Vasudev Balwant Phadke - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vasudeo Balwant Phadke (4 November 1845 – 17 February 1883) was an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n revolutionary and is widely regarded as the father of the armed struggle for India's independence. Phadke was moved by the plight of the farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

community during British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

. Phadke believed that ‘Swaraj’ was the only remedy for their ills. With the help of Kolis, Bhils and Dhangar

Dhangar

The Dhangar caste is primarily located in the Indian state of Maharashtra...

s communities in Maharastra, Vasudev formed a revolutionary group called as Ramoshi
Ramoshi
The Ramoshi is an Indian community found largely in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka, and are historically associated with great empires,important historical conflicts and agriculture...

. The group started an armed struggle to overthrow the British Raj. The group launched raids on rich English businessmen to obtain funds for their liberation struggle. Phadke came into limelight when he got control of the city of Pune

Pune

Pune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...

for a few days when he caught the British soldiers off guard during one of his surprise attacks.

Early years

Vasudev was born on 1845-11-04 in Shirdhon village of Panvel

Panvel

Panvel is city and a municipal council in Raigad district in the state of Maharashtra. Panvel is also known as the gateway of Konkan region. It adjoins Navi Mumbai, and is just after the Thane district border. Panvel is located on the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway about 21 kilometres from...

taluka based in Raigad district

Raigad district

Raigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort which was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, and is located in the interior regions of the district,...

in Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

state in a Marathi

Marathi people

The Marathi people or Maharashtrians are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, that inhabit the Maharashtra region and state of western India. Their language Marathi is part of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages...

Chitpavan

The Chitpavan or Chitpawan, also known as Konkanastha Brahmins , are a Smarta Brahmin community of Konkan, the coastal region of western Maharashtra in India....

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

family. As a child Vasudev preferred learning skills like wrestling, riding over high school education and dropped out of school. Eventually he moved to Pune and took the job as a clerk with military accounts department in Pune for 15 years. Krantiveer Lahuji Vastad Salve

Lahuji Raghoji Salve

Lahuji Raghoji Salve , also known as Krantiveer Lahuji Vaastad Raghoji Salve, Krantiveer Lahujibuwa Salve, was an activist, thinker, social reformer and revolutionary from Maharashtra...

a then prominent social figure based in Pune was the mentor of Vasudev. Lahuji Salve, an expert wrestler operated a gymnasium. Lahuji preached the importance of independence from British Raj. Lahuji belonged to the Mang

Mang (caste)

The Mang community, whose origins lie in the Narmada Valley of India, was formerly classified as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Acts of the British Raj....

community, an untouchable community, taught Vasudev the importance of getting backward castes into mainstream freedom movement . It was during this period that Vasudev began attending lectures by Govind Ranade which mainly focused on how the British Raj policies hurt the Indian economy. Vasudev was deeply hurt by how this was leading to widespread suffering in the society. In 1870, he joined a public agitation in Pune

Pune

that was aimed at addressing people's grievances. Vasudev founded an institution, the Aikya Vardhini Sabha, to educate the youth. While working as clerk, Vasudev was not able to see his dying mother due to the delay in approval of his leave. This incident enraged Vasudev and happened to be the turning point in his life

Revolt with the help of the Ramoshi's

In 1875, after the then Gaikwad

Gaekwad

The Gaekwad or Gaikwad was a Maratha dynasty that ruled the princely state of Baroda in western India from the mid-18th century until 1947...

ruler of Baroda

Vadodara

Vadodara formerly known as Baroda is the third most populated city in the Indian State of Gujarat . It is one of the four cities with the population of over 1 million...

was deposed by the British, Phadke launched protest speeches against the government. Severe famine

Famine

A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...

coupled with the evident apathy of the British administration propelled him to tour the Deccan region, urging people to strive for a free republic. Unable to get support from the educated classes, he gathered a band of people from the Ramoshi caste. People from the Kolis, Bhil

Bhil

Bhils are primarily an Adivasi people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District of Sindh, Pakistan. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages....

s and Dhangar

Dhangar

The Dhangar caste is primarily located in the Indian state of Maharashtra...

s were also included later. He taught himself to shoot, ride and fence. He organised around 300 men into an insurgent group that aimed at liberating India from British rule. Vasudev intended to build an army of own but lacking funds they decided to break into government treasuries. The first raid was done in a village called Dhamari in Shirur taluka in Pune district. The income tax which was collected for British Raj was kept in the house of local business man Mr. Balchand Fojmal Sankla. They attacked the house and took the money for the benefit of famine stricken villagers. There they collected about four hundred rupees but this led to his being branded as a dacoit. To save himself Vasudev had to flee from village to village, sheltered by his sympathisers and well-wishers, mostly the lower class of the society. Impressed by his zeal and determination, the villagers of Nanagaum offered him protection and cover in the local forest. The general plot would be to cut off all the communications of British forces and then raid the treasury. The main purpose of these raids was to feed famine-affected farmer communities. Vasudev performed many such raids in areas near Shirur and Khed

Rajgurunagar (Khed)

Rajgurunagar is a census town in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra.- Demographics : India census, had a population of 17,636. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Rajgurunagar has an average literacy rate of 78%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male...

talukas in Pune.

Meanwhile, the leader of Ramoshi Daulatrav naik who is the main supporter of vasudev, headed towards western coastal area - konkan . On the date 10, 11 May 1879, they raided palaspe and chikhali. They looted near about 1.5 lakh rupees. While returning towards ghat matha Major Daniel planted attack on the Daulatrav naik. The war is held in between both forces.During this war Daulatrav naik shot dead. Daulatrav naik's death gave a big setback to vasudev's revolt against the British raj. Due to the death of Daulatrav naik, vasudev lost the support. That's why he decided to move to south, and headed for Shri Shaila Mallikarjun shrine. After overcoming the moral defeat, Vasudev again recruited about 500 Rohilas to form strong army to start a fresh fight against the British Raj. [ref - mahan bharatiy krantikarak pratham parv 1770-1900 - by jhambare.]

Capture and death

Vasudev's plans to organize several simultaneously attacks against the British Raj nationwide were met with very limited success. He once had a direct engagement with the British army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

in the village of Ghanur, whereafter the government offered a bounty for his capture. Not to be outdone, Phadke in turned offered a bounty for the capture of the Governor of Bombay, announced a reward for the killing of each European, and issued other threats to the government. He then fled to Hyderabad State

Hyderabad State

-After Indian independence :When India gained independence in 1947 and Pakistan came into existence in 1947, the British left the local rulers of the princely states the choice of whether to join one of the new dominions or to remain independent...

to recruit Rohilla

Rohilla

The Rohilla are a community of Hindi-speaking Pashtun also known as Pathan, historically found in the state of Uttar Pradesh, in North India. Most are now also found in Pakistan where they are now part of the Mohajir community. At one time, they form one of the largest Pashtun diaspora community...

and Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

s into his organisation. A British Major, Henry William Daniell and Abdul Haque, Police Commissioner to the Nizam of Hyderabad, pursued the fleeing Vasudev day and night. The British move to offer a bounty for his capture met with success: someone betrayed Phadke, and he was captured in a temple after a fierce fight at the district of Kaladgi on 20 July 1879 while he was on his way to Pandharpur

Pandharpur

Pandharpur is an important pilgrimage city on the Bhimā river in Solāpur district, Maharashtra, India. The Vithoba temple attracts about half a million Hindu pilgrims during the major yātrā in the month of Ashadh ....

. From here he was taken to Pune for trial. Vasudev and his comrades were housed in the district session court jail building, near Sangam bridge, which now happens to be the state C.I.D. building. His own diary provided evidence to have him sentenced for life. Vasudev was transported to jail at Aden

Aden

Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...

, but escaped from the prison by taking the door off from its hinges on 13 February 1883. But his escape was too short lived: he was recaptured and put back in prison. Vasudev then went on a hunger strike to death. On 17 February 1883 Vasudev breathed his last breath as a result of his protest hunger strike.

Differences

Vasudev sought help from many prominent people of his time to help achieve his goals. One of these was Swami Samarth Maharaj

Swami Samarth Maharaj

Akkalkot Niwasi Shri Swami Samartha also known as Swami Samartha Maharaj, Swami Maharaj is a household name in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh....

in Akkalkot

Akkalkot

Akkalkot |ಅಕ್ಕಲಕೋಟೆ is a city and a municipal council in Solapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated 40 km southeast of Solapur and very close to the border between Maharashtra and Karnataka states...

, Solapur

Solapur

Solapur is a city in South Western Maharashtra, India governed by municipal corporation.Solapur is one of the four districts that form the region of Western Maharashtra . It is the fourth largest district in Maharashtra in terms of land area and seventh largest in terms of population...

district of Maharastra. Swamiji saw this revolution with a different perspective and said that the time was not right for an armed revolution and then asked another devotee to place Phadke's sword on a tree, indicating that Phadke shouldn't fight the war, but Phadke took the sword from the tree and left

Inspirational figure

Vasudev became known as the father of the Indian armed rebellion in that he provided the inspiration for fellow freedom fighters. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's famous patriotic novel Anand Math
Anand Math
Anand Math is a 1952 Hindi patriotic-historical film directed by Hemen Gupta, based on Anandamath, the famous Bengali novel written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1882...

incorporated various contemporary acts of patriotism performed by Vasudev during his freedom struggle. As the British government didn't like this, Bankim had to print up to 5 editions of the book to tone down these stories..

Trivia

Even though Vasudev played a very important role in India's struggle for freedom there is not much recognization for his contribution in present day. In 1984, the Indian Postal Service

Indian Postal Service

The Department of Posts functioning under the brand name India Post , is a government operated postal system in India; it is generally referred to within India as "the post office"....

issued a 50 paise stamp in honour of the revolutionary. A chowk

Chowk

Originally in Urdu , a chowk is a Town square, an open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town used for community gatherings, Market square or simply traffic intersection:* Ashram Chowk Delhi* Banaras Chowk, Karachi...

in South Mumbai

South Mumbai

South Mumbai , sometimes incorrectly referred to by English Media as "SoBo" , the southern-most precinct of the city of Mumbai, India, comprises the city's main business localities and its adjoining areas...

near Metro Cinema

Metro Cinema

thumb|Metro Cinema c.2005Metro BIG Cinema is an Art Deco Heritage grade IIA multiplex Movie theater in Mumbai, India built in 1938. It was built and originally run by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , the Hollywood studio. The main architect of the cinema was Thomas W. Lamb of New York, and D. W...

is named in his honour.

The 3rd BC old, Thanale-Khadsamble caves where Vasudev took refuge to escape from British, are about 8 km from Nadsur village near Pali

Páli

- External links :* *...