Revolt of 1857 and Maharashtra

 

 

Revolt of 1857 and Maharashtra

The British East India Company rule in India got a major shock in the form of Revolt of 1857.

There were British regiments in Kolhapur and Dharwad. Kolhapur was a Princely State ruled by the branch Bhosale family of great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Dharwad is a part of present day Karnataka but at that point of time it was a part of Bombay Presidency.

In Kolhapur the Indian sepoys serving in 29^th regiment were planning to revolt against British. Their plan was to rebel on 10^th August 1857. But, British government had sent the extra soldiers and regiment towards Kolhapur secretly. This news was given to the Indian sepoys planning to revolt at Kolhapur by one Indian government servant working with the Electric Telegraph Department. Hence, the Indian sepoys at Kolhapur changed their plan and revolted on 31^st July instead of 10^th August. They killed some British officers and took the possession of treasury. After collecting the money from treasury they went to Sawantwadi in present day Sindhudurg district in Konkan by ascending the ghat. At Sawantwadi the Indian sepoys met Ramji Shirsath who became their leader. In this part of Konkan the Indian sepoys started creating troubles for British.  An important point to be mentioned here is that one Muslim Maulavi from Pune had contacted the Indian rebels from Kolhapur and had tacit understanding with them. For this purpose he had sent one of his spies to Kolhapur. British sent Grand Jacob to Kolhapur who took away the weapons from Indian sepoys and also gave death punishment to the leaders of rebel Indian rebels. The representatives of Nanasaheb Peshwa had also met the Raja of Kolhapur. Nanasaheb Peshwa was an adopted son of Baji Rao II. Nanasaheb Peshwa was involved in the Revolt actively at Kanpur. His close aid Tatya Tope was also fighting bravely against British. The efforts were made to revolt in the Princely States of Jamkhandi and Sangli as well.

The situation in Kolhapur still had not calmed down. On 15 December 1857 once again there was a revolt in Kolhapur around dawn. Grand Jacob, the British officer mentioned above entered the city along with his men and reached the palace of Raja of Kolhapur. Thus, British were able to bring the situation under control.

There was a plan of Indians to revolt at Belgaum and Dharwad. One point to be mentioned here is that Belgaum and Dharwad were the parts of Bombay Presidency at that point of time and lots of  Marathi speaking people used to live there. Today also one can find the Marathi people at these two places even though they are geographically located in present day Karnataka. Around 10 August 1858 Indians were planning to stage a revolt at Belgaum. But, some Indians got captured and more British soldiers arrived at Belgaum and Dharwad and that is why British were successful to prevent the revolt here.

At Satara Rango Bapuji was serving the Raja of Satara in a true loyal manner. He was sent to Britain by Pratapsinh Bhosale, the Raja of Satara who belonged to the family of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Rango Bapuji lived in England for many years and pleaded the case of Pratapsinh Bhosale but couldn’t succeed in his efforts. Rango Bapuji had an association with rebels at Kolhapur. At Satara British punished many Indians on the charge of planning to revolt against them. Even the son of Rango Bapuji was given death punishment and hanged. The Princes of Satara were expelled. Rango Bapuji after these incidents at Satara went underground. He had come to Jambhli Naka in Thane in order to meet his one of the relatives. British tried to arrest him at Jambhli Naka but Rango Bapuji was able to escape from here successfully. After this incident he was not to be seen again. It is said that he was living discreetly at Darwha in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. Yavatmal is a part of Vidarbha division in Maharashtra. A tell of Rango Bapuji Gupte is thus very heroic and inspiring.

In Bombay city also the native Indian sepoys were planning to stage a revolt. Their plan was to rebel at Bombay city and go to Pune. At Pune they were planning to declare Nanasaheb Peshwa as the ruler and revive the Maratha rule. But, their plan was unsuccessful as British detected this plan  and aborted the same.

The Indian sepoys had planned to revolt at Nagpur as well but British brought the soldiers from Madras and suppressed these efforts.

Thus, one can say that there were attempts to revolt against British rule at various places in Marathi speaking areas in 1857. But, these efforts did not fructify.