Struggle · 19 to 20 Mar 1927
Mahad Satyagraha at the Chawdar Tank
Mahad, Bombay Presidency (now Maharashtra)
Sources differ on some details.
Ambedkar drank from the tank, and the marchers followed.
On 19 and 20 March 1927, the Depressed Classes of Kolaba district met at Mahad, with Dr B. R. Ambedkar presiding. The municipality had opened the Chawdar Tank to the Untouchables, but they still could not use it. On the second day the delegates marched to the tank and drank. Caste Hindus attacked them, and about twenty were badly hurt.
Five attackers went to prison for four months. The fight for the tank went on that December.
See it on the map and the timeline
What the sources record
- The Kolaba District Depressed Classes held a conference at Mahad on 19 and 20 March 1927. (1)
- The Bombay Chronicle report reprinted in Vol. 17 gives the same dates and names Ambedkar as president. (1)
- The Mahad Municipality had opened the tank under the Bole resolution (Vol. 17, quoting Keer). (1)
- The Mooknayak dates the municipality's resolution to 5 January 1924. (2)
- The organisers were Surendranath Tipnis, Subhedar Savadkar and Anantrao Chitre. (1)
- About ten thousand delegates attended (Vol. 17). (1)
- The Mooknayak gives a different date for the conference and about 2,500 people. (2)
- The Mooknayak dates the satyagraha to 20 March 1927. (2)
- Ambedkar drank from the tank and the marchers followed. (1)
- About twenty of the Untouchables were seriously wounded in the attack that followed. (1)
- Five of the attackers were sentenced on 6 June 1927. (1)
People in this record
- Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, president of the conference
- Surendranath Tipnis, organiser
- Subhedar Savadkar, organiser
- Anantrao Chitre, organiser
Sources
- Primary. Dr. Ambedkar Foundation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (reprint); first edition Education Department, Government of Maharashtra. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 17, Part I: Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and His Egalitarian Revolution, Struggle for Human Rights. first edition 4 October 2003; reprint January 2014.
- Press. The Mooknayak (Pratikshit Singh). Mahad Satyagraha: The Movement Which Clamoured for Basic Human Rights. 20 Mar 2023.
On the map at the centre of Maharashtra.