Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat

Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat (AKA "Majha Pravaas", which translates into English as My Travels: the Story of the 1857 Mutiny): This Marathi travelogue was written by Vishnubhat Godse, who travelled on foot from Varsai, a village near Pen (in what is now the state of Maharashtra, in India), to the central and northern parts of India during 1857-1858, and witnessed several incidents of what he calls "The Mutiny of 1857", also known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

During his travel, he witnessed the events at Mhow, worked for the Rani of Jhansi for a few months, and witnessed the defeat of Jhansi, visited Ayodhya, eventually returning penniless to his village. Apart from his encounters of the mutiny, he also visited most Hindu holy places.

Author

Godse Bhatji, whose full name is Vishnubhat Godse, belonged to a rapidly impoverished family. He got to learn only a little of the shastra, the indebted family was in need of money. He got to hear that a major yajna was to be performed in the north, by Bayjabai Shinde. It was common during the performance of such yajnas that large donations would be made to deserving brahmans. He decided to try his luck, and be present for this yajna (it was the sarvato-mukha yajna). He travelled with his uncle, and a few others, returning after about a year and a few months.

How the Travelogue Came to be Written

After returning penniless from his travels, Godse Bhatji worked as a family "priest" (purohit) for the Vaidya family in Pune. Chintamanrao Vaidya, then a young college going student, grew fond of listening to Godse Bhatji's stories of his experiences of the 1857 events. Eventually, Chintamanrao Vaidya asked Godse Bhatji to write down his stories in a coherent narrative, and offered to give Rs. 100 for it, and the promise of publication. Godse Bhatji eventually wrote down his narrative in six notebooks. He died soon after.

Publication

Chintamanrao Vaidya who was an educated young man of the 1890/1900s, checked the narrative against colonial historical accounts (e.g. Kay's history etc.), and found that it was accurate. However, since he was advised that the British government might find the narrative more provocative than desired, and because it also contained some "objectionable" (read erotic) material, delayed the publication for some time. Godse Bhatji's text was written in the modi script (used commonly in the period for writing Marathi), Vaidya got it transcribed into the Devnagari script (also called balbodh, which translates as lisible to children). He got it published only in 1907, after editing the "objectionable" passages. The edition by Datto Vaman Potdar^[1] restores all the passages that were removed.

Vishnu Bhat Godse's great great great grand daughter, Sukhmani Roy Vijh is expected to publish her translation of 'Majha Pravaas' in English by the end of 2011. The Asiatic Society, Bombay is to be the publisher of this upcoming book.

References

1. ^ Godse Vishnubhat, Maza Pravas: 1857 cya Bandaci Hakikat, ed. Datto Vaman Potdar, (Pune: Venus Prakashan, 1974).