Dadoji Kondadeo

Dadoji Kondadeo (also spelled as Dadoji Konddev) was an administrator of the Pune jagir and the nearby Kondana fort. He was appointed by Shahaji, a noble and general of the Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur.[1][2]

Dadoji Kondadeo
BornMalthan, Daund taluka
Died7th March, 1647
Pune, Ahmadnagar Sultanate (present-day Maharashtra, India)
OccupationAdministrator
Known forAdministration of Pune jagir

Biography

Early life

Kondadeo was born in a Brahmin family in the Daund area of present-day Maharashtra and spent time at Malthan, in the present-day Shirur taluka of Pune District.[3][4] He gradually rose high in Adilshahi service and became the chief civil administrator on behalf of Adilshah at Kondana fort before managing Shahaji's jagir.[5]

Dadoji and the Pune jagir

After Shahaji joined the service of Adilshahi in 1637, his family's Pune jagir (fief) was restored to him by the sultan. Since Shahaji was to be deployed in Bangalore by Adilshah, Shahaji appointed Kondadeo as administrator of the Pune jagir. As the administrator, Konddeo established complete control over the Maval region, winning over or subduing most of the local Maval Deshpandes (chiefs). He also rebuilt the settlement of Pune, including the construction of the Lal Mahal palace, and encouraged the return of prominent families who had left during its destruction by another Adilshahi general, Murar Jaggdeo, in 1631. [6] Shahaji also selected Pune for the residence of his wife, Jijabai and young son, Shivaji, the future founder of the Maratha empire. According to some sources, it was here that young Shivaji's development was entrusted to Konddeo at the request of his mother, Jijabai.[7][8]

Modern Controversies
  • 19th century Social reformer, Jyotirao Phule in his powada (a traditional Marathi ballad) on Shivaji , acknowledges Konddeo's role as Shivaji's teacher but gives much greater credit to Jijabai in encouraging Shivaji to take up arms and fight for the freedom of his people. He also minimizes Konddeo's role as a mentor by saying that "there is no need to teach a fish how to swim".[9]
  • In 2008, Government of Maharashtra renamed the Dadoji Konddeo award as the Best Sports Coach award after Maratha groups protested against highlighting the Brahmin tutor's influence.[10]
  • In 2010, Nationalist Congress Party-controlled Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) decision to remove the statue of Konddeo at Lal Mahal palace was claimed to be consistent with the party's policy to encourage demands of hardline Maratha groups. It is claimed that such a stance had helped the NCP maintain its dominance among the Maratha youth in Pune and rural Maharashtra.[11] The status was removed because of the protests of the Sambhaji Brigade, a Maratha group claiming that the statue of Konddeo as the teacher of Shivaji was introduced by Brahmin historians.[12]

Legacy
  • Dadaji Kondadev Stadium, a stadium in Thane region of Mumbai in Maharashtra is named after Dadoji Konddev.[13]
  • Dadoji Konddeo award, an award given to prominent personalities who teaches, guides young generation in various fields (but renamed it as the "Best Sports Coach award" after Maratha groups protests in 2008. Historian committee formed by Mahara Government reports that he is not Shivaji Maharaj's mentor or teacher.).
  • Dadoji Konddeo Marg, a road way in Mumbai Maharashtra was named after Dadoji Konddev.

See also

References
  1. Gordon, Stewart (1993). The Marathas 1600-1818 (1. publ. ed.). New York: Cambridge University. pp. 51–56. ISBN 978-0521-26883-7.
  2. "A book under attack in India". 13 March 2014.
  3. "Daund - Info". Pune Diary. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
  4. Khairnar, Abhay (2010-12-27). "Konddeo controversy back as caste takes political centre-stage". DNA India. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  5. Shivaram Laxman Karandikar (1969). The Rise and Fall of the Maratha Power, Volume 1. Sitabai Shivram Karandikar Publication. p. 43.
  6. Kantak, M. R. (1991–92). "Urbanization of Pune: How Its Ground Was Prepared". Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute. 51/52: 489–495. JSTOR 42930432.
  7. Organiser, Volume 50. Bharat Prakashan. 1999. p. 67. She entrusted the young Shivaji to the care of Dadoji Konddev who was to look after his all round development of him along with the martial training imparted by Dadoji, the two of them also unfolded before him
  8. Gokhale, Balkrishna Govind. "The Religious Complex in Eighteenth-Century Poona." Journal of the American Oriental Society 105, no. 4 (1985): 719-24. Accessed July 30, 2021. doi:10.2307/602730.|page=719|quote=Shivaji spent his childhood in pune with his mother jijabai and mentor Dadoji Kondeo where the family was housed in an unpretentious house.
  9. Malavika Vartak. "Shivaji Maharaj: Growth of a Symbol." Economic and Political Weekly 34, no. 19 (1999): 1126-134. Accessed July 30, 2021. .
  10. India Today International, Volume 2, Issues 14-26. Living Media International Limited. 2009. p. 21.
  11. "Why NCP needs Sambhaji Brigade". Hindustan Times'. 28 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  12. "Sambhaji Brigade attacks Pune Mayor's office". ibnlive.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-18.
  13. "Dadoji Konddev Stadium" (PDF). Thane City Government.
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