Battle of koregoan-Jan 1 means another kind of celebration for the Ambedkarite Dalits

Milind Dharmasena

Bengaluru: Every year on 1 January as the world immerses itself in New Year celebrations, the Ambedkarite Dalits gather at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune in Maharashtra to pay their respect at the Vijay Sthamb (victory pillar). This year the rising number of COVID cases and pandemic protocol did not restrict thousands of people to pay tributes to martyrs at the Vijay Stamb’ on Saturday to mark the 204th anniversary of Koregaon-Bhima battle

On January 1,1818, the British forces fought the Peshwas at Koregaon Bhima comprised largely of soldiers from the Dalit Mahar community, who waged a “war for freedom” from ‘casteism’ of the Peshwas. 500 hundred Mahar soldiers of the East India Company, defeated the massive Peshwa army, led by Peshwa Bajirao II in Koregaon. The overall strength of the British army was 834 (comprising 500 mahar soldiers)while the Peshwa’s was 25,000.More than 600 of Peshwa’s army were killed whereas the British lost 275 of their soldiers among which 22 were Mahars.The Dalits, who follow B R Ambedkar,view this battle as a victory of Mahars over the injustice and torture meted out to them as untouchables by the uppercast Peshwas.

The battle site has since then become a symbol for Mahar pride, as Ambedkar attended a meeting at the location in early 1927. The Vijay Stamb was erected by the East India Company in memory of those who fought the battle. The names of the Mahar soldiers who brought an end to the Peshwa rule in 1818 are inscribed on the pillar.

The Mahar Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Although it was originally intended to be a regiment consisting of troops from the Mahar community of Maharashtra, today it has different communities from mainly states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

The Mahars are considered original inhabitants of Maharashtra. The community, also known as “Kathiwale” (Men with sticks), Bhumiputra (Sons of the Soil) and Mirasi (Landlords) by tradition don the role of defending village boundaries from outsiders.

Mahar are the Holeyas in Karnataka, Paraiahs in Tamil Nadu, Malas in Andhra Pradesh and Pulayas in Kerala.

These castes, who were an agricultural community in ancient India , are the empire builders and warriors of the great fallen classical empires ,later imprisoned and subjected to slavery by medival kingdoms in south India .
The victory of Koregaon battle has restored back the pride of this community in modern India