Thread by @dhavalkulkarni

Bhawanrao 'Balasaheb' Pantpratinidhi (1868-1951) who ruled Aundh in #Maharashtra was an unusual king. His work at reforming criminals & convicts inspired V.Shantaram's acclaimed ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ (1957). Balasaheb was born on 24 October 1868
#history #Marathi #films #art

Unlike rulers who tried to cling to power even when the end of British rule was evident, #BalasahebPantpratinidhi handed over the reins of the state to the people much earlier in an experiment inspired by #MahatmaGandhi. He also helped freedom fighters & revolutionaries.

In a sense, #BalasahebPantpratinidhi was among the reformist kings who tried to birth welfare states in colonial India. He was also associated with one of the most popular forms of exercises—the suryanamaskars.

Balasaheb's inspiring story finds a mention in my book: The Bawla Murder Case: Love, Lust and Crime in Colonial India. It has been published by @HarperCollinsIN @harperbroadcast
You can buy it here:
amazon.in/Bawla-Murder-C…

@swatichopra1 @jilpanz

Balasaheb’s state of Aundh was a small principality spread over just 72 villages scattered in the then Bombay Presidency districts of Satara, Solapur and Bijapur & had a population of just over 76,000 in 1942.

It was drought-stricken and had meagre resources. But this did not impede his drive to usher in social and political reforms.

The Deshastha Brahmin Pantpratinidhis were the descendants of Parshuram Trimbak, the first Pantpratinidhi, or representative of #ChhatrapatiRajaram, the younger son of #ChhatrapatiShivajiMaharaj. Later, their powers were gradually taken over by the Peshwas of #Pune

The bohemian Balasaheb enrolled at Pune’s Deccan College. His hobby was #painting. In Bombay, he would spend time in the studio of #RajaRaviVerma instead of attending to studies in law
#art #artists #culture #Artists

Later, he was known for his paintings of scenes from the Ramayana, and a rich collection of art and antiquities that are displayed at the Bhawani Museum in Aundh
#art #artists #culture #Artists #painters

You can read my stories about this here: dnaindia.com/india/report-d…

dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-…

#art #artists #culture #Artists #painters

In 1909, Balasaheb became the ninth (and last) ruler of Aundh in precarious times. The state’s treasury was empty, intrigues were rife and violent crimes were common.

Balasaheb launched revolutionary initiatives like the establishment of gram panchayats (1917) with an electoral system, and a fully elected assembly with adult franchise (1926), with eminent intellectuals, lawyers and economists.

Balasaheb’s son, the Oxford-educated Apa Pant, was a friend of the 1894-born Polish Jew engineer Maurice Frydman. Frydman became a disciple of the mystic-saint Sri Ramana Maharshi, and later took the Hindu name of Shri Bharatananda

Catalysed by Bharatananda, Balasaheb met #MahatmaGandhi at the Sevagram Ashram in Wardha in December 1938, and decided to give up his powers to the people.

It was decided that in 1939 the legislative assembly would approve a new constitution & hold elections based on franchise for literate adults.

This ‘Aundh experiment’ in decentralized democracy & self-governance drew the ire of the British, but the raja kept his word to his people and #MahatmaGandhi.

Balasaheb helped Laxmanrao Kirloskar establish the first factory on barren land in his state. He borrowed from a banker in Yeola (Nashik) to give Kirloskar an interest-free loan. It eventually birthed the house of the Kirloskars.

Balasaheb also helped the Ogales launch their glass factory near Karad. This was much before terms like ‘ease of doing business’ were born.

Balasaheb, his son and Maurice Frydman successfully attempted a more audacious experiment. In 1939, Swatantrapur was established at Atpadi as a free colony or an open colony for around 20 prisoners from Aundh’s jails.
#jail #prisons #jailreforms #prisonreforms

This aimed at reforming prisoners instead of turning them into more hardened criminals in traditional jails. It inspired V. Shantaram’s magnum opus Do Aanken Barah Haath (1957), which was later nominated for the Golden Globe
#movies #films #Bollywood #filmindustry

This unique open colony for prisoners, which may be only one of its kind in #India, is still functional. You can read my story about it here: dnaindia.com/health/report-…

Balasaheb supported the freedom movement and knew #LokmanyaTilak. During the Quit India movement (1942), revolutionaries like ‘Krantisinha’ Nana Patil overthrew the yoke of the British and established a parallel govt in Satara district.

Two future chief ministers of #Maharashtra, namely Y.B. Chavan and Vasantdada Patil were part of this struggle. The Prati Sarkar (parallel government) revolutionaries found shelter in the villages of the Aundh state.

However, the Aundh royal found his place in Marathi literature and public memory for something else--his passion for suryanamaskars!
#yoga #suryanamaskars #exercise

Balasaheb was fond of #wrestling & mallakhamb. In his younger days he had practised the exercises of the German bodybuilder Eugen Sandow. He would wake up every day at 4 a.m. and perform #suryanamaskars for an hour
#yoga #bodybuiding #suryanamaskar

Suryanamaskars were also mandatory for students in Aundh’s schools.

Eminent Marathi journalist, literrateur and orator ‘Acharya’ Pralhad Keshav Atre wrote a play titled Sashtang Namaskar, which was a satire on this fetish for the suryanamaskar.

In 1923 Balasaheb wrote a book in Marathi on suryanamaskars, which was translated into other languages, earning him the title ‘Suryanamaskar Raja’.

However, the 'Sunday Referee,' a London tabloid, carried a centre-spread claiming that the raja had made these exercises mandatory for his subjects, especially women, so that they could be introduced into the harem after gaining the desired form!

This led to an outraged and furious Apa Pant, then studying for the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, approaching a solicitor, who successfully negotiated an out-of-court settlement of £2,000 plus costs in the raja’s favour!

Balasaheb had the good fortune to see his country being liberated in his lifetime & passed on in 1951. Unfortunately, there is little recognition of his yeoman’s work or rich legacy in #Maharashtra.

Sources:
Apa Pant, An Unusual Raja: Mahatma Gandhi and the Aundh Experiment
Y.D. Phadke, Visavya Shatkatil Maharashtra: Khand 3: 1921-1929
Dhaval Kulkarni, The Bawla Murder Case: Love, Lust and Crime in Colonial India
Photos from the internet and from personal digital archive