53

Chapter III

POLITICIAN IN THE MAKING i

Curzon’s unprecedented policy towards the Princely States and the

Princes themselves, had an immediate though inadvertent spinoff effect.

For the first time a Viceroy of was articulating the very problems that the millions of state subjects laboured under. This viceroy, whose aim, though it was not to ensure the loyalty of the states subject to their rulers, but the loyalty of the Native Princes to the Crown of England, had for the first time devised a strong arm method, as it were, to ensure good government in the States. For the first time a dispassionate Viceroy asked for annual administrative reports, made frequent visits to the States that were quite often followed up by severe indictment of the Rulers. While

Curzon incited opposition and even the hostility of the Princes, the Foreign and Political Department as well as the political agents were on the reverse side. Curzon’s were the very ideas that formed the coherent basis upon which popular movements in the States were founded. 54

It was in Western that the first stirrings of national consciousness saw their birth. As we liave described earlier, the spread of

English education had a profound effect on the nature of responses of the youth in the early years of the twentieth century. The, iT^j)st important factor that enabled Maharashtra a lead over even Bengal ^ a s the mass movement and resurgence during the ^th Century when Namdev, and

Tukaram composed hymns, (abhanga), in praise of the Supreme One in

Marathi and Dhyaneshwar translated the Gita into Marathi — the language of the masses - so that every man could derive spiritual guidance through it. All of them, Namdev, Tukaram and Dhyaneshwar were not of the upper castes in the rigidly structured Hindu system. That the three got instant acceptance for the next four hundred years proved that the renaissance in

Maharashtra had cut across man made barriers. This spiritual and cultural renaissance enabled Maharashtra to "rise phoenix like from the very ashes of its apparent ruin.'"

It was , a son of the soil, who had converted the as yet abstract, though strongly felt, need for an independent identity, into reality, when he bound his people into a highly motivated, compact fighting force. 55 threw off the yolk of the Adil Shah (in whose army his father Shahji

Bhonsle, served as a general), established the kingdom that was later expanded into an Empire under the stewardship of the .

Western India had thus a keenly conscious, religious, cultural and political identity. This has been stated time and time and again in the numerous dispatches of the British wherein the educated intelligentsia in Maharashtra, especially the Chitapavan Brahmins were viewed as the unflinching opposers to British rule. Upon this was superimposed English education and young maharashtrians had found a whole new avenue to enhance and sharpening their skills to attain Independence. This was true of the Princely

States as much as it was true of the British provinces. The difference was that while the provinces were governed by the tenets of modern government, the rule of law, and freedom of expression within proscribed limits, the States had autocratic despotism that often meted out harsh treatment to dissenters. There was no guarantee of life and property and certainly no freedom of expression. Thus a well defined popular movement in the Indian States was both long in coming and slow in progress, being further hampered by no support from Ihe Indian National Congress and no 56 recognition from the British. Yet as new ideas of liberalism, democracy, accountability blew like a breath of fresh air across the state boundaries, by the first decade of this century the Princely States of Maharashtra seemed ready for a catalyst. And one of the earliest catalysts was Ganesh

Raghunath Abhyankar, a lawyer by profession and the subject of the state of , in Western Maharashtra.

The Abhyankars hailed from a little hamlet called Naringre in the

Deogad Taluka of the District, about 120 miles north of Goa.

The Abhyankars were Chitpavan Brahmins described by James Grant- Duff in his History of the Marathas as having "sagacity, good manners and intellect." It is known that the Abhyankars owned all the territories north of Goa and this brought them inevitably into conflict with the Ranes who had their stronghold in the village of Sanguelim in Goa.

In the village of Naringre stands ’the Samadhi’, the cenotaph of

Dinkarrao Abhyankar, the great grandfather of our subject. It was Ganesh

Raghunath who formed a trust in the early years of the century, that has since ensured the upkeep and maintenance of the monument. 57

Once the Peshwas had established their defacto control over the

Maratha confederacy, there began a gradual inigration of brahmins from

Ratnagiri and the Konkan, in general, to Poona. Moreover the Peshwas always found their brides from amongst the Chitpavan families of the

Konkan. fwhen the created a ring of Chitpavan brahmin states around , where the ’eclipsed’ descendant of Shivaji held court, many more avenues of employment sprang up. Thus it was that about 1760

Haripant Abhyankar, the son of Dinkarrao, decided to shift with his family to Lakshameshawar in the State of Mi raj (one of the Patwardhan states) where he was employed as a revenue official. It was here in

Lakshameshwar on the 10th May 1876, coinciding with the Vishaka Shudha

Panchami, that Ganesh the first born of Raghunath Hari, grandson of

Haripant Abhyankar, saw the light ofjjay. Ganesh Raghunath Abhyankar and his three younger brothers received their early education at the Kannad

High School in Lakshameshwar. This knowledge and command of Kannadi was to be put to use in the later years, by Ganesh Raghunath, in his legal practice. When around 1885 Raghunathrao was transferred to Mangalvedha a district in the , to take up the post of Mamlatdar,^ he sent his 58 eldest and youngest sons to Sangli, to obtain ’English’ education. Here during his school years he came in contact with Vinayakrao Mainkar who was his classmate, Wamanrao Patwardhan and Krishnaji Pant Khadilkar who were his seniors. These were his lifelong associates. While still at school Abhyankar formed a Social Debating Society where he invited his fellow students to speak and debate any issue of social import that they felt strongly about. He was helped in this venture by Krishnajipant Khadilkar,

Yashwantrao Kolhatkar and Wamanrao Patwardhan. It was here that young

Ganesh germinated and crystallized his ideas on the plight of the subjects of the Princely States. Soon he was contributing articles to newspapers and magazines in Sangli.

It was about 1889 that when he was 13 years of age, that Ganesh was married to a girl from the Gadgil family of Sangli, as was customary for brahmins in those days. In 1889 Janakibai, Ganesh’s widowed mother who, had set up house in Sangli for her sons, after the death of her husband

Raghunathrao a few years earlier, succumbed to the dreaded disease during the first Plague Epidemic in Sangli. To add to his misfortunes, soon his wife too succumbed to Plague in 1890, leaving behind an infant daughter 59

Ganga, affectionately called ’Gangutbai’. Undaunted, Ganesh began to give

tuitions in English to supplement his family resources and to ensure that he

and his brothers continued their studies. Suddenly Ganesh found himself

catapulted into the position of ’head of f.unily’ and the responsibility of his

three younger brothers and infant Gan^iutbai rested heavily on his young

shoulders. To help him keep house the boys asked their widowed

grandmother to live with them. In 1892 after completing matriculation,

Ganesh decided to shift his family to Poona so that while he could join the

newly founded Fergusson College, his brothers could join the New English

School.

r1 t As we have discussed earlier the reforms in Education and the spread

j of English education spearheaded by Monstuart Elphinstone and others had

its counter movement that Tilak and Agarkar started in Poona. These were

young men who were preoccupied not so much with their own future but

' with the future of India. "They felt the humiliation of foreign rule, I

criticized the policies of British officials, and had nothing but scorn for

(what seemed to them) the halting and feeble policies of the leaders of the

educated classes in India. They felt outraged by the subservience of the 60 titled gentry, the diffidence of the intelligentsia, the passivity of the masses, and the conceit of the Anglo-Indian administrators. They were convinced that India could build a future for herself by the efforts of her own people, and that the initiative for this had to come from the educated classes. The

Government had done something for English education; it had opened schools and colleges, but they were too few, and already there were signs that its commitments, particularly for higher education, might be reduced.

Moreover, how could Western education be a liberating force in India if it was directed by the officers of an alien government? The obvious solution was to provide Indian enterprise and management in education, to design it solely for Indian needs and interests, and to fill it from the fetters of official control. Tilak and Agarkar persuaded two other young men

Bhagwat and Karandikar, to join them in opening a private school in Poona.

A high school unaided by the government seemed a risky, almost a quixotic venture. Where was the money to come from?"^ They were fortunate in the support they received from M.G. Ranade (1842-1901) the maturest, the most prescient and probably the most inlluential Maharashtrian of his times as also of Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar who was an experienced teacher and 61 well known Marathi journalist. He had only just resigned his job in the

Ratnagiri government school to start a printing press, a publishing house and a school in Poona.

The New English School (NES) was inaugurated in Poona on the 1st of January 1880, amidst much speculation about its success. The NES charged lower fees than did the Government owned Poona High School and started with 35 pupils on its roll. At the end of the first five years in 1885, the New English School had 1009 students on its rolls.** "In 1882, Dr.

W.W. Hunter, who headed the Bombay Provincial Committee of the

Education Commission paid an extraordinary compliment to the school after an inspection: ’Throughout the whole of India, I have not yet witnessed a single institution of this nature. Without receiving any aid from the

Government, it can rival and compete with success not only with

Government High Schools in this country but with other countries as well."^ In 1884, Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay, presided over the annual prize distribution ceremony and personally endowed a prize. In the aftermath of this hard earned success, the Foundation of the school encouraged the to administer it and to 62 establish more schools and colleges on similar lines. On the 2nd of January

1885 the Deccan Education Society whose council included such luminaries like Ranade, Telang, Bhandarkar and William Wedderburn of the ICS, formally inaugurated a college that they named in honour of the retiring

Governor of Bombay, Sir James Fergusson. He also laid the foundation stone of the new college building.

At this point of time Gopal Krishna Gokhale^ had just graduated from the Elphinstone College, Bombay and was weighing the prospects of pursuing one of the different professions - law, engineering and the civil service. Instead in January 1885 he offered for the humble post of a teacher in the New English School, Poona, and enrolled himself as a life member of the Deccan Education Society in 1886. Gokhale always harboured personal ambitions, yet he almost began to hero-worship Tilak and Agarkar especially when he witnessed the trial and subsequent imprisonment of the two in the Barve case.’ During 1884 Gokhale was able to see Tilak and Agarkar at work and "his admiration for them fanned his youthful idealism and drowned the voice of his own ambition and the warnings of his family."* 63

The success of the Deccan Education Society really depended on the friendship and cooperation between Tilak and Agarkar. While the two jointly edited the Kesari and Maratha and wore the halo created by the jail term spent as a result of the Barve case, they soon began to have serious differences in their basic outlooks about politics and social policy. Agarkar made no effort to conceal his agnosticism. His was a rationale mind that had been fed on Mill and Spencer. He was a man who would never compromise on principle no matter the consequences. He defied tradition, denounced the caste system, untouchability and infant marriages. He did not see why a Hindu widow should not wear the ’Kunkum’ mark on her forehead. He advocated co-education and jobs for women on an equal basis with men. Though he died at the age of 39 in 1895, he was a man of such modern views that he would have felt quite at home in the India of today.

In politics too Agarkar was totally radical. In an editorial in his newspaper ’Sudharak’, that he set up after his final split with Tilak,

Agarkar wrote, "If the greed of the Governinent grows boundless and the poverty of the people becomes unbearable, the grand superstructure of the

Government built by the English in India is sure to tumble down."’ 64

On 28th December, 1891 Agarkar wrote in the Sudharak that the

Indian National Congress should demand an Indian House for the people on the model of the British House of Commons. He conceded that while it would be difficult to shake off the yoke of foreign domination, it was his belief that in the final analysis the British would give up political control rather than their trade with India. Tilak endorsed Agarkar’s radical views in so far as politics was concerned but not so in social matters. At first this difference began to show up in signed articles in the Kesari, but obviously this was not a workable arrangement. Agarkar broke off his connections with the Kesari and Maratha and launched a bilingual newspaper which he called ’Sudharak’. While Agarkar edited the Marathi section of the paper,

Gopal Krishna Gokhale who had become something of his protege, edited the English section. Thus "the war of words which had first started in a subdued tone in the columns of the Kesari henceforth raged with unmitigated fury in the rural papers. Agarkar and Tilak were both masters of Marathi prose, and especially of hard hitting phrases.'® Their differences and personal antagonisms soon made it impossible for the two to co-exist in the Deccan Education Society. It was however Tilak who 65 found that the views and arguments he put forward in the meetings of the

General Council of the Society fell flat and he did not get any support from

Justice Ranade and R.G. Bhandarkar. In 1890 Tilak resigned from the

Society.

In retrospect this was probably the best thing that could have happened to Tilak who was already a popular journalist and was poised to becoming one of the foremost politicians of his time. He was at a threshold that required larger audience than undergraduates at the Fergusson College, and in any case, if contemporary accounts are any indication, he was not a very good teacher either. For he was a born politician and a gifted journalist. The decade of the 1880’s heralded stirring times in Maharashtra as the impact of western education resulted in a charged atmosphere of expectancy. "In this atmosphere the more energetic members of the Deccan

Education Society and teachers of the Fergusson College - Apte, Agarkar,

Tilak, Gokhale and Namjoshi - were not content to be only teachers: they wanted at the same time to be authors, social reformers, orators, politicians.

In seeking this versatility, they were following in the footsteps of such veterans as Gopal Hari Deshmukh, V.N. Mandalik, K.T. Telanag, and 66

M.G. Ranade who had not let their professional obligations (even when

they were in government service) interfere with their intellectual and

political pursuits."

Though Gokhale was not at first involved with the ongoing feud

between Tilak and Agarkar, he soon found that he had incurred the distrust

of Tilak by virtue of being an intimate friend of Agarkar. As one of the

editors of ’Sudharak’ he often found himself in the thick of the fray and

figured quite often in the factional disputes within the Deccan Education

Society. "His request for a loan of Rs.500, his textbook on arithmetic, his

election as secretary of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, his appointment as

editor of its journal added meat to the controversy between Agarkar and

Tilak. "'2

In 1892 Agarkar became principal of the Fergusson College. Three

I years later in 1895 he died. Gokhale owed his initiation into journalism to

I Agarkar as well as his respect of western thought and culture. "But it was

also Agarkar who had inspired in him a inveterate distrust of Tilak. This

distrust was in course heartily reciprocated by Tilak. And the memories 67 of the feud and distrust poisoned the politics in Maharashtra, indeed in India for the next two decades."

It was at this juncture in 1892 that Ganesh Raghunath Abhyankar enrolled as an undergraduate at the Fergusson College. During the four years he spent there he came under the influence of Tilak and Gokhale.

Gokhale had already made his entry into political life, while continuing with his lectures initially in mathematics and later in literature, history and political economy at the Fergusson College.

Ganesh had already started contributing articles about the conditions in the Princely States to Tilak’s weekly ’Mahratta; so during his last year in the English School, Sangli, when he shifted to Poona he began to assist its editor N.C. Kelkar.'** It was in this period, during his frequent visits to the Gaikwadwada where Tilak lived and from where he brought out his

Marathi newspaper Kesari and bilingual weekly ’Maratha’, that brought the young Abhyankar to the notice of Krishna]ipant Athalye, an intimate friend of the Tilaks and the family of Gopal Hari Deshmukli. Athalye was obviously impressed by him. He suggested to the ’Lokhitvadi’ a marriage match between his grand daughter Krishna and Ganesh in whom he foresaw 68 great potential and promise, despite tiie hardships that he laboured under and the obvious difference in the social status of the Deshmuljhs and the

Abhyankars. While the Deshmuidis were part of the established Poona gentry and lived in the sprawling and magnificent ’Deshmukhwada’, in the

Sadashivpeth, a little distance away from the Tilak’s Gaikwadwada (so called because it belonged to the Gaikwad of Baroda who had rented it to

Tilak), The Abhyankars lived in a rather modest rented dwellings.

Krishna was at this time ten years old and was the only daughter, amongst three brothers, of Laxman Gopal, the youngest of Gopal Hari

Deshmukh’s six sons. Rao Bahadur Laxman Gopal Deshmukh was in the

Indian Covenanted Service and was at the time Assistant Collector of

Hyderabad in Sind (now in Pakistan). Krishna who was born in 1885 went to a school for girls until she completed the fourth standard. Then as she was deeply interested in ancient languages and literature, her father employed a tutor to teach her Prakrit and Sanskrit. This training and knowledge helped Krishna to emerge as a versatile writer and a well-known poetess in Marathi and Kannad. Her work was fearless and carried a social message. 69

Ganesh having obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree with law as one of his subjects in 1896, proceeded to Bombay where he enrolled in the

Government Law College for LL.B. In 1898 Ganesh married Krishna whom he rechristened ’Laxmi’, in keeping with the brahmin tradition. At the time of the wedding Rao Bahadur Laxman Gopal Deshmukh was collector of Sholapur.

Ganesh Raghunath completed his LLB in 1900 and decided to return to Sangli to begin his legal practice at the courts there. When he landed in

Sangli, Abhyankar discovered that he was the only qualified lawyer in the court. This of course gave him an immediate headstart in his career, while his proficiency in both Kannad and Marathi ensured him a constant stream of not just Maharashtrian clients but also rich Lingayats from the adjoining

Kannad speaking areas. The first brief tliat he got was the ’Tikekar

Forgery Case’. The success of this case established him as a clever and hardworking lawyer. He made it a rule never to take more work than he could handle and was scrupulous about preparing his cases thoroughly with facts and law points. If there ever arose a situation when he felt even 70 slightly unprepared, he sought a fresh date, ratlier than ride roughshod through the day.

In the early years, the young lawyer found that soon his legal practice spread to the adjoining areas of Jamkhindi, Budhgaon, ,

Kolhapur, Mudhol and Icchalkaranji. His reputation of being brilliant, of having a thorough knowledge of law, and of paying the utmost attention to detail was to serve as a launching pad for the crusade he undertook on behalf of the States’ Subjects in the years to come. Abhyankar also took on public litigation cases besides civil and criminal suits. The vs Wadi Pujari case, Miraj State vs Shri Sholu, the Sangli Bank Theft case were amongst the landmarks.

For Laxmibai, affectionately called "vahini" by her three younger brothers-in-law, it was a sudden change from the languorous grandeur of her father’s home, where she was the apple of his eye, to the position of

’mistress of the house’ charged with the welfare of not just her brothers-in- law but also the responsibility of bringing up her young step daughter

Gangutai. 71

As Abhyankar consolidated his practice, his standing in the Sangli

Society rose and inevitably he was drawn into public life. The events of the year 1901 were to prove decisive in the career of Ganesh Raghunath

Abhyankar. On 12th December 1901 Tatyasaheb, the Chief of Sangli, died at the age of 65. He had been ailing For some months but his illness took a serious turn when he caught a chill during a visit to a temple about 14 miles from Sangli. The deceased chief did not have a male heir and had failed to adopt one during his lifetime. The question of succession thus came up for decision. When it was finally ascertained that the younger

Rani was not pregnant, as had been rumoured, Vinayakrao Bhausaheb, a young boy of 12 years and the great grandson of Vinayakrao, who had originally been adopted by Chintamanrao, the first Chief of Sangli, was selected by the Government to be the successor of the late Tatyasaheb. He was adopted by the elder widow of the deceased Chief as her son and renamed Chintamanrao Appasaheb.'^ After the death of the Chief the administration of the Sangli state was carried on by the political agent,

Kolhapur and the Southern Maratha Country, for a few months until the

Government appointed Mr. Achyut Bhaskar Desai to be the Administrator 72 of the State during the minority of the chief. Mr. Desai held the charge till the 17th February 1905 when he retired on pension and was relieved by

Lieutenant RJC Burke.

Lt. Richarde John Charles Burke of the 2nd battalion, Highland

Light Infantry, born on the 5th of May 1878, was seconded to the Political

Department in Augsut. 1902 vide letter No.5781 of the Bombay

Government, in the acting appointment of Assistant Political Agent 2nd grade, to fill in the vacancy created by Captain Beal who had gone on furlough to England. After his term Lt. Burke was to be reverted back to military service, but he had requested to be retained in Political Department and finally by Government of Bombay Order dated 15th February 1905 he was appointed Administrator in the Sangli State during the minority, in succession to A.B. Desai. Burke was a man better suited to a career in civil service and while he subscribed to the view of the Viceroy Lord

Curzon that periods of minority should be put to use in piloting reforms in the states, he was also a true liberal at heart. The net result was that

Richard Burke envisaged the creation of an institutional framework to administer the state of Sangli that could only be described as ’democratic’. 73

In this he needed a souhnate who was also a man of substance and standing.

G.R. Abhyanicar was such a man who while a well established lawyer in

Sangli by now, had also been appointed Public Prosecutor by the State of

Sangli. Moreover he was also a man trained in the liberal and democratic tradition of Agarkar and Gokhale. Abhyankar continued to keep in close contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale in Poona and when the Servants of

India Society was established in Poona in 1905, Abhyankar became an

Associate Member, regularly contributing weekly articles to the society’s newspaper "Servant", a forum in which he used to launch scathing attacks on the autocratic administrations in the States demanding fundamental rights and a representative government for the States’ Subjects.

The new administrator at once set to work. As the first step towards developing local self-government in Sangli, he introduced elections of office bearers for the Sangli Municipality in October 1905, in accordance to the

Bombay Act ill of 1901. Of the 18 seats of the Municipal Councillors,

7 were thrown open to popular elections and of the 11 nominated members,

4 were non-official. The executive functioning of the Municipality was entrusted to a Managing Committee elected from the general body. lA

Abhyankar became the first non-official elected President of the Sangli

Municipality in 1905 and served until his resignation in 1921. The Sangli

Municipality had been established in 1876. Until then work similar to that which the municipality was responsible for was carried on by the Ganpati

Sanasthan. When the Sangli Municipality was established it had a framed guideline and Book of Rules based broadly on the Bombay Act IV of 1873.

It provided for a governing body of 11 members of whom 9 were state officials. Though in the succeeding years the number of official members was reduced, the governing body was characterisied by the overwhelming predominance of State appointed members, by the existence of an official

President, a system of nomination and an executive centered in a single individual. The sweeping changes that Lt. Burke initiated and that

Abhyankar carried to their logical conclusion, made Sangli the focus of those who agitated for reforms towards local self-government in the British

Provinces.

The new administrator R.C. Burke introduced elected representation to the governing Council of the Sangli Municipality, and Abhyankar was its first elected President, a post he held from 1906 to 1921 when the State 75

Municipality saw its true genesis, growth and development. The business

of the Municipality was controlled by a body consisting of 16 councillors,

8 of whom were elected by the citizens of Sangli while the other 8 were

nominated by the State. The town was divided into three wards, i.e. the

old town, the new town and the Khan. While the fonner two elected three

members, the latter elected two. The general body had control of the

finance, the powers to sanction the annual budgets of the Municipality and

every important initiative or decision had to be ratified by this body.

Meetings were on an average once a month and were presided over by the

President. Abhyankar brought to bear his inherent methodical mind and

vision to this job and set about in earnest to modernise Sangli. Lt. Burke

interacted with Abhyankar at every stage. Both men were almost the same

age and as luck would have it, Burke v.'.is indeed a very democratic minded

man. In Curzonian style Burke used the period of minority to effect

changes towards the development of self governing institutions in Sangli.

This was indeed a happy chance because for Abhyankar it was his first and

initial phase of a formal entry into public life that lent stature to the success

1 of his newly established legal practice. It also afforded him an official and 76 bonafide platform from which to transhite his concepts of local self government into concrete actions. It might even be said that Capt. R.C.

Burke was a catalyst that sparked the political and public career of Ganesh

Raghunath Abhyankar. In the Report on the Native Press of Bombay

Presidency and Native States under the political control of the Bombay

Government for the year 1905, it is noted on page 42 that "Lieutenant R J.

Burke’s appointment as Administrator of Sangli State was at first looked askance on the grounds that the new administrator was a European and a comparatively junior officer. Later on, however, an ungrudging tribute of praise was paid to Lt. Burke’s work in Sangli and it was acknowledged that he had "won golden opinions" by his "able and sympathetic administration."

At the same time Abhyankar had his first introduction to refining the methodology of official parleys with the British Government. This on-the- job-training, as it were, created a foundation that was to stand him in good stead in his numerous negotiating efforts to promote the cause of the States’

Subjects.

Thus we find that in 1921 when Abhyankar relinquished charge as

President of the Sangli Municipality he had bequeathed to the town a firm 77

foundation of democratic institution, a healthy financial corpus and an

efficient, accountable administration. In 1935 when Abhyankar succumbed

to the diabetic coma that had gripped him. Sir Chintamanirao Patwardhan, the Saheb of Sangli was to wrile, "...He more than justified his

frequent nomination by the Governmeni of Sangli State as President of the

Sangli Municipality and as member of the Slate Assembly, and he played a prominent part in building up the five civic traditions of both these institutions. The influence he was able to exercise on the public life of the

Sangli State was its greatest asset.""’

Capt R.C. Burke who was lauded for his work and "able and sympathetic administration"'’, however had to proceed on leave from

Sangli under a cloud in September 1911 and it was through the personal

efforts of the of Dewas (Junior) who wrote to the British

Government asking for Burke’s services as his P.A. that he was able to

rehabilitate. In a letter dated 7-8-1911 the Hon’ble Mr. M.F. O’Dwyer

CSI, Agent to the Governor-General of Central India, wrote to the

Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department'* thus,

"The latter (Lt.Burke) who has for some years been under a cloud, is now 78 making a genuine attempt to retain his position, and to assist him in that object HH has after full enquiry and consideration applied for the Services

)f Capt. Burke who by his knowledge of and the life of klarathi states is eminently fitted for the post."

Whatever the reasons for the unceremonious departure of Richard ohn Charles Burke from Sangli, that Abhyankar and he continued to have varm regards and esteem for each other is evident from the letter

Abhyankar received dated 9th August,’30.

Although after the announcement of the Montague-Chelmsford

Reforms (Montford Reforms) with its official enunciation of the concept of he progressive development of self-governing institutions in India,

^bhyankar’s activities in the political arena were spurred on, he had been

. political activist who took the lead in helping create forums where the

)oor farmer or ryots could ventilate their grievances. Once more it was Lt. i.J.C. Burke who provided the comprehension and legitimacy to this

;rassroot level democratic programme.

By office order No. 1518 of 13th May 1907 the Administrator

.vt.Burke notified thus, "In the course of his touring the Administrator, has 79

come across many instances of the manner in which the requirements of the

Ryots have been neglected in the past. It is necessary to give specific

instances but it is sufficient to state that the result of the Administrator’s

observations leads to the inevitable conclusion that either the Touring

officers of the State have greatly neglected their duty in the past or that the

Huzur (Chief of Sangli) has repeatedly ignored their recommendations. Be

the reason what it may, the results are most discreditable to all concerned

and it is of primary importance that such a state of affairs should as far as

may be, be rendered impossible in the future. For this purpose it is

necessary to devise some means by which the Ryots of every village in the

State will periodically be enabled to lay their grievances before the Huzur...

The administration feels sure that sympathetically worked the scheme will

at least dq something to ensure the greater happiness and comfort of the

bulk of the rural population of the State and with that main object in view

he is pleased to establish the following Representative Ryot Assembly and

Ryot Sabhas." This scheme divided each Taluka into subdivisions based on

the size and each of these divisions had a divisional assembly. Every

village with a population of 1,000 or over was allowed to elect two 80 representatives while villages with less than 1000 could elect only one.

Franchise was given to ryots who paid at least Rs.5 per year in land revenue to the village Treasury in the first case and to those paying at least

Rs.25 per year in the second case. These assemblies met each year in first half of April for one day. The enlire procedure of fixing the date, establishing, dissent or consensus on issues to be discussed and communicating decisions taken were the responsibility of the Mamletdar.

The divisional assembly was to also elect two members who would represent them in the Taluka Assembly. No travel or daily allowance was paid to the divisional assembly members and the subject on which they could deliberate included necessities of wells, dharmshalas, schools, roads, management of the village endowments, village committees, need for agricultural implements, any complaints as to the working of any state order, in fact, any grievance of a public nature.

The Taluka Assembly consisted of the elected representatives from the Divisional Assemblies as well as one number on behalf of each municipality in the Taluka, one member representing the trading community in the villages of Shahpur and Rabkavi in their Taluka Assemblies. Here 81 too the Taluka Assembly met in the first fortnight of April for one day decided by the Mamlatdar. The Taluka Assemblies elected two members to represent them in the State Assembly. The Taluka members were to be paid both a daily and travel allowance.

The State Assembly consisted of representatives of the Taluka assemblies as well as

1. A member elected by the Sangli Municipality.

2. A member elected by the Sangli traders.

3. The assistant Chief Revenue officer.

4. The Chief Medical Officer

5. The Nyayadhish

6. The State Engineer

7. The Ganpati Manager

8. The Deputy Education Inspector

9. Six Mamlatdar

These State Assemblies or Sabhas were able to function and be really effective not only as a vehicle through which the ryots could bring their difficulties and grievances to the notice of the Ruler but also in matters 82 related to the local boards and education. In every Taliika an Educational

Board and a local board were established and each had three of its seven members sitting in the local sabha, thereby infusing into these boards a vitality they would otherwise not have possessed. In Educational Board matters it was Abhyankar’s close links with G.K. Gokhale’s Servants of

India Society and the Deccan Education Society that helped give the required impetus to innovative reforms.

In 1919 Abhyankar had moved to establish the ’Mahila Varga’

(educational classes for women) in Sangli. On the 2nd June 1919 G.K.

Devdhar of the Servants of India Society wrote to Abhyankar, "I was glad to know that you have started the Mahila Varga and reorganised the Girls’

School on the lines settled... I would, however, much like to visit the Varga in its infancy and shall arrange to go there in the month of July. Kindly let me know two or three dates in the first week of July which will be convenient to you all to show me the classes and other works.

On the political front during tiiese years Abhyankar established the

Daxini Sansthan Hitvardhak Sabha or the Deccan States’ Subjects

Conference in Poona under the auspiccs of the Servants of India Society. 83

This apex body had under its umbrella State Subjects Conference in all the

Deccan States and it met regularly lo elevate constitutional reforms.

Abhyankar always stood out as the prime mover and made hard hitting

speeches, especially on occasions when be presided over the meetings of the

apex body.-” More so after the incident during the 1924 meeting at Sangli

(Kupwad Conference) got him into trouble with the Chief of Sangli that lost

him his job as Public Prosecutor.

In early 1924 Abhyankar and his associate V.K. Mainkar decided to

hold the 4th Session of the Sabha in a spot in Sangli that was a British

enclave, and on this occasion they approached M.R. Jaykar,^' the prominent Swarajist of the Bombay Branch to preside over this function.

Abhyankar was the chairman of the Reception Committee. Jaykar on his

part was curious to get firsthand knowledge of the States as also the fact

that G.R. Abhyankar, V.K. Mainkar, and A.V. Patwardhan had already

established a reputation of being the foremost workers in the Princely

states. In his autobiography Jaykar writes "These three names were

amongst the most eminent workers in British India (no longer amongst us)

who had spent a life time agitating for the rights of the subjects of the India 84

States^^.... The attraction of the invitation lay in the fact that it would be my first contact with the important problems connected with the welfare of the Indian States subjects, many of whoin I had previously known in the course of my profession.... Influenced by the request of such devoted and selfless workers, and as a convenient date was fixed, I accepted the invitation but not without hesitation..."

These were the years of hectic parleys on the issue of Dyarchy and the Federation. Abhyankar, Patwardhaii, Mainkar and others were anxious that the subjects of the States be ensured participation and representation both during the talks and the actual meciianics in the future. It was, thus, important for them to enlist the active support of the Indian National

Congress in general and the Swarajists in particular at this juncture. The conveners urged Jayakar to include points "concerning the status of the states in the coming Federation of the Bombay Province and in Swarajist

India; that I should show steps leading to this final goal and deal with the double disability under which the subjects of the Indian states lay. The possible transference of the Indian Stales to the Central Government should also be dealt with constitutionally. Delhi would be a far off place for the 85

subjects. Of the Indian States and so, there should be some machinery

devised like the Privy Council of the federated states, to hear the appeals

, against the orders of the State governments."-^

The turn of events that engulfed this meeting of the Daxini Sansthan

Sabha makes curious reading. The Princely states in the Western

Maharastra were ruled largely by brahmin Princes of unimpeachable

lineage. These were men of education and culture, fairly actively involved

in several political organisations in Poona ^id Bombay and whose

governments were certainly more liberal than many of their tribe. That a

popular movement agitating for greater deniocratic and constitutional

reforni^and the establishment of sdf govenijjig^ institutions^hould have

been born in this part of India seems strange. But a study of almost all

revolutionary movements, at grassroot levels, will quickly point out to the

reader, that it is precisely in areas with certain minimum levels of education

and political emancipation that such movements start rather than amongst

depressed and backward population where the struggle is for survival. Thus

it was that the movement for gaining constitutional reforms for themselves

had begun among the subjects of the Oeccan states. Moreover as pointed 86 earlier in the book, in Maharashtra the lead in the struggle for independence had been that ofj h e brahmins both in the Ekitish India and the Princely

States. Inevitably there arose a non-brahmin lobby who denounced the brahmin movement and became a tool that the Chief of Sangli and others exploited to break the growing, though as yet nascent popular movement that Abhyankar led. Perhaps the other important reason that prompted the

Chief of Sangli to disrupt the Kupwad Conference meeting was the perceived threat of Jayakar’s acceptance of the invitation to deliver the

Presidential address. Perhaps in his opinion to have a prominent Swarajist address a gathering of political workers, especially by one who had only a little earlier delivered a speech at a Deccan College function in Poona that had been viewed as a "political bombshell by the Rulers of the loyal Indian

States, meant that the Swarajist in general and Jayakar in particular was going to propound "extreme views hostile to the continuance of the

Indian States."*''

Thus Jaykar found on his arrival in Sangli on the morning of the

28th May 1924 that he was refused accommodation in all places within the

Sangli State including public rest-houses under the control of the State. "I 87 had a very novel experience for the first time (not at all an unpleasant feeling) of being regarded as a rank revolutionary. But fortunately the help of friends like the three workers I have mentioned above, arranged accommodation for the night in an area lying between the two contiguous parts of the Sangli State (Kupwad) belonging, as stated above, to British

India, over which the State officials could not exercise any control. This conference helped me to come in contact, for the first time, with the leading workers of the Southern Maratha country, many of whom espoused political opinion of the Tilak School, but with a touch of progressive sentiments on social matters. The meetings which were held at Sangli privately and publicly led to my understanding of the Indian States problem on many aspects of which I was ignorant. Likewise I got to know, at this

Conference, several workers and as many of them belonged to Gokhale’s

Servants of India Society, our contact increased in later years."'*

The conference that was held on Wednesday 28th May dissolved into a veritable fisticuff when at about midday when Abhyankar and his associates went to check out the arrangements at the Conference venue.

The non-brahmins with a mob of about 2000 from adjoining villages, made 88 a forcible entry into the venue became violent, broke the pandal and attacked Abhyankar and the other Conveners with the support of the Sangli

State Police. Notwithstanding such intimidation the Conveners held out and reassembled in the evening between 5-8 pm to conduct the conference with

Jaykar delivering his Presidential address in Marathi and English. Jaykar recorded his reactions thus, "Tlie incidents which happened at the

Conference, for instance, the destruction of the Pandal, attacks upon the workers, violent fights between the promoters of the Conference and the opponent gave me, for the first time, a true picture of the violent fury of a certain section of the non-brahmin community against our efforts which they identified with Brahman agitation. His Highness of Sangli was a pure blooded high caste brahmin and it was difficult to understand that an agitation to secure rights for his non-brahman subjects in his brahman government should have been so badly misunderstood and violently opposed by the non-brahman community."

A violent storm was rapidly gathering over the Daxini Hitvardhak

Sabha and particularly Abhyankar who had antagonised the Chief of Sangli by his vociferous speeches some of which were critical and disparaging of 89

His Highness. On the 5th of June, 1924 Abhyankar received the following

official letter. "The Chief of Sangli has noticed with disapproval the

attitude and activities of Ganesh Raghunath Abhyankar, which are incompatible with his duties as Public Prosecutor of Sangli Sate and is hereby pleased to remove him from office w.e.f. 6-6-24. He is to handover charge to P.R. Khadilkar." Abhyankar accepted this summary dismissal on the same day. He followed this up v/ilh his resignation from the Sangli

Education Society on the 7th June 1924 thus, "Dear Sir, I wish to tender

my resignation from the post of Chairman of your Council. I do not wish to stand as a candidate for the elections... in view of certain events which have happened lately my association with your society will not at all be of any use to you. On the contrary it will be a source of irritation and constant embarrassment to you all."

On the 16th June he wrote to Jaykar apologising for the violent turn of events at the Conference "... If I had the slightest inkling of what was going to happen, I would never have pressed you to preside... You are a most valuable asset in public life and owing to the misguided zeal of some non-brahmin leaders, we were not able to benefit ourselves by your 90 presence to the fullest extent.... The attitude of His Highness in declining permission for your accommodation, his effort to dissuade you, the discourteous conduct of the Diwan... and last but not the least in imparting the penalty which the State has inflicted on me by removing me from the post of the State Public Prosecutor has convinced us of the hostile attitude of the Ruler of this State towards this movement. Personally, I am not in the least affected by this order. On the contrary, I am free from the turmoil of official obligations. I am more anxious about our movement and wonder if this will give a setback to it, but I myself and those who think like me, are determined to face all difficulties in carrying on this agitation for the Indian States Subjects strictly withiti constitutional lines. But I feel more strongly than before that the sympathy and the support of men like you would be still more need in the changed circumstances and I hope and trust that I can count upon your suppori in all our endeavours for the uplift of the subjects of the Indian States, which I have made my life’s purpose.

I need not write more."

Jaykar’s reply of the 29th June bore protend to the sequence of political activity of the next and the last decade of Abhyankar’s life. "It is 91 perhaps well that Sangli State has relieved you of your duties as Public

Prosecutor. One can serve only One Master at a time and it was a somewhat anomalous position that a devoted worker like you against the selfish interests of Indian States should, in his professional capacity, be the retained Vakil of one of them. I am sure this change will make you feel more strong in your efforts. I am disposed to take a more helpful view than you of the success of your efforts, though, no doubt, this year’s discomfiture was ominous. But no movement can prosper without such lulls in its history." 92

End Notes

1. M.G. Ranade: The Rise and Fall of the Marathas.

2. Mangalvedha was a district or taluka in the Sangli State. The Mamlatdar was the most important link in the administrative chain. However excellent the various administrative measures adopted, however sympathetic the higher officers, all efforts towards good administration were in vain unless there was an efficient and good Mamletdar to implement these measures. In his Taluka he was (lie ’King’ and he was responsible for revenue administration, taluka treasury, was a locak magistrate, supervised all PWD works, maintained Record ol Rights Act and was the means of communication between the State and its subjects.

3. B.R. Nanda; Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the . Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp.27-30.

4. P.M. Limaye (ed.) The History of the Deccan Education Society 1880- 1935. Poona 1935, Pt.I, pp.5-6.

5. B.R. Nanda: Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp.27-30.

6. Gopal Krishna Gokhale (b.l866, d.l915), educated at Raja Ram College, Kolhapur, Deccan College, Poona and Elphinstone College, Bombay, Teacher and Professor of mathematics, history, literature.

7. Some letters purported to have been written by Barve, the Diwan of Kolhapur State that were published in Tilak’s weekly ’Maratha’ proved to be forgeries. Articles in the Kesari & Maratha had criticisms on the restrictions on the freedom of the Press in Kolhapur. Barve sued Tilak and Agarkar for defamation. They apologized but were sentenced to four months of simple imprisonment.

8. B.R. Nanda; Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp.31-33. 93

9. M.D. Atekar (ed.) Sampurna Agarkar Nibandha Sangrana. Pt.III, Poona 1940, p. 137.

10. B.R. Nanda: Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj. Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1977, pp.27-30.

11. Ibid, pp.36.

12. Ibid.

13. Ibid.

14. Kelkar, N.C., Editor of Kesari & Maratha after Agarkar.

15. Notes on Sangli State - S.K. Nehru, pp.86.

16. Dakshin Maharashtra Abhyankar Sniarak Ank" G.R. Abhyankar papers, NMM&L.

17. Report on Native Press of and Native States under the political control of the Bombay Government 1905 - Source: National Archives of India, New Delhi

18. Foreign & Political Department, 19II, Establishment B. Sept 1911, file no: 42-43.

19. G.R. Abhyankar Papers, Nehru Memorial Museum &. Library, New Delhi.

20. Abhyankar presided over the 6th session of the Daxini Sansthan Hitvardhak Sabha in 1926 and the 8th Session in 1929. Source: National Archives, New Delhi.

21. Jaykar, M.R.: (b.l873 d.l959) lawyer, social reformer and prominent Swarajist leader.

22. Jaykar, M. R.: The Story of Mv Life, vol.l & II, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1959. 94

23. Jaykar, M.R.: Story of My Life, volll, pp.275

24. Jaykar, M.R.: Story of My Life. VolII, p.275.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.