhills
in
Khandesh
against Britishers?
3
.
2
.
3
THE RISING OF THE KOLIS (1828
-
30, 1839
AND
1844
-
48)
Page 32
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
24
The Kolis were neighbours of the Bhils, and lived in the country both
above
and below the Sahyadri in the Thana District, they were scattered
over the
whole area from the borders of Kutch to the Western Ghats. They
were by
nature
a
turbulent
people.
The
British
had
the
first
taste
of
the
Koli
intransigence
in
1824
when
Kolis
of
Gujarat
raised
a
formidable
insurrection,
burning and plundering villages right upto Baroda. Only the
use of force
strong enough to quell the activities of the desperad
oes could
check their
excesses.
The
Kolis
revolted
again
in
1828
because
most
of
them
had
been
thrown
out
of employment by the dismantling of forts by the British, thereby
depriving
them of their livelihood. Inspired by successful insurrection of
the Ramos
is
of Satara, the Kolis under the leadership of Ramji Bhungeria,
(a Koli officer
of the
Government
who
had
resigned
in
protest
against
a
government
order
stopping
his
levy
of
rupees
fifty)
raised
the
standard
of
revolt
in
1828.
A
large
body of troops had t
o be sent against them, and
detachments had to be
posted at Konkan and Sahyadri to prevent them
from escaping from the
combing
operations of
the British
troops.
The Kolis proved to be a thorn in the flesh of the British Government.
They
posed a serious men
ace when in 1839 bands of Kolis plundered a
large
number of villages in the Sahyadri. They were joined by other
turbulent
elements of the hills. Both R.C.Majumdar and S.B.Chaudhary
point out that
in
these
risings,
the
Kolis
were
led
by
three
Brahmins
(Bhau
Khare,
Chimnaji
Jadhav
and
Nanan
Dharbhare)
who
seemed to
have
harboured
some
political motives. To quote Majumdar, they “felt strong
enough to work for
the restoration of the Peshwa, as the strength of the
Poona garrison had
lately been reduced. The rebe
ls assumed the charge of
the Government in
the
name
of
the
Peshwa.
But
the
British
acted
swiftly
and
their
prompt
action
averted a crisis. The British forces attacked the
Kolis dispersed their bands
captured and arrested fifty four of whom were
tried and p
unished with
varying
terms
of
imprisonment;
some
were
hanged,
including
a
Brahmin,
by
name
Ramchandra
Ganesh Gore.
The Kolis were not the ones to give in easily; they broke into revolt again
in
1844. Their
leaders this time were
Raghu Bangria
and Bapu Bang
ria.
Starting from their headquarters in the country side to the north
-
west of
Poona,
they
carried
on
their
looting
and
plunder
in
the
districts
of
Nasik
and
Ahmadnagar. Next year the Koli disturbances spread as far as
Purandhar
and Satara. The situation
appeared to be desperate, until a
strong military
force brought the situation under control. Bapu Bangria
was caught but
Raghu Bangria eluded the vigilance of the police. He had
tremendous
influence over the minds of the people and “lived on
blackmail levi
ed from
Poona and Thana Villages”. Finally he was arrested
on 2 ndJanuary, 1848
and
hanged.
By
1850,
the
Koli rebellion had been
crushed.
It is significant to note that during the Koli rebelion of May 1845, Umaji,
the
leader
of
the
Ramosi
uprising
of
1825,
had
also
joined
the
Kolis
at
Purandhar
lawless activities. Further, in 1873, Honya, an influential Koli,
raised a well
-
trained band of followers in the north west of Poona, and
Page 33
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
25
began a series of
attacks on the moneylenders “who habitually cheat and
oppre
ss the hill
-
tribes and at intervals drive them into crime.” Though
Honya was caught in
1875,
the
spirit
of
insurrection
was
spread
from
the
Kolis
to
the
peace
-
loving
Kunbis of the plains. Between May and July,
1875 over a dozen assaults
were committed on
money
-
Ienders by the
insurrectionists. The authorities
had to
summon
troops
to
restore
order.
Again, during the revolt of Phadke in 1879. the peace around Poona was
disturbed by two gangs: one of the Kolis and the other of the Ramosis. No
fewer than fifty
nine robberies were committed by the gangs. It took a lot
of
hard
work
for
the
police
and
the
troops
to
effectively
curb
the
violent
activities
of
these
two gangs.
3.2.4
Revolt of Gadkari
Gadkari used to garrison the Maratha forts and enjoyed land
gran
ts for
their service. After the third Anglo Maratha war, their
services were
dispensed and they were required to pay revenues
for
the
lands
they
held.
The
British
took
away
some
other
customary
privilege
of
the
Gadkaris.
These
activities
spread
discontent
among the soldiers and common people
against the
British.
This
led
to
the
rising
of
Gadkaries.
The
local
military
commanders also joined them. Gadkari rising became a general
popular
revolt
against
the
British.
The
fire
of
rebellion
spread
neighboring stat
es
also. The rebels captured the forts of Panhala
and Pavangad. The Bombay
government took extensive steps to
suppress
the
revolt.
After
the
intensive
military
campaign,
the
British
finally
succeeded
in
suppressing
the
risings
of
the
Gadkaries.
3.2.5 Go
nd
uprising
Maratha power was the last regime which was defeated by
the British.
Bhosale of Nagpur was one of the important center of
Maratha might.
However after the end of their rule, British were free
to
introduce
their
administrative
system
in
the
Nagp
ur
region.
Within three years of their
assuming charge of Chandrapur, the
British had to face a trouble in the
area. A large part of Chandrapur
district was covered with thick forest
populated mainly by Gonds.
Several Zamindars also were related to the
Raj
Gond families of
Chandrapur.
A
number
of
Raj
Gond
had
helped
Appasaheb
Bhosale
in his struggle
against the British.
Taking advantage of the revolt of 1857 the Gond Zamindar
of Adapalli
and Ghot revolted against the British. They gathered a
considerable fo
rce
of Gonds
and brought Rajgad Pargana under
his
control.
British
sent
army
to
suppress
the
Gond
rebellion.
Baburao Gond attacked the English
camp in the Aheri province and
looted it. English army did find it difficult
to suppress the Gond
revolt.
However
treachery
played
the
trick.
Baburao
Gond
was
captured
and
hanged
to
death.
The
rising
of
Chadrapur
was
spontaneous. Though Gond did not become successful, their heroic
efforts
inspired the others.
Page 34
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
26
Check
your progress:
-
Q.1 Why
did
Ramosis,
Bhils and Koli
s revolted
against
British
?
3.3
PEASANT
UNREST
Maharashtra was essentially an agrarian society in the nineteenth century.
Except
Bombay
and
Poona,
remaining
areas
in
the
region
were
predominately
agricultural
and
an
overwhelming
number
of
the
people
were
peasants. According to R.D.Chosksey, out of the total population of
the
Maratha
territories
conquered
by
the
British
in1818
(40,00,000),
the
Marathas constituted around seventy percent, and the remainder consisted
of Brahmins, Muslims, Rajputs and others.
Outside the city of Bombay,
the
Brahmins and Muslims were usually in Poona, Satara and Dharwar.
While
most of the Marathas were “ryots” or peasants, the Brahmins
centered in
urban areas pursued professions; and they constituted the
intelligentsia
Hindu
co
mmunity.
During the regime of the Peshwas, the economic condition of the peasants,
though not good, was tolerable. Few owned the land; majority of the ryots
were tenants and paid rents for the lands cultivated by them. Still others in
rural Maharashtra wer
e landless farmers and were hired by the cultivators
as labourers. A small number of the poor persons in the rural areas worked
as domestic servants. Slavery also existed in the Deccan. Many of the
Deshmukhs,
Deshpandes,
Patils
and
other
richer
individual
landlords
engaged the services of landless villagers against money payment. The
wages paid to a rural labourer were meagre, and showed little tendency to
increase
beyond
a
bare
subsistence
rate.
This
remained
the
trend
even
after
the
British conquest
of
Ma
harashtra,
at
least
until
1850.
From
about
1850,
a
steady
rise
occurred
in
the
rate
of
money
wages,
owning
mainly to the increased demand for labour in railroad construction, road
building
and
other
public
works as
well
as in
agricultural
operations.
On
th
e
taking
control
of
Maharashtra’s
administration,
the
British
introduced
the
“Rayatwari
System”
of
land
revenue.
Under
this
system,
the
land
settlement was by the Government with individual occupants who
were
themselves landholders and not tenants. This wa
s more or less the
system
followed
by
the
Peshwas,
until
Bajirao
Il’s
regime.
The
Rayatwari
System
of
land
revenue
administration
under
Mr.
Elphinstone
in
his
capacity
as
the
Commissioner
of
the
Deccan,
gave
wide
discretionary
powers
to
the
revenue officia
ls. But within a few years it was found that
the system was
not satisfactory. Scarcity of rainfall ruined crops in many a
regions and low
prices of grains worsened the conditions of the peasants
and reduced the
revenues
of
the
state.
Moreover,
increasing
b
urden
on
land,
increasing
land
revenue,
competition
with foreign goods
-
all
resulted
in the mounting
Indebtedness of a very acute type, which chiefly affected
the agriculturists.
But overzealous revenue officials tried to collect the full
amount of the
as
sessment,
thus
causing acute
misery
to
farmers.
Page 35
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
27
In
1827,
the
government
introduced
changes
in
the
mode
of
land
assessment, which in theory, appeared to be an improvement over the
earlier
method
of
revenue
collection.
But
soon
it
also
showed
several
defect
s,
and
after
experience
of
a
few
years,
a
modified
system
was
introduced. With the introduction of the new system in 1836, collection of
land
revenue
showed
a
marked
improvement
because
under
the
new
system
rates
of
land
revenue
were
lower
than
the
earlier
system.
As
a
result
of
this
reduction
of
land
revenue,
farmers
brought
more
land
under
cultivation,
and
with
the
outbreak
of
the
American
Civil
War
(1861
-
65),
there
was an increase in demand for Indian cotton in England.
Consequently,
Khandesh
reaped
a
go
od
harvest.
A
period
of
prosperity
spanned
the
period
1850
to
1866
ending
the
earlier
economic
depression;
but
the
prosperity
was
only
temporary.
The Government of Bombay Presidency wrongly took the entire credit for
the rosy economic, picture. It lost sig
ht of the many deep rooted causes of
the
past
economic
distress
and
failed
to
understand
that
the
present
prosperity was only a temporary relief and the economic desease of earlier
years could recur at any time. Consequently, no sooner had the American
Civ
il
War
ended
and
American
cotton
recaptured
the
market
than
the
temporary economic bright summer turned into a dim winter of
depression.
The
peasant
who
was
already
groaning
under
the
burden
of
past
debts,
now
became
desperate.
The
sowcar
lorded
the
villag
e
economy
and
the
ryat
was
his serf
remarks
Choksey.
Meanwhile,
population
in
Maharashtra
was
growing
rapidly.
According
to
an
estimate,
between
1832
and
1872
population
of
the
Deccan
alone
increased
by
about
20
Iakhs.
The
surplus population,
until
1850, f
ound livelihood by bringing new lands under cultivation and in the
later years, construction activities and public works projects increased the
demand for labour. But the fluctuations in the economy and the steady
growth in the price of food grains during
the period 1850
-
65, prevented
the
labour
from
deriving
much
real
advantage
from
the
increased
money
wages.
Moreover,
the
failure
of
the
Government
to
develop
any
industrial
activity,
its
deliberate encouragement to import of machine
-
made goods
from England
and
neglect
of
local
cottage
industries
-
the main
financial
support
of
peasants
during
years
of
scarcity,
crippled
the
rural
economy.
Even
migration to cities like Bombay in search of employment did not
reduce the
pressure
of
population on land.
The plig
ht of the peasants was made more unbearable by greedy money
-
lenders.
Although
the
Regulations
of
1827
had
provided
important
measures
to check the abuses of money
-
lending, the curse of the Deccan
peasant
-
indebtedness continued; far from becoming less, it
increased
considerably.
British legislation relating to the right to property also placed
poor peasants
increasedly
under
the
control
of
money
-
lenders.
For
example,
by
giving
land
an exchange value, the law made it easier for the peasant to
mortgage it
an
d for the money
-
lender to confiscate it in the event of the
former’s failure
to redeem the mortgage. Earlier, a farmer abandoned his
land only due to
some calamity like famine, or war; under the new laws,
Page 36
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
28
he could be ousted
from his land by the moneylender
. Even the Civil
Procedure Code of 1859
and
the
Limitation
Act
of
the
same
year
strengthened
the
moneylender’s
had
against
the
hopeless
peasants.
Consequently,
by
1875,
peasants
of
Maharashtra
were
reduced
to
a
wretched
debt
-
ridden
and
poverty
stricken
cla
ss;
their
condition
had
become
miserable.
The
fervent
pleas
of
the
Poona
Sarvajanik
Sabha
and
the
Bombay
Association
to
rescue
the
peasantry
from
their
pitiable
plight
did
not
have much effect and the Government of Bombay, in fact,
suspected the
Sarvajanik
Sabha of instigating the Ryots to withheld,
payment of land
revenues.
Check
your progress:
-
Q
.
1
Give
an
account of
Peasant
Unrest
in
Maharashtra
3
.
3
.
1
THE
DECCAN
RIOTS
In
1867,
had
season
commenced
in
rural
Maharashtra;
prices
of
agricultural
produce
fell
rapi
dly
and
in
1870
the
burden
of
debt
was
severely
felt
by
poor
farmers. Their failure to pay interests on loans brought the debtors to
the
courts of law. The result was that the mass of the people again became
“quasi
-
slaves having
to surrender all their prod
uce to the sowcar,
and
receiving from him only enough grain to live on, as well as small sums of
money which served to increase their debts”. Moreover fall in agricultural
prices forced the cultivators to reduce cultivation, and while retaining the
best
la
nds,
others
they
sold
to
or
mortgaged
with
the
moneylenders.
According to R. C. Majumdar, “Marwaris carried on a lucrative business
by
lending
them
money
at
a
high
rate
of
interest...
“
The
Commission
appointed
by the Government of India to inquire into th
e Deccan Riots
estimated that
about one
-
third of the occupants of Government land were
burdened with
debts which averaged eighteen times their annual
assessment : Some
unscrupulous
sowkars
or
money
lenders
even
went
to
the
extent
of
inducing
and compelling
the “debts
-
peasants”, mostly
Kunbis, “to compromise the
honour of
their
females
to
get
relief
from
the
crushing
debts”.
Under these unbearable circumstances and outranges, the usually patient
peasant
lost
their
patience.
At
the
end
of
1874,
their
pent
up
feelings
against
the
oppressive
money
-
lenders
burst
into
flame
and
their
hatred
against
them
exploded into violence in the village of Kardeh in Sirur Taluka of the
Poona
Collectorate. The moneylenders of the village were also subjected to
social
and econom
ic boycott; they were forced to flee the village, the riots
spread
rapidly to other areas of Poona Collectorate. Police acted fast and
arrested
951
persons
from
33
villages.
The characteristic features of the Deccan Riots were, to quote Majumdar,
‘‘wholesa
le
plunder
of
property
and
murderous
assaults
upon
money
-
lenders, but generally speaking, there were no serious crimes of murder. In
almost every case the object of the rioteers was to obtain and destroy the
bonds, decrees etc. in the possession of their
creditors, personal violence
against
them
being
used
only
when
they
refused
to
handover
these
Page 37
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
29
documents. The victims were almost exclusively the Marwari sowkar and
Gujar
sowkars,
though
in
rare
cases
even
Brahman
sowkars
were
molested.”
The uprisings of th
e Bhils, the Kolis and the Ramosis in the first half of
the
nineteenth
century
and
again
in
the
1870s,
in
which
they
carried
on
a
series
of attacks on the money
-
lenders, may also be treated as a part of the
peasant’s
revenge
against
their exploiters
and
op
pressors.
Anxious to prevent such violent activities and show of lawlessness, the
Government appointed a Commission to report on the riots and the causes
the outbreaks of Poona, Satara, Ahmednagar and Sholapur. The Deccan
Riots gave the authorities an oppo
rtunity to take stock of the economic
situation in Bombay Presidency. With the acceptance of the Commission’s
Report, Act of 1879, indifference of the Government towards the problems
of
the peasants was overcome. This is clear from the fact that in the
sub
sequent
famines
in
Maharashtra
not
only
private
organization
like
Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha but also the Government agencies took an active
by
natural calamities. Moreover, by taking direct action to the Government
and
other concerned parties that their patie
nce should not be taken as their
acquiescence of injustices heaped on them. After the last quarter of the
nineteenth
century,
political
organizations
began
increasingly
to
take
cognizance
of
peasants,
grievances
and
involve
them in
national
politics.
Accor
ding to Lokmitra, a Gujarati weekly published from Bombay, “the
Deccan decoities were perpetrated by indignant ryots than by professional
robbers.
The
Deccan
ryots
were
impoverished
and
felt
the
land
assessment
as a heavy burden. They were dissatisfied wit
h this state of things and the
new forest
law added
to
their
dissatisfaction. They
took
to committing
decoities, and
some professional
robbers
joined
them.”
3.3.2
Mahatma
Jotirao
Phule
and
Peasants
Movement
Mahatma Jotirao Phule was a symbol of revolt aga
inst all
oppressed
classes in the India. He had dedicated his entire life in
the service of the
neglected and exploited classes. Jotirao decided
to
create
on
awakening
among
the
farmers.
To
study
the
problem
of farmers, he traveled on foot
through many vil
lages and went
place
to
place.
He
held
meetings
of
the
farmers
to
create
on
awakening among them. He explained to them the
ideas how to
improve agricultural production. Through his writing, he
brought to
the
notice
of
the
general
public,
the
miserable
cond
ition
in
which
the
farmers lived.
He shed light on the exploitation at the farmers by revenue
department
police
official
and
irrigation
authorities
like
Talathi,
Kulkarni and
Mamledar. In the year 1885 the moneylender and
landlords near Junnar
were found t
o be harassing the farmers with
high rate of interest. The
farmers field a petition with about five
thousand signature and sent it to
the government. Jotirao went to
the Junnar and
actively participated
in
the
movement. He
explained
the
misery
of
the
farme
rs
to
the
government.
At
the
end
the
moneylenders and landlords decided to reduce the rates of
interest.
The
farmers again
went to work.
Page 38
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
30
Jotirao also exposed the exploitative nature of Brahmanism
which led to
the exploitation of peasants. He wrote a book e
ntitled
‘cultivators
whipcord’
in
which
he
narrated
the
sorrows
of
the
cultivators. He came to
conclusion that the intellect, moral progress
and wealth, vanished due to
the lack of education. So he urged the
peasants to take education. The
book was written
with a view to
discuss some of these reasons behind the
problems of the peasant.
According to Jotirao, all white European officials
are absorbed in
indulgence in pleasure and all government departments
have a
majority of Brahmin officials. These people ha
d nothing to do with
the
problems of the
peasants.
Jotirao
established
‘Satyashodhak
Samaj’
to
free
the
exploited elements in
the societies like peasants, shudratishadras
and
women.
Satyashodhak
Samaj
started
weekly
journal
‘Deenbandhu’. Krishnrao Bhalekar
became
the editor in chief of
Deenbandhu. The problems of the peasants were
highlighted in
Deenbandhu.
Jotirao
Phule
made
demand
to
the
government
regarding establishment of hostels for the children of
peasants. He
also made appeal to government to fix a
reasonable
assessment of
land
and
to
free
farmers
from
ignorance
and
superstition.
He
addressed the sorrows of the peasants to the Duke of Canaught
when
he
visited Pune
in 1888.
3.3.3
Vitthal
Ramji
Shinde
and
Peasants’
Problem
Vitthal Ramji Shinde, one of
the great social reformers of
Maharashtra
was
born
in
a
peasant
family.
His
family
suffered
miseries at the hands of
moneylenders. The peasant movement at
1920
in
western
Maharashtra
was
a
child
of
the
Non
Brahmin
Movement of
Ssatyashodhak Movement.
In 192
8 to avert the calamity of Small Holding bill, Shinde
came
forward
to
assume
the
leadership
of
the
causes
of
the
peasants
in
the
critical
moment.
This
bill
created
great
unrest
among the farmers. When the
peasants were properly roused in the
Bombay
preside
ncy,
‘peasants’
conference’
was
held
at
Ray
Market in Pune with V. R. Shinde as the
president. Shinde criticized
the Indian ministers of the government, He
pointed out that, the
corrupt
officers,
clerks
and
the
moneylenders
had
deprived
the
peasants
of his
land.
3.3.4
Contribution
of
Sane
Guruji
Pandurang Sadashiv Sane, popularly known as Sane Guruji
played
important role in peasant movement. Though teacher by
profession,
he
was
a
devoted
follower
of
Gandhiji.
He
had
dedicated his entire life in the
service
of Maharashtra. In 1939 the
Khandesh region was devasted due to
the heavy rainfall. He toured
the region and demanded the tax exemption
on land. He took great
effort
to
make
Faizpur
session
of
congress
successful.
Page 39
Tribal and Peasant
Uprisings
31
3.3.5
Senapati
Bapat
and
Mulshi
Satyag
rah
In 1921, Senapati Bapat launched the Mulshi Satyagrah to
save
the
lands
of
cultivators
from
submersion
under
the
Mulshi
dam. He demanded
the loss of the peasants should be combated
with money. At last in 1923,
all the demands of the peasants were
agree
d
upon.
3.3.6
The
Faizpur
Session
and
the
peasants
Faizpur was a rural area in Khandesh. It was for the first time
that Indian
National Congress held its session at rural area. A large
number
of
peasants
participated
in
the
session.
The
session
passed
a
large
number
of
resolutions
of
the
welfare
of
the
peasants. The session demanded the
deferment of the recovery of
loans from farmers. It also demanded an
adequate minimum wages
to
the
landless
labours.
The
president
of
the
session
Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru
asked the workers and peasants to
participate in
the
activities of
the congress.
3.3.7
Peasant
and
Workers
Party
Peasant
and
Workers
Party,
better
known
as
‘Shetkari
Kamgar
Paksh’
were
basically
founded
as
a
Marxist
political
party
in
1949
in
Maharashtr
a.
Keshvrao
Jedhe,
Shankarrao
More,
Bhausaheb
Raut,
Krantisinh
Nana
Patil,
Datta
Deshmukh
and
Tulshidas Jadhav were
associated with this party. The party had
achieved good success in the
election at 1952 and 1957. It put
check over the government regarding
the
problem of the peasants.
However
most
of
its
members
joined
Congress
party
at
instigation
of Yashwantrao Chavan. PWP played very important
role in uniting
the landless labourers and distributing the land to cultivate
it along
with Republican Party of
India. RPI and PWP raised their issues
in
legislative
assembly
and
parliament
and
contributed
in
the
peasant’s
movement of Maharashtra.Check
your
progress
:
1
)
Explain
the
contribution
of
various
leaders
in
peasant
movement in
Maharashtra
3
.
4
SUMMARY
From
the
abo
ve
discussion
it
is
clear
that
tribals
and
peasants gave stiff
resistence to the unjust and inhuman policies of
the British government
and moneylenders. Though they failed to
overthrough
the
British
rule
but
they
inspired
the
other
fellow
citizens
and
prep
ared
them
to
unite
and
opposed
the
British
policies. The freedom fighters and the leaders of
Indian National
Movement appreciated the efforts of Ramoshis, Bhills,
and Kolis
however rather than doing the same mistakes they changed the
strategies to overthro
ugh the mighty British Empire. Peasants in
Maharashtra, due to their consciousness, which was created due to
peasant
movement
by
various
leaders
participated
the
Indian
National movement
to overthrough the British rule and to teach
lesson to landlords and
moneylenders. Due to their support and
participation in Indian freedom
struggle, India got independence in
1947.
Page 40
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
32
3
.
5
QUESTIONS
1
.
Trace
the
tribal
uprisings
in
the
Maharashtra.
2
.
Desribe
the
tribal
uprisings
in
Maharashtra
with
special
reference
to
Ramoshis
and Bhi
lls.
3
.
Discuss
the
factors
led
to
the
peasant’s
unrest
in
Maharashtra.
4
.
Evaluate
the
role
of
various
leaders
of
Maharashtra
in
the
peasant’s
movement.
3.6
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxf
ord
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Charles
Worthy
Noel, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
3
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
183
9),
Asia
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
4
.
Chokesy
R.D., Mountstuart Elphinstone, Popular Publishing House,
Bombay, 1971.
5
.
Dobbin
Christine, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India, Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
6
.
Dongarkerey
S.
R., History
of
the
Universit
y
of
Bombay, (1857
-
1957),
University of
Bombay,
Bombay,
1957.
7
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
8
.
Grant Duff, History
of
the
Marathas,
V
o
l.
I
&II
, Associated
Press,
New
Delhi, 1971.
9
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
10
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C., New
Delhi,
1975.
11
.
Varma
S. J., Mountstuart
Elphinstone
in
Maharashtra, (1801
-
1827),
Territories
conquered from
the Peshwas, K.P. Bagehi Co. Calcutta,
1981.
Page 41
33
4
MAHATMA JOTIRAO
PHULE:
SATYASHODHAK
SAMAJ AND
UNIVERSAL HUMANISM
Unit
Structure
4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Mahatma Jotirao
Phule
4.3 The
Satya
Shodhak
Samaj
4.4 Universal
Humanism
of
Mahatma
Phule
4.5 Summary
4.6 Questions
4.7 Additi
onal Reading
4.0
OBJECTIVES
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
.
Understand Mahatma
Jotirao
Phule's
work.
2
.
Know
the
aims
and
objectives
of
Satyashodhak
Samaj.
3
.
Realise the
concept
of
Phule’s
Universal
Humanism.
4 .1
INTRODUCTION
Ma
hatma
Phule
was
the
pioneer
of
upliftment
of
the
downtrodden.
Gopalbaba,
V.
R.
Shinde
and
Shahu
Maharaj
worked
against
caste
-
system.
They wanted to eradicate inequalities, superstitions, illiteracy from
Society.
Through they were attached to different org
anizations, they
achieved their goal to some extent.
4.2
MAHATMA
JYOTIRAO PHULE (1827
-
1890)
Mahatma Phule occupies a unique position among the social reformers of
Maharashtra. Born in 1827 in a gardener (mali) caste, he suffered from
social and economic di
sadvantages. While as a student
in the Scotish
Mission’s High School, he came in contact with Christian missionaries
and
the
ideas of Thomas
Paine contained
in his
book, ‘Rights of Man’.
After completing his secondary education in 1847 Jyotiba
decided
not
to
join
government
service
but
to
pursue
an
independent
careerIn 1848 he was
Page 42
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
34
brought face to face with the problem of inequalities of the
caste system
and the abuses of the predominant Brahmin Caste. He was
invited
to
the
wedding
of
one
of
his
Brahmin
frie
nds
but
was
prevented
by
the
relatives
of
the
bridegroom
from
joining
the
wedding
procession
because
he
belonged
to the lower mali caste. After this incident, Jotibarao made up his
mind to
defy the caste system and serve for the upliftment of
the ‘sudras’
and
women, who had been deprived of all their rights as human beings
under
this system. He was convinced that unless these sections of people
were
educated, their upliftment was not possible. Hence, with the help of
some
Brahmin friends he ope
ned the first non
-
Christian girls’ school in
Poona in
1848, inspite of the opposition and ‘vicious campaign against him
by upper
castes. He also began educating his wife, Savitribai so that she
could also
participate in his social work. In 1851, he establi
shed the first
school for
the children of untouchable and in the next year, he set up the
‘Society
for
the
Teaching
of
Knowledge
to
Mahars,
Mangs
and
other
People”.
Phule
believed
that
the
caste
system
introduced
distinction
between
low
and
high, and must
, therefore, be abandoned. He was of the firm opinion that
divisions among people should be based on their qualities, not on birth.
Curiously, the Marathas who were considered as Sudras by the Brahmins,
regard
the
untouchables
(ati
-
shudras)
as
infer
ior
to
them.
But
for
Phule,
who
was imbued with the ideas of enlightenment and liberalism,
distinctions
based
on
Caste,
was
a
social
evil.
Hence,
he
boldly
attacked
the
stranglehold
of the Brahmins on the Maharashtrian society and castigated
the
m for
preventing others from having access to all avenues of
knowledge and
influence. Denouncing the Brahmins in general as ‘Cheats
and hypocrites’
he
called upon
the non
-
Brahmin
masses
to
resist
their
tyranny.
Phule
charged
Brahmins
of
misinterpreting
Hin
du
scriptures
to
suit
their
own
community and of fabricating falsehoods to dupe the minds of the
ignorant
and to fasten firmly on them the chains of bondage and slavery.
He went to
the extent of arguing that the Sudras were the sons of the soil
and
the
Brahmins came from outside and usurped everything that was
possessed
by the Sudras. His books ‘Sarvajanik Satyadharma Pustak’ and
‘Gulamgiri’
were
biting
indictments
of
the
Brahmin
community.
He
denounced
all
Brahmin scriptures and their teaching which
had
condemned the Shudras
as the slaves of Brahmins. He declared that all
those including foreigners,
who
treated him
as
equal,
were
his
brothers.
4.3
THE
SATYA
SHODHAK
SAMAJ
Until the Indian “Revolt” against the British in 1857, Jyotirao Phule was
in
fav
our
of
the
British
social
legislation
and
hoped
for
a
quicker
social
change.
But
after
1857
the
British
adopted
the
policy
of
cautious
social
neutrality
and
did
little
in
the
direction
of
social
reform
by
legislation.
Most
social
reformers
cared
litt
le
for
the
poor
peasants
and
artisans.
This
made
him
think in
terms
of establishing an association that would articulate the
grievances of the
neglected section of the Maharashtrians, create
awareness among them
and
induce
them
to
fight
for
justice
and
eq
uality.
By
1873,
the
idea
of
establishing
an
independent
organisation
Page 43
Mahatma Jotirao
Phule:
Satyashodhak
Samaj
and Universal
Humanism
35
to
work
for
the
emancipation
of
the
“Shudras” from what he called,
“slavery” of the Brahmins and to destroy
religious and
social
bondage
of
the
lower castes,
crystalised
in
his
mind.
Acc
ordingly,
on
24th
September,
1873,
Phule
and
his
associates
established the “Satya Shodak Samaj” (Society of Seekers of Truth). The
main objectives of the Samaj were to liberate the Sudras and Ati
-
sudras
from social and religious bondage and to prevent th
eir exploitation by the
Brahmins.
All
members
of
the
Samaj
were
required
to
treat
all
human
beings
as
“children
of
God
and
worship
the
Creator
without
the
help
of
any
mediator”. Membership of the Sarnaj was open to all irrespective of
caste
and creed. Ho
wever, every member had to take a pledge to loyalty to
the
British Empire. A “Satya
-
shodhaka” was to be a seeker of truth whose
reference
was
the
human
person
and
concern
for
truth,
and
not
the
traditional values, Phule refused to regard the Vedas to be sa
crosanct. He
opposed the custom of worshipping before idols (idolatry) and denounced
the
Chaturvarnya (The
four
varnas).
In social and religious matters, Phule wanted both men and women to be
given equal rights; he regarded it a sin to discriminate between
human
beings on the basis of sex. He stressed the unity of all human beings and
envisaged
a
society
based
on
liberty,
equality
and
fraternity.
He
was
opposed to religious, begotry and aggressive nationalism because both
destroy
the
unity
of
humankind
and
therefore
inimical
to
progress·
Early in 1874 Phule started a branch of the Samaj in Bombay and three
years
later a weekly journal, ‘Din
Bandhu’, was founded to spread its
message. Narayan Meghaji Lokhande, a close associate of Phule and an
active trade un
ion leader, became the editor of the paper. He used its
columns to air the grievances of mill workers and to suggest measures to
alleviate them.
Phule used his position as a nominated member of the Poona Municipality
to help the famine
-
stricken areas of Ma
harashtra (1877). The ‘Victoria
Orphanage’ was founded under the auspices of the Satyashodhak Samaj.
Through the pages of ‘Din Bandhu’ the leaders of the Satyashodhak Samaj
articulated
the
grievances
of
the
peasants
and
workers.
In
fact,
Jyotirao
a
nd
his colleagues like Lokhande were the pioneers in organising peasants and
workers
and attempting to redress
their
grievances.
The ideology of the Satyashodhak Samaj was virtually anti
-
Brahmanical.
Brahmin orthodoxy reacted strongly against it. They f
ound an effective
“knight
errant” in the fiery journalist,
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar,
and his
journal,
‘Nibandhmala’.
He
derisively
described
Phule
as
“a
Shudra
Religious Teacher, Shudra Founder of a Religion, a Shudra world
Teacher,
merely
banking
at
Brahm
ins
of
all
his
writings”.
However,
Phule’s,
movement
remained
outside
the
formal
domain
of
politics.
Its
potential
was
not
realised
until the 1880s when Phule mounted strong attacks against
leaders of the
Brahmo Samaj, the Prarthana Samaj, the Sarvajanik
Sabha
and the Indian
National
Congress
for
their
failure
to
take
concrete
measures
to
improve
the
lot
of
the
masses.
He
felt
that
these
organisations
were
Page 44
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
36
dominated
by
the
Brahmins
and
therefore
were
not
truly
representative
in
character.
However,
he
was
equally
fearless
in
his
criticism,
of
the
Government.
For
instance,
he
protested vigorously against Lytton’s
restrictions on the Indian Vernacular
Press and disapproved of the
proposed public reception to the Viceroy by
the
Poona
Municipality.
The,
anti
-
Br
ahminism
of
the
Satyashodhak
Samaj
was
directed,
not
against
individual
Brahmins
but
against
the
system
that
permitted
Brahmin
preponderance in socio
-
religious matters. Phule’s personal relations with
Brahmin reformers and with Justice Ranade in particular
, remained good.
He
participated
in
their
activities.
Moreover,
so
radical
was
he
in
his
championship
of
justice
and
Brahmins
but
also
to
the
‘Sahannavakuli
Marathas’
–
the ‘Marathas belonging to the ninety
-
six aristocratic families,
the Maratha aristocrac
y. He accused them of exploiting the kunbi peasant.
According to Mathew Lederle, “Jyotirao Phule worked equally for the
Sudra
and Ati
-
Shudra revealed a surprising broadness of vision at a time
when
caste distinctions prevailed not only between Brahm
ins and non
-
Brahmins,
but with not less rigidity between the Maratha Sudras and the
untouchable
Atisudras. The forces of the caste system were so strong that
Phule’s ideal
of equality for all failed to prevail even in the Satyashodhak
Samaj”. “If
human be
ing are all creatures of the same Divine Being, why
should one
caste deem
itself
superior
to
others
?”
Asked
Phule.
As a social and religious organisation, the Satyashodhak Samaj, according
to Gail Omvedt, “bears comparison with other, more famous
samajas: the
Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, with which it shares a secular and
rationalistic approach, and the Arya Samaj with which it shared a mass
basis”.
But
it
was
non
-
elite
in
character
and
was
limited
to
Marathi
-
speaking
areas.
Its
radicalism
res
ulted
in
a
general
hostility
of
the
elite,
including
most
of
the educated non
-
Brahmin elite.
Unlike
his
contemporary
reformers
-
Jambhekar
Dadoba
Pandurang,
Lokhitavadi,
Bhandarkar,
Ranade,
Vishnushastri
Pandit
and
Agarkar,
Jyotirao Phule was no intellectu
ai; nor were his writings and theories as
profound as theirs. But his work was the anguished cry of the suppressed
classes
trying
to
emancipate
from
bondage
of
centuries
and
from
the
tyranny
of upper castes. His main work was to rouse the exploited and su
ppressed
masses and lead them in an organised resistance to the unreasonable
claims of the Brahmins. By emphasising individual dignity and equality in
social and religious matters, he attempted to bring solidarity to the Hindu
social organisation which was
fragmented into groups of caste. Herein lies
his greatness.
Ironically,
when
he
died
on
28th
November
1890;
this
great
champion
of
the
low castes and downtrodden, was a much misunderstood man; he was
accused
of
fermenting
hatred
between
the
Brahmins
and
non
-
brahmins.
But
no attempt was made to consider his scathing criticism of the prevailing
society
in
a
broad
perspective.
Even
later
generations
were
slow
to
understand
-
and appreciate the significance of his steady and courageous
advocacy
of
social
equ
ality
and
individual
dignity.
Nevertheless,
recent studies of his work have convinced many scholars that Mahatma
Page 45
Mahatma Jotirao
Phule:
Satyashodhak
Samaj
and Universal
Humanism
37
Jyotirao
Govindrao Phule (Jyotiba Phule) was a pioneer in many fields. He
stands
out among his contemporaries’ as one who never wavered in hi
s
quest for
truth and justice Mahatma Jyotirao Phule was the first Indian to
proclaim in
modern India the dawn of the new age for the common man,
the Indian
woman. Jyotirao was the first Indian to start a school for the
untouchables
and a girl’s school in
Maharashtra. According to Dhananjay
Keer, Phule
believed
in
honesty
working
for
his
Iivelihood.
He
was
almost
the
first
public
man in modern India to devote his time to serving the
masses”, By his
emphasis on Truth, Equality and Humanism, this great
son of
Maharashtra
carved out for himself, in the company of modern
India’s great thinkers and
reformers,
a permanent
place.Check
your
progress
:
1
)
Discuss
the
aims
and
objectives
of
Satyashodhak
Samaj.
2
)
Describe the work of
Satyashodhak
Samaj in the social re
form
movement of Maharashtra.
4.4
UNIVERSAL
HUMANISM
OF
MAHATMA
PHULE
Mahatma Phule was not interested in developing theories. He wanted to
explain
the
work
undertaken
by
him.
In
his
famous
book
“Sarvajanik
Satyadharma Pustak’ (Book of Universal True Relig
ion) he analyses the
meaning of truth and explains the basis of ‘inference’ to arrive at truth. He
ridicules the whimsical ideas put forward by “Mahabharata” before
ignorant
masses.
He
wanted only
rational
explanation.
Phule maintains that ‘religio
n is the relation between God the Creator and
man
his
creature.’
Every
t
hing
comes
from
God
for
man
to
make
use
of.
But
since not all mankind has kept the fear of the Creator and a feeling of
brotherhood
embracing
all
men,
truth
has
steadily
declined
and
d
issatisfaction and sorrow spread. The disregard of truth led to the
disorder
and
hence
truth
should
be restored
so
that
order
can be
re
-
established.
Phule Criticised the theory of ‘Vama
-
Dharma’ that the religious duties are
made identical with duties of o
ne’s profession. He opined that social
reform
is
possible
only
when
we
understand
religion
properly.
He
was
‘interested
in
religion not for the sake of doctrine but for the interest of the
downtrodden
masses.
His ideas about God were inspired by the in
fluence of Christianity and his
monotheism
resembled that
of
the Prarthana
Samaj.
He advocated liberty for all men as well as women. He wanted to remove
the
impediments
of
evil
customs
which
ensalved
man
and
degraded
woman.
He wanted the downtrodden to be
educated. He said there should be
schools for shudras in every village. Education would liberate them from
social
enslavement.
Page 46
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
38
Check
your
progress
:
-
1
)
Explain
the
concept
of
Phule’s
Universal
Humanism.
4.5
CONCLUSION
The
Maharastrian
society
had
a
cultura
l
tradition
of
anti
-
Brahmin feeling
and lower castes attempt to free themselves from
Brahmin ritual
dominance. The economic and educational changes
intensified
the
trend
tremendously.
Phule
encouraged
non
-
Brahmins
to
improve
their
educational
standard
th
rough
the
medium of Satya Shodhak Samaj and
called for an end to Brahmin
employment
by
Government
until
the
non
-
Brahmins
equaled
them
in
their
share
of
provincial
administration.
Sumit
Sarkar
says
that
the
anti
-
Brahmin
to sin
was
first
sounded
in
Maharas
htra
by
Jyotiba Phule with his Gulamgiri and his organisation,
the Satya
Shodhak
Samaj,
which
proclaimed
the
need
to
save
the
lower
castes
from
the
hypocritical
Brahmins
and
their
opportunistic
scriptures.
4.6
QUESTIONS
1
.
Discuss
the
aims
and
objectives
of
Satyashodhak
Samaj.
2
.
Describe the work of
Satyashodhak
Samaj in the social reform
movement of Maharashtra.
3
.
Explain
the
concept
of
Phule’s
Universal
Humanism.
4.7
ADDITIONAL READING
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1
830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
3
.
Keer Dhananjay, Mahatma
Jyotirao
Phule,
Father
of
the
Social
Reform, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1964.
4
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
5
.
Lederle
M., Philisophical, Trends in Modern Maharashtra, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1976.
6
.
Padhye
Tikekar, Aajkalcha
Mah
arashtra
(Marathi)
7
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C. New
Delhi,
1975.
Page 47
39
5
THE PRARTHANA
SAMAJ
Unit
Structure
5.0 Objectives
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Prarthana
Samaj
5.2.1 Aims
and
objectives
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
5.2.2 Functions
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
5.2.3 Members
of
Prarthana
Samaj
5.2.4 M.G.
Ranade
(1842
-
1901)
an
d R.
G.
Bhandarkar
(1837
-
1925)
5.2.5 Decline
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
5.2.6 Significance
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
5.3 Summary
5.4 Questions
5.5 Additional Reading
5.0
OBJECTIVES:
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
.
Know
the contribu
tion
of
Dadoba
Pandurang
and
the
Paramahansa
sabha
2
.
Understand
the
principles
and
functions
of
Parthana
Samaj.
3
.
Examine
the
important
role
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
in
the
social
reform
movement
in Maharashtra.
4
.
Evaluate
the
work
of
Prarthana
Samaj.
5
.1 INTROD
UCTION:
The
Western
Learning,
propaganda
of
the
Christian
missionaries
and
rationalism
had
made
the
educated
Indians
look
at
their
religion
and
society
as others see it especially in comparison with ideas of the Western
people
on religion and social struct
ure in India. Like their Bengali
counterparts and
English educated people of Maharashtra began to express
dissent against
idolatry and protest against caste
-
system. They started a
movement of
reform
based on
monotheism
and
humanism.
Page 48
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
40
5
.2
THE PARAMAHANSA
SA
BHA
The educated men who advocated change were afraid to call themselves
‘reformers’. That word meant a person who broke the caste regulations,
drank
liquor,
ate
meat
and
live
a
free
life.
Dadoba
Pandurang
and
his
friends
therefore had to work with caution
and in secrecy.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy and his Brahmo Samaj had done pioneering work
in
the
social
reform
movements
in
India.
The
object
of
the
Brahmo
Samaj
was
to liberate individual from the shackles of irrational religious practices
and
outdated
social customs. The evil practices in the name of religion
such as
“sati” and untouchability had ridiculed by foreigners. The Theory
of “karma”
and polytheism had strangulated initiative of the individual and
created
confusion
in
the
mind
of
the
common
Hi
ndu.
The
followers
of
Brahmo
-
Samaj
wanted
for
reaching
social
reforms.
They
criticised
caste
-
system
but
concentrated
more
on
the
status
of
women
in
the
Hindu
Society.
Abolition
of
the practice of “Sati” was vigorously advocated by those
reformers. T
hey
believed in constitutional measure to bring about
change
in the Hindu
Society.
However after the death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy in 1833 the Brahmo
-
Samaj split into factions. The younger members of the Sabha reorganised
themselves under the, leadership of
Keshav Chandra Sen and advocated
not only far reaching social reform but also application of the test of
reason
to the fundamental articles of religious beliefs. Influenced by the
Western
and Christian thought, Keshav Chandra Sen and his followers
mounte
d
attacks on the caste system and all the evils arising out of it.
They worked
tirelessly for the complete reform of the Hindu family
emphasizing that this
reform was vital for the moral and religious
regeneration of India. The
activities of Sen and his fr
iends received
enthusiastic response in Bengal
though their progressive views estranged
them from Devendra Tagore, a
prominent leader of the Samaj.
Nevertheless, their missionary zeal and
devotion
to
the
gospel
of
reform
was
appreciated
by
the
educated
cir
cles
not
only
in
Bengal
but
also
in
Bombay
and
Madras
Presidencies.
Consequently,
the Brahmo Samaj
movement gradually spread outside Bengal though it
failed
to
take
roots
anywhere except
in
Maharashtra.
K. C. Sen visited Bombay in 1864, but he attracted l
ittle attention.
According
to Christine Dobbin “... it was not until his second visit in 1867
that he
received
a
really
enthusiastic
reception”.
Members
of
the
earlier
(now
defunct)
Paramahansa
Sabha
such
as
R.G.
Bhandarkar,
were
greatly
impressed by K
. C. Sen’s socio
-
religious views. Reformers in Bombay,
until
Sen’s visit, were of the view that social reform was impossible
without
religious
reform;
after
his
visit,
they
came
under
the
influence
of
his
thought.
Likewise,
Mary
Carpenter,
an
English
soc
ial
reformer,
who
was
also
visiting
Bombay
at
the
time,
influenced
their
thinking.
The
outcome
was
the
founding
of
the Prarthana samaj
in 1867.
Mathew Lederle and James Masselos point out that the catalyst in the
establishment of the Prarthana Samaj was no
t K. C. Sen but Dr. Atmaram
Page 49
The Prarthana
Samaj
41
Pandurang
a
brother
of
Dadoba
Pandurang,
and
Mary
Carpenter.
According
to Masselos, through Sen the ideas of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and of the
Brahmo
samaj
had
gained
a
great
currency
in
Western
India,
but
his
programme was viewed
with suspicion as a smoke
-
screen under which the
foreign
religion
might
be
spread.
The intellectuals favoured a form of Deism, shorn of the accretions of
orthodox
Hinduism
and
encompassing
the
Code
of
moral
inherent
in
Christianity. It was felt that t
his could not be achieved through the Brahmo
Samaj. To do so involved alienation from the mainstream of Hinduism,
and
meant discrimination, antagonism and the loss of any possible
influence
upon the people of the Presidency. In fact, as Lederle writers
, it
was the
Monotheistic Association of Dr. Atmaram Pandurang which
became known
as the Prarthana Samaj or Prayer Society. This religious
minded medical
practitioner and his association longed for a form of
religion which would
satisfy their hearts
and minds, yet would not require
their breaking away
from
the Hindu
religion,
remarks
Lederle.
The
Prarthana
Samaj
was
founded
by
Dr.
Atmaram
Pandurang in 1867 in
Mumbai. The Prarthana Samaj means prayer
society,
naturally,
the
people
of
Ma
harashtra
never
wanted
to
establish
a
branch
of
the
Brahmo
Samaj
because
it
had
the
influence of Christian religion. They wanted to
concentrate their
attention
on the
reforms of
their
social
life.
5.2.1
Aims
and
objectives
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
:
The Pra
rthana Samaj believed that God is one and without
any form, one
has to worship him with spirituality. The Prarthana
Samaj
accepted
and
abided
by
the
following
principles:
1
.
I
shall
daily
meditate
on
God.
2
.
I
shall
make
efforts
to
do
good
and
avoid
evil.
3
.
I shal
l pray to God that I may repeat if through the fault of my
disposition
I
have
committed a
bad
deed.
4
.
God,
give
me
strength
deserve
these
promises.
The
Prarthana
Samajists
did
not
upset
the
intense
feelings
of people
towards gods like Vithoba who was the rep
resentation of
the true God
Vishnu. This signified the flexibility in the principles of
Prarthana
Samaj.
It
was
a
practical
Samaj
which
declared
all
customs and traditions
meaning less but continued with the rational
and
undamagings
tradition
to
avoid
any
discontent
of
people.
5.2.2
Functions
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
:
As
a
matter
of
fact
the
Prarthana
Samaj
involved
in
the
social work as
foundation of night schools for imparting instructions
to young and needy
people, establishing organizations for social
w
ork and social reforms and
creating social awareness. Among
such organizations depressed class
Page 50
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
42
mission was very important
organisation which worked towards the
removal of untouchability.
The Prarthana Samaj worked hard and tried to
solve the problem of
orp
han children, who were wandering in the cities
like Mumbai and
Pune by founding Asylumes and Orphanages at holy or
religious
centres like Pandharpur, Dehu and Alandi. This Samaj fought for
solving
problems
of
women
by
discouraging
the
people
for
committing
child
marriage
and
islolating
women
from
the
mainstream
in
society.
It
supported
for
widow
re
-
marriage
and
female education by instituting
several institutions at various cities.
The
Prarthana
Samaj
wanted
to
concentrate
on
the
religious
reforms
it
though
t
that
it
would
initiate
the
social
reforms
and
improve the life of women and untouchables in society.
It undertook
religious
activities
like
the
Sunday
services,
Sunday
schools,
foundation of the young Thiests union and the postal mission that
sent the
Su
bodh Patrika, the mouth piece of the samaj to people
through post.
5.2.3
Members
of
Prarthana
Samaj
:
There
were
several
educated
people,
who
became
leaders
of this samaj.
Among them, M. G. Ranade, R. G. Bhandarkar, G. K.
Gokhale,
Talang
and
N.
G.
Chandav
arkar
were
prominent
members of this samaj. They were
directly or indirectly involved in
the activities the samaj. As the Mumbai
paper, ‘Hindu Reformer’
claimed that the religion of Prarthana Samaj was
destined to be the
religion
of
the
whole
world
due
to
the
hand
work
and
functions
of
the members of this samaj. In 1869, M. M. Kunte claimed that
the
three divisions of the Marathi society as English educated, Sanskrit
educated
and
uneducated
masses
had
attracted
toward
this
society.
Among them justice Ranade
, although was a government
employee, wrote
extensively to create awakening and renaissance
in society. M. G. Ranade
was born in 1842 of Nifad of Nashik
District, became a professor at the
Elphinstone College, Mumbai,
worked as translator to the Mumbai
Gov
ernment initially and then
was
appointed
as
a
High
Court
Judge
at
Mumbai.
He
was
a
nationalist, educationist economist and a social
reformer which led
him
to
establish
a
Social
Conference
and
discuss
all
problems
related
to
women.
In
order
to
prepare
a
gro
up
of
educated
people
to be yoked in the social reforms he associated with G. K. Gokhale
who established the Deccan Education Society. It founded a school
in the
city of Pune, which grew naturally in Fergusson college, one
of the
leading educational instit
utions, the then. He also helped
found another
organization, which came to be known as the Poona
Sarvajanik
Sabha
in
1870,
which
prepared
a
report
on
the
economic
conditions
in
Maharashtra,
when
a
parliamentary
committee was formed to enquire
about the eco
nomic problems in
India
in 1871.
In addition to this, the Prarthana Samaj leaders like R. G.
Bhandarkar
dedicated to spread a right view on religion, reforms
and right conduct. It
appointed various committees to pay attention
towards the education of
worke
rs. The leaders of the Prarthana
Samaj
were
English
educated
and
quite
practical
to
give
us
religious foundation to the social reforms to
attract the common
people
to
the
cause
of
social
reforms.
About
the
leaders
of
Prarthana
Samaj,
P.
C.
Mazoomdar
says
t
hat
the
people
of
Maharashtra ware not like Bengalis who ware easily brought under
any
Page 51
The Prarthana
Samaj
43
influence but if the Maharastrains came under it any how they
ware
extra
ordinarily
great
and
sustained
their
enthusiasm
for
a
long
time.
It
meant
the
leaders
of
the
Pra
rthana
Samaj
did
a
commendable work for the
society. G. K. Bhandarkar says that this
samaj
began
its
meetings
with
prayer
and
readings
from
the
Theodore Parkar and such other rational
writers. It generated the
most
important
literature
of
the
samaj
and
it
also
became
the
philosophy
of
the
samaj,
which
was
published
in
the
Subodha
Patrika,
the
weekly periodical
of
the samaj.
5.2.4 M.G.
Ranade
(1842
-
1901)
and R.
G.
Bhandarkar
(1837
-
1925)
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Ramakrishna Gopal Bhan
darkar were the
moving spirit behind the activities of the Prarthana Samaj. They
elaborated
on the philosophical basis of the Samaj and clarified its
religious beliefs.
Ranade,
in
his
essay,
“A
Thiest’s
Confession
of
Faith”,
attempted
to
give
the
Samaj
something more than a theology. He,
alongwith Bhandarkar, based
the
Samaj’s
philosophy
upon
the
teachings
of
the
Bhakti
saints
of
Maharashtra such
as
Tukaram
:
At the same time, he gave a great message which was in the form of a
severe but timely warning t
o the excessive zeal of some Indian reformers.
According
to
him,
what
India
required
was
a
comprehensive
reform,
not
a
mere
revival
or
a
revolutionary
change
but
a
thorough
remolding
of
the
entire
life of the nation. He was convinced that the old moulds h
ad
outlived their
usefulness
and
therefore
needed
replacement.
However,
he
spoke
of
changes
not
as
an
innovation
but as
“a
return
to
and
restoration
of
the
days
of our past history”. Ranade stressed that a reformer should not
sever his
connections
wit
h
society
and
sit
on
a
high
pedestal,
but
attempt
at
comprehensive
change,
comprising
all
aspects
of
an
individual’s
activities.
It
is interesting to
note that members
of the Prarthana Samaj, though
English
-
educated and high
-
caste individuals, conducted th
eir meetings and
services
in
Marathi
and not in
English or Sanskrit.
To
quote
Dobbin
:
‘‘.... it was natural of Marathi
-
speakers to turn to the great Marathi saints,
particularly
Tukaram,
whose
verses
often
best
expressed
the
type
of
personal devo
tion sought by Samaj members”. Ranade later explained that
this devotion to the Bhakti saints was a means of showing to the people of
Western India that the Prarthana Samai was not merely a movement of the
English
-
educated
in
the
urban
areas,
but
deep
-
roo
ted
in
the
country’s’
past,
and
unconnected
to any
particular
religious
or
caste
group.
N.G.Chandavarkar,
a
later
day
President
of
the
samaj,
found
in
the
monotheism of the Samaj and their stress on the brotherhood of man, the
fundamental
principle
of
one
God
and
one
humanity
as
the
foundation
of
all
modem
progress.
He
wrote
in 1909
-
‘‘Those who founded this institution (Prarthana Samaj) felt that until we
realised the oneness of men, until we expanded our ideas of Brotherhood
so as to feel that we are al
l creatures of the same God. India must be what
she
has
been,
low
in the
scale of
nations,
divided
against. herself, and
without the ability to hold her own. with the more
enlightened
races
of
the
world ”.
Page 52
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
44
Check
your
progress
:
Q.1. Evaluate the contributi
on of M. G. Ranade and R. G. Bhandarkar in
the activities of
Prarthana
Samaj.
5.2.5
Decline
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
For
a
decade
or
so
the
Prarthana
Samaj
flourished
and
attracted
significantly large number of Hindus and non
-
Hindus to it. In 1868, the
Bom
bay paper, ‘Hindu Reformer’, claimed that the religion of Prarthana
Samaj was destined to be the religion of the whole world. And though the
day is still very far distant from us when such a glorious result would be
consummated,
that
it
will
come
cannot
ad
mit
of
a
doubt.
“Despite
such
exaggerated
hopes,
the
Samaj
remained
a
preserve
of
English
-
educated
Brahmins
of
the
region.
Apart
from
Dr.
Atmaram
Pandurang, all the leading personalities of the samaj were either Chitpavan
or Saraswat Brahmins. Its newspap
er, the ‘Subodh Patrika’, occasionally
reflected this Brahminical predominance claiming that ‘‘ the Brahmins
have
always
been
the
intellectual
aristocracy
of
India,
who
had
lost
their
supremacy politically, but socially and intellectually they still retain
their
superiority to their fellow country men”. The paper advised social
reformers
to attend more to the material conditions of non
-
Brahmins than
to their
education.
Therefore, the Sabha was never a popular movement. By 1872, it was
reported to have
had 68 members and about 150
-
200 sympathisers. Its
practical programme was not much. R. G. Bhandarkar was forced to admit
that after six years of its existence, it had accomplished little. Attempts of
Ranade, Bhandarkar and other leaders to appeal to a wid
e audience in the
region did not produce results. Despite their efforts at evolving a synthesis
of ideas and their desire for popular contact many of the English educated
members of the Samaj felt divorced from their fellow
-
men in Western
India.
As
pointed out by M. M. Kunte in 1869, the Marathi society had
separated
into three main divisions i.e. the English
-
educated, the Shastris
with their
traditional sanskrit
-
based learning, and the mass of uneducated
men and
women.
The strains between these thr
ee strata were considerable; these became
apparent
during
the
late
sixties
in
a
bitter
and
acrimonious
debate
over
social
reform and widow remarriage, in particular. While many upper class and
influential Brahmins and Maratha Sardars opposed
changes in the society,
the
lay
Brahmins
and
Maratha
followed
their
priests.
The
Western
educated
argued that Hindu widows and child marriage as a social reform,
did not
represent
social
change
but
rather
a
return
to
what
might
be
termed
as
“true
orthodo
xy”.
Check
your
progress
:
Q.1. Explain
the
principles
and
functions
of
Prarthana
Samaj.
Page 53
The Prarthana
Samaj
45
5.2.6 Significance
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
On the whole the Samaj failed to achieve any marked popular impact and
remained
very
much
a
gathering
of
elite.
However,
i
t
did
exercise,
especially
during
the
life
-
time
of
M.G.Ranade
and
R.G.Bhandarkar,
considerable
influence.
It
was
mainly
due
to
its
members
that
a
new
social
consciousness,
extending to all fields of human activity, began to take root
within the Hindu
soci
ety in Maharashtra. The widow remarriage movement
continued under
the
auspices
of
the
Sabha
and
remarriages
were
affected
from
time
to
time.
As a token of its zeal for reform the Samaj took over a
foundling home in
1881 and an orphanage in the same year at
Pandarpur.
It established a
maternity
home
and
a
home
for
homeless.
It
did
laudable
social
and
educational work among women since 1882 and provided for
scientific
instruction
of
groups
of
women associates.
The Samaj set up branches in Poona, Ahme
dabad, Surat, Karachi, and
elsewhere. Its members called social and religious abuses by their proper
names, and helped to purify to some extent, Hinduism and strengthen its
self
-
respect.
Their
religious
universalism
was
a
response
to
the
challenge
of
a
widening
world
and
the
onslaught
of
Christian
missionaries.
This
universalism
to
quote
Lederle.
“Refused
to
be
bound
by
fetters
of
orthodoxy;
it
was based
on
man,
his
reason
and conscience”.
Leaders of the Prarthana Samaj recognised the need for activit
y of a more
practical
kind.
In
1872,
it
established
a
Theistic
Society
under
the
Presidency
of
R.G.Bhandarkar.
It
was
dedicated
to
“the
spread
of
right
views
on
religion,
supplemented
by
practical
reform
and
right
conduct”.
The
Association
appointe
d
several
committees
to
look
after
specific
social
objectives
such
as
the
spread
of
education
among
workers
and
artisans.
Although
the
aims
and
programmes
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
and
the
Theistic
Association
were
more
ambitious
than
their
performance,
thei
r
members
genuinely
dedicated
themselves to practical, though gradual, reform. They sought in earnest to
provide
a
religious
foundation
for
the
social
reform.
In
1887,
Ranade
founded the Indian Social Conference. The members of the Prarthana
Samaj like Bha
ndarkar and Chandavarkar played a leading part in the
activities
of
the Conference.
Check
your
progress
:
Q.1. Explain
the
significance of
Parthana
Samaj.
Q.
2. Examine
the
important
role
of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
in
the
social
reform
movement
in Maharashtr
a ?
Page 54
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
46
5.3
SUMMARY
The western learning gave birth to the Indian Renaissance. During this
period great changes took place in the socio
-
cultural, religious and
political
field in
India.
Indian
thinkers
began
to
look
at
the
evils
and
weaknesses
in
Indian
So
ciety.
They
realised
that
the
backwardness
of
Indian
society
was
mainly
due
to
the
evil
customs
practices,
religious
and
social
convictions
etc.
5.4 QUESTIONS
1
.
Explain
the
principles
and
functions
of
Parthana
Samaj.
2
.
Examine
the
important
role
of
the
Prarth
ana
Samaj
in
the
social
reform
movement
in Maharashtra ?
3
.
Evaluate the contribution of M. G. Ranade and R. G. Bhandarkar in
the activities of
Prarthana
Samaj.
4
.
Stress the important role played by the Prarthana Samaj in eradicating
social
evils.
5.5
ADDITIONAL READING:
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
3
.
Keer Dhananjay, Mahatma
Jyotirao
Phule,
Father
of
the Social
Reform, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1964.
4
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
5
.
Lederle
M., Philisophical, Tre
nds in Modern Maharashtra, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1976.
6
.
Padhye
Tikekar, Aajkalcha
Maharashtra
(Marathi)
7
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C. New
Delhi,
1975.
Page 55
47
6
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC
NATIONALISM
Unit
Structure
6.0 Objectives
6 .1 Introduction
6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism
6.2.1 Dadabhai Naoroji
6.2.2 M.
G.
Ranade
and
Economic
Nationalism
6.2.3 Ganesh
Vyankatesh
Joshi
6.3 Summary
6.4 Questions
6.5 Additional Reading
6.0 OBJECTIVES
:
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
)
Acquaint
with
the
promotion
of economic
nationalism.
2
)
Understand
the
importa
nt
role
played
by
Dadabhai
Naoroji.
3
)
Know
important
work
done
by
M.G.
Ranade.
4
)
Grasp the economic
nationalism of G.V.
Josh.
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of
Renaissance in Maharashtra.
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a
secu
lar approach and was one
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional
Hindu religion. Deshmukh
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal
thought to merely one or two
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These
reformers
were
not
received
with
op
en
arms
by
the
society
which
was
drilled
and disciplined to preserve
its social and spiritual values over centuries.
Moreover,
the
traditional
Maratha
society
had
the
privilege
of
witnessing
the
rise
of
the
Maratha
political
influence
throughout
India
.
The
people
of
Maharashtra whether
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit
of
any
change
inspired by
their British
conquerers.
Page 56
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
48
The
second
half
of
the
nineteenth
century
was
dominated
by
the
activities
of
another
three
leaders of
liberal
thou
ght.
They
were
Dadabhai
Naoroji,
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Their ideas and
activities
were
to
influence
not
only
Bombay
and
Maharashtra
but
the
whole
country
in
general.
In
this
connection
Dr.
K.
Mukerji
observes
that
Maharashtr
a
never
had
a
general
renaissance
in
the
sense
that
Bengal
had
one
after
1815.
Prof.
J.V.
Naik’s
rejoinder
that
the
predecessors
of
Ranade
-
Agarkar
had
done
a
substantial
rethinking
in
response
to
the
socio
-
economic
life in the colonial situation and thus
the work of Ranade
-
Agarkar had
influenced
the
main
stream
of
Maharashtrian
thought
deserves
consideration. Although most of these enlightened reformers were
confined
to cities, their influence on the people of Maharashtra was
profound which
will be clear f
rom the activities of the institutions and
organisation that they
established. We shall now discuss the achievements
of Dadabhai Naoroji,
Mahadev
Govind
Ranade
and
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale
in
the following
pages.
6.2 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF
MAHARASHTRA T
O ECONOMIC NATIONALISM
6.2.1 DADABHAI
NAOROJI
(1825
-
1917)
:
The manifold achievements of Dadabhai Naorojl the Grand old Man of
Indian History cannot be justly compressed in a few pages. The story of
his
long life reflects the several memorable epochs i
n the history of
political life
of India. His ‘simple but heroic life devoutly dedicated to the
service of
humanity,
cannot
be
properly
represented
by
fixing
attention
only
on
fleeting
activities of his college days. It is therefore necessary to
en
umerate the
important events of his life after discussing his contribution
to the Students
Literary
and Scientific
Society.
Students
Literary
and
Scientific
Society
Dadabhai
was
born
in
Bombay
in
a
poor
Parsi
priest
family
on
September
4,
1825.
He
was
educ
ated
in
a
free
school
conducted
by
the
‘Native
Education
Society’.
The
school
had
two
branches
English
and
Vernacular.
The
society
was
conducted
under
Government
auspices.
He
received
his
college
education in the Elphinstone Institution. The Elphinstone Co
llege
and the
school conducted by the Native Education Society were combined
to form
Etphinstone Institution. He received the Clare scholarship in 1840
and in
1842
he was
admitted
to
the
newly
opened
class
of
Normal
Scholars.
Dadabhai was very active durin
g his college days. In 1848 some of the
members
of
the
Native
Literary
Society
assembled
in
the
hall
of
the
Elphinstone
Institution
and
formed
a
new
society.
It
was
named
as
‘Students
Literary
and
Scientific
Society’.
Dadabhai
was
appointed
as
Treasurer
o
f
the
Society
and,
Professor
Patton
its
President.
From
that
time
onwards
Dadabhai
devoted
himself
to
the
work of
education
and
social
reform.
Page 57
Contributions of
thinkers of Maharashtra
to Economic
Nationalism
49
The
Rules of
the
Society
The aim of the Society was to develop the interest in literary and scientific
knowledge
.
In
keeping
with
this
aim
one
of
the
rules
of
the
Society
provided
that two members should be nominated by the Secretary of the
society to
read papers on literary scientific or social subjects, The meeting
of the
Society was held twice a month. The Societ
y was keen on activating
the
members
to
do
independent
thinking
on
these
matters
of
public
interest.
The
Students and teachers should shoulder the responsibility of educating
the
people
and
therefore
an
in depth
study
of
the
current
issues
was
also
i
ntended. The Society however did not encourage entanglement of the
political
matters
and
religious
questions.
The society maintained a strict discipline and therefore wished to weed out
useless members or those who only accepted the membership as a sort of
ornament. Those who failed to read a paper in the first instance were fined
a
rupee.
The
fine
for
second
failure
was
two
rupees
and
if
the
member
failed
to read his paper on the subject offered by him the third time he was
expelled.
The
questions
that
we
re
made
the
subjects
of
the
papers
were
discussed
in
the
meetings
of
the
Society.
It
was
not
to
be
merely
an
academic
discussion
to be confined within the four walls of the class room but the conclusions
were to be exposed to the full view of the public
through the columns of
journals conducted by two vernacular branches of the society. One was the
‘Gujarati Dnyan Prasarak Mandali’ and the other was a ‘Marathi Dnyan
Prasarak Mandali’. The Gujarati journal was edited by Dadabhai Naoroji
which
published the
debates.
The work undertaken by the ‘Dnyan Prasarak Mandali under the guidance
and direction of Dadabhai Naoroji was of far
-
reaching importance. In
1849,
a paper on female education was read by Behramji Kharshetji
Gandbi. The
discussion on this much
-
debat
ed issue led to a practical
operation. The
students began to visit several Parsi and Hindu parents to
allow them to sit
on their verandahs and to teach their girls. In a few days
after the decision
about the propagation of education among the girls the
stu
dents could get
the consent of parents. In the seven schools they could
register 44 Parsi
girls
and
24
Hindu
girls.
The
move
to
educate
women
attracted
the
attention
of
some
leaders
of
Bombay.
Jagannath
Shankar
Sheth
gave
a
cottage
to
be
used as school
-
hou
se. This inspired others to give
concrete assistance for
female
education.
Khershedji
Nasanwanji
Cama
gave
a
substantial
donation
to the Society. This enabled the Society to
maintain schools for girls both
Hindu
and Parsi.
The
social
reform
successfully
un
dertaken
by
the
Society
encouraged
some
Parsi
reformers
to
remove
some
pernicious
customs
from
the
Parsi
society.
In 1851 Naoroji Furdoomji the ‘Tribunal of the people’ was persuaded to
found
the
‘Rahnumae
Mazdaysnam
Sabha’
or
‘Guides
on
the
Mazdayasnan
Path’.
Naoroji
Furdoomji
was
appointed
President
and
Dadabhai
Secretary.
Some of the reformers were zealous to reform the old Zorostrian faith
according to the Western ideas. The Rahnumane Sabha achieved its goal
Page 58
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
50
of
restoring
the
ancient
religion
to
its pristine purity.
Dadabhai
lived
to
witness
the
diamond
Jubilee
of
the
Society
and
the
Dnyan
Prakash Mandali. The Society had also undertaken the work of
translating
books into Marathi and Gujarati. The work of the Society was
also getting
wider publi
city as Elphinstonians of the first generation were
interested in
journalism. Among the Marathi speaking alumni journalism
had become a
favourite tool to propose social and religious reforms.
Dadabhai also felt an
urgent need of an independent journal for
the cause
of reform. Dadabhai
and
Kharshedji
Cama
decided
to
start
a
fornightly
journal
‘Rast
Goftar’
(Truth
Teller). Cama agreed to provide the necessary funds and Dadabhai agreed
to
run
it
without
remuneration.
The
new
journal
was
issued
on
November
15,
1851. This was incidently the sixth journal in Gujarati but the only one
with
an independent ideology. The journal was started in the wake of
Muslim
-
Parsi
riot
which
broke
out
on
October
7,
1851.
Within
two
months
the
journal
with progressive views fo
und favour with the readers and in
January 1852
the fortnightly was converted into a weekly. Dadabhai was
fully supported
by
the
Society
boys
and
his
connection
with
the
journal
continued
even
after
he
left
India
in 1855 and
made England his
home.
T
he
Students
Society
had
a
wider
acceptance
and
its
activities
were
assuming larger dimensions under the able leadership of Dadabhai. On
September
2,1852
a
meeting
was
held
in
Elphinstone
College
to
perpetuate
the memory of Framji Cowasji Benaji, the great
philanthropist and patron
of
education. It was decided at the meeting that the fund collected for
helping
the
zorostrians
in
Iran
was
to
be
now
utilised
for
the
formation
of
a
museum
in connection with the Students Literary and Scientific Society
and nam
ed
the Framaji Cowasji Institute. Here was a professor setting a
great ideal
before his students. Several students of the Elphinstone College
joined in
the work of collecting funds for a noble cause. R.P. Masani
remarks. “It is a
teacher’s office to lead
as well as to teach and by the
spark of his personal
example
to
set
the
heart
of
his
pupils
on
fire.
Dadabhai
fulfilled
that
mission,
not only in regard to his college pupils but
also in regard to his disciples
through
-
out
his
Iife.
Important
Events
In
his
life
It
would
not
be
out
of
place
if
some
important
events
in
the
life
of
the
‘Grand
Old Man’ of Indian history are mentioned here in the context of
his all
-
out
efforts for building a new India and from such discussion
regional history
cannot be sepa
rated. He was appointed Professor of
Mathematics and
Natural Philosophy in 1852. He was the first Indian to
hold, such a high
position in any prominent colleges in the country. He left
India in 1855 to
settle in England. He joined the Cams Company and afte
r
a few years he
started
his
own
trading
company.
During
the
first
decade
he
tried
to
educate
the British public opinion on the Civil Service
Examination. He stressed the
Importance of Sanskrit and the Arabic the
two classical languages and the
London Ind
ian Society was able to force
the British Government to give up
the proposal of reducing the marks
Page 59
Contributions of
thinkers of Maharashtra
to Economic
Nationalism
51
gained by the Indian candidates in one
of
these languages
as
optional
subjects.
In February 1866 John Crawford, President of the Ethnological Society of
Lond
on read a paper in which he sought to prove that the Asians as a race
were inferior in intellect compared to the Europeans. In the following
month
Dadabhai gave a fitting rejoinder to Crawford’s thesis. Dadabhai’s
spirited
defense
of
the
Asiatic
cont
ribution
to
literature
and
science
silenced
arrogant
European
ethnologists.
Dadabhai’s
achievements
in
the
political
field
are
many.
He
became
the
first
Member of the British Parliament. He worked as a Diwan of Baroda.
He
worked
for
the
establi
shment
of
the
Indian
National
Congress
of
which
he
was elected President thrice in his career. His greatest
contribution to the
intellectual
field
was
his
book
‘Poverty
and
Un
-
British
Rule
in
India’
published in 1901. In 1876 when he was a Municipal
Counci
lor of Bombay.
He read a paper on the subject of the poverty of
India before the Bombay
branch
of
East
India Association.
Dadabhai’s achievements are put in a nutshel by Lokmanya Tilak when
the
efforts’
of
Tilak’
were
frustrated
by
Moderates
in
the
Congres
s
to
be
elected
President
at
the
Calcutta
Congress
in
1906.
He
writes,
‘‘Why
do
we
respect
Dadabhai so much? We do not consider that late Mr. Mandalik,
Bhau Daji
or Mr. Naoroji Fardumji were in any way inferior in their
contribution to the
national
we
lfare
to
Dadabhai.
Even
if
we
point
out
that
he
was
the
first
Indian
to be elected the Member of British Parliament,
subsequently Bhavnagari
also achieved that distinction. These events do
not explain why Dadabhai
enjoys a unique place in the hearts of In
dian
people. The explanation is so
obvious. His greatness does not lie in the
number of institutions he started,
or a number of lectures he delivered on
different subjects or his work in this
capacity
or
that.
His
greatness
rests
on
his
‘theory
of
dra
in’
that
he
propounded not
merely
by guess
-
work
but
by
indefatigable
industry to
collect the statistics and prove, his thesis. In the
mildest of psychophants
eulogising
the
blessings’’
the
British
rule
after
the
fall
of
the
Peshwa
regime,
here
was
a
man
br
ave
enough
to
prove
to
the
British
masters
that
they
were
responsible
for the poverty
and the
miserable
conditions
of
the Indian
people. He thrust on the attention of the
people of India that the outward
appearance of the British Rule may be
attractive bu
t it acts as a disease to
destroy
the
national
interest
of
India.
The ‘drain theory’ that he developed created a consciousness among the
educated Indians, throughout the country that self
-
rule has no substitute.
Although
he
spent
most
of
his
life
in
Englan
d
he
never
missed
any
opportunity
to
uphold
the
national
honour.
He
had
the
good
fortune
to
enjoy
a long life. His political hopes of a better deal from the British rulers
at the
outbreak
of
World
War
I
were
very
high.
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale
was
another
le
ader
who
laid
implicit
faith
in
the
benevolence
of
the
British
rulers.
Dadabhai did not live long enough to see the constitutional changes
after
World
War
I.
Page 60
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
52
Check
your
progress:
-
Q
.
1
Write
in
brief the
rules
of Student Literary
and
Scientific Society.
6.2.2
M.
G.
RANADE
AND
ECONOMIC
NATIONALISM
M. G. Ranade however excelled in many other fields also. His book ‘The
Rise of
Maratha Power’ which he wrote to awaken self
-
esteem of the
people of
Maharashtra (once a proud nation now living under awe of the
British
power).
He
had
also
applied
his
mind
to
the
economic
hardships
the
common
man was undergoing
during the
British regime.
Ranade
was
an
independent
thinker.
He
had
closely
watched
the
deteriorating condition of the people. Bhaskar Tarkhadkar, Bhau Mahajan
a
nd others had focussed the attention of the educated elite on the ‘drain of
the wealth’ of India. His work at the small princely state of AkkaIkot as an
‘Karbhari’ (administrator) and his association with Vishnushastri Pundit
and
Ganesh Vasudev Joshi
(Sarvajanik Kaka) had given him an insight
into the
financial
aspect
of
reform.
His
mind
was
fully
equipped
to
interpret
the
British
policy of ‘Free Trade’ when it was profitable for the English
traders and
‘protectionist’
policy
when
the
Indian
textile
s
threatened
to
capture
European
markets. His writings and speeches were looked with
suspicion by the
Rulers. He could not get a full
-
fledged post of a judge for
23 years and
remained in
subordinate
position.
Welby
Commission and Ranade
Dadabhai
Naoroji,
W
edderburn
and
Caine
wanted
Justice
Ranade
to
present India’s case before the Indian Expenditure Commission under the
chairmanship
of
Lord Welby.
Ranade
was
not
spared
by the
Bombay
Government.
He
therefore
entrusted
the
work
to
G.K.GokhaIe.
He
persuaded Ga
nesh Vyankatesh Joshi to do the groundwork under his own
direction. He thus promoted nascent economic nationalism.
6.2.3 GANESH
VYANKATESH
JOSHI
(1851
-
1911)
G. V. Joshi was an eminent economist, a liberal thinker and a nationalist to
the core. He never
allowed his passions to cloud his vision about the true
nature
of
the
British
Rule
in
India.
Though
born
in
a
family
which
served
the
last Peshwa with great devotion, he never allowed his vision to be
clouded
by
passions at hostility
towards
the new
rule
rs.
He was born at Miraj a small princely state in 1851. His father worked as a
treasurer (Potnis) in that princely state. His grandfather was a diplomat at
the court of Peshwa Bajirao II and had participated in the last battle of the
Peshwa against the ar
my of the East India Company. However, his father
did
not
hesitate
to
allow
him
to
receive English education.
Ganesh
Joshi
was
a
brilliant
student.
He
stood
first
in
the
subject
of
Logic
of
the
B.A.
examination.
After
graduation
he
sought
Government
Serv
ice
in
the
Education Department in 1873. Like most of his contemporaries he
started
social
activities
while
in
Government
Service.
He
served
at
Nasik,
Ratnagiri,
Page 61
Contributions of
thinkers of Maharashtra
to Economic
Nationalism
53
Bombay,
Poona,
Sholapur
and
Satara.
He
was
a
competent
teacher
and
his
fame
spread
over
the
w
hole
of
the
Bombay
Presidency.
He
used
to
contribute
articles
on
various
subjects
to
the
‘Times
of
India’
and
his
articles
were read by the educated elite and the government officials with
great
interest.
He
wrote
under
the
pen
name
‘J
’.
He
was
modest
an
d
God
-
fearing
man.
He
led
a
simple
life.
He
was
a
devout
worshiper of ‘Ganapati’. He was a highly disciplined man. He did not
spare
any labour to understand any academic or practical problem. He
filled his
mind with full information on the subject under s
tudy and in a
short time he
was
recognised
as an
expert
statistician.
His
Social,
political
and
economic
studies
This
erudite
scholar
worked
quietly
and
was
always
engrossed
in
deep
study
of
the
social
and
economic
problems.
He
was
a
liberal
thinker
and
a
dvocated
a
comprehensive
social
reform
not
a
mere
revival.
He
spoke
with
conviction.
He contributed to several periodical and magazines of that time
like the
‘Maratha’, ‘Sarvajanik Sabha’, quarterly and ‘Indian Review’
besides the
‘Times
of
India’.
H
e
advocated
free
education
for
all.
His
systematic
study
of
economic
problems
and
his
ability
to
express
his
views
emphatically
supported by statistical proof drew the attention of the
leaders of the Indian
National Congress. Besides Justice Ranade, Surend
ra
Nath Bannerjee,
Sayani
and
RC.
Dutt
used
to
consult
him
on
political
and
economic
matters.
Welby
Commission
Ganesh Joshi was not satisfied with making such statements as India is a
poor nation. He painstakingly compiled data from the Reports published
b
y
the Indian Government and compared them with the published statistics
of
corresponding
economic
matters
from
other
countries
and
proved
that
India
had become a poor country. Dadabhai Naoroji later on published his
thesis
on
the
‘Drain
Theo
ry’
but
Joshi
had
already
done
it
on
the
basis
of
statistical
study.
Justice
Ranade
asked
Ganesh
Joshi
to
collect
the
relevant
statistical
information
and
assist
G.K.Gokhale
in
putting
forward
a
case
for
India
when
he was to testify before the Welby Commis
sion. Gokhale
accomplished his
job
with
distinction.
It
cannot
be
denied
that
the
groundwork
for
that
was
ably
prepared
by
Joshi.
Ranade’s
guidance
was
also
a
great
factor
in
making
the
‘
exercise
a
great
success.’
Ganesh Joshi enjoyed the confidence
of the political leaders as well as the
Government
officers.
He
was
nominated
to
the
Bombay
Legislative
Council.
He received great recognition from the people when he presided
over the
Provincial Conference held at Dhulia in 1908. He retired from
Governme
nt
Service
in
1907.
He
died
in
1911.
In
the
following
year
his
son
published
his
collected
articles and
speeches
in
a
book
form.
Page 62
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
54
6.4 ,SUMMARY
:
Thus Dadabhai’s ‘The Drain theory’ created a consciousness among the
educated Indians. M.G. Ranade’s Guidance G
anesh Joshi as an expert
statistician
promoted
nascent
economic
nationalism.
6.5 QUESTIONS
:
1
.
Describe
the
work
of
Dadabhai
Navroji
in
the
promotion
of
economic
nationalism.
2
.
In
what
way
did
Justice
Ranade
endeavour
to
improve
the
economic
condition
of
the
country?
3
.
Evaluate
the
work
of Ganesh
Vyenkatesh Joshi to promot economic
welfare
of
the country.
6.6 ADDITIONAL READING:
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press
, London,
1961.
2
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
3
.
Keer Dhananjay, Mahatma
Jyotirao
Phule,
Father
of
the Social
Reform, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1964.
4
.
Kuma
r
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
5
.
Lederle
M., Philisophical, Trends in Modern Maharashtra, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1976.
6
.
Padhye
Tikekar, Aajkalcha
Maharashtra
(Marathi)
7
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Mahara
shtra,
M.I.C. New
Delhi,
1975.
8
.
Charles
Worthy
Noel, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
9
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
1839)
Asia
Publ
ishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
10
.
Masani
R.P., Dadabhai
Naoroji,
George
Allon
and Unwin
Ltd.,
London, 1939.
Page 63
55
7
MODERATES, EXTREMISTS AND
REVOLUTIONARIES IN MAHARASHTRA
Unit Structure
:
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Moderate Phase
7.3 The Extremist Phase
7.4 Revolutionaries in Maharashtra
7.5 Summary
7.6 Questions
7.7 Additional Re
ading
7.0
OBJECTIVES
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to
:
To grasp
the
programmes
and
policies
of
the
Moderates.
To understand
the
contribution
of
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale.
To explain
the programmes of Extremists.
To
understand
B.G.
T
ilak
and
Extremist
Politics.
To comprehend
the
work
of
revolutionary
nationalist.
To
know
the
Contribution
of Savarkar as
Revolutionaries.
7.
1
INTRODUCTION
After the foundation of Indian national Congress, there arose
different
forms
and
factions
in
the
Indian
nationalism
in
Maharashtra. They were as
moderates, extremists, revolutionaries
and Gandhi age. The first three
forms were represented by Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale,
Bal
Gangadhar
Tilak
and
Vinayak
Damodar
Sarvarkar respectively whereas due to the
leader
ship of Mahatma
Gandhi, his period came to be known as Gandhi
age. Although, the
Congress leaders had different approaches towards the
national
movement, all they aimed the achievement of independence based
on the unity of people, which was evolved due to
common customs,
civil
institutions
and
historical traditions.
The memory that their ancestors had wielded political authority over most
part
of
the
country
was
still
fresh
in
the
minds
of
the
people
of
Maharashtra.
Their forefathers had fought for the ‘ H
indvi Swarajya’. This
Page 64
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
56
motivated
leaders like G. K. Gokhale and B. G. Tilak to lead the nation
towards self
government. Their goal was the same but their methods
differed. Gokhale
wanted to pursue constitutional methods. Tilak while
remaining within the
con
stitutional framework wanted to expose the
defects in the system of
Government
and
defy
oppressive
measures.
His
activities
inspired
revolutionary nationalism among young leaders. We
shall now discuss the
efforts of
these men with
different
political
views
to
attain the goal of
Swarajya.
7.2 THE
MODERATE
PHASE
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale,
Dadabhai
Naoroji,
Phirozshah
Mehta
and
Mahadev
Govind
Ranade
were
the leaders
of
this
Congress. These leaders
believed in the British liberal traditions,
the
ir rule of law and sense of
judiciary. The moderates wanted
reforms
first
with
the
help
of
British
as
freedom
of
speech,
association
and
press,
reforms
in
the
executive
and
legislative
councils at the centre and in the provinces. The moderates
wanted
the B
ritish stop exploiting Indians and destructing Indian crafts
and
cottage industries. They should stop investing in Indian Railways,
plantations
mines
and
factories.
The
British
should
help
the
rising.
Indian capitalists in building Indian industries by way
of loans, aid
and
subsidies wherever required. The moderates demanded a
reduction in
heavy taxes, land revenue and free the peasants from
the debts of money
lenders by giving them loans at reasonable
interest. To help the Indian
peasantry, the British sho
uld
establish land banks and advance loan for
irrigation. The British
should
reduce
the
military
expenditure
taking
place
on
its
maintenance in India. The moderates wanted that the British should
reform and reorganize the civil services, raise the age crit
eria from
19 to
21 years and hold examinations simultaneously in India and
England.
They
believed
in
the
sense
of
justice
and
traditions
of
liberalism of the
British. They, therefore, undertook petition and
appeals
to
get
sanctioned
their
demands.
They
al
so
undertook
public meetings and writing
extensively in Indian now’s papers,
journals and pamphlets. Although, the
moderates put forth various
demands and adopted all legal and
constitutional strategies to get
them
passed,
they
could
not
succeed
in
getting
them
passed.
Leaders
like
Lala
Lajpat
Rai
and
other
Extremist
Congress
members were very critical about strategies and programme the
moderates. Although the moderates could not reach to the masses,
they
could
keep
alive
the
Indian
national
movement
for
a
long
period.
Check
your
progress
:
1
)
Explain
the activities of
Moderate Congress.
GOPAL
KRISHNA
GOKHALE
(1866
-
1915)
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was
born
in
Kokanastha
Brahman
family. He was
born in ChipIun
in Ratnagiri District in 1866. He was educated at
Kolha
pur, Pune and
Bombay.
He
had
also
the
privilege
of
studying
at
the
Elphistone
College
like
Ranade and Dadabhal Naoroji. He was appointed
Page 65
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
57
Professor at the age of
twenty in the Fergusan College, Pune. He was
elected life member of the
Deccan Education Socie
ty on June 7, 1886. He
was welcomed to the
Fergusan
College
by
Lokmanya
Tilak
and
the
great
social
reformer
Agarkar.
The
cordial
relations
between
Agarkar
and
Gokhale
were
strengthened
with
the x passage of time but Tilak’s social and political views wer
e too
strong for
Gokhale,
the
disciple
of
Ranade
to
accept.
Tilak
and
GokhaIe
clashed
in
the
Deccan
Society
over
the
policy
matters
and
Tilak
resigned
his
life
membership
of
the
society
in
1890.
The
hostility
between
Gokhale
and
Tilak
was to cloud their p
olitical and social vision and create
impediments in the
progress
towards their
identical
goal with different
approaches.
Gokhale regarded Ranade as his Guru (Preceptor) and always sought his
advise
on
many
important
matters
political,
social
and
economic
.
The
Manifesto
of
the
Deccan
Sabha
which
Ranade
had
drafted
moulded
Gokhale’s liberalism and
moderation
in
pubic life.
Extended
view
of
Liberalism
He had spelled out his ideas of constitutional means for achieving any
political
goal.
In
one
of
his
speeche
s
he
said
that
all
means,
are
constitutional
except
three.
They
are
:
-
(
a
)
Rebellion
against
the
established
authority.
(
b
)
Lending support
to
foreign
invasion
and
(
c
)
Committing
atrocities
on
the
people.
Moderates
The first Congress President, W.C.Bannerjee had made
a special plea for,
‘Consolidation of National Unity. The second President Dadabhai Naoroji
in
December 1886 in session at Calcutta set the pattern of moderation and
restraint.
“What
is
it
for
which
we
are
now
met?’’
he
asked.
“Is
this
Congress
a nursery f
or sedition and rebellion against the British
Government ?(Cries
of ‘No! No!’) Is it another stone in the foundation of
the stability of the
government?
(Cries
of
‘Yes!
Yes
!)
....
Let
us
speak
out
like
men
and
proclaim
that
we
are
loyal
to
the
backbone”.
This will give us an outline of the policies and programme
followed by the Congress till the partition of Bengal. As this concerns the
national
history
in
general
we
shall
restrict
our
attention
to
Maharashtra
and
see what the ‘Prince of Indian Liberalism
’ Gopal Krishna Gokhale,
said and
did
to promote
nationalism
in Maharashtra.
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale
and
the
Moderates
Ranade, Gokhale’s guru, Dadabhai Naoroji and Phirozeshah Mehta were
very
much
impressed
by
the
English
Liberal
tradition.
Gokhale
had
esta
blished
close
contacts
with
these
stalwarts
of
the
nineteenth
century.
He
was also in personal contact with English liberals and had imbibed the
Page 66
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
58
humanism and liberalism from the writings of Edmund Burke and John
Stuart Mill. Gokhale was inspired for social
and public life by the
examples
of Lokmanya Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. He was
associated with
Mahadev
Govind
Ranade
during
his
professorship
at
the
Ferguson
College,
Pune.
Gokhale like other liberals believed in agitating for piecemeal reforms. He
w
anted reform in the administration, representative Legislature, separation
of
the
executive
and
judicial
function.
The
programme
of
the
moderates
who
led the Congress was primarily conceived in the interest of the upper
and
middle
classes.
The
moderates
d
esired
gradual
refoms
of the
councils,
Indian
Civil
services,
local
bodies
and
the
Defense
forces.
They
reposed
their
faith
in
constitutional
method.
Gokhale
laid
great
stress
on
representing
the
grievances of the people to the government. He thought that
if the British
rulers were convinced of the justice of their demand, the British had the
sense of justice and fair play to grant them their legitimate demands. He
conceived
his role
as
a
mediator
between
the
people
and
the
government.
Gokhale like Ranade h
ad somehow or other uncritically placed his faith in
the
British
justice.
These
moderates
believed
that
the
British
rule
was
for
the
good of the Indian people. It was a Divine Providence that the British
were
sent to India at the right time. Indian people
should be grateful for
the
blessings of peace and stability of their government. They wished to
forget
the bad dream of 1857 and wanted to focus the attention of the
people on
the
English
literature,
the
systems
of
education
and
justice;
the
improvements i
n transport and communications and the rule of law which
they
retarded as
blessings
of
the
British
Rule.
The test of their legitimate belief in the political wisdom of the rulers
came
when the Indian Councils Act of 1892 was passed. The moderates
had
ente
rtained
high
hopes
about
the
reform
and
expansion
of
the
supreme
and
existing
Provincial
legislative
Councils.
The
first
session
of
the
Indian
National Congress had passed a resolution containing such aspiration as
admission
of
a
considerable
proportion
of
elected
members
and
the
granting
of
right
to
the
members
to
interpolate
the
executive
in
regard
to
all
branches
of the administration. They were sadly let down by the British
Rulers when
the Indian Councils Act of
1892 was published. There were
too many
l
imitations on the power and functions of the councils. The
constitutional
methods of Prayers and Petition did not bear any fruit. The
people’s faith in
the
sense
of
justice
of
the
Englishman
received a
great
jolt.
A group of young men began to look inward
s and explore the glories of
ancient India. The Hindu revivalist movements began. Gokhale however
was
firm
in
his
belief
in
the
good intentions of
the
British. His
Attitude
towards
the
Politics
Gokhale made critical analysis of the political situation in
India. He
criticized British policy of maintaining a ratio of 1 : 2
between
British
Page 67
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
59
forces
and
Indian
forces.
Gokhale
entered
the
Bombay Legislative
Council. During his tenure he worked hard to
solve
the
problem
of
famine,
land
revenue
and
agricultural
dis
content.
He
also
acted
as
a
member
of
Pune
Municipal
Corporation.
He
introduced
a
practice
of
printing
the
rule
which
were
passed
in
meeting.
He
reached
the
peak
of
his
career
when
he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council in 1981. His
entrance
in
the
council
opened
a
new
chapter
in
his
life.
His
budgetary
analysis earned great praise even from opponents. He
took pride in the
service of the common people. He always pointed
out that the expenditure
on welfare schemes would make people to
resist the
famines.
Gokhale And
The
Indian
Expenditure
Commission
A
Royal
Commission
to
inquire
into
the
India
expenditure
was
appointed
on
May 24, 1895 under the chairmanship of Lord Welby. The commission
began its enquiries about financial administration in 1896. I
n that year
monsoon failed in the Deccan which resulted in a serious famine. The
Deccan Sabha was founded by Ranade during that year to undertake the
relief and other social work and render social service as the Sarvajanik
Sabha had done
before.
The
Welby
commission
consisted
of
all
seasoned
statesman
and
there
were
Wedderburn
and
Caine
with
Dadabhai
Naoroji
to
present
the
Indian
point
of
view.
The
witnesses
were
to
be
called
from
India
to
give
evidence
before
the
commission
and
as
Ranade
could
not
be
rele
ased
by
the
Bombay
Govemment,
Gokhale was
chosen
in
his
place
to go
to
England
with
Wachha.
This
was
a
great
breakthrough
for
Gokhale.
Wachha
held
Gokhale
in high esteem and was happy that Gokhale came forward to shoulder the
responsibility. Ranade coached
Gokhale rigorously for weeks to show him
the nuances of Indian finance. Ranade gave a letter of introduction to
Wedderburn asking him to guide the young man on the right lines.
Gokhale
presented the Indian point of view with great authority and
confidence
.
Wedderburn was frank enough to praise the young man in
these words
‘‘Your evidence will be much the best on our side. Let me
congratulate you
on
the
signal
service
which
you
have
rendered
to
your
country.
Our
minority
report
will
be based practically
on
your
evidence’’.
The
Plague And
Famine
Administration
1897
In 1896 there was a famine, and in the next year bubonic plague broke out
in
Bombay
and
Pune.
Schools
and
businesses
were,
closed
and
the
Government appointed W.C. Rand as plague Commissioner for P
une. He
was keen on enforcing health regulations and had ordered police to inspect
homes harboring victims. All those who were infected by the disease were
removed to the quarantine hospitals. The authorities also sent a band of
officials
to
take
measures
to
prevent
the
spread
of
the
epidemic.
There
were
protest by the local people regarding the quarantine hospitals as death
hospitals. The rumours began to spread that the police were violating the
sanctity
of
women’s
quarters.
A
series
of.
memorials
were
se
nt
to
the
Bombay
Government under the leadership of Lokmanya Tilak. They
denounced
police
oppression.
Page 68
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
60
The criticism of the Plague Administration and its Commissioner Rand
became more bitter. Gokhale who was in England in connection with the
Welby
Commissio
n
received
letters
from
his
friends
in
Pune
reporting
excesses by the famine police. It was reported that several women in their
Pune
homes
were
molested.
Gokhale
told
a
small
committee
of
members
of
the
House
of
Commons
about
the barbarity.
‘The Manchest
er Guardian’ carried the news. The Bombay Government
denied
such
atrocities.
Gokhale
was
challenged
to
reveal
the
sources
of
his
evidence.
Gokhale
had
to
retreat
and
he
publicly
apologized
for
the
charges.
The
real
fact
was
that
Gokhale
feared
police
repri
sals
to
the
informants.
His
mentor, Ranade persuaded him not to pursue’ the course of going all
out
against the government. “In effect Ranade asked GokhaIe to risk his
public
career to avoid a disastrous conflict in Pune” Gokhale like an
Obedient
disciple
did what Ranade told him to do. Ranade tried his best to
prevent
breakdown of relations between British and Indians especially
when he
found
that
the
criticism
of
the
famine
administration
had
caused
the
resignation of’ Principal Welby of Deccan college. I
t was a very sad
affair.
Gokhale
could
have
exposed
the
British
authorities
and
Ranade
could
have
adopted a bold stance but in the long run it would have
produced evil
consequences.
Ranade’s efforts however could not conciliate the ardent nationalists. Th
e
sixtieth year of Queen Victoria’s accession was being celebrated in the
country.
The
governor
had
held
a
party
in
Pune
to
celebrate
the
occasion
on
June 22, 1897. The storm of famine and plague administration seemed to
have subsided. But as Commissioner
and Lieutenant Ayerst were coming
out after the celebrations, they were attacked by Chaphekar brothers and
they murdered them. Lokamanya Tilak, was arrested after five days for his
provocative articles in the ‘Kesari’ and charged with disaffection against
the
government.
The
nationalism
in
Maharashtra
was
taking
a
different
turn
from
what
Gokhale and
the
moderates
had
contemplated.
A
True Patriot
The
‘Apology
incident’
had
infuriated
some
extremists.
The
orthodox
among
the
extremists
took
the
opportunity
to
excommunicate
Gokhale
for
his
foreign travel. Gokhale took all such disabilities and reverses in his
stride.
The death of Ranade in 1901 created a vacuum in his life. However,
he had
dedicated his services to the nation. He scaled new heights in public
l
ife
when he was nominated as a member of the Imperial Legislative
Council in
1902. During the first four years of his tenure, he had to
struggle against the
autocratic
policy
of
Lord
Curzon.
Gokhale
had
become
a
truly
cosmopolitan
economist of his generati
on and according to
informed circles he was the
greatest
authority
on Public Finance of
his
time
in India.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 was another severe blow to the moderates
in the Congress who had reposed their trust in the political wisdom of the
British rulers. Gokhale was elected President of the Banaras Congress that
year. He showed exemplary courage to justify the use of boycott as a
Page 69
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
61
political
weapon
under
certain
conditions.
He
visited
England
in
the
following
year to represent the popular op
inion in India to the British
authorities and
the public. The moderates were losing ground as the
victory of Japan over
Russia had produced a wave of nationalism
throughout India. Lokmanya
Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal,
Lala Lajpat Roy
and Aurobindo Ghosh were
leading the boycott movement. The extremists
split the Congress at the
Surat
session
in
1907
and
the
moderates
sustained
the
Congress
until
1916.
His
Achievements
Gokhale never faltered in his dedication to the service of his people. He
wanted to create a
band of self
-
denying workers and patriots and therefore
founded the ‘Servants of India Society’. He believed in self
-
government
within the British Empire. He advocated the association of India with the
British
even
after
full
independence
and
sovereignty.
It
was
desirable
for
the
progress
of
India.
He
always
adhered
to
the
constitutional
means
to
achieve
his goal. The rules of the Servants of India Society would reflect
the hard
discipline
that
he
demanded
of
the
members
of
that
Society.
The
main
guide
lin
es laid down in its preamble were
as
follows :
-
(
a
)
Every member of the Servants of India Society must endeavour to
arouse
intense
national
feelings
among
the
people
by
his
own
example.
(
b
)
They
should
lead
campaigns
for political
education
of
the
people.
(
c
)
They
sho
uld
strive
to
promote
co
-
operation
and
understanding
among
the people.
(
d
)
They
should
promote
education
especially
scientific
and
industrial
education
among the people.
(
e
)
They
should
encourage
industrial
movements.
(
f
)
The members should consider as their moral dut
y to ameliorate the
condition
of
the
backward
people.
Gokhale
by
his
disciplined
behaviour
had
set
a
great
example
of
a
dedicated
servant of India. He was not worried about the praise or ridicule from the
people. He disregarded his personal comfort and asp
iration while serving
the
national
cause
as
he
saw
it
fit.
He
supported
the
boycott
movement
and
also
the
non
-
violent
resistance
to
autocratic
policies.
However,
in
the
interest
of the nation he co
-
operated with the British Government in the
framing of
Mor
ley
Minto
Reforms
of
1909.
In
1912
he
visited
South
Africa
as
requested
by Ghandhiji. He fully supported Ghandhiji in his movement
against the
colour
bar.
Gokhale
requested
Ghandhiji
to
return
to
India
in
1914,
and
serve
India which needed, a dedicated wor
ker like him. Gokhale
was preparing a
scheme for reforms in the years to come. It was published
after his death in
1915.
It
was
known
as
the
‘Political
Testament
of
Gokhale.’
The method of the moderates was derisively called ‘Political mendicancy’.
The
pi
ece
-
meal
reforms
and
the
constitutional
means
advocated
by
Gokhale, Dadabhai, Pherozshah Mehta, Wachha, Bannerjee and others
was taking the Indian National Congress at the snail’s pace towards the
cherished goal of ‘dominion status’ within the British Empi
re. Dr. Rash
Page 70
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
62
Behari Ghose however recommends “some kindly thoughts for those who
too, in their day strove to do their duty however, imperfectly through evil
report, with it may be a somewhat chastened fervour, but a fervour as
genuine
as
that
which
stirs
a
nd
aspires
younger
hearts”.
Gokhale’s
devotion
to
Motherland
was
total
and
complete.
His
uncritical
trust
in the fair sense and justice of the British rulers might not be accepted
by
many. His patience with the obstinate British administration even when
t
he
public, pressure was mounting against his moderation. might not
appeal to
the younger generations. His deep influence on Gandhiji’s
policies and the
constructive work that he did to free nationalism from
narrow
-
mindedness
entitles him for a high place i
n the regional as well as
the national history.
Lokamanya
Tilak
has
aptly
described
him
as
‘the
diamond
of’
India,
the
jewel
of
Maharashtra
and
the
Prince
of
Workers’.
Check
your progress
:
-
Q.1
.
Write
in
brief
Gopal
kirshna
Gokhle’s achievements.
7.3 TH
E
EXTRIMIST
PHASE
Although the moderates trained Indian people politically and
popularized
the ideas of democracy and civil liberty, their elitist
background failed in
making any far
-
reaching impact on
the masses. This led to feel present the
young nation
alist group in
the
Indian
national
Congress
under
the
leadership
of
Bal
Gangadhar Tilak. This group was very critical about the
ideology
and methodology of the moderates and wanted to adopt a more
radical
programme
for
the attainment
of
their
demands.Right
from the
foundation of the Indian National Congress,
some leaders were dissatisfied
with the moderate politics. However,
their number was less. With the
beginning of the 20th century the
extremist
elements
emerged
as
a
strong
force
led
by
Bal
Gangadhara
T
ilak,
popularly
known
as
Lokmanya
Tilak.
The
extremist leaders like Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpatrai
were
extremely
critical
of
the
ideology
and
methodology
of
the
moderate
leadership. With the rise of Lokmanya Tilak, the extremist
ideology
became
popular
among
the
common
people.
Extremist
Politics
The programme outlined by the founders of the Indian National Congress
aimed
at
promoting
better
understanding
between
people
and
the
government. However, the events that followed by foundation of
Congress,
disturbed even tenor of the line of action visualised by the liberal
leaders.
The Indian Councils Act of 1892 as already pointed out above
disillusioned
many
young
members.
There
was
also
a
feeling
of
uneasiness
among
them
at the band wagon of We
stern superiority in every field of life.
Some of the
more
dynamic
personalities
like
Swami
Vivekananda,
Lokmanya
Tilak,
Bipin
Chandra
Pal
and
Arobinda
Ghosh
began
to
take
a
serious
link
to
the
ancient
glories of India. Swami Vivekananda unfolded
the true
nature of Indian
culture
and
Hindu
religion
before
the
parliament
of
Religions
held
at
Chicago
in 1893. This revived the interest in the India’s
Page 71
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
63
past. Aurobinda Ghosh
declared “Independence is the goal of life and
Hinduism alone will fulfill this
aspiratio
n
of
ours”.
The other factors which encouraged Extremist politics in Maharashtra
were
the outbreak of famine in 1896 and the plague epidemic within
Bombay
Government
and
the
celebration
of
the
61st
anniversary
of
Queen
Victoria’s
accession to the throne i
n the midst of the misfortunes reminded
of Lord
Lytton’s
policies.
The
policy
of
prayers
and
petitions
of
the
moderate
leaders
exasperated
the
young
men
who
wished
to
accelerate
the
progress
towards
responsible
government.
Lora Curzon’s obstinacy to parti
tion the Bengal provided the fuel for the
fire
of Extremist politics. Lokmanya Tilak was quick to perceive the
opportunity
to denigrate the British supremacy in the wake of Japan’s
victory over a
European
nation,
Russia
in
1905.
The
repressive
policy
of
Lo
rd
Curzon
created a favourable ground for Tilak’s extremist politics
and the Swadeshi
Movement.
This group came to be known as the Extremist Congress
which dominated
the Indian national movement from 1905 to 1920
till the death of Bal
Gangadhar Tilak. Alt
hough, there were several
national
&
international
factors
responsible
for
the
rise
and
growth
of
Extremist
Congress,
the
main
spirit
behind
this
was
of
Bal
Gangadhar Tilak only. He was
graduated from the University of
Mumbai and founded the Maratha and
Ke
sari the two newspapers
to
create
awareness among
the people.
In order to bring people together and promote brotherhood
among
them,
he
popularized
the
Ganesh
festival
and
introduced
the festival of Shiv
Jayanti in the honour of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the
gr
eat Maratha ruler of this
country. Tilak appealed farmers not to
pay
land
revenue
when
there
was
no
production
due
to
the
failure
of monsoon and he asked the people in
general to boycott the
English goods. This led him to attract the eighteen
months rigoro
us
imprisonment.
Tilak
was
also
sentenced
again
for
six
years
rigorous imprisonment and sent to Mandalay, Burma on account of
sedition
changes
and
danger
to
the
British
rule
in
India.
Tilak wrote Gita Rahasya a commentary on the Gita a holy
book of
Hindui
sm in the prison. He was released from the prison in
1914.
He
established
the
Home
Rule
league
and
started
the
movement in Mumbai
and Pune under his own leadership. This
noble son who called the Swaraj
is my birth right and I will have it,
whom the British
called him as the
father of Indian unrest, was the
main Pillar of the Extremist Congress in
Maharashtra. This noble
son
of India died on 1
st
August, 1920.
Although,
the
Swadeshi
movement
was
started
by
the
moderates to
promote Indian industries but the E
xtremists used it
the means of boycott
to press the British and create serious effects
on their economy. The
Extremists wanted to make all mills and
factories
of
the
British
stand
still
and
snatch
independence
or
swaraj from them. Bal Gangadhar Tilak
himse
lf led the Swadeshi
movement and boycotted the British goods in
Page 72
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
64
order to facilitate the
swadeshi goods. Tilak set up cooperative stores and
organised
bonfires
of
British
goods throughout Maharashtra.
Nationalism
of
B.G.
Tilak
Tilak
was
a
born
fighter
and
h
is
nationalism
had
that
militant
approach.
Like
Ranade, Gokhale and Dadabhai he appreciated the contribution of the
Western
civilization
and
the
benefits
of
the
British
systems
of
education
and
administration. However, he did not want the British to be the
ir rulers.
It was
for this reason that he had
talked of
complete
independence.
He had
declared
in
1887
“Swarajya
is
my
birth
-
right
and
I
shall
have
it.”
This
was
the
guiding
principle
of
his
life.
He
could
not
have
any
patience
with
the
procrastination
of
the
constitutionalism
of
the
Moderates.
His
idea
of
Swarajya
which
he
expressed
in
Kesari
is
as
follows
:
“Independence (Swarajya) is nothing more than managing my home
affairs
myself. Swarajya is simply the people’s rule replacing that of the
foreign
bur
eaucracy. Collectors, Commissioners, Governors are capable,
we want
such officers but we want them under our control. They should
work as
servants and not as masters”. Tilak although leading the extremist
politics
wanted to retain ties with the British Com
monwealth but not as
master and
servants.
Tilak
was
a
pragmatic
politician
and
wanted
to
follow
constitutional
methods
towards
the
goal
of
independence.
His
life
was
a
continuous
struggle
against
the foreign rule. He suffered much as no other politician o
f
Maharashtra or
the whole of India had suffered for his country during that
period. He was
imprisoned
for
eighteen
months
in
1897
for
suspected
instigation
for
assassination
of
Rand,
the
plague commissioner
of
Pune
and
Lieut
Ayerst.
He wanted to move a r
esolution condemning the governor of Bombay
Lord
Sandhurst. The partition of Bengal sharpened his criticism of the
British
Government.
Tilak
soon
assumed
the
leadership
of a
substantial
number
of
extremists. His political stature began to grow fast. The pr
essure
of the
extremists compelled the Indian Congress to pass radical
programme of
Swaraiya, Swadeshi,
Boycott
and
National Education
in
1906.
In 1908 Lokmanya had to stand trial against the charge of sedition. The
British
government
regarded
him
as
the
greatest
danger
to
their
rule
in
India.
He
was
deported
to
Mandalay
for
six
years
to
serve
the
sentence
of
rigorous
imprisonment
there.
He
returned
from
Mandalay
on
June 16,1914.
Before
his
conviction,
in
the
sedition
case
of 1908
the
Congress
had
split
at
Surat in 1907 as the Moderates thought they could not work with him.
His
radical
programme
had
frightened
them.
They
were
able
to
keep
Tilak
away
from
the
Congress
for
about
nine
years
for
his
extremist
politics.
He
entered
the Congress in 1916 again and
the Moderates went out of the
Congress
Tilak participated in the Home Rule ‘Movement’ started by Mrs.
Annie
Besant after his release in 1914. He was again sentenced to six
months
imprisonment
in
1916.
Page 73
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
65
The Home
Rule Movement:
During
the
absence
of
Tilak
for
Six
years
in
Mandalay,
Burme many
things had happened in India as the Morley
-
Minto
Reforms and
cancellation of the partition of Bangali were some of
them. Tilak came
back to India on 16
th
June, 1914 and the national
movement got new spirit.
After the outb
reak of the First Word War
and the death of G. K. Gokhale
and Sir Pherozshah Mehta, the
Moderate leaders, Annie Besant began to
explore the possibility of
reuniting the Moderates, Extremists and Muslim
League together.
She
also
prepared
for
the
Congress
-
le
ague
pact
in
1616
to
revigourate the Indian national Congress and pressurise the British
to
grant the self
-
Government
to India.
Although, these events took place
during
the
First
World
War, the
national movement remained dormant. In order to infuse a
new
life in it,
Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak established
Home Rule Leagues
on the basis of Irish Home Rule League in
Madras
and
Pune
respectively.
Tilak
appointed
Kaka
Joseph
Baptista as the President of Home Rule
league of Pune in 1916.
The objective
of the Home Rule League
movement was to attain
Home
Rule
or
self
-
Government
within
the
British
Empire
by
constitutional means and to educate and organize public
opinion
towards
the attainment of the same without any violence.
In order to achieve the objec
tive of the movement, Tilak and
Annie Besant
cooperated with each other and travelled together
across
the
country.
They
secured
cordial
response
from
the
people everywhere. This led the British
Government to suppress
the
movement.
The
British
prosecuted
Ti
lak
many
times
for
delivering
seditious
speeches
across
the
country.
Although,
the
people supported the movement, it declined following the
August
Declaration of 1917 of the British Government by Montague, the
then
secretary of
State
for
India.
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Discuss about the programmes of the
Extremist
Congress.
Tilak
and
Gokhale
Tilak was older than Gokhale by ten years. But both had to work with two
different set of people in the Congress and outside. Gokhale enjoyed the
esteem
of
the
Briti
sh
rulers
(rajmanya).
Tilak
was
acclaimed
as
their
hero
by
the
masses
(Lokamanya).
Tilak
was
called
‘the
uncrowned
King
of
Maharashtra’ and later of India during the Home Rule days. Both had
imbibed the same spirit of liberalism and dedicated service to th
e country.
Both believed in the constitutional method to achieve the goal of
‘Dominion
Status’ within the British Empire. One emphasised persuasion
of the rulers;
the other preferred to fight against the rulers for achieving the
goal. The
difference in app
roach was due to the difference in the making
of their
personalities.
Tilak had lost faith in the sense of justice and fair play of the British.
When
Gokhale talked about constitutional means Tilak made a scathing
attack on
the
ineffective method
as
follo
ws:
Page 74
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
66
“The
moderate
claim
that
they
adhered
to
constitutional
method
of
agitation.
We wish to put a straight question to these confused people to
come out
with any constitution of the government of India in their
possession. We
searched
for
such
a
record
in
the
history
of
India
after
the
transition
to
British
Rule, we failed to lay our hand on anything like the
British constitution for
India. If Hon Gokhale had filed it in the records of
his “Servants of Indian
Society, he should better display it’’. His forc
eful
language and the logic of
his arguments
disarmed
his
opponents.
These
two
great
patriots
from
Maharashtra
had
rendered
selfless
service
to
the nation. Gokhale wanted to win the British rulers as Tilak wanted to
replace them Gokhale excelled in the co
uncil chamber and impressed the
Royal
Commission.
Tilak
made a
powerful
appeal
to
the
masses.
His
forum
was
a
public
platform.
Tilak
would
prefer
to
win
the
hearts
of
the
people
and
undergo any personal discomforts for his speeches, writings
and activities
.
Gokhale was ready for any sacrifice but would prefer to
remain within the
limits of the law. Tilak also liked to carry on his
activities within the limits of
the law. But once he found that justice,
morals and progressive· thoughts
support his action he
did not bother
about the limits of the law laid down by
the British. The violation of the
laws would entail punishments and he was
fully
prepared
for
the
punishments
that
the
foreign
masters
would
pronounce.
Dr.
Pattabhi
Sitaram
has
given
a
comparison
of
the
outlook
and
personalities
of these two sons of Maharashtra who worked for the same cause but
followed
two
different
paths
usually
in
opposition
to
one
another.
He
says
“Gokhale’s plan was to improve the existing constitution; Tilak’s was to
reconstruc
t
it
Gokhale’s ideal
was
love and
sacrifice.
Tilak
was service
and
suffering”.
GokhaIe’s
objective
was
self
-
government Tilak’s
objective
was
Swarajya
which
is
the
birthright
of
every
Indian
and
which
he
shall
have
without let
or
hindrance
from
the
for
eigner”.
The revival of the Hindu Society attempted by Tilak and others had
inspired
many young men to assert their rights against the foreign rulers.
Tilak had
fought constant wars against the British authorities whenever he
found an
occasion
to
fight
ag
ainst
them
in
defence
of
the
weak
and
the
oppressed
be
it
the
victims
of
the
famine
and
plague
disaster
or
the
Revenue
Commissioner Crawford’s sinister money transactions. Tilak
never allowed
any opportunity to slip to castigate the government.
Nevertheles
s, he never
resorted to armed rebellion against the government.
The government could
never prove any charge of rebellion against Tilak.
He always preferred to
stay within the limits of the Ias and adapted
constitutional means to resist
the
government’s
evi
l policies.
Check
your progress
:
-
1
.
What
were different
paths
between
Tilak
and
Gokhale?
Page 75
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
67
7.4
REVOLUTIONARIES IN MAHARASHTRA
The nationalists in twentieth century India were divided into
the
moderates, the Extremists and the Revolutionary nationalists
.
The
moderates drew their inspiration from the constitutional history
of
England
and
wanted
to
achieve
self
-
Government
through
peaceful
and
constitutional
means.
The
extremists
wanted
to
Swaraj
through
the
policy
of
boycott
and
promoted
swadeshi
movement
-
vehemently.
The
revolutionary
nationalists
also
believed in swaraj but undertook the
practices followed in Russia
and
other
western countries
to
achieve it.
There were several factors contributed to the rise of militant
nationalism
as the emergence of Eng
lish educated middle class,
that was enough
sensitive to the miseries of Indian people and was
not able to speak
openly. There were other causes also responsible
like
unemployment,
recurring
famines, the Vernacular press Act,
the Arms Act and the failure
t
o pass the Ilbert Bill, which grew
indignation
among
the
people.
The
revolutionary
nationalists
derived
their
moral
encouragement
from
the
Hindu
religion,
its
philosophy, the fearless rational journalists and positive
intellectuals
in the country. They bel
ieved that they would demoralize the
British
administration
in
India
by
Coercing
their
officials
and
would
certainly
achieve
freedom
for the
country.
Since
the
British
government
suppressed
the
political
movements and
imprisoned the national leaders, the
underground
activities of
revolutionary nationalists increased a lot who were as
under:
1)
Vasudev
Balwant
Phadake
2)
Chapekar
Brothers
3)
V. D.
Savarkar .
1
)
Vasudev
Balwant
Phadke
:
Vasudev Balwant Phadke is regarded as one of the outstanding Indian
revolu
tionaries. Burning with the zeal of liberating Maharashtra from the
imperial rule of the Britons, he risked both his career and life to what V.S.
Joshi
terms
“task
of
lifting
the
nation
from
the
abyss
of
foreign
bondagethrough
insurrection
and
organization
.”
According
to
N. C
.Kelkar,
“after
Peshwa
Nana
Saheb,
it
was
Phadke
alone
whose
name
struck
a
grim
terror
in
the
hearts
of
Englishmen”.
He
single
-
handedly
sought
to
build
a
revolutionary
organization to
overthrow
the
British
regime.
Born in 1845 in the
district of Kolaba in a poor Chitpavan Brahmin
family,
Phadke did not receive much education. In 1863, he joined the
Military
Accounts Department of the Bombay Government and remained
in service
for the next fifteen years. According to his biographers, th
e
denial of leave
to attend on his ailing mother by his superiors in 1869
developed in him a
feeling of profound dislike for the British
government.” His feelings were
deeply stirred by the devastation caused in
Western India by the terrible
famine of 1876
-
77, for which he held the
British rule responsible. Besides,
the changing political situation in the
Deccan from 1870 onwards and the
agitational
politics
of
the
Poona
Sarvajanik Sabha
under
the
guidance
of M.
Page 76
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
68
G. Ranade and Ganesh Vasudev Joshi, known pop
ularty as “Sarvajanik
Kaka” added fuel to the burning patriotism in his heart. Ranade’s stinging
criticism
of
the
economic
exploitation
of
India
by
the
British,
further
strengthened
his
romantic
revolve
to
fight
the exploiters.
Sarvajanik
Kaka’s
vow
in
Ja
nuary
1871
to
use
exclusively
Swadeshi
goods,
including
clothes,
inspired
Phadke
to
discard
foreign
cloths.
He
also
prevailed
upon
his
colleagues
and
associates
in
“Aikyavardhini”
an
organisation founded to promote unity among the Maharashtrians for the
na
tional
uplift
of
India
to
use
Indian
-
made
goods.
The
Bombay
Gazette
in
its issue dated 28 June 1879, wrote : There is a section in Poona, of
Brahmins, who have bound themselves by a vow never to purchase or use
an article of British produce. Vasudev Balw
ant was one of these and those
who
knew
him
in
the
Finance
Office
say
he
religiously kept
his vow.
The
forced
abdication
of
Maharaja
Malharrao
Gaikwad
of
Baroda
in
1785
on
“the malicious charge” of attempting to poison the British Resident, and
the
riots
known as “Deccan riots”, gave fresh impetus to anti British
feelings.
The hunger and starvation of millions of famine stricken peasants
and
accompanying
death
of
hundreds
of
people
due
to
epidemics
of
cholera
and
small
-
pox rendered the sight in several. pl
aces, such as Sholapur,
pitiable
and distressing. The measures taken by the ‘Civilised
and
enlightened
British Government to alleviate the sufferings of the people
were utterly
inadequate. The holocaust of famine and the government’s
failure to take
energe
tic steps to combat it convinced Phadke and other
like
-
minded men
that only ouster of the alien regime could improve the
conditions of the
people. Hence they resolved to immediately rise in an
armed revolt against
the British and establish Swaraj. Phadke n
ow
undertook the mission of
collecting
men,
money
and arms
for
the
proposed revolt.
The natural surroundings of Poona with forts, hills and rivers were ideal
for
an armed uprising. But the revolutionary armed ways were not
palatable to
the educated classe
s. Hence, Phadke sought his recruits from
among the
masses, including the sturdy Ramosis. He incited them against
the British
by
his outspoken
analysis of
their
miseries
and
sufferings.
He
succeeded
in
convincing them that the British rule was the main cau
se of
their present
state
of
affairs.
Phadke and his associates organised a secret revolutionary society and
undertook
a
vigorous
training
of
their
recruits
in
the
use
of
arms.
All
members
of the secret society were bound by a pledge: “ I shall respond to
the call of
my nation, sacrificing my all at the alter of my motherland’’ .
Thus prepared
themselves,
Vasudev
Balwant
Phadke
and
his
men
launched
on
22
February 1879, the first organized revolt of the Maharashtrians
against the
British since 1818. Most of
the one hundred or so volunteers in
his force
were
victims
of
poverty
and
starvation.
Ramosis,
Kunbis,
Dhangars,
Chambars and Brahmins dominated its ranks. While the
majority of them
were actuated by the lust of immediate gains from loot,
some of them wer
e
inspired
by
the hatred
of
the British.
Page 77
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
69
As reports of Phadke
-
led revolt were flashed in newspapers, the whole of
India struggled hard to comprehend the real implication of the upheaval in
the Deccan” The Government became anxious and concluded that the
si
tuation was fraught with grave danger to the future. But as Phadke’s men
embarked
on
decoities
and
were
involved
in
short
skirmishes
with
the
police,
sympathy of several people was with them. The Government was
worried
not only by the threat to life and pr
operty, but also by what they
thought
challenge to their authority. Sir Richard Temple, then Governor of
Bombay,
was baffled by “.. the apathetic and unsatisfactory behaviour of
the people
in many villages and the sympathy known to be left, if not
openly e
vinced,
by
many
of
the upper
classes.”
Realising
the
political
character
of
Phadke’s
dacoities,
the
Bombay
Government moved swiftly and succeeded in arresting some of the leaders
of the raids. A man
-
hunt was launched to capture Phadke, but he could
evade
the police because he was sheltered and befriended by the rich and
the
poor,
by
the
upper
and
the
lower
castes.
In
course
of
his
wanderings,
he
tried to enlist the support of villagers and recruit men for his cause. His
aim
was
to
loot
the
Government
treas
ury
in
order
to
raise
a
force
of
five
hundred
good
men
committed
to
his
cause.
But
his
ambition
was
rudely
shattered
by
the
conduct
of
the
Ramosis
who
were
not
inspired
by
any
patriotic
ideas
but
merely
looked
to
their
own interests.
On 29 March 1879, Pha
dke committed two dacoities and got some money;
but soon there were quarrels about the distribution as the Ramosis had
misappropriated
part
of
the
booty
without
even
Informing
him.
Disappointed
and disgusted, Phadke dispensed with the Ramosis and went
away
. On 24
April,
he wrote:
“I have only seven days to live so I think; therefore I bow before the feet
of
all
you
my
bretheren
inhabitants
of
India,
and
give
up
my
life
for
you
and
will
remain
pleading for
you in
the
Just
Court
of
God’’.
However, he recove
red from Illness and went to Sholapur. According to
V.S.Joshi,
Phadke’s
biographer,
‘‘towards
the first
week
of
May
1879,
Phadke
issued
his
famous
proclamation
denouncing
the
British
policy
of
economic
exploitation
of
India
and
demanding
economic
relief
fo
r
the
peasants
as
a
matter
of
‘natural
right’.
He
warned
the
government
that
many
groups would simultaneously rise in different parts of the country would
simultaneously rise in different parts of the country, and if the government
did not concede the dema
nds the Governors and other high officials would
be
put
to
death’’.
The proclamation sent a shrill of excitement throughout the country. But
the
Government went on undeterred in its plan to suppress the revolt. A
reward
of Rs. 3000/
-
for the arrest of Pha
dke was announced and troops
were
dispatched to the disturbed region. As the Government forces hunted
the
insurgent strongholds over the Ghats, Phadke and his men crossed the
Kasara Ghat to avoid a straight fight with them. They went to Konkan,
committed d
acoities and escaped with the loot
-
precious stones, like rubies,
Page 78
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
70
pearls
and
jewels,
costly
nose
-
rings
and
earrings,
necklaces
etc.
Their
raids
created a panic among of people. District after district stood in constant
dread
of
the
raids
of
Phadke
and
the
t
error
created
by
his
dacoities
compelled a large number of rural people to migrate to cities like Bombay
and Poona.
The
Government
of
Bombay
suspected
that
some
of
Phadke’s
active
collaborators were in Poona and adopted stringent measures to trap them
out
.
The
resultant
‘‘harassment
and
persecution
of
civilians
“had
no
precedent
in
the
whole
history
of
the
Brahmin
community
of
Poona”,
and
the
city
transformed into a
huge
prison’’.
The
conflagration
at Poona
and
the
revolt
of
Phadke
became
the
absorbing
to
pics of the day in political circles in London. ‘The Times’ demanded
that
adequate
measures
should
immediately
be
taken
to
stamp
out
the
seditious
trends
in
India.
The
Secretary
of
State
for
India
was
forced
on
23
May
1879,
to
admit
that
the
‘‘Deccan
has
w
ithout
doubt
been
subjected
to
great
distress
for some weeks past.
’’ The government machinery moved
faster
and
pursued
Phadke
until
they
came
across
him
asleep
in
a
temple
in
the
village
of Dever Nadigi, in the Kaladgi District of Hyderabad, at 3.a.m.
on
21 July
1879.
Phadke was charged for collection of men, arms and ammunition with the
intention of waging war against the British government of India, for
exciting
feeling of disaffection to the Government and for committing
dacoities. He
was
transported
f
or
life
to
solitary
confinement
in
the
Aden
Jail,
on
3
January
1880.
He
tried
to
escape
from
the
jail
on
13
October
1880
but
was
recaptured.
He died
there on 17
February
1883.
According
to
R.C.Majumdar,
‘‘Phadke’s
revolt
was
curious
phenomenon
one
man sta
nding against the mighty British empire. He left a legacy and
the
seeds he sowed grew into a mighty banyan tree with its shoots spread
all
over India, in about a quarter of a century. His patriotism and daring
spirit
were taken up by the Chaphekar brothers
... and from them it was
taken
overy
by
the
revolutionary
wing
of
the
Indian
nationalists
early
in
the
twentieth century. Even his methods of secretly collecting arms
Imparting
military
training
to
youths
and
securing
necessary
funds
by
means
of
political
dacoities
were
followed
by
a
latter.
He
may,
therefore,
be
justly
called
father
of militant nationalism in India”. But the means he
employed and the torture
to which his men forced their victims to submit
makes it difficult to form a
correct
estimate
of
Va
sudev
Balwant
Phadke’s
revolt.
Check
your progress:
-
1
)
Write
a
note
on
the
revolutionary
activities
of
Vasudev
Balwant
Phadak.
Page 79
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
71
2
)
Chapekar
Brothers :
They continued the revolutionary activities in Maharashtra in
order
to
pressurize
the
British
Government
to
leave
India.
They
were Damodar,
Vasudev and Balkrishna, the three brothers who
founded the Hindu
dharma Sanrakshini Sabha in 1894 and carried
out various activities in and
around Pune area. In the same year,
they circulated pamphlets and leaflets
during th
e Ganesh festival
and motivated the people to rise in arms against
the British as
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj had done against the Mughal
emperor.
Poona
and
neighboring
area
came
under
the
dreaded
disease
known
as
plague
in
1897,
which
killed several thous
and people.
The
British Government established committee known as Plague
Relief
Committee under the charge of W. C. Rand, a headstrong
British officer,
who troubled people and violated their secrecy of life
instead
of
providing
them
relief.
He
became
so
un
popular
that
Damodar and Balkrishna
Chapekar to teach him a lesson and they
shot W. C. Rand and Lieutenant
C. E. Ayerst when they were
returning back house from attending the
sixtieth anniversary of the
coronation of Queen Victoria on 22 June 1897.
in orde
r to remove
the evidence Vasudev, the younger brother of Damodar
and his
friend
Ranade
assassinated
Ramchandra
and
Ganesh
the
two
approvers in the case of Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar during
their
prosecutions. Finally, Chapekar brothers and Ranade were
arrested,
tried
and
sentenced
to
death,
which
created
much
indignation
all
over
India.
This
incident
brought
in
the
chain
of
revolutionary
activities throughout
Maharashtra.
Check
your
progress
:
1
)
Explain
the
revolutionary
activities
of
Chapekar
brother.
3
. V. D. Savarkar (1883
-
1966)
Vinayak
Damodar
Savarkar
who
was
born
in
1883
of
a
Chitpavan
Brahman
family in the Nasik District, was cast in a different mould. He
was a staunch
Hindu
and
was
proud
of
his
religion
and
the
ancient
culture.
While
in
School
he
had formed a society with his friends to serve the
nation. It was named
‘Rastrabaktimandala’
(Society
of
Patriots).
He
was
very
much
influenced
by
Paranjape’s
nationalism.
Savarkar
was
especially
attracted
to
the
philosophy
of
Herbert
Spensor.
The
appeal
of
full
national
freedom
advocated
by
Shivram
Mahadev
Paranjape’s
another
patriot,
inspired
Savarkar and his comrades to act. They started in 1904, ‘Abhinav
Bharat’
(New
India)
for
undertaking
revolutionary
activities
in
Maharashtra
and
rouse
the
people of
other
provinces
also
for
similar
movements
After
his B.A.
examination he was selected for
the Shivaji scholarship
offered
by
Syamji
Krishna
Varma
who
was
carrying
on
the
freedom
struggle
from
outside India. He was very much influenced by the ‘Risorgimento
’ of
Joseph Mazzini and exploits and sacrifices of Garibaldi in the great work
of
unification
of
Italy
in
1870.
He
wrote
three
books
all
dedicated
to
the
subject
of struggle for freedom and national unity. His first book ‘The
Indian war of
Independence
of
1857’
was
written
in
Marathi.
Subsequently
it
was
translated in many languages by the Ghadar party,
Page 80
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
72
Sardar Bhagat Singh
and later on Subhash Chandra Bose secretly managed
its publication in
India
Savarkar
also
wrote
the
‘history
of
the
Sikhs’
and
a
book
o
n
Joseph
Mazzini
(Atmacharitra
Ani
Rajkarana
i.e.
An
autobiography
and
Politics)
He
disarmed
similarities
in
teaching
of
Ramdas
and
Mazzini.
Revolutionary
Activities
The
British
government
had
kept
Savarkar
under
strict
surveillance
when
he
returned from F
rance after his short sojourn there. The news of
Jackson’s
murder
in
a
theatre
in
Nasik
led
to
the
investigation
of
the
‘Nasik
Conspiracy.
Anant
Laxman
Kanhere,
a
young
man
of
eighteen
had
murdered
the
collector of Nasik on the night of December 12, 1909,
in the
Vijayanand
Theatre.
The
accused
admitted
his
crime
and
told
the
court
that
he
had
killed
the collector not out of any personal enmity but because the
collector
represented
the
oppressive
government
of
the
British.
He
had
done
his
duty
and was ready
to die
at
any
moment.
In
1910,
Savarkar
was
arrested
in
England
as
he
was
suspected
as
an
agent
provocateur. He was to be taken to India. On his way to India the ship
carrying him called at the post of Marseilles in France. He escaped
through
the porthole
and swam to the shore. He was apprehended by the
French
police
and
was
handed
over
to
the
British.
After
bringing
him
back
to
Bombay
he was tried for treason and involvement in the Nasik conspiracy.
He was
condemned to transportation for life to the Andam
an Islands.
There he
underwent
the
rigorous
imprisonment
and
later
was
brought
to
Ratnagiri.
He
was under detention in Ratnagiri for thirteen years and was
not allowed to
participate
in
politics.
Only
in
1937
he
could
enter
public
life
once
again
after
his
unconditional
release.
Savarkar’s
Militant
Nationalism
Savarkar’s life in imprisonment and the intense nationalist fervour that he
expressed
through
his
writings
would
always
stir
the
hearts
of
every
Maharashtrian of whatever political leanings he might b
e. His emphasis on
Hinduism
and
Hindu
-
nation
might
appear
anathema
to
our
secular
nationalism Savarkar defined Hindu as a person who “looks upon the land
that
extends
from
Sindhu
(the
Indus)
to
the
seas
as
the
land
of
his
forefathers
...
he
is
a
Hindu
to
w
hom
‘Sindhusthan’
is
not
only
a
‘Pitrubhumi’
but
also a
‘Punyabhumi’ (Holy
Land).
His
Revolutionary
Zeal
Savarkar
was
not
much
impressed
by
the
struggle
led
by
the
Indian
National
Congress
either
under
the
leadership
of
the
moderates
or
the
extremists.
To
him even the radicalism of Lokamanya Tilak seemed ineffective to deliver
the goods. He was convinced that only armed revolts could shake off the
foreign
yoke.
He
worked
out
the
intellectual
justification
for
armed
insurrection. Savarkar and other revolutio
naries believed in the cult of the
bomb.
Page 81
Moderates, Extremists
and Revolutionaries in
Maharashtra
73
The terrorism in India did not end with the transportation of Savarkar to
the
Andamans.
The
revolutionaries
abroad
encouraged
the
insurrection
in
India
during the world war. Whatever attractive the exploits of the
revolutionaries
might be it was not through insurrection that India won
freedom; it was won
without
bolldshed by
the
Act
of
the
British
Parliament
(Indian
Independence
Act)
passed in
July
1947.
In
Retrospect
The growth of nationalism in Maharashtra as well
as in other parts of India
after the ‘War of Independence of 1857’ was a matter of great concern for
the
British
authorities
in
India.
The
foundation
of
the
Indian
National
Congress, although welcomed in the initial stages by the rulers, upset their
calcu
lations
at
the
growing
unity
of
Hindu
Muslim
communities.
Proselytising
activities of the Christian Missionaries had met with a great
setback by the
‘Sepoys
Mutiny’.
Pandita
Ramabai’s
statement
made
to
the
‘Christian
weekly’
of
the
U.S.A.
in
December
1889
that
‘Sharda
Sadan’
was
a
Christian
institution
created
a
great
furor in Maharashtra.
The
British
authorities
therefore
pinned
their
hopes
on
the
Muslim
community
to
re
-
strain
the march
of
the
Indians
towards independence.
The British authorities in India
persuaded Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and other
Muslim
leaders
to
keep
away
from
the
Indian
National
Congress.
The
Anglo
-
Muslim
alliance
against
the
growing
strength
of
the
Congress
weakened
the
united
move and
created
obstacles
in the
path of
unity.
The starti
ng of two public festivals in Maharashtra by Lokamanya Tilak
(Shivaji
Jayanti
and
Ganesh
Chaturthi)
created uneasiness
among
the
Muslims
in
Bombay
and
Pune.
In
1893
the
first
Hindu
Muslim
riot
took
place
in Bombay and thereafter communal riots became frequ
ent. Some of
the
Muslim police officers in Bombay showed partisan attitude and H.H.
Aga
Shahabuddin Shah the head of the Shila Imani Ismail Seet was
disturbed.
The
partition
also
added
to
the
misunderstanding
and
strained
the
relations.
Veer
Savarkar’s
tal
k
of
Hindu
-
Rashtra
impeded
the
growth
of
secular
nationalism
the
dream
of
many
a
moderate
Congressman
including
Gandhiji.
The
growth of
nationalism
became
uneven
thereafter.Check
your
progress
:
-
1
)
Discuss
in
brief
the
revolutionary
activities
of
the
V . D .
Savarkar
br.
Summary
Gokhale’s
devotion
to
motherland
was
total
and
complete.
His
uncritical
trust
of the British rulers are not accepted by many. Though Tilak aptly
described
him
as
the
diamond
of
India
and
the
Jewel
of
Maharashtra.
Tilak
was
called
“the
uncrowned
king
of
Maharashtra
and
later
of
India
during
the
Home
Rule
days.
Veer
Savarkar’s
talk
of
Hindu
-
Rashtra
impeded
the
growth
of
secular
nationalism
the
dream
of
many
a
moderate
congressman
including
Gandhiji.
Page 82
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
74
7.4 QUESTIONS
1
.
Explain
the activities
of Moderate Congress.
2
.
Evaluate
the
role
of
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale
in
the
Indian
Freedom
Movement.
3
.
Evaluate
the
role
of
extremists
in
the
Indian
National
Movement.
4
.
Discuss about the programmes
of the
Extremist
Congress.
5
.
Review
the
activities
of the
Ext
remist
Tilak
6
.
Examine
the
contribution
of
revolutionaries
of
Maharashtra
towards
the freedom
movement of India.
7.5 ADDITIONAL READING
1
.
Dobbin
Christin, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India,
Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
2
.
Ghugare
S., Rena
issance in Western India, Karamveer
V.R.
Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
3
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
4
.
Lederle
M., Philisophical Trends
in Modern Maharashtra, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay,
1976.
5
.
Masani
R.P., Dadabhai
Naoroji,
George
Allon
and Unwin
Ltd.,
London, 1939.
6
.
Padhye
Tikekar, Aajkalcha
Maharashtra
(Marathi)
7
.
Tilak
B.G.,
Tilakanche
Kesaritil
Lekh
(
Marathi),
Part III,
Rajkiya
Khanda
III,
Kesari
Maratha
Sanstha
Poona,
1926
8
.
Walport
S.A.,
Tilak and Gokhale, Revolution
and Reform in the
making of Modern India,
University of Columbia Press, Berkeley
and
Los Angeles,
1962.
Page 83
75
8
RESPONSE TO GANDHIAN MOVEMENTS
IN MAHARASHTRA
Unit Structure
:
8 .0 Objectives
8.1 Introduction
8.3 The
Non
-
Cooperation
Movement
8.4 The
Civil
Disobedience
Movement
8.5 The
Quit
India
Movement
8.6 Summary
8.7 Questions
8.8 Additional Reading
8.0
OBJECTIVS
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
Understand
the
Non
-
cooperation
Movement
of
Gandhiji.
Tell
the
Disobedience
Movement
of
Gandhiji.
Perceive
the
Quit
India
Movement
of
Gandhiji.
8.1 INTRODUCTION
The
third
phase
of
India
n
freedom
struggle
is
known
as
Gandhi era.
Gandhiji was the leader of Indian National Movement
from
1920
to
1947.
He
made
the
revolutionary
changes
in
the
freedom movement and it has
reached to all sections of society. In
true sense it has gain the nation
al
character. He started number of
movements and it was participated by
majority of people throughout
the country. The people of Maharashtra
participated in Gandhiji’s
movement in large number. During this era,
Maharashtra was the
important
centre
of India
n
national Movement.
Early
Life
of
Mahatma
Gandhi:
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who was rightly called the
father
of
the
Indian
nation,
was
born
on
2
October,
1869
in
a
small
town
known
as
Porbandar
of
today’s
Gujarat.
After
his
initial
education,
he
went
t
o
England
and
completed
the
degree
of
Barrister at Law. After coming back
to India, he started his legal
practice in the Mumbai High court but very
soon he got a chance to
go
to
South
Africa,
where
he
made
a
very
remarkable
mark
not
as
a
Legal
practitioner
but as
a
political leader.
Page 84
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
76
Gandhiji
fought
against
the
unjust
regulations
and
racialism
in South
Africa because all Indians in South Africa were put under
severe social
restrictions and racial discrimination. Even Gandhi
himself had its taste
while he wa
s traveling to Pretoria. He was
forced to vacate a first
-
class
railway compartment and was beaten
up even if he had been with a
bonafied ticket for the same. These
events led Gandhiji to convert himself
from a shy lawyer into a bold
champion of rights of h
is people. In order to
fight for the plight of
Indians
in
South
Africa,
Gandhi
developed
the
philosophy
of
Satyagraha
over
their
Satyagraha
means
insistence
of
truth
by
way of non
-
violence. He defined it as soul
-
force and born out of
truth and non
-
violence
. He said that Satyagraha was not a meek
submission to the will of the evildoer, it was the pitting of one’s
whole
soul against the will of the tyrant, which enabled a single
individual to
defy the whole might of an unjust empire to save his
honour and lai
d
foundation for the empire’s fall. Gandhiji taught and
led the people to
resist unjust laws and organised workers strike in
South Africa which
forced the South African Government to agree
with Gandhiji and made
him to succeed in completing his mission in
South
Africa.
After returning from South Africa, in 1915, Gandhiji stayed at
the servants
of India society, Pune for some days and discussed
about
political
problems
in
India
with
his
political
guru,
Gopal
Krishna
Gokhale.
Finally,
he
settled
down
at
Ahme
dabad
and
founded his popular Ashram on the
bank
of river Sabarmati. In
order to understand the problems of Indian
people, he traveled
extensively
throughout
India
and
concentrated
on
specific
grievances
of
people
as
indenture
system
under
which
Indian
lab
ourers
were
taken
abroad
to
work
in
miserable
conditions.
Gandhiji
led
the
Government
to
abolish
the
system
completely.
After
this
Gandhiji
worked
for
the
rights
of
indigo
cultivators
in
Champaran (Bihar), farmers
in the district of Kheda (Gujarat)
and
the mill workers of Ahmedabad.
These campaigns made him a
popular leader and helped gather many
devoted followers around
him.
His
popularity,
idealism
and
his
methods
enabled
him
to
concentrate
on
the nationwide
problems.
8.2 THE
NON
-
COOPERATION
MOVEM
ENT
(1920
-
1922)
There were several circumstances responsible for Gandhiji’s
non
-
cooperation movement as the disappointing and unsatisfactory
Montague
-
Chemsford Reroms, passage of Rowlatt Act of March,
1919 and the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April, 19
19 were
prominent
events
among
them.
The
Hindu
-
Muslim
cooperation
during
and
after
the
Khilafat
movement,
the
Hunter
committee
inquiry report and the void created by
the death of Lokmanya Tilak
stimulated him to adopt the non
-
cooperation
proposal in a spec
ial
session of
the Congress convened in Calcutta in the
month of
September, 1920. The non
-
cooperation programme of Gandhiji
was
consisted of
1) Surrender of British titles and honours.
2) Boycott of
British legislatures, courts and educational inst
itutions
Page 85
Response to Gandhian
Movements in
Maharashtra
77
3)
Boycott of
foreign made goods.
4) Promotion of Swadeshi goods especially
Khadi
5) removal of untouchability
6) promotion of Hindu
–
muslim
unity
7) abstention from alcoholic beverages
8) attainment of self
-
r
ule or Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means
9) refusal to serve
in
Mesopotamia
by
soldiers,
clerks
and
workers.
10)
non
-
payment
of taxes
11) establishment of national educational institutions
12)
establishment
of
panchayat
courts
13)
popularizations
of
charkha
The
programme
of
the
non
-
cooperation
movement
was
ratified
at
the
Nagpur
session
of
Congress
except
Jinnah
all
supported Gandhiji for the
same. The same session threw open the
Congress membership for all
people above eighteen years to age
which
transformed the Congress from
a debating society into a
non
-
violent
revolutionary movement.
Non
-
cooperation
Movement
in
Action
:
After the declaration of the programme of the movement
people
from
all
walks
of
life,
communities
and
classes
participated
in
it
whole
heartedly.
Schools,
colleges
and
all
Government
institutions were closed and
national educational institutions were
opened to cater educational needs
like the Jamia Millia Islamia and
Kalshi
Vidyapeeth.
Boycott
of
foreign
made
goods,
their
bonfire
s
and hartals were observed everywhere
enthusiastically. The whole
atmosphere
was
charged
spontaneously
with
nationalism
and
patriotism.
A
total
hartal
was
observed
on
the
days
when
the
members
of
the
English
royal
family,
the
Duke
of
Connaught
and
th
e
Prince
of Wales
visited Indian
cities.
The British Government began to repress the movement and
declared
the
Congress
and
Khilaphat
and
their
organizations
unlawful,
which
led
the
Ahmedabad
session
of
Congress
in
December, 1921 to authorize Gandhiji
to
intensify the movement.
Gandhiji
selected
Bardoli
a
Tahsil
in
Gujarat
to
start
mass
civil
disobedience
movement.
But
before
the
movement
was
launched
at Bardoli, a case of mob violence took place on
5
th
February, 1922
to
out
w
it
the
Government
repression.
I
t
was
so
happened
that
on
5
th
February, 1922 at Chauri Chaura in the district of
Gorakhpur of
present U. P. a group of infuriated people being fired upon
by the
police turn violent and set on fire to the police station in which
twenty two policemen were b
urnt alive, which dismayed Gandhiji.
He
suspended the movement immediately to avoid further violence.
The
call
of
decision
of
the
movement
disappointed
almost
all
Congress leaders and
people in general all over the country. The
Government took full
advanta
ge of this situation, arrested Gandhiji
and sentenced him for six
Page 86
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
78
years imprisonment but he was released
after two years of jail on the
ground of his ill health. Although, the
non
-
cooperation
movement
was
suspended
the
nationalism
continued to burn brighte
r. The prisons lost
their terror and became
the
places
of
pilgrimage
for
the
purpose
of
liberations
of
our
country.
Check
your
progress
:
1)
Discuss
the
programme
of
the
Non
-
cooperation
movement
started
by
Mahatma
Gandhiji.
8.3
THE
CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
MOV
EMENT
(1930)
This
was
one
more
important
movement,
which
Gandhiji
started
and
challenged
the
British
Government
to
sanction
the
demands of Indian
people. The Indian National Congress accepted
the Nehru Report in its
Calcutta session held on 31
st
December,
1928
and
informed
Government
to
accept
it
on
or
before
31
st
December, 1929, otherwise the Congress
prepared to organize a
nationwide movement. Although, the declaration of
Viceroy Irwin
disappointed,
Gandhiji
met
him
on
23
rd
December,
1929
and
tried
to und
erstand the plan of action of the British Government. But
the
Viceroy
did
not
commit
anything
more of
them
his
declaration.
This
led
Gandhiji
to
start
the
Civil
Disobedience
movement.
The
Congress
session held at Lahor in December, 1929, authorized the
Con
gress
working
Committee
to
launch
the
movement.
The
Congress working
Committee in turn assigned full rights to Gandhiji
to
start
the
movement
in
February,
1930.
Gandhiji
announced
the
movement and informed the
Viceroy regarding the same on 2
nd
March, 1930.
Pandit Nehru, President
of the Congress, hoisted the
Tricolour flag at Lahore after the grace period
given to the British
Government
to
accept
the
Nehru
Report
came
to
an
end.
The
Congress also called the people to celebrate 26 January as Full
Independenc
e Day and asked them to take an oath to oppose the
British
Government
to
gain
freedom
by
way
of
non
-
violence.
The Dandi March :
Gandhiji
planned
to
start
his
march
from
his
Sabarmati
Ashram,
Ahmedabad to Dandi a seashore village, 240 miles away
from
the
As
hram.
Gandhiji
trained
every
one
about
the
non
-
violence
and
the
programme
of
the
March,
which
came
to
be
known
ad
Dandi
March.
The
programme
of
Dandhi
March
included
1
)
breaking of salt laws after reaching Dandi
2) Picketina shops
selling foreign cloth and l
iquor
3) refusing payment of taxes
4) boy
cotting courts and
5) resigning from Government posts.
Gandhiji left
his Ashram with trained seventy
-
eight volunteers. He walked
from
village to village, held meetings with the villagers, halted at several
vil
lages and covered the distance of 240 miles within twenty
-
four
days.
Gandhiji reached Dandi on 5
th
April, 1930, spent the whole
night in prayer
Page 87
Response to Gandhian
Movements in
Maharashtra
79
and guiding people over there. He inaugurated the
disobedience
movement
on
6
th
April,
1930
by
picking
up
a
handf
ul
of
salt lying
on the
beach
of Dandi.
Spread of the Movement :
Gandhiji’s act was a symbolic action and signal the country
had been
waiting for. Once he cleared the way by his symbolic
defiance
of
the
salt
Laws
at
Dandi
the
people
throughout
the
country
followed him and the
disobedience movement spread every
w
here. Although today’s Maharashtra
and Gujarat were together
under the Bombay state then Mumbai played
very important role in
the
freedom
struggle
of
India.
In
order
to
carry
out
the
programme
of
the
movement,
people
in
Mumbai
established
four
major
committees
as
1)
The
Maharashtra
Civil
Disobedience
Committee
2) The
War
Council
3)
Supervisory
Committee
for
salt
manufacturing
centres
and
sub
-
centre
4)
The
Desh
Sevika
Sangh.
Mahatma Gandhiji appoint
ed Jemnalal Bajaj to carry on the
disobedience
movement at Vile Parle a suburb of Bombay. There
were
K.
F.
Nariman,
Gokulbhai
Bhatt,
Kishorlal
Mashruwala,
Shankarao
Dev,
G.
V.
Ketkar,
and
Vasudev
Sahasrabudhe
to
assist him in the movement. People from
west
ern Maharashtra,
Ahmednagar,
Thane
Satara
and
Pune
flocked
together
at
Vile
Parle.
On
6
th
April,
1930,
the
croud
brought
sea
water
in
groups
and
manufactured
salt
in
cement
pans
symbolically
to
announce
the breakage of salt laws. The scene was very spectac
ular in
which
men, women, children, young and old had participated with the zeal
of
patriotism.
As
the
result
of
this
disobedience
movement
Jamnalal
Bajaj, Nariman and Batt were arrested and sentenced to two years
rigorous
imprisonment.
But
the
whole
atmos
phere
which
was
charged with
nationalism, patriotism and gusto for independence,
did
not deter from
their objections.
After the salt manufacturing and the violation of salt law at
Vile Parle was
over, other centres began to function under the
charge of lo
cal leaders.
These centres were Ghansoli, Chembur,
Ghatkopar,
Mulund,
Bhandup,
Belapur,
Versova,
Bhayandar,
Shirawane Haji Ali, Esplana de ground and
Bhatia Baug. Kamla
Devi, Prof. Gharpure, Yusuf Meherali, Jafferbhai, N.
Sadik, Sardul
Singh,
Ali
Bahadur,
Mohinuddin
Kasuri
and
Pandit
Sundarlal
participated
in
the
manufacturing
of
salt
on
the
terrace
of
the
Congress House. The moment this news reached to the British
Government in London, it led the police to raid the Congress house.
The
police
destroyed
the
salt
pans
and
arrested
the
people
involved in it, this
continued for several days. The women satyagris
took
lead
in
Girgaon
Chowpati
Satyagrah.
Among
them
were
Kasturba,
Janakdidevi,
Sarojini
Naidu,
Kamala
Devi,
Lilavati
Munshi,
Avantikabai
Gokhale,
Hansa
Mehta,
Ramibai,
Perin,
Dosani,
Laxmibai
Bhide,
Khandwala
and
Ratnaben
Mehta.
As
the
War
Council
and
the
Committees
of
salt
manufacturing
contributed
Page 88
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
80
to
the
disobedience
movement
in
Maharashtra,
the
Desh
Sevika
Sangh
also
did
a
commendable
work during the
movement. This Desh Sevika Sangh
was formed of
all women, among them Hansa Meht and Ranibai were
prominent
and they guided them in the movement. They picketed all shops
dealing with foreign goods, went house to house and propagated
the
importance
of
Swades
hi.
They
offered
as
well
as
collected
jewellery for
raising fund for the movement. Due the hard work of
the Desh Sevika of
Swadeshi, the British Government decided to
close sixteen mills in
Mumbai. These circumstanced motivated all
traders
of
various
commu
nities
in
all
markets
in
Mumbai
to
participate
in
the
movement.
The
association
of
journalists,
Lawyers and pleaders announced their
support to the movement.
Lawyera like K. M. Munshi, Bhulabhai Desai
and S. K. Patil gave up
their legal practice and active
ly participated in the
movement which
led
to
their
arrest
and
mercilessly
beating
by
the
police.
The
British
police
arrested
and
tortured
the
Red
Shirt
Satyagrihis of
Peshwar, who had the spirit of Garibaldi’s Red Shirt
volunteers and
participated in the
disobedience movement under
the leadership of Khan
Abdul Gaffar Khan. That was the reason for
the Mumbai satyagrihis to
raid the salt depot of Wadala under the
leadership of Kamladevi. In
response to this the police opened fire
and killed many satyagrihis.
This
news reached London and the
British Government ordered the Mumbai
police to arrest Mahatma
Gandhi
on
5
th
May,
1930.
the
news
of
Gandhiji’s
arrest
at
Kharadi
and his confinement in the Yerwada jail
spread like wrid fire and
created a chain of massive
hartals, processions,
and closing down
of all economic activities spontaneously throughout
India by people
belonging
to
all
sections
of
life.
It
was
very
difficult
for
the
Government to bring the situation under control. The atmosphere
was
so much charged
with the spirit of nationalism that not only all
Indians but
people like Cyril walter, an Australian also participated
in the
disobedience movement. This was the movement in which
Babu
Genu
a
young
Satyagrihi
laid
his
life
while
obstructing
a
struck
carryi
ng
foreign
goods.
Although,
the
movement
became
mass movement throughout the
country, the satyagra at following
places had much importance they were
1) Shirode Satyagrah 2)
Satyagrah
in
Vidarbha
3)
Solapur
Satyagraha :
1
)
Shirode
Satyagraha
:
Gandhiji’s
diso
bedience
movement
and
salt
satyagraha spread to every
nook and corner of the country. Shirode
satyagraha
was
outstanding
among
them.
Leaders
like
S.
D.
Jawadekar,
Dr.
Athalye,
Vinayakrao
Bhuskute,
Dr.
Lagu,
Prof.
Dharmanand Kosambi and Dr. Bhagwat guided
and supervised the Shirode Satyagriha, near Vengurla in Konkan area on
the bank
of Arabian Sea on 12 March, 1930. In this Satyagraha, people
plundered the salt pans and the salt in local as well as distant
markets.
In
order
to
violate
the
salt
Laws
some
of
the
satyagrihis
like
Appa
Saheb
Patwardhan,
Deogirikar
and
Ranade
the
local
leaders brought salt from
Goa, a Portuguese place then and sold in
the
market.
Several
satyagrihis
from
Satara,
Nagar,
Nashik,
Solapur, Jalgaon and Thane joined them and
made the
satyagraha
and the disobedience movement a great successful.
Page 89
Response to Gandhian
Movements in
Maharashtra
81
The police let
loose laticharge, arrested around three hundred people and
tried to
suppress the
movement desperately.
2
)
Satyagraha
in
Vidarbha
:
This area also witnessed unprecedented support to
the disobedience
movement of Gandhiji. The satyagrihis like Brijal
Biyani, P. B. Gole
Ranka and
Bajaj
founded
a
War
Council
at
Nagpur the hub of Vidarbha,
led the satyagrihis to Dahihanda, a
hamlet
in
Akola
district
where
an
open
well
of
saline
water
was
there on 9
th
April, 1930. The satyagrihis
manufactured salt with the
Saline water of that open wall and sold it in the
open market and
violated the salt laws of the British Government. All
people male,
female and young children from all sections of the are
a
joined the
disobedient movement and made it successful. In addition to
this a
group of women satyagrihis undertook picketing shops which were
dealing with foreign goods to whom the school and college students
joined
enthusiastically, without fear of poli
ce Lati charge and made
the
movement grand success.
3
)
Solapur
Satyagraha
:
Although,
Solapur
participated
in
the
Disobedience
movement, it went the
way of the Chauri
-
Chaura incident happened
in
1922,
during
the
non
-
cooperation
movement.
The
moment
Gandhiji w
as arrested; the people in
Solapur became restless, took
out
a
large
procession
against
the
arrest
of
Gandhiji
and
announced a massive hartal. This tense situation took a
different
turn when some young people burnt a liquor shop dealing with
foreign
goods
in
popular
markets
on
8
May
1930.
Consequently,
the
police arrested some of the innocent people and tortured there.
This arrest
led the people to come together and request the police
to release the
arrested people. The police without listening to the
peopl
e opened fire on
the unarmed people, it continued for several
days in which more than 25
people were killed and several hundred
injured seriously. Mr. Playfair, the
district Superintendent of police
and Mr. Knight, the Solapur District
Magistrate tried to
hush up the
campaign. On the other hand, prominent
leaders like Manekchand
Shah,
Ramkrishna
Jaju,
Tulsidas
Jadhav
and
Kuruban
Hussain
provided the leadership and guided the people who
participated in
the
movement.
Finally,
the
British
organised
a
cursory
t
rial
of
arrested satyagrihis, proved tham guilty and hanged them to death
on
12 January,
1931 in
Yerwada Jail.
Check
your
progress
:
1)
Briefly describe
the
disobedience
movement
started
by
Mahatma
Gandhi in 1930.
8.4 THE
QUIT
INDIA
MOVEMENT
–
1942
Thi
s
was
one
more
movement,
which
Mahatma
Gandhi
started in 1942 in
Page 90
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
82
pursuant of Indian independence. There were
several
factors
responsible
to
start
this
movement
such
as
1
)
Resignation
of
Indian
ministries
in
September,
1939.
2
)
The
August
offer,
1940
3
)
The
failure
of
Cripps
proposals,
1942.
The Congress ministries elected as per the Government Act
of
1935
in
February,
1937
performed
their
jobs
admirably
in
education,
welfare
of
depressed
classes,
public
health,
agriculture
and industries. But the same
ministry could
not continue for a long
time and resigned on 1 October,
1939 because Lord Linlithghgow the
Viceroy of India declared that India
would enter the World War II on
the
side
of
British
Government
without
consulting
the
elected
representatives of people. This p
repared a sound
ground to start a
movement
on large scale.
The
World
War
II
broke
out
in
September,
1939,
the
Congress
offered
cooperation
in
war
efforts
to
the
British
Government provided the British
accepted the popular demand for
independence and immed
iately
establishing a provisional national
Government at the centre. The Viceroy
did not accept the demand
and admitted for the first time on 8
th
August,
1940 that framing
constitution was the responsibility of the Indians only.
He further
said that a repr
esentative constitutional body would be set up
after
the end of the World War II, this came to be known as the August
offer of the Viceroy which was too late and too little. The Congress
as
well
as
the
Muslim
league
therefore,
refused
the
offer.
Meanwhile,
the
World
War
II
progressed.
In
June,
1941
violating
the non
-
aggression
pact of 1939, Hitler attacked on Soviet Union,
whereas Japan invaded an
American naval base, Pearl Harbour on
7
th
December,
1946.
This
led
America
to
declare
war
against
Japan,
German
y
and
Italy
to
assist
England
and
her
allies.
Due to continued non
-
cooperation of the Congress to British
in their war
efforts, pressure from the Chinese President Chiang Kai
Shek
and
the
American
President
F.
D.
Roosevelt
and
the
Japanese advance t
o the
Indian frontiers forced the British Prime
Minister to send Sir Stafford
Gripps to India to seek support of the
Congress
in
the
war
efforts.
After
coming
to
India,
Cripps
held
discussions
with
the
leaders
of
various
political
parties
and
declared that
India will be given Dominion status,
after the World
War II, and a Constituent Assembly to frame a new
constitution. In
addition to this, the Indian states would be given option to
remain
independent
and
the
British
Government
would
shift
all
departments
to Indians except defence. Considering this proposal
as a
postdated cheque on a crashing bank, Mahatma Gandhiji and
Muslim
league rejected the proposal. Thus, the failure of the Cripps
Mission led
Gandhiji to conclude that the presence of the British in
In
dia would be
invitation to Japan to invade India and the departure
of the British from
India would make Indians to concentrate on their
own
security.
This
was
the
basic
reason
for
Gandhiji
to
start
the
Quit
India movement in
1942.
Page 91
Response to Gandhian
Movements in
Maharashtra
83
The Quit India Resolution
:
The
Congress
working
Committee
met
at
Wardha
on
14
July 1942 and
adopted the resolution. Quit India movement, which
was
suggested
by
Yusuf
Meharali.
The
Congress
committee
met
on
8
August,
1942
at
the
Goalia
Tank
ground,
which
popularly
came to be kno
wn as the
August Kranti Maidan. S. K. Patil had
made arrangement for this session
to accommodate around 20,000
people.
The
Congress
session
ratified
the
resolution
that
the
Congress
had
passed
at
Wardha
on
14
July,
1942.
After
Abul
Kalam Azad, the Congress
President had opened the proceeding,
Gandhi began to speak that the ending of British rule in India was
an
immediate necessity both for the sake of India and the success
of the
United Nations. He further addressed that “Every one of you
should from
this m
oment onwards consider yourself a free man or
women and act as if
you are free. I am not going to be satisfied with
anything short of complete
freedom. We shall do or die. We shall
either
free India or die
in the
attempt. “
After
few
hours
of
the
session,
the
British
Government
arrested Gandhiji,
Nehru, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel and other
leaders in the dawn of 9
August, 1942. The Government put them
all in a train, which left Victoria
Terminus at 7 a.m. and reached
Poona. Gandhiji, Sarojini Naidu, Mirabe
n
and Mahadevbhai Desai
where lodged in the Aga Khan Palace. All other
Bombay leaders
were kept
in the Yeravada Jail while leaders like Nehru,
Patel,
Maulana
Azad,
Kripalani,
P.
C.
Gosh,
Asaf
Ali,
G.
B.
Pant,
Sitaramayya, Syed Mohammed and Narendra Dev wer
e kept in the
Ahmednagar Jail.
In
absence
of
prominent
leaders,
Aruna
Asaf
Ali
along
with
a strong
mob of four thousand volunteers heisted the triocolour flag
at the Gowalia
Tank ground as scheduled. In order to disperse the
volunteers, the police
started
Lathi Charge and arrested them. This
added to the fury sparked by
the arrest of all national leaders.
Kasturba Gandhi, and Sushila Nair
attened a meeting scheduled at
Dadar in the afternoon of 9th August,
1942. The police firing and
lathi
charge
which
cla
imed
&
lives
and
wounded
200
people
that
led the crowd to burn colours near the Tilak
Bridge Dadar. This was
the beginning of the violence, which was initiated
by the police.
Sardar Patel urged the people that the Congress would not
come to
tell you any mo
re what you to do and what not but they ought to
take
the
initiative
and
do
what
deemed
proper
under
the
circumstances.
He
asked
the
students
to
take
lead
when
the
leaders were arrested. All sort of
spontaneous activities like protest,
hartals, strikes and
processions
followed through the state. The
people
from
all
sections
like
students,
teachers,
peasants
and
workers from all corners of the state participated in
the Quit India
movement
and
resorted
to
violence
and
rebellion
against
the
British.
The situa
tion was worsened in the curfew bound Bombay
on 10 August,
1942 when the police seized the Congress offices,
sealed bank accounts
and arrested the Congress rank and file. The
student
of
all
colleges
in
the
Page 92
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
84
city,
came
to
fore
front
uprooted
poles,
post
boxe
s,
lamp
posts,
road
boards,
bus
stop
boards,
water
hydrants
and
put
them
on
the
road
to
interrupt
the
police
and
military vans. In the same way students destroyed
police Chowkies,
disarmed the police officers wherever it was possible and
filled the
Tram
-
ca
r tracks with stones to detain them. The crowd entered
the
Dadar
Railway
station,
put
several
obstacles
on
the
track
and
brought
the raily traffic to stand still. This closed down all cotton and
silk
mills
in
Bombay.
In
order
to
suppress
the
movement
the
B
ombay
Police
Commissioner
ordered
to
shoot
at
sight
every
w
here
in
the
city.
The
emergency
whipping
Act
was
announced,
and army was deployed which
began to fire indiscriminately. This
firing claimed 34 lives and wounded
385 people up to 13 August,
1942
in B
ombay city only.
Dislocation in Bombay was different than the other parts of
the country.
There were bomb explosions occurred in post offices,
telephone
installations,
and
railway
stations.
Colleges
like,
Elphinstone, Sydenham,
Grant Medical and Wilson pa
rticipated in
the
movement.
In
the
Bombay
province
only
the
number
of
casualties was more than 447. The movement
in Bombay was
monitored by the secret Radio, group of the Congress
which was
the brain child of Miss Usha Mehta, an M. A. student of
Bombay
Uni
versity, who was the daughter of a judge in the judicial
services
of
the British.
This movement spread to each corner of the county and the
state.
The
outstanding
feature
of
the
movement
started
in
the
districts
of
Satara
and
Sangli
of
today’s
Western
Mah
arashtra
came to be known as the
Pratisarkar. The whole credit of this
movement
goes
to
Nana
Ramchandra
Patil,
Yashwantrao
Balvantrao Chavan, Vasant Dada Patil and P. G. Patil.
Nana Patil
had
built
a
cadre
of
workers
while
Yeshwant
Rao
Chavan
gave
a
call t
o all students to assemble together, who boycotted schools in
the area under the leadership of Y.B. Chava. They had mass rallies
in
every taluka the area. The mamlatdar of Khatav taluka, ordered
to fire on
one of such rallies which claimed 8 lives. This in
cidence
provoked the
crowd to commit violence which followed the activities
including guerrilla
warfare and looting trains that gave Rs. 20,000/
-
and 5,51,000/
-
cash for
the movement. The leaders of Pratisarkars
moved
in
police
uniform,
collected
taxes
and
use
to
beat
on
the
sole of police, their informant and
govt. officials. These leaders also
patched the sole of these officials with
tin sheets. Therefore, this
movement
came
to be
known
as
patrisarkar
in
this area.
Although, the Quit India movement sprea
d throughout India
it was failed
due to absence of leaders, proper organisation and the
brutal
tactics
adopted
by
the
British
to
suppress
the
movement
even
then
the
Quit
Indian
movements
made
two
points
clear
that
the Indians had
desperately determined to
be free at any cost and it
led
the
British
to plan
to
leave
India
as
early as
possible.
Conclusion
of the movement:
Gandhiji wanted to execute the quit India movement on the
line of non
-
Page 93
Response to Gandhian
Movements in
Maharashtra
85
violence. He had written a letter to the Viceroy to publish
it but the
Viceroy Lord Linlithgow did not do it. The people without
any guidance
and absence of leaders followed the course of action
they deemed fit. The
police explored the opportunity and crushed
the
movement
mercilessly.
In
order
to
self
-
purification,
Gandhiji
went on fast for twenty
-
one days
on 10 February, 1943. Although
the Congress leaders requested the
Viceroy to release Gandhiji on
the pretext of his deteriorating health but
he was not released. On
18 October, 1943, Sir Archibald Wavell became
Viceroy of I
ndia,
who
released
Gandhiji
on
the
medical
ground
on
6
th
May,
1943.
Although, the quit India movement was suppressed by the
British, there
came no end to the efforts of the Congress towards
achieving
independence,
on
the
contrary
activities
were
speeded
u
p one after
another. The Rajaji formula was tabled in 1944 which
the Muslim league
did not accept. On 27 June, 1945, Lord Wavell,
the Viceroy called a
conference at Simla to select members for his
executive
council
but
failed
due
the
Muslim
league
oppositi
on.
Towards
Freedom
:
On
24
th
March
1946,
the
Cabinet
Mission,
under
the
leadership
of
Lord
Pethick
Lawrence
came
to
India
with
a
compromise formula on the
demand of Pakistan, but it was rejected
by the Muslim League. On 16
August 1946, the Muslim League
a
nnounced
the
Direct
Action
Day.
As
the
result
around
five
thousand people lost their lives and around fifteen
thousand people
were
seriously
injured.
On
2
September,
1946
Pandit
Nehru
became the head of Interim Government but could not function
successfull
y.
Clement
Attlee,
labour
party
leader
became
the
Prime
Minister of England
in 1945. On 20
th
February, 1947, he announced
in the House of Commons
that the British would leave India before
June
1948,
irrespective
of
any
agreement
among
the
political
partie
s in India. He sent Lord Mountbatten
to India on 24
th
March
1947 as the next Governor General of India. Lord
Mountbatten
discussed
with
the
major
political
parties
in
India
and
announced
the
plan
for
partition
of
India
on
3
rd
June
1947.
It
was
accepted
by
all political parties. Accordingly, the British Parliament passed
the
Indian independence Act on 18 July 1947, which declared India
independent
on
15
August
1947.
The
Congress,
which
was
established
in
1885,
succeeded
in
achieving
her
goal
of
independence
of India.
Check
your
progress
:
1)
Discuss
the
Quit
India
Movement
of
Mahatma
Gandhi.
8.5 CONCLUSION
Thus from the above discussion it is clear that the state of
Maharashtra
supported and contributed immensely in the Indian
national
movement.
Thousands
of
people
participated
in
this
freedom
struggle
directly.
Page 94
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
86
Mahatma
Gandhi
launched
three
important movements for the attainment
of freedom and the people
of Maharshtra responded well towards these
movements. It has
reached to all sections of society and fin
ally India got
freedom from
the
clutches of
British
rule
in
1947.
8.6 QUESTIONS
1
.
Describe
the
Non
-
Cooperation
Movement
of
Mahatma
Gandhi.
2
.
Discuss
the
Civil
Disobedience
Movement
of
Mahatma
Gandhi.
3
.
Explain
the
importance
of
Quit
India
Movement
in
the
Ind
ian
National movement.
8.7 ADDITIONAL READING
1
.
Chaudhari,
K.K,
Maharashtra
and
the
Indian
Freedom
Struggle,
Govt.
of
Maharashtra, Bombay
1985.
2
.
Lederle Mathew, Philosophical Trends in Modern Maharashtra,
Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay, 1976
3
.
Phadke Y.D., Socia
l Reformers of Maharashtra, Maharashtra
Information
Centre,
New Delhi
1975.
4
.
Phadke
Y.D.,
Visavya
Shatakatil
Maharashtra,
Mauj
Prakashan,
Mumbai.
5
.
Suntankar
B.R.,
Nineteenth
Century
History
of
Maharashtra,
1857
-
1920, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay.
Page 95
87
9
SAMYUKTA
MAHARASHTRA
MOVEMENT
Unit Structure
:
9
.0
Objectives
9
.1
Introduction
9.2 Its Background
9.3 Course of Events
9
.4
Samyukta
Maharashtra
movement
9.5
Summary
9.6 Questions
9.7
Additional Reading
9.0 OBJECTIVES
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
Understand
the main events in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement .
Know the leaders of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.
9.1 INTRODUCTION
The State of Maharashtra in which we are living today did not come into
existence in an easy, happy and smooth manner. People had to struggle
hard to achieve it. In order to liberate and integrate different parts of
Maharashtra, people had to make a lot of sacrifice, and had to undergo
hardships, sufferings and torture. The S
amyukta Maharashtra Movement
was a movement for uniting into one Linguistic State all the regions where
the Marathi speaking population lived in majority, such as, Mumbai,
Vidarbha, Marathwada, Goa, Belgaum, Karwar and adjoining areas. It was
a battle agai
nst the linguistic injustice caused to the Marathi
-
speaking
people by the then Congress Governments at the Centre and at the State. It
was a unique movement associated with the life and identity of every
Marathi person. Never before or afterwards all the M
aharashtrian people
got so united for a common cause, keeping aside all their differences of
party, caste, creed, region, religion, occupation or economic status. All the
sections of the Maharashtrian society such as, the students, working
women, house wiv
es, government servants, workers, peasants, lawyers,
teachers, artists, writers and journalists participated in this agitation. Every
Maharashtrian felt that it was his own movement and every one tried to
give to the best of his or her ability. The slogan
given by them all in one
voice reverberated through the entire atmosphere of Maharashtra,
Page 96
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
88
"Mumbaisaha Samyukta Maharashtra Zalach Pahije" (Along with
Mumbai, United Maharashtra must take place).
9.2 ITS BACKGROUND
Though the Samyukta Maharashtra Moveme
nt was vigorously launched
between 1955 and 1960, its roots go back to the early decades of the 20th
century. During the British rule, the British
-
Indian territory was divided
into eleven provinces, but it was an artificial division not taking into
conside
ration the popular sentiments. That division was made keeping in
view the imperialistic interests and administrative convenience of the
British. Therefore, every province had population belonging to different
languages, religions and cultures. It was felt
that the map of the country
should be redrawn on linguistic basis. That is to say, wherever the people
of a particular language are found in majority, all such regions should be
united to form a linguistic state. Right from 1920, Gandhiji and Dr.
Rajendra
Prasad were in favour of creating linguistic states. With the
involvement of the masses in the National Movement from 1919,
Congress undertook political mobilization in the mother tongue and in
1921 amended its constitution and reorganized its branches on
a linguistic
basis. Since then the Congress repeatedly committed itself to redrawing
the provincial boundaries on linguistic lines.
The Marathi speaking area was divided into several separate units
-
the
Bombay Province was under British control, the five
districts of
Marathwada were under the control of the Nizam of Hyderabad, Vidarbha
was first under the Nizam and from 1853, it was a part of Central Province
under the British control, whereas, in south Maharashtra sixteen small and
big states were ruled
by Indian princes. Thus although different parts were
under different rulers, they all were Marathi speaking and therefore
different political leaders and literators were of the opinion that all those
parts should be united into a single Marathi
-
speaking s
tate. The persons
who saw the dream of such a Marathi state even prior to 1946 were:
Sahitya Samrat N.C. Kelkar, B.G. Tilak, Vitthal Vaman Tamhankar of
Jaipur, Dr. S.V. Ketkar, Datto Appaji Tuljapurkar, K.C. Thakre, G.V.
Patvardhan (the editor of the Jyots
na Magazine). Shankar Ramachandra
Shende (Sangli), G.T. Madkholkar, Datto Vaman Potdar, Acharya Vinoba
Bhave, Dhananjayarao Gadgil, etc.
9.3 COURSE OF EVENTS
On 1 October 1938, the Legislature of the C.P. and Berar Province passed
a resolution put fort
h by Shri Ramrao Deshmukh saying that the bilingual
province of CP and Berar should be broken and all the Marathi speaking
portion should be united into a separate unilingual Marathi state of
Vidarbha. Accordingly, to achieve this objective, the Maha Vidar
bha
Samiti was constituted.
Page 97
Samyukta
Maharashtra
Movement
89
On 15 October 1938, in the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Bombay
under the presidency of V.D. Savarkar, a resolution was passed saying that
along with Vidarbha, all the Marathi speaking regions such as,
Marathwada, Goa, Belga
um and Karwar should be united into a separate
Marathi speaking state of Maharashtra.
9.4 SAMYUKTA
MAHARASHTRA
MOVEMENT
Although,
the
Samyukta
Maharashtra
movement
got
momentum
after
the
independence
of
our
country,
the
process
towards
the
united
Mahara
shtra
had
the
beginning
in
the
20
th
century
by
the
leaders
and
literary
personalities
in
Maharashtra.
The Legislative Assembly of the Central Province had passed a
resolution
to
secede
from
the
bi
-
lingual
Bombay
(Mumbai)
Presidency and form an
unilingual
separate state of Vidharbha on 1
October, 1938. In order to
pursue the resolution passed in the
literary
meet
at
Mumbai,
a
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
Sabha
was
formed on 28 January, 1940. During the period of
1940 to 1945 the
movement could not do any progress b
ecause of the
World War II
and
the
implementation
of
the
Quit
India
Movement.
On 12 May, 1946 a Sanyukta Maharashtra resolution was
passed
at
the
All
India
Marathi
literary
Conference
held
at
Belgaum,
G.
T.
Madkholkar
was
the
president
of
the
Conference.
The
conference
also
formed
a
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
Committee
consisting
of
Madkholkar,
Shankarrao
Deo,
Keshevrao
Jedhe
and
S. S. Navare to materialise the resolution. There was
one more
conference
held
on
28
th
July,
1946
at
Mumbai.
It
was
called
Maharashtra
Ekikaran
Parishad,
which
was
presided
over
by
Shankarrao
Deo and, it was attended by two hundred delegates
from all over
Maharashtra and passed a resolution of Sanyukta
Maharashtra
on
the
proposal
moved
by
Acharya
Data
Dharmadhikari. The leaders, who were
active in the movement held
a meeting under the leadership of Pattabhi
Sitaramaya at Delhi in
December, 1946.
The
movement
spread
throughout
the
state.
A
meeting
of
the
Maharashtra Ekikaran Panished took place at Akola on 13
th
April, 1947
and determined
to speed up the Sanyukta Maharashtra
movemet for
unilingual state of all Marathi speaking people. This
meeting came to be
known as the Akola Pact. In order to address
the popular demand of
forming the linguistic states of Maharashtra,
Andra, the Constituen
t
Assembly appointed a Commission in 1948,
which came to be known as
Dhar Commission. To pressurise the
Commission, a Virat Parishad was
formed at Dadar and meeting
was held on 15 and 16 October, 1948. On 13
December, 1948, the
Commission submitted its rep
ort stating that the
reorganizing states
on the linguistic basis would be against the unity and
integrity of the
nation. In order to remove the outcome of the Dhar
Commission
report,
the
National
Congress
accepted
the
Principle
of
reoranisation of states o
n the basis of language and appointed a
committee
of Jawarharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi
Sitaramaiya to
examine the report of the Dhar Commission at its
meeting
held at
Jaipur
Page 98
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
90
on 5
th
April, 1948.
The
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
movement
was
speeded
up
during the period
of 1950 and 1953; it also abolished the Sanyukta
Maharashtra Parishad
and determined to work jointly. In meantime,
Potti Shriramallu died
fasting for the demand of Telugu State of
Andra Pradesh, which led to
create it after his death
in October,
1953
and
the
appointment
of
the
Fazal
Ali
Commission
for
considering
the
matter
of
reorganization
of
states
on
the
linguistic
basis.
Appointment
of
the
State
Reorganisation
Commission
After
the
formation
of
Andra
Pradesh
in
October,
1953,
Sharn
karrao Dev
wrote a letter on 4 November, 1953 to the Prime
Minister
and
demanded
the
formation
of
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
State. Under these circumstances,
Pandit Nehru announced the
appointement
of
the
State
Reroganisation
Commission
on
22
December,
1953
in
the
Parliament
under
the
Charimanship
of
Justice Faisal Ali. The Commission was asked to
examine the basic
conditions
of
the
problem,
its
background,
preservation
and
strengthening
the
unity,
economic
and
administrative
considerations
of the country. The c
ommission faced a number of
strikes,
demonstrations
and
clashes
between
the
different
linguishtic groups during its exploration
of reorganization of states
on linguistic basis. The Commission also
visited various places in
the then Mumbai state as Nagpur,
Chanda, Pune,
Akola, Ambravati
and the city of Mumbai. The commission submitted its
report on 10
October, 1955, which was accepted by the Government with
certain
modifications. The commission report suggested formation of three
states as:
1
)
Sanyukta
Maharash
tra
with
Vidharbha
and
Marathwada
2
)
Maha
Gujarat
with
kutch
and
Saurastra
and
3
)
Bombay
as
union
territory.
This
report
was
again
rejected
by
the
people
but
the
Congress working
committee accepted the three state solution of
Nehru on
8 November,
1955.
The
left
s
were
infavour
of
the
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
movement, and
observed a strike in Mumbai on 18
th
November,
1955 to support the
movement whereas Morarji Desai challenged
the claims of the Sanyukta
Maharashtra movement and held a rally
in Mumbai on 20
th
Novembe
r,
1955. On the very next day i.e. 21
November, 1955, the police fired on the
huge morcha on the then
Bombay
state
Legislature
by
the
Left
parties
and
killed
fifteen
people and wounded hundreds of people at the behest of
Morarji
Desai. Even then the Congre
ss Leaders in the state supported the
Prime
Minister,
Pandit
Nehru,
naturally;
the
movement
became
violent
in
1956.
Page 99
Samyukta
Maharashtra
Movement
91
The
State
Reorganisation
Act
of
1956
The Parliament of India passed the State Reorganisation Act
in November,
1956 and established four
teen states which were
Andra
Pradesh,
Assam,
Bihar,
Bombay,
Kerala,
Madya
Pradesh,
Madras,
Mysore,
Orissa,
Punjab,
Rajasthan,
Uttar
Pradesh
and
West Bengal with six Union
Territories as Andaman and Nikobar
Island, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Tripura
and Lacadives.
The Act also provided for five Zones and
Zonal Councils. The zonal
Council was to consist of a union minister who
was to work as the
chairman
of
the
council,
along
with
the
Chief
Ministers
and
other
two ministers from the state in the zone.
This Zonal
Council was to
advise
the
Central
Government
for
its
development.
Formation
of Maharashtra and Gujarat:
The Sanyukta Maharashtra movement became stronger day
after day. It
was further stimulated by Nehru’s formula of keeping
Mumbai under the
Uni
on Territory. There was much unrest, which
led to a huge strike every
where in Mumbai. The police force of
Morarji Desai opened fire on such
peaceful strikers and shot 100
people dead between 16 and 20 January,
1956. C. D. Deshmukh,
Cabinet
Minister
of
Neh
ru
supported
the
agitation
for
separate
uniligual
state
of
Maharashtra
and
resigned
from
his
cabinet
post
on 22 January, 1956. This led the strikers to form the
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
Samiti
on
6
February,
1956.
The
Samiti
announced
the programme of Satyagra
at Mumbai and Delhi on 31
st
October,
1956.
To
satisfy
the
people
in
Mumbai,
the
Nehru
Government
cancelled
the nature of Union Territory of Mumbai city and made
declaration
of
bilingnal
state
of
Bombay.
This
proposal
was
also
met with strong
protest both
from the Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti
and
Maha
Gujarat
Janata
Parishad
which
were
carrying
on
Satyagraha in their dominant
areas from November, 1956 till the
formation of their respective states
for
nearly five years. On 23
April,
1960
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
Samiti
organised
a
huge
procession
on
the
Parliament
of
India.
Indira
Gandhi
was
the
Congress President the then, who reopened the issue with the
Central
Government, that led the Parliament to pass the resolution
in
favour
of
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
includin
g
Mumbai.
The
Government passed the
Bombay Reorganisation Act of 1960, by
which Mumbai was to be the
capital
of
Sanyukta
Maharashtra,
whereas Ahmedabad was scheduled the
capital of Gujarat. Thus,
the
Sanyukta
Maharashtra
came
into
being
on
1
st
May
1960.
M
aharashtra State with Bombay as its capital was formed
with the merger
of Marathi
-
speaking areas of Bombay State, eight
districts
from
Central
Provinces
and
Berar,
five
districts
from
Hyderabad State, and numerous
princely states enclosed between
them.
The
pro
-
Samyukta
Maharashtra
writers
claimed
that
in
all
105 persons died in the battle for Bombay
However Goa (then a
Portuguese colony), Belgaum, Karwar and adjoining
areas, which
were
also
part
of
the
Maharashtra
envisaged
by
the
Samiti,
were
not
included
in
Maharashtra state.
Page 100
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
92
Check
your
progress
:
1)
Explain
brifly
the
Samyukta
Maharashtra
Movement.
9.5 SUMMARY
In this way we have seen in this chapter how the modern
state of
Maharashtra came to an existence in 1960. Hyderabad was
liberated from
the clutch
es of Nizam under the leadership of Swami
Ramanand Teerth.
Number of Marathi speaking ares were later
joined
to
the
state
of
Maharashtra.
S.M.
Joshi,
Shripad
Amrit
Dange, N.G. Gore, Dadasaheb
Gaikwad and Prahlad Keshav Atre
fought relentlessly for Sanyukta
Maharashtra, even at the cost of
sacrificing
the
lives
of
several
people
and
finally
succeeded
in
convincing
Congress
leaders
that
Maharashtra
should
form
a
separate
state.
The
Samyukta
Maharashtra
Samiti
achieved
its
goal
on
1
st
May
1960
when
the
State
o
f
Bombay
was
partitioned
into the
Marathi
-
speaking State of Maharashtra and the Gujarati
-
speaking State of
Gujarat.
9.6 QUESTIONS
1
.
Discuss
the
formation
of
Samyukta
Maharashtra.
2
.
Evaluate
the
role
of
various
leaders
of
in
the
creation
of
unilingual
Maharas
htra
in 1960.
9.7 ADDITIONAL READING
1
.
Chaudhari,
K.K,
Maharashtra
and
the
Indian
Freedom
Struggle,
Govt.
of
Maharashtra, Bombay
1985.
2
.
Lederle Mathew, Philosophical Trends in Modern Maharashtra,
Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay, 1976
3
.
Phadke Y.D., Social Reformer
s of Maharashtra, Maharashtra
Information
Centre,
New Delhi
1975.
4
.
Phadke
Y.D.,
Visavya
Shatakatil
Maharashtra,
Mauj
Prakashan,
Mumbai.
5
.
Suntankar
B.R.,
Nineteenth
Century
History
of
Maharashtra,
1857
-
1920, Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay.
Page 101
93
10
CONTRIBUTION
O
F REFORMERS
I
N
EDUCATION
Unit
Structure
10.0
Objectives
10
.
1
Introduction
10.2
Contribution of Reformers in Education
10
.
2
.
1
Jagannath Shankarshet (1803
-
1865)
10
.
2
.
2
Dadoba Pandurang Tarkhadkar
10
.
2
.
3
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825
-
1917)
10
.
2
.
4
Mahadev Govind Ranade
10
.
2
.
5
Dr.
Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, (1837
-
1925)
10
.
2
.
6
Mahatma Jotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai
10
.
2
.
7
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar
10
.
2
.
8
Pandita Ramabai
10
.
2
.
9
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj
10
.
2
.
10
Dhondo Keshav Karve
10
.
2
.
11
Punjabrao Deshmukh
10
.
2
.
12
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891
-
1956)
10
.
2
.
13
Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shind
e (1873
-
1944)
10
.
2
.
14
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil (1887
-
1959)
10
.
2
.
15
Rayat Education Society
10
.
2
.
16
Scientific and Technical Education
10
.
3
Summary
10
.
4
Questions
10
.
5
Additional Readings
Page 102
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
94
10
.
0
OBJECTIVES
1
)
To
realise
the efforts made by the reformers towards the spread
of modern education in Mahar
ashtra.
2
)
To
know the progress of education in Maharashtra in 19 th and
20 th century.
10
.
1
INRTODUCTION
Social reformers of 19th and 20th century gave utmost importance to the
education. They considered it as a key to social change. They established a
number of
schools and colleges at various places for the promotion of
education for all the sections of society. By putting great efforts, they
made a significant contribution in the field of education.
10.2
CONTRIBUTION OF REFORMERS IN
EDUCATION
10.2.1
Jagannath
Shankarshet (1803
-
1865)
He is rightly called as the Architect of Modem Bombay. He was born on
10 February 1803 in a wealthy Daivajna family. This family originally
haled from Murbad. His grandfather Babulsheth was a small trader, and
his father Shankar Sh
eth was a trader of diamonds and pearls. Jagannath
lost his mother during his childhood therefore, he was brought up by his
father, but even his father died when Jagannath was eighteen. Therefore,
Jagannath had to take over the responsibility of his family
business. He
was a successful businessman, but whatever money he earned, he largely
spent on the all
-
round development of Mumbai. He realized that
upliftment of the people was impossible without education. He was
protagonist of the synthesis of oriental a
nd occidental learning. He held
that Western Education could reach the mass of the people only if it was
imparted through the vernaculars. He very intensely tried for enrichment
of Indological studies and female education. Jagannath Shankarsheth
became an
active leader in many arenas of Bombay life. Foreseeing the
need for improvements in education, he became one of the founders of the
School Society and the Native School of Mumbai, the first of its kind in
Western India. The school went through a series of
name changes: in
1824, it became the Bombay Native Institution, in 1840, the Board of
Education, and in 1856 the name which continues to this day, the
Elphinstone Educational Institution. He took a lead in founding the
Elphinstone College in 1834. When th
e Students' Literary and Scientific
Society first opened their girls schools, Jagannath Shankarsheth
contributed much of the necessary funds, and gave his own residence for
the school despite strong opposition of some members of the Hindu
community. He was
one of the founders of the Bombay Association
established on 26 August 1852. This was the first political organization of
the Bombay Presidency. Other educational projects started by him include
the English School, the Sanskrit Seminary, and the Sanskrit
Library, all of
which are located in Girgaum, South Mumbai. He was also a force
Page 103
Contribution
o
f
Reformers
i
n Education
95
responsible for the establishment of the Grant Medical College in 1845 in
the memory of Robert Grant, the Governor of Bombay. The Government
Law College, the first of its kind
in India. was founded in 1855 on public
demand under the inspired leadership of Jagannath Shankarshet. It was
affiliated to the Bombay University in 1860. Shankarsheth and Bhau Daji
Lad greatly contributed to the establishment of the Bombay University in
1
857. Ever since its inception, Shankarsheth was a member of the Senate
of the Bombay University and remained on that post till his death in 1865.
He was also behind the establishment of the J.J. School of Art in 1857.
Jagannath Shankarsheth made all effort
s to promote the Marathi theatre,
because the theatre was a medium of full manifestation of many arts. He
became the friend and supporter of Vishnudas Bhave in his efforts. He
wanted that the Marathi stage must get the same status, which the British
theatr
e was getting in England. Jagannath Shankarsheth offered his Wada
Mansion) to be used as a theatre. He was responsible for the establishment
of the Victoria Garden and the Prince Albert museum in 1862, and himself
gave a donation of Rs. 5000 for that purpo
se. The Government honoured
him with the post of Justice of Peace. He expired on 31 July 1865 In 1864,
the citizens of Bombay honoured Nana Shankar Sheth by installing a life
-
size statue of him on the premises of the Asiatic Society, the intellectual
centr
e of the city. His work was continued to somet extent by his son
Vinayak Shankarsheth He launched the 'Jagannath Shankarsheth Sanskrit
Scholarship' in 1866 in the name of his father.
10.2.2
Dadoba Pandurang Tarkhadkar
A valuable service was rendered by Dad
oba Pandurang Tarkhadkar to
spread the education among the people. In 1848, the students of
Elphinstone College established the Dnyanprasarak Sabha to propagate
education in the society. Dadoba was the first president of this Sabha. The
spread of education
and increasing social awareness were the chief
objectives of the Sabha. He also acted as the Director of the Training
College in Mumbai. According to him, superstition and the social system
were the chief causes of the miserable condition of the Indian.
1
0.2.3
Dadabhai Naoroji (1825
-
1917)
He too was a product of the renaissance and one of the inspiring spirits of
the times. He was a professor in the Elphinstone institution and one of the
founders of the Bombay University. He made efforts for the education
of
Parsi girls. The Parsis were just beginning to emerge from their mercantile
mould. He was the founder in India and in England of more than thirty
institutions. In the teeth of opposition, Dadabhal laid the foundation of
women's education in Bombay on fo
urth August 1849. By going door
-
to
-
door, he urged parents to send their daughters to schools, as at that time
girls were not allowed to go to schools. He volunteered to teach free at the
first girls' school opened by the society opened in a cottage loaned
by
Jagannath Shankar Sheth, a member of the board of education, and with
improvements funded by Mr. K. N. Kame. He founded the 'Jnana Prasarak
Mandal' and in 1851 he started a Gujarati fortnightly journal, Råst Goftar
(Truth Teller), as the organ of progre
ssive views on social, religious and
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educational reforms. Dadabhai, being an Athoman (ordained priest),
founded the Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne
Path) on 1st August 1851. The ethos of the Rahnumae at its inception was
to restore the
Zoroastrian religion to its original purity and simplicity. The
society is still in operation in Bombay. He was an active member of the
'Bombay Association founded in 1852. Pherozeshah Mervanji Mehta,
Dinshaw Edulji Wacha, Naoroji Furdunji and Sorabji Shap
urji Bengali
emerged on the scene and enriched the elite in Bombay under the inspiring
spirit of Dadabhai Naoroji.
The first four illustrious graduates of the Bombay University
-
Mahadev
Govind Ranade, Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, Bal Mangesh Wagle and
Vam
an Abaji Modak, all contributed to the development of education in
their own capacity. They were followed by youths of great initiative
Pherozeshah Mervanji Mehta, Kashinath Tryambak Telang and
Rahimtulla Muhammad Sayani. These leaders of the Intelligentsi
a became
the leaders of public opinion, and they devoted themselves to the
renaissance in Indian society. That period is indeed worth recalling and
introspecting upon even now. Learned men like Balshastri Jambhekar.
Naoro Furdunji and Dadabhai Naoroji were
disseminating learning from
the Dias of professorship in the Elphinstone College.
10.2.4
Mahadev Govind Ranade
Mahadev Govind Ranade joined the Elphinstone College a Professor of
English literature, history and economics. Ranade believed that s
reforma
tion would be impossible without the spread of education.
Therefore, in September 1882 he founded the Sarasbagh girls' high school
in Pune. Along with Tilak, Agarkar, Gokhale and Chiplunkar, he founded
the Deccan Education Society at Pune in 1884. This Soc
iety established
the Fergusson College at Pune in 1885 and the Willingdon College at
Sangli in 1919. Ranade strongly believed that the medium of education
must be mother tongue. He made constant efforts to include Marathi as a
subject in the curriculum, an
d finally, his efforts were successful in 1898.
10.2.5
Dr. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, (1837
-
1925)
Born in Malvan on 6th July 1837, he was a great orientalist, an linguist, a
historian and a social reformer. His original surname was Patki, but since
hi
s ancestors worked in the treasury department, they were called
Bhandarkar. He was teaching oriental languages first in the Elphinstone
College and then in the Deccan College. He was also a distinguished Vice
-
Chancellor of the Bombay University (1893
-
95).
He was a syndic of the
University from 1873 to 1882. He was a member of the Legislative
Council of Bombay Presidency and also of Government of India. He was
keenly interested in the improvement of curricula, and was a great
protagonist of general education
as well as research. He participated in
international conferences on Oriental Studies held in London (1874) and
Vienna (1886), making invaluable contributions. He reconstructed the
political history of the Deccan, wrote the history of the Satavahanas and
the history of Vaishnavism and other sects. Dr. Bhandarkar's works
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included treatises on Sanskrit grammar, critical editions of Sanskrit texts,
reports on Sanskrit manuscripts and contributions to proceedings of
learned societies and journals. His book Anc
ient History of the Deccan has
been acclaimed as the most authoritative work on the subject. A strong
adherent of the critical and historical school of Philology, and unrivalled
in the accuracy and thoroughness of his scholarship and literary criticism,
Dr
. Bhandarkar soon attained a world
-
wide reputation for oriental
learning. In 1904, the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, an extremely
rare honour, was bestowed upon him. The Bhandarkar Oriental Research
Institute was founded at Pune by his disciples and a
dmirers as a temple of
learning. It was formally Inaugurated by Lord Willingdon, the Governor
of Bombay, on 6 July 1917. Bhandarkar was not only a scholar but also a
reformist and humanitarian. He was associated with the Paramahamsa
Sabha and then the Prar
thana Samaj. He worked for the cause of
Depressed Classes and women. He strongly opposed social evils like child
marriage, castism and alcoholism. He stood for women's education and
remarriages of widows. He got his widowed daughter remarried. By
quoting r
eferences from ancient Sanskrit scriptures, he ardently dealt with
women's education, prohibition of child marriage and advocacy of widow
remarriage. Dr. Bhandarkar died on 24 August 1925. His son Devadatta
Ramakrishna Bhandarkar was also a great Indologis
t.
Bal Mangesh Wagle adored the professorship in the Poona College (now
Deccan College and Post Graduate Research Institute). Jambhekar, the
pioneer of Marathi Journalism, and V.N. Mandlik were enlightening the
reading public through modem newspapers like
the 'Native Opinion'.
Tilak, Agarkar, Chiplunkar and Ranade first founded the New English
School and then the Deccan Education Society at Puna in 1884. Tilak,
Karve and Gokhale taught in the Ferguson College, and Gokhale was its
Principal as well.
The ende
avours of these enlightened Indians received not merely a good
response but an encouragement from some of the Westermers such as
Elphinstone, Sir Alexander Grant, Dr. John Wilson (who became one of
the greatest Sanskrit Scholars), Dr. Dugald Mackichan, Pro
f. William
Wordsworth, Justice James Gibbs, Sir Raymond West, every one of whom
was a lover of English literature and a thinker.
Several colleges were established out of the donations given by rich
philanthropists. For example, The Ismail Yusuf College, es
tablished in
1929
-
30, owes its origin to the generosity of Sir Mahomed Yusuf who had
donated eight lakh rupees for higher education of Muslims, way back in
1914. It has, however, been a cosmopolitan institution. The Shikshan
Prasarak Mandali of Pune, who e
xpanded Western education after the
Deccan Education Society, established two colleges in Bombay, viz.,
Ramnarain Ruia College in 1937 and R. A. Poddar College of Commerce
and Economics in 1941. The first one received a donation of 2 lakhs from
the house o
f Ruias and the second one, 1.46 lakhs from the house of
Poddars. both of whom have many textile mills and other business to their
credit in Bombay. The Khalsa College was established in 1937 out of the
funds collected by the members of the Sikh Community.
The Puna
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University was founded in 1948. Bal Gangadhar Kher, the first Chief
Minister of Bombay was instrumental in the establishment of this
University. After the partition of India, the Sindhis displaced from
Pakistan sought refuge in India and many of
them settled in Mumbai and
the neighbouring areas and made every possible effort to bring about all
round development of this region. The Jai Hind College and Basantsing
Institute of Science was founded in June 1948 by the migrant professors
from Karachi.
The National College, Bandra was inaugurated in June
1949. The K. C. College was established in 1954.
10.2.6
Mahatma Jotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule
Mahatma Jotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule were the pioneers of
women's education in M
aharashtra. Phule is most known for his efforts to
educate women and the lower castes as well as the masses. He believed
that education was power and the real progress of the country was
impossible without imparting education to women and the lower castes.
Phule believed that education had no alternative for the liberation of the
masses from psychological and economic servitude. Phule believed that
the Depressed Classes fell a pray to exploitation because of their
ignorance. The Brahmins used to consider th
e "untouchables' as "unfit" for
education. He held that the Depressed Class persons should be given
vocational training so that they would take to different vocations and
thereby would not turn to criminal activities. Phule believed that if
education was g
iven to a male person, it educated only one man, but if
education was given to a woman, it educated a whole family. Phule began
his mission early in life by opening the first school for girls in India in the
Bhidewada of Budhwar Peth of Pune in August 1848
. But, owing to social
opposition and lack of supporters, he had to close down this school. He re
-
established this school in Budhwar Peth in 1851. As no lady teacher was
available, he trained his wife, Savitribai Phule to teach in the school. In
all, he op
ened six schools
-
three exclusively for girls and three jointly for
'untouchable' girls and boys. In 1853 he established the 'Society for the
teaching of knowledge to Mahars, Mangs and other people'. He opened a
Night School in the same year. He advocated
equal opportunities of
education and intermingling of low caste students with those of the upper
castes. He started a weekdy journal called 'Deenbandhu' for untouchables.
Krishnarao Bhalekar was its editor. Later on, Narayan Meghaji Lokhande
started its pu
blication from Bombay. He had been a member of the Puna
Municipality between 1874 and 1883. When he learned about the plan of
the Municipality to establish a market at Pune, he strongly opposed it and
insisted that the same amount of lakhs of rupees should
be spent on
educational work. In 1882, Phule even appeared before the Hunter
Commission, where he argued that the Goverment collected revenue from
the farmers but spent it on the education of higher classes. Phule
demanded that the Government should promo
te education of the masses
and suggested that all the children below the age of 12 should be given
free and compulsory education. His educational work served as a model
before Chhatrapati Shahu, Dr. Ambedkar, Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde
and Karmaveer Bha
urao Patil.
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10.2.7
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar
Vishnushastri Chiplunkar also contributed to the spread of education. He
was of the opinion that the existing system of education failed to serve the
purpose of nation
-
building. Though he represented the conserva
tive
ideology in society, his contribution in the field of education is
commendable. He wishes to create a generation of patriotic young men.
With this aim, he laid down the foundation of New English School in 1881
along with Agarkar and Tilak.
10.2.8
Pand
ita Ramabai
Pandita Ramabai emerged as a prominent figure and remarkable women
due to her courage and heroic efforts to spread education among women.
Her father Ananta Shastri supported Ramabai in her cause. She founded
Sharda Sadan in Mumbai in 1889 for t
he spread of female education. This
institute rendered valuable service for the cause of female education. Later
on, this institute was shifted to Pune where she continued the work of
imparting education upon orphans, poor and widows.
10.2.9
Chhatrapati Sh
ahu Maharaj
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur (1894
-
1922) made several efforts
to promote the education of the Depressed Classes. He started the
movement for Boarding Houses underthe scheme of "Moral and Material
Progress" of the masses and provided o
ther facilities like free
accommodation, remission of fees, free meals and clothing. Another
motive for these boarding houses was, to put into practice his egalitarian
policy in administration and education. He wanted to blunt the caster
distinctions and f
eelings among the masses. As part of the Students
Hostels Movement 20 hostels were established in Kolhapur city. He also
aimed at training social workers who would take lead in their
communities; this led to the establishment of more hostels and boarding
s
chools.
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and the Arya Samaj enabled many students
receive school and collegiate education. They started schools and led the
Maharashtrian masses in the political field as well. They became
torchbearers of knowledge for the masses i
n the State.
In 1913, he issued an order to the effect "that every village in the State
should have a school. In 1918 he passed another order to make primary
education free and compulsory for all. Kolhapur was the second native
state to introduce this, the
other being Baroda. However, unlike in Baroda,
there was no segregation along caste lines.
He imposed an education cess for providing finance to educational
activities. He increased the number of primary, secondary schools and
higher education institution
s in the State. The effects of his educational
policy were visible even during his lifetime. For example, in 1894, the
Rajaram College at Kolhapur had only 97 students on its rolls of whom six
were non
-
Brahmins. By 1922, there were 100 non Brahmin students
out of
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-
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100
265 on roll. Also, the number of school
-
going students in his State
increased from 10,884 to 22,830. He encouraged female education. There
was free education for girls at Rajaram College.
He provided facilities like freeships, scholarships, and pri
zes to backward
class students. Separate schools that existed for the so
-
called untouchables
were closed down. All teachers in government and private schools
receiving grant from his government were asked not to discriminate
between students on grounds of
their caste identity. As early as 1919, he
legally prohibited the segregation of untouchables in schools and recruited
some educated untouchables, as clerks in the State service and also
admitted some of them to the Bar. They were permitted to practice as
lawyers and compete for and occupy positions traditionally regarded as the
preserve of the upper castes.
10.2.10
Dhondo Keshav Karve
The educational work of Dhondo Keshav Karve was very valuable. He
dedicated his entire life in the spread of women's educat
ion. In 1907, he
established Mahila Vidyalaya (women's college) at Pune. Later college
was transferred to Hinganein 1911. To spread education in villages, he
took a lead in establishing 'Gram Prathamik Shikshan Mandal'. In 1916,
Shrimati Nathibai Damodar T
hakersey (S.N.D.T) University was
established by him. His dedication and his efforts led to the foundation of
many schools and colleges in Maharashtra. The educational efforts of
Dhondo Keshav Karve led to the all
-
round progress of women.
10.2.11
Punjabrao
Deshmukh
Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh played a leading role in spreading education
among the masses in Maharashtra. He dedicated himself to the educational
work in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. As a president of Amravati
district council, he made primary educa
tion compulsory education. As an
education minister in the provincial government, he offered educational
concessions and scholarships for the benefit of needy and poor students. In
1932, he established Shri Shivaji Shikshan Sanstha at Amravati in order to
spread education among the students living in villages. In all over
Vidarbha, a number of schools, colleges and hostels were started by the
Shivaji Shikshan Sanstha. He truly followed the example of Karmveer
Bhaurao Patil by laying emphasis on mass educati
on. Thus he was
responsible for the spread of education in eastern Maharashtra.
10.2.12
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (1891
-
1956)
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar ceaselessly worked for the upliftment of the
Depressed Classes. He believed that education of the Dalits would arouse
t
heir self confedance, would make them conscious of their rights and
would induce them to fight against injustice and for their rights. He tried
to educate them through his speeches, books, newspapers and institutions.
His message to the Depressed Classes w
as, "Educate, Organize and
Agitate". He established the People's Education Society in 1946, which
founded the Siddhartha College at Bombay and the Milind College at
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Aurangabad Dr. Ambedkar opened the Siddhartha College of Commerce
and Economics in June 19
53 .
10.2.13
Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde (1873
-
1944)
Maharshi Vitthal Ramji Shinde, the stalwart who worked against
untouchability all his life, was influenced by the teachings and work of
Mahatma Jotiba Phule, the Prarthana Samaj and the Arya Samaj On
18
October 1906, he founded the Depressed Class Mission. The Mission
arranged lecture series for the poor and downtrodden, night schools for the
working people, tailoring classes and vocational schools for the
untouchables, Libraries, and founded the "Nira
shrit Sevasadan" for the
untouchable women. Many schools and hostels were founded by this
mission. By 1912, the Depressed Classes Mission had 23 schools, 55
teachers, 1100 students, 5 hostels, 12 branches, and 5 canvassing
volunteers across 14 locations, i
n seven States and four different
languages. His sister Janakka Shinde also worked for the promotion of
women's education, particularly that of depressed women,
10.2.14
Karmaveer Bhaurao Patil (1887
-
1959)
Bhaurao was born on 22 September 1887, in a Jain Fa
rmer family at
Kumbhoj/Kambhoja in Kolhapur district. Bhaurao's father Payagonda
Patil was a clerk in the revenue department of the East India Company and
had to move around from place
-
to
-
place. Therefore, Bhaurao had his
primary education at different pla
ces. During his childhood days, he was
directly influenced by Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the King of Kolhapur,
who was a promoter of social equality and education of people belonging
to backward castes. Eventually his father sent him to Kolhapur to the
Raj
aram High School for further education. here he lived in the Jain
Hostel. The Students living in the Jain Boarding had to strictly follow the
norms of Jainism. But, Bhaurao, who was of a rebellious nature, often
broke the rules and even induced other stude
nts to break the rules.
Therefore, Mr. Latthe, the warden of the hostel drove him out from the
Jain Hostel. Here he got in contact with Satyashodhak Movement and
found another source of inspiration, Mahatma Phule and Maharshi Vitthal
Ramji Shinde. At the a
ge of eighteen, Bhaurao married Lakshmibai, who
assisted him in all his social work. Bhaurao gamered political interest and
decided to play his role in the fight for Indian freedom struggle by
working in other beneficial aspects like public education. Whil
e he
worked for Ogles, Kirloskars and Coopers he participated in activities of
Satya Shodhak Samaj. He had realized by then that the only remedy for
the social evils of that time was education of masses. In the year 1919, he
started a hostel at Dudhgaon in
the Sangli district, where kids from
backward castes and poor families could stay and get education, at the
same time do work to take care of the expenses. This was the foundation
of what later became Rayat Shikshan Sanstha
As Bhaurao started working on h
is education for the masses, Gandhiji had
also Ilaunched the struggle for Indian independence. During a public
meeting in 1921, Bhaurao happened to come across Gandhiji at Mumbai.
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He was highly impressed by Gandhi's appearance in a loin cloth and his
philo
sophy of Khadi Following this encounter Bhaurao decided to adopt
Khadi attire and follow Gandhian principles in everyday living. Eventually
he vowed and saw it to completion, establishment of 101 schools in
Gandhi's name..
10.2.15
Rayat Education Society
W
hile working as an employee in the Kirloskar factory at Kolhapur,
Bhaurao got involved in working for Satyashodhak Samaj. In a council of
Satyashodhak Samaj. held at Kale near Karhad, a resolution was passed
that in order to run SatyaShodhak Movement succe
ssfully, it was
necessary that they must educate the Bahujan Samaj. Accordingly,
Bhaurao Patil established Rayat Shikshan Sanstha at a small village named
Kale, in Satara district, of western part of Maharashtra, on October 4, 1919
on the auspicious day of
Ashvin Vijaya Dashami. Banyan Tree was its
emblem, and it soon grew and spread like a banyan tree. 'Swabhiman,
Swadhyay, Swavalamban and Swatantrya' was the four
-
point basis of this
institute. In 1924. He founded the Chhatrapati Shahu Boarding House at
Sa
tara, and gradually Satara became the chief centre of the Rayat Shikshan
Sanstha. This society was specially meant for the children of masses, so it
was named Rayat (Marathi word for masses). The objectives of the
Society were: to promote rural education,
particularly that of the
downtrodden masses, to discourage all differences based upon caste,
creed, region and religion, not to practice untouchability, to promote
dignity of labour and to promote values like equity, humanity and social
justice. The Societ
y rapidly progressed and it established several
educational institutions in Maharashtra such as, training colleges for the
primary teachers, hostels for poor students, primary schools, high schools
and colleges in rural areas. In order to meet the expenses
of the poor
students, Bhaurao appealed to all the households to daily set aside only a
handful of grains, which were collected by the workers of the society on
weekly basis. In 1935, the Silver Jubilee Training College was established
at Satara. In 1940,
he founded Maharaj Sayajirao High School while in
1947, he founded Chhatrapati Shivaji College at Satara. He founded a
college at Karhad in the name of Saint Gadge Maharaj. During his life
-
time, the Sanstha had 38 cosmopolitan boardings, 578 voluntary scho
ols, 6
training colleges, 108 secondary schools and 3 Colleges. He is known for
his work for spreading education in the rural areas of Maharashtra. He
firmly believed that the rural areas could be transformed only through
education. Bhaurao played an impor
tant role in educating people from the
backward castes and also the poor masses by coining the philosophy of
"Earn and Learn."
People of Maharashtra gave him the title of Karmaveer (Marathi for "King
of actions"). The Government of India gave him Padma Bh
ushan in 1959.
The University of Puna gave him D.Litt in the same year. He passed away
on 9 May 1959.
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10.2.16
Scientific and Technical Education
The Elphinstone Institution was founded at Bombay in 1841, in which
mathematics, chemistry, botany and natural
sciences were taught. In 1845.
The Grand Medical College was established at Bombay. The Seth
Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College was founded in June 1825, with
King Edward Memorial Hospital founded in February 1926. The
Engineering College was establishe
d at Pune in 1854. The Victoria Jubilee
Technical Institute (VJTI) was founded at Bombay in 1887, wherein
diploma and degree courses in engineering were started. G.K. Gokhale
established the Ranade Industrial and economic Institute at Pune in 1908.
In 1883
, the Bombay Natural History Society was established in order to
promote scientific research. In 1886, the Anthropological Society of
Bombay was established to study human races. Dr. W.M. Haffkine d The
Plague Research Laboratory in 1899. The Laboratory wa
s renamed as the
Bombay Bacteriological Laboratory in 1906 as it was further expanded to
undertake research in other infectious diseases, besides plague. In 1923,
the Biochemistry department and Rabies section were added. The
Laboratory was renamed as the
Haffkine Institute in 1925. In 1906, the
first teachers' training college was founded at Bombay. In 1914, the
University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT) was established,
wherein subjects like chemical engineering, textile chemistry, etc were
taugh
t and it was the first institute of that type in India. The Royal Institute
of Science (RISC) was inaugurated in March 1920. Since then this premier
Institute in India has contributed immensely in various fields of scientific
research, and some of the scie
ntists produced by it have adomed
honourable seats in the Indian Science Congress. It was after
Independence that it was renamed as Institute of Science.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, now known as Dr. Bhau Daji Lad
Museum, was founded in 1858 and finally
housed in the Victoria Gardens,
where it was inaugurated on 22 May 1872. Its ownership was transferred
to the Bombay Municipality from 1 October 1885. The Museum stands
testimony to the pioneering zeal of Dr. Bham Daji Lad. The Prince of
Wales Museum of W
estern India was established i commemoration of the
visit of Prince of Wales (later King George V) to Bombay i 1905. The
magnificent building and galleries were raised through munificent
donations by Currimbhoy Ibrahim, Cowasji Jehangir, Ratan Tata, Dorabj
i
Tata, etc. The Museum comprising three main sections
-
Art, Archaeology
and Natural History was opened to the public in 1922. The Bombay
Historical Society, established in 1925, has done a good deal of work
relating to research in Indian history, epigraphy
, archaeology, numismatics
and allied subjects, more particularly on Bombay and Western India. It is
functioning in association with the Prince of Wales Museum. The Father
Heras Indian Historical Research Institute of the St. Xavier's College
founded in ab
out 1925, maintains a historical and archaeological museum
and rare books and manuscripts, and an excellent reference library. It was
founded by the famous Indologist Father Henry Heras.
The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) was founded by the
Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Bombay Government in 1945. It was in
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-
1960 CE
104
February 1956 that the Government of India recognised the TIFR as the
national centre for advanced study in Nuclear Physics and Mathematics.
The country owes a debt of gratitude to the TIF
R for producing scientists
of international reputation such as Dr. Homi Bhabha, Dr. Vikram
Sarabhai, Dr. H. N. Sethna, Dr. Raja Ramanna and Dr. Jayant Naralikar.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) was established in 1950. The
Tata Institute of Social
Sciences (TIS) was founded in 1944.
Check
your progress:
-
1
.
Summarize
the efforts made by the reformers towards the
spread of modern education in Maharashtra.
10
.
3
SUMMARY
Thus, it is clear that many of the social reformers took lot of
efforts
towards the spread
of modern education in Maharashtra. Most
of
the
social
reformers
worked
towards
the
spread of modern education in
Maharashtra and
because
of
their
efforts
many
important
issues
were addressed and solved by them.
10.4
QUESTIONS
1
.
Summarize
the efforts made b
y the reformers towards the
spread of modern education in Maharashtra.
2
.
Describe the progress of education in Maharashtra in 19 th and
20 th century.
3
.
Write short notes on the following:
a) Jagannath Shankarsheth
b) Role of Dadabhai Naoroji in Education
c)
Role of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj
in Education
d) Scientific and Technical Education
10.5
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Charles
Worthy
Noel
, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
3
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
1839),
Asia
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
4
.
Chokesy
R.D., Mountst
uart Elphinstone, Popular Publishing House,
Bombay, 1971.
Page 113
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105
5
.
Dobbin
Christine, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India,
Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
6
.
Dongarkerey
S.
R., History
of
the
University
of
Bombay, (1857
-
1957),
University of
Bombay,
Bombay,
1957.
7
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
8
.
Grant Duff, History
of
the
Marathas,
VOl.
I
&II
, Associated
Press,
New
Delhi, 1971.
9
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century,
Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
10
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C., New
Delhi,
1975.
11
.
Varma
S. J., Mountstuart
Elphinstone
in
Maharashtra, (1801
-
1827),
Territories conquered from
the Peshwas, K.P. Bagehi Co. Calcutta,
1981.
Page 114
106
11
CONTRIBUTION OF REFORMERS
TOWARDS EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN
Unit
Structure
11.0
Objectives
11.1
Introduction
11.2
Emancipation
of
Women
11.2.1
Female Education
11.2.2
Widow Remarriage
11.2.3
Child Marriage
11.2.4
The Hindu Code Bill
11.3
Summary
11.4
Questions
11
.
5
Additional Readings
11.0
OBJECTIVES
After
the
study
of
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
)
Realise
the
issues
concerning
emancipation
of
women
and
efforts
made
towards
its
realization
2
)
Understand
the
work
of
reformers towards Emancipation of
Women.
3
)
Know the various problems of women’s in the 19
th
century of
Maharashtra
.
4
)
Trace
the
efforts
of
social
reformers
to
eradicate the various problems
of women’s in the 19
th
century of
Maharashtra
.
11
.
1
INTRODUCTION
Th
e
issues
connected
with
emancipation
of
women
are
fully
discussed
here
as the social reformers who showed moral courage to handle the issues
found them too formidable for their generation. Men like Ranade who
could
not devote their full time for that work
had to establish Social
Conference to
attract more men. We have given details about his work in
this lesson and
the
contribution
of
other
reformers
is dealt
with
in
the
next
lesson.
Page 115
Contribution
o
f
Reformers Towards
Emancipation
o
f
Women
107
11
.
2
EMANCIPATION
OF
WOMEN
Society in Western India, as already noted, on the e
ve of the British rule in
1818,
was
“hide
-
bound”
and
stagnant.
A
hundred
years
of
Peshwa
administration had made little significant change in the conditions of the
people. Economically Maharashtra was poorer than bengal. In Agriculture,
industry, trade and
commerce
also it
lagged behind though there was
homogeneity
between
its
rulers
and
the
subjects,
the
Maharashtrian
society,
like
its counter
parts elsewhere
in
India,
was
caste ridden.
People,
in
general, were tradition
-
bound and superstitious, despite
the progressive
teachings of Saints like Tukaram and Namdeo. There was little movement
in
thought,
no
progress
in
beliefs
and
institutions,
including
in
the
developing
city of Bombay. Not only the orthodox people and priests were
opposed to
any social chan
ge, but also the economically rising section of
each caste
and
groups,
who
had
prospered
in
Bombay
under
the
British
presence.
The
status
of
women
was
equally
bad.
As
S.
Natarajan
has
pointed
out,
the
social customs and laws relating to marriage, family
-
p
roperty,
inheritance.
position
of
widows,
etc.
were
loaded
against
women.
Women
were
the
most
sufferers in the social system because “here as well as in all
societies the
rigorous
of
the
conventional
community
bore
most
heavily
on
Women”.
This plight of wo
men attracted the attention of some European Christian
missionaries
and
a
handful
of
Western
-
educated
persons
including
Brahmins and Parsis. Bombay gave the lead to rest of Maharashtra. Great
social
reformers
like
Mahadeo
G.
Ranade,
B.M.Malabari,
S.S.Benga
li,
Karsondas
Mulji,
Jyotiba
Phule,
Pandita
Ramabai
and
D.
K.
Karve
rendered
yeoman service to the cause of the emancipation of women. For
instance,
Ranade and his Indian National Social Conference worked
steadily (with
some success) against such glaring s
ocial evils as child
marriage and the
prohibition of widow re
-
marriage. As it is possible to
discuss in detail all
aspects
of
the
movement
for
the
emancipation
of
women
in
the
19th
Century. it is proposed to concentrate on : female
education, widow re
-
ma
rriage
and
child
-
marriage
in detail as
follows
:
-
11
.
2
.
1
Female
Education
The establishment of the Prarthana Samaj gave the impetus necessary for
reform. It is true, as R.C.Majumdar writes, “In Bombay Presidency the
women led a comparatively freer life as there w
as no Purdah, among the
Marathas, yet, like their counter parts in other Presidencies, women in
Western India were not encouraged to receive education’’. Naturally,
some
English
-
educated young men Iaunched a determined movement to
spread
‘femaIe education
through schools in Bombay and Poona. In this
laudable
attempt,
they
were
encouraged
by
their
European
professors
in
Elphinstone
Institution
in
Bombay
(1848).
These
enthusiastic
young
men
established
the
“Students Literary and Scientific Society.” The Socie
ty
espoused the cause
of female education. The lead was taken by the
members of the Gujarati
Dnyan Prasarak, Mandali. Parsi reformers like
Page 116
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
108
Dadabhai Naoroji, realized
that only support from the leading
businessmen (Shetias) of the community
would provide th
e money and the
pupils with which they could start schools
for
girls.
F.C.Banaji
and
the
Cama
family
showed
the
way
by
giving
education to their daughters and
money to the schools despite opposition
from Orthodox Parsis. By 1852
there were four schools wit
h 371 pupils. In
1857,
S.S.Bengali
and
his
friends
started
the
magazine
‘Stri
Bodh’.
The initial success of the Parsi schools led to the establishment of similar
schools by the Marathi and Gujarathi Hindus in 1849 with the financial
support of businessmen
such as Jagannath Shankarset. The Parsi and
Gujarati
girls’
schools
were
able
to
get
financial
support
from
the
businessmen (shetias) of their communities. However the Marathi Schools
were
starved
of
funds
because
of
Maharashtrian
Hindu
Community
possessed
no really affluent Shetias, apart from Jagannath Shankarset.
Hence,
their
schools
were
supported
by
monthly
contributions
from
EIphinistonians like Bhau Daji, Thus, a beginning though creacky had
been
made
in
female education.
In 1848, Jyotiba Phule estab
lished a private school for girls education at
Poona. An Association of India Young men also started girls Schools in
Bombay and in some other parts of the Deccan Division of the Bombay
Presidency.
The
Prejudices
against
female
education
were
fast
disappea
ring and “there will be no more difficulty found in establishing
female schools than there is in those for boys”, wrote Capt. Lester, then
Acting
Educational
Inspector
of
the
Deccan
Division.
In
the
second
half
of
the
19th
century
female
education
received
considerable
attention
of
the
Government
of
India.
The
Education
Commission of 1882
-
83 made a number of recommendation regarding the
education
of
girls.
As for higher education for women, there was no separate institution either
in
Bombay
or
at
Poona.
Nev
ertheless,
premier
Colleges
like
the
Elphinstone
College, Wilson College and St.Xavier’s College in Bombay,
the Fergusson
College at Poona and the Wellingdon College at Sangli
always kept their
doors open for female education. Reformers like
M.G.Ranade, D.
K.Karve
and
Pandita
Ramabai
also
made
significant
contribution
to
female
education
in Maharashtra. G.K.Gokhale’s ‘Servants
of India Society’ generated very
powerful
forces
for
the
advancement
of
female
education.
Before we conclude, it is necessary to note
the remarks of Bipin Chandra
Pal, made in 1881 : “Bombay was socially far ahead of Bengal ... Female
education
and
the
freedom
of
social
intercourse
and
movement
of
respectable Maharatha ladies was a new and inspiring experience which I
had in Bombay.” Bu
t as S.D.Javdekar has pointed out, in Poona and other
interior places among even educated persons, belonging to the Sardar and
Brahmin castes, one could find nothing but orthodoxy and ‘‘darkness’’.
This
is
evident
from
articles
published
in
‘Prabhakar’.
So
cial
reformers
like
Ranade, Agarkar and Phule, and institutions like the Sarvajanik Sabha
Page 117
Contribution
o
f
Reformers Towards
Emancipation
o
f
Women
109
had
to
carry
a
relentless
struggle
to
clear
the
cobwebs
of
antiquated,
anachronistic social customs and traditions, relating especially to women,
though in those days
poona was considered itself the real intellectual and
political
capital
of
the
Bombay
Presidency.
11
.
2
.
2
Widow
Re
-
marriage
Tne Hindu Joint family was accompanied by property laws which were
devised to emphasize the family, rather than the individuals as a unit.
Inheritance
was
either
withheld
from
women
or
greatly
modified
against
their
interest. The Hindu system of marriage ensured that property
remained
within
the
family.
The worst
affected were the
Hindu
widows.
Among Hindus marriage was considered as a Sacra
ment and therefore
could not be dissolved by divorce or death, especially of the husband.
Though
the
system
was
applied
rigidly
only
to
the
higher
caste,
there
existed
a tendency among the lower castes to imitate the higher castes;
prohibition
of
widow
re
-
marriage
was
one
such
imitation.
The
British
Law
Courts,
during
their early days, applied the Hindu Civil Code, as
interpreted by Hindu
Pandits
indiscriminately
to
Hindus
of
all
castes.
According
to
Hindu
Shastras, men were authorised to take more than one
wife if they could not
get a male progeny from the existing marriage. However, in the course of
time, a Hindu male was permitted to take a second or more wives, even if
he had
male children.
But there was no legal protection for women against the arbitrar
y action of
their
husbands
in
marrying
other
women.
Moreover,
they
could
not
re
-
marry,
even when a woman’s husband was dead. Any man who married a
widow
or an already married woman was held of bigamy, and it was
punishable
offence. The only way to escape f
rom this arbitrary and cruel
custom was
through conversion to Islam or Christianity. It was against this
evil that
enlightened
Western
-
educated
social
reformers
raised
their
banner
of
revolt
as
was being
done
by
the Brahmo Samaj
in Bengal.
In Bombay, young
Elphinistonians, including Dadabhai Naoroji, Dadoba
Pandurang, Jambhekar, Karsondas Mulji, Baba Padamji and the militant,
Hindu, Vishnubuva Brahmachari advocated widow re
-
marriage. In
Poona,
reformers like “Lokhitawadi” Gopal Hari Deshmukh, Vishnu
Shastr
i Pandit
and
M.G.
Ranade
intensified
the
movement.
The
reformers
cited
the
authority
on
the
Vedas
for
widow
re
-
marriage.
Journals like the ‘Indu Prakash’ were wedded to the advocacy of widow
remarriage. The reformers founded, in 1866, the Hindu Widow Marri
age
Association (Vidhwa Vivahottejak Mandal). The object of the Association
was limited i.e. re
-
marriage of widows of the high caste according to the
authority
of
the Hindu Dharma
Shastras.
Opposition
to
widow
re
-
marriage
also
increased.
A
number
of
inhabi
tants
of
Poona submitted two petitions to the Government opposing the Widow
Marriage Legislation of 1856. A Society for the Protection of the Hindu
Page 118
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
110
Dharma was established. The Shastris, Pandits and other orthodox views
ganged up against the movement for wi
dow re
-
marriage. But the initiative
rested
with
the
reformers.
Vishnu
Shastri
not
only
translated
Ishwarchandra
Vidyasagar’s writings on the subject into Marathi and
published in the ‘Indu
Prakash’ but also brain stormed the principal towns
of the Deccan o
n the
lecturing tour and initiated a heated discussion in the
Marathi press and
meetings.
Vishnu
Shastri
also
challenged
the
orthodox
to
a
public
debate
on
the
question
of
widow
re
-
marriage.
In
the
debate
that
followed
in
March
1870
in
Poona,
Presided
over
by
the
‘Shankaracharya
of
Karvir
and
Shankeshwar,
the
reformers
alleged
that
the
Shankaracharya
had
tampered
with one of the arbitrators and persuaded him to lie since
religion was at
stake.
Nevertheless,the Widows Marriage Association claimed a moral vic
tory
–
a
victory based on the Vedic Authorities for “widow Re
-
marriage” and by
avoiding
any
significant
reference
to
Western ideas.
Ironically, the movement witnessed in 1870, an anti
-
climax. Gopal Hari
Deshmukh performed penance (“prayschitta”) in Ahmedab
ad and was re
-
admitted to his caste. This action by the President of the Window
Marriage
Association
caused
the
movement
a
set
back.
The
movement
suffered
a
further blow in the death of Vishnu Shastri Pandit in 1876.
Thereafter, for
more
than
a
decade
the
movement
remained
dormant
although
in
Bombay,
the
movement
was
continued
by
the
Gujarathi
reformers,
led
by
Madhavdas
Raghunathdas,
and by
the Prarthana Samaj.
Maharshi Dondo Keshav Karve also rendered great service to the cause of
widow re
-
marriage. He h
imself set the example by marrying Godubai, a
widow sister of his friend, in 1883, braving hostile criticism of orthodox
Hindus and their journals. With the co
-
operation of some friends,
including
R.G.Bhandarkar,
he
revived
the
Widow
Marriage
Association.
He
utilised
his
vacations for lectures on behalf of the Association in order to
educate the
public
on
widow
re
-
marriage.
In
1896,
he
started
the
Widow
Home
Association,
inspired
by
Pandita
Ramabai’s
Sharada
Sadan.
Justice
Ranade and Dr.Bhandarkar were als
o associated with it. Earlier, he had
established
the Hindu Widows
Home
which
was
aimed
at
making
the
widows self
-
supporting by giving them training as teachers, midwives or
nurses.
Since
its
establishment
in
1889
until
1915,
the
Hindu
Widows’
Home
got
25
Maharashtrian
Widows
married.
Thus the untiring efforts of reformers of Bombay and Poona, journals like
Indu
Prakash,
and
the
activities
of
Widow
Remarriage
Association
of
Vishnu
Shastri and of Social Conference of Karve began to fruit. By the
turn of the
20th
Century
they
had
succeeded
in
focusing
attention
of
the
Hindu
community
on
irrational
attitude
towards
the
question
of
Widow
re
-
marriage,
based
on wrong
interpretation of
the
Vedic literature.
11
.
2
.
3
Child
Marriage
Child marriage was one of the cruel custo
ms prevalent in India among
different communities since ancient times. It became a social practice after
the
medieval
period
due
to
the
alleged
fear
that
unmarried
Hindu
girls
Page 119
Contribution
o
f
Reformers Towards
Emancipation
o
f
Women
111
would
be taken away by the Muslim nobles or would be molested by anti
-
social
ele
ments.
Though
child,
marriage
seemed
to
solve
some
social
and
economic problems, it was harmful to the society and degraded women in
several
ways.
Nevertheless,
pre
-
puberty
marriage
became
a
social
tradition
in all parts in India. It was only in the ninete
enth century that enlightened
men Iike B.M. Malabari, M.G. Ranade, Dr. R.G. Bhandarkar and some
others
challenged
this
socially
and
ethically
degrading
custom
and
launched
a determined struggle against it. As a result of the efforts of reformers of
Bengal
the British Government of India had been persuaded to pass Act III
of
1872
abolishing
“early
marriage”
making
polygamy
a
penal
offence
sanctioning widow remarriages and interacts marriages for “parties not
coming under any of the existing marriage laws and
not professing any of
the current faiths. Inspite of the law, the evil of child marriage continued
to
be
widely
practiced
among people, including
those
in
Maharashtra.
The issue of child marriage was highlighted in 1880s by the Parsi reformer
and editor o
f Indian Spectator, Behramji M. Malabari. With a view to
place
his
views
on
the
twin
evils
before
the
public
and
government
officials
for
their
opinion,
he
suggested
that
Universities
should
not
give
permission
to
married
students
to
appear
for
examination
,
that
government
Departments
give
preference
to
unmarried
men
in
making
appointments
and
that
materials describing the evils of early marriage be included In
school text
-
books by the Education Department. He was supported by
such eminent
persons
as
Dr.
B
handarkar,
Ranade,
K.T.Telang,
Agarkar
and
Chandavarkar in his crusade against Child marriage. Ranade
suggested
that
the
government,
by
a
law,
must
fix
the
minimum
marriageable
age
both
for boys and girls (at 16 to 18 for boys and 10 to 12
for girls). He e
ven
suggested
that
the
Penal
Code
be
amended
so
as
to
declare
sexual
intercourse
with
a
girl
under
14
as
“rape”.
He
wanted
men
above
the
age
of
45
debarred
from
marrying
girls
who
were
virgins.
Likewise,
he
also
advocated a ban on marriage between young me
n with
girls older than
themselves.
Since,
in
his
view,
such
marriages
were
“unnatural
and
mischievous”. In fact, Ranade strongly advocated state
assistance to raise
the
age
of
consent
for
girls
from
10
to 12.
Malabari’s notes and Ranade’s suggestions on t
hem roused a storm of
protest, led by Lokamanya Tilak. one of the highly educated and advanced
thinkers
of
Maharashtra
and
a
prominent
political
leader.
Tilak
made
it
clear
that
he
did
not
object
to
the
proposed
reforms
as
such,
but
to
the
suggestion
that
a foreign government should interfere in the social reform
of the Hindu
Society.
The
British,
on
their
part,
did
not
show
any
hurry
to
enact
legislation
on the lines suggested by the reformers since they had
adopted a policy of
neutrality
on
social
matters
of
the
Indian
people.
Therefore,
Malabari
had
to
visit England thrice to appeal to the people of
England to bring pressure
upon
the
government
to
enact
legislation
prohibiting
child
marriage.
Despite
virulent
opposition,
Malabari
and
his
fellow
-
reformers
continued
their
campaign
for
legislation
fixing
the
age
of
consent.
Finally,
they
were
successful
in
securing
legislation
against
child
marriage,
know
as
the
Age
of
Consent
Act
of
1891.
The
Act
according
to
R.C.Majumdar,
‘‘was
a
poor
substitute
for
the
Page 120
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
112
pro
hibition of early marriage of girls, and from the very nature of the case,
its practical effect could not be of much consequence”. Nevertheless, the
Act,
by
forbidding
the
consumption
of
marriage
before
the
wife
had
reached
the
age
of
12,
succeeded
in
crea
ting
a
sense
of
awareness
among
the
Indian
people about the need to reconsider the custom of child marriage.
The Age
of Consent of 1891 can be regarded as a piece of human
legislation meant
to remove a glaring social abuse and emancipate women
from the mis
eries
resulting
from
an
early
marriage.
However, complete and immediate elimination of such social practice was
not
possible
because
social
prejudices
die
hard.
This
was
exemplified
by
the
marriage of Ranade at the age of 31 to girl of 11, against his will
. Ranade
tried
by
unsuccessfully
to
dissuade
his own
father
and
the
father
of
the
girls
from forcing that marriage on him. In difference to his father’s
wishes, he
had to consent to the marriage, but after the marriage, he
educated his
young
wife in libera
l
thinking.
Gradually, she grew in confidence, and in the first decade of the 20th
century,
became
a
leading
social
reformer
-
Ramabai Ranade.
Despite social orthodoxy and politically inspired opposition to social
reform
with
government
assistance,
Malabari,
Ranade
and
their
associates
succeeded
in
arousing
the
desire
for
reforms
among
enlightened
and
educated
section
of
Maharashtrian.
The
Age
of
Consent
act
was
a
signal
for
enlightened reformers and various associations to work for the betterment
of the lot
of females by saving them from oppressive and degrading social
customs.
No
discussion
on
women’s
emancipation
can
be
complete
without
reference
to
Pandita
Ramabai,
a
pioneer
in
the
reform
of
women’s
upliftment
,
Ramabai incurred the wrath of orthodox Hlind
us for marrying out of her
Maharashtrian Brahmin caste. After the death of her husband, parents and
brother
she returned to Poona.
Her
denunciations
of
men for
keeping
women in bondage, her marriage out of caste and her criticism of “popular
Hindusim” rous
ed the orthodox. Hindus, including Tilak, against her
though
they
admired
her
scholarship.
ln
Poona,
she
opened
the
Arya
Mahila
Samaj,
under the auspices of the Prarthana Samaj for social service among
Hindu
women. She also started the study of English lan
guages. Although
Ranade
and Bhandarkar Sympathised with her, her efforts to establish
branches of
the
Arya
Mahila,Samaj
throughout
Maharashtra
met
with
little
success
owing
to
the orthodoxy’s
hostility.
Dejected
and
piqued
at
the
attitude
of
the
fellow
Hin
dus,
Ramabai
approached the Christian missionaries for help. She went to England and
America
and
returned
to
Poona
with
promise
of
financial
support
for
educational work. In the meanwhile, she had got converted to Christianity
and
written
a
book
indicting
caste
Hindus.
In
1889
she
established
Sharada
Sadan
in
Bombay,
which
she
transferred
to
Poona
in
the
next
year.
Ranade
and
Bhandarkar
continued
their association with
her activities,
but
her
activities met with hostile opposition. Tilak denounced her as ag
ent of
Christian missionaries and alleged that she was engaged in conversion in
Page 121
Contribution
o
f
Reformers Towards
Emancipation
o
f
Women
113
the garb of imparting educational and social reform. She defended herself
by maintaining that it was their indifference and hostility that had forced
her
to
seek
assistance of
the
missionaries.
However, later, she was obliged to admit that she was doing proselytising
work
on
behalf
of
Christian
missionaries.
This
disclosure
made
Ranade
and
Bhandarkar
to
discontinue
their
association
with
Ramabai
declaring
that
that
their origina
l understanding with her had been broken. Nevertheless,
the
Arya
Mahila
Samaj
continued
its
work
and
gave
a
great
impetus
to
the
work
of
social
reform
and
social
welfare
of
women.
11
.
2
.
4
The Hindu Code Bill
Dr. Babasaheb rendered great service to all the women by
his emphasis on
equality. The preamble of the constitution of India
promises to secure to
all citizens justice. Parts III and IV of the
constitution have provided these
objectives which contain many
provisions providing for preferential
treatment for prom
oting social
status
of women and
children.
Dr. Ambedkar was truly liberator of the Indian women. He as
a Law
Minister submitted a bill which raised the age of consent and
marriage,
upheld monogamy, gave women the right of divorce and
treated stridhan
as wo
men’s property. However the conservative
opposition to the radical
proposals led to the postponement of the
Hindu Code Bill. Dr. Ambedkar
resigned in disgust due to attitude of
the
conservative
members
of
the
Constituent
Assembly.
Later sections of the Bil
l were passed as four
distinct Acts, The Hindu
Succession
Act
of
1956
made
the
daughter
as
the
equal
co
-
heir
with
son.
Monogamy
was
made
mandatory
for
man
and
women.Thus, Dr. Ambedkar devoted his entire life for the upliftment
of
all
sections
of
society
fo
r
the
overall
development
of
our
country.
Check
your progress:
-
Q.
What
were
the
difficulties
in
Emancipation
of
women
and
what
efforts
made
towards
its
realization ?
11
.
3
SUMMARY
Thus, it is clear that many of the social reformers took lot of
efforts for the
u
pliftment of Indian society. Most
of
the
social
reformers
worked
towards
the
emancipation
of
Women
and
because
of
their
efforts
many
important
issues were addressed and solved by them.
11.4
QUESTIONS
1
.
Explain the various problems of women’s in the 19
th
cent
ury of
Maharashtra
.
2
.
Trace
the
efforts
of
social
reformers
to
eradicate the various problems
of women’s in the 19
th
century of
Maharashtra
.
Page 122
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
114
11.5
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Balhatichet
K.A., Social
Policy
and
Social
change
in Western
India
(1818
-
1830),
Oxford
University
Press, London,
1961.
2
.
Charles
Worthy
Noel, Peasant
and
Imperial
Rule,
Agriculture and
Agrarian
Society
in
the
Bombay
Presidency, (1850
-
1868),
Cambridge
University
Press, 1965.
3
.
Chokesy
R.D., Economic
Life
in
the
Bombay
Deccan (1818
-
1839),
Asia
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1965.
4
.
Chokesy
R.D., Mountstuart Elphinstone, Popular Publishing House,
Bombay, 1971.
5
.
Dobbin
Christine, Urban
Leadership
un
Western
India, Oxford
University
Press,
London, 1972.
6
.
Dongarkerey
S.
R., History
of
the
University
of
Bom
bay, (1857
-
1957),
University of
Bombay,
Bombay,
1957.
7
.
Ghugare
S., Renaissance in Western India, Karamveer V.R. Shinde,
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1983.
8
.
Grant Duff, History
of
the
Marathas,
Vol.
I
&II
, Associated
Press,
New
De
lhi, 1971.
9
.
Kumar
R., Western
India
in
the
19th
Century, Ranfield
and
Kegal
Paul,
London,
1968.
10
.
Phadke
Y.
D., Social
Reforms
of
Maharashtra,
M.I.C., New
Delhi,
1975.
11
.
Varma
S. J., Mountstuart
Elphinstone
in
Maharashtra, (1801
-
1827),
Territories conquered fro
m
the Peshwas, K.P. Bagehi Co. Calcutta,
1981.
Page 123
115
12
CONTRIBUTION OF REFORMERS
TOWARDS UPLIFTMENT OF DEPRESSED
CLASSES
Unit
Structure
12
.
0
Objectives
12
.
1
Introduction
12
.
2
Contribution of reformers
12
.
2
.
1
VitthaI
Ramji
Shinde
12
.
2
.
2
Shahu
Maharaj
12
.
2
.
3
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar
12
.
3
Summary
12
.
4
Questions
12
.
5
Additional Readings
12
.
0
OBJECTIVES
After
the
study
o
f
this
unit,
the
student
will
be
able
to:
1
)
Realise
the
contribution
of
Vitthal
Ramji
Shinde
and
the
Depressed
Classes Mission of
India.
2
)
Understand
the
role
of
Shahu
Maharaj
to upliftment of
the
Depressed
Classes.
3
)
Study
the
role
of
Dr.
Babasah
eb
Ambedkar
to upliftment of
the
Depressed
Classes.
12
.
1
INTRODUCTION
Mahatma
Phule
was
the
pioneer
of
upliftment
of
the
downtrodden
V.
R.
Shinde
Shahu
Maharaj
and Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
worked
against
caste
-
system.
They wanted to eradicate inequ
alities, superstitions,
illiteracy from Society.
Through they were attached to different
organizations, they achieved their
goal
to
some
extent.
Page 124
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
116
12.2
CONTRIBUTION OF REFORMERS TOWARDS
UPLIFTMENT OF DEPRESSED CLASSES
12
.
2
.
1
VITTHAL
RAMJI
SHINDE
(1873
-
1944)
:
As
we
have
already
noted
that
social
reformers
of
Maharashtra
like
Balshastri
Jambhekar,
Lokhitawadi
Gopal
Hari
Deshmukh,
Bhadarkar,
Justice
Ranade
and
Jyotirao
Phule
gave
priority
to
social reform
over
political reform. Phule and Agarkar stressed the need t
o make the Indian
Society
fit
for
preserving
freedom
after
winning
it.
They
believed
that
freedom
was
meaningless
if
political
power
was
monopolised
by
a
privileged
few, and hence Phule had endeavoured to establish the principle
of justice
and
equality
by
emancipating
the
vast
non
-
Brahmin
masses
of
Maharashtra
from the social and religious bondage. Since men like Tilak
denigrated the
reformers
as
‘stooges
of
the
alien
government’
because
of
their
advocacy
of
reform
with
the
help
of
the
government,
most
of
t
hem
kept
away
from
politics.
In the early years of the Indian National Congress,
some of the reformers,
notably Ranade, were associated with the freedom
movement but as the
nationalist struggle came to be dominated by the
close of the 19th century,
by cons
ervatives such as Lokmanya Tilak links
between the reformers and
the
leaders
of
the
nationalist
movement
were
severed.
Until the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi on the national scene, both the social
reform and nationalist movements appeared to run parallel to e
ach other.
Consequently, social reform movement, especially the efforts to give a fair
deal to the Ati
-
sudras or the untouchables, received a set back. But one
reformer
Vitthal
Ramji
Shinde
made
repeated
attempts
to
re
-
establish
contacts between the social
reformers and the nationalist freedom fighters.
Finally, he succeeded in integrating social reform with, political reform,
and
persuaded
the
Indian
National
Congress
to
include
abolition
of
untouchability
in its
programme.
Born in a poor Maratha family on
23rd April 1873, Shinde was married to
a
then one year old when he was barely nine. Surprisingly, his family was
comparatively liberal in the observance of social customs such as
“Purdah”
and female education. He graduated in Arts with the financial
suppo
rt of a
prominent Poona lawyer, named Gangaram Mhaske, and the
enlightened
ruler of Baroda Sayajirao Gaikwad (1898). During the period
of his college
education.
Shinde
was
influenced
by
the
writings
of
J.S.Mill,
Herbert
Spencer
and
Agarkar.
After
his
gradu
ation
he
was
attracted
by
the
reformist
ideas of the leaders of Prarthana Samaj like
Ranade and Bhandarkar and
joined the Samaj. In 1901, he managed to
secure a scholarship to study at
the Oxford University on the condition
that on his return he would serv
e the
Prarthana
Samaj.
At
Oxford
he
studied
‘Comparative
Religion’.
On
his
return
to Bombay, he worked for seven
years as missionary of the Prarthana
Samaj.
Page 125
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
117
The
Depressed
Classes Mission
of
India
While
serving
the
Prarthana
Samaj,
Shinde
also
established
on
18th
October
1906,
the
Indian
Depressed
Classes
Mission
for
uplifting
the
untouchables. With Shinde as general secretary, and with the patronage of
the
Prarthana
Samaj
and
the
Bombay
Presidency
Social
Reform
Association, the movement quickly spread over
Maharashtra. Shinde and
members of his family, including his parents and his sister Janabai, took a
pledge to serve the untouchables. But his work in the Prarthana Samaj did
not
give
him
enough
time
to
spare
for
the
activities
of
the
Depressed
Classes
Mis
sion. In 1910 differences between him and the leaders of the Samaj on
organizational and other matters developed, forcing Shinde to give up his
work of the Samaj. From then on, he devoted his full time to the work of
the
Mission.
At the same time, fearing
that separatist movements on the basis of caste
-
would destroy the sense of unity so necessary for the success of the
freedom struggle, he starved for social justice as a part of the movement.
Since
the
non
-
Brahmins,
especially
the
Marathas,
formed
a
very
large
group
in the total population of the Bombay Presidency, he took the
initiative to
form
the
Maratha
Rashtriya
Sangha
(the
National
Union
of
the
Marathas)
to
maintain the unity of the Maratha Community. But
-
despite
his efforts, the
Marathas were divide
d into two groups i.e.one led by a
nationalist Maratha
and
the
other
by
the
Satyashodhak
Marathas
who
claimed
to
follow
Mahatma
Phule’s
teachings.
Hence,
Shinde
established
a
new
organisation
called ‘All India Untouchability League’ to safeguard the
intere
sts of the
untouchables
and
work
for
their political
rights.
In
1917,
with
the
help
of
Mrs.
Annie
Besant,
Shinde
successfully
persuaded
the
leaders
of
the
Indian
National
Congress
to
pass
a
resolution
demanding
eradication
of
untouchability.
When,
under
th
e
Government
of
India
Act
of
1919
Muslims
were
given
separate
representation,
he
petitioned
the
government for special representation in the legislature to
the depressed
classes. However, he lost the election which he had fought
on a general
seat, allotted
to Poona City, due to the last minute withdrawal
of support by
Shahu Maharaja. Thereafter, Shinde had to face a lot of
difficulties and
opposition
within
the
Depressed
Classes
Mission.
A
section
of
the
politically
conscious
untouchables
who
did
not
like
t
he
moderate
line
of
Shinde
on
the
issue
of
untouchability
sought
to
capture
the
organisation.
Hence,
he
entrusted
the
powers
and
responsibilities
of
work
of
the
Poona
Branch
of
the
Mission
to the
new
leaders
of
the untouchables.
When Gandhiji emerged on th
e political scene of India as the leader in the
political
struggle
for
independence,
Shinde
was
attracted
towards
him
as
he
felt his aspirations realised in Gandhiji’s social and political thought. After
having relinquished the responsibilities of the Depr
essed Classes Mission,
he
worked
as
the
missionary
of
the
Brahmo Samaj
in
1923
-
24,
and
participated
in
the
famous
Temple
Entry
Agitation
at
Vaikam
in
Kerala.
Later,
he supported the Jedhe brothers to organise the peasants movement
in
Maharashtra against t
he proposed rise in the land revenue (1928). He
took
part in Gandhiji’s non
-
cooperation movement, courted arrest and
Page 126
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
118
suffered
imprisonment for six months. But he had no peace of mind
because of
indifference shown towards him by the new leaders of the
untou
chables. A
decade before his death on 2nd January, 1944, Shinde
was completely
broken financially, physically and psychologically. Those
for whom he had
devoted
his
prime
years
almost
ignored him and
forgotten him.
Vitthal Ramji Shinde was a true follower
of Mahatma Phule. Though he
differed
from
Phule
in
his
approach
to
Hinduism,
he
was
convinced
that
there
was a widespread Aryan i.e. Brahmanic bias in the consideration of
India
civilisation. Therefore, he was in favour of abolition of the caste
system. He
dedicated himself to the promotion of the welfare of the
masses. More than
with anything else Shinde identified himself with the
uplift of the Depressed
Classes.
Wherever
he
went,
Shinde
opened
a
day
and
night
schools
for
the
children of Depressed Classes
he started hostels
and free dispensaries for
the children and adults of these classes. He sought
to create spirit of revolt
among
members
of
the
Depressed
Classes
against
existing
conditions.
The
Depressed
Classes
Mission,
under
Shinde
linked
up
work
in
s
everal
centres
in the Bombay Presidency and some in Madras
as well. According to S.
Natarajan the Mission was responsible for turning
out the leadership of the
next generation
of these
classes
and
for
inspring
in
them a
spirit
of
service.
Check
your
Progre
ss.
1
.
Give
an
account
of
the
work
of Vitthal
Ramji
Shinde.
12
.
2
.
2
SHAHU
MAHARAJ
Among
more
than
563
rulers
of
the
Princely
States
in
British
India,
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaja was a very enlightened monarch who made
genuine efforts to promote
the cause of
social ref
orm.
His fame rests
particularly on his defiance of the age old caste system and championship
of the rights of the Depressed Classes and his work for their emancipation.
His reforming efforts supplemented the activities of Mahatma Phule and
Vithal
Shinde
a
nd
in
some
ways
contributed
to
the
consolidation
and
spread
of the non
-
Brahmin movement in Maharashtra. However, his
victory in the
fight with the Brahmins during the ‘Vedokta movement’, his
success in
establishing
the rights of
non
-
Brahmins to perform
Ved
ic rites,
in fact,
strengthened the traditional upper castes, namely the Brahmins and
the
Kshatriyas. Hence, his victory In the ‘Vedokta movement’ was a set
-
back to
the anticaste system movement of reformers like Phule and Shinde.
Shahu
Maharaj was conside
red to be the main pillar of Phule’s
Satyashodhak
movement
and
the
movement
of
the
Maratha
Sudras
and
Ati
-
sudras;
but
he
never
accepted
full
responsibility
of
leadership
of
both
these
movements.
As
one of the writer has observed that he never fully
involve
d himself in these
two movements. In fact, in the last decade of the
19th century and early
decades of the twentieth century, he publicly
criticised the non
-
Brahmin
movement.
Page 127
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
119
Notwithstanding this criticism, it must be accepted that the Chhatrapati of
Kolh
apur rendered very valuable service to the cause of the upliftment of
women, the untouchables, their education and employment of the working
class. According to Dhananjay Keer, he abolished slavery in which the
untouchables, including the tribals, were hel
d for ages in his kingdom, and
gave them equal rights. Unmindful of his position as Chhatrapati Shahu
dined with the untouchables and thereby displayed his progressive attitude
towards the socially disadvantaged communities. He wanted to destroy
social
ine
qualities
and
caste
distinctions
because
he
regarded
these
as
evils
which had fragmented the Hindu Society. As Mathew Lederle remarks
-
“Shahu Maharaj in the spirit of Phule, worked for the upliftment of the
untouchables,
and promoted
the education of
the
masses.
In the very first year of his ascending the throne in 1894, Shahu issued a
directive
abolishing
the
system
of
forced
labour.
Realising
that
people
belonging to non
-
Brahmin caste would not be able to break the Brahmin
monopoly of administrative serv
ice due to lack of education, he prepared a
scheme
for
their
education.
He
was
determined
to
provide
equal
opportunities to the backward or Depressed Classes. Therefore, he whole
-
heartedly supported the establishment of students’ hostels on the basis of
c
aste.
In 1902, he issued from England an order reserving 50 percent of the
administrative posts under his government for candidates belonging to the
backward castes
-
a measure aimed at destroying the Brahmin stronghold.
For
instance,
in
1894,
out
of
71
of
ficers
in
the
General
Administrative
Department,
60
were
Brahmins;
in
1912,
there
were
only
35
Brahmin
officers
out
of
a
total
of
95.
Although during the period of the ‘Vedokta Controversy’, Shahu Maharaj
upheld the rights of the Marathas as Kshatriyas and
claimed that they were
superior to other non
-
Brahmin castes, he boldly took measures that struck
at the very roots of the caste system. Towards the end of his life, he
demanded
the
abolition
of
the
obnoxious
system
itself.
Calling
it
“the
greatest obstacl
e in the path of our progress”, he held that it was a crime to
support
the
caste system.
Shahu
was
one
with
his
contemporary
reformers
in
holding
free
and
compulsory education as the most effective remedy to cure the maladies
from which the Hindu Society s
uffered for centuries. He established
several
institutions of primary, secondary and higher education. The effects
of his
educational policy were visible even during his life time. For
example, in
1894,
the
Rajaram
College
at
Kolhapur
had
only
97
students
on
its
rolls,
out
of whom six were non
-
Brahmins. In 1922, there were 100
non
-
Brahmin
students
out
of 265.
During
this
period
the
number
of
school
going
students
in
his
state increased from 10,884 to
27,830 and
the number
of
non
-
Brahmins from 8,088 to 21,0
27 of whom 2,162 were untouchables
in 1922.
These
figures
bear
an
eloquent
testimony
to
the
Chhatrapati’s
sincere
efforts
to break the monopoly of the privileged few in the field of
education. All
teachers in government as well as private schools receiving
grant from his
government were asked not to discriminate between
students on the basis
of
caste.
Page 128
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
120
Likewise,
his
government
guaranteed
equal
treatment
to
all
patients
including untouchables in the hospitals. Partly under the influence of the
Satyashodhak Sa
maj, Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj, and mainly
under the influence of the Arya Samaj whose member he became in 1916,
Shahu
devoted
the
last
years
of
his
life
for
the
improvement
of
the
conditions
and
status
of
such
as
tanks
and
wells.
Separate
schools
f
or
the
untouchables were closed down and they were made to study in schools
belonging
to
the
upper
classes
along
with
high
caste
students.
Untouchables
were
permitted
to
practice
as
lawyers
and
compete
for
and
occupy
positions
traditionally regarded as the
preserve of the upper castes. His government
replaced the Kulkarnis (village accountants, mostly Brahmins) by Talathis,
and
offered
some of
these new
posts
to
the
untouchables.
The Brahmins, as was expected, resented the measure; but the policy had
far
-
re
aching
effects
on
the
administrative
machinery
of
the
villages.
The
ruler
of Kolhapur also sought to improve the lot of the Maharas by
abolishing the
traditional system of “Watan” and the “Baluta” system,
which had led to
forced
labour
by
the
villagers
bel
onging
to
upper
caste.
In
1918,
Chhatrapati
issued
an
order
abolishing
the
Mahar
watan
those
who
opposed
the
measure
were
liable to pay
fines
or
undergo
imprisonment.
Shahu Maharaja’s efforts contributed substantially to social development
among
all non
-
Br
ahmin and untouchable castes,
especially among the
Marathas.
The
activities
of
Jyotirao
Phule,
and
Shahu
were
a
reaction
against ‘Brahmin Nationalism’. But the role of these two champions of
non
-
Brahmins deferred. According to Gailomvedt
-
“they symbolize
d the
two
primary ideological trends within the non
-
Brahmin movement, one
with a
more lower class, the other with a more elite social base. Phule was
a
complete
secular
and
equalitarian
radical;
Shahu
leaned
toward
the
“Kshatriyas’
ideology”.
The
Vedokta
E
pisode
“Vedokta” refers to “Vedic religious rites which were claimed to be the
right
of all twice
-
born Kshatriyas and Brahmins”, as opposed to the
Puranic or
“Puranokta” rites which all Shudras were entitled to perform.
(Traditionally,
even the Vaishyas we
re included in the “twice born”
category.) Since the
background of the controversy could be traced to the
struggle between the
Brahmins and the Kshatriyas for supremacy from
ancient times, and the
space at our disposal is limited, we shall restrict our
dis
cussion to the
immediate
events
that
led to
the
movement.
However,
we
may
note
that
this
controversy
had
raised
its
head
in
Maharashtra
first
time
in
the
nineteenth
century
in
1837.
When
Pratap
Singh
was the ruler of Satara. To put an end to the vexed ques
tion about
the
permissibility of the Kshatriyas to perform the Vedic rites, he
summoned a
meeting of the leaders of both the castes, since the Brahmins
had been
arguing that they alone were eligible to perform the vedic
sacrifices and
rituals. The outcome
of the meeting was that the Brahmins
lost their case.
Aristocratic
Maratha
families
such
as
the
Bhonsles,
Ghatges,
Palkars,
Jadhavs,
Mohites,
Manes
and
Mahadiks’
were
now
Page 129
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
121
officially
declared
as
the
Kshatriyas.
Their
right
to
perform
Vedic
rituals
and
sacri
fices
was
confirmed
with
documentary
evidence.
The controversy reappeared in 1896 in Baroda, where rituals in the palace
of Maharaj Sayajirao Gaikwad used to be conducted in Puranokta”. Under
the
influence
of
Jyotirao
Phule,
Gaikwad
decided
to
adopt
the
Ve
dic
religious
rites
as
was
being
done
in
the
ruling
houses
in
Rajputana.
When
he
ordered
that the Vedokta religious rites be followed with effect from 15th
October
1896,
and
the
domination
of
social
and
religious
life
by
the
Brahmins
went
a
long
way
in
str
engthening
and
consolidating
the
non
-
Brahmin
and
anti
-
caste
movements. Although his efforts did not get much
favourable response
outside the State of Kolhapur during his own life
time, his struggle for the
emancipation of the untouchable castes from the
b
ondage of upper castes
provided the basis for the work of Jedhe Javalkar
and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Hence, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaja has been
called a revolutionary and
man
of
the people.
The
Kolhapur
Incident
While the “Vedokta” controversy was raging in Bar
oda and arousing the
Brahmins of Kolhapur as well of other parts of Maharashtra to agitate the
Gaikwad’s
action,
another
similar
controversy
but
of
a
greater
intensity
broke
out
in Kolhapur. In 1900
a dispute arose when
the ruler
of
Kolhapur,
Chhatrapati
S
hahu
Maharaj
discovered
that
his
hereditary
priests
in
the
service of his palace were performing only “Puronokta” rites for him
instead
of Vedokta rites. On enquiry, the priests explained that since he
was a
shudra,
he
was
entitled
only
to
the
“Puranokta”
sacrifices
they
were
performing. Provoked by their arrogance and also by their declaration that
he was a Shudra, and therefore not entitled to Vedic rites, Shahu Maharaja
ordered that all rituals in his court should be performed according to the
Vedas. Thu
s began a fierce inter
-
caste conflict, which gave a great fillip to
the
non
-
Brahmin
movement
in Maharashtra.
The
high
priest
of
Shahu,
the
Rajopadhya
refused
to
comply
with
the
orders
of his king to perform Vedic rites. Hence, the Maharaja confiscated
his
“Inam”
lands.
The
Shankaracharya
supported
the
palace
high
priest
against
Shahu;
enraged,
the ruler
of
Kolhapur
ordered the
confiscation
of
the
hereditary
lands of
the Shankaracharya
in Kolhapur.
Behind
the
“Vedokta”
controversy
there
was
the
burning
ques
tion
of
political
and social equality. It was alleged by the Marathas that the
Brahmins were
trying
to
sow
dissentions
in
their
Maratha
community,
and
were
trying
to
split
the royal families. But leaders of the Brahmin
community cleverly sought to
convert
the conflict between them and the
Marathas of Kolhapur into a
problem affecting the entire Hindu
community. They demanded that Shahu
should treat the “Vedokta”
controversy in that light and solve It, keeping in
mind that his decision
would affect the entir
e Brahmin Community in India.
However,
he was
not in
a mood
to compromise on the
issue.
Page 130
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
122
The conflict took a new turn when Lokmanya Tilak argued that Shahu
may
be allowed, in his capacity as the “Chhatrapati’’, to have Vedokta
rites. But
he
refused
to
ackn
owledge
Shahu’s
right
for
such
rituals
as
matter
of
family
right. In the end, the Maharaja resorted to coercion to
make the Brahmins
recognize his right to “Vedokta” rituals as he desired.
Both the Rajopadhya
and
the
Shankaracharya
yielded
so
that
they
cou
ld
win
back
their
lands.
But
this did not modify Shahu, his attitude was further
hardened towards the
Brahmins. He was convinced that only non
-
Brahmin power could force the
Brahmins
to acquiesce in
obeying
his
orders.
Therefore,
immediately
after
the
Vedo
kta
controversy,
Shahu
began
to
bring
non
-
brahmins into the administration of Kolhapur and in many other
ways
he
sought
to
weaken
the
position
of
the
Brahmins.
The
Maratha
nobility
was
happy to see “Brahmin nationalism” reeling under the blows
of Shahu’s
r
eforms. But, as Gail Omvedt points out “the new Brahmins,
who had come
into the administration, were non
-
aristocratic persons. They
began to pay
attention to the message of secularism and equality and
ceremonies to be
held
without
any
Brahmin
at
all
that
was
being
spread
by
the
Satyashodhak
Samaj.
However,
within
a
decade,
a
compromise
with
the
Vedokta
atmosphere was worked out in Kolhapur when many
ceremonies of the
Maratha
community
involved
use
of
the
sacred
thread
as
one
of
the
aspects
of the claim to
Kshatriyas status”. But, inspite of this
compromise, these
ceremonies were significant. They were conducted in
defiance of Brahmi
priests
by
trained
non
-
Brahmin
priests.
(The
social
and
political
significance
of
these developments will be discussed
in late
r
Unit).
Check
your Progress:
-
Q.
1. Briefly
describe
the
Vedokta Episode.
12.2.3
DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
was
a
great
modern
social
thinker,
a
born
fighter,
a
famous
advocate
&
a
humanist.
Dr
Ambedkar, who was born in
an “Untouchable” or
dalit community
called Mahar in Maharashtra, took a
leading role in promoting the
welfare of the untouchables & elevating
their status.
Being
the
most highly educated untouchable in India, Dr.
Ambedkar became
the
undisputed
spokesman
of
the
untouchables
a
nd
depressed
classes in India. He fought against many of the injustice done to
the
untouchables
by
establishing
a
political
party
&
a
couple
of
organisation
for
the upliftment
of the
untouchables.
Pandit
Nehru
rightly
described
him
as
the
“the
greatest
rev
olutionary
who
fought
against
all
the
oppressive
features
of
Hindu Society.”
CONTRIBUTION OF DR. B. R. AMBEDKAR TOWARDS
UPLIFTMENT OF DEPRESSED CLASS
Dr. Ambedkar had made it clear that his main aim in life was
to
remove
the
practice
of
untouchability
and
to
take
the
untouchables towards socio
economic equality and justice. In order
to make them socially & politically
Page 131
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
123
conscious he made the Dalits
aware of the indignities heaped
on them and
sought to oversee
their
pride
as
human
beings,
for
that
he
started
i
nitially
many
satyagrahas which included the demands of civil rights. There were
the
issue
of
public
places
like
roads,
tanks
etc.
He
organised
Satyagraha
for
temple
entry
also
but
he
was
very
clear
in
his
ultimate goal of
emancipation of dalits. Infact, i
t was an indirect
action
to
gain
political
and
educational
power
for
Dalits.
Dr. Ambedkar made an appeal to his people to change their
style of life to
suit to the needs to time. He urged them to stop the
dragging of dead
cattle, out of the village. He wan
ted them to give
up
eating
carrion,
alcoholic
drinks
&
begging.
He
wanted
them
to
become literates & send
their children to schools. Finally he wanted
them to dress well & have self
respect for themselves. Thus one of
his chief aim was to bring about a
rev
olution in the way of life of the
untouchables
&
in
their
aspiration
for
themselves
&
their
children.
In his efforts to raise the status of the untouchables, Dr,
Ambedkar
considered the caste system as one of the obstacles. He
expressed
his
great
disappoin
tment
with
the
caste
system
as
well
as the Varna system. He
even gave a call to destroy the caste
system in his famous book, “The
Annihilation of Caste” (1936). He
wrote
in
“Harijan”
in
1933,
“The
outcaste
is
a
by
product
of
the
caste
system.
Nothing
can
e
mancipate
the
outcaste
except
the
destruction
of
the
caste
system”.
As
an
expression
of
his
disillusionment with Hinduism, he embraced Buddhism along with
his
followers.
Dr.
BABASAHEB
AMBEDKAR’S
EVIDENCE
BEFORE
SOUTHBOROUGH
COMMISSION
British
Government
de
clared
that
it
will
form
responsible
Government
in
India
in
1917.
In
order
to
give
safeguards
to
minorities
to
prevent
their
political
rights,
British
Government
started interviewing various leaders
in India. British Parliament sent
a committee chaired by
Southborough in
order take the evidences
and
decide
the
policy
in
the matter
of
franchise.
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
submitted
written
evidence
to
Southborough
Commission
in
which
he
demanded
following
rights.
1
)
Untouchables
should
be
given
right
to
vote.
2
)
They
should
be
given
right
to
contest
the
election.
3
)
Their
should
be
separate
electorate
reserved
for
them.
4
)
Untouchable
representatives
of
untouchables
must
be
elected
by
untouchable voters.
5
)
In
an
untouchable
dominant
constituency,
they
should
be
given
reserved
seats
as
per
their
population.
Page 132
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
124
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
demanded
civil
rights
for
untouchables before
Southborough commission and it was the first
organized effort in modern
India to start civil rights movements of
untouchables.
BAHISHKRIT
HITAKARNI
SABHA
(
1924)
Dr.
Ambedkar
founded
the
Bahishkrit
Hitakarni
Sabha
on
20
th
July
1924
with
an
aim
to
spread
the
culture
of
education
among the depressed classes. Bahishkrit means ‘Exterio’ or ‘out
caste’.
For the betterment of the interests of such people; the sabha
started
a
hostel
at
Sholapur
in
January
1925.
It
was
basically
for
the high school
students whose expenses of on clothing, stationary
&
boarding
were
to
be
born
by
the
sabha
itself.
The
Sholapur
municipality was kind
enough to sanction a grant of Rs. 401
for the
maintenance
of
the
hostel.
The
Sabha
also
established
an
institution to inculcate a liking for
learning
and
knowledge
and
a
love
for
social
service
into
the
minds
of
the
students
of
the
depressed
classes.
The
students
soon
started
conducting
a
mont
hly
magazine called Vidya Vilas.
In addition, a free reading
room
in
Bombay
and
Mahar
Hockey
Club
was
also
started
for
recreation.
The
motto
of
the
Sabha
was
“educate,
agitate
and
organize”.
Ambedkar
classified
all
these
objectives.
On behalf of the Bahish
krit Hitakarni Sabha, Dr. Ambedkar
submitted a
memorandum to the Simon Commission demanding
joint electorates with
reservation of seats for depressed classes in
legislatures and opposed the
principle of nomination.
Then on
question
of
framing
a
constitutio
n
for
India
the
British
govt.
convened a Round Table Conference in London in
1930 for which
Dr. Ambedkar was also invited.
There he served on almost
all the
sub
committees
including
Minority
sub
-
Committee,
appointed
by
the conference. Dr. Ambedkar prepar
ed a draft of the declaration
of
Fundamental
rights
safeguarding
the
cultural,
religious
and
economic
rights of the untouchables.
He also prepared a Scheme
of Political
Safeguards for the Protection of Depressed classes in
the Future
Constitution of Self g
overning India and submitted it to
the minorities
subcommittee.
To Dr. Ambedkar, the Round Table
Conference laid the
foundation of self Government of India and
proved to be a successful so
far as the rights of the depressed
classes
were concerned.
Check
yo
ur
progress
:
1
)
Explain
the
work
of
Bahishkrit
Hitakarni
sabha.
MAHAD
WATER
TANK
SATYAGRAHA
(1927)
Of the attempts made to indicate the right to take water from
the public
watering places, it is enough to mention the case of
Chavdar Tank.
This
tank is situat
ed in the town of Mahad in the
Kolaba
district
of
Bombay
presidency.
This
tank
is
a
vast
expense
of water mainly fed by rains and
natural springs.
All its sides are
embanked
around
the
tank
there
are
small
strips
of
land
on
all
sides belonging to private i
ndividuals.
This
tank is an old one and
no one knows when it was built or by whom.
But in
Page 133
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
125
1869 when a
municipality was established by the Government, it was
handed
over
to
the
municipality
and
since
has
been
treated
as
a
public
tank.
The untouchables were
not allowed to take water from this
tank.
Dr. Ambedkar’s March to the ‘Chavdar Tank’ in Mahad, dirt
Kolaba in
1927, was really an historic event.
With the resolution
moved by Rao
Bahadur S. K. Bole and passed by the Bombay
legislative
Council
in
1926,
the
tank
was
thrown
open
to
all
untouchables who could not
exercise their rights due to the hostility
of
the
caste
Hindus.
Hence,
it
was
decided
to
convene
a
conference of the depressed classes at Mahad and
March was
taken
to
the
‘Chavdar
Tank’
on
20
th
March
1
927,
under
the
leadership of Dr. Ambedkar.
It was historic in the sense that for the
First
time in the history of India the untouchables demonstrated to
assert their
rights not only to fetch water but also symbolize the
event
with
equal
right
to
fetch
drin
king
water,
a
gift
of
nature.
However it was disliked by
orthodox Hindus and they opposed this
satyagraha. However, Dr.
Ambedkar established untouchables right
over water in
1927.
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Give
the
reasons
why
Mahad
Water
tank
Satyagraha
was
l
aunched?
BURNING
OF
MANUSMRITI
The burning of Manusmriti took place at Mahad on the 25
th
December,
1927.
The
function
was
a
part
of
the
campaign
for
establishing the right to
take water from the chavdar tank. It took
place
publicly
&
openly
in
a
conference
of
the
untouchables.
Moreover, the resolution proposing the
burning of Manusmriti was
moved
by
Gangadhar
Neelkanth
Sahastrabuddhe,
a
Brahmin
associate
of
Ambedkar.
This
event
shocked
all
the
orthodox
Hindus, Pandits, Acharyas & Shankaracharyas of the
coun
try who
exclaimed it as outlandish attack on their sacred Hindu
scriptures.
Dr. Ambedkar, at whose hands the smriti was burnt expressed
his
joy
&
demanded
a
new
one
to
reshape
the
life
of
Hindus
at
large.
This event was symbolically rejecting the rules so
specified & the
doctrine
of inequality at birth on which the caste system was based.
It was a historic
event which denied the unequal social stratification
and demanded for
social norms based on modern humanitarian
principles.
KALARAM
TEMPLE
ENTRY
SATYAGRA
HA
As an integral part of untouchability the untouchables were
denied entry
into the Hindu temples. The Kalaram Temple at Nasik
had been a major
place of worship for the Hindu devotees of Rama.
The untouchables
desired the temple open to them being Hindus,
but the trustees did not
agree. It was therefore decided to launch an
agitation Satyagraha for the
purpose. The struggle commenced on
2
nd
March
1930
&
continued
for
about
a
month.
During
the
Satyagraha, a fatal life attack on Dr. Ambedkar
was made & a
fig
hting of the untouchables & touchable took place. As a
result the
trustees closed down the temple for a year. On the temple entry
Page 134
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
126
movement, Ambedkar remarked that he did not actually want to
enter the
temple & touch the feet of the deity but wanted to asse
rt
the right of the
untouchables of temple entry, because they claimed
to be Hindus. Kalaram
Temple Entry Satyagraha was another civil
rights movement planned by
Dr. Ambedkar to establish the civil
rights
of backward caste.
DR.
AMBEDKAR’S
ROLE
IN
THE
BOMBA
Y
LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY
Dr.
Ambedkar
was
appointed
as
representative
of
untouchables in the
Bombay Legislative Assembly. Dr. Ambedkar
was
involved
in
work
of
Start
Committee,
which
was
constituted
by
a resolution in Assembly to
formulate policy regarding ed
ucational,
financial
and
social
development
of
untouchables
and
tribal
people.
Dr.
Ambedkar
visited
Belgaon,
Khandesh
and
Nasik
and
observed
the
conditions
of
these
castes.
He
made
valuable
suggestion’s to
the
committee.
ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES AND
POONA
PACT
To frame the future Constitution of India the British govt.
convened a
Round Table Conference in London in 1930 for which
Dr. Ambedkar was
also invited. He was present for all the three
conferences
and
raised
the
issues
of
Dalits
a
t
international
level.
First
Round
Table
Conference:
British Government arranged Round Table Conference in
London
in
1930
in
order
to
solve
the
political
problems
in
India.
Dr.
Ambedkar
put
forth
the
plea
of
untouchables
before
conference at an
internation
al level. The main intention behind it
was
to
give
political
safeguards
to
untouchables
in
the
future
Constitution of India.
Second
Round
Table
Conference:
On 7
th
September 1931 Second Round Table Conference
was
arranged
in
London.
Dr.
Ambedkar
demanded
se
parate
electorates for the
untouchables in the conference. Because of Dr.
Ambedkar’s untouchables
got political representation and political
voice in modern India. Gandhiji
attended the conference on behalf
of
Indian
National
Congress
and
strongly
opposed
the
Dr.
Ambedkar’s demand of separate electorates for
the untouchables.
However Ambedkar convinced the Conference and
asked them to
grant separate electorate for the political development of
Dalits.
Then Prime Minister Ramsey Macdonald accepted the demand
of
Dr.
Ambedkar
and
declared Communal
Award.
Poona
Pact (1932)
Gandhiji started fast unto death to oppose separate electorates
granted
to
the
untouchables
under
Communal
Award.
Dr.
Ambedkar
met
Ghandhiji
in
Yerwada
Jail
at
Poone
where
discussions were held
and an agreement
Page 135
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
127
was reached to. This
agreement is known as the Poona Pact (1932). Dr.
Ambedkar was
rather compelled to sign the Poona Pact against his will
sacrificing
the interests of his people to save the life of Gandhiji.
As per
the
pact,
the
Dalits
were
given
reservation
instead
of
separate
electorates.
Later on in his lifetime Dr. Ambedkar opposed this pact
and
demanded
separate
electorates
again
for
the
Dalits.
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Explain
the
three
Round
Table
Conferences
and
Poona
Pact.
MAHAR
WA
TANS
AND
DR.
AMBEDKAR
Mahar watan was another such issue called for an attention
of Dr.
Ambedkar. Mahar watan meant a piece of land given to a
Mahar, a major
caste among the untouchables in which a Mahar or
his family members
had to serve the village & the
Government day
& night just for some food
grains from the villages and meager
salary from the govt. Their services
were regulated by the Bombay
Hereditary offices Act, 1874. Moreover
there were 12 Balutedars &
12 alutedars for village to render their serv
ices
as villages servants.
Dr.
Ambedkar
described
it
as
an
atrocious
system
and
advocated
its
abolition
too.
But,
being
a
source
of
income,
some
Mahars
favoured its continuation. Hence, for their well being, Dr.
Ambedkar
introduced an amendment to the Bomb
ay Hereditary offices
Act of
1874,
which
aimed
at
freedom
of
contract
for
the
Mahars
&
suggested that the Baluta should be converted into a money cess
and it
should be collected with the land revenue. Thus Ambedkar
wanted
to
end
the
exploitation
of Mahars.
ORGANISED
MEETINGS
AND
CONFERENCES
Dr.
Ambedkar
conducted
number
of
conferences
to
make
the Dalits
aware of their rights. The following are the important
conferences:
a
)
Yeola
Resolution
(1935):
In a conference of Yeola, Dist. Nasik on 13
th
October, 1935,
Dr
.
Ambedkar declared that, “he was born as a Hindu but would
never die as a
Hindu” And expressed his regrets for the sorry state
of affairs and plight
of the untouchables at the hands of Hindus and
advised the people to
severe connection with Hinduisms & ch
oose
any other faith wherein
equality of status & opportunities would be
guaranteed. The Sikhs,
Muslims & Christians wanted to induce him
to embrace their religions.
They offered enormous funds and other
amenities not only for himself but
for his followers
as well. But he
refused all these tempting offers. His
attachment to Buddhism was
so
deep
that
no
other
religion
could
win
him
to
any
extent.
Therefore
he
converted
to
Buddhism
on
14
th
October
1956.
b
)
Mumbai
Elakha Mahar Parishad (1936) :
With
a
view
to
con
sidering
the
question
of
conversion
further, Dr.
Ambedkar organised a special conference of his people
on
May 30 & 31,
1936.
Page 136
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
128
Addressing the special conference at Bombay he told his
followers
to
remember
the
words
of
Tathagata
‘Atta
Dipa
Bhava’
and
asked
th
em
to
take
refuge
in
reason.
This
was
a
clear
indication
of
his
love for
Buddha
&
his Dhamma.
Besides this he summoned number of conferences where he
strongly
advocated
the
grievances
of
his
fellow
people.
ESTABLISHMENT
OF
THE
INDEPENDENT
LABOUR
PARTY
(193
6)
Dr. Ambedkar established the Independent Labour Party in
1936.
Its
main
objective
was
to
advance
the
welfare
of
the
labouring class including the
depressed classes. The main points of
the
manifesto
of
the party were
as
following:
A
)
To
start
new
industries
based
on
the
production
of
raw
material in
the
area,
B
)
Extensive
programme
of
technical
education,
C
)
Legislation
to
protect
the
tenants
from
their
landlords
&
industrial
workers
from
their
employers
in
respect
of
promotion
sick course
etc.
Thus,
the
Independe
nt
Labour
Party
put
forth
a
comprehensive
programme
for
the
upliftment
of
labourers
and
peasants. On behalf of the
party Babasaheb contested elections in
the Bombay legislature & got
elected among with 16 others in 1927.
It
was
a
great
success
to
the
India
n
Labour
Party
Society
in
Bombay with a view to establish and run the
ideal institutions for
promoting
higher
education
among
the
lower
middle
class
&
scheduled
castes.
The Independent Labour Party founded by Dr. Ambedkar
played very
important role to solv
e the problems of workers class in
India.
ALL
INDIA
SCHEDULED
CASTE
FEDERATION
(AISCF)
(1942)
The
All
India
depressed
classes
conference
was
held
at
Nagpur on 8 & 19
July 1942. It declared the formation of the All
India
scheduled
caste
federation
&
demande
d
separate
village
settlements at the cost of the govt.
The federation was labeled as
the ‘National Party of untouchables’ by its
opponents. It was on
behalf
of
the
federation
that
Dr.
Ambedkar
prepared
a
memorandum on ‘Safeguards of the scheduled castes’
which was
later
on submitted to the Constituent Assembly & published, under
the
title
“States
& Minorities.”
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Explain
the programmes of Independent Labour Party.
Page 137
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
129
DR.
AMBEDKAR
ROLE
IN
THE
VICEROY’S
EXECUTIVE
COUNCIL (1942
-
1946)
Dr. Am
bedkar was appointed as Labour Minister in Viceroy’s
Executive
Council
on
1
st
July
1942.
Dr.
Ambedkar
gave
representation to Viceroy,
stating the need to give 13.5 percent
reservation
to
backward
caste.
He
also
demanded
for
representation
of
backward
caste
in
Public
Service
Commission.
He
established
Employment
Exchange.
He
raised
the
representation
of
backward
caste
in
provincial
and
central
assembly. He
kept reservation in Government job’s for backward
caste. He passed
various legislations for the benefit
of Labours in
India.
Dr. Ambedkar played a vital role for the progress of workers
classes
in
his
capacity
as
Labour
Minister
in
Viceroy’s
Council.
DR.
AMBEDKAR’S
WRITINGS
Dr. Ambedkar was literary genius. He addressed number of
issues related
with Dalits
in his writings. He wrote on many subjects
like
Anthropology,
Sociology,
Economics,
Philosophy,
Religion,
Politics,
History
and
Law
etc.
He
wrote
Annihilation
of
Caste,
Federation Vs Freedom, Thoughts on
Pakistan (Pakistan or the
partition
of
India),
Mr.
G
andhi
&
the
Emancipation
of
the
Untouchables,
Ranade,
Gandhi
&
Jinnah,
What
Congress
&
Gandhi
have
done
to
the
Untouchables,
Mr.
Gandhi
and
the
emancipitation of the untouchables, Riddles in Hinduism, Who were
the
Shudras?, States & Minorities, The Untouch
able, Maharashtra
as
Linguistic Province, Thoughts on Linguistic State, Buddha & His
Dhamma, Revolution and counter
-
revolution and Buddha or Karl
Marx
etc.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar spread his revolutionary ideology
through
newspapers like Mooknayak, Bahishkr
ut Bharat, Janata,
Samta and
Prabuddha Bharat. He gave various speeches which
analyzed
Indian
social
system
and
it
gave
a
new
humanitarian
dimension to solve the problems of
suppressed and depressed
classes.
DR.
AMBEDKARS
EDUCATIONAL
REFORMS
In the field o
f education Dr. Ambedkar made many reforms.
Through his
Bahishkrit Hitakarni Sabha, Dr. Ambedkar established
many hostels for
the untouchable’s children. He also established
many
libraries
&
reading
rooms.
In
June
1928,
he
started
two
hostels.
He
establish
ed
‘Depressed
classes
education
society’.
In July 1945, he founded the ‘People’s Education Society’.
This
society
played
very
important
role
in
spreading
higher
education amongst the
depressed classes. This society established
number of schools and college
s
like Siddharth College (Mumbai),
Milind
College (Aurangabad)
etc.
ECONOMIC
PLANNING
OF
DR.
AMBEDKAR
Dr. Ambedkar was an economist by his basic training. His
writing on
economics covered a wide range of interrelated issue,
including
economic
Page 138
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
130
development
a
nd
planning,
the
capitalist
system,
alternative
economics
of
the
caste
system.
Dr.
Ambedkar
wrote
three
scholarly
books
on
economics:
(
i
)
Administration
and
Finance
of
the
East
India
Company,
(
ii
)
The
Evolution
of
Provincial
Finance
in
British
India,
and
(
iii
)
The
Proble
m
of
the
Rupee:
Its
Origin
and
Its
Solution
A distinctive feature of Dr. Ambedkar's scholarly contribution
is
his
perceptive
analysis
of
economic
dimension
of
social
maladies, such as, the
caste system and untouchability.
While
Mahatma Gandhi had defended
the
caste system on the basis of
division of labour, Ambedkar came out with a
hard
-
hitting critique in
his book
‘Annihilation of Castes’ (1936), pointing
out that what was
implicit in the caste system was not merely division of
labour but
also a division o
f labourers. Dr. Ambedkar's attack on the caste
system was not merely aimed at challenging the hegemony of the
upper
castes but had broader connotation of economic growth and
development.
He argued that the caste system had reduced the
mobility of labour a
nd
capital
which
in
turn,
impeded
economic
growth and development in
India. In his memorandum submitted to
the British Government titled
"States and Minorities' in 1947, Dr.
Ambedkar
laid
down
a
strategy
for
India's
economic
development.
As
a
Labour
Minist
er
in
viceroys
executive
council,
Dr.
Ambedkar
enacted number of laws for the betterment of labour,
peasants etc. He
initiated the multipurpose projects like Hirakud
project,
Damodar
Valley
project
and
many
other
to
solve
the
problem
of
water
and
power.
He
personally
visited
the
coal
mines
to
understand
the
grievances
of
mine
workers.
He
suggested
the
inter
linking
of
rivers
to
solve
the
problem
of
irrigation.
This
shows
his
far
sightedness and
true nationalst.
After
Independence,
Dr.
Ambedkar
became
the
fi
rst
Law
Minister of India.
Even while drafting the Indian Constitution (as the
Chairman, Drafting
Committee) in 1948
-
49, the economist in Dr.
Ambedkar
was
very
much
alive.
He
strongly
recommended
democracy as the ‘governing principle of
human relationship’
but
emphasized that principles of equality, liberty and
fraternity which
are
the
cornerstones
of
democracy
should
not
be
interpreted
narrowly in terms of the political rights alone. He emphasized
the
social and economic dimensions of democracy and warmed
that
political democracy cannot succeed when there is no social and
economic
democracy.
He gave an expression to the objective of
economic
democracy by incorporating the Directive Principles of
State
Policy
in the
Indian Constitution.
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Explain
the
economic
planning
of
Dr.
Ambedkar.
Page 139
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
131
DR.
AMBEDKAR:
CHIEF
ARCHITECT
OF
THE
INDIAN
CONSTITUTION
Dr.
Ambedkar
was
the
main
architect
of
the
Indian
constitution.
Dr.
Ambedkar
was
the
main
inspiration
behind
the
inclusion of special
provision in the
Constitution of India for the
development of the backward
caste and other backward caste and
minorities. He was elected as the
Chairman of Drafting committee
and worked tirelessly to prepare the draft
constitution within a very
short time. Though he was u
nwell during this
period, but he worked
a lot for the country which was well appreciated by
Dr. Rajendra
Prasad,
the President of Constituent Assembly.
Indian Constitution is one of the greatest constitutions of the
world
and
Dr.
Ambedkar
was
acknowledged
by
Colombia
University
by
conferring
him
the
degree
of
Doctorate
in
Law.
“One man, one vote, one value”, equality, liberty, fraternity
and
social
justice
is
the
important
feature
of
Indian
constitution.
DR.
AMBEDKAR’S
ROLE
AS
A
LAW
MINISTER
Dr.
Ambedkar
b
ecame
first
Law
Minister
of
India
in
independent India. He
formulated Hindu Code Bill which was put
forth before Parliament in
February 1950. Bill was associated with
the freedom of women and tried
to give various rights to women like
property,
inheritance
,
marriage,
divorce
etc.
However
it
was
opposed by the orthodox members of the
parliament and finally Bill
was
not
passed.
Dr.
Ambedkar’s
demand
for
allocating
the
reservation to Other Backward caste was not sanctioned by
the
contemporary
Government.
Due
t
o
this
reasons,
Dr.
Ambedkar
resigned
from
the
post
of
Law
Minister
in
1951.
However
later
on
he
was elected for Rajyasabha where he worked as a member till
his
death.
Check
your
progress
:
1
.
Explain
the political
work of Dr.
Ambedkar.
CONVERSION
TO
BUDDHISM
(1956)
Dr.
Ambedkar,
along
with
his
followers
converted
to
Buddhism on
October 14, 1956. About 4 lakh people witnessed this
ceremony which
began at 9.40 A.M. Its original venue was Bombay
but later on, it was
shifted to Nagpur. Standing Solemnly before th
e
image of Buddha they
recited there times “Buddham Sharanam
Gacchami, Dhammam Sharanam
Gacchami”. They bowed thrice
before
the
Buddha
image
and
offered
lotus
flowers
before
it
with
this
the
conversion ceremony
was over.
Dr.
Ambedkar’s
conversion
to
Buddhi
sm
was
in
search
of
the way for
liberating human minds from the clutches of Hinduism,
Chaturvarnya,
Caste
and
Untouchablity.
Dr.
Ambedkar
died
on
6
th
December,
1956
in
Delhi.
Philosophers had
interpreted the world but question was to change
the
world.
Dr.
Ambedkar
played
very
important
role
as
a
philosopher
and
as
a
mass
leader
in
social
revolution
in
India.
Page 140
History of Modern
Maharashtra
(1818 CE
-
1960 CE
132
12
.
3
SUMMARY
Thus, between 1900 and 1920, a mutual influence involving Kshatriyas
-
oriented
aristocratic
anti
-
Brahminism
and
the
mass
-
based
radicalism
of
t
he
Satyashodhak movement took shape. On the one hand, it brought more
“Vedic” outlook into the non
-
Brahmin movement such as the emphasis on
the
sacred
thread
ceremonies
and
claims
to
Kshatriya
status
by
the
Marathas of Kolhapur and its surrounding areas. O
n the other, the hostility
of Shahu Maharaja to Brahmin domination of Hindu education and culture
led to a climate in Which’ militancy and social radicalism grew among
educated
non
-
Brahmins.
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
played
a
pivotal
role
in
the
building
of
d
emocratic
movement
in
India.
He
wanted
political
democracy to rest on
social democracy. He strived hard against
chaturvarnya caste and
untouchability system. As chief architect of
constitution of India he
mobilized democratic revolution in India in
general
and depressed classes
in specific. His life and mission was
devoted for the upliftment of
oppressed and depressed classes in
India. Dr. Ambedkar is one of the
greatest social revolutionary of
India. Dr. Ambedkar was the emancipator,
of the depressed and
o
ppressed
classes
&
crusader
for
social
justice.
He
was
posthumously
awarded
‘Bharat Ratna’
in 1991.
12.4
QUESTIONS
1
.
How
did
V.
R.
Shinde
and
his
despressed
classes
Missions
function?
2
.
Examine
the
Role
of
Shahu
Maharaj
in
the
movement
against Brahmin
dominanc
e.
3
.
Briefly
describe
the
Vedokta
Episode.
4
.
Explain
the
work
of
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar
for
the
upliftment
of
depressed classes.
12.5
ADDITIONAL READINGS
1
.
Ambedkar
B.R.,
State
and
Minorities,
Thakkar
&
Thakkar,
Mumbai
1942.
2
.
Chaudhari,
K.K,
Maharashtra
and
the
Indian
Freedom
Struggle,
Govt.
of
Maharashtra, Bombay
1985.
3
.
Chaudhari
K.K.,
Maharashtra
State
Gazetteers,
History
of
Mumbai,
Modern Period, Gazetteers Department, Government
of
Maharashtra,
Mumbai,
1987.
4
.
David M.D., Bombay the City of Dreams (A History of
the First
city
in
India)
Himalaya
Publishing
House,
Bombay,
1995.
5
.
Dossal
Marriam,
Imperial
Designs
and
Indian
Realities:The
Planning
of
Bombay
City
–
1845
1875,Oxford
University
Press.Bombay
1991.
Page 141
Contribution of
Reformers towards
Upliftment o
f
Depressed Classes
133
6
.
Edwardes S.M., Gazetteer of Mumbai City and Island
-
Vols. I
-
III,
The
Times
Press, Mumbai,
1990
-
1910.
7
.
Kadam,
Manohar,
Bhartiya
Kamgar
chalvalinche
Janak
-
Narayan
Meghaji Lokhande, Akshar Prakashan, Bombay. Keer
Dhananjay,
Dr.
Babasaheb
Ambedkar:
Life
and
Mission,
Popular
publication,
Mumbai.
8
.
Khade
V.
K.,
British
Ru
le
and
Dr.
B.R.
Ambedkar:
The
Movement for
the Upliftment of the Downtrodden, Kaushalya
Prakashan Aurangabad
2011
9
.
Lederle Mathew, Philosophical Trends in Modern Maharashtra,
Popular
Prakashan,
Bombay, 1976
10
.
Morris M. D.,
The Emergence of Indian Labour in In
dia: A
Study of
Bombay Cotton Mills, 1854
1947, Oxford University
Press.Bombay
1965
11
.
Omvedt,
Gail,
‘Dalits
and
Democratic
Revolution’
-
Dr.
Ambedkar
&
the
Dalit
Movement
in
colonial
India,
Sage
Publication,
New Delhi,
1994.
12
.
Phadke Y.D., Social Reformers of
Maharashtra, Maharashtra
Information
Centre,
New Delhi
1975.
13
.
Phadke
Y.D.,
Visavya
Shatakatil
Maharashtra,
Mauj
Prakashan,
Mumbai.
14
.
Patel S. and Thorner A., Bombay Mosaic of Modern Culture,
OUP.
Bombay
1995
15
.
Patel S. and Thorner A., Bombay, Metaphor for Moder
n India,
OUP.
Bombay
1996.