.

ShahuMahar
aj .
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..
..

Compi
l
er:
MR.GI
RISHDARUNTE.
.

Shr
iChhat
rapat
iShahuMahar
aj(Al
soknownas
Rajar
shiShahu)(26June1874-6May1922)wasthe
fi
rstMaharaj
aoftheIndi
anpri
ncel
yst
ateofKol
hapur
between1884and1922.
Firstkingi nIndiawhoi mplement
edReser vat
ionPol i
cy
(Pr ovi
ded50% Reser vati
oninhisst ate,on26Jul y
1902 )Rev ol
uti
onary LegalReforms.Appeal ed for
cast e-f
reeI ndi
aandabol i
ti
onofuntouchabil
it
y.Pioneer
ofSt udentHost elMov ementforBahujanSamaj .De-
recogni zed Br ahmanicalsupremacy and Rel i
gious
bur eaucracy of Br ahmins.Greatest support
er and
sympat hizerofDr.Ambedkarmov ement.ThePi l
larof
Soci alDemocr acy.

Accessi
on:
Shahuwasbor non26 June1874 asYeshwant r
ao
Ghatge,eldestson ofAppasaheb Ghatge,chi
efof
Kagal(seni
or)byhi
swi f
eRadhabai,adaughteroft
he
Raj
a ofMudholi n pr
esent
-day Kar
nataka.He was
adopted byAnandi bai
,wi dow ofRaj a ShivajiIV,in
Mar ch1884.Sev er
algener ati
onsofi nter-
mar ri
agehad
ensuredt hatShahu’sfami l
ywasconnect edi nti
mat ely
withther ul
ingdynastyofKol hapur,whichisappar ently
whatr enderedhim asui t
ablecandi dateforadopt ion,
despite his notbei ng a mal e-li
ne memberoft he
Bhonsledy nasty
.Acounci lofr egencywasappoi nted
byt heBriti
shgovernmentofI ndiatooverseeaf fai
rsof
stateduringShahu’smi norit
y.Shahuwasi nvestedwi t
h
ruli
ngpower suponcomi ngofagei n1894.Ther eis
one college named Raj aram col l
ege builtbyShahu
Mahar aj
a

Soci
alRef
orm:
ShahuMahar aji scr editedwi t
hdoi ngmucht of urt
her
thelotofthel owercast es,andi ndeedt hisassessment
i
swar ranted.Hedi d much t o makeeducat ion and
empl oy
mentav ail
abl et o al l
:henotonl ysubsi dized
educati
on i n hi s st ate,ev entuall
y pr oviding free
educati
ont oal l,butal soopenedsev er
alhost elsin
Kolhapurforst udent shai li
ngf rom manydi fferentnon-
brahmin communi ti
es, t hereby f acil
itati
ng t he
educati
onoft her uralandl ow-casteindigent .Heal so
ensured sui tabl e empl oyment f or student s thus
educated, t her eby cr eating one of t he ear li
est
Affi
rmat i
veact i
onpr ogr amsi nhistory.Manyoft hese
measur eswer eef fectedi nthey ear1902.
Shahu’ s other init
iati
ves i ncl
uded r estr
ict
ing Chi l
d
mar ri
age i n his state and t he encour agementof
i
ntercast emar ri
ageand wi dow r emar ri
age.Hel ong
patronized the Sat ya Shodhak Samaj .Under t he
i
nfluence oft hese soci al-r
eform mov ements,Shahu
arr
angedf orseveralnon- brahminy outhstobet r
ained
to f uncti
on as pr iests, in def iance of t imeless
conv enti
onwhi chr eservedt hepriesthoodf orthoseof
thebr ahmincast e.Howev er,hefacedopposi ti
onfrom
manyi ncl
udingLokamany aBalGangadharTi l
ak,t he
veryf amouspat r
iotoft hattime.
Chhatrapat
iShahu was v er
yfond ofwr estl
i
ng and
encourageditinhiskingdom.Manywr est
lersfrom al
l
overIndiacamet oKolhapuraswrest
li
ngenjoyedroyal
patr
onagei nKolhapur
.
The I ndi
an post
aldepartmenthas i ssued a stamp
dedicated t
o Shahu.On the fir
st-i
ssue ci
tat
ion,the
gover nment of Indi
a hai
ls Shahu as " A soci al
revoluti
onar
y,atruedemocrat,avisi
onary,apatronof
thetheatre,
musicandsports."

Compi
l
erMR.GI
RISHDARUNTE,
MANMAD(NASHI
K) .
.