Abstract
The Bedar, a nomadic tribe of hunter-gatherers, found on a large scale in the Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Solapur districts of Maharashtra, had established many empires, and served the Marathas as a fighting force. In the early nineteenth century, the commercial British National Forest Policy and the conflicts it created over forest use forced the Berad, drawing on their traditions of force of arms, into criminal livelihoods. Consequently, along with other tribal groups that lived on thefts, dacoities, plunder or similar activities, the Bedar were declared a ‘criminal tribe’ under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. A confrontation simmered also between, on the one hand, the Berad leader, Umaji Nayak, and on the other, the Peshavas and their successors, the British, on account of the withdrawal of lands allotted at an earlier point in history to the Berad for military service under the Marathas. This proved to be the spark that ignited rebellion. As a ruling king of the Berad, Umaji Naik declared war on the British and issued a proclamation, demanding of ‘all the inhabitants of Hindustan’ that they revolt against the Raj. Umaji was martyred when he was hanged by the British on 3rd February, 1832.
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