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Battle of Koregaon : Lessons in Unity

(written by @TrueIndology and @Dimple_Kaul)

It is unfortunate that in the year 2018, India is witnessing caste clashes which, if unchecked, could blow into a major civil war. We are seeing Media and “Youth” politicians like Jignesh Mevani and Rahul Gandhi adding to the conflagration of caste politics.

This is what Rahul Gandhi tweeted:

The current President is a Hindu who comes from the Dalit community and he is the chief executive. He became the President when RSS/BJP are ruling at the Centre. Yet, a PM aspirant tweeted this falsehood.

Also read: Twitter locks account of True Indology as it exposed NDTV’s distorted claims of communal harmony in Jammu and Kashmir


For a really long time, we have been wanting to highlight how History has been, and still is, twisted by vested interests to exploit, existing or imaginary, fault lines within the Indian society. Most of the times, we have found media outlets acting as catalysts. They act as a platform for disseminating atrocity content. One such example of manufactured atrocity porn that was doing the rounds on Social Media came to our notice.




As we will show in the article, Koregaon was NOT a battle between Dalits and “Upper Castes”. The British did NOT win in this battle. More importantly, we will show that this “Dalits against non-Dalits” narrative, where only the former are oppressed, and only the latter are oppressors, is the most misleading misconception perpetuated over the years to paint Hinduism as a proponent of segregation.

We are writing this post not only to refute this article, but also as a case study to highlight how you can identify atrocity content. In that way, it is a rebuttal to all those posts that use this set template!

The column begins with complete falsehood.


The fact is that the battle was between the British and the Peshwas. Fact also is that the Peshwas were NOT defeated in this battle. We have the documentary evidence of James Grant Duff, a soldier and prominent historian of that time, to corroborate the same.

Even if we forget Duff’s written evidence and believe that the British won the battle, how does it become a Dalit victory instead of a British victory? Did the British side have even a single Mahar/Dalit in any prominent position in this battle? Can they name one Dalit lieutenant fighting for British in this battle? The answer is an emphatic NO.



“In the end, they secured not only unmolested retreat, they also carried off their wounded”

If anything, far from a “victory”, the British failed in their mission. The British on January 1, 1818, took their troops from Seroor towards Pune with an intention to invade and conquer the Peshwa capital. They were unexpectedly intercepted by Marathas midway at Koregaon. They were heavily outnumbered. Yes, both the British and their sepoys, (both Dalit and Non Dalit), fought bravely and inflicted casualties on Marathas. But they also had to suffer many casualties and abort their Pune mission to retreat back to Seroor[1].




When British stopped recruiting Dalit Mahars in British Army because of their “Aryan” and “Martial race” theories, the Mahars sent a request to British wherein they claimed they were Kshatriyas and requested British to enroll them. It is to be noted that Mahars of British Army were nothing like Jignesh Mevanis of today. Ambedkar’s father was also a Mahar soldier and he was a devout Hindu. He kept reciting the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is ironical that the current day “Dalit” Yuva Netas are glorifying the British and their victories.

The column further states,





Moreover, the column says that the Hindu society did not allow Dalits to equip themselves (“militarize themselves”)  and carry arms. Interestingly, these claims are nullified by Mahars themselves. According to tradition of the largest section of Mahars, Somavamshi Mahars, their ancestors fought with Pandavas in the Mahabharata war[4].









When Madhavrao was born, Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao had granted 300 hectares of tax free land to “lower caste” communities like Kolis, Ramosis and Mahars. Under these Mahars and other “lower castes”, many Hillmen were posted as guards[10]. Madhavrao’s deed was not without historical precedent. Already during Shivaji’s time, his Brahman commander Mahadaji Nilkanthrao bestowed a naik vatan of Purandar fort to two Mahars. 40 guards were placed under the command of each Mahar[11].

One incident particularly illustrates the social condition of Mahars under Peshwa rule. In 1748, the Mahars of Paudkhor district appealed to the district official as follows:


Basically, a group of Brahmans of Paudkhor district had refused officiating at Mahar marriages owing to some dispute. The Peshwas did not take kindly to this gesture and ordered these Brahmans to officiate at Mahar weddings (ASS 1-74). They even levied a fine of 10 rupees and forced the Brahmans to officiate at Mahar weddings

This does not seem to be an oppressive behavior towards Mahars. It was only after relentless appeals by Brahmans that an enquiry was conducted and the Brahmans were given the option of not officiating at Mahar marriages for this district, although they always had to officiate for Mahars and other Dalits in other districts.

It is to be noted that Mahars enjoyed great prominence in certain rituals. When Panwar Rajputs celebrated Narayan Deo festival, they invited Mahars to partake the first Prasad[13].

In the Shanti festival, it was Mahars who played prominent role. In British India, 20 Mahars wanted to convert to Islam, but turned back on being refused to be admitted into Mosque[14].

One big tendency of the so-called caste warriors is to bracket everyone from the “low caste” as “Dalits” and create an illusion of a Dalit against non-Dalits society, where only the non-Dalits “oppressed” Dalits. Nothing can be farther from truth. Many authors have documented how caste behavior was practiced even within the so called “low castes”. One Dalit sub-caste ill-treating the other (considered lower in social order), was largely prevalent and no amount of white-washing can falsify this fact.



Horse was a status symbol and Mahars felt only they and not the Mang were entitled to this privilege. Mahar superiority over fellow Dalit Mangs had nothing to do with Varna or Smriti. No Smriti says Mahars had any privilege over their fellow Dalit Mangs. In support to their appeal, the Mahars did not refer to any Smriti but pointed to an existing state of things and existing relative tribal order of their society. As Mahars enjoyed cordial relations with Peshwa, their request was accepted and Mang grooms were forbidden to mount horses.


Looking at caste with colonial glasses makes one overlook the more obvious aspect of Tribalism. In fact, it was British who solidified tribal caste boundaries. Yes, the British initially recruited Mahars because in early decades of 19th century they were not in any position to choose. As we have seen, the British stopped Mahar recruitment by 1892 and preferred “handsome high caste men” in army. Introduction of postal services dealt a blow to traditional jobs of Mahars as “messengers”. Thus like many other low castes, Mahars had to migrate to urban centres of British India. In this environment, they became low paid labourers in their traditional professions. The recruitment to menial jobs were done on basis of caste and caste divisions were reinforced like never before.


Far from the fluid, open-ended labour and tenancy relationships in rural environments of Peshwa’s Maharashtra, the Dalits became subject to caste conventions like never before in towns of British India [19].


In early colonial period, forests were felled and “tribal” people were disarmed/subordinated. Ploughing this land brought the pastoralist tribes against the tillers. British industries led to stagnation of traditional artisans. British modernization and introduction of roads, railways and ports created demand for cheap labour. The British maintained large cantonments, larger than anything done by previous polities. They needed a large number of manual scavenging labour as well as cheap labour for their tea plantations. The British recruited them from groups like Mahar, Bhangi and Chamar, whom they invariably referred to as “sweeper classes”. Caste notions of purity and pollution were increasingly invoked to serve the new demand.


Untouchability as we now know it is thus very largely a product of colonial modernity, taking shape against a background of new economic opportunities including recruitment to the mills, docks and Public Works Departments, and to the labour corps which supported both the British and sepoy regiments[20].




We leave you with these lines from the Kathopnishad:

उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत,
क्षुरासन्न धारा निशिता दुरत्यद्दुर्गम पथ: तत् कवयो वदन्ति|

Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn.
Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path,

References :


[2] Revival of Buddhism in Modern India Page 81









[11] Ibid P.70

[12] Ibid P.73


[14] Ibid P.139

[15] Gazetteer of the Bombay presidency 1885 pp.440

[16] 1776. SSRPD VI-816

[17] Gazetteer of the Bombay presidency 1885 pp.443


[19] Ibid pp.226

[20] Ibid pp.226

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