Koli freedom fighters

on
Here are list of some notable Koli freedom fighters from Gujarat, Maharashtra and whole India and Pakistan. 
  1. Ratnaji Thakor Koli & Rangaji Thakor Koli: were two Koli brothers from Tajpur village near Ahmedabad. They were soldiers in the British battalion stationed at the Shahibag cantonment in Ahmedabad. When the 1857 Revolution broke out, the Koli Shri Ratnaji Thakor and the Koli Shri Rangaji Thakor rebelled against the British rule and led the Koli rebellion, but the British declared them rebels. Many Kolis joined the rebellion under the leadership of Ratnaji Thakor and Rangaji Thakor.
  2. Augustine Koli: was an Indian freedom fighter and social activist. He was born in a Koli family with Christian faith on January 11, 1921, in Uttan, Maharashtra, he joined the independence movement in 1940, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, and took part in the Salt Satyagraha and Quit India Movement in 1942.
  3. Joseph Baptista: The Joseph Kaka Baptista (1864–1930) was an Indian politician, lawyer, and Koli freedom fighter from Bombay (now Mumbai). He led the Home Rule Movement as its first president, allied with Bal Gangadhar Tilak, defended Veer Savarkar in court, and famously coined the slogan "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it." As Bombay's first mayor, he championed self-rule and East Indian community rights during the independence struggle.
  4. Kondiba Koli: was a Koli freedom fighter from Indian state of Maharashtra, martyred during the Quit India Movement. As a son of the soil from Pune district, he embodied the grassroots resistance of working-class Kolis against British colonial oppression, participating in mass protests that demanded immediate independence. His death in police firing highlighted the brutal suppression of the 1942 uprising in rural and semi-urban areas of the Bombay Presidency.
  5. Ranchod Vira: was a Koli peasant leader from the marginalized Koli community in colonial Gujarat state of India, he proclaimed himself "king" in 1898 amid famine, plague, and agrarian distress. As a village priest and healer, he mobilized around 500 - 600 armed Koli peasants to challenge British authority and local elite exploitation, framing his revolt in terms of moral and ethical governance. His short-lived uprising in Chaklasi village, Kheda district, is a key example of subaltern resistance predating organized nationalism, highlighting how peasants reimagined sovereignty through religious and communal lenses.
  6. Sant Govindas Ramdas Koli: was a Koli saint from the Kheda district of Gujarat in the 19th century. Govindas Ramdas Koli was a devotee of Hindu Lord Krishna and Rama, and as such, he was named Govindas Ramdas Koli, which means "Servant of Krishna and Rama." During the British rule in India, In 1820, when the British East India Company established British rule in Kheda, Gujarat, the Koli Patels of Kheda revolted against the British East India Company. Sant Govindas Ramdas Koli had followers in hundreds.
  7. Manya Koli: was a Koli Nayak (Koli Naik) of the 1857 War of Independence. He was born in Harsol town, Peth Jagir, in the Nashik district of Maharashtra. In December 1857, under the leadership of Bhagwantrao Nilkanthrao Koli Dalvi, the Koli king of Peth Jagir (Nashik), Manya Koli took up arms against the British East India Company.
  8. Jivabhai Maliwad: was Koli Thakor (Koli Talukdar, Koli Jagirdar) of Khanpur Jagir in Lunavada State. Jivabhai Maliwad belonged to the Maliwad Koli clan (Gotra, Kutumb) of Kolis of Gujarat. Jivabhai Maliwad Koli Thakor was the first Jagirdar to take up arms against the British in the Lunavada region and is therefore considered the first freedom fighter of Lunavada.
  9. Bhagwantrao Nilkanthrao Koli Dalvi: The Bhagwantrao Nilkanthrao Koli (also spelled Bhagwant Rao or Bhagvantrao Koli) was a Koli chieftain and ruler of the Peth Jagir (alternatively spelled Peint Jagir or Penth Jagir), a feudal estate or sansthan comprising about 24 villages in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, India, during the mid-19th century. Bhagwantrao Nilkanthrao Koli was born around 1822, he was the son of Nilkanthrao Koli Raje and held authority over local Koli communities, who were traditionally involved in agriculture, raiding, and resistance against external impositions like taxes and disarmament policies. The Kolis in the region were known for their turbulent history of uprisings against various rulers, including the Mughals, Marathas, and British, often driven by grievances over land rights, disarmament acts, and economic exploitation.
  10. Rooplo Kolhi (Rupaji Gohil): Koli Jagirdar and freedom fighter Rooplo Kolhi (Rupaji Gohil) who defeated the British army three times.
  11. Govindrao Khare: was the Koli Subedar of Ratangarh Fort in the Maratha Empire. He was born into a Koli Patil family of the Khare Koli clan (Gotra, Kutumb, Kul) in Maharashtra. When the British defeated the Maratha Empire in 1818, Govindrao Khare led the Kolis in Maharashtra to take up arms against British rule and declared the end of British rule. Govindrao Khare was the chief (Koli Nayak) of the Kolis of the Khare clan and belonged to the Mahadev Koli family. He led the Koli Rebellion from 1819 to 1830. His family was the Koli Patil of four villages.
  12. Nana Farari: Just days after India gained independence in 1947, a revolutionary named Nana Farari (Nanasaheb Koli) cut off the noses and ears of moneylenders, traders from the Baniya, Teli, and Parsi castes.
  13. Puran Singh Koli: was a gunner in the army of Jhansi state and was the husband of Jhalkari Bai Koli, the leader of the 1857 revolution.
  14. Mansa Koli Khant: 1731 - 1732, when the Kolis defeated the Viceroy of Gujarat Sultanate and Nawab Muhammad Sher Khan Bahadur of Junagadh State and captured the Uparkot Fort and defeated the army of Junagadh State thrice.
  15. Khemirao Sarnaik: was a Koli Deshmukh of the Maval region in 1640s and had taken up arms against Mughal governor, Aurangzeb and abolished Jizya. he belongs to the Thorat clan of Mahadev Kolis of Maharashtra. When shivaji began his revolts in following decades, the kolis were amongst the first to join shivaji under Khemirao Sarnaik.
  16. Nathaji Patel: was Koli ruler of Chandap, During the Indian rebellion of 1857, Nathaji Patel rose up against British rule and challenged the British authority in Baroda territory.
  17. Hari Makaji Naik: was an Indian freedom activist from Koli caste of Maharashtra who challenged the British rule in India. He was Koli by caste but led the Ramoshis of Satara, attacking British offices, revenue centers and officials in the Pune, Satara and Solapur districts of Bombay Presidency.
  18. Chimnaji Jadhav: The Chimnaji Jadhav, or Chimaji Jadhav was a Koli freedom activist in Maratha Empire.
  19. Rama Kirve: was Koli freedom fighter from Maharashtra who challenged the British Indian Empire's government in Konkan.
  20. Valoji Bhangare: was Koli Patil of Devgaon and Koli rebel leader against Peshwa in Maratha Empire. In 1798 Valoji Bhangare went into revolt, leading over a thousand men in raids on villages to the east and also below the ghat in the Konkan.
  21. Baburao Dhondirao Kokate: was Koli revolutionary from Maharashtra. He took active part in Quit India Movement in 1942.
  22. Balaji Pichad: was an Koli Indian independence activist from Maharashtra who challenged the British government in Konkan region and breakdown the government for several years. Balaji Pichad assembled a revolutionary army of Rebels and exploited the government in Konkan.
  23. Raghoji Bhangare: was an Indian revolutionary who challenged and defied British rule in the Bombay Presidency. He was the son of Ramji Bhangare, a Koli who also resisted the British rule and was subsequently hanged in Cellular Jail. He was only ten years old when he took up arms against British rule in Maharashtra.
  24. Bapuji Bhangare: was Koli Patil of Deogaon, indian freedom fighter who challenged the British government in Maharashtra state of India. Bapuji Bhangare breakdown the British government strongly in Pune, Ahmadnagar and Nashik districts of Maharashtra.
  25. Bachur Khokani: was a Koli chieftain and freedom fighter from Gujarat state of India. He led the Indian independence movement in Kheda district of the state.
  26. Dhavala Bhangre: was an Koli freedom activist who led a militant movement against British government, bonded labour and money lenders in Maharashtra during British Raj in India.

See more Koli articles

Comments

Post a Comment