MPSC Notes : Indian National Movement in Maharashtra

Updated on October 5, 2023
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Indian National Movement in Maharashtra | MPSC Notes |

Maharashtra’s role in the Indian National Movement remains sterling. The first churnings of the freedom movement were witnessed in MAHARASHTRA, alongside Bengal. Therefore, it becomes imperative to understand the role of Maharastrians in the National Movement of India. Here on this page students of MPSC Preparation will find complete Notes on Indian national movement in Maharashtra.

Early revolts in Maharashtra

In 1818, the Bhils of Khandesh revolted against the British power under the leadership of Godaji Dengle and Mahipa Dengale. There were several revolts in Maharashtra, noted amongst them were revolt of Dharmaji Prataprao in Beed (1818), HansajiNaikHatkar’s revolt in Nanded (1819-20) , the armed rebellion of Chirsingh, Sattu Naik, Umaji Naik (1826-31) , the rebellion of Savantwadi (1828-38), the Gadkari revolt in Kolhapur (1844). These revolts were crushed by the British. But people from Kolhapur, Satara, Mumbai, Khandesh, Nasik, Nagpur, Aurangabad, Jamakhindi, Nargund, Solapur and Mudhol participated voluntarily and actively in the War of Independence of 1857.

Between 1874-78 people revolted against oppressive regimes of local moneylenders in many places in Maharashtra. Collectively these revolts are known as Deccan revolts. Vasudev Balwant Phalke (1845-1883), one of the earliest revolutionaries of India,who led the revolt of Ramosisin Satara region for anti-famine measures, was imprisoned and served sentence in prison in Eden ( United States of America) till his death.

Later on, there was a risein political institutions. The Bombay Presidency Association, that laid the foundations of Indian politics came into existence on 26th August 1852. Jagannath Shankarshet, Dadabhai Naorojietc were among its founders. The main aim of the Association was to take the concerns of the Indian people to the British rulers and address issues and tackle problems.

The next milestone was the establishment of Sarvajanik Sabha (social council). The Sabha, founded by Ganesh Vasudev Joshi started an agitation against the salt tax. It helped the Indians in Mauritius, helped pass a law in favour of the peasants in the south, contributed greatly in areas like establishing famine relief committee, freedom of press, Swadeshi, translation of famine code.

The first meeting of the Indian National Congress took place on 28th December, 1885 in the GokuldasTejpal Sanskrit School, Bombay. Of the seventy two representatives, thirty eight representatives came from the Bombay region. Amongst those from Maharashtra the following were present: DadabhaiNaoroji, Justice M.G. Ranade, PherozeshahMetha, Gopal Krishna Gokhale etc.

Era of Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Later Lokamanya Tilak became truly an Indian National leader because of the sacrifices he made, the imprisonments that he underwent and his efforts towards independence and social development. Tilak promoted Swarajya , Swadeshi , Nationalist education and boycott (4 resolutions passed by Indian National Congress in 1906, Calcutta). His articles in the Kesari (in Marathi, started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1881), public celebration of  ShivJayanti and Ganesh festivals, his work during the famine, writings on GeetaRahasya(the truth behind the Geeta, a holy book of the Hindus), and his incarceration in Dongri jail (Bombay) and Mandalay Jail( 1908-14, Northern Burma) gave him enormous public acceptance (Lokmanya) and the status of a national leader. He also supported the Irish Home Rule movement and started his own Home Rule League (1915). During Tilak’s times,Chaphekar brothers from Pune assassinated the ‘Plague Commissioner’ Rand.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar ( born in Nasik in 1883, a Chitpavan Brahmin) founded a revolutionary organization named Abhinav Bharat in 1904 towards independence of India through forceful means. Inspired by Savarkar, Madanlal Dhingra shot Curzon Wyllie in England. Jackson, the collector of Nasik was shot by AnantKanhere. Senapati Pandurang MahadevBapat went abroad to learn how to make bombs. Savarkar was tried and sent on exile to the Andaman Islands. Vishnu Ganesh Pingale, Shivram Hari Rajguru, Babu Genu, Shirish Kumar and others laid down their lives for sake of freeing the country. The death of LokmanyaTilak in 1920 brought about the end of his era.

Era of Mahatma Gandhi

After the death of Lokmanya Tilak, the first congress of All India Trade Union chaired by Lala Lajpat Rai took place in Mumbai on 31st October 1920. In the Nagpur session ( December 1920 ) of Indian National Congress, the leadership of national movement went into the hands of Mahatma Gandhi. In this session, Gandhiji made a proclamation of freedom to India within one year. In 1921, various kingdoms and principalities in Maharashtra founded DakshiniSamsthanHitavardhak Sabha for the welfare of the people of the princely States.

N.C. Kelkar ( Miraj, Maharashtra ) formed a party Pratiyogi Sahakarita Paksh and continued the work. Under the leadership of Shripad Amrut Dange ( SA Dange), there were widespread protests in Maharashtra against the Simon commission. Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March were echoed in Maharashtra in places like Shiroda, Konkan and Akola. Martial Law was declared in Solapur for forty nine days sighting the anti-British sentiment prevailing in Solapur as a cause. Four patriots from Solapur, Mallappa Dhana shetty, Shrikrishna Sarda, Jagannath Shinde and Kurban Hussain were sentenced to death. Under the civil disobedience movement of Mahatma Gandhi, several Satyagraha were carried out like the Jungle Satyagraha in Vidharbha, Bilashi Satyagraha in Satara, and similar Satyagraha in Nasik and Raigad.

The Indian National Congress’s first village session took place in Faizpur in Maharashtra. Elections took place for the first time in India under the 1935 act. Balasaheb Kher became the first Chief Minister of Bombay region. This government took some effective measures in land revenue relief, supply of drinking water in rural areas, adult literacy, ban on alcohol consumption, release of political prisoners etc. Around the same time, the Praja Parishad Movement took roots in Kolhapur under the leadership of Comrade Madhavrao Bagal. In 1940, Mahatma Gandhi began the individual Satyagraha movement. Vinoba Bhave was selected as the first Satyagrahi. It was in the 1942 session of India, the call of ‘Quit India!’ was first heard in this session. There were strong agitations in Chandrapur, Raigad, Ahmednagar and Satara. An independent underground radio Azad Radio was run by Usha Mehta. The Prati Sarkar or the parallel government run by Kranti Sinha  (revolutionary hero) Nana Patil was most effective during this period. In 1946 the Royal Indian Navymutinied in Mumbai against the British.

Independence:

On 15th August 1947, India attained Independence. Though India was independent, the problem of princely States continued. The princely State of Kolhapur joined the Indian union. The problem of Marathwada, which was a part of the Nizam princely State, persisted. Swami RamanandTeerth, Govindbhai Shroff led the movement for the freedom of Marathwada through Hyderabad State Congress. The Indian Army entered Hyderabad on the orders of Sardar Patel on 13th September 1948. Marathwada became a part of Bombay region. Even in free India, Sanyukta (united) Maharashtra still remained a dream.

Also See: National Parks in Maharashtra

Some of the freedom fighters from Maharashtra

  • Anant Laxman Kanhere (1892 -1910) was an Indian independence fighter from Nashik. On 21 December 1909, he shot deadthe Collector of Nashik in British India. The murder of Jackson was an important event in the history of Nashik and the Indian revolutionary movementin Maharashtra. He was prosecuted in Bombay court and hanged in the Thane Prison on 19 April 1910, aged just 18.
  • Babu Genu(1908 -1930) was an India freedom fighter and revolutionary. On 12 December 1930, a cloth merchant named George Frazier of Manchester was moving loads of foreign-made cloth from his shop in old Hanuman galli in the Fort region to Mumbai Port. He was given police protection as per his request. The activists begged not to move the truck, but the police forced the protesters aside and managed to get the truck moving. Near Bhaangwadi on Kalbadevi Road, Shahid Babu Genu stood in front of the truck, shouting praises for Mahatma Gandhi. The police officer ordered the driver to drive the truckover Shahid Babu Genu, but the driver was Indian, so refused, saying: “I am Indian and he is also Indian, So, we both are the brothers of each other, then how can I murder my brother?”. After that, the English police officer sat on the driver seat and drove the truck over Babu Genu and crushed him to death under the truck. This resulted in a huge wave of anger, strikes, andprotests throughout Mumbai.
  • Babu Shedmake (1833–1858) was an Indian pro-independence rebel and a Gond chieftain from Central India. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he led the revolt in Chanda district. Born in a Gond zamindar family, he fought multiple battles against the British in a period of seven months in 1858. He was eventually captured and hanged for rebellion against the British government. Baburao Shedmake’s life and his revolt against foreign rule are still celebrated by the Gond community. A sobriquet veer, i.e. brave, is added to his name as a mark of his bravery. His birth and death anniversaries are observed annually throughout Gondwana region.
  • Baiza Bai: (1784-1863) Baiza Bai was born in Kagal, Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 1784. In February 1798 in Poona, at the age of 14, she was married to Daulat Rao Scindia, the ruler of Gwalior. She was known as a superb horsewoman, and had been trained to fight with a sword and spear. She accompanied her husband during the Maratha wars with the British, and she fought against Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, at the Battle of Assaye. During the British campaign against the Pindaris (IRREGULAR HORSEMEN WHO ROBBED AND PLUNDERED MARATHA ARMIES IN CENTRAL INDIA ), shehad urged her husband to support the PeshwaBaji Rao II against them. When Daulat Rao submitted to British demands, she even left him briefly, accusing him of cowardice. She was also fiercely opposed to the Scindia surrender of Ajmer to the British. Baiza Bai died in Gwalior in 1863.
  • In 1899,Chapekar brothers – Damodar, Balakrishna and Vasudev were involved in the murder of W. C. Rand, the British plague commissioner of Pune. A Special Plague Committee was formed, under the chairmanship of Walter Charles Rand, an Indian Civil Services officer. Troops were brought in to deal with the emergency. The measures employed included entry into private houses, stripping and examination of occupants (including women) by British officers in public, evacuation to hospitals and segregation camps and preventing movement from the city. These measures were considered oppressive by the populace of Pune and complaints were ignored by Rand. On 22 June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of the coronation of Queen Victoria, Rand and his military escort Lt. Ayerst were shot while returning from the celebrations at Government House. All three brothers were found guilty and hanged
  • Godavari Parulekar (1907- 1996) was the first woman law graduate in Maharashtra. She was active in the student movement against British rule and was irresistibly drawn to the freedom struggle and plunged into individual satyagraha, for which she was convicted by the British regime in 1932. Godavari then came to Mumbai, where she took up social service in the Servants of India Society, founded by Gopal Krishna Gokhale in 1905, in the early 1930s. She became the first woman to be inducted as a life member of the Society. She was influenced by Marxist ideologues and led the armed struggle for the liberation of Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese rule and the Warli Adivasi Revolt in 1945.
  • Krishnaji Gopal Karve (1887-1910) was a member of the Abhinav Bharat Society in Nashik. On 21 December 1909, he along with Anant Laxman Kanhere shot dead Arthur Jackson, the Collector of Nashik. He was sentenced to death in the Bombay high court and hanged in Thane Jail on 19 April 1910.
  • Lahuji Vastaad or Lahuji Raghoba Salve (1794-1881) was a Dalit activist,preacher and freedom fighter. He learnt wrestling from his father and hebecame an expert wrestler, which eventually conferred him the title of ‘Vastaad’ (or master). He owned a gymnasium at Ganjpeth in Pune where he also taught martial arts to many reknowed people and also acted as a mentor preaching the need for Indian freedom from British Raj and the upliftment of untouchables. Lahuji got acquainted with JyotiraoPhule’s work for theliberation of depressed classes by educating them and joined his Satyashodhak Samaj.
  • MadhavraoBagal (1895-1986) was among the front runner leaders, who spearheaded the agitation for independence of India and especially merger of Kolhapur State into the Union of India. He was arrested with several of his compatriots like Ratnappa Kumbhar, Dinakar Desai, Nanasaheb Jagadale, R. D. Minche and others. He joined Indian National Congress in mid-1930s, disillusioned by pro-British politics played by older leaders of peasants movement like BhaskarraoJadhav, with whom Madhavrao hadstarted agricultural co-operative societies in Kolhapur and adjoining regions. During 1940-47, he was closely working with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • Madhav ShrihariAney (1880 –1968) popularly called Loknayak Bapuji Aney , was an ardent educationist, freedom fighter, statesman, a modern Sanskrit poet and a politician. He was one of the founder of the CongressNationalist Party along with Madan Mohan Malaviya. He was first among the eminent disciples of LokmanyaTilak and after Tilak’s death accepted the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi . He disapproved Congress throwing itself in Khilafat Movement and warned against excessive wooing of Muslims at the cost of national interests. Mahatma Gandhi admiring his calm logic, confided in him and often sought his counsel. He was chosen to arbitrate the disputes between Subhash Chandra Bose and Jatindra Mohan Sengupta.
  • NagnathNaikwadi (1922–2012), popularly known as Krantiveer Nagnathanna, was anIndian independence activist, social worker, politician and educationist, known for his revolutionary activism during THE INDIAN independence struggle. During the early 1940s, Naikwadi and his colleaguesresorted to armed conflict against the British colonial authorities. In order toraise funds for the movement, his group robbed a government treasuryin Dhule and supported the insurgency against the Nizam of Hyderabad. During one of his skirmishes with the British police, he was caught after being injured by a bullet. While in custody at Satara jail, he staged a jailbreak with his fellow activists. The British colonial government announced a reward on his head but Naikwadi managed to stay underground for four years.In 1943, along with Nana Patil, KisanraoAhir and a few others, he declared a parallel government, Prati Sarkar, which operated in around 150 villages in the western Maharashtra region which included Satara and Sangli.
  • Nana Patil, popularly known as Krantisinh was an Indian independence activist. He was a founder member of the Hindustan RepublicanAssociation who went underground between 1929 and 1932. Patil was imprisoned eight or nine times during the struggle with the British Raj from 1932 to 1942. He was the leader of the ‘Satara Parallel Government’ in Maharashtra from August 1943 to May 1946 against British rule. It was an armed offshoot of the 1942 Quit India movement, like the parallel governments in Midnapore in Bengal, Bhagalpur in Bihar, Ballia in Uttar Pradesh and Basudevpur in Odisha. Later on he joined the Communist movement.
  • Pandurang Mahadev Bapat (1880-1967) A maverick freedom fighter who both supported and challenged Mahatma Gandhi, Bapatearned the moniker of ‘Senapati’ when he fought for the rights of farmers during the Mulshi satyagraha in 1921. During his stay in Britain, he was associated with India House, spending a majority of his time learning bomb-making skills instead of pursuing his official studies. He became associated at this time with the Savarkar brothers, Vinayak and Ganesh. While in hiding after the Alipore bombing of 1908, Bapat travelled the country and discovered that the majority of the Indian population did not realize that their countrywas under foreign rule. At this point, his focus shifted from overthrowing the British government to educating the population. On 15 August 1947 — Indian Independence Day — Bapat was given the honour of raising the Indian national flag over the city of Poona for the first time.
  • Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje (1884 –1967) was an Indian revolutionary, scholar, agricultural scientist and historian who was among the founding fathers of the Ghadar Party. Khankhoje’s earliest nationalist work abroad dates back to the time around 1908 when he, along with Pandit Kanshi Ram founded the Indian Independence League in Portland, Oregon. His works also brought him close to other Indian nationalists in United States at the time, including TarakNath Das. In the years preceding World War I, Khankhoje was one of the founding members of the Pacific coast Hindustan association, and subsequently founded the Ghadar Party. He was at the time one of the most influential members of the party.
  • PrabhakarKunte (1922-2012) joined the Indian National Congress and was active in Quit India movement in 1942, and was imprisoned by British regime. He was a leading trade union leader and was elected to the Bombay Municipal corporation. He actively participated in the Samyukta Maharashtra agitation (1955–1960) and the liberation of Goa (1961).
  • Raghoji Bhangre (1805-1848) was an Indian Revolutionary who challenged and defied the British power in Maharashtra. He was the son of Ramji Rao Bhangre a Koli who also resisted the British rule and was subsequently hanged in Cellular Jail. He had killed a British Officer and 10 constables in an ambush in 1844.
  • Rama Khandwala (born 1926) is India’s oldest tour guide and the oldest living member of the Rani Jhansi Regiment formed by Subhas. Films Division has made a documentary on Rama Khandwala in 2019.
  • Captain Rambhhau Lad (1926 – ) ‘ led the Toofan Sena which was the armed wing of the Prati Sarkar in Satara – an astonishing chapter in India’s struggle for freedom. Thepratisarkar, headed by the legendary Krantisinh Nana Patil, functioned as a parallel government in the villages it controlled. It organised the supply and distribution of foodgrain, set up a market structure and ran a judicial system. It also penalised moneylenders, pawnbrokers and landlord collaborators of the Raj, The Toofan Sena conducted daring strikes on imperial armouries, trains, treasuries and post offices.
  • Shirishkumar Mehta (1926-1942) was an Indian freedom fighter and the youngest independence activist to be martyred at the age of 15. Mahatma Gandhi started the Quit India movement against the British in 1942. Shirishkumarwas leading a procession protesting against the government in Nandurbar. The police had set up barricades at Mangal Bazar area. The police launched a Lathi charge on the protesters as soon as procession reached them. Shirishkumar had the Tiranga, the Indian national flag and the slogan was ‘Vande Mataram’. The police opened fire when their lathi charge could not stop the procession. Shirishkumar was killed on the spot.
  • Shivram Bhiku Murkar was born in Dabhol village in taluka Dapoli, district Ratnagiri. He actively participated in the freedom struggle, the record of which is lost in time. as he worked in fisheries and had to deal with ports every day, he received secret messages that came via the searoute and passed on to his revolutionary comrades, including the ones underground. He was arrested by the British in Mumbai in 1930. He was arrested because he helped hiding the revolutionaries. He was sentenced to a prison life of around 2 – 3 years.
  • Swami Ramanand Tirtha (1903 –1972) was an Indian freedom fighter, educator and social activist who led the Hyderabad liberation struggle during the reign of Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad State. Swami RamanandTirtha was the principal leader of the Hyderabad State Congress. Before taking Sanyasa, his family name was VyenkateshBhagvanraoKhedgikar. The state university in Nanded is named after him. (Reasonably well known. Nanded University is named after him).
  • UmajiNaik (1791-1832) was an Indian revolutionary from Pune was one of the earliest freedom fighter of India who challenged the British rule in India around 1826 to 1832.He fought against East Indiacompany and company rule. Soon after the fall of Maratha Empire Umaji raised a tiny army against the British. His anti-British manifesto asked the country-men to fight against the foreign rulers. To capture him, the British Government announced a bounty of 10,000 rupees. Betrayed Nana Raghu Chavan British arrested him, enquired then hold him guilty and hanged till death on 3 Feb 1834.
  • Vasudev Balwant Phadke (1845 –1883) was an Indian independence activist And revolutionary who sought India’s independence from the British Raj. With the help of the Koli, Bhil and Dhangar communities in the region, he formed a revolutionary group of the Ramoshi people. Thegroup started an armed struggle to overthrow the British Raj, launchingraids on rich English businessmen to obtain funds for the purpose. Phadkecame to prominence when he got control of the city of Pune for a few daysafter catching British soldiers off-guard during one of a surprise attacks.Phadke was transported to jail at Aden, but escaped from the prison bytaking the door off from its hinges on 13 February 1883. He was soonrecaptured and then went on a hunger strike, dying on 17 February 1883.
  • Vishnu Ganesh Pingle (1888 –1915) was an Indian revolutionary and amember of the Ghadar Party . Pingle and a number of other Ghadarites including Kartar Singh Sarabha, Harnam Singh and Bhai Paramanand were tried in the Lahore Conspiracy trial in April 1915 by aspecial tribunal constituted under the Defence of India Act 1915, for their roles in the February plot. Pingle was executed by hanging at the Lahore Central Jail on 16 November 1915, along with Kartar Singh.

Yashwantrao D. Deshmukh

Yashwantrao D. Deshmukh was a political figure from Roha, a town in Maharashtra’s Raigad district. He worked as a pleader and became a leader of the youth in Roha during the Indian independence movement.Yashwantrao actively participated in the civil disobedience movement and faced prosecution on January 15, 1932, for his involvement. Despite the risks, he remained influential in Rohataluka, inspiring young people to join the freedom struggle. He also played a role in distributing Congress bulletins in Roha and had significant political influence in the area, mobilizing the masses for the cause of independence. Yashwantrao was the brother of ChintamanDwarkanathDeshmukh, a renowned freedom fighter, showcasing the family’s dedication to independence. After India gained independence, Yashwantrao became the president of Roha municipality, serving the people throughout his life. His leadership remained an inspiration, and his contributions to the freedom movement hold historical significance in Roha and Maharashtra.Yashwantrao D. Deshmukh played an active role in the Indian independence movement and demonstrated leadership in Rohataluka. His contributions and dedication to the cause have left an impact on local history.

The list of names is just Indicative, not exhaustive, of the fervour that Maharashtra experienced and fought through In Its stead to achieve Independence for India.

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