Historical Background of Political Process in Maharashtra (1818-1960) | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


1
SECTION - I
1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
POLITICAL PROCESS IN
MAHARASHTRA
[1818-1960]
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical background
1.3 Social Reform Movement
1.4 The Nationalist Movement
1.5 Institutional Nationalsim
INTRODUCTION
The Samyukta Maharashtra which came into existence on 1
st
May 1960 was the result of
-
"a "process which had begun
-
many
decades ago. The units of Marathi-speaking people which were
geographically contiguous were brought under one political entity.
Page 2


1
SECTION - I
1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
POLITICAL PROCESS IN
MAHARASHTRA
[1818-1960]
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical background
1.3 Social Reform Movement
1.4 The Nationalist Movement
1.5 Institutional Nationalsim
INTRODUCTION
The Samyukta Maharashtra which came into existence on 1
st
May 1960 was the result of
-
"a "process which had begun
-
many
decades ago. The units of Marathi-speaking people which were
geographically contiguous were brought under one political entity.
Before Samyukta Maharashtra was formed, Vidarbha region was
part of Central Province, which later became Madhya Pradesh. Its
legal name was 'MP and Berar'. The
.
Berar [Vidarbha] region was
attached to the Maharashtra. Similarly the Marathwada region was a
part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by the Nizam till
September 1948. The Police Action forced Nawab of Hyderabad to
merge his state into the Union of India. Consequently the Marathi
speaking area of Hyderabad state [Marathwada] became part of
Maharashtra. Hence the new entity is known as 'Samyukta
Maharashtra'. One must understand the historical forces behind
this to understand the political process in Maharashtra. As we
know, political process does not take place in vaccum. Hence
it is necessary to understand the history of this region in modern
era.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A quick look at the history of this region would reveal that till 1307 AD,
this region was ruled by various Hindu dynasties. The last dynasty
was the Yadavs of Deogiri. This dynasty was defeated by the
Muslims from North India. With this began the dominance of
Muslim rulers on this region which lasted -for over three centuries.
Then came the Maratha rule. No matter who ruled this region, the
entire region was never under one sovereign rule. Its various sub-
units were ruled by different dynasties at different times. This
observation is important so as to understand why special efforts
need to be taken for the integration of various units of Maharashtra,
which is not the case with many other states of Indian Union.
A] Maratha rule:
The new political awakening in thi& region began with the rise
and growth of Shivaji. A young Shivaji Maharaj, was fired by the dream
of establishing his own kingdoin in Deccan. He challenged Adilshahi
of Vijapur as well as Mughals of Delhi. By latter half of Seventeenth
century, Shivaji managed to carve out his kingdom bravely by
defying the Muslims pdwerS around him. After his death, by the
middle of eighteenth century the Peshwas made Merathas an all
India power by raising the standard at Attack. However, the third
battle of Panipat, 1761 gave Maratha' hegemony a body blow.
By this time the East india
-
Company from England had
become an important power in the political life of India. It had won the
battle of Plessey
.
, 1757 and firmly entrenched itself in India. By .1818,
the Company managed to defeat the Marathas and became the
undisputed ruler-Of India.
B] British rule:
Page 3


1
SECTION - I
1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
POLITICAL PROCESS IN
MAHARASHTRA
[1818-1960]
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical background
1.3 Social Reform Movement
1.4 The Nationalist Movement
1.5 Institutional Nationalsim
INTRODUCTION
The Samyukta Maharashtra which came into existence on 1
st
May 1960 was the result of
-
"a "process which had begun
-
many
decades ago. The units of Marathi-speaking people which were
geographically contiguous were brought under one political entity.
Before Samyukta Maharashtra was formed, Vidarbha region was
part of Central Province, which later became Madhya Pradesh. Its
legal name was 'MP and Berar'. The
.
Berar [Vidarbha] region was
attached to the Maharashtra. Similarly the Marathwada region was a
part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by the Nizam till
September 1948. The Police Action forced Nawab of Hyderabad to
merge his state into the Union of India. Consequently the Marathi
speaking area of Hyderabad state [Marathwada] became part of
Maharashtra. Hence the new entity is known as 'Samyukta
Maharashtra'. One must understand the historical forces behind
this to understand the political process in Maharashtra. As we
know, political process does not take place in vaccum. Hence
it is necessary to understand the history of this region in modern
era.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A quick look at the history of this region would reveal that till 1307 AD,
this region was ruled by various Hindu dynasties. The last dynasty
was the Yadavs of Deogiri. This dynasty was defeated by the
Muslims from North India. With this began the dominance of
Muslim rulers on this region which lasted -for over three centuries.
Then came the Maratha rule. No matter who ruled this region, the
entire region was never under one sovereign rule. Its various sub-
units were ruled by different dynasties at different times. This
observation is important so as to understand why special efforts
need to be taken for the integration of various units of Maharashtra,
which is not the case with many other states of Indian Union.
A] Maratha rule:
The new political awakening in thi& region began with the rise
and growth of Shivaji. A young Shivaji Maharaj, was fired by the dream
of establishing his own kingdoin in Deccan. He challenged Adilshahi
of Vijapur as well as Mughals of Delhi. By latter half of Seventeenth
century, Shivaji managed to carve out his kingdom bravely by
defying the Muslims pdwerS around him. After his death, by the
middle of eighteenth century the Peshwas made Merathas an all
India power by raising the standard at Attack. However, the third
battle of Panipat, 1761 gave Maratha' hegemony a body blow.
By this time the East india
-
Company from England had
become an important power in the political life of India. It had won the
battle of Plessey
.
, 1757 and firmly entrenched itself in India. By .1818,
the Company managed to defeat the Marathas and became the
undisputed ruler-Of India.
B] British rule:
With the surrender of Peshwas in 1818, this region came
under the rule of the East India Company and was made part of
Bombay Presidency. Historically Marathwada and Vidarbha were
part of Hyderabad State. The Bhonsale of Nagpur surrendered in
1848 and Nagpur region was made part of the Central Province.
Later the Company got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. The Company needed to control the reach
cottongrowing areas of Berar. Such lease became necessary
as there was Civil War in America. This disrupted the supply of
cotton to the textile 'mills in England. As an alternative source of
supple, the-EIC got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. This transaction took place in 1860. In 1903 Berar
region was appended to the Central Province. Its new name
became 'Central Province and Berar' [CP and Berar].
This picture shows how Marathi-speaking areas which are
part of Samyukta Maharashtra today were scattered in the early
years of 20
1h
century.
SOCIAL REFORMS MOVEMENT
The English education began in India in 1835 thanks to the
efforts of Lord Macalay. The Bombay Presidency was one of the
few areas which came in contact with the Western education,
Western values and culture. Consequently the political awakening
began in this region much earlier compared to the other regions.
The English-educated Marathi young generation started many
soc
i
al, educational and religious reform movements in this region.
With English education and influence of Western values, these
young Indians started questioning the outdated and quite often
inhuman socio-religious practices like Child marriage, rigid caste
system, widow remarriage, etc. To spread these new values, they
started schools; colleges;" newspapers and later associations,
political parties. The Non-Brahmin movement was launched by
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. In 1873, he started 'Satya Shodhak Samaj
He wrote many books to express the plight of poor farmers
[Shetkaryancha , Asod], protest against caste-dominance
[GulaMgiri]. Similarly there. were upper-caste leaders like Justice
Ranade, Lokhitawadi' Deshmukh, Tilak and Agarkar. All were part of
social reform movement. Tilak and Agarkar were founders of New
English School as, well as, Fergusson College. Both had
started newspapers like Kesari and 'Maratha.
These movements could be categorized into educational
movements, social movements, women-related movements. This
categorization is not water-tight as many issues would overlap. This
categorization is done for better understanding only.
Page 4


1
SECTION - I
1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
POLITICAL PROCESS IN
MAHARASHTRA
[1818-1960]
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical background
1.3 Social Reform Movement
1.4 The Nationalist Movement
1.5 Institutional Nationalsim
INTRODUCTION
The Samyukta Maharashtra which came into existence on 1
st
May 1960 was the result of
-
"a "process which had begun
-
many
decades ago. The units of Marathi-speaking people which were
geographically contiguous were brought under one political entity.
Before Samyukta Maharashtra was formed, Vidarbha region was
part of Central Province, which later became Madhya Pradesh. Its
legal name was 'MP and Berar'. The
.
Berar [Vidarbha] region was
attached to the Maharashtra. Similarly the Marathwada region was a
part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by the Nizam till
September 1948. The Police Action forced Nawab of Hyderabad to
merge his state into the Union of India. Consequently the Marathi
speaking area of Hyderabad state [Marathwada] became part of
Maharashtra. Hence the new entity is known as 'Samyukta
Maharashtra'. One must understand the historical forces behind
this to understand the political process in Maharashtra. As we
know, political process does not take place in vaccum. Hence
it is necessary to understand the history of this region in modern
era.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A quick look at the history of this region would reveal that till 1307 AD,
this region was ruled by various Hindu dynasties. The last dynasty
was the Yadavs of Deogiri. This dynasty was defeated by the
Muslims from North India. With this began the dominance of
Muslim rulers on this region which lasted -for over three centuries.
Then came the Maratha rule. No matter who ruled this region, the
entire region was never under one sovereign rule. Its various sub-
units were ruled by different dynasties at different times. This
observation is important so as to understand why special efforts
need to be taken for the integration of various units of Maharashtra,
which is not the case with many other states of Indian Union.
A] Maratha rule:
The new political awakening in thi& region began with the rise
and growth of Shivaji. A young Shivaji Maharaj, was fired by the dream
of establishing his own kingdoin in Deccan. He challenged Adilshahi
of Vijapur as well as Mughals of Delhi. By latter half of Seventeenth
century, Shivaji managed to carve out his kingdom bravely by
defying the Muslims pdwerS around him. After his death, by the
middle of eighteenth century the Peshwas made Merathas an all
India power by raising the standard at Attack. However, the third
battle of Panipat, 1761 gave Maratha' hegemony a body blow.
By this time the East india
-
Company from England had
become an important power in the political life of India. It had won the
battle of Plessey
.
, 1757 and firmly entrenched itself in India. By .1818,
the Company managed to defeat the Marathas and became the
undisputed ruler-Of India.
B] British rule:
With the surrender of Peshwas in 1818, this region came
under the rule of the East India Company and was made part of
Bombay Presidency. Historically Marathwada and Vidarbha were
part of Hyderabad State. The Bhonsale of Nagpur surrendered in
1848 and Nagpur region was made part of the Central Province.
Later the Company got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. The Company needed to control the reach
cottongrowing areas of Berar. Such lease became necessary
as there was Civil War in America. This disrupted the supply of
cotton to the textile 'mills in England. As an alternative source of
supple, the-EIC got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. This transaction took place in 1860. In 1903 Berar
region was appended to the Central Province. Its new name
became 'Central Province and Berar' [CP and Berar].
This picture shows how Marathi-speaking areas which are
part of Samyukta Maharashtra today were scattered in the early
years of 20
1h
century.
SOCIAL REFORMS MOVEMENT
The English education began in India in 1835 thanks to the
efforts of Lord Macalay. The Bombay Presidency was one of the
few areas which came in contact with the Western education,
Western values and culture. Consequently the political awakening
began in this region much earlier compared to the other regions.
The English-educated Marathi young generation started many
soc
i
al, educational and religious reform movements in this region.
With English education and influence of Western values, these
young Indians started questioning the outdated and quite often
inhuman socio-religious practices like Child marriage, rigid caste
system, widow remarriage, etc. To spread these new values, they
started schools; colleges;" newspapers and later associations,
political parties. The Non-Brahmin movement was launched by
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. In 1873, he started 'Satya Shodhak Samaj
He wrote many books to express the plight of poor farmers
[Shetkaryancha , Asod], protest against caste-dominance
[GulaMgiri]. Similarly there. were upper-caste leaders like Justice
Ranade, Lokhitawadi' Deshmukh, Tilak and Agarkar. All were part of
social reform movement. Tilak and Agarkar were founders of New
English School as, well as, Fergusson College. Both had
started newspapers like Kesari and 'Maratha.
These movements could be categorized into educational
movements, social movements, women-related movements. This
categorization is not water-tight as many issues would overlap. This
categorization is done for better understanding only.
Caste:
. Indian society suffers the malaise of caste- system based on
untouchability and sense of purity. In Bombay Presidency Mahatma
Phule had launched a movement against caste system. He
realized that lack of education is the main handicap of the
Untouchables. Hence in 1852 he started a school for untouchables
in Pune. He wrote a well-argued book [Gulamgiri] to expose the
caste system.
In 1873 he started 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'. This shows his
quest for truth. Phule never accepted the authority of Vedas. He was
totally against idol-worship and recommended
monotheism. At philosophical level, he gave a. new concept
•
Nirmile which means God has created universe and the human
race which is equal in status. This logically leads to humanism.
After Matama Phule,' Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur must be
mentioned for the important contribution towards abolition of caste. As
King of Koihapur state, he had abolished 'Mahar vatan'. This was
an age-o
.
rd practice of keeping Mahars in perpetual bondage to
village community. He introduced reservations for the Dalits in 1902
in his state. Not only this, he established residential schools for
Dalit students and also gave them scholarships to the deserving
students.
Like Shahu Maharaj, Maharshi:Vitthal Ramji Shinde the torch
further. In 1906 He had established 'Depressed Classes Mission
Society' to fight against untouchability. His efforts were untiring. He
was associated with the Indian National Congress in this cause.
Women-related problem:
All over the world, the status of women has been inferior.
The realization that this needs to be .changed came with modem-
age. In India social reformers had made tremendous efforts to
improve the lot of women. Even today these efforts continue as we
can see from the debate on Women Reservation Bill. Till the social
reforms began in the 19
th
century, the plight of women was beyond
imagination. The entire society was under the sway of exploitative
practices like Sati, child-marriage, no right to remarry, no property
right, no education and employment opportunities. Polygamy,.
Devdasi, purdah system were keeping them in permanent
bondage. In this struggle, one name deserves a special mention.
Behramji Malabari, a Parsi person fought to get Widow Remarriage
Act passed. His achievement was Age of Consent Act. This started
a tremendous and heated debate in our society. On pro-reformist
leaders included Gopal Ganesh Aagarkar, Justice M.G. Ranade,
Pandita Ramabai had started a school for girls in -Rune. Its
curriculum became a hot topic.
Page 5


1
SECTION - I
1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
POLITICAL PROCESS IN
MAHARASHTRA
[1818-1960]
Unit Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Historical background
1.3 Social Reform Movement
1.4 The Nationalist Movement
1.5 Institutional Nationalsim
INTRODUCTION
The Samyukta Maharashtra which came into existence on 1
st
May 1960 was the result of
-
"a "process which had begun
-
many
decades ago. The units of Marathi-speaking people which were
geographically contiguous were brought under one political entity.
Before Samyukta Maharashtra was formed, Vidarbha region was
part of Central Province, which later became Madhya Pradesh. Its
legal name was 'MP and Berar'. The
.
Berar [Vidarbha] region was
attached to the Maharashtra. Similarly the Marathwada region was a
part of Hyderabad State which was ruled by the Nizam till
September 1948. The Police Action forced Nawab of Hyderabad to
merge his state into the Union of India. Consequently the Marathi
speaking area of Hyderabad state [Marathwada] became part of
Maharashtra. Hence the new entity is known as 'Samyukta
Maharashtra'. One must understand the historical forces behind
this to understand the political process in Maharashtra. As we
know, political process does not take place in vaccum. Hence
it is necessary to understand the history of this region in modern
era.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
A quick look at the history of this region would reveal that till 1307 AD,
this region was ruled by various Hindu dynasties. The last dynasty
was the Yadavs of Deogiri. This dynasty was defeated by the
Muslims from North India. With this began the dominance of
Muslim rulers on this region which lasted -for over three centuries.
Then came the Maratha rule. No matter who ruled this region, the
entire region was never under one sovereign rule. Its various sub-
units were ruled by different dynasties at different times. This
observation is important so as to understand why special efforts
need to be taken for the integration of various units of Maharashtra,
which is not the case with many other states of Indian Union.
A] Maratha rule:
The new political awakening in thi& region began with the rise
and growth of Shivaji. A young Shivaji Maharaj, was fired by the dream
of establishing his own kingdoin in Deccan. He challenged Adilshahi
of Vijapur as well as Mughals of Delhi. By latter half of Seventeenth
century, Shivaji managed to carve out his kingdom bravely by
defying the Muslims pdwerS around him. After his death, by the
middle of eighteenth century the Peshwas made Merathas an all
India power by raising the standard at Attack. However, the third
battle of Panipat, 1761 gave Maratha' hegemony a body blow.
By this time the East india
-
Company from England had
become an important power in the political life of India. It had won the
battle of Plessey
.
, 1757 and firmly entrenched itself in India. By .1818,
the Company managed to defeat the Marathas and became the
undisputed ruler-Of India.
B] British rule:
With the surrender of Peshwas in 1818, this region came
under the rule of the East India Company and was made part of
Bombay Presidency. Historically Marathwada and Vidarbha were
part of Hyderabad State. The Bhonsale of Nagpur surrendered in
1848 and Nagpur region was made part of the Central Province.
Later the Company got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. The Company needed to control the reach
cottongrowing areas of Berar. Such lease became necessary
as there was Civil War in America. This disrupted the supply of
cotton to the textile 'mills in England. As an alternative source of
supple, the-EIC got Berar region on lease from Nizam of
Hyderabad. This transaction took place in 1860. In 1903 Berar
region was appended to the Central Province. Its new name
became 'Central Province and Berar' [CP and Berar].
This picture shows how Marathi-speaking areas which are
part of Samyukta Maharashtra today were scattered in the early
years of 20
1h
century.
SOCIAL REFORMS MOVEMENT
The English education began in India in 1835 thanks to the
efforts of Lord Macalay. The Bombay Presidency was one of the
few areas which came in contact with the Western education,
Western values and culture. Consequently the political awakening
began in this region much earlier compared to the other regions.
The English-educated Marathi young generation started many
soc
i
al, educational and religious reform movements in this region.
With English education and influence of Western values, these
young Indians started questioning the outdated and quite often
inhuman socio-religious practices like Child marriage, rigid caste
system, widow remarriage, etc. To spread these new values, they
started schools; colleges;" newspapers and later associations,
political parties. The Non-Brahmin movement was launched by
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule. In 1873, he started 'Satya Shodhak Samaj
He wrote many books to express the plight of poor farmers
[Shetkaryancha , Asod], protest against caste-dominance
[GulaMgiri]. Similarly there. were upper-caste leaders like Justice
Ranade, Lokhitawadi' Deshmukh, Tilak and Agarkar. All were part of
social reform movement. Tilak and Agarkar were founders of New
English School as, well as, Fergusson College. Both had
started newspapers like Kesari and 'Maratha.
These movements could be categorized into educational
movements, social movements, women-related movements. This
categorization is not water-tight as many issues would overlap. This
categorization is done for better understanding only.
Caste:
. Indian society suffers the malaise of caste- system based on
untouchability and sense of purity. In Bombay Presidency Mahatma
Phule had launched a movement against caste system. He
realized that lack of education is the main handicap of the
Untouchables. Hence in 1852 he started a school for untouchables
in Pune. He wrote a well-argued book [Gulamgiri] to expose the
caste system.
In 1873 he started 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'. This shows his
quest for truth. Phule never accepted the authority of Vedas. He was
totally against idol-worship and recommended
monotheism. At philosophical level, he gave a. new concept
•
Nirmile which means God has created universe and the human
race which is equal in status. This logically leads to humanism.
After Matama Phule,' Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur must be
mentioned for the important contribution towards abolition of caste. As
King of Koihapur state, he had abolished 'Mahar vatan'. This was
an age-o
.
rd practice of keeping Mahars in perpetual bondage to
village community. He introduced reservations for the Dalits in 1902
in his state. Not only this, he established residential schools for
Dalit students and also gave them scholarships to the deserving
students.
Like Shahu Maharaj, Maharshi:Vitthal Ramji Shinde the torch
further. In 1906 He had established 'Depressed Classes Mission
Society' to fight against untouchability. His efforts were untiring. He
was associated with the Indian National Congress in this cause.
Women-related problem:
All over the world, the status of women has been inferior.
The realization that this needs to be .changed came with modem-
age. In India social reformers had made tremendous efforts to
improve the lot of women. Even today these efforts continue as we
can see from the debate on Women Reservation Bill. Till the social
reforms began in the 19
th
century, the plight of women was beyond
imagination. The entire society was under the sway of exploitative
practices like Sati, child-marriage, no right to remarry, no property
right, no education and employment opportunities. Polygamy,.
Devdasi, purdah system were keeping them in permanent
bondage. In this struggle, one name deserves a special mention.
Behramji Malabari, a Parsi person fought to get Widow Remarriage
Act passed. His achievement was Age of Consent Act. This started
a tremendous and heated debate in our society. On pro-reformist
leaders included Gopal Ganesh Aagarkar, Justice M.G. Ranade,
Pandita Ramabai had started a school for girls in -Rune. Its
curriculum became a hot topic.
Those days there were a large number of child
,
widows. They
had no future, no life. They had to shave off their heads. Phule had
opposed to the practice of tonsure. To stop this practice he
appealed to the-barbers of Pune to stop this.
Phule started Balhatya Pratibandhank Gruh in Pune to help
the child widows and their children. Many prominent social
reformers like G G Aagarkar supported the right of widow to
remarry. Dhondo Keshav Kam set an example by marrying a widow
Godabai. Karve went on to set up India's first university for women in
1916.
These reformers realized that lack of education among
women makes them helpless and totally dependent of men. Here
too, we find Phule taking the lead. In 1848 he had started a school
for girls in Pune. To set an example he taught his wife Savitribai
who later became a school teacher. After Phule, Shahu of Kolhapur
enacted a law and made child marriages illegal. He ordered touch
measures to end pernicious practices like Devdasi, jogtini, etc. He
encouraged to Hindu widows to remarry. Maharshi Shinde worked
towards ending Devdasi practices. Out of his efforts came a law
passed by Bombay Presidency.
Education:
As noted all social reformers were in agreement that lack of
education led to slavery of India. Not only this they demanded
modern education based on science and technology. We have
already noted the pioneering work done by Mahatma Phule. We
also mentioned how young graduates like Tilak and Aagarkar had
started the New English School. The idea was to spread education
among masses and empower them with scientific knowledge and
patriotism. Phule was the first important social reformer who
understood the importance of free and compulsory education. He
had presented a memorandum to the Hunter Commission on
education in 1881 and Suggested that children should be given
education free till the Age of twelve. This education should be made
.
Compulsory.
Phule was envisaging an educated society. Shahu
Maharaj was keen to promote technical education among the Dalits
so that they could easily get jobs. In 1897, Shahu took initiative and
started a technical school at village Aalte. In 1902 Shahu Maharaj
made education free and compulsory in his state. Jaganath
Shankar Sheth, Bhau Daji Lad also made frnpOriarit contribution
in the field of education,
Religion: These social reformers realized that there are too
many bad practices and customs in Hindu religion. They wanted to
reform Hindu religion and get rid of these inhuman practices. Phule's