english translation of an article regarding the haribhakti family from a

ENGLISHTRANSLATION
OF AN ARTICLEREGARDING
THEHARIBHAKTI
FAMILY
FROMA GUJARATIMAGMINE
CITIZEN)HARIBHAKTI
SHETH(BANKERAND REPUTED
Sheth Haribhaktihad a bankingfirm in Poona(now called Pune) in the times of
Peshwas.Thefollowinghistoricalnotingshavebeenfoundfromcertainofficialrecords:a) Peshwasrecordmadein the vear1782(PaqeNo.44)
"Rs.5,000/receivedfrom Haribhakti
on behalfof JivajiPanthon accountof land
revenue".
b) MarathaEmpire,Northern
Division
record: ParaNo.3- PaqeNo.388
"ln the year 1813and 1814,therewerea lot of activities
againstthe Englishand
someof themwerealsocarriedout in Baroda(nowcalledVadodara).
In Baroda,all
regarding
information
suchactivities
was reachingthe EnglishResident
throughone
Mr. "Shastri",
whowas a friendof the English.The membersof BarodaRoyalfamily,
therefore,
wantedto get ridof him.The Gaekwad
was in touchwithBajiraoin Poona
and with the help of KharsajdjiModi and TrimbakjiDangle;planswere made in
Barodaagainstthe English.Mahipatrao
and HafigAhmedwerecampingin Bombay
(nowMumbai)to coordinate
the activities
againstthe English.
At alltheseplaces,the
"Haribhakti",
had their officesand the variouspapers concerningthe
bankers
activitieswereroutedthroughtheiroffices".
The aboverecordfromthe archievesof Peshwasand MarathaEmpireshowthat Sheth
Haribhakti's
officewas not onlydoingbankingbusiness,
but,was alsoconsultedby the
MarathaRulersandtheywereinvolved
in the political
activities
of the Marathas.
c) Peshwasrecordln thevear1791at PaqeNo. 137:
"TheHundiof Rs.5,000/sentto Haribhakti
for paymenton "AshwinSood15".
d) The followingextractfrom"lndianHistoryResearch
Association
at Pune'sJournalJan-April1942issueshowsthat Haribhaktis
werefamousbankersat Poonaandthe
Peshwashad exemptedthemfrom "Housetax" and they had a closeassociation
with Houseof Peshwas.
In the aboveextract,it is mentionedthat in the year 1863 and 1864, under a
peoplelivingin "Raviwarpeth",
Notification,
certainimportant
Poona,wereexempted
personsto
fromHousetax becauseof theirhighstatus.In the listof twelveimportant
be exempted,
the nameof "Haribhakti"
wasat Number"Fou/'.
Record:1800-01
e) Peshwa's
Thereis a notingthat"Haribhakti"
wasoneof thefamousbankersat Poona.
t
V
- 2Peshwa's
DiarvNo.5- forthevear1795and1796Paoes60/61
abouta gift of 96/- Guineasreceivedfrom "Haribhakti
There is a memorandum
Banker"by the PeshwaFamily.
and about150
the namesof manySardarsof Peshwas
In the abovememorandum,
citizenswerealsoshownas thosewhogavethe gifts.
in IndianHistory.He
was one of the mostfamousPrimeMinisters
2 . NanaFada{riVis
one
that referring.him,
was the PrimeMinisterof Peshwas.He was so intelligent
is
the
long
as
Nana
FadadfiVis
had
written
that
as
EnglishOfficercalledMr. Brown,
ministerin the PeshwasCourtin Poona,the .pnglishwouldnot be able to Rule
thatas lgngas 'Nana'is around,
Poona.Mr. BrownalsosaidaboutNanaFadapdf,is
of NanaFadaprtVis
wereArabs.He had
nobodycan touchPoona.The bodyguards
Becauseof Peshwas'badtimesfor someperiod,their
about600Arabbodyguards.
deathon 19thMarch
unpaidatthetimeof NanaFadaaffiis's.
salarieshadremained
were
made
to
take
his
dead
body
for the final rites;
1800at midnight.Preparations
refusedto allowthe bodyto be takento the crematorium,
but the Arab bodyguards
of "Nana",many
untiltheirunpaidsalarieswas paid.For the Funeralprocession
SardarsincludingAmrutraoPeshwa,brotherof BajiraoPeshwawere presentat
the Arabsrefusedto
In spiteof all theseSardarsand Dignitaries,
Nana'sresidence.
allowthe bodyto be removedfrom his Palacefor beingtakento the Crematorium.
one Mr. Dullabhdas
was alsopresentto join
The Managerof the Officeof Haribhakti
procession.
woulddelaythe
He sawthe attitudeof the Arabbodyguards
the funeral
to the
finalritesof the greatman.Hence,he cameforwardand gavean assurance
office stood guaranteefor paymentof their
Arab bodyguardsthat "Haribhakti"
readilyacceptedhisguarantee
outstanding
dues.TheArabbodyguards
and allowed
Thus, even
the dead body of Nana Fadaanvisto be taken to the crematorium.
"Haribhakti"
present
was not
thoughthe owneror Partnerof the Officeof
in Poona,
even their Managerllad the reputation
wherebyonly on his assurance,
the dead
bodyof NanaFadadriVis
was allowedto be takento the crematorium
by the Arab
bodyguards.
3 . The aboveincidentis also recordedin the Historyof Poonaby VasudeoWaman
K h a rea t P a q e N o .6 2 5 8 :H e has m entioned
that on 19thM ar ch1800,Nan a
Fadaa{visdiedand it wasonlyon accountof the assurance
of Dullabhdas,
Manager
of the"Haribhakti"
firm,thataftera longdelaythedeadbodyof NanaFadaanvis
was
allowed
to betakento thecrematorium.
4 . The Haribhakti
familyis well knownin Barodaand Gujaratfor their nobleacts and
supportto goodcauses.Theywereoriginalresidents
of a villagecalled"Madhodhar"
in Vaghodidtaluq near Baroda.The earliestancestorof the familywas Sheth
Gangadas.
His son, ShethLaxmidasbelongto the "Visalad"
Baniyacommunity.
Laxmidas
had 2 sons namely;Haribhai
and Bhaktibhai.
Thesebrothers
werevery
ambitious
andwitha determination
to growbigin business,
theywentfromBarodato
Poona.At thattime,Poonawas ruledby SavaiMadhavrao
Peshwa.The reputation
of Haribhaiand Bhaktibhai
as reputedbankersgrewrapidlyandtheybecamevery
lL
^
-J-
"Haribhakti"
financedthe
NanaFadaanvis.
friendlywiththe Peshwas'PrimeMinister,
The Peshwaswere
andtheyalsoactedas theirbankers.
battlesfoughtby Peshwas,
in the year 1798,they
veryhappywiththe servicesof thesebankersand,therefore,
giftedto themthe villageknownas Kajapurin Dabhoitaluq.In viewof the excellent
record of Haribhaktisas bankersto Peshwas,the Gaekwadsof Baroda also
in the year1771.
appointed
themas theirbankers
5. The Haribhakti's
extendedfinancialhelpto the Gaekwad.At a particular
time,the
Theydid
Gaekwadhadto payto the Peshwas'Onecroreof Rupees'as "Khandani".
not have the necessaryfundsand unlessthey madethe paymentby a specified
date, they could have lost their Kingdomof Barodaand Peshwascould have
dethronedthe Gaekwad.At that time, GaekwadapproachedHaribhaktisand
immediatetypaidthe amounton behalfof the Gaekwadsto the Peshwas.
Hari'ohEktis
Thus, Haribhaktis
were instrumental
in helpingthe Gaekwadto maintaintheir
reputationand their Kingdom.In recognitionof this, the Gaekwadgave to
Haribhakti's
family,giftof a fewvillages,gavethemrecognition
as the leadingcitizen
to the Government.
All the duesto the BarodaState
of Barodaand as the Treasurer
were beingpaidto the Officeof the "Haribhaktis".
In the year 1791,the Gaekwads
"Palki".
gave them the honourof
The Haribhaktishad also helpedthe British
gave to the British
in theirtime of need.ln the year 1802,Haribhakti
Government
Government
financialhelpto breakthe recalcitrant
armyof Arabs.At that time,the
BritishResidentin BarodawasoneCol.Walker.Col.Walkergaveto thefamilyin the
year 1803,a letterof appreciation
and promisesto protectthem. ln 1795,the
gave
Gaekwads
a villagecalledGoriadand gaveto the familyexemptionfrom tax
jewelry.In 1830,the Maharaja
andalsoauthorize
themto havein the familyvaluable
SayajiRao gavegift of two morevillagesnamely;Samraand Samrito the family.
The Gaekwads
alwaysgavea lot of respectandhonourto thefamily.
-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-
t\
N
t
Y