The Gazetteers Department

In the same year (1817) the Pesva Bajirav II, who had determined to break with the English, sent his wife with much property to the fort of Rayagad. After the capture of Visapur and Lohagad near the top of the Borghat Lieutenant-Colonel Prother, on the 17th March 1818, made arrangements for the capture of all places of strength in Kolaba. Tala and Ghosala fell almost without opposition, and the troops marched from Indapur to Mahad. Major Hall of the 89th Regiment with a detachment of 200 Europeans and as many sepoys was sent to Rayagad where, after an obstinate siege of eleven days, the fort was surrendered by the Marathas. [Details are given under Raygad, chapter 19, Places of Interest.]

Raghuji Angre, 1817-1839.

Manaji was succeeded by his son Raghuji a boy of fourteen. During his minority the State was managed by his father's minister Vinayak Parasuram Bivalkar. Even on reaching manhood, though he hated him, Raghuji was unable to free himself from Bivalkar who had bought over all the State officers and ruined the chief by extravagant expenditure. [ Rao Saheb Bal Ramchandra as noted above.] In 1821 Baburav's widow Kaslbai petitioned the British Government to support the claim of her son Fatehsing to the Kolaba State. But the Government decided that as the Pesva had favoured the supersession of Baburav's branch of the family by Manaji, the question could not be reopened.[ Bom. Gov. Rec. Pol. Dept. (1840), pp. 1107, 51.] In June, 1822 the relations between the Kolaba chief and the British Government were fixed by a treaty under which the British supremacy and their right of investiture were recognised, grant-holders, jahagirdar and inamdars were guaranteed the possession of their lands, and provision was made for the relations and dependants of the chief's family. [Details are given in Aitchison's Treaties, IV (1876), 499-502.]

Raghuji's rule, chiefly it was said under the influence of Bivalkar, was marked by great cruelty and oppression. For long the people remembered it as the rule of Ahgarak, that is Mars, the planet of evil influence. Raghuji died on the 26th of December 1838. One thing that could be said about him is that he did not allow him-self to be involved in Pesva's affairs. He left three widows, Kamlabai, Ambikabal, and Yasodabai, of whom the last was with child. He had also four daughters and two illegitimate sons. On Raghuji's death Mr. Courtenay was sent to Kolaba to prevent any attempt at fraud, and to ascertain and report if there was any near male relation who had a claim to the chiefship. Mr. Courtenay reached Kolaba on the 29th December and on the 29th January 1839 reported to Government that Yasodabai had given birth to a son. Before the recognition of Raghuji's posthumous son the succession to the Kolaba State was claimed by Baburav's nephew.

Kanhoji Angre, 1839.

Sambhaji was then residing at Gwalior. On hearing of Raghuji's death he addressed a letter to the Bombay Government, stating that, no one was entitled to claim the chiefship of Kolaba but him-self and his brother. Shortly after the Resident at Gwalior forwarded a note from that court supporting Sambhaji's claims. But his claims were inquired into and negatived, and he was informed of the birth and investiture of Raghuji's posthumous son. On the 6th of February Government recognised the child as the chief- of Kolaba under the title of Kanhoji II. Bivalkar was summoned to Bombay to make arrangements to secure good management at Kolaba during the minority. It was agreed that the minister should continue to manage the State in concert with the senior widow of the late chief. And an agreement of five articles was passed, one of which stipulated that the minister was to co-operate cordially with Government for the improvement of the country and for bettering the state of the people, and that he was to keep Government informed of all events of importance. When this agreement was completed Mr. Courtenay was recalled from Kolaba. These arrangements met with the approval of the Governor General. In 1839 (21st March) the infant chief Kanhoji II died, and with his death the legitimate line of the Angre family became extinct. In the same year the fort of Kolaba was handed over to the English. [Dhabu: 370.]

End of the Angres,1840.

Raghuji's widows applied for leave to adopt an heir. But the Governor General decided that there was no sufficient reason for granting such a favour. No one had any right to succeed, and the British Government took the view that small independent jurisdictions clogged and impeded the administration of justice, interfered with the most indispensable fiscal rules, stood in the way of improved communications, and instead of contributing to the expenses of public protection added seriously to their weight, the opportunity of annexing the Kolaba State should not be lost. [Letter, 31st August 1840.] Accordingly, Kolaba was annexed as per despatch of the Court of Directors to the Governor General dated 30th December 1843. It was resolved that all "personal property should be distributed among the surviving members of the family according to ordinary law and custom, and a liberal pension should be granted from the lapsed revenue to those who might be entitled to it. The Governor General further desired that there should be no abruptness or disregard of local wishes in introducing the general forms and rules of British administration. The three widows were allowed a yearly pension of Rs. 28,000, of which Rs. 12,000 were given to the senior widow Kamlabai and the remaining Rs. 16,000 were divided equally between the two younger widows Yasodabal and Ambikabai. [ Ambikabai died in 1848 (February 4), and Kamlabai in 1852 (March20).] Mr. J. M. Davies was appointed Political Superintendent with instructions to assimilate the revenue system with that in force in the neighbouring districts, to abolish objectionable taxes, to establish British rules' and rates of sea customs, to remove land and transit duties and frontier outposts, and to introduce the British excise on salt.

Two practices ceased in Kolaba on the introduction of British management. The dark underground dungeons in Underi were no longer used as State prisons, and women convicted of adultery were no longer employed as prostitutes to raise a body of female slaves for the use of the State. [Details of the State prisons and of the State slaves are given in Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency Vol. XI of 1883.]

In 1840 (2nd November) a large band of Ramosls from the Pant Saciv's territories entered the district and plundered Nizampur, Nagothana and Roha. A party from the 15th Regiment N. I was called in to act against the marauders, and the Resident of Satara was compelled to strengthen his frontier posts. The disturbance was soon suppressed, and several of the ringleaders were captured and punished. Since 1840 the district enjoyed unbroken peace. In 1846 such of the buildings in the fort of Kolaba as were used by the Angres as places of residence were disposed of by being put to auction. [Dhabu: 370.]

Late descendants of the Angre family.

Subsequent history of the Angre family of Kolaba may be briefly summarised. In 1853 Yasodabai, the surviving widow of Raghuji II adopted a son named Manajirav, but treated the ceremony of adoption as a purely family function. Though the State had been annexed, she laid her claim to Angre's personal property and inams and applied to the Government that the same be continued in the name of her adopted son. This was, how-ever, disallowed by Government as per letter, dated 6-1-1860.[Dhabu: 302.] The case was again put up before the Inam Commission; but, in spite of its decision in favour of the Angres,, the Secretary of State over-ruled and refused to accept the claim and an appeal for reconsideration was finally negatived by him in his letter of 17-8-1865. Yasodabai now made another move to achieve her purpose. She made a ceremonial declaration of the adoption of Manajirav some-time in May 1882 and submitted a revision application to the Viceroy for securing the possession of the family estates and inams of the Angre family. She was, however, informed by a letter of 18-2-1884 that His Lordship saw no ground for any increase to the allowance of Rs. 10,000 which she was annually drawing; but he was willing to regard Rs. 7,200 out of it, as re-presenting the estate of the Angre family, which could be continued after her death to the legal heir to the private property of the last chief of Kolaba. [ Dhabu: 305.] Yasodabai died shortly afterwards. Un-daunted by continuous failures she put up a valiant though pathetic effort throughout her life to pull her chestnuts out of the fire of foreign rule, but at last she had to be satisfied with a poor consolation that she could pass on only an annual sum of Rs. 7,200 to her adopted son.

But unfortunately even that was not to be, for, the point of rightful succession was raised in the law courts by rival claimants belonging to the other branch in the service of the Sindes of Gwalior. The suit dragged on for many years until at last Manaji came to be recognised on 21-4-1891 as the only legal heir of the Angre family of Kolaba. He died in 1896 and was survived by a daughter named Srimant Jijabai. Manaji's widow Gajarabai also died on 11th of March 1897. But only two days before her death some interested parties brought about an adoption in a state in which she was probably not conscious enough to under-stand what was being done. This further resulted in legal complications till at last the adoption was finally negatived by the court, probably late in 1900 and Srimant Jijabai was declared as the only legal heir. She was married to a scion of the younger branch of Pavars of Devas.

As has already been said, there was another line of succession, tracing its lineage through Yesaji, the son of Kanhoji the founder, which had since then been in the service of the Sindes of Gwalior and continued to remain established there for over two centuries. Sardar Candrojirav Angre, its descendant, a contemporary of Jijabai, distinguished himself as the champion of Hinduism and was popularly called Dharmvir. Both Srimant Jijabai and Sardar Candrojirav gave their blessings to a big memorial volume, embodying the history of the Ahgres, published at Alibag in 1939.

Kolaba under British Rule.

Kolaba under the British rule continued unfortunately to remain as a somewhat backward area. This was mainly due to the lack of communications required to connect it with the other enlightened centres of Maharastra. A glance at the map will show that the railway line from Bombay to Poona touches Neral and Karjat, passes through the north-eastern part of Kolaba and enters the Borghat. Although Matheran is in Kolaba and the district should be proud of it, it must be said that it has so far been not so integrally associated as a corporate part of the district. Alibag, Mahad, Pen, Panvel, Roha and Ceul, some of which were good ports through which the sea-borne trade had been carried on briskly during the 18th century, lost their importance, with the development of steamship which rendered such shallow sea ports as useless for landing purposes as also no less due to their comparative neglect under the alien rule. Bombay developed its railway connection towards the north, east and south-east but never to the south across the district of Kolaba. Situated as it is on a narrow strip between the hills of Sahyadri and the Arabian sea, its erstwhile land and water communications which had been in constant use in historic times became out of date and fell into disuse. As the commercial activities gravitated towards Bombay, the sinews of Kolaba were dried up and the middle and the lower class families left their home towns and turned towards Bombay to make a living. Thus a vacuum was, as it were, created in the social life of Kolaba, and although a number of illustrious persons, who later distinguished themselves in Bombay, hailed from Kolaba, the region did not get the benefit of their leadership. The late Mr. Rambhau Mandlik of Pen (1881-1958) who was for many years a member of the Bombay legislature was known to be a fearless constitutional fighter against the British Government, and he often made the Government officers uneasy in their seats by his persistence in pursuing a cause once taken up by him. Amongst some of the men of literary fame, we may note the late Mr. Sankar Balkrsna Diksit of Revadanda, the author of 'Jyotir-vilas', the late Mr. Balkrsna Anant Bhide, a well-known Marathi Scholar of Murud-Janjira and the late Principal G. C. Bhate, an active advocate of social reform coming from Mahad. The late Mr. S. M. Paranjape, champion of revolutionary nationalism and the editor of a weekly Marathi journal 'Kal' belonged to Mahad and the famous actor of Maharashtra Natak Mandali, Madhavrav Tipnis also belonged to the same place. In recent years Dr. Am-bedkar made Mahad as if it were his home town and started his famous satyagraha of the untouchables in 930 for asserting their right of being allowed to take water from 'cavdar tale'. It was a historic incident. It may also be noted in passing that Mahamahopadhyaya D. V. Potdar, Mr. C. D. Deshmukh. the ex-Finance Minister of India, also belong to Kolaba district.

In the field of education, the Konkan Education Society started by a young band of workers has done pioneering work since 1917 in the spread of secondary education by opening branches in places difficult of access all over the district and thus maintained the tradition of the earlier pioneers in the field, Messrs. Chiplunkar, Tilak and Agarkar. There has been so much progress in this field, in recent years that, where the starting of high school was difficult to be thought of, colleges have been inaugurated. Men like late Mr. Ramaji Laxman Gharat ever evinced the zeal of a constitutional agitator and he was looked upon as the back-bone of all local enlightened activities at Alibag, and also as the main support of the farmers in their struggle against Government in revision settlement disputes in Kolaba.

In the industrial field it may be said that Tata's hydro-electric installations at Khopoli established in the second decade of the 20th century were among the earlier works started in Kolaba. Even before that Karjat sprang forth as a great railway town and was responsible for importing the spirit of modern age into Kolaba. The Government Rice Research Institute, although not so popularly known, has done much useful work. But the credit of industrial activities goes to Mr. Nanasaheb Puranik,, who started the Dhutpapesvar Ayurvedic Pharmacy at Panvel, for the manufacture and sale of Ayurvedic drugs not only all over Maharastra but all over India. The Svadesi movement of the early twentieth century gave a stimulus to the starting of cutlery industry at Pen, which is also known for its beautiful attractive and artistic clay model works. In recent years a new residential high school at Neral and a nucleus of a social activity as well as leather industry known as Kotvalvadi, named after Kotval the victim of 'Quit India' movement of 1942, holds the promise of an enlivening future.

When all this is said, it must he urged that geography has made Kolaba what it is. The hill men of mountain Sahyadri as well as the Kolis of the sea-shore, who once put up a tough fight with the Moghals as well as the Portuguese had to put their bows and arrows as well their gallivats and oars into cold storage and turn to Bombay for working as wage-earners. Economic organisation, as observed by Marx, is the anatomy of social life and it is only by grappling at the root cause that we can hope for a better future for Kolaba.

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