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INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND DISTRICT

BEGINNING OF INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT i

The British established their rule in this country

in the middle of the 18th century and they consolidated it very shrewdly in later years. But the Indian people never

accepted the British rule whole heartedly. They resisted

it from, its very inception. Hardly a year passed till 1857 when some part of the country or the other was not

convulsed by armed rebellion. This continuous resistance, wholly traditional in character, took three broad forms * civil rebellions, tribal uprisings and peasant movements , . . 1 and uprisings.

These movements and uprisings, however, were not motivated by a national outlook. Even the great uprising of 1857 was far from nationalistic in character. The rise of as such was the result of the developments that took place when the British rule was firmly established in the most parts of the country. It can. not be traced to any single measureable factorJ. Several factors generated the spirit of nationalism among the people of India. One and foremost of these factors was the

Western education and English language. Nationalism in the modern sense of the term has a recent origin. It came into 27

prominence after the French Revolution of 1789 and it spread in different countries of Asia, Africa and Latin

America in the second half of the 19th century. The spread of Western ideas such as liberty, equality, individual

rights and popular sovereignity gave birth to nationalistic thoughts in these countries. It can not be denied that the

introduction of Western education brought these ideas in this country, also. The impact of English education certainly

contributed to the growth of eqalitirian out look in the traditional bound Indian Society.

The spread of modern education took place in India only after 1813 ^ When governmentintroduced it. The missionaries and private Indian efforts have also played an important role.At the time of the renewal of the company's charter in 1813^ Parliament asked the East India

Company to take measures for the introduction of useful knowledge and religious and moral improvements and further

directed that ' a sum of not less than a lac of rupees should be set apart each year and applied to the revival and

improvement of literature and the encouragement of the learned natives of India and for the introduction and promotion of a knowledge of the science among the inhabitants of the 2 British territories in India.' But Lord Macaulay is said to be, mostly responsible for introducing the new education policy in India based on Western system of education. His object was to train and bring up Indians in the Western 28

manners and customs and thus to bring the two people# the

British and the Indian, socially culturally and politically near.3 In 1854 Sir Charles Wood, president of the Board of

Control, prepared the memorable despatch which laid the foundations on which the education system in British India has since developed. Even after the revolt of 1857, the policy makers in London continued to hold the belief that the age-old social customs and mental outlook of the Indian people must change, but the emphasis now shifted from legisfetion to education. 4

The introduction of Western education in this country brought about a profound intellectual transformation. It brought about the great Indian Renaissance. The Indian people, for the first time, came into contact with Western political ideas and thoughts. This gave them an opportunity to think about the political condition of their own country. The English language also played an important role in the development of Indian nationalism. It cut across provincial barriers and served the purpose of a lingua franca#a common all India language for Indians living in distant and different parts of the country and speaking different languages.

The failure of the revolt of 1857 made it clear that the traditional political resistance to British rule could no longer succeed and the resistance to colonialism must flow along new channels. The modern Indian intelligentsia began 29

to grasp true nature of British rule. So the politically conscious Indians tried to form different kinds of organisation for safeguarding the interests of Indian people.

Gradually they became increasingly aware of the need for an all-India organisation. In the year 1883 a retired civilian, Allan Octavian Hume addressed an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University urging them to organise an association for the mental, moral, social and political regeneration of the people of India.Mr Hume with the support of some prominent Indians, succeeded in giving

effect to his plan and the first Indian National Congress met in Bombay during the Christmas week of 1885 under the 5 Presidency of Mr. W.C.Bannerjea. Many noted Indians like Dadabhai Navroji, M.G.Ranade, K.T.Telang, Pherozesha Mehta,

Ananda Charalu, Surendra Nath Banerjea played active part in the activities of the Indian National Congress and greatly contributed to the service of their country.

The early Indian nationalist leadership believed that a direct struggle for the political emancipation of the

country was not yet on the agenda of history.What was on the agenda was the arousal of national feeling, consolidation of this feeling, the bringing of a large number of the Indian people into the vortex of nationalist politics and their training in politics, political agitation and struggle.^

Some criticj are of the opinion that the early nationalists did not achieve much success. The Congress of 30

early times is often criticised for its lack of vigour and effectiveness. The leaders believed in the method of prayers and petitions and took every possible care to avoid a conflict with the government. But it is not correct to suggest that the national movement of this period did not achieve anything. The early nationalists succeeded in creating a wide political awakening and in arousing among the middle and lower-middle class Indians and the intelligentsia the feeling that they belonged to one common nation - the Indian nation. They made the people of India conscious of the bounds of common political, economic and cultural interests and of the existence of a common enemy in imperialism and thus helped to weld them 7 in a common nationality.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT IN s

Maharashtra was one of the three areas of India where British power was consolidated at the earliest. Naturally the impact of British rule was greatly felt in this region from the very beginning. In the Igth century various social and religious reform movements were introduced by different social reformers. Prominent among them were Balshastri Jambhekar, • Lokhitwadi * , G.H. Deshmukh, Vishnubava Brahmachari, Bhau Mahajan, Dadoba

Pandurang, Justice M.G. Ranade, Mahatma Jotiba Phule and many others. In Bombay, Dadoba Pandurang and others organised a secret association named ' Paramhuns Si 0 Y XL'

IM& BAUbA'rit-d 1^- •• \\ A J * gillVAJi UttiVEBStTY &CHP&-A

to eradicate castism. We heard of secret associations formed for political purpose but we rarely heard of secret association formed for the purpose to do away with social organisation like caste system. Justice Ranade, Dr. Bhandarkar, Dr. Atmaram Pandurang and others took the lead in establishing * Prarthana Samaj ' in Bombay in the Q year 1867. Justice Ranade# Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi and others organised the • Poona Sarvajanik Sabha ' in 1870. The Sabha carried on active political education for next thirty years. Mahatma Phule established 1 Satyashodhak

Samaj • in 1873. These leaders were influenced by social and political thoughts of the British people and they wanted to create new society in this country, based on social and political justice. The work of these leaders served as a base for National Movement in later years.

Many leaders from Maharashtra took lead in organising the Indian National Congress. In 1866 Dadabhai Navroji organised the East India Association in London to discuss Indian questions and to influence British public opinion. His greatest contribution came in his economic analysis of British rule. He showed that the poverty and economic backwardness of India were not inherent in local conditions, but were caused by colonial rule, which was draining India of its wealth and capital.'*'0 The first

Indian National congress met in Bombay in 1885 and 38 representatives from old Bombay province attended the session. Netable among them were Dadabhai Navroji, 32

Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang, Justice Ranade, Dr. Bhandarkar and others.11 Thus the Maharashtrian leaders ’ played important role in forming the Indian National congress. They also took active part in the activities of the Congress in the following years. Among the people of different parts of India the Marathas who had lost their independence so recently, had special reasons to join a movement for national regeneration. No wonder, therefore, that the Maratha country proved a congenial soil for 12 fostering the new spirit.

By the turn of the century a new group began to take form within the congress, which expressed different attitudes, than the early nationalist leaders, towards the foreign rulers. This group began to question the wisdom of the method of prayers and petitions in order to achieve political objectives of the indian people. As a result of this development the Indian National congress was split into two groups, namely the moderates and the extremists.

In Maharashtra too, national movement witnessed the conflict between the moderates and the extremists. Here the moderate group was led by Gopal Gokhale and the extremist group was led by . Gokhale had always immence faith in British liberalism. He believed in constitutional methods for achieving his ends, on the other hand Tilak advocated the method of open conflict with the government. His role in the early years was that of an 33

agitator. He wanted that the Congress should have its root in the life of the people. He taught the gospel of self-reliance and self help at a time when some of the other leaders were mainly looking upon British sympathy and support. He introduced extremist national sentiments in the Congress. The Congress so far was mainly a middle - class organisation. Tilak attempted to bring into the

Congress the lower middle-classes and to some extent even the masses. 13 He wanted to substantiate the

nationalistic movement in India by a strong cultural and religious revival of Hinduism. Tilak is a unique figure

in the history of freedom atruggle in India.

But even in the days of Lokmanya Tilak the common people or the ' Bahujan Samaj ' of Maharashtra did not join

the national movement. It was only when the leadership of the Congress passed over to , that the rural masses came in the fold of the Congress.So there are no two opinions about the fact that the national movement got firm roots among the common people of Maharashtra in the third decade of this century.

INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND SATARA DISTRICT :

As in other parts of the country so in Satara the establishment of British rule, far from being looked upon as a curse, was welcomed by the people. 14 As a consequence

of the establishmented British rule in the country, the young generation of Maharashtra began taking English 34

education and started receiving Western ideas. These educated youths felt the need, of reforming the traditional society in the light of western knowledge and undertook the task of reformation. Soon reformation spirit entered in the political sphere and that resulted in the growth of national feelings.

The new wave of nationalistic feelings was enthu - siastically received by the people of erstwhile Satara district. After the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, attempts were made to carry on Congress activities in the district. local units of the Congress in Waive, Karad and Wai talukas started holding their annual conferences from the year 1889, These conferences were called as ' Chhoti Congress'. A number of such conferences were held at different places in the district. The purpose of these conferences was to propagate the ideas of the

Congress to the rural, masses. 15 Nevertheless, the work of forming taluka organisations ( Taluka Sabha ) and district organisation ( Zilla Sabha ) was done in 1907 under the presidentship of Shri Dadasaheb Karandikar.

SATYASHDDHAK MOVEMENT :

* The role played by Satyashodhak movement in awakening and enlighting the rural masses in general and the peasants in particular can not be undermined. The Satyashodhak Samaj was founded in 1873 by Mahatma Jotiba Phule. In the first decade of 20th century the movement began to spread in 35

different parts ®f Satara district. In this connection J the important w©rk was done by Satyashodhak Tareashas. With \ the penetration ©f Satyashodhak thinking into the solidly peasant areas of Satara district came an innovation in the form of communication that was to have great impact throughout Maharashtra. The pioneer of the first real Satyashodhak taroasha# was a Maratha peasant. Ramchandra

Ghadge of Kale, a large agricultural villagein Satara, The Tamasha of Jotirao Phalke of Satara Road and the Tamasha of

Tatoba Yadav of Kasegaon were also famous at that time. The tamasha;i movement successfully spread the teachings of 17 Satyashodhak Samaj among rural masses. With the Satyashodhak movement gaining ground, the Non-Brahmin party came into existence and the party dominated the politics in Western Maharashtra for some time in 1920*s.

Here a mention must be made of the work of Karmaveer

Bhaurao Patil, done in the field of education. Bhaurao Patil was a Satyashodhak activist and in 1919 he founded the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha. The Sanstha was mainly responsible for the spread of education in rural areas of Maharashtra. This helped in bringing up new leadership in political field from among rural people. At present the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha is running 26 colleges, 318 Secondary schools, 8 training schools and 9 primary schools all over Maharashtra. Its annual 1ft budget is of Rs.16 lacs. 36

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT i

After the end of first world war and especially after the announcement of Montague Chelmsford reforms in 1919, the people of India were dissillusioned regarding the motives of British government. Montague Chelmsford report was considered in the special session of the Congress and was condemned as inadequate, disappointing and unsatisfactory. It was during this period that the leadership of the Indian National Congress got transferred to Mahatma Gandhi, under his inspiration, the Congress adopted, in a special session held in Calcutta in 1920, the famous resolution of Non-Coperation which recommended the renunciation of

Government titles and the boycotting of the Legislatures, law courts and government educational institutions, leading up at a later date to the non-payment of taxes. Thus the Congress gave up its old methods of constitutional agitation and it was now broad-based on the willing support of the masses. 19

But in Maharashtra the Non-co-operation movement did not get much response. Gandhi received little support from the followers of Tilak. However soon afterwards many

Congress workers from Maharashtra accepted the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. The non-Brahmin leaders, who were suspicious about the role of the Congress during Tilak era, began to turn towards the Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. 37

The national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal

Nehru, Shriniwas Ayyangar and Subhash Chandra Bose toured Satara district. In February 1927 Gandhiji came to Satara 20 district and he visited Ashta, Islampur, Karad and Satara.

The annual session of the Congress was held in

December 1929 at Lahore. The representative of young generation, Mr. was the President of this session. In this session a resolution demanding complete independence was adopted and it was decided to celebrate 26th January, 1930 as .

In accordance to the decision taken at Lahore, 26th January 1930 was celebrated all over India as Independence

Day and much enthusiasm and willingness for sacrifice was visible throughout the country. From 14th to 16th February the Congress working committee met at Sabarmati and vested Gandhi with full powers to launch the Civil disobedience movement at the time and place of his own choice. Gandhi 21 decided to commence the agitation against the salt tax.

In Satara district the independence day was celebrated in accordance with the call given by the Indian National Congress.

On March 12th 1930 Mahatma Gandhi began his march to Dandi to start his civil disobedience movement. On April, 6th 1930 he violated, the salt Law by picking up salt lying on the beach. After Dandi Satyagrah similar types of were organised at different placed and Congress 38

workers from Satara district participated in these Satyagrahas at places like Shiroda, Ratnagiri, Malvan, Vengurla, Dharasna etc. 22

During the civil disobedience movement the Jungle Satyagrahas in Satara district achieved spectacular success.

The Jungle Satyagrahas were performed at about 35 places that included Bilashi, Tambave, Kale# Peth, Shirala, Borgaon, Walva, Kapuskhed, Retharedharan, Yelur, Mangale, Vashi etc. In this movement the Waive Taluka was always in the forefront. The Jungle Satyagrah of Bilashi was of such intensity that it was echoed on the floors of Parliament in England. Nana Patil and Bapusaheb Deshmukh took part in Jungle of Retharedharan. Thus Satara district was whole heartedly involved in Civil Disobedience movement of the Congress, supporting the national cause of the Indian national Congress.

QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT OP 1942 j

In 1940 the Congress decided to start individual Satyagraha in protest to the war policy of the government of

India. In Satara district 62 persons were permitted, to offer Satyagraha of which 59 actually performed it, delivering speeches against British war efforts and three were 24 detained. Krantisinha Nana Patil performed two Satyagrahas, one at Bahe Borgaon in Walva taluka and after his release from Jail another at Hanamant Vadiye in Khanapur taluka. 25

The A. I.C.C. decided to launch the final struggle for the freedom of the country and in its meeting at Bombay 39

adopted 1 Quit India resolution ' on August 8th, 1942. The government of India tried to suppress the movement. At this critical moment the Congress workers of Satara district determined to fight against the foreign rulers. At the beginning Nana Patil and other Congress leaders organised morchas on taluka headquarters at Tasgaon, Islampur, Karad and Khatav. But government used brutal force against 26 peaceful procession at Islampur and Khatav. So Nana Patil and other Congress leaders decided to give up constitutional methods and to continue the struggle by adopting new methods.

At last it was decided to set up parallel government. The Congress workers divided themselves into different groups to carry out the agitation. There were 9 such groups in the district of which Kundal group under Nana Patil did remarkable job. Many of the workers of Kundal group remained underground for a long period of time. They established GramRajya in most of the villages, organised guerilla force, Tuphan Sena and had judiciary of their own. It was Prati 27 Sarkar in true sense. Hence in the preceding Chapter a brief life Sketch of Nana Patil will be made as it is essential to know how Nana Patil was inspired.

Thus Satara district played an important role in ' * of 1942. Even leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan praised the people of Satara for their heroic deeds during the 'Quit India

Movement*. A number of Congress workers like Ramanand Bharati, Kasegaonkar Vaidhya, Kisan Veer, Y.B. Chavan, G.D. Lad, Appasaheb Lad, Nagnath Naikwadi, Barde Master, Pandu Master etc. 40

made their contribution for the success of the movement. But the underground activities as such in the district were carried on in the name of Nana patil. 28 So it would not be an exaggeration if we say that the establishment of Parallel government in Satara district in 1942 was a golden page in the history of freedom struggle of India fcpejap* 41

References

1. Bipin Chandra, Freedom struggle, p.41.,

Tripathi Araales & (National book trust,India New De Barun Delhi, 197 2 )

2. Majumdar R. C., An advanced , p.817. Raychandhuri H.C. & Datta K.

3. Aggarwala R. N. Indian National Movement , p.4.,

(Metropolitan Book Co.,(P)Ltd.,

Netaji Subhash Marg, Delhi-6,

1977 )

4. Gupta D.C. Indian National Movement ,p.l9#

(Vikas Publications, Delhi,1970)

5, Majumdar R.C., An advanced history of India,

Raychaudhuri H.C. ,& p . 89 2 . , Datta K. 6, Bipin Chandra, Freedom struggle, p.58,59 ) Tripathi A., & De Barun .

7, - Ibid - P.78.

8, Javadekar Acharya Adhunik Bharat, p.77., ( Sulabha

Rashtriya Grinthamala, 2 )

9, Sahashrabuddhe P.G. Maharashtra Sanskrati ,p.,663,

(Continental Prakashan Vijaya

Nagar,Pune 30 ).

10. Bipin Chandra,Tripathi Freedam Struggle. A & De Barun Freedom Struggle. 11. Javudekar Acharya Adhunik Bharat, p.168.

5063 A 42

12. Majumdar R.C. - An advanced history of India, p. 895, Raychaudhuri H.C.& Datta K.

13. Varma V.P. - Modern Indian Political Thought

p.,204. (Lakshmi Narain Agarwal,

Agra-3)

14. Maharashtra State Gazetteers - Satara District ,p.I80 (Directorate of Govt.,

Printing Stationary and

publications,Maharashtra

State, Bombay, 1963)

15. Gokhale p.p. - Jagrit Satara, p.46 to 49.

(lokseva Sangh Satara )

16. Ibid - p.90 and 310.

17. Omvedt Gail - Cultural revolt in a Colonical

Society,p.210-213.

18. Rayat Shikshan Sanstha - Yearly report - 1984-85

(Rayat Shikshan Sanstha,Satara )

19. Majumdar R.C., - An Advanced history of India Raychaudhuri H. C.& p.984. Datta K. 20. Gokhale p.p. Jagrit Satara,p. 116. 21. Gupta D.C. Indian National Movement,p.150. 22. Gokhale p.p. Jagrit Satara,p. 138. 23. Patil Uttamrao and Krantiveer Nana Patil,p.41 (Usha Lad Appsaheb Prakashan Aundh - 1947)

24. Bhosale A. R. A History of Freedom Movement in

satara District - from 1885 to

1947X Unpublished Ph.D.Thesis sub-

-mitted to Shivaji University,

Kolhapur ) 43

25. Patil Uttamrao and - Krantiveer Nana Patil, p.69. Lad Appsaheb

26. Ibid p.84-87.

27. Lad G.D. (Prom his unpublished notes )

28. Gokhale p.p Jagrit Satara , p.2o6.