Dadoji Kondadeo (also spelled as Dadoji Konddev) was an administrator of the

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

jagir and the nearby

Kondana Sinhagad is an ancient hill fortress located at around 49 km southwest of the city of Pune, India. Previously known as ''Kondhana'', the fort had been the site of many battles, most notably the Battle of Sinhagad in 1670. The Sinhagad ...

fort. He was appointed by

Shahaji Shahaji Bhonsale (Pronunciation: �əɦad͡ʒiː c. 1594 – 1664) was a military leader of India in the 17th century, who served the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, the Bijapur Sultanate, and the Mughal Empire at various points in his career. As a membe ...

, a noble and general of the

Adilshahi The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

sultanate of Bijapur.

Biography

Early life

Kondadeo was born in a

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (gur ...

family in the Daund area of present-day Maharashtra and spent time at Malthan, in the present-day Shirur

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Pune District Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: uɳeː is the most populous district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district's population was 9,429,408 in the 2011 census, making it the fourth most populous district amongst India's 640 district ...

. 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.

Dadoji and the Pune jagir

After Shahaji joined the service of Adilshahi in 1637, his family's Pune jagir (

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

) was restored to him by the sultan. Since Shahaji was to be deployed in

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

by Adilshah, Shahaji appointed Kondadeo as administrator of the Pune jagir. As the administrator, Konddeo established complete control over the

Maval Maval is a tehsil in a subdivision of the same name, in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. Description The word Maval is derived from a Marathi word ''Maval'', meaning the direction in which the sun sets. This region is towards the west ...

region, winning over or subduing most of the local Maval ''

Deshpande Deshpande is a surname native to the Indian states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The surname can be also found in some parts of Andhra Pradesh. Deshpande surname is found among the Deshastha Brahmins, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) and the Chan ...

s'' (chiefs). He also rebuilt the settlement of Pune, including the construction of the

Lal Mahal The Lal Mahal (Red Palace) of Pune is one of the most famous monuments located in Pune, India, where Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, founder of the Maratha Empire spent his childhood. History In the year 1630 AD, Shivaji Maharaj's Father Shahaji ...

palace, and encouraged the return of prominent families who had left during its destruction by another Adilshahi general, Murar Jaggdeo, in 1631. Shahaji also selected Pune for the residence of his wife, Jijabai and young son,

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...

, the future founder of the

Maratha empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Sh ...

. According to some sources, it was here that young Shivaji's development was entrusted to Konddeo at the request of his mother, Jijabai.

Modern Controversies

*19th century Social reformer,

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including erad ...

in his powada (a traditional

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

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". *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. *In 2010,

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party ...

-controlled

Pune Municipal Corporation The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC, IAST: Puṇe Mahānagarpālikā) is the civic body that governs the inner limits of Pune, India. It is in charge of the civic needs and infrastructure of the metropolis, which is spread over an area of 48 ...

'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. The status was removed because of the protests of the

Sambhaji Brigade Sambhaji Brigade is a Maratha outfit, based in Maharashtra, India. It is a branch of the Maratha Seva Sangh. The Brigade is named after the Maratha king Sambhaji son of the first Maratha king Shivaji. Known for its controversial and often vio ...

, a Maratha group claiming that the statue of Konddeo as the teacher of Shivaji was introduced by Brahmin historians.

Legacy

Dadaji Kondadev Stadium The Dadoji Konddev Stadium, sometimes called SR Bhosle Krida Sankul Stadium by some sources, is a sports stadium in Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is si ...

, a stadium in Thane region of Mumbai in Maharashtra is named after Dadoji Konddev. *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). *Dadoji Konddeo Marg, a road way in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Maharashtra was named after Dadoji Konddev.

References

External links

A Note on the 'Twelve Mavals' of Poona District
- Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3 (1978), pp. 393–417 {{DEFAULTSORT:Konddeo, Dadoji Marathi people People from Pune district