History of Pune
is the 9th most populous city in India and is the second largest in terms of population in the state of Maharashtra.
Although the area around Pune has history going back millennia, the more recent history of the city is closely related to the rise of the Maratha Empire from the 17th–18th century. Pune first came under Maratha control in the early 1600s when Maloji Bhosale was granted fiefdom of Pune by the Nizam Shahi of Ahmednagar. When Maloji's son, Shahaji had to join campaigns in distant southern India for the Adil Shahi sultanate, he selected Pune for the residence of his wife, Jijabai and younger son, Shivaji, the future founder of the Maratha Empire. Although Shivaji spent part of his childhood and teenage years in Pune, the actual control of the Pune region shifted between the Bhosale family of Shivaji, the Adil Shahi dynasty, and the Mughals.
In the early 1700s, Pune and its surrounding areas were granted to the newly appointed Maratha Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath by Chhatrapati Shahu, grandson of Shivaji. Balaji Vishwanath's son, and successor as the Peshwa, Bajirao I made Pune as his seat of administration. This spurred growth in the city during Bajirao's rule which was continued by his descendants for the best part of 18th century. The city was a political and commercial center of the Indian subcontinent during that period. This period came to an end with the Marathas losing to the British East India Company during the Third Anglo-Maratha War in 1818.
After the fall of Peshwa rule in 1818, the British East India Company made the city one of its major military bases. They established military cantonments in the eastern part of the city, and another one at nearby Khadki. The city was known by the name of Poona during British rule and for a few decades after Indian independence. The company rule came to an end when in 1858, under the terms of the proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, along with Pune and the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British crown. British rule in the city for more than a century saw huge changes in the social, political, economic, and cultural life of the city. These included the introduction of railways, telegraph, roads, modern education, hospitals and social changes. Prior to the British takeover, the city was confined to the eastern bank of the Mutha river. Since then, the city has grown on both sides of the river. During British rule, Pune was made into the monsoon capital of the Bombay presidency. Palaces, parks, a golf course, a racecourse, and a boating lake were some of the facilities that were constructed to accommodate the leisurely pursuits of the ruling British elites of the Bombay presidency that stayed in the city during the monsoon season, and the military personnel. In the 19th and early 20th century, Pune was the center of social reform, and at the turn of the 20th century, the center of nationalism. For the latter, it was considered by the British as the center of political unrest against their rule. The social reform movement by Jyotiba Phule in the latter half of 1800s saw establishment of schools for girls as well as for the Dalits. In 1890s, nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak promoted public celebration of the Ganesh festival as a hidden means for political activism, intellectual discourse, poetry recitals, plays, concerts, and folk dances.
The post-independence era after 1947 saw Pune turning from a mid-size city to a large metropolis. Industrial development started in the outlining areas of the city such as Hadapsar, Bhosari, and Pimpri in the 1950s. The first big operation to be set up was the government run Hindustan Antibiotics in Pimpri in 1954.The area around Bhosari was set aside for industrial development, by the newly created Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation in the early 1960s. MIDC provided the necessary infrastructure for new businesses to set up operations. The status of Pune was elevated from town to city, when the Municipality was converted into Pune Mahanagar Palika or the Pune Municipal Corporation in the year 1950.This period saw a huge influx of people to the city due to opportunities offered by the boom in the manufacturing industry, and lately in the software field. The influx has been from other areas of Maharashtra as well as from outside the state. The post-independence period has also seen further growth in the higher education sector in the city. This included the establishment of the University of Pune in 1949, the National Chemical Laboratory in 1950 and the National Defence Academy in 1955.The Panshet flood of 1961 resulted in a huge loss of housing on the riverbank and spurred the growth of new suburbs. In the 1990s, the city emerged as a major information technology hub.
Early and medieval
The first reference to Pune region is found in two copper plates dated to 758 and 768 AD, issued by Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna I. The plates are called "Puny Vishaya" and "Punaka Vishaya" respectively. The plates mention areas around Pune such as Theur, Uruli, Chorachi Alandi, Kalas, Khed, Dapodi, Bopkhel and Bhosari. The Pataleshwar rock-cut temple complex was built during this time. Pune later became part of the Yadava Empire of Deogiri from the 9th century. During this time, it was called as "Punekavadi" and "Punevadi". In 2003, an accidental discovery of artefacts from the Satvahana period in the Kasba peth area of the city has put the origin of settled life in the area to the early part of the first millennium.The Khalji dynasty overthrew the Yadavas in 1317. This started hundred years of Delhi Sultanate control of Pune. The Khalji dynasty was succeeded by another Delhi sultanate dynasty, the Tughlaqs. A governor of the Tughlaq for the Deccan revolted and created the independent Bahamani sultanate. Traditional accounts state that the temples of Puneshwar and Narayaneshwar were turned into the Sufi shrines of Younger Sallah and Elder Sallah respectively. The Bahamanis, and their successor states, collectively called the Deccan sultanates, ruled Pune region between 1400 and early 1600s. During this period, it was a village and was called "Kasabe Pune". A defensive wall around was built by Barya Arab, a commander of either the Khaljis or the Tughlaqs, in the early 1300s. During the period of Muslim Sultans, a fort of constructed in the village on the eastern bank of the Mutha River. The Brahmins, traders, and cultivators were scattered around the village before and were situated around the fort wall after its construction. The Hindu saint, Namdev is believed to have visited the Kedareshwar temple. The Bengali saint, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu visited the place during the Nizamshahi rule. Under the Bahamani and early Nizamshahi, towards the end of 15th century, Pune became a center for learning of Sanskrit scriptures.
Maratha rule
Pune first came under Maratha control in the early 1600s. However, control shifted between the Bhonsle family, the Adil Shahi dynasty, and the Mughals, for most of the century. In the early 1700s, Pune and its surrounding areas were granted to the newly appointed Maratha Peshwa, Balaji Vishwanath. It remained with his family until his great-grandson Bajirao II was defeated by the British East India Company in 1818.Bhosale family fiefdom (1599–1714)
In 1595 or 1599, Maloji Bhosle, the grandfather of Maratha Empire founder, Shivaji, was given the title of "raja" by Bahadur Nizam Shah II, the ruler of the Ahmednagar Sultanate. On the recommendation of Nizam's Vazir, Malik Ambar, Maloji was granted the jagir of the Pune and Supe parganas, along with the control over the Shivneri and Chakan forts.In 1630–31, Murar Jagdeo Pandit, a general of Adil Shahi of Bijapur attacked Pune and razed it to the ground by using ass-drawn ploughs, as a symbol of total dominance. Soon afterwards, Shahaji, the son of Maloji, joined the service of Adil Shahi, and got his family's jagir of Pune back in 1637. He appointed Dadoji Konddeo as the administrator of the area. Dadoji slowly rebuilt the town and brought back the prominent families who had left it during the destruction by Murar Jagdeo. Shahaji also selected Pune for the residence of his wife, Jijabai and son, Shivaji, the future founder of the Maratha Empire. The construction of a palace, called Lal Mahal, was completed in 1640. Jijabai is said to have commissioned the building of the Kasba Ganapati temple herself. The Ganesh idol consecrated at this temple is regarded as the presiding deity of the city.
Pune changed hands between the Mughals and the Marathas many times during the rest of the century. It remained under Shivaji's control for the most part of his career, however, he operated from mountain forts like Rajgad and Raigad. Recognizing the military potential of Pune, the Mughal general Shaista Khan and later, the emperor Aurangzeb further developed the areas around the city.
Peshwa rule (1714–1818)
In 1714, the Maratha ruler Shahu appointed Balaji Vishwanath, a Chitpavan Brahmin, as his Peshwa. Around the same period, Balaji was gifted the area around Pune by the grateful mother of one of Shahu's ministers, the Pantsachiv, for saving the latter's life. In 1720, Baji Rao I, was appointed Peshwa, as a successor to his father, by Shahu. Bajirao moved his administration from Saswad to Pune in 1728, and in the process, laid the foundation for turning what was a kasbah into a large city. Before Bajirao I made Pune his headquarters, the town already had six "Peths" or wards, namely, Kasba, Shaniwar, Raviwar, Somwar, Mangalwar, and Budhwar. Bajirao also started construction of a palace called Shaniwar Wada on the eastern bank of the Mutha River. The construction was completed in 1730, ushering in the era of Peshwa control over the city. The city grew in size and influence as the Maratha rule extended in the subsequent decades. During this period, in addition to being the administrative capital of the Confederacy, the city also became the financial capital. Most of the 150 bankers or "savakars" in the city belonged to the Chitpavan or Deshastha Brahmin communities.The city gained further importance as the Maratha dominance increased across India under the rule of Bajirao I's son, Balaji Baji Rao, also known as Nanasaheb. After the disastrous Battle of Panipat in 1761, Maratha influence was curtailed. At that time, the Nizam of Hyderabad looted the city. The city and the empire recovered during the brief reign of Peshwa Madhavrao I. The rest of the Peshwa era was full of family intrigue and political machinations. The leading role in this was played by the ambitious Raghunathrao, the younger brother of Nanasaheb who wanted power at the expense of his nephews, Madhavrao I and Narayanrao. Following the murder of Narayanrao on the orders of Raghunathrao's wife, in 1775, power was exercised in the name of the son of Narayanrao, Madhavrao II, by a regency council led by Nana Fadnavis for almost the rest of the century. For most part, the Peshwa rule saw the city elites coming from the Chitpavan Brahmin community. They were the military commanders, the bureaucrats, and the bankers, and had ties to each other through matrimonial alliances.
Pune prospered as a city during the reign of the peshwas. Nanasaheb constructed a lake at Katraj, on the southern outskirts of the city, and an underground aqueduct, which is still operational, to bring water from the lake to Shaniwar Wada. Later in the century, the city got an underground sewage system in 1782, that ultimately discharged into the river. On the southern fringe of the city, Nanasaheb built a palace on the Parvati Hill. In the vicinity of the hill, he developed a garden called Heera Baug and dug a lake with a Ganesh temple on an island in the middle of the lake. He also developed new commercial, trading, and residential localities called Sadashiv Peth, Narayan Peth, Rasta Peth, and Nana Peth. The city in the 1790s had a population of 600,000. In 1781, after a city census, household tax called Gharpatti was levied on the more affluent, which was one-fifth to one-sixth of the property value.
Under Peshwa rule, law and order was exercised by the office of the Kotwal. The Kotwal was both the police chief, magistrate, as well as the municipal commissioner. His duties included investigating, levying, and collecting of fines for various offenses. The Kotwal was assisted by police officers who manned the chavdi or the police station, and the clerks collected the fines and the paid informants who provided the necessary intelligence for charging people with misdemeanor. The crimes included illicit affairs, violence, and murder. Sometimes, even in case of murder, only a fine was imposed. Inter-caste or inter-religious affairs were also settled with fines. The salary of the Kotwal was as high as 9000 rupees a month, but that included the expense of employing officers, mainly from the Ramoshi caste. The most famous Kotwal of Pune during Peshwa rule was Ghashiram Kotwal. The police force during this era was admired by European visitors to the city.
The patronage of the Brahmin Peshwas resulted in great expansion of Pune with the construction of around 250 temples and bridges in the city, including the Lakdi Pul and the temples on Parvati Hill. Many of the Maruti, Vithoba, Vishnu, Mahadeo, Rama, Krishna, and Ganesh temples were built during this era. The patronage also extended to 164 schools or "pathshalas" in the city that taught Hindu holy texts or Shastras. However, the schools were open to men from the Brahmin castes only. The city also conducted many public festivals. The main festivals were Holi, the Deccan New year or Gudi padwa, Ganeshotsav, Dasara, and Dakshina. Holi at the court of Peshwa, used to be celebrated over a five-day period. The Dakshina festival celebrated in the Hindu month of Shraavana, when millions of rupees were distributed, attracted Brahmins from all over India to Pune. The festivals, the building of temples and the rituals conducted at temples, led to religion being responsible for about 15% of the city's economy during this period.
The Peshwa rulers and the knights residing in the city also had their own hobbies and interests. For example, Madhavrao II had a private collection of exotic animals such as lions and rhinoceros, close to where the later Peshwe Park zoo was situated. The last Peshwa, Bajirao II was a physical strength and wrestling enthusiast. The sport of pole gymnastics or Malkhamb was developed in Pune, under his patronage, by Balambhat Deodhar. Many Peshwas and the courtiers were patrons of Lavani, a genre of music and folk-dance popular in Maharashtra. A number of composers of it, such as Ram Joshi, Anant Phandi, Prabhakar, and Honaji Bala, came from this period. Ram Joshi also composed a powada praising the wonders of Pune itself. The dancers used to come from the castes such as Mang and Mahar. Lavani used to be an essential part of Holi celebrations at the court of Peshwa.
The Peshwa's influence in India declined after the defeat of Maratha forces in the Battle of Panipat, but Pune remained the seat of power. The city's fortunes declined rapidly after the accession of Bajirao II to power in 1795. In 1802, Pune was captured by Yashwantrao Holkar in the Battle of Poona, directly precipitating the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803–1805. The Peshwa rule ended with the defeat of Bajirao II by the British East India Company, under the leadership of Mountstuart Elphinstone, in 1818.