The Gazetteers Department

EARLY IN MAY THE RESIDENT RECEIVED A LETTER DATED THE 1ST MAY 1849, stating that it had been resolved that from failure of heirs the Satara territory had lapsed to the power which had bestowed it. On the 6th of June following Mr. Frere reported to Government that the Notification of the annexation had been received loyally but despondently by the subjects and servants of the late Raja. The senior Rani protested strongly but showed no active opposition to the decision of Government.

Every thing went quietly till May 1850 when the decision of Government as to the provision to be made for the family of the late Raja was communicated to the Ranis. They rejected the terms offered, and stipulated for the continuance of the household of the late Raja in their service, and intrigued in the hopes of gaining indirectly what they failed to procure by direct means. Finally they withdrew their demands and their affairs were settled in December 1851. Their lands and allowances and the private property left by Shahaji, valued at upwards of 15 lakhs were restored and distributed among them in proportions fixed by Government, and separate apartments in the palace were assigned to each of the Ranis and to their adopted son Venkaji Raje. Besides a large amount of jewels, furniture, and equipages, the Rains gave to Venkaji the whole of their hereditary lands and villages yielding a net yearly revenue of over Rs. 20,000 and added to it portions of their own allowances which raised his income to more than Rs. 60,000 a year. The parties interested were satisfied and all excitement was allayed. Every individual belonging to the household of the late Raja, not retained in the service of their Highnesses the Ranis or of Balvantrav Bhonsle, the boy whom the late Raja had taken under his protection, was pensioned, employed, or discharged with a gratuity. Since the settlement of their affairs their Highnesses the Ranis abstained from giving further trouble to Government. The final arrangement made may be thus summarised. The late Raja's private debts amounting to Rs. 2,35,450 and the expenses attending his visit at Kolhapur amounting to a further sum oi Rs. 58,750 were discharged by advances from the public treasury. A balance of Rs. 25,000 remaining in the hands of the architect of the new palace was assigned for the improvement of the aqueduct built by Shahu Raja of Satara, and a further balance of Rs. 35,860, chiefly saving out of the pay to his late Highness's cavalry, was also devoted after the manner of the late Government to public works. The yearly life allowance of Rs. 1,00,000 settled on the Rani was divided among them in the following proportions. Rs. 45,000 to the senior Ram, Rs. 30,000 to the second Rani, and Rs. 25,000 to the third Rani. The private movable and immovable property was unreservedly given up by Government to the Rams and they were allowed to keep a life possession of the old and new palaces, which with all other public buildings were declared to be the property of Government. Balvantrav Bhonsle was allowed to keep property worth about Rs. 1,42,470 that had been given to him, and in deference to the wishes of His late Highness a further monthly allowance of Rs. 600 was settled on him. Pratapsinh's widow and adopted son were each allowed monthly pensions of Rs. 1,200 and the widow was also granted a sum of Rs. 12,000 to meet the expenses of her journey from Banares to Satara where the Governor-General had allowed her to live. She reached Satara in 1854 and lived in the same palace together with the widow and the adopted son of ShahajT. To Gojrasahcb, Pratapsinh's daughter and only child was assigned a monthly pension of Rs. 1,200 with a monthly remainder of Rs. 1,000 to her male heirs. On her leaving Banares for Satara in October 1848, the Government of India granted Gojrasaheb Rs. 20,000 to meet the expenses of her journey, as well as several months' arrears amounting Rs. 9,000 on account of herself and followers. On the death of the lady, on the 30th of August 1853, Government granted her family the sum Rs. 5.000 to meet the cost of her funeral rites.

Uprisings, 1857.

From 1849 Satara was directly under the British Government though the Regulations were not introduced till 1863. No signs of discontent appeared till the disordered state of the country during the 1857 uprising stirred some members of Pratapsinh's family to seditious intrigue. No outbreak occurred at Satara during the uprising, but evidence was discovered of a widespread conspiracy only a week before the date fixed for the rising. A Ramoshi named Nana Raghu Chavhan, who about 1831 had received Rs. 10,000 from Government for the arrest of the great Ramoshi bandit Umaji Naik, told a dismissed agent of the Pant Sachiv that a conspircy was on foot in Satara. The Pant Sachiv's agent told Mr. Rose, the District Magistrate on the 10th June 1857. Inquiry showed that armed Marathas had gathered at Bagarvadi a village near Bhor, the Prant Sachiv's capital, that they had started for Satara, and had arranged for Ramoshi and others to follow them. As there was a large Ramoshi population near Bagarvadi, thirty of the Southern Maratha Irregular Horse were sent under Lieutenant Kerr, accompanied by the First Assistant Commissioner Lieutenant Sandford, to intercept them. The party marched forty-five miles in sixteen hours over difficult rugged ground, but were seen by some of the Marathas who returned from Satara and the greater number of the men escaped to the hills. Thirteen Marathas were seized, but of the thirteen, only one was a man of consequence. All confessed that they had come together for the purpose of attacking the station at Satara. In consequence of this intelligence the magistrate asked for a detachment of European troops from Poona which arrived towards the end of the month. On the day after the intellignece was received from Bhor, a Rajput messenger on the establishment of the Satara Judge's court was arrested in the lines of the 22nd Regiment native Infantry at Satara, endeavouring to corrupt a Subhedar and through him all the Indian men of the regiment. The magistrate Mr. Rose was empowered to try him by special commission and he was executed on the 20th of June. On the scaffold he harangued the people present telling them that the English had less hold on the country than when they set foot in it, and urging them as the sons of Hindus and Musalmans not to remain quiet. A short time before a gang robbery had taken place near Parali behind the Satara fort. It was then reported that this gang formed a detachment from a considerable body of men who had gathered in the neighbouring forests but had dispersed on the return of the troops from Persia. It was now ascertained that Pratapsinh's agent Rango Bapuji had been living for six weeks in Parali, and that he had gathered this body of men to act with the band assembled in the Bhor country and with armed men hid in Satara The plot was mainly directed by Rango Bapuji. The intention was at the same time to attack Satara, Yavateshvar, and Mahabaleshvar. to massacre all Europeans, and to plunder the treasury and the town and to install Shahu, the adopted son of Pratapsinh, on the Gadi. Besides circulating news of the rising in Hindustan, Rango Bapuji set a foot absurd but widely believed stories; The Governor of Bombay had commissioned Rango to restore Pratapsinh's family and had ordered him to seize all Europeans who were to be released if they agreed to the arrangement and if they refused to agree were to be massacred. Meetings of conspirators had begun as far back as January 1857. Matters had failed to come to a head merely for want of concert, and the failure of one or other of the number to bring his contingent at the proper moment. At their last meeting the ringleaders had solemnly sworn over the sweetmeats which they ate together never again to fail. At the time the information was received every thing was ripe for an attack. In Satara the organisation was incomplete as at the last, conspirators were short of ammunition. In Bhor were large stores of powder, lead, and cannon balls, and in Satara 820 bullets were found ready cast in one house. According to the evidence at the trials, after the last meeting 2,000 men were ready for the attack and arrangements had been made for opening the jail and for letting out the 300 convicts. The Pant Sachiv was deeply involved in the plot [A very suggestive letter of Chimnaji Raghunath Sachiv to Rango Bapuji has been published on page 397 of ' History of Freedom Movement in India.'] and the other feudatories were believed to be no less guilty, and members of Pratapsinh's family who were living at the old palace were proved to be closely implicated. One night the horses of Shahu, Pratapsinh's adopted son and of Durgasingh, the Senapati's adopted son were saddled, that the young Rajas might head the attack. Antaji Raje Shirke, known as Bavasaheb, the native head of the Satara police, who was then drawing Rs. 600 a month, was completely corrupted by the elder Rani, and had engaged to keep the local police inactive. It also came out that during the previous year Bavasaheb had been intriguing to bring 40,000 Rohillas to Satara. The inquiry further showed that Shahaji's adopted son Venkaji Bhonsle had knowledge of the treasonable designs against the British Government. It was uncertain whether he was under the influence of Pratapsinh's family or of the great estate-holders. The impression formed by Government was that he was trimming between the two parties, fearing that unless he fell in with their designs, if Pratapsinh's party succeeded he would be in a worse position than he was under the British Government. Secret levies were being raised in all parts of the district from Bhor to the furthest part of Khanapur. Valva, on the line of communication with Kolhapur, was the seat of much intrigue. Rango Bapuji used to boast that he could bring over a thousand men from Belganv and that Kolhapur would also rise. The event proved that as regards Kolhapur his boast was well founded. Besides this, if the confessions of Pratapsinh's adopted son are to be believed, encouraged by Holkar and Rango Bapuji, the Ranis had been plotting ever since their return from Benares in 1854. The province, as it was then called, of Satara was ripe for sedition. With one exception the feudatories were without male issue, and in consequence of the non-recognition of Shahaji's adoption were afraid that at their deaths their estates would be lost to their families. Government had also decided that alienations made by the last two Rajas without the Resident's consent were to be resumed on the death of present holders. These sources of discontent had much less influence on the people than a feeling which, since their return to Satara in 1854, had sprung up in favour of Pratapsinh's family. The first news of the mutinies in Upper India came to Satara in a private letter to an obscure Brahman. The Brahman took the letter to Pratapsinh's chief Rani and prayed for her favour when she came into power. The letter was read publicly in the native library. The receiver was warned to burn it and the matter was kept a close secret. One of the reasons for a rising on which Rango Bapuji dwelt ever since his return from England was England's embroilment with Russia. This, he said, gave the best possible chance for gathering levies and raising the people against the British power in India. He said that all the discontented people in the Deccan looked to Satara, the ancient seat of the Maratha empire, as the place which should first free itself from the British yoke.

Several arrests were made in July including the son of Rango Bapuji in Kolhapur territory. Though a reward of Rs. 500 was offered for his apprehension Rango Bapuji escaped and has never been heard of. The detachment of Europeans reached Satara at the end of June and for about a fortnight all remained quiet. On the 13th of July a desperate attack was made on the office and treasury of the Mamlatdar of Pandharpur, then in Satara, with the further object of raising the eastern districts on the Nizam's border. The attempt was made with only a few men and the attack was successfully repelled by the local police with a loss of four killed including the Mamlatdar of Pandharpur. Two of the six leaders were killed in the attack, the other four were captured and blown from guns at Satara with two of their followers. The rest were transported. On the 27th of August a special commission sat for the trial of seventeen persons concerned in the plot, including the son and another relation of Rango Bapuji [Some papers of the trial have been published in 1957, in " History of Freedom Movement in India", a Bombay Government publication on pp. 179-193 under the caption "Satara Treason Case".]. These pevsons were convicted and executed on the 8th of September. On the 6th of August, by order of Government, Shahu, the adopted son and the two Ranis of Pratapsinh, the adoptei son Balasaheb Senapati, and a cousin of Shahu were removed for confinement to Butcher's Tsland in Bombay harbour. This measure was urgently necessary in consequence of the uneasy state of the province owing to' the rising at Kolhapur on the 31st of July. Guns were taken to and pointed on the palace in the early moming and the family were removed in closed carriages. Heavy roads made the journey tedious, but it was successful. In the same month the disarming of the district was ordered and begun. All the cannon and wall-pieces in possession of the feudatory chiefs were taken, except two small pieces which they were allowed to keep for occasions of festivity and rejoicing. By the end of June 1858 over 32,000 small arms had been discovered, 130 guns and wall-pieces had been destroyed, and over Rs. 2,000 taken in fines for concealment of arms. No further disturbance occurred. But the insurrection at Kolhapur in December 1857 necessitated the despatch of smal parties of troops. Seventy-five were sent to Ashta then the headquarters of the Valva sub-division and twenty-five to Shirala, a strong mud fort to check any rising on the southern frontier. These troops were kept at these stations till August 1858 when they were serf to Tasganv to join 200 men of the 22nd Native Infantry lately sent there from Satara to overawe the Southern Maratha chiefs and to check the rising which it was thought might follow the annexation of the Patvardhan chiefs' territories on his decease without male issue No disturbance took place and the troops returned at the beginning of the fair season. The political prisoners Rajasbai and Gunvantaba the widows, and Shahu and Durgasingh the adopted sons of Pratapsinh and Balasaheb were kept at Butcher's Island till March 1857. In December 1857 Mr. Rose went to Butcher's Island and induced the adopted sons and Kaka Saheb a relation of Sahu's to make confession of their part in the intrigues. In March 1858 they were removed to Karachi in Sind and were kept in residences separate from the Ranis, who proved incurable intriguers.

Shahu, the adopted son of Pratapsinh, was allowed to return to Satara where he was joined by his wife Anandibai. Venkaji, Shahaji's adopted son, was removed first to Ahmadabad and then to Ahmad-nagar in 1859 and 1860 respectively. Monthly allowances of Rs. 100 were granted to Shahu, of Rs. 50 to Durgasingh, and of Rs. 30 to Kakasaheb; to the Rani Rajasbai Rs. 100 and Gunvantabai Rs. 40. Certain old servants of Pratapsinh were pensioned at a total monthly cost of Rs. 730 while others were discharged with gratuities amounting to Rs. 1,530. Yeshvant Malhar Chitnis., who induced the young Raja and Senapati to make their confessions, received Rs. 3,000 and certain palace servants who aided were given small gratuities. The Subhedar who resisted the rebels' overtures was invested with the third class order of merit, and Sadashiv Khanderav, the Bhor Karbhari who conveyed the first information was restored to his office, presented with a dress of honour worth Rs. 600, and given a village worth Rs. 500 a year. Venkaji died in 1864, and Shahaji's widow adopted another son Rajaram, who was popularly known as Abasaheb. Since 1859 except for one or two gang robberies Satara has enjoyed a period of comparative peace. In 1874 Shahaji's widow submitted an appeal to the British Government against the East India Company's high-handed behaviour in taking possession of many of the houses belonging to her family. The appeal was drafted by the famous pleader of Bombay V. N. Mandlik with the help of G. S. Khambete of Satara. Her efforts however were not destined to bear any fruit. Within a few days after the submission of the appeal, the palace caught fire and a portion of it, known as Rang Mahal, was burnt to ashes. This gave a great shock to the lady and she died on 24th March 1874. Abasaheb her adopted son was versatile both in oriental learning as also in military exercises and was fond of patronising wrestlers. He died on 8th April 1904 leaving behind two sons Shivaji alias Annasaheb and Pratapsinh alias Bhausaheb. During his life-time he was deprived of the hereditary title " Maharaj" and he was only classed as a first class sardar. He died in 1914 and his younger brother Pratapsinh succeeded to his estates. He died childless in 1925 and his widow adopted a son who was named Shahu. He took to a military career in the course of the Second World War and was very fond of hunting, in which pursuit he died of an accident in 1950. He is succeeded by his eldest son Pratapsinh.

Shahu the adopted son belonging to the other branch who had been transferred to Karachi was allowed to return to the Deccan in 1885. He stayed in Poona, became the follower of a Brahmo sect and died in 1892. His inherited property recently lapsed to the Satara branch as per rules of succession.

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