Pandurang Mahadev Bapat

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{{Short description|Indian revolutionary}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Pandurang Mahadev Bapat
| honorific_prefix = [[Senapati]]
| image = Pandurang Mahadev Bapat.jpg
| caption = Painting of Senapati Bapat at Sanyukta Maharashtra Smruti Dalan, Dadar, Mumbai
| native_name = पांडुरंग महादेव बापट
| native_name_lang = मराठी
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1880|11|12}}
| birth_place = [[Parner]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1967|11|28|1880|11|12}}<br>[[Mumbai|Bombay]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
| nationality = Indian
| pronunciation = pɑ̃ːɖuɾə̃gə məɦɑːd̪eːʋə bɑːpəʈə
| other_names = Senapati Bapat
| alma_mater = [[Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute|Deccan College]], [[University of Pune]]
| known_for = [[Gandhian philosophy]]
}}
'''Pandurang Mahadev Bapat''' (12 November 1880 – 28 November 1967), popularly known as '''Senapati Bapat''', was a figure in the [[Indian independence movement]]. He acquired the title of ''[[Senapati]]'', meaning ''commander'', as a consequence of his leadership during the Mulshi satyagraha.<ref name="Cashman190">{{cite book |title=The Myth of the Lokamanya: Tilak and mass politics in Maharashtra |first=Richard I. |last=Cashman |publisher=University of California |year=1975 |isbn=9780520024076 |url=https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich/page/190 190]}}</ref>
In 1977, the [[Indian government]] issued a postage stamp to commemorate him.<ref name=indianpost>{{cite news |title=IndianPost |url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Burnt%20Sienna/SENAPATI%20BAPAT%20(PANDURANG%20MAHADEV%20BAPAT) |publisher=Indianpost.com |date=28 November 1977}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Senapati Bapat was born in a [[Marathi people|Marathi]] [[Chitpawan]] family on 12 November 1880 in [[Parner]]. His family was originally from [[Ratnagiri]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Portrait of a revolutionary: Senapati Bapat|publisher=Senapati Bapat Centenary Celebration Samiti|year=1981|page=2|author=Y. D. Phadke|quote=Among such young men initiated into revolutionary activities was Pandurang Mahadeo Bapat who later on became widely known as Senapati (General) Bapat. On 12 November 1880, Pandurang Bapat was born in a Chitpawan or Konkanastha Brahmin family at [[Parner]] in the Ahmednagar district of the Bombay Presidency. His family was from Guhagar in the Ratnagiri district.}}</ref> He was educated at [[Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute|Deccan College]] and then travelled to Britain on a government scholarship in order to study engineering.<ref>{{cite book |title=11_chapter 6.pdf - Shodhganga |pages=475 |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/149799/13/11_chapter%206.pdf}}</ref>

==As a revolutionary==
During his stay in Britain, he was associated with [[India House]], spending a majority of his time learning bomb-making skills instead of pursuing his official studies. He became associated at this time with the Savarkar brothers, [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar|Vinayak]] and [[Ganesh Damodar Savarkar|Ganesh]]. Bapat, who had considered blowing up the [[Houses of Parliament]] in [[London]], took his skills back to India and passed them on to others.<ref name="Cashman190" />{{efn|A revolutionary from Russia passed a bomb-making manual on to Bapat in 1908 and this was translated by another Russian prior to duplicate copies being made by the [[Free India Society]] in London for distribution in India.<ref>{{cite book |title=A History of Terrorism |first=Walter |last=Laqueur |author-link=Walter Laqueur |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2011 |page=44 |isbn=9781412816113 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlqQHKpLfL8C&pg=PA44}}</ref>}}

While in hiding after the [[Alipore bomb case|Alipore bombing]] of 1908, Bapat travelled the country and discovered that the majority of the Indian population did not realize that their country was under foreign rule. At this point, his focus shifted from overthrowing the British government to educating the population.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}} In 1912, he was arrested in connection with the bombing and was sentenced to be imprisoned.<ref name="Cashman190" /> He was free by 1915, and was a "seasoned revolutionary", according to Richard Cashman. He had joined the staff of ''Mahratta'' and was one of several influential figures from the [[Poona]] area who were aligned with [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak|Bal Gangadhar Tilak's]] attempts to establish local organisations supporting the cause of [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Myth of the Lokamanya: Tilak and mass politics in Maharashtra |first=Richard I. |last=Cashman |publisher=University of California |year=1975 |isbn=9780520024076 |url=https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich/page/194 194]}}</ref>

==Shift to Gandhian Philosophy ==
He re-aligned himself with [[Gandhi|Gandhi's]] vision of [[swaraj]]. In late 1920, following the death of Tilak and despite having been a fervent supporter of the Tilak's vision. This was a considerable shift, given his firebrand nature and willingness to use violence, but although he took the Gandhian oath of non-violence he remained willing to use force when he thought it necessary.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Myth of the Lokamanya: Tilak and mass politics in Maharashtra |first=Richard I. |last=Cashman |publisher=University of California |year=1975 |isbn=9780520024076 |url=https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich |url-access=registration |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mythoflokamanya00rich/page/206 206], 212}}</ref>

From 1921, Bapat led the three-year farmers' protest (''[[satyagraha]]'') against the construction of the [[Mulshi Dam]] by the [[Tata Power|Tata]] company. Ghanshyam Shah considers this to be "the first recorded organised struggled against [forced] displacement" caused by an irrigation project.<ref>{{cite book |title=Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature |first=Ghanshyam |last=Shah |edition=2nd |publisher=SAGE |year=2004 |page=114 |isbn=9780761998334 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7nv0A0dpd8AC&pg=PA114}}</ref> The company had initially dug test trenches on land without obtaining permission and the farmers, who were mostly tenants, objected in fear of losing their lands. The dam was eventually constructed and thus the protest ultimately failed. Compensation for lands submersed by the dam's construction was eventually arranged but was given to the landlords rather than to the tenants.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ecology and Equity: The Use and Abuse of Nature in Contemporary India |first1=Madhav |last1=Gadgil |first2=Ramachandra |last2=Guha |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |orig-year=1995 |isbn=9781135634889 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOiBes9QSJ0C&pg=PA69 |page=69}}</ref> Although satyagrahas are intended to be non-violent, Bapat was jailed for vandalism of the construction project: rather than be captured for this, he turned himself in. His third jail sentence was for speaking at a public gathering held by [[Subhas Chandra Bose]].{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

==Legacy==
Major public [[List of roads in Pune#Senapati Bapat road|roads]] in [[Pune]] and [[Mumbai]] have been named in his honour,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rao|first1=Suman|title=Google Maps|url=https://www.google.co.in/maps/place/Senapati+Bapat+Marg,+Indiabulls+Sky+Suites,+Dadar+West,+Mumbai,+Maharashtra+400012/@19.001163,72.8289996,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x3be7cec3f4856a89:0x3cfd7a785c9d73a1|website=Google Maps}}</ref> and he featured in issue 303 of the ''[[Amar Chitra Katha]]'' [[comic book]] series in 1984.<ref>{{cite book |title=India's Immortal Comic Books: Gods, Kings, and Other Heroes |first=Karline |last=McLain |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2009 |page=171 |isbn=9780253220523 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V4-Su0whKa0C&pg=PA171}}</ref> In 1977, the [[Government of India]] issued a postage stamp to commemorate him.<ref name=indianpost/>

On 15 August 1947 — Indian Independence Day — Bapat was given the honour of raising the Indian national flag over the city of [[Poona]] for the first time.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senapati Bapat Road: From mills to malls |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/senapati-bapat-road-from-mills-to-malls-4615853/ |publisher=[[Indian Express]] |date=17 April 2017}}</ref>
Bapat memorial was built at the site of the Mulshi satyagraha on his birth centenary in 1980.

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}
{{India House}}
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}
{{Parner tehsil topics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bapat, Senapati}}
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:India House]]
[[Category:People from Pune]]

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Pandurang Mahadev Bapat