Bhima Koregaon

Bhima Koregaon

Subject – History

Context – The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the Bhima Koregaon violence case of 2018, has submitted draft charges before the NIA court against 15 accused and six absconding accused.

Concept –

• A battle was fought in Bhima Koregaon between the Peshwa forces and the British on 1^st January, 1818.
• The British army,which comprised mainly of Dalit soldiers, fought the upper caste-dominated Peshwa army.
• The British troops defeated the Peshwa army.
• Peshwa Bajirao II had insulted the Mahar community and terminated them from the service of his army.
• This caused them to side with the English against the Peshwa’s numerically superior army.
• The defeat of Peshwa army was considered to be a victory against caste-based discrimination and oppression.
• It was one of the last battles of the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1817-18), which ended the Peshwa domination.
• Babasaheb Ambedkar’svisit to the site on 1^st January, 1927, revitalised the memory of the battle for the Dalit community, making it a rallying point and an assertion of pride.
• The Victory Pillar Memorial – It was erected by the British in Perne village in the district for the soldiers killed in the Koregaon Bhima battle. It has attained legendary stature in Dalit history.