century CE, most of the territory in
Maharashtra was under the control of
Nizamshah of Ahmadnagar and Adilshah
of Bijapur. The Mughals had entered
Khandesh. Their objective was to expand
their power in the south. There were
settlements of Siddi people, who had come
from Africa, along the coastline of Konkan.
The competition and conflict amongst the
Portuguese, the British, the French and the
Dutch, who had come from Europe, was
getting intense during this period. There
was stiff competition amongst them to
capture the markets for trade. The Portuguese
had already established their rule in Goa
and Vasai on the western coastline. The
British, the Dutch and the French had found
an entry through the medium of trading
companies by setting up factories. All these
powers assessed the strength of other
powers, kept themselves safe and tried to
dominate as much as possible. This conflict
had created instability and insecurity in
Maharashtra. These different people from
Europe were called ‘Topkar’ on the basis
of their customary headgear.
It is necessary to get acquainted with
the village (mauja), Kasba and pargana to
understand the nature of settlements in that
period as also of the officers that formed a
link between the rulers and their subjects,
and also the markets and the craftsmen.
Pargana was made up of many villages.
Generally, the headquarters of a pargana
was called ‘Kasba’. A village smaller than
a Kasba was called ‘Mauja’. Let us get
acquainted in brief with Village, Kasba and
Pargana respectively.
Village (Mauja) : Most of the people
lived in villages. A village was also called
mauja. The chief of the village was the
Patil. He used to try to bring maximum
land under cultivation. When there was
any dispute in the village, the Patil resolved
it and made peace. A Kulkarni helped the
Patil in his work. The Kulkarni kept the
record of the revenue that was collected.
There were various artisans in the village.
They had hereditary rights regarding their
occupation. The peasants gave a share of
their agricultural produce to the artisans
for the services they rendered to the village
community. This share was known as
baluta.
Kasba : A kasba was like a big village.
It was usually the headquarters of a
pargana, e.g., Indapur kasba of Indapur
pargana, Wai kasba of Wai pargana were
the headquarters of those parganas.
Agriculture was the main occupation. There
were skilled artisans like carpenters,
blacksmiths, etc. in a kasba. There was
usually a market (peth) adjacent to a kasba.
The Shete and Mahajan were the watandars
of the peth. Every village did not necessarily
have a peth. The setting up of a peth was
the job of the Shetes and the Mahajans. For
that, they received some land from the
government and some rights from the
villagers. The Mahajan maintained the
accounts of the pethIf it did not rain, crops would fail. The
prices of foodgrains rose. It became
difficult for the people to get foodgrains
and other things. There was no fodder for
the cattle. Water became scarce. It became
difficult for people to live in the village.
They were forced to leave the village. A
famine was a great calamity for the
people.
A great famine occurred in
Maharashtra in 1630 ce. People were
greatly distressed due to this famine. It
has been described in these words –
‘People were ready to sell themselves for
a piece of bhakri, but there was nobody
to buy them’. There was a severe scarcity
of foodgrains. Entire families were
destroyed. Cattle and farm animals died.
Agriculture was devastated. The famine
put an end to industries. All financial
transactions came to a standstill. People
had to wander to faraway regions in
search of a livelihood. It was a great
challenge to bring back to normalcy, the
devastated life of the people.
The work of the Varkari movement:
Society was greatly influenced by blind
beliefs and rituals. People had become
fatalistic and inert. They had lost all
initiative. The condition of the common
people was miserable. In such
circumstances, the Sants in Maharashtra
endeavoured to inspire the masses.
In Maharashtra, the tradition of Sants
which began with Sant Dnyaneshwar and
Sant Namdeo was carried on by Sants
coming from various strata of the society.
People from all strata of society were
part of the Sant tradition. For example,
Sant Chokhamela, Sant Goroba, Sant
Sena, Sant Sawata, Sant Narhari, Sant
Shaikh Muhammad, etc. Sant Chokhoba’s
wife Sant Soyrabai, and sister Sant
Nirmalabai, Sant Muktabai, Sant Janabai,
Vatan is an Arabic word. In
Maharashtra, it is used is refer to
hereditary land for which the holder
does not have to pay revenue.
Pargana : Many villages together
made a pargana. But the number of
villages was not the same in all parganas.
For example, the Pune pargana was a big
pargana. It consisted of 290 villages.
There were 64 villages in the Chakan
pargana. The Shirwal pargana was small.
It had only 40 villages. The Deshmukh
and the Deshpande were the watandar
officers of the pargana. The Deshmukh
was the chief of patils in a pargana. The
Deshmukh did at the pargana level, what
the Patil did at the village level. The
Deshpande was the chief of all Kulkarnis
in the pargana. The Deshpande did at the
pargana level, the work that Kulkarnis
did at the village level. These watandar
officers were the link between the people
and the government.
In case of enemy invasion or drought,
these watandars represented the grievances
of the people to the government.
Sometimes, these officers misused their
powers. They collected more money from
the people than was due or did not remit
the money so collected to the government
in time. On such occasions, the people
suffered harassment.
The words ‘Budruk’ and ‘Khurd’
are used to show that the two villages
are different. The original town is
‘Budruk’ and the new one is ‘Khurd’.
For example, Vadgaon Budruk and
Vadgaon Khurd.
Do you know?
Let’s learn.
The calamity of a famine :
Agriculture was dependent on rainwater. Sant Kanhopatra, Sant Bahinabai Siurkar
and other women were also among them.
Pandharpur was at the centre of the Sant
movement. Vitthal was the object of their
worship. On the banks of the river
Chandrabhaga at Pandharpur, the Sants
and pilgrims (varkari) used to rejoice in
their devotion (bhakti). There, equality
was propagated through bhajans, keertans,
and unity meals (kala).
Sant Namdeo : He was a great Sant
of the Varkari movement. He was a skilled
organiser. He performed excellent keertans
as well. He awakened
the sense of equality in
men and women
belonging to all castes
through the medium of
keertans. His pledge
was ‘नाचू कीर्तनाचे रंगी ।
ज्ञानदीप लावू जगी।।’ His
abhanga compositions
are well-known. Many
Sants as well as common people were
influenced by his teachings. He went up to
the Punjab, propagating his thoughts. His
compositions are included in the ‘Guru
Granth Sahib’ of Sikhs. He propagated the
message of Bhagwat religion in all quarters.
He built a memorial to Sant Chokhamela
at Pandharpur. His work is unforgettable.
Sant Dnyaneshwar : He was a great
Sant in the Varkari movement. He wrote
the ‘Bhavartha-deepika’ or ‘Dnyaneshwari’
which elucidates the meaning of the
Sanskrit ‘Bhagavad
Geeta’. He also
composed the
‘Amrutanubhav’.
He preached the
importance of the
path of devotion
through his works
and compositions.
He showed a simple
way of worship and conduct which the
common people could follow easily. He
gave the prestige of a religion to the
Varkari movement. Though his life was
spent in extremely adverse circumstances,
he never lost the calm of his mind and
never harboured bitterness. His
‘Pasayadaan’ in Dnyaneshwari uplifts the
mind. The poetic compositions of his
brothers Sant Nivruttinath and Sant
Sopandev and sister Muktabai are wellknown.
Sant Eknath : He was a great Sant of
the Bhakti movement
in Maharashtra. His
compositions are
many and diverse.
They include abhanga,
gavalana, bharud, etc.
He has stated Bhagvat
Dharma in detail and
in a simple manner.
He has portrayed
people’s life in
Bhavarth Ramayana through the story of
Ram. He explained in Marathi, the Bhakti
part of the Sanskrit work ‘Bhagwat’. His
abhangas show the warmth of devotion. He
demonstrated through his own conduct that
there is no need to renounce worldly matters
for attaining the highest truth, Paramarth.
He was a teacher of the people in the true
sense of the term. He believed that our
Marathi language was inferior to no other
language. He asked the Sanskrit Scholars
forcefully. ‘संस्कृत वाणी देवे केली । तरी प्राकृत काय
चोरापासुनि झाली ?’ He heavily criticised those
who hated other religions.
Sant Tukaram : He belonged to
Dehu near Pune. His compositions or
abhangas are very pleasing and lucid,
reaching the greatest poetic heights. His
‘Gatha’ is a precious treasure of the
Marathi language. He asks us to find God by showing love to the unhappy and
the tormented in the following lines : ‘जे
का रंजले गांजले । त्यांसी म्हणे जो आपुले । तोचि
साधु ओळखावा । देव तेथेचि जाणावा ।।’ With
this viewpoint, he threw in the river
Indrayani, the documents of the loans
that people had borrowed from him and
freed many poor
families from the
bonds of loan. He
criticized the
hypocrisy and
superstition in the
society in very strong
terms. He stressed
that devotion (Bhakti)
should be coupled
with morality. His teachings can be
summed up as ‘जोडोनिया धन उत्तम व्यवहारे ।
उदास विचारे वेच करी ।।’ Some dogmatic
people opposed the social awakening that
he had undertaken, and sank his abhangas
in the Indrayani. Sant Tukaram faced the
opposition with noble courage.
Sant Tukaram’s disciples and
associates were of different castes and
creeds. They include Navji Mali,
Gavnarshet Wani, Santaji Jagnade, Shivba
Kasar, Bahinabai Siurkar and
Mahadajipant Kulkarni. An important
task completed by Gangarampant Maval
and Santaji Jagnade was writing down
the abhangas of Sant Tukaram.
Work of Sants : Sants gave the
message of equality to people. They
taught humanity. They preached that
people should live together in harmony,
unity and love. Their work resulted in
social awakening. They taught how to
live in the face of foreign invasions,
drought-like situations or any other natural
calamities. Their teachings proved to be
a big support for people. Their work
created self-confidence among the people
of Maharashtra.
There was a deterioration of ethics
and religion in the society. At such a
time, the Sants came forward to protect
the society. They taught the true meaning
of religion. They showed the path of
devotion by living amongst people and
sharing their joys and sorrows. Some
orthodox and dogmatic people opposed
them. But the Sants believed that facing
this opposition was a part of their duty.
Sant Tukaram has explained the mark of
a true Sant in these words – ‘तुका म्हणे
तोचि संत । सोशी जगाचे आघात ।।’
The Sants elucidated the complex
dharma of the scholars (Shastris and
Pandits) in the language of the people.
They prayed to God using simple,
everyday terms. They took the view that
all are equal before God. They taught
society to do away with the pride arising
out of caste and varna and see everyone
as God’s children. A characteristic of the
Sants was that they did not forget their
duties on the path of devotion. They
found God in their work. Sant Sawata
said, ‘कांदा मुळा भाजी । अवघी विठाई माझी ।।’
This statement refers to farm work but
applies to work in all walks of life. The
Sants carried on with their duties even as
they were engaged in devotion, teaching
and composing verses. They developed
the moral sensibilities of the society.
Ramdas Swami : He was from Jamb
in Marathwada. He explained the importance of physical
fitness to the people,
‘मराठा तितुका मेळवावा ।
महाराष्ट्र धर्म वाढवावा ।’
This message of
Ramdas Swami is
famous. He gave
practical education
and lessons in good conduct through his
works like Dasbodh, Karunashtaka,
Manache Shlok. He stated the importance
of people’s movement and organisation
and founded the Samarth Sampradaya.
Chaphal was the centre of this Sampradaya.
He propagated the worship of Ram and
Hanuman. He travelled far and wide to
propagate his thoughts.
Inspiration for independence during
foreign rule : Such was the political,
social, cultural, situation, etc. in
Maharashtra before the times of Shivaji
Maharaj. In that period, Maharashtra was
under the control of Adilshahi and other
powers. It was not independent. Even so,
some personalities and streams of thought
were dreaming of freedom. Among them,
Shahaji Maharaj, who is considered to be
a visionary of Swaraj was on the forefront.
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