Thread by @SadaaShree

One of the important phases of Veer Savarkar's life was at Fergusson College, Pune, which laid the foundation for his ideology and thought.

Fergusson College was founded in Pune, 1885, by nationalist leaders Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar along with social reformer Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. It began originally as the New English School, and  later Tilak, Chiplunkar founded the Deccan Education Society in 1884.

Shirole, the Patil of Bhamburde village on West bank of Mutha River , now called as Shivaji Nagar, donated 37 acres of land, on a 99 year lease, for just one rupee.  Inaugurated by William Wordsworth, the grandson of the more illustrious poet of the same name, and the principal of Elphinstone College, it would become a crucible of the nationalist awakening in Maharashtra.

Pune capital of Peshwas, city where Chattrapathi Shivaji Maharaj grew up, the cultural capital of Maharashtra, and the Oxford of India, to which aspiring scholars, writers, thinkers, academicians flocked.  It was the city which proved to be the epicenter of the nationalist, social reform movements that shaped Maharashtra in the early 20th century.

Savarkar stepped into Fergusson College in 1902, and soon impressed the students there with his clarity of thought and an ability to articulate. They published a weekly called Aryan where he often wrote articles on nationalism, history, literature. One such brilliant article was Saptapadi, where he dwelt with the seven stages of evolution a nation had to undergo.

He also studied Kalidasa and Bhavabuti, and was influenced by Milton and Shakespeare among the English writers. The revolutions in Italy, America influenced him a lot, and he would often give talks on their history. His speeches on India’s glorious history, and her loss of freedom, enthralled other students, and infused a sense of nationalism in them

In response to Tilak’s call for Swadeshi, he used only those goods made in India. While Savarkar, looked up to Tilak, as a mentor, and guide, the latter saw the fire and spirit in the young boy. It was around this time too that the differences between the Moderates and Extremists in Congress was coming to a head.

Lord Curzon partitioned Bengal in 1905, and there was a massive protest against it. While the Muslims welcomed the decision, the Hindus of Bengal rose in unison against. The protests spread all over the nation, and Tilak was at the forefront in bringing it on center stage.

Savarkar by now was fully in the struggle, and responding to Tilak’s call, he appealed for the boycott of foreign goods and clothes. He also led the first major bonfire of foreign goods and clothes in Pune. Soon Savarkar, became a name to be reckoned with in Pune’s social and political circles with his activism.

Savarkar’s action however did not go down well with the Moderates, who criticized him in the Indu Prakash, one of their papers. He was expelled from Fergusson by the Principal and fined ten rupees for his act. He became the first Indian student to be rusticated in this manner, as also the first Indian leader to make a bonfire of foreign cloth.

However Gandhi as well as Gokhale, criticized the act, the schism between the Moderates and Extremists was deepening even more. Ironically Gandhi himself would lead the bonfire of foreign made goods, later during the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1921.

These activities did not affect Savarkar’s studies,  he passed the BA exam with distinction, and his fame as a writer was spreading wide now. His ballads on Tanaji and Baji Prabhu, proscribed by the British, were an inspiration to the youth. Those ballads became popular folk songs in Maharashtra, and soon became an inspiration to the ordinary people, to revolt.

One of the essays was on why we should celebrate the anniversaries of great leaders, where Savarkar stated it was our way of paying gratitude to those great men. He stated, that these anniversaries were a mark of remembrance, and were sanctified by our ancient tradition of remembering the ancestors.

Savarkar openly wore his Hindu identity on his sleeve, one of his essays concluded with very prophetic words-“Hindus are responsible for the poverty and disorganization of Hindustan. But if they ever desire to attain prosperity, they must remain Hindus”.

Around 1904, the Mitra Mela founded by him, changed it’s name to Abhinav Bharat. It was now a society of around 100 select members, and inspired by Young Italy of Mazinni, a leader who was an inspiration to Savarkar.  After his graduation in Pune, Savarkar went to Mumbai for studying law, where he continued his political activites unabated.

He began to contribute to a local weekly named Vihari, which soon became an unofficial mouthpiece for Abhinava Bharat. By now he was the leader of the revolutionary movement in Maharashtra, and looked up to by other freedom fighters.

His fiery and forceful prose made the weekly popular, as did his poetic imagination. In tandem with Bhat he began to propagate Abhinav Bharat's philosophy, spreading their network, discussing the country's political situation.

Members began to come in and meetings were held regularly at either the Sukha Niwas Lodge in Girgaum or the Chikalwadi tenenments.  Soon the younger members of Abhinav Bharat, began to propagate it's philosophy among all the leading educational institutions.

From Elphinstone, Wilson College( where Savarkar was studying) to Victoria Technical Institute to Art School,  Abhinav Bharat's ideology began to spread in the campuses. The revolutionaries also secured posts in Government departments like Railways, PnT, Customs, High Court, to keep a tab on the activities.

It was around this time, that Savarkar came across the issue of Indian Sociologist, edited by one Shyamji Krishna Varma.  And that would decide his future course of action too. It was Varma who would get him to Londonon a scholarship, and mentor him at India House.
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