The rare Peshwa Daftar

One of the most well-known archives in India is the Peshwa Daftar, which is also called the Pune archives.

As the name itself suggests, the archives are located in Pune and a majority of the archives belong to the Peshwa period. Since, the records and archives were collected and indexed during the Peshwa period, they came to be called as Peshwa Daftar.

The Peshwas, whose headquarters was at Pune, maintained a separate establishment for records and administrative purposes and the British continued with the Daftar after they defeated the Peshwas in 1818.

Today, the Daftar is housed in an old granite building which houses the State documents of the Peshwa Government. These documents are kept in 39,000 bundles called Rumals.

The archives are located in a building opposite the council hall and it is often described as a storehouse of old and rare documents. The archives even has documents dating back to the period of Chatrapati Shivaji.

The building houses over four crore documents and of them three lakhs are classified as rare manuscripts.
When the Peshwas were defeated, the then British Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone took over the Peshwa Daftar and decided to preserve the documents. The British then constituted a Imam Commission to look into land records and documents of the Peshwa Kingdom and also suggest measures about preserving these documents. By 1863, the Inam Commission had concluded its task and it gave a report. The British then decided that the documents verified and drafted by the committee should be kept along with the Peshwa Daftar in Nana Wada, in central Pune. To this day, these documents are part of the archives.
The British government finalised the design for the new building (Till the new building was completed., the archives were kept at Nana Wada building) in 1884 and the then under secretary, W A Baker, sanctioned Rs 1,14,335 towards the construction of the building.
The building has eight big halls meant for preserving documents. A special tower houses a water tank that was made for storing water in case a fire broke out in the building. The documents were shifted to this building from Nana Wada on February 6, 1890.

The archives today sees a rush of people. No, the people do not come here to study. They want  copies of old land records.

This is so as most land records are found in the Inam Commission Enquiry Daftar that has 7,864 rumals. If you need your family's s land rights claims verified and attested, the archives is the place. To obtain a Inam Commission document, you have to pay an Rs. 250 fee. The copies are provided in a month’s time.

Most records are in the Modi script. In the Inam section, one can find papers from the times of Shivaji, the Adilashahs of Bijapur and the Nizamdshahs of Ahmadnagar.

The Inam Commission papers comprise of land records given as inams or gifts by the Marathas. Since the Marathas ruled over large parts of south India, the records are many. The Imam Commission was formed in 1843 when the British rulers wanted to investigate and adjudicate on inams. In course of investigations, the Commission collected papers from individuals, officers, watandars and sanad holders.

The collection at the Archives has sanads, nivadapatras, mahzars and kaifiyats along with accounts of other areas. The archives need to be preserved so that we can read about our forefathers and the history of a place.

The archives has plans to digitalise its vast collection. There are also plans to refurbish, renovate and repair the building housing the archives. This is different from the National Film Archives, which is also headquartered at Pune.

Pune is also home to the archives belonging to the Tata group. It contains thousands of documents, letters, agreements, maps, press clippings, audio and video recordings, awards, trophies, medals, citations, paintings, and memorabilia relating to the House of Tatas.

An institute for AIDS research

India is one of the countries world that is affected by HIV/AIDS. Though recent surveys have indicted that the number of HIV/AIDS cases have come down, the country is still home to millions of people suffering from this pandemic.

While there is enough literature on HIV/AIDS and also a variety of treatments available, a common man still harbours a great deal of misconceptions about it. Similarly, very few are also aware that there is a research institute that is exclusively devoted to research on HIV/AIDS and that it has been doing yeomen service since its inception.

This is the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), which was established in October 1992 in Bhosari, Pune on a seven acre plot.

An Institute devoted exclusively to HIV/ AIDS that could undertake research of such a diversity and magnitude was established to meet this requirement.

Over the years the institute has expanded its activities in various aspects of research on HIV and AIDS and also collaborated with other national and international agencies and organizations in the field.

The activities of NARI are supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research and other agencies. Its research activities are guided by a scientific advisory committee which comprises among others of eminent scientists from different disciplines.

Because of the sensitive nature of research and ethics, all research projects are reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee which ensures that any research is conducted with highest ethical standards.

The main objective of the institute is to control spread of  HIV and to provide care to HIV infected population. The care includes  treatment and vaccine. NARI itself runs seven clinics in different parts of  Pune city which provides varied services such as voluntary counseling, testing centers and care and support.

The institute has eight divisions, including Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Serology and Immunology, Clinical Sciences, Molecular Virology, Microbiology, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Library and Documentation and Administration.

Currently NARI has a permanent staff strength of 60 with additional personnel for specific projects.

It collaborates with Johns Hopkins University, USA, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease ,USA, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and Family Health International. At the national level, the institute has a sound working collaboration with National AIDS Control Organization, New Delhi and Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi.

NARI has set up a cohort of HIV seronegative persons so that it can collect information on the spread of HIV, the rate of infection and role of other diseases such as herpes simplex, virus 2 and syphilis. 

NARI also has the distinction of  having conducted India's first HIV vaccine trial. It also carried out clinical trials for anti-HIV drugs under international regulatory requirements. The institute has a separate center for carrying this trial which  provides treatment to HIV infected through National ARV roll out programme.

The institute has also taken up studies on what it calls women controlled methods for prevention of HIV.

Apart from NARI, there are several other institutes that are currently engaged in research on HIV/AIDs and its prevention and cure.

The man who started Ganeshotsava

Ganesha Chaturthi was always a family affair and the festival goes back to the times of the Guptas when the first temple to Ganesha was built.

In Karnataka, the Ganesha festival is mentioned in the records of the Sathavahanas, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas. Later, Ganesha figures during the Hoysala, Vijayanagar and Wodeyar periods.

However, the first public function relating to Ganesha in today’s Karnataka was in Belgaum when Balagangadhar Tilak visited the City and inspired the first Ganesha Mandal to be set up.

Today, Ganesha is as much a public figure as he is private and the credit for making this festival a public function goes to Balagangadhar Tilak, the freedom fighter from Maharashtra.

Tilak wanted an event to unify the people of India and he found this in the Ganapathy festival. He organised the first public Ganesha function in Pune, Maharashtra.

The festival first started out as a family affair. There were no public functions. However, the festival took on a royal hue when the Peshwas came to power in Pune in the eighteenth century. With Ganapathy being the family deity of the Peshwas, the celebrations were grand and it would commence on the first day of  Bhadrapada and they would continue for ten days. The festival ended on Anant Chaturdashi with the immersion of the Ganapathy idol in water.

The last of the Ganesha festivals celebrated by the Peshwa was in  1815 when Bajirao II was in power. When the Peshwa rule ended in 1818,  the Peshwa flag came down from Shaniwar wada, the palace of Peshwas in Pune and up fluttered the Union Jack of England.

Among the valuables the British took away from the Wada was a ruby eyed Ganesha made in pure gold and the idol was studded with diamonds and rubies. It was reportedly valued at £ 50000 in those days. From 1818 to 1892, Ganesha festival remained a family affair in Maharashtra and other parts of India.

Tilak in 1892 saw that the public function could easily unify people. The 1893 Hindu-Muslim riots at Pune and Mumbai further added to his resolve to make the Ganesha pooja a secular affair. Thus, the first public celebration of Ganesha was in Pune and at the Keshav Naik Chawl in Bombay in 1893.

He also set up the Thambdi Jogeshwari Ganapathy Pandal in Pune. This mandal exists even today and celebrates Ganeshotatsava. But it was at the Kesariwada pandal set up by Tilak established in 1893 that saw Ganesha festival turning into a socio-political movement.

After commencing the Sarvajanik mandals for Ganesha in Pune, Tilak came down  to Belgaum in Karnataka in 1905 where he asked the people to come on a common platform and celebrate Ganesha festival. This is how the Zenda Chowk Ganesh Utsav Mandal was formed and today it is 107 years old and still going strong.

There is another legend about why and how Lokmanya Tilak hit upon the idea of starting Ganesha festival in public. People of Girgaum in Mumbai say Tilak was worried about how India could attain freedom and how he could unify people.

He used to sit at bank of Girgaum Chowpaty and make idols. Many people stopped by to see the idols. This gave him the idea of gathering people to watch a statue or idol placed in a public place and which better deity than Ganesha. This is how Tilak started the tradition of Sarvajanik Ganesha Utsav by making clay idols.

Even today, Chowpathy sees huge Ganeshas being taken to the Arabian Sea for immersion.

Today, we see thousands of Ganesha mandals all over the country but except in Maharashtra, none even care to acknowledge the role of Tilak in starting them.

In Bangalore and elsewhere, the Ganesha celebrations in public continue long after the festival is over. Loud filmi music, extravagantly designed pandals and a cacophony of garish colours and designs form the background of many mandals.

Mumbai today sees some of the most elaborate celebrations and the Ganesha idols are huge and the celebrations are hugely popular.

The Lalbaugcha Raja in central Mumbai is the biggest draw and crores of people visit this pandal. Although the idol is situated in the cramped fish market and it remains the same each year, devotees flock here to seek boons from the wish-fulfilling deity. Over the years, offerings in gold and silver to this Ganapathy have increased in direct proportion to high-profile celebrity visits and constant media coverage. Last year celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Sonu Nigam, Shilpa Shetty, Isha Koppikar and Shankar Mahadevan visited Lalbaugcha Raja to offer their prayers to lord Ganesha.

Compared to Mumbai, the pandals in Pune are generally more orthodox and they still adhere to Tilak’s principles. Want to have a look.

Check out Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and see how diverse the celebrations are at each of the city.  

The West Coast of Ganesha

If we can count, and let me tell you that this is a herculean task though not impossible, the number of temple in India the maximum of such structure would probably be dedicated to Ganesha, Anjaneya and Rama.

Strangely, Ganesha seems to have caught the fancy of millions of people, including children, who adore Ganesha. He is one of the few gods along with Rama and Krishna whose stories have been told in books, cartoons and in serials on television.

Ganesha is so common that he is present in almost every town and city of India. He is worshipped by all sects and sub sects of Hindus and he is called by different names in different states.

In Karnataka and most of south India, he is known as Ganapathy or Ganesha and one of the most famous temples dedicated to this elephant god is in Idagunji and several other temples nearby. If Pune has the Asta Vinayak circuit (eight temples near Pune each of which represent a particular character and trait of Ganesha), this stretch too has its own Ganesha temples which can be seen in a day.  

The West Coast of India in this area is also popularly called the Ganesha Coast.

The coastline stretching from Kasargod to Gokarna is where these six temples are built. Since the residents of  the Western seaboard are ardent devotees of Ganesha, they visit all the six shrines in a day, which they say is an auspicious event.

No wonder, these six temple appear crowded all year around. The six temples are:  Madhur Mahaganapathy temple near Kasargod, Sharavu Mahaganapathy in Mangalore, Mahaganapathy at Kumbhashi or Ane Gudde, Siddi Vinayaka Hattiangadi at Kundapura, Dwibhuja Ganapathy at Idagunji and the Ganapaty at Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district.

Each of the six Ganapathy has its own legend to narrate and its own story to relate. Locals say if anybody visits all these temples in day between dawn and dusk along with his family, he will receive special blessings of the elephant god.  

It is for this reason that this stretch of beautiful coastline is also know as Ganesha Coast. In reality, it is Parashurama Kshetra or the land that was reclaimed by Lord Parashurama from the sea. The natural beauty of the coast, the magnificent Arabian sea, the calm looking Ganesha at these six places all present a wonderous sight.  The locals believe that it is Ganesha who is protecting this stretch of coast from natural calamities.

Incidentally, this faith is not misplaced. References to this coast can also found in the Ramayana (Threta Yuga). It is on this coast that Ganesha deceived Ravana, into placing the Atmalingam here itself instead of carrying it to Lanka.

If  Ravana had manage to carry the linga to Lanka, then he would become invincible and more powerful than all the gods put together. When Ganesha foiled Ravana in his mission, the enraged Asura hits him on the head.  

Even today the head of the Ganesha idol consecrated in the Mahaganapathi temple at Gokarna has a soft point, This is the place where Ravana hit Ganesha, says our puranas. Here, devotees can themselves perform abhisheka to Ganesha. Moreover, devotees are allowed to touch the God and also make his own offerings.  The distance between the Ganapathyu temple in Madhur and Gokarna is 270 kilometres and the road traverses across eleven  rivers including the Chandragiri and Sharavathi. The darshan of all the six Ganeshas can be accomplished in seven hours.

Madhur is just five kilometers from Kasargod, while Sharavu is in  Mangalore city. The town of Kumbhashi is just 500 metres from National Highway 17 and Hattiangadi is eight kms from NH 17. Idagunji is seven kilometres from NH 17 and Gokarna temple is about 10 km from the highway.

Devotees can start their journey early in the morning from Madhur where the temple opens at 5 a.m. Since the temple office opens only at 7-30 a.m., you may have to wait to perform seves. The next stop could be Mangalore and then Kumbhashi which is about 78 kms from Mangalore.

Kumbhashi to Hattiangadi is about 20 km and Hattiangadi to Idagunji is about 45 km.

The levitating stones

India is a land of  mystics and sages belonging to all faiths and religions. Every mystic, whatever be his religion, has preached tolerance, non-violence, love and respect. No wonder, the resting places of such seers have turned as much into places of pilgrimage as temples and other places of worship.

One such place is Shivapur, a small village in Pune in Maharashtra. The village is renowned for its levitating stone. What is so special about this stone, you may ask.

Well, the stone is quite heavy and it can be lifted easily by eleven men if they say aloud the name of the seer who is buried nearby. What is more astounding is that the stone can be lifted off the ground where it rests with eleven finger tips-one finger of each of the eleven men.

Strange but true. This is the legend of Hazrat Qamar Ali Darvesh and two stones lying near his grave. Both these stones can be easily lifted by eleven men with each supporting the stone with one finger.

If the bigger stone can be raised by just eleven finger tips the smaller can be lifted with just nine finger tips. This unusual phenomenon has been scientifically researched by national and international scientists but no scientific or even rational explanation has been forthcoming.

Lakhs of Indians and hundreds of foreigners, who have heard the tale of the levitating stone, have ended up lifting the stone with either eleven or none finger tips but have failed to solve its mystery.

The grave of the Sufi saint Qamar Ali Darvesh is more than eight hundred years old and even the stones are as old, perhaps a little more older than the structure.

Locals and even the priest of the shrine tells us that there existed a gymnasium at the very place where the saint is buried. Qamar Ali Darvesh belonged to a family of wrestlers and body builders and while every male members of his family took to the family tradition, he did not.

His family members and others used the two huge stones to exercise. Some of them made fun of Qamar Ali’s disinterest in the physical sport. However, even at the age of six, the youngster found the teachings of a Sufi saint more appealing than lifting weights. He was the youngest of the brothers and he was more inclined towards religion and philosophy than any of his brothers.  

Before long, Qamar Ali began fasting, meditating and his fame as a Sufi saint spread far and wide. People of all faiths and from different villages began to flock to him. Qamar Ali died young-in his late teens- but just before he died, he asked the people to place the two stones near his grave and told them that they could be lifted by eleven people with their index finger when they chanted his name.

He said: “If eleven males place their right index fingers under the stone and then call my name, I will cause it to rise higher than their heads. Otherwise, neither singly nor together will they be able to move it more than two feet off the ground”.

To this day, this saying holds true. The bigger  stone weighs 140 lbs and the smaller about 100 lbs. Try out whatever combination you want and see if you can cleanly lift it off the ground.

Shivapur is 180 kms from Mumbai and is very near Pune-24 kms away. It takes barely 30 minutes from Pune to reach Shivapur.

Shivapur is located amidst hills and the iconic Sinhagad fort is thirteen kilometers away. The fort is also called Kondana after the sage Kaundinya. The Kaundinyeshwar temple, the caves and the carvings in the fort are said to be more than 2000 years old. The Sinhagad forest is home to a variety of flora and fauna.    

    

The last Peshwa and the ghost

He never had any formal schooling and he spent a large part of his childhood in jail. He was widely reviled as a son of a murderer and though he became one of the most powerful native rulers of  late 18^th century and early years of the nineteenth century, he was never popular, whether with his subjects or his allies.

He had watched the British treacherously kill Tipu Sultan in May 1799 and though Tipu had sought his help, he had declined to join hands with the Tiger of Mysore. He finally succumbed to the guiles of the British and was deposed.

Sent to live in exile in a small village near Meerut, he spent his days trying to chase away a ghost or a spirit that became his constant companion till his death. He spent million of rupees in trying to get rid of the ghost but to no avail.   

The ghost told him that it would not rest till he died, his house burned and his biological line was wiped away. All these prophecies came true and how.

Well, here is the story.

Peshwa Sawai Madhav Rao was the ruler of the powerful Maratha Empire. He was the son of  Narayana Rao Peshwa whom his uncle Raghunath Rao had murdered in 1773.

It was 1796 and Peshwa Sawai Madhav Rao was under tremendous emotional stress. He is believed to have jumped from the ramparts of the Shanivar Wada-the palace of Peshwas in Pune-and committed suicide.

It was then that the young Baji Rao, the second, was placed on the throne of Pune as Peshwa.  He was the son of  Raghunath Rao and Anandibai.

He had come to the throne thanks to the efforts of Nana Phadnavis and Daulat Rao Scindia. However, other noblemen and people despised Baji Rao as he was the son of a murderer. They closely scrutinized all his actions and they were critical of him. However, they held their rivalry with the Peshwa and with each other in check till Nana Phadnavis died in 1800.   

After the death of Phadnavis, Yeshwanth Rao Holkar of Baroda and Daulat Rao Holkar went to war with each other for control of the Maratha Empire. Baji Rao, the second, thought that the best course for him was to seek new allies and he came to Bombay where he signed a treaty with the British.

This is called the Treaty of Bassein whereby the British agreed to reinstate Baji Rao as the Peshwa. In return, he was to accept British troops in his territory, pay for their stay and also allow a British Resident at Pune.   

Though both Holkar and Sindhia resisted, the British were in no mood to give way. They had Baji Rao in their grip and they took to war against the Marathas. This led to the second Anglo-Maratha war which the British won.

Though Baji Rao, regained his Peshwaship, the treaty with the British always told on his mind. In 1817 the third Anglo-British war broke out and the Peshwa was captured after evading the British for five months. 

Baji Rao II surrendered to Sir John Malcolm, the commander-in-chief of the British troops. Though Baji Rao was stripped of his Peshwaship, he was allowed to be called Maharaja.  He was promised a pension of hundred thousand pounds an year apart from being able to retain his personal fortune or wealth.

Baji Rao was told that he would have to leave Pune and live at a place designated by the British. He would also have to promise never to come back to Pune.

Baji Rao then forsook all claims to the Peshwa post and left with a retinue and personal attendants of fifteen thousand people to Bithur near Kanpur.

The British had deliberately selected Bithur as they had a huge military establishment there and they could keep an eye on the Peshwa day and night.

The British were magnanimous in allowing the Peshwa to keep his wealth and also promise a huge pension as they felt that like his ancestors , Baji Rao would not live long.

Thus Baji Rao camped at Bithur along with his wives, relatives and a large retinue. Thus, the man who once ruled over 50 million people could lord over just 15,000 people and that too in a small area of 6 kms.     

Unfortunately, for the British, Baji Rao lived for 33 more years after 1818 and they had to keep on paying him the handsome pension they had promised.

Many close companions and relatives of the Peshwa came and went from Bithur. But one person was the Peshwa’s constant companion. This was the ghost of  Narayana Rao, the Peshwa.

The ghost had become Baji Rao’s companion even in Pune. But the Peshwa had managed to get rid of the ghost by travelling to Pandrapur and exorcising the spirit in the temple of Panduranga Vittala.

When the Peshwa moved out of the Maratha territory and stayed at Bithur, the ghost reappeared and attached itself to Baji Rao.

The ghost began haunting the Peshwa again and all attempts by Baji Rao to drive away the ghost failed.

Since Baji Rao was forbidden to visit his Maratha homeland, he performed religious rites and penances as prescribed by the priests of  Kashi Benares. He also distributed alms and gifts to Brahmins. He built temples, bathing ghats, performed endless poojas and even fasted seeking divine intervention to drive away the ghost.

The ghost, however, was in no mood to oblige. It stayed put in Bithur and was always near the Peshwa. It also warned him that  his line will end with his successor and that his house will burn to ashes.

The ghost also told him that his clan will perish shortly after his death. The Peshwa died in 1855 and  in July 1857 during the war of Indian Independence, the British burnt down Bithur, including the residence of Baji Rao II (wada) where many members of his family except his adopted son, Nana Sahib, resided. The line of Baji Rao also came to an end shortly thereafter.

The ghost, of course, vanished after the death of  Baji Rao. The Peshwa’s other name was Rao Pundit Pundham.