Freedom fighters unfurled tricolour on Devgiri fort in 1947 defying Nizam rule

In September 1947, three freedom fighters disguised as labourers unfurled the national flag on Devgiri fort in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, defying Nizam rule. The daring act inspired resistance, with arrests, land seizures, and memories that echo through Marathwada Liberation Day celebrations.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Three freedom fighters posing as labourers secretly took the national flag and unfurled it on September 2, 1947, at the historic Devgiri fort in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, which was then ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad. They then escaped from the fort even as it was surrounded by the Nizam army, historians say.

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and seven other districts of the Marathwada region in Maharashtra were part of the Nizam rule, which continued till September 17, 1948. The Nizam state was merged into India after police action called by the then government.

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September 17 is observed as the Marathwada Liberation Day. It marks the anniversary of Marathwada’s integration with India and the annexation of Hyderabad state, which was under the Nizam rule, into the Union of India.

Writer Prafulla Ghanekar has penned the story of the freedom struggle of the Hyderabad state in his book, named Yadavancha Devgiri.
He mentioned the names of Bhaurao Khaire and Lala Laxminanrayan Jaiswal, who unfurled the tricolour at the fort.

Former MP Chandrakant Khaire, son of freedom fighter Bhaurao Khaire, told PTI that there was another freedom fighter named Bansilal Patel in the movement.

According to Ghanekar, the mighty Devgiri fort was surrounded by the Nizam army on September 2, 1947. The three freedom fighters from Kolte Takli camp, which was somewhere on the Nizam state border but out of their jurisdiction, posed as construction labourers.

Despite being surrounded by soldiers, the three reached the top of the fort and unfurled the national flag, which had been taken there secretly.

They later also managed to escape from the fort, which was surrounded by a moat on all sides. They then reached the Sarafa area, located in today’s Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city. The Nizam police came to know about the involvement of Bhaurao Khaire in this action.

As an intense search was on for him, he again changed his appearance and crossed the Godavari river to enter Ahilyanagar. After his escape, the police reached his house in the Machli Khadar area here and caught his mother, Ghanekar wrote in the book.

The Nizam police imposed Section 144 (prohibitory orders banning assembly of people) in the city, and around 500 activists were arrested after the ‘tricolour’ incident, as per the book.

Chandrakant Khaire said, “My grandmother used to tell these stories. My father unfurled the Indian national flag on the Devgiri fort. He escaped, but the Nizam police came to my residence and took over all our lands located in Satara-Devlai and Maliwada areas of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.”

“They made my granny sign documents for this. Exactly 50 years after that (in 1998), I unfurled the tricolour on the same fort as the district guardian minister,” the former legislator from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar added.