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'''Vishnubhat Godse''' (1827-1904)<ref name="deshpande217">{{harvnb|Deshpande|2007|page=217}}</ref> (commonly known as '''Godse Bhataji''') was an Indian traveller and a [[Marathi people|Marathi]] writer. Godse is best known for his travelogue ''[[Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat|Majha Pravas]]'' (''My Travels''), which is notable for the description of his "true and unique" experiences of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|First War of Independence of 1857]] during his travels in North India.<ref name="deshpande217"/> It is one of the earliest travelogues written in the Marathi language.<ref>{{harvnb|Das|2006|page=252}}</ref>

==Journey==
Vishnubhat Godse was a priest from Varsai, a village near [[Pen, India|Pen]] in [[Bombay Presidency]]. His ancestors worked as priests during the reign of the [[Peshwa]]s, but the defeat of the Peshwas in 1818 by the [[East India Company]], a few years before his birth, meant his family had fallen on hard times. Vishnubhat therefore decided to visit North India in search of a livelihood.

Vishnubhat started his journey to North India on March 30, 1857 with his uncle.<ref name="deshpande218">{{harvnb|Deshpande|2007|page=218}}</ref> On July 1, 1857, he reached the [[Mhow]] Cantonment where he first heard news of the revolt. After that he visited [[Gwalior]], [[Dhar]], and [[Ujjain]], but he could not find a way to make a living because of the changed conditions due to the revolt.

Vishnubhat subsequently went to [[Jhansi]], where he was later appointed as the court priest by the Queen of Jhansi, [[Rani Lakshmibai]]. He was present in Jhansi when British forces commanded by [[Hugh Rose, 1st Baron Strathnairn|General Hugh Rose]] attacked on April 3–4, 1858 and was able to escape from the city after it had been captured by them. He barely escaped from Jhansi after hiding in various obscure places while the massacre was going on. He later went to [[Kalpi]] to join the queen who had escaped there during the attack. He was also present at the battle of Kalpi in May 1858.<ref name="deshpande218"/> Later, he paid visits to [[Bithoor|Bramhavarta]], [[Chitrakoot Dham (Karwi)|Chitrakuta]], [[Kanpur]], [[Lucknow]], and [[Ayodhya]]. He was in Ayodhya on the day of [[Ram Navami]], i.e. April 11, 1859.<ref name="deshpande218"/>

Throughout his journey, he had dangerous encounters with mutineers, company soldiers, and robbers, who took almost all of the money he had earned during his travel. In the beginning of 1860, he returned to Varsai via [[Sagar, Madhya Pradesh|Sagar]], [[Hoshangabad]], [[Indore]], and [[Nashik]].<ref>{{harvnb|Datta|2006|page=1433}}</ref>

==Travelogue==
{{main|Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat}}
Vishnubhat returned to Varsai in early 1860, but did not start writing his travelogue until 1883. It was a handwritten manuscript in the [[Modi script]] of the [[Marathi language|Marathi]] language that was not published until after his death. It was first published in 1907, 50 years after the mutiny, and given the name ''Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat'' (''My Travels: The Story of the 1857 Mutiny'').<ref name="hindi">{{cite book |title=Vishnubhat ki Aatmkatha (Autobiography of Vishnubhat) |language=Hindi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=42H67J1T5S4C&q=vishnubhat&pg=PP1 |access-date=March 21, 2010}}</ref> This edition was edited by Chintamani Vaidya, but he gave the original manuscript to [[Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal]] in [[Pune]]. The original manuscript was published by [[Datto Vaman Potdar]] in 1966.<ref name="hindi"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Das |first=Sisir Kumar |title=History of Indian literature |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |year=2006 |isbn=978-81-7201-006-5 }}
*{{cite book |last=Datta |first=Amaresh |title=The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature |volume=II |year=2006 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-1194-0 }}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Godse, Vishnubhat}}
[[Category:Marathi-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian travel writers]]
[[Category:Hindu priests]]
[[Category:1827 births]]
[[Category:1904 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian priests]]

Vishnubhat Godse - Revision history

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