Palace of a hero of 1857 rebellion now a govt. office, in a shambles Premium

Amid the usual concrete structures that house government offices, the Naragund Town Municipal Office stands out. Large wooden pillars welcome visitors to the office, and as they step in, they see a locked old wooden door. On either side are two small rooms where one can see typical government employees buried in piles of old files. As they stand before the locked door, they see a narrow stairway leading to the first floor. Wooden pillars and ceiling on the first floor make them realise that they are in a heritage building, which has been disfigured owing to repair works taken up by unqualified workers with least regard for preserving the heritage.

HUBBALLI

Amid the usual concrete structures that house government offices, the Naragund Town Municipal Office stands out. Large wooden pillars welcome visitors to the office, and as they step in, they see a locked old wooden door. On either side are two small rooms where one can see typical government employees buried in piles of old files. As they stand before the locked door, they see a narrow stairway leading to the first floor. Wooden pillars and ceiling on the first floor make them realise that they are in a heritage building, which has been disfigured owing to repair works taken up by unqualified workers with least regard for preserving the heritage.

But as they enter the adjoining room, which is now the office of the Chief Officer of the Town Municipal Council, their eyes light up. The decorated walls and ceiling, and the myriad hues of traditional artworks immediately catch a visitor’s attention. “This is what remains of the Babasaheb’s palace (Raj Wade) now, and there is one of his swords preserved in the other room,” said senior staff R.P. Malakar.

Barring the chief officer’s room, there is nothing in the whole premises to indicate that this building was once the palace of Bhaskar Rao Bhave also known as Babasaheb Bhave, who rebelled against the British a year after the first war of independence (1857) and was subsequently caught and executed.

Bhaskar Rao II Bhave, fondly known as Naragund Baba Saheb was the ruler of Naragund (comprising 33 surrounding villages) who succeeded his father Dadaji Rao III in 1842. According to the Dharwad District Gazetteer “Even earlier to the rule of the Peshwas, Chatrapathi Shahu had founded the Jahgir at Nargund. Rama Rao Bhave had been granted Naragund village as a Jahgir in 1711. In addition, the Savanur Nawab granted one taraf to the Bhave family.”

Bhaskar Rao or Babasaheb is described as a brilliant person who had a library of nearly 4,000 Sanskrit works in his ‘Wada’ (Big house with courtyards, also referred to as a palace). He was one among those rulers, who were affected by the Doctrine of Lapse introduced by Governor General of India Lord Dalhousie. His inability to adopt a son to succeed him rattled Baba Saheb and an upset Baba Saheb who got in touch with Peshwa Nana Saheb, who was leading the 1857 War of Independence.

Babasaheb put together a coalition comprising the heads of the neighbouring princely states of Ramdurg, Nippani, Dambala, Mundargi, and Koppal. The intelligence report of the same reached the British officers, who were already busy tackling the rebellions in Northern India and they sent Charles Manson, Political Agent of the region to tackle the situation in advance.