Brief History of Pune

The original nucleus of Pune was located in the immediate vicinity of the confluence of the Mula and Mutha. River confluences have traditionally been considered sacred by the Hindus and to this fact, is attributed the original name of Poona: Sanskrit "Punyapur" (Cleanser), which changed into Marathi "Pune" and the British "Poona". ( Gadgil, 1952). Pune that has a long history can be traced from the copper plate inscriptions of the Rastrakuta kings in the 8th and 10th century. After the Rastrakutas, Pune came under the Yadav Kings of Daulatabad. During the period from sixth to thirteenth century, Pune served as head quarters for Hindu dynasties that controlled the West Deccan Region. Later in 1294 AD it came under Mohammedan rule with Muslim invasion of the Deccan. In the early thirteenth century it was said to be only a small village containing fifteen huts around the traditional temples. At the end of the thirteenth century the first traces of a market town called, 'Kasbe Pune' was developed by an Arab military governor (Burha Arab )whom  Allauddin Khilji had appointed .It was created by combining the villages of Kasarli and Kumbarli to its east Pune remained largely a Muslim garrison town for over three centuries .Kasba Peth was the first Peth to be established . He is also said to have built a fort along the Mutha river as his residential quarters. The fort was known as Kille Hissar .

In 1629, Siddhi Yakub and Ranjitrai were appointed in charge of the fort by Nizamshah. Kille  Hissar  fort  was  reserved  for  the  garrison  and  the  town's  Muslim  inhabitants.  Beyond  the  inner  wall,  an  outer  wall  surrounded  the   civilian   Hindu   population   consisting   of   artisans,   farmers   and   traders.   In   the   early l630s,  Pune  came  into  Shahaji's  (Shivaji's  father)  possession  ranted by the Muslim King of Ahmednagar. Soon  after,   his  enemies  attacked  it  and  Pune  was  burnt  and  razed  to  the  ground.  However,   Shahaji  made  Pune  as  seat  in  1636,  and  the  town  was  reconstructed  .   Small   suburban   settlements   emerged   outside  the   Kasba,   and   Pune   enjoyed  a  brief  period  of  peace  and  prosperity.  ( Joshi, 1971).
  The  kasba  was  surrounded  by  fringe  of  semi  rural  suburbs.  To  the  east  of  Kasba,  was  the  oldest  suburb  called  Shahapur  contained  cultivators,  gardeners,  artisans  and  petty  traders.  To  the  north  of  the  Shahapur  was  Astapur  containing outcaste  communities. The  southern  suburb  of Malkapur  was a settlement  of traders, the  eastern  riverbank  suburb  of  Murtazabad  was  predominated  by  Brahmins  and  to  the  south  east  of  Kasba  was  Mohiyabad,  added  to  it  during  the  visit  of  Moghul  Emperor  Aurangzeb to Pune about  1700 (Gadgil,  1952).

In 1708, the Moghul Emperor declared Shivaji's grandson Shahu as Maratha king at Satara.
Several districts including Pune were granted to Shahu by the Moghul Emperor as his autonomous territory. Shahu appointed a Brahmin as his Prime Minister or 'Peshwa" (a Persian title used by the Muslim kings of the Deccan; Poona Gaz, 11) to look after the administration at Pune. Later 'Peshwa" became hereditary and the second peshwas BajiRao I made Pune as his residence in 1720. In 1726, Shahu granted him the town as a part of his 'Jagir" and thereafter, Pune became the permanent official seat of the peshwas for nearly a century.

The  real  growth  of  Pune  dates  from  the  time  of  Peshwa  Bajirao  I,  when  a  systematic  expansion  of  the  town  was  under  taken.  In 1728, Bajirao Peshwa asked his sardars, Mahadjipant Purandare, Dadaji Nilkantha Prabhu, Sakharampant Bokil and Babuji Naik, to demolish the fort and construct houses for themselves.  Once  the  official  status  of  Pune  as  a  capital  city  was confirmed  by  the  Peshwas  and  his  nobles,  the  town  started  to  grow  organically  by accretion. The  growth  of  Kasba  took  place  through  the  addition  of  new  localities,  which  were  known  as  'Pur'  or  'Pura'  in the  early  stages  and  later  raised,  to  the  status  of  a  'Peth'  (i.e.  a  large  division  of  town).   Gradually  the  peths  grew  to  be  a  fairly  self-sufficient.   Often  a  peth  was  a  small  town,  centering  on  the  founder's  mansion  and  containing  one  predominant  temple,  in  addition  to  several  others. (Gadgil,  1952). The  old  suburbs  were  annexed  to the  Kasba  as its  new peths.
The  old  Muslim  names  of  the  peths  were  gradually  changed  to  the  Hindu  names  following the  days  of  the  week.  (Local  traditions  trace  the  origin  of  these  names  to  the customs  of  holding  weekly markets  in each  peth on a specific  day of the week.)


Former  Shahapur,  Astapur,  Mohiyabad,  Murtazabad  and  Malkapur  were  renamed  Somwar   (Monday),   Mangalwar    (Tuesday),   Budhwar    (Wednesday),   Shaniwar   (Saturday),  and Raviwar  or  Adiwar  (Sunday)  peths,  respectively.  A  new  peth  called  Shukrawar  (Friday)  was  eatablished  in   1734.  (Gadgil,  1952).  In  1739,  Pune  was  described  as  a prosperous,  crowded  and  well  built  town,  with  handsome  houses  and  an impressive  gun  factory.  (Poona gaz.,  HI: 405).  The Town  was further  extended  in  the  1750's  with  the  addition  of  five  new  Peths:  Guruwar  (Thursday)  or  Vetal  peth,  Ganesh  peth,  Ganj  peth,  Musafarjung  peth  and  Nihal  or  Nagesh  peth.   The  early  growth  of  Pune  was  southward,  bounded  as  it  was  by  the  river  on  the  north,  by  the  streams  Nagasari  and  Manik  nala  in  the  east  and  by  another  parallel  stream  in  the  west,  which  was  later,  diverted  and  has  disappeared  completely.  This  was  the  main  reason  for  the north-south  direction  of lines of communication  in the city.

The  physical  expansion  of  Pune,  which  had  so  far  been  largely  southward,  assumed  an  east-west  direction  in  the  late  1760's.  In  the  east,  the  space  between Nagzari  and  Manik  nala  was  being  brought  under  settlement.  Bhawani  peth  was  located  in  this  area  en  route  to  Sholapur,  in 1767.
  In  addition  to  the  Kasba and  the eleven  peths,  two  small  localities  called   Karanpura  and  the  Hashampura,  both  absorbed  into the  Sadashiv  peth  in  1769 came up. (Gadgil,  1952). Narayan  peth  was  also established  about  the  same  time  on a strip  of  land  along  the river,  to the west of
Shaniwar peth. (Poona Gaz.III: 280).
The  last  phase  in  the  extension  of  Pune,  which  transformed   it  into  a  city, began  in the  1780's  and  seems to have resulted  from  its growing  importance  and the concomitant  increase  in  trade  due  to  royal  patronage.  In  1781, Ghorpade  peth  was  founded   and  formed   the  southernmost  extension   of  the  city.    To  the  north  of  Bhavani   peth,  Raste   and   Nana  peths  were  established   during   1785  and   1790  respectively.  The  Kasba  and  its  seventeen  peths,  which  constituted  the  indigenous  city, almost  until  the end  of the 19th  century, were  in place  by  1790.

Grave of Mastani in Pabal

Located around 60 km from Pune, Mastani's 275-year-old tomb is housed in the middle of a courtyard, surrounded by a boundary wall and three doors. One end of the courtyard has an elevated platform, which was used for namaz. One of the walls has Mastani's painting, too. According to local villagers, Muslims call the place 'Mastani chi Masjid' and Hindus 'Mastani's Samadhi'.Mohammad Inamdar's family has been looking after the tomb for generations. They are said to have  accompanied Mastani to Deccan from Bundelkhand .In the middle of the courtyard is a stone tomb, where Mastani was buried over two centuries ago. Next to the tomb stands a diya kund (lamp), which Inamdar lights every day.Though initially she stayed at Mastani Mahal in Shaniwarwada, owing to the rift  in the family, Bajirao shifted her to a palace in Kothrud. Later, when conflicts failed to end, he shifted her to a palace specially made for her in Pabal. Today, there’s no sign of the said palace in the village. The money collected as tax from three villages – Pabal, Tendur and Loni – was used by Bajirao for maintenance of Mastani .

 Shamsher Ali Bahadur , son of  Bajirao I and Mastani moved to Banda and his descendants became the Nawabs of Banda , but lost their estate  when Nawab Ali Bahadur II, a descendent of Shamser, responded to a rakhi sent by Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi and fought against the British alongside her in 1858. Ali Bahadur II  was exiled to Indore after 1858. His grandson Nawab Saif Ali Bahadur had three wives and 13 sons and seven daughters . In 1947, Saif moved his large family to Sehore for financial prudence. The family home there is called Nawab Banda compound. Afaque Ali Bahadur is the eleventh son of  Saif Ali Bahadur .Afaque Ali Bahadur’s son, Umar Ali Bahadur, a 29-year-old sales professional in Bhopal, studied Sanskrit in school and can rattle off mantras with perfection.  As a devotional exercise as a child, he once filled up a book with repetitions of the Gayatri mantra in writing. He is the most enthusiastic of the young brigade about preserving family history.

While the grave was in complete ruins, the state archaeology department started restoration work after miscreants dug it up in 2009. Locals said the tomb was dug up when people tried to find a diamond that Mastani swallowed to commit suicide. Umar studied in Pune and spearheaded the restoration of  Mastani’s grave at Pabal. “When I was going to study in Pune University,” says Umar, “my uncle Jamshed told me to pay respects at our ancestor’s grave. I found that it had been vandalized.”  After completing his post-graduate diploma in marketing management, he joined a private company in Pune to pursue the restoration and beautification work of the grave. With the help of history researcher Pandurang Balkavde and office bearers of Srimant Bajirao Mastani Sanskrutik Pratishthan (SBMSP), a trust founded by villagers of the district in memory of Bajirao and Mastani, Umar carried out this project.He  along with an SBMSP delegation had presented a memorandum in this regard to district collector Vikas Desmukh and also had met Baramati MP Supriya Sule. On 18th  August 2016 , Umar Ali Bahadur with his younger brother  on birth anniversary celebration of Peshwa Bajirao I  inaugurated the grave and Bajirao Road in Pabal .“The day when the grave was restored, while the rituals were performed as per the Muslim tradition, the Hindus too joined in with garlands to place it on the grave,” says Baba Inamdar, nephew of the caretaker, who is also the vice-president of All India Muslim and OBC Organisation.

Irrespective of their beliefs, people from both the community visit Mastani’s grave with equal devotion. “Because Mastani was Maharaja Chhatrasal’s daughter, the Hindus of Pabal consider her as a Hindu. The Muslims think she was a Muslim as her mother, Ruhaani Bai, was a Persian-Muslim. Despite their respective faiths, there’s never been a dispute in the village on this matter,” says Sanjay Ghodekar, the principal of a Padmani Jain Mahavidyalaya in Pabal, who has done M.Phil on Mastani as a subject in 1997 based on his six-year long extensive research.

A few decades ago, a sword was found in the village. Assuming that it may have once belonged to Mastani’s security guards, it was kept safely in the office of gram panchayat .The village remembers the beautiful queen in many other ways. Padmani Jain Mahavidyalaya takes out an annual magazine as a tribute to Mastani. Besides, the college also organises a state-level debate completion named Bajirao Mastani Debate Competition which sees participation of students from across the state.

zamburak

A zamburak (Persian: زمبورک‎) was a specialized form of self-propelled artillery from the early modern period. The operator of a zamburak is known as a zamburakchi. The weapon was used by the Gunpowder Empires, especially the Iranian empires of the Safavid dynasty and Afsharid dynasty, due to the ruggedness of the Iranian Plateau, which made typical transportation of heavy cannons problematic. A zamburak consisted of a soldier on a camel with a mounted swivel gun (a small falconet), which was hinged on a metal fork-rest protruding from the saddle of the animal. In order to fire the cannon, the camel would be put on its knees. The name may be derived from Arabic zanbūr "hornet", possibly in reference to the sound earlier camel-mounted crossbows made. The mobility of the camel combined with the flexibility and heavy firepower of the swivel gun made for an intimidating military unit, although the accuracy and range of the cannon was rather low. The light cannon was also not particularly useful against heavy fortifications.They were usually never fired while the camel was standing or in motion; doing so would minimize accuracy and could injure the camel.  Rather the camel would kneel when firing.  Due to their small cannon size they were limited in range, accuracy, and destructiveness, however mounted to a mobile platform, they were excellent skirmishing weapons. 

The zamburak became a deadly weapon in the eighteenth century. The Pashtuns used it to deadly effect in the Battle of Gulnabad, routing a numerically superior imperial Safavid army. The zamburak was also used successfully in Nader's Campaigns, when the Shah and military genius Nader Shah utilized a zamburak corps in conjunction with a regular artillery corps of conventional cannon to devastating effect in numerous battles such as at the Battle of Damghan (1729), the Battle of Yeghevārd, and the Battle of Karnal.

In Third Battle of Panipat Sadashiv Rao Bhau had the best artillery in the country ( 200 heavy guns ) along with the English, and had French-trained gunners and musketeers who could fight in European fashion. On the other hand, the Afghans under Ahmed Shah Abdali didn’t have an impressive field artillery; but they had a brutally effective mobile artillery mounted on camels. The zamburak cannon were deployed in large numbers to fire at the enemy and change position, thereby harassing him more . the Afghans deployed 3,000 camels equipped with jamburaks. On Abdali’s side, the center was commanded by Shah Wali Khan, his Wazir, with the royal cavalry. With him were 2000 Zamburaks, which were small cannons placed on camels, and were light and more mobile than the static maratha cannons.

Muhammad Jafar Shamlu, a camp follower of Shah Pasand Khan said Vishwas Rao was hit by a jamburak (swivel gun) shot on the head and died

Kailash Mehendale : A desendent of Balwantrao Mehendale

Kailash Mehendale a man in his fifties living in Pune is the 10th generation descendant of Balwantrao Mehendale . I met him on my personal visit to Pune . Kailashji took me to his ancestral house (Wada) at Appa Balwant Chowk . Appa Balwant Chowk (also known as A.B.C.) is a popular crossroads in the Shaniwar Peth neighborhood of Pune, India that is particularly noted for the concentration of bookshops in the area.On August 9, 1942, two people were shot and killed by police at A.B.C. after a teenager raised the Indian flag in defiance of the British rule. That triggered anti-colonialist violence including a theatre bombing the 75th anniversary of which was marked in January 2018.

Mehendale family lost a major portion of his house in the name of road widening . Earlier his house used be till half of the present road and there was an underground tunnel from Shaniwarwada to his Wada in Peshwa's times . While doing the construction activities in his ancestral house many swords , muskets and armors were found .

Balwantrao's rusted armor was about seven feet long . He also said that the Barah bhai meeting took place in his wada only .

 Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, popularly known as Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal or just ‘Mandal’, is an Indian institute providing resources and training for historical researchers.The institute was founded in 1910 by the veteran Indian historian Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade and Sardar K. C. Mehendale. The Mandal was founded on 7 July 1910 by the veteran Indian historian Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade and Sardar Khanderao Chintaman Mehendale at Sardar Mehendale’s palace at Appa Balwant Chowk in Pune.To commence the activity Rajwade read an essay in the presence of the only listener Sardar Mehendale. Later on, the Mandal moved to its present building located in Sadashiv Peth area in the heart of the city.

 

When Peshwa Madhavrao was returning from Parvati Hills to Shaniwarwada seated on  an elephant . Peshwa fell asleep and was about to fall from his ambari  on the way just then Appa Balwant son of Balwantrao saw this and pulled him by his armor and thus saved his life . Peshwa in reward of this act named that chowk as Appa Balwant Chowk.

Kailashji then took me to Shaniwarwada  . The Shaniwar Wada was originally the seven-storied capital building of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire.Shaniwarwada was completed in 1732, at a total cost of Rs. 16,110, a very large sum at the time. When attacked by the British Artillery 90 years later, all the top six stories collapsed leaving only the stone base . Balaji Pant Natu who belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmin community of Maharashtra coming from the powerful Natu family in Pune got the doors of Shaniwar Wada opened in absense of Peshwa .When the British forces entered Shanivar Wada on November 17, 1817, Natu unfurled the Union Jack over the building.On February 27, 1828, a great fire started inside the palace complex. The conflagration raged for seven days. Only the heavy granite ramparts, strong teak gateways and deep foundations and ruins of the buildings within the fort survived.

Shaniwarwada has five gates:

    Dilli Darwaza

    The Dilli Darwaza is the main gate of the complex, and faces north towards Delhi. Chhatrapati Shahu is said to have considered the north-facing fort a sign of Baji Rao's ambitions against the Mughal empire, and suggested that the main gate should be made chhaatiiche, maatiche naahi! (Marathi for of the chests of brave soldiers, not made of mud).

    The strongly built Dilli Darwaza gatehouse has massive doors, large enough to admit elephants outfitted with howdahs (seating canopies). To discourage elephants charging the gates, each pane of the gate has seventy-two sharp twelve-inch steel spikes arranged in a nine by eight grid, at approximately the height of the forehead of a battle-elephant. Each pane was also fortified with steel cross members, and borders were bolted with steel bolts having sharpened cone heads. The bastions flanking the gatehouse has arrow-loops and machicolation chutes through which boiling oil could be poured onto offending raiders. The right pane has a small man-sized door for usual entries and exits, too small to allow an army to enter rapidly. Shaniwar Wada was built by contractor from Rajasthan known as 'Kumawat Kshatriya' belongs to Kumhar Sub-caste, after completing construction they were given the name 'Naik' by the Peshwa.

    Even if the main gates were to be forced open, a charging army would need to turn sharply right, then sharply left, to pass through the gateway and into the central complex. This would provide a defending army with another chance to attack the incoming army, and to launch a counterattack to recapture the gateway.

    As the ceremonial gate of the fort, military campaigns would set out from and be received back here, with appropriate religious ceremonies.

    Mastani Darwaja (Mastani's Gate) or Aliibahadur Darwaja, facing north

    This gate was used by Bajirao I's wife Mastani while travelling out of the palace's perimeter wall.

    Khidki Darwaja (Window Gate), facing east

    The Khidki Darwaja is named for an armoured window it contains.

    Ganesh Darwaja (Ganesh Gate), facing south-east

    Named for the Ganesh Rang Mahal, which used to stand near this door. It could be used by ladies at the fort to visit the nearby Kasba Ganapati temple.

    Jambhul Darwaja or Narayan Darwaja (Narayan's Gate), facing south

    This gate was used by concubines to enter and leave the fort. It obtained its second name after Narayanrao Peshwa's corpse was removed from the fort for cremation through this gate.

I find it hard that a person with such a glorious history is living such a simple life in Pune.