Kesari and Mahratta

During the late nineteenth century, the Indian national movement shifted from moderate petitioning to assertive political action, a transition heavily influenced by the vernacular and nationalistic press. In the Bombay Presidency, the aftermath of repeated famines and the devastating outbreak of the Bubonic Plague highlighted the administrative failures and racial arrogance of the colonial government. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, along with his progressive associates, recognized the need for a dual-media press strategy to politically educate the masses and articulate Indian grievances directly to British policymakers.

Founding, Evolution, and Publication Profiles

The twin newspapers, Kesari (meaning “The Lion” in Sanskrit/Marathi) and Mahratta (also spelled Maratha), were founded in Poona (now Pune) by a group of idealistic nationalists including Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar, and Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi. The publications commenced in January 1881, initially operating under the auspices of the Deccan Vernacular Translation Society before being completely managed by Tilak.

Key Publication Profiles

Editorial Character and Core Thematic Content

The editorial design of the twin papers strategically targeted different layers of society. Kesari utilized a fiery, direct, and colloquial Marathi style to bridge the gap between political theory and the working-class masses. Conversely, Mahratta adopted a sophisticated, legally precise, and analytical English prose style to challenge the arguments of the Anglo-Indian press and the bureaucracy.

Primary Editorial Pillars

• The Anti-Famine Campaigns: During the devastating famines of 1896–1897 in Maharashtra, Kesari published a series of articles instructing peasants about their legal rights under the Famine Insurance Code. It openly advised cultivators to withhold land revenue payments if their crops failed, introducing the concept of non-cooperation long before it was institutionalized nationwide.
• Critique of Plague Administration: When the Bubonic Plague hit Poona in 1897, the colonial administration appointed Special Plague Committees under the direction of Indian Civil Service officer W.C. Rand. Kesari fiercely criticized the oppressive methods employed by British troops during house searches, comparing the administration to a tyrannical army.
• Propagation of New Nationalist Tools: Tilak used the columns of Kesari to transform traditional religious and historical icons into public political festivals. The journal successfully popularized the Shivaji Festival (started in 1894) and the Ganpati Festival (started disposed in 1893) as platforms to bypass British bans on political gatherings.
• Defense of Radical Nationalists: The publications consistently defended young revolutionaries, including the Chapekar brothers (who assassinated W.C. Rand) and the activities of the Abhinav Bharat Society, arguing that their radical actions were the direct result of British misrule.

Historical Significance for UPSC Prelims

The Sedition Trials of Bal Gangadhar Tilak

The bold writing in Kesari led to landmark legal battles that defined the evolutionary history of freedom of the press and the law of sedition in India.

The First Sedition Trial (1897)

Following the assassination of W.C. Rand, Tilak was arrested under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code for publishing an article in Kesari titled “Shivaji’s Utterances.” The prosecution argued that these verses incited the Chapekar brothers to commit murder. Tilak was convicted and sentenced to 18 months of rigorous imprisonment, an event that earned him the nationwide title of Lokmanya (Revered by the People).

The Second Sedition Trial (1908)

In May 1908, following the Muzaffarpur bomb incident carried out by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki, Tilak published an editorial in Kesari titled “The Country’s Misfortune.” He argued that the bombs were an inevitable response to the partition of Bengal and the denial of Swaraj. Arrested again under Section 124A, Tilak defended himself in an historic six-day trial before the Bombay High Court. He was sentenced to six years of deportation to the infamous Mandalay Jail in Burma.

Splitting the Indian National Congress

The radical stance maintained by Kesari against British policy helped crystallize the Extremist (Garam Dal) faction within the Indian National Congress. The paper frequently criticized the Moderate (Naram Dal) strategy of “Prayer, Petition, and Protest,” setting the stage for the historic Surat Split of 1907.

Internal Ideological Evolution and the Agarkar Schism

The early years of Kesari were marked by intense intellectual debates between its two key architects: Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.

Social Reform vs. Political Liberation

Agarkar was deeply influenced by Western rationalism and utilitarians like John Stuart Mill, arguing that internal social reforms—such as the abolition of child marriage, promotion of widow remarriage, and eradication of untouchability—must take priority over political agitation. Tilak, however, contended that social reform campaigns would divide the native community and alienate the orthodox majority, insisting that the complete capture of political power (Swaraj) must precede any state-mandated social engineering.

The Resignation and Birth of Sudharak

The ideological divide reached a boiling point over the Age of Consent Bill in 1891, which sought to raise the marriageable age for girls from ten to twelve years. Agarkar supported the bill in the columns of Kesari, while Tilak vehemently opposed it as an unwanted intervention by a foreign government into Hindu traditions. This friction led to Agarkar resigning from the editorship of Kesari in 1887. In 1888, Agarkar launched his own Anglo-Marathi weekly newspaper, Sudharak (The Reformer), to continue his crusade for social justice independently.

Legacy and Historical Trivia

Strategic Survival and Institutional Longevity

Despite multiple suppressions, heavy financial penalties, and the long incarcerations of its chief editor, Kesari managed to survive the colonial era. It converted into a bi-weekly, then a tri-weekly, and eventually transitioned into a daily newspaper that continues publication into the modern era from its historic headquarters at Kesari Wada in Pune.

Historical Trivia for Prelims

• The Kolhapur Defamation Case (1882): Before the famous sedition trials, Tilak and Agarkar were jointly sentenced to four months in Dongri Jail for publishing articles in Kesari and Mahratta that accused Madhav Rao, the Diwan of the princely state of Kolhapur, of mistreating the young Chhatrapati Shivaji IV.
• The Gita Rahasya Connection: It was during his six-year imprisonment in Mandalay Jail—a direct consequence of his 1908 Kesari editorials—that Tilak penned his monumental philosophical work, Gita Rahasya (The Secret of the Bhagavad Gita), emphasizing the path of selfless action (Karma Yoga).
• The Printing Innovation: To meet the massive surge in public demand during the Swadeshi movement, the Kesari press became one of the earliest native establishments in Western India to import advanced steam-driven rotary printing machinery.

Contemporary Presidencies and Confrontational Journals

The operational success of the twin papers inspired a web of radical, anti-imperialist publications across other presidencies, shaping the print media ecosystem of the Extremist phase of Indian nationalism.

Prominent Extremist-Era Nationalist Newspapers