Read Part 1 here.
Some people are always misrepresented by history. Two such personalities are Gopika-bai and Anandi-bai. Both a rightful place and credit are due for their contribution.
Gopika-bai came into the Peshwa house at a very young age of 8 after being married to Nanasaheb Balaji Bajirao, the eldest son of the glorious Peshwa Bajirao. Nanasaheb was trained in the courts of Shahu in Satara and also by his father, uncle and numerous other ministers. He started looking in to the matters of court at an early age of 15 years. Gopika-bai was an extremely intelligent person and the environment of the Peshwa family gave her encouragement to opine; and at a later stage to perhaps dabble in the administration herself. She was well learned, but could not read or write in Modi script, she resorted to the use of Devnagari scripts for the letters she wrote either to her husband or sons and grandson.
Gopika-bai is perhaps the only individual who saw both the zenith and the nadir of the Maratha Empire so closely. Bajirao was just setting himself up when Gopika-bai got married into the family. She saw inauguration of the grand palace Shaniwarwada, many victories by Bajirao and Chimaji Appa and those of her husband Nanasaheb and her brothers-in-law. Her brother was a respected minister in the court of Nanasaheb as well as Madhav-rao. Being the eldest of her generation, she had a lot of respect and authority. As the consort of the most powerful individual of that time, she had access to almost unbridled power. She was very religious by nature.
Gopika-bai was also struck with many tragedies in her life. Mostly people know of her three sons, but apparently, she had five! And she outlived all of them. Two sons were lost in infancy to disease and one on the Panipat battlefield. About half the Peshwa family was decimated at Panipat and Nanasaheb could not bear the brunt of the defeat and died of the shock. Her fourth son, Madhav-rao ascended the throne. Madhav-rao was forced to fight with his own uncle Raghoba to resolve the matters of regency and sedition. But Madhav-rao contracted tuberculosis in a few years and died. Her fifth son, Narayan-rao was killed in a conspiracy by his uncle Raghoba. At this stage, the other ministers intervened and prevented Raghoba, the main accused in Narayan-rao’s death, from ascending the throne. Narayan-rao’s wife was pregnant and gave birth to a male child, after Narayan-rao’s death – Sawai Madhav-rao. This infant was appointed the Peshwa and two powerful men of the times, Nana Phadnavis and Mahadji Shinde were made the regents. Gopika-bai outlived even Sawai Madhav-rao!
During the good days, Gopika-bai actively took part in the matters of administration. So much so, that at times even Nanasaheb considered her contribution as interference. He was so peeved by Gopika-bai’s bravado that to keep her under the tab, he actually married a girl almost one-third her age!
She was a good advisor to her son Madhav-rao after he ascended the throne. A few years into the reign of Madhav-rao Peshwa, Gopika-bai decided to retire and went on to live in almost seclusion. Some books claim she left Poona and went into seclusion to avenge Madhav-rao punishing her brother for the sack of Poona. However, it has now been proved that the events happened in exact reverse order – she retired earlier and sack of Poona came later.
In seclusion, she spent most of her time in religious activities. From her seclusion, Gopika-bai saw the unfolding of events only as a spectator. She saw her most able son Madhav-rao succumb to tuberculosis, Narayan-rao being murdered for petty politics and her grandson Sawai Madhav-rao not being given proper education, lest he replace his regents one day. Only in the last instance, Gopika-bai is seen to reprimand Nana Phadnavis for his negligence and write directly to Sawai Madhav-rao on how he should pull up his socks and get into the role of being a Peshwa. But for all her abilities, she never took active interest to make matters better. May be, history had a chance of being different if this very able and intelligent lady had remained active in politics!
The biggest villain produced by Maratha History must be Anandi-bai! Anandi-bai was married to Raghoba, the second son of Peshwa Bajirao. Raghoba was a good general and aspired to be a Peshwa himself and Anandi-bai encouraged her husband in his aspirations. However, by the rules of succession this was not possible and this lead to political conspiracy eventually resulting into Narayan-rao’s murder. It is here Anandi-bai’s role becomes prominent. She is accused of changing an important word in a letter going to mercenaries. Because of this change, the mercenaries read it as “Murder Narayan-rao” contrary to the original text that said “Capture Narayan-rao”. She was a co-accused in the case of regicide against Raghoba. However, Anandi-bai’s role in changing the text is controversial (either that or the Justice Ramshastri Prabhune took the easier route of keeping a woman out of controversy, we won’t know!). For this, she’s been the most hated woman in the Maratha History.
But what is the truth? Records and letters show a very different woman! Her aspirations of throne for her husband are well known and she never denied those. She was a very intelligent and a learned woman (for her times that was not very common) and made good use of free time by reading different books (mostly religious). She engaged in religious activities and charity for poor and needy. She was extremely loyal to her husband. Although Raghoba was an able general, he was very weak by character. Raghoba’s misbehavior caused many problems for Anandi-bai who was otherwise a god-fearing woman. Due to Raghoba’s nature and seditious activities, he had to be put under house arrest by Madhav-rao and naturally, Anandi-bai’s movements were also restricted and watched. Despite of this, Anandi-bai had a caring attitude towards Madhav-rao and advised him in the matters of politics. The case of regicide against Raghoba must have been very trying on her. Despite of this, she later took the role of a mentor for Sawai Madhav-rao; although she never returned to Poona after Raghoba’s death. She is also seen to have taken good care of Raghoba’s other wives, who were of the ages closer to be her daughters. She tried very hard to imbibe good value systems in her sons – one adopted, one natural – but as it turns out, both of them did not live up to her expectations. But for the circumstances created by her husband, history once again may have lost a very astute politician.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Iron Ladies of Maratha Empire – Part 1
The Reconstruction Era of Germany attributes a lot to the women power. After all, since many men were gone, it was up to the women to take the country forward. Does the Maratha Empire also owe it to the women? Do they deserve a lot more respect and gratitude than they are given? To find out, I picked up a book called मराठे शाहितील मनस्विनी (Marathe-shaahi teel manasvini) by Dr. SR Deshpande.
The list of the ladies in this book is interesting. While it contains some well known names like Jijabai, Tarabai, Ahilyabai Holkar and Rani Laxmibai, it also touches upon various interesting but slightly lesser known names such as Yesubai (Sambhaji’s wife), Karveer Jijabai (the first queen of Kolhapur throne), Gopikabai (wife of Nanasaheb Peshwa), Anandibai (wife of Raghoba Peshwa) and Mastani.
The author Dr. Suresh Deshpande was very closely related to the effort of Marathi Vishwakosh – an attempt to create an exhaustive encyclopedia in Marathi and has worked very closely in evaluating various historical documents. While involved in this work, the author realized that there are many iron ladies in the history that kept the dream of Swaraj alive. For many though, documented information is not available. And though the author would have liked to include them, for the lack of information, the list is only limited to the above.
Did Jijabai, Shivaji’s mother need an introduction? Perhaps not! She was a direct descendant of a General in the Devgiri Court but was married into a family of lesser stature than hers. However, she ensured that Shahaji’s spark is kept alive and imbibed the principles of independence and self-government in her son Shivaji. She was known for her sense of justice and well management of the Pune Jahagir. Her upbringing of Shivaji was perfect and her encouragement to him always set higher standards. Even after Shivaji gained fame, her control on administration was tight and rarely anyone would not honor her wish. She is also seen taking important decisions in Shivaji’s absence and the generals and ministers were more than willing to accept her leadership. There is only one documented case of her decision being reversed and that too the reversal came after her death. This lady is placed very high on the respect scale!
Next the author moves to the lesser known figure in the history, Queen Yesubai, wife of the second Chhatrapati, Sambhaji. Married to Sambhaji at a very tender age of 5 or 6, she grew up under the tutelage of Jijabai and Shivaji. It is estimated that Yesubai may have been home-schooled along with her husband Sambhaji. The positive effect of this schooling is seen to dominate the history at a later stage. By the time Sambhaji died, Yesubai must have been only 26-27 years old and mother to Shivaji II or as history knows him Shahu. During Sambhaji’s time as Chhatrapati, he was mostly away on wars with Aurangzeb and Yesubai played a key role in the administration. She also took care of Sambhaji’s half-brother Rajaram and ensured that he was educated well. However, tragedy struck constantly and Sambhaji was killed by Aurangzeb. This is the time Yesubai took over the regent and leadership role very effectively. Marooned on the fort Raigad, she encouraged Rajaram to flee to south and take shelter at the fort Panhala. This ensured that two fronts were opened against Aurangzeb and in case of the (inevitable) fall of Raigad, someone is outside to take charge and keep the fighting going. Yesubai and her son Shahu were arrested by Aurangzeb and this virtual house arrest was to continue for next 30 years! In fact, Yesubai was not released even after Aurangzeb’s death and Shahu after his release had to use effective diplomacy with Shah Alam to get Yesubai released. During her tenure under Aurangzeb’s arrest, she was able to stave off the pressure on her and Shahu to get converted to Islam. She also ensured that Shahu was given education and knowledge of warfare and administration, hoping that someday, they will be released and Shahu will be rightfully able to claim his title and throne. It was her foresight in opening two fronts on the war against Aurangzeb that kept the nascent Maratha Empire alive and caused much consternation to Aurangzeb.
Once Rajaram had succeeded in taking shelter at Panhala, he, supported by his wife Tarabai and key ministers started attacking Aurangzeb. Later Rajaram went on to Gingee and continued the fight while Tarabai remained at Panhala and kept the war going. She was a true leader and a great motivator. She did not hesitate in taking a sword in hand and fight alongside of her army. Days together she camped with her soldiers and kept up the motivation levels. She also encouraged and promoted brave and astute generals to take care of the warfare and strategy. She literally brought Aurangzeb to his knees and sapped the morale of his army. For this, Tarabai is very keenly respected by the Marathas and in a true sense; it was her who kept the empire alive under very difficult conditions. Throughout her life, Tarabai saw many tragedies – death of Rajaram and her son (Ram Raje). For all the good things there was Tarabai, there is a big “but” waiting.
She was extremely distrustful by nature and liked to keep her generals under her tab lest they got stronger and unmanageable. Right from the beginning, Tarabai wanted Rajaram’s coronation. However, the ministers and generals opposed this idea citing that Shahu was alive in Aurangzeb’s prison. As her bad luck may be, she lost both her husband and her son. To that end, she encouraged education and upbringing of her step son Shivaji Raje (born to Rajaram’s second wife). Now, she started demanding that this child may be appointed Chhatrapati and she a regent. But the council of ministers again refused citing same reason that Shahu was still alive in Aurangzeb’s prison. That did not deter her from creating a wedge between the generals and making them take sides. This cost her dearly and she lost support of some of her generals. Around the same time, Shahu was released from the jail and came back staking claim to the throne. His disciplined upbringing by Yesubai made him an able, even if uninterested, administrator. But Tarabai remained steadfast in her claim to the throne. Many ministers and generals defected and joined Shahu. By now, even Shivaji Raje’s (Tarabai’s stepson) ambitions to ascend to the throne were cemented. Shahu and Tarabai engaged in a war, in which she was defeated. At the Pact of Warana, it was decided that the throne will be split in two, Shahu will rule from Satara and expand the kingdom in North and Shivaji Raje will rule from Kolhapur and expand the kingdom in South. When offered, Tarabai chose to stay with Shahu. However her basic distrustful nature and ambitions did not die despite of defeat. She saw the Kolhapur throne as the legitimate one and tried many seditious activities against Shahu. For this, she was put under virtual house arrest by Shahu. She saw the rise of Peshwas on the political horizon and also saw the empire reach a zenith. Her basic nature wouldn’t let her retire and she continued causing minor problems to both Nanasaheb and Madhavrao Peshwas. She died a few months after the Maratha defeat at Panipat.
Having grown under the tutelage of Tarabai, Shivaji Raje’s wife, Karveer-Jijabai may have picked up a characteristic or two of her mother in law. Jijabai fought valiantly alongside her husband against Shahu and after the establishment of the Kolhapur Throne, took keen interest in its administration and well being of the subjects. After Shivaji Raje’s death, she took over as a regent.
The Kolhapur throne was not considered legitimate by many of Shahu’s ministers and especially the powerful Peshwas. The Peshwas tried many tactics to dissolve the throne and assimilate the fertile region into Shahu’s empire. But Jijabai’s instinct for survival was strong. She astutely understood the political scenario. The initial pact of Peshwas not venturing into south was long forgotten and Nanasaheb made many trips into Karnataka to fight against Nizam. This caused a very palpable threat to Kolhapur’s existence as a separate state. Knowing that she was militarily no match to the Peshwas, first she tried to cajole Sadashivbhau Peshwa into defecting to her side. Sadashivbhau was Nanasaheb’s first cousin and a very able administrator and an astute general. Losing Sadashivbhau would have been extremely detrimental to Nanasaheb. However, Nanasaheb was an even astute and cunning administrator. Realizing the credible threat from Jijabai, he not only distracted Sadashivbhau, but also extracted promise of loyalty from him. Knowing Jijabai, he also passed on the message that the Peshwas will not cause a threat to Kolhapur’s existence. But Nanasaheb did not live up to that promise and encouraged two of his generals – Ghorpade and Raste – to attack Kolhapur. To his surprise, Jijabai defeated these generals and came out victorious in this war. However, she was weak and if Peshwas so desired they could easily have bulldozed the state of Kolhapur. To that end, Jijabai took the path of diplomacy, sending Nanasaheb a “rakhee”, proclaiming him as her brother and asking for bangles in return. After that the Peshwas are not known to have caused any problems to the Kolhapur Throne.
Among other women of history, the writer takes up the case of Mastani as well. Normally she is known as a concubine of Bajirao. However, historically, it is proved that she was daughter of the King Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand, born of one of his Muslim queens. The King of Bundelkhand was a follower of Ek-ishwari Pranami Panth (One God sect?!) and hence did not discriminate people on the basis of caste or religion. Hence when Mastani chose to follow the Islam, he did not object to it. According to his belief, the kind of worship did not matter so long as you wanted to be one with the god. As a princess, Mastani was well educated and also trained in warfare. Her married life though was not a very happy one. The conventional Hindu family of Bajirao did not condone his wayward behavior for having married a Muslim girl! Constant conspiracies by Bajirao’s mother Radhabai and his brother Chimaji Appa caused much heartburn to both Mastani and Bajirao. This chapter is dedicated to more or less listing these conspiracies and how Mastani remained steadfast despite the constant threat from the Peshwa family.
Hereafter, the Peshwas firmly established themselves and Poona became a power center, with the role of Satara and Kolhapur thrones diminishing slowly.
(To be continued)
The list of the ladies in this book is interesting. While it contains some well known names like Jijabai, Tarabai, Ahilyabai Holkar and Rani Laxmibai, it also touches upon various interesting but slightly lesser known names such as Yesubai (Sambhaji’s wife), Karveer Jijabai (the first queen of Kolhapur throne), Gopikabai (wife of Nanasaheb Peshwa), Anandibai (wife of Raghoba Peshwa) and Mastani.
The author Dr. Suresh Deshpande was very closely related to the effort of Marathi Vishwakosh – an attempt to create an exhaustive encyclopedia in Marathi and has worked very closely in evaluating various historical documents. While involved in this work, the author realized that there are many iron ladies in the history that kept the dream of Swaraj alive. For many though, documented information is not available. And though the author would have liked to include them, for the lack of information, the list is only limited to the above.
Did Jijabai, Shivaji’s mother need an introduction? Perhaps not! She was a direct descendant of a General in the Devgiri Court but was married into a family of lesser stature than hers. However, she ensured that Shahaji’s spark is kept alive and imbibed the principles of independence and self-government in her son Shivaji. She was known for her sense of justice and well management of the Pune Jahagir. Her upbringing of Shivaji was perfect and her encouragement to him always set higher standards. Even after Shivaji gained fame, her control on administration was tight and rarely anyone would not honor her wish. She is also seen taking important decisions in Shivaji’s absence and the generals and ministers were more than willing to accept her leadership. There is only one documented case of her decision being reversed and that too the reversal came after her death. This lady is placed very high on the respect scale!
Next the author moves to the lesser known figure in the history, Queen Yesubai, wife of the second Chhatrapati, Sambhaji. Married to Sambhaji at a very tender age of 5 or 6, she grew up under the tutelage of Jijabai and Shivaji. It is estimated that Yesubai may have been home-schooled along with her husband Sambhaji. The positive effect of this schooling is seen to dominate the history at a later stage. By the time Sambhaji died, Yesubai must have been only 26-27 years old and mother to Shivaji II or as history knows him Shahu. During Sambhaji’s time as Chhatrapati, he was mostly away on wars with Aurangzeb and Yesubai played a key role in the administration. She also took care of Sambhaji’s half-brother Rajaram and ensured that he was educated well. However, tragedy struck constantly and Sambhaji was killed by Aurangzeb. This is the time Yesubai took over the regent and leadership role very effectively. Marooned on the fort Raigad, she encouraged Rajaram to flee to south and take shelter at the fort Panhala. This ensured that two fronts were opened against Aurangzeb and in case of the (inevitable) fall of Raigad, someone is outside to take charge and keep the fighting going. Yesubai and her son Shahu were arrested by Aurangzeb and this virtual house arrest was to continue for next 30 years! In fact, Yesubai was not released even after Aurangzeb’s death and Shahu after his release had to use effective diplomacy with Shah Alam to get Yesubai released. During her tenure under Aurangzeb’s arrest, she was able to stave off the pressure on her and Shahu to get converted to Islam. She also ensured that Shahu was given education and knowledge of warfare and administration, hoping that someday, they will be released and Shahu will be rightfully able to claim his title and throne. It was her foresight in opening two fronts on the war against Aurangzeb that kept the nascent Maratha Empire alive and caused much consternation to Aurangzeb.
Once Rajaram had succeeded in taking shelter at Panhala, he, supported by his wife Tarabai and key ministers started attacking Aurangzeb. Later Rajaram went on to Gingee and continued the fight while Tarabai remained at Panhala and kept the war going. She was a true leader and a great motivator. She did not hesitate in taking a sword in hand and fight alongside of her army. Days together she camped with her soldiers and kept up the motivation levels. She also encouraged and promoted brave and astute generals to take care of the warfare and strategy. She literally brought Aurangzeb to his knees and sapped the morale of his army. For this, Tarabai is very keenly respected by the Marathas and in a true sense; it was her who kept the empire alive under very difficult conditions. Throughout her life, Tarabai saw many tragedies – death of Rajaram and her son (Ram Raje). For all the good things there was Tarabai, there is a big “but” waiting.
She was extremely distrustful by nature and liked to keep her generals under her tab lest they got stronger and unmanageable. Right from the beginning, Tarabai wanted Rajaram’s coronation. However, the ministers and generals opposed this idea citing that Shahu was alive in Aurangzeb’s prison. As her bad luck may be, she lost both her husband and her son. To that end, she encouraged education and upbringing of her step son Shivaji Raje (born to Rajaram’s second wife). Now, she started demanding that this child may be appointed Chhatrapati and she a regent. But the council of ministers again refused citing same reason that Shahu was still alive in Aurangzeb’s prison. That did not deter her from creating a wedge between the generals and making them take sides. This cost her dearly and she lost support of some of her generals. Around the same time, Shahu was released from the jail and came back staking claim to the throne. His disciplined upbringing by Yesubai made him an able, even if uninterested, administrator. But Tarabai remained steadfast in her claim to the throne. Many ministers and generals defected and joined Shahu. By now, even Shivaji Raje’s (Tarabai’s stepson) ambitions to ascend to the throne were cemented. Shahu and Tarabai engaged in a war, in which she was defeated. At the Pact of Warana, it was decided that the throne will be split in two, Shahu will rule from Satara and expand the kingdom in North and Shivaji Raje will rule from Kolhapur and expand the kingdom in South. When offered, Tarabai chose to stay with Shahu. However her basic distrustful nature and ambitions did not die despite of defeat. She saw the Kolhapur throne as the legitimate one and tried many seditious activities against Shahu. For this, she was put under virtual house arrest by Shahu. She saw the rise of Peshwas on the political horizon and also saw the empire reach a zenith. Her basic nature wouldn’t let her retire and she continued causing minor problems to both Nanasaheb and Madhavrao Peshwas. She died a few months after the Maratha defeat at Panipat.
Having grown under the tutelage of Tarabai, Shivaji Raje’s wife, Karveer-Jijabai may have picked up a characteristic or two of her mother in law. Jijabai fought valiantly alongside her husband against Shahu and after the establishment of the Kolhapur Throne, took keen interest in its administration and well being of the subjects. After Shivaji Raje’s death, she took over as a regent.
The Kolhapur throne was not considered legitimate by many of Shahu’s ministers and especially the powerful Peshwas. The Peshwas tried many tactics to dissolve the throne and assimilate the fertile region into Shahu’s empire. But Jijabai’s instinct for survival was strong. She astutely understood the political scenario. The initial pact of Peshwas not venturing into south was long forgotten and Nanasaheb made many trips into Karnataka to fight against Nizam. This caused a very palpable threat to Kolhapur’s existence as a separate state. Knowing that she was militarily no match to the Peshwas, first she tried to cajole Sadashivbhau Peshwa into defecting to her side. Sadashivbhau was Nanasaheb’s first cousin and a very able administrator and an astute general. Losing Sadashivbhau would have been extremely detrimental to Nanasaheb. However, Nanasaheb was an even astute and cunning administrator. Realizing the credible threat from Jijabai, he not only distracted Sadashivbhau, but also extracted promise of loyalty from him. Knowing Jijabai, he also passed on the message that the Peshwas will not cause a threat to Kolhapur’s existence. But Nanasaheb did not live up to that promise and encouraged two of his generals – Ghorpade and Raste – to attack Kolhapur. To his surprise, Jijabai defeated these generals and came out victorious in this war. However, she was weak and if Peshwas so desired they could easily have bulldozed the state of Kolhapur. To that end, Jijabai took the path of diplomacy, sending Nanasaheb a “rakhee”, proclaiming him as her brother and asking for bangles in return. After that the Peshwas are not known to have caused any problems to the Kolhapur Throne.
Among other women of history, the writer takes up the case of Mastani as well. Normally she is known as a concubine of Bajirao. However, historically, it is proved that she was daughter of the King Chhatrasal of Bundelkhand, born of one of his Muslim queens. The King of Bundelkhand was a follower of Ek-ishwari Pranami Panth (One God sect?!) and hence did not discriminate people on the basis of caste or religion. Hence when Mastani chose to follow the Islam, he did not object to it. According to his belief, the kind of worship did not matter so long as you wanted to be one with the god. As a princess, Mastani was well educated and also trained in warfare. Her married life though was not a very happy one. The conventional Hindu family of Bajirao did not condone his wayward behavior for having married a Muslim girl! Constant conspiracies by Bajirao’s mother Radhabai and his brother Chimaji Appa caused much heartburn to both Mastani and Bajirao. This chapter is dedicated to more or less listing these conspiracies and how Mastani remained steadfast despite the constant threat from the Peshwa family.
Hereafter, the Peshwas firmly established themselves and Poona became a power center, with the role of Satara and Kolhapur thrones diminishing slowly.
(To be continued)
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Book Review – Mandalay’s Prisoner
Almost more than a year ago, I bought the book Mandalaycha Rajbandi. It had been making news in Marathi papers but still took me a lot of time to complete reading this book. The book is about the political life of Lokmanya Tilak and covers more than the school history books do. The book has been written by Arvind V Gokhale. Gokhale is one of the eminent journalists and columnists in Marathi press. He also worked as the editor of Kesari, Tilak's newspaper for over a decade. He has devotedly studied Tilak and the quality of the book shows it. The book is set from 1897 thro to 1914, and does not deal with the standard text book contributions of Tilak such as Ganpati Festival and famous quotes. What the book does deal with is, the British bureaucracy, handling of various administrative issues such as the plague epidemic and drought and famine, Tilak’s fiery brand of journalism and more importantly, the politics and infighting within Indian National Congress and the Congress split of 1908!
The book also deals with a lot of refreshing details of Congress Conventions and the court cases against Tilak and in my opinion in tad too many details of the editorials and opinions published in Kesari at that time. The latter could have been cut a little bit either to reduce the size of the book or to include some other details or could have been dealt with via commentary on specific sections. However, the author chose to reprint many of the editorials published at that time and all the speeches that Tilak gave in the court hearing.
Unlike during the later time, there was no category as a political prisoner and Tilak had to be part of the prison system as a common criminal. The charges in three cases were sedition and high treason of which only in the third case Tilak was acquitted. In the first case, Tilak was behind the bars for two years and in the second case, was sent off to Mandalay (via Mumbai and Ahmadabad) for a period of two days short of six years.
The book starts with a backdrop of the drought and the changes the British Government made to the laws that made life miserable. Pune also suffered from the plague epidemic and the strategies of Rand, the then Commissioner of Pune, in containing the plague caused much hardship to the people. It was under those circumstances that Tilak wrote several editorials in Kesari which caused much heartburn to the Government. Tilak may directly have instigated the Chapekar Brothers to kill Rand and naturally, he came under the scanner of the police. Curzon’s time was nothing less than tyranny and Tilak and his newspaper were on the forefront of criticism. And partition of Bengal brought about the most scathing attacks on the British.
Tilak was also a chief leader of the Congress Party at that time and had a great influence on the thought process. By the end of the first decade of 1900, the Congress was at a fork – complete independence or limited self-rule? And this created two groups – the extremists and the moderates. The tussle between the extremists and the moderates has been captured in great details. Various thought processes by Gopal Krishna Gokhale the leader of the moderates was in direct opposition to the extremist’s thought line. The extremists demanded full freedom, national education, boycott and swadeshi (use of local products). But the moderates believed this will lead to a confrontation with the government and can’t do any good to either Congress or to the cause of freedom. It is claimed that Ferozshah Mehta, Rasbihari Ghosh and others in the moderates’ camp played dirty politics to not let the extremists’ demands come on table. The venues and the possible chairman for the convention were changed many times. The moderates’ went so far as to deny Lala Lajpat Rai a chance to chair the meet lest it would make the government uncomfortable.
Tilak the leader of the extremists’ group was a strong critique of the moderates’ policies and this lead to a divide among the two groups. The Surat Convention literally led to fist fight and throwing of chairs and a split in the party.
Aggressiveness of Tilak and his criticism of the government brought him under the radar several times. The government was looking at possibilities of booking him under the clause of treason and did so eventually. In both the cases, Tilak defended himself with help of eminent lawyers. The official translation of the Marathi articles was challenged, debated and shredded apart, but the government found loopholes. In both the cases, the result was almost pre-decided before the case. Irony is that, in the first case, advocate Dawar defended Tilak but by the second case, Dawar had become a justice himself and presided over the case. During the second case, Tilak was helped by Jinnah among other lawyers and used his own intelligence to cleverly breakdown the government’s argument. His speech in the court was very remarkable, especially given that he was not even allowed notes and had to defend himself without knowing what the government’s exact stance would be. The jury was selected to heavily favor the government as well. It is claimed that Justice Dawar was very strict in his dealing with Tilak and did not heed to Tilak’s age while handing out the conviction. The only saving grace was that the rigorous imprisonment statement was abrogated to simple imprisonment.
While in Mandalay, Tilak had to undergo many hardships nevertheless. The hot and humid climate took its toll; exacerbated by age and ailments like Diabetes and Blood Pressure. Tilak also had to bear the brunt of the news of his wife’s death while in prison. The sketch of his prison life shows a sensitive caring husband and father worried about the well being of his family. The time Tilak got at the prison was well utilized in reading and writing. The silver lining of the prison may have been several books published out of the manuscripts written while in the prison.
Could Indian history have been different if the Congress were not so divided in its principles in early 1900s? Tilak had prepared not only for the fight for freedom but also how to govern once self-rule was attained. His knowledge about the Irish struggle was very deep. And his plans for Home Rule League were very concrete. May be history would have indeed been different had the Congress been united in its early days!
The book also deals with a lot of refreshing details of Congress Conventions and the court cases against Tilak and in my opinion in tad too many details of the editorials and opinions published in Kesari at that time. The latter could have been cut a little bit either to reduce the size of the book or to include some other details or could have been dealt with via commentary on specific sections. However, the author chose to reprint many of the editorials published at that time and all the speeches that Tilak gave in the court hearing.
Unlike during the later time, there was no category as a political prisoner and Tilak had to be part of the prison system as a common criminal. The charges in three cases were sedition and high treason of which only in the third case Tilak was acquitted. In the first case, Tilak was behind the bars for two years and in the second case, was sent off to Mandalay (via Mumbai and Ahmadabad) for a period of two days short of six years.
The book starts with a backdrop of the drought and the changes the British Government made to the laws that made life miserable. Pune also suffered from the plague epidemic and the strategies of Rand, the then Commissioner of Pune, in containing the plague caused much hardship to the people. It was under those circumstances that Tilak wrote several editorials in Kesari which caused much heartburn to the Government. Tilak may directly have instigated the Chapekar Brothers to kill Rand and naturally, he came under the scanner of the police. Curzon’s time was nothing less than tyranny and Tilak and his newspaper were on the forefront of criticism. And partition of Bengal brought about the most scathing attacks on the British.
Tilak was also a chief leader of the Congress Party at that time and had a great influence on the thought process. By the end of the first decade of 1900, the Congress was at a fork – complete independence or limited self-rule? And this created two groups – the extremists and the moderates. The tussle between the extremists and the moderates has been captured in great details. Various thought processes by Gopal Krishna Gokhale the leader of the moderates was in direct opposition to the extremist’s thought line. The extremists demanded full freedom, national education, boycott and swadeshi (use of local products). But the moderates believed this will lead to a confrontation with the government and can’t do any good to either Congress or to the cause of freedom. It is claimed that Ferozshah Mehta, Rasbihari Ghosh and others in the moderates’ camp played dirty politics to not let the extremists’ demands come on table. The venues and the possible chairman for the convention were changed many times. The moderates’ went so far as to deny Lala Lajpat Rai a chance to chair the meet lest it would make the government uncomfortable.
Tilak the leader of the extremists’ group was a strong critique of the moderates’ policies and this lead to a divide among the two groups. The Surat Convention literally led to fist fight and throwing of chairs and a split in the party.
Aggressiveness of Tilak and his criticism of the government brought him under the radar several times. The government was looking at possibilities of booking him under the clause of treason and did so eventually. In both the cases, Tilak defended himself with help of eminent lawyers. The official translation of the Marathi articles was challenged, debated and shredded apart, but the government found loopholes. In both the cases, the result was almost pre-decided before the case. Irony is that, in the first case, advocate Dawar defended Tilak but by the second case, Dawar had become a justice himself and presided over the case. During the second case, Tilak was helped by Jinnah among other lawyers and used his own intelligence to cleverly breakdown the government’s argument. His speech in the court was very remarkable, especially given that he was not even allowed notes and had to defend himself without knowing what the government’s exact stance would be. The jury was selected to heavily favor the government as well. It is claimed that Justice Dawar was very strict in his dealing with Tilak and did not heed to Tilak’s age while handing out the conviction. The only saving grace was that the rigorous imprisonment statement was abrogated to simple imprisonment.
While in Mandalay, Tilak had to undergo many hardships nevertheless. The hot and humid climate took its toll; exacerbated by age and ailments like Diabetes and Blood Pressure. Tilak also had to bear the brunt of the news of his wife’s death while in prison. The sketch of his prison life shows a sensitive caring husband and father worried about the well being of his family. The time Tilak got at the prison was well utilized in reading and writing. The silver lining of the prison may have been several books published out of the manuscripts written while in the prison.
Could Indian history have been different if the Congress were not so divided in its principles in early 1900s? Tilak had prepared not only for the fight for freedom but also how to govern once self-rule was attained. His knowledge about the Irish struggle was very deep. And his plans for Home Rule League were very concrete. May be history would have indeed been different had the Congress been united in its early days!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Great Indian Safari
There was a time, when men’s fashion was in the hands of the likes of Vaste Tailors or Sangam Tailors. The moneyed ones went to Elite Tailors, making sure to pronounce it as A-light. The little more moneyed ones probably relied on a stray Akbarallys or outfits made using Raymond or Khatau Mills! What a bush-shirt is I know not, but it seems everyone wore it. Your financial status would drive whether it was a short-sleeved one or you had money to spend on the extra cloth for a long-sleeved. The second fashion statement mostly came from the breast pocket – some liked a flat bottomed, some liked a conical bottomed. Some liked two – one to keep money and the other to keep cigarettes. Some even had a small section to keep a pen! The third fashion statement was the Safari suit!
There was a time, when a six year old was condoned for not knowing the gender based clothing rules. Yours truly had taken some fancy to his sister’s red velvet sandals that she bought for our aunt’s wedding. “I want the same chappals for the wedding”, I demanded of my mother. A slight nod of hers may have been accompanied by a lot of worry and a hope that I grow up fine! With all the excitement of wedding shopping, my (maternal) uncle had slightly different plans. He chose a cloth for my cousin and I and we were to wear the safari suits for the wedding reception - a shiny brown color to match my fair skin and brown hair and a creamy color for my cousin. The velvet chappals were soon forgotten. The suits were stitched and ready for the wedding. Did I look handsome? You bet! The suit was largely forgotten after that dazed evening.
Why Indian men wore safari suits is a big enigma to me. And why the safari suit was such vogue is an even bigger enigma. The four pockets on the front of a loose fitting shirt looked funny. The pleats on the pockets and sometimes on the back were considered decorative. (Note, decorative, not fashionable!) The pant color always matched the shirt color – no innovation left for the fashionable ones. Safari suit was an indicator that I may have little more money than you may. Safari suits were a trademark of the Indian babus. In fact, two of my relatives, who were the modest government servants, made it a point to wear the suits every so often. And a few others who worked for the private companies also chose to wear safari suits on special occasions. But I don’t recollect wearing my lone safari suit again. It must have shrunk staying in our Godrej cupboard or I may have grown up! It must have eventually made its way to the clothes-to-utensils-exchanger.
Thank god that the suit has fallen off the radar of the modern metrosexuals. After all, will your average Elite Tailors compete with the barrage of the Park Avenues and the Arrows and the Van Huesens?
There was a time, when a six year old was condoned for not knowing the gender based clothing rules. Yours truly had taken some fancy to his sister’s red velvet sandals that she bought for our aunt’s wedding. “I want the same chappals for the wedding”, I demanded of my mother. A slight nod of hers may have been accompanied by a lot of worry and a hope that I grow up fine! With all the excitement of wedding shopping, my (maternal) uncle had slightly different plans. He chose a cloth for my cousin and I and we were to wear the safari suits for the wedding reception - a shiny brown color to match my fair skin and brown hair and a creamy color for my cousin. The velvet chappals were soon forgotten. The suits were stitched and ready for the wedding. Did I look handsome? You bet! The suit was largely forgotten after that dazed evening.
Why Indian men wore safari suits is a big enigma to me. And why the safari suit was such vogue is an even bigger enigma. The four pockets on the front of a loose fitting shirt looked funny. The pleats on the pockets and sometimes on the back were considered decorative. (Note, decorative, not fashionable!) The pant color always matched the shirt color – no innovation left for the fashionable ones. Safari suit was an indicator that I may have little more money than you may. Safari suits were a trademark of the Indian babus. In fact, two of my relatives, who were the modest government servants, made it a point to wear the suits every so often. And a few others who worked for the private companies also chose to wear safari suits on special occasions. But I don’t recollect wearing my lone safari suit again. It must have shrunk staying in our Godrej cupboard or I may have grown up! It must have eventually made its way to the clothes-to-utensils-exchanger.
Thank god that the suit has fallen off the radar of the modern metrosexuals. After all, will your average Elite Tailors compete with the barrage of the Park Avenues and the Arrows and the Van Huesens?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
