Vasudeo Balwant Phadke was an Indian revolutionary who fought against the British. He was one of the first revolutionary leaders of the country.
EARLY LIFE
He was born on 4 November 1845 in Shirdhon village, India. As a child, he was interested in wrestling and riding. After that, he moved to Pune, and work as a clerk in the Military Finance Office for 15 years. In 1862, He was one of the earliest graduates from Bombay University. In 1860, he co-founded the Poona Native Institution and Laxman Narhar Indapurkar and Waman Prabhakar Bhave, an Indian revolutionary. Later It was renamed as Maharashtra Education Society.
During the British Raj, He moved by the plight of the farmer community. He believed that Swaraj was the only remedy for their ills.
In 1875, he formed a revolutionary group, called Ramoshi with the help of Kolis, Bhils, and Dhangars communities in Maharashtra to overthrow the British. This was probably the first revolutionary group in India. To collect funds for their armed struggle and provide for famine-stricken farmers, Phadke and his men launched raids on rich English businessmen.
He became famous when he took complete control of the city of Pune for a few days, by catching the British soldiers off guard during one of his surprise attacks.
Later in 1879, He was captured and sent to a jail in Aden, Yemen, because the British feared the Indian public’s reaction to his arrest.
In February 1883, He escaped from jail but was arrested again. And he went on a hunger strike and died on 17 February 1883.