‘MarathaS and MaharS fought together in Koregaon’
Lieutenant General Vijay Oberoi (Retired), a former Vice Chief of Army Staff, has some facts about the 200-year-old Battle of Koregaon, which was the cause of violent clashes between Dalits and Marathas on 1 January. The battle was fought on 1 January 1818, between the British East India Company troops and forces of the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy at Koregaon Bhima in Maharashtra. The commemoration dates back to 1 January 1927, when Dr B.R. Ambedkar visited the site. Since then, thousands of his followers visit the site every New Year’s Day.
Oberoi says that the battle was a stalemate as both sides retreated, leaving their dead behind. The English claimed victory and built a victory pillar (obelisk) at the village. According to him, the Koregaon pillar inscription features the names of the 49 Company soldiers killed in the battle. The dead soldiers of Indian origin included 22 Mahars, 16 Marathas, eight Rajputs, two Muslims, and one or two Jews. On the Peshwa side too, soldiers as well as commanders belonged to varied classes, religions and castes.
In the 1800s, Oberoi points out that the Mahars were considered untouchables. Yet, when it came to military service, soldiers from all castes, creeds and religions were recruited; they served loyally, fought together and spilled blood for their masters. Even the Peshwas, who were highcaste Brahmins, had soldiers from all castes and creeds, and their elite soldiers were Arabs.
“Even in the post-Independence Indian Army,” he says, “there is no discrimination relating to castes and so on. My own regiment, the Maratha Light Infantry, which draws its inspiration from the great Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, has officers and soldiers of all categories serving in it, including Mahars, Coorgs, Muslims from South, Karnataka boys and others.”