Dattatray Vaman Potdar (5 August 1890 – 6 October 1979), better known as Datto Vaman Potdar, was an Indian historian, writer, and orator. He was the

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

during 1961 - 1964. The British colonial Government of India had honored Potdar with the title ''

Mahamahopadhyaya Mahamahopadhyaya (Sanskrit: महामहोपाध्याय) is an honorific title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India. Prior to 1947, the title was bestowed by the British Raj, and before them, by the kings of ancient ...

'' in 1946. He was honored by government of india with '' Padmabhushan'' in 1967. Because of his vast knowledge, he was sometimes called as '' Dr. Johnson of Maharashtra'' or ''a living encyclopedia''. Potdar was a disciple of the historian

Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade (12 July 1863 – 31 December 1926), popularly known as ''Itihasacharya'' Rajwade, was a historian, scholar, writer, commentator and orator from Maharashtra, India. He is considered to be the first in real sense to unde ...

, and served as a trustee of Pune based Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal (इतिहास संशोधक मंडळ) founded by Rajwade. His disciples included

Pandurang Sadashiv Sane Pandurang Sadashiv Sane ( mar, पांडुरंग सदाशिव साने; ; 24 December 1899 – 11 June 1950), also known as ''Sane Guruji'' (Guruji meaning "respected teacher") by his students and followers, was a Marathi auth ...

, Swami Swaroopanand,

Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey Vasudeo Sitaram Bendrey (13 February 1894 to 16 July 1986) was born in Raigad. His early education took place in Pen and he completed his matriculation at Wilson high school in Mumbai. In those days you were required to be 16 years old to t ...

, Sethu Madhav Rao Pagadi, and Ramchandra Chintaman Dhere.

Early life

Potdar was born into Deshastha Brahmin family in the village of ''Birwadi'' in

Raigad District Raigad district (Marathi pronunciation: �aːjɡəɖ, previously Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The district was renamed to Raigad after the fort that was the first capital of the former Marath ...

of Maharashtra. Potdar completed his matriculation in 1906 from

Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya (NMV) is one of the oldest schools in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The school was founded by the Shikshan Prasarak Mandali, an educational charity on 1 January 1883. The school has a secondary school section for students in ...

in Pune, and four years later received a bachelor's degree in History and Marathi from the then

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

affiliated

Ferguson college Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fi ...

in Pune.

Career

Potdar became a teacher in 1912 at Shikshan Prasarak Mandali's Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya, his former school. He left the school in 1920 as the Head Master of the school. Shikshan Prasarak Mandali appointed him as a professor in 1921 at ''New Poona College'' (later renamed S. P. College) in Pune. He remained in that position until 1935. Potdar had mastered

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

to the extent that he could fluently converse in it. He also was proficient in

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and this proved to be valuable while conducting Historical Research.

Scholarly career

In 1910, Sardar Mehendale, V. K. Rajwade, and Potdar founded ''Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal''. Potdar maintained passionate interest through his life in the growth of the ''Mandal''. He traveled all over India, collecting historical documents pertaining especially to

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 ...

and Marathi literature. He ran periodicals, delivered speeches, and organized lecture series, inspiring others to research historical papers. He only once went abroad and that was to what in those times was USSR. In 1965, the Government of Maharashtra appointed Potdar to write the biography of

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 ...

, but before he could finish the assignment, he died on 6 October 1979 in Pune.

Personal

Potdar remained a lifelong bachelor.

Works

*Vasantik Upadesh in IX parts (

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 * * ...

) – 1917 to 1929 *Apale Pune (Marathi) – 1921 *Marathi Gadyacha Ingraji Avtar (Marathi) – 1922 *Thorle Madhavrao (Marathi) – 1928 *Bodhprad Pustika for students in XII parts (Marathi) – 1935 *Marathi Itihas va Itihas Sanshodhan (Marathi) – 1935 *Maharashtra Sahitya Parishadecha Itihas (Marathi) – 1943 *Jaypur Darshan (Marathi) – 1948 *Suman Saptak (Marathi) – 1950 *Maharashtra Deshachya Itihasache Sankshipt Varnan (Marathi) – 1951 *Samaj Shikshan Mala (Marathi) – 1952 *Shrote Ho ! (Marathi) – 1959 *Bharatachi Bhashan Samasya (Marathi) – 1960 *Me Europat kay pahile ? (Marathi) – 1960 *Olakh (Marathi) – 1961 *Inside Maharashtra (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) – 1964 *Lokmanya Tilakanche Sangati (Marathi) – 1975 Besides the above, Potdar has to his credit over 600 historical articles (Marathi and English).

Editorial works

*Devdas krut Sant Malika – 1913 *Marathe Va Ingraj – 1922 *Dr. Johnson Yanche Charitra – 1924 *Sahitya Sopan – 1931 *N.M.V.Smarak Grantha – 1933 *Shivdin Kesari Krut Dnyan Pradeep – 1934 *Vaktrutva : Krushnashastri Chiplunkar – 1936 * Maza Pravas – Vishnubhat Godse – 1966 *English East India Company cha Peshwe Darbarshi farsi patravyavahar *Vad yanchya Athwani : Parvatibai Paranjpe – 1971

Affiliations

Potdar was closely associated with 68 organizations. including the following: *

Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal Bharat Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, popularly known as Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal or just ‘Mandal’, is an Indian institute providing resources and training for historical researchers. It is located at Pune in Maharashtra state. The institute wa ...

, Pune *Nutan Marathi Vidyalaya *

*University of Bombay *

Deccan Gymkhana Deccan Gymkhana is an area in Pune city named for the Deccan Gymkhana Sports Club, which lies in the centre of the city. See also * Shivajinagar *Gymkhana *Swargate *Pune Railway Station *Pune *Pune District *Maharashtra Maharashtra (; ...

*Pune Marathi Granthalaya *Shikshan Prasarak Mandali *Pune Corporation * Bhandarkar Institute * Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad * Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapith *Shri Chhatrapati

Sambhaji Sambhaji Bhosale (14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689) was the second Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire, ruling from 1681 to 1689. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. Sambhaji's rule was largely shaped by the ongoing ...

Smarak Mandal *Narvir Tanaji Smarak Mandal * Samyukta Maharashtra Parishad *Peshwe Daftar Committee *Vaktrutvottejak Sabha *Ved Shastrottejak Sabha * S.N.D.T.College * Maharashtriya Kalopasak, Pune

Honors

*1939 – President of

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan (All India Marathi Literary Conference) is an annual conference for literary discussions by Marathi writers. Marathi is the official language of Maharashtra State. The first Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was h ...

held at Ahmednagar *1945 – President of Maharashtra Rashtra Bhasha Parishad *1945 – Vice Chancellor of Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapith *1946 – ‘Mahamahopadhyaya’ title by Government of India *1956 – Deputy of Bombay Government at Florence, Italy. *1960-1962 – First President of Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal *1961 to 1964 – Vice Chancellor of the University of Pune *1962 – Honored as ‘Sanskrut Prachyavidya Pandit’ by Government of India *1963 – Leader of the committee of Indian Vice Chancellors for visit to Russia *1965 – Honored as ‘Vidya Vachaspati’ in the All India Hindi Meet at Prayag *1967 – Received ‘

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

’ from the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

*1967 – ‘Doctor of Literature’ from Kashi Vidyapith

References

*‘Datto Vaman’ (Marathi) by Shubhalaxmi Potdar *‘Potdar Vividh Darshan’ (Marathi) by D.P.Ranade *Autobiography by Acharya P.K.Atre *‘Ashi Manase Yeti’ (Marathi) by Setu Madhavrao Pagadi *‘History of Sarpotdars’ b
Harshad Sarpotdar

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potdar, Datto Vaman 1890 births 1979 deaths Marathi-language writers Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Indian male writers Scientists from Pune Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education People from Raigad district 20th-century Indian historians Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan