Koregaon Bhima is a

panchayat village Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

and

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

2011 Census Village code for Koregaon Bhima = 555672, in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

,2001 Census Village code for Koregaon Bhima = 03050100, on the left (north) bank of the

Bhima River The Bhima River (also known as Chandrabhaga River) is a major river in Western India and South India. It flows southeast for through Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana states, before entering the Krishna River. After the first sixty-five ki ...

. Administratively, Koregaon Bhima is under

Shirur Taluka Shirur taluka, is a taluka in Haveli subdivision of Pune district of state of Maharashtra in India. The town is situated on the bank of river Ghod and hence it was also known as Ghodnadi in 20th Century. The town is on the border of Pune & Ahme ...

Pune District Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, 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 I ...

in Maharashtra. There is only the single town of Koregaon Bhima in the Koregaon Bhima

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

. The town of Koregaon Bhima is 10 km along the

SH 60 The following highways are numbered 60: International * Asian Highway 60 * European route E60 Australia * Bruxner Highway * Dawson Highway (Rolleston to Gladstone) - Queensland State Route 60 Brazil * BR-060 Canada * Alberta Highway 60 * ...

motorway southwest of the village of Shikrapur, and 28 km by road northeast of the city of Pune. It is the site of the

Battle of Koregaon The Battle of Koregaon was fought on 1 January 1818 between the British East India Company and the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy, at Koregaon Bhima. A 28,000-strong force led by Peshwa Baji Rao II whilst on their way to attack the ...

fought on 1 January 1818.

History

The

took place on 1 January 1818 between the army of

Peshwa The Peshwa (Pronunciation: e(ː)ʃʋaː was the appointed (later becoming hereditary) prime minister of the Maratha Empire of the Indian subcontinent. Originally, the Peshwas served as subordinates to the Chhatrapati (the Maratha king); later, ...

Baji Rao II and a

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

force, mainly Mahars. The Peshwa, with some 28,000 troops encamped at Phulgaon nearby, dispatched about 2000 of his soldiers to attack the Company force of some 800. The Company troops successfully defended themselves against the attack, and the Peshwa withdrew at night fearing the arrival of a larger British force. After the British victory in the

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, the Company commissioned a victory

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

in Koregaon to commemorate its fallen soldiers. 22 of the 49 names of the slain soldiers on the pillar are that of

Mahar Mahar, meaning "original inhabitants of Maharashtra" (in various languages), is an Indian caste found largely in the state of Maharashtra and neighbouring areas. Most of the Mahar community followed B. R. Ambedkar in converting to Buddhism i ...

caste. Today, the Mahars, who were formerly considered as untouchable, regard it as a symbol of their victory over the high-caste Peshwa, and gather in large numbers at the site on the anniversary of the battle. This battle has attained legendary status in Dalit history. The Dalits who follow BR Ambedkar view this battle as a victory of Mahars over the injustice and torture meted out to them by the Brahminical Peshwas.

Demographics

In the 2001 census, the village of Koregaon Bhima had 8,999 inhabitants, with 5,178 males (57.5%) and 3,821 females (42.5%), for a gender ratio of 738 females per thousand males.

References

External links

* * {{Pune district topics , state=autocollapse Villages in Pune district