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There was a time in the area around Panchmahal in Rajasthan when the tribal society was surrounded by many evils. At that time, Shri Govindguru worked to remove the evils like superstition, alcoholism, theft and he himself was called the messiah of the tribals. So let’s know about Shri Govindguru.
World Tribal Day.
The Mangarh massacre is considered to be a bigger massacre than the Jallianwala Bagh massacre along with the life of the tribal society. In which more than 1500 tribals became victims of the British Sultanate and vested interests. Assistant Professor Dr. Ganesh Nisarta working in the History Department of Government Vinay College located in Shehra of Panchmahal has done research on the subject “Govindguru Bhagat Sect”.
Today is World Tribal Day… Know about Shri Govindguru, the messiah who awakened social consciousness among the tribals..
Who was Govindguru?
Shri Govindguru was born in the year 1863 in a Vanjara family in Vedsa (Vasia) village of Dungarpur district of Rajasthan. His childhood name was Govinda or Goma. He had only formal education. Being a Vanjara, his business of selling bullocks was in Sunth, Idar and other areas. In 1884 he started living a reclusive life and during 1800-1900 he did social reform activities. Meanwhile, the Chhappaniyo drought in India also affected Rajasthan and Panchmahal region. Therefore, Govindguru took refuge in Natwa village of present Santrampur in Sunth state. His wife and children also died in this famine.
During this time he got associated with the Bhil tribal community and from 1902 to 1907 he worked as a Habi (ploughman) in Dungar, Surpur, Umreli villages. Meanwhile he established a big organization called “Sampasabha” in Mangarh and was entrusted with the task of addressing Sampasabha in Sunth state. Starting from just one and a half hundred followers in Jotjota, the number of followers of this Sampasabha reached thousands. Social and religious teachings were given in Sampashbhama. This included expelling vices like not drinking alcohol, speaking the truth, not stealing.
Effect of Shri Govindguru’s teachings on tribals
Govindguru’s teachings and sermons started having a positive effect on the tribal society. Bhils who became devotees due to Shri Govindguru’s influence used to wear saffron safo and Rudraksha beads. Along with giving up alcohol, meat, theft and other evils, they were living a life of new consciousness. The talents of Govind Guru and his Bhagat movement were creating a gap in the traditional economy of the native states. Hence, the native states came into the field to crush the Bhil awareness. They started mentally harassing the followers of the Bhagat sect. To prevent Govind Guru and his followers from performing Dhuni Puja, Panth Dhuni was dug in every village. Urinating on Dhuni. While the soldiers used to provoke the Bhils to drink alcohol and throw contaminated food on the Dhunis to create an atmosphere of violence. Due to physical and mental torture of the native states, Shri Govindguru had to take refuge initially in Idar state and finally in the hills of Mangarh on the border of present Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Thousands of tribals killed in Mangarh massacre
An incident similar to the Jallianwala Bagh of Amritsar also took place here in the hills of Mangarh, which now borders the Mahisagar district and the border of Rajasthan. On November 17, 1913, thousands of women, small children, followers gathered on the Mangarh hill and performed havan and puja in the dhuni. At the same time, the British army, native states surrounded the hills of Mangarh and attacked with cannons, machine guns, cannons. In which more than 1500 tribals were killed. Govindguru was blamed for this incident. His disciple Punja Pargi was also arrested. Govindguru was sentenced to 10 years in jail and after completing this sentence, he went to Kamboi village near Jhalod. And Govindguru died in 1931 while preaching his Bhagat sect.
Shri Govindguru University is located in Godhra, the headquarters of Panchmahal
In 2016, the then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel named the newly built Central Gujarat University in Godhra, the headquarters of Panchmahal district, after Shri Govindguru, who became the messiah and religious leader of the tribals. This university is affiliated to five district colleges namely Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Chhotaudepur. In which Dr. Pratap Singh Chauhan is currently working as VC. While currently courses of various subjects are also going on. The students here do not have to go to distant cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara for studies.
August 9 is celebrated as Tribal Day all over the world
Presenting this matter to the UNO (United Nations), the UNO declared August 9 as Tribal Day.
The tribals are the original people living in the forest. They have maintained their habitat, social, customs, art, culture and heritage and nature till date. Even today, a large section of the tribal society lives in Ghongba and Morva Hadaf taluk in Panchmahal district. Dahod, and Mahisagar district also have a very valuable population of a tribal society.
Two districts, Dahod and Mahisagar, have been renamed from this district, which once had the title of Ankhed Panchmahal, there was a time in the area around Panchmahal of Rajasthan, at that time the tribal society was surrounded by many evils, work should be done to remove evils like superstition, alcoholism, theft.
He is known as the messiah of the tribals, during his lifetime the Mangarh massacre which happened at Jallianwala Bagh was a big hit
It is considered to be a bigger massacre than the Bagh massacre, in which more than 1500 tribals were victims of the British Sultanate and vested interests. Assistant Professor Dr. Ganesh Nisarta, working in the History Department of Government Vinay College, Shehra, Panchmahal, has done research on the topic “Govindguru’s Bhagat Sect”. So let’s know about Shri Govindguru.
Who was Govindguru?
Govindguru was born in 1863 AD in a Vanjara family in Vedsa (Vasia) village of Dungarpur district of Rajasthan. His childhood name was Govinda or Goma. Being a Vanjara, he used to visit places like Sunth, Idar etc. In 1884 he started living a recluse life. During 1899-1900 he did social reform activities. Meanwhile, the Chappanio drought in India also affected Rajasthan and Panchmahal region, so Govindguru took refuge in Natwa village of Suntha state (now Santrampur). His wife and children also died in this drought.
Meanwhile, he came close to the Bhil tribal community here. From 1902 to 1907, he worked as a Habi (ploughman) in Dungar, Surpur, Umreli villages. Meanwhile, he established a huge organization called “Sampasabha” in Mangarh and addressed the Sampasabha in Sunth state. Starting from just one hundred and fifty followers, the number of followers of this Sampasabha reached thousands. Social and religious education was given in this Sampasabha in which evils like not drinking alcohol, not speaking the truth, not stealing and looting etc. were removed.
The teachings and preaching work of Govindguru started having a positive impact on the tribal society.
The Bhils who became devotees due to the influence of Govind Guru used to wear saffron safo and Rudraksha garlands. Along with abandoning alcohol, meat, theft and other evils, they were living a new conscious life and their talent of Bhagat movement was creating a rift in the traditional economy of the states of the country Bhil Awareness Govind Guru and his followers dug sect Dhunis in every village to stop the followers of the sect from performing Dhuni Puja by mentally harassing them. Urinating on Dhuni. While the soldiers used to provoke the Bhils to drink alcohol and throw contaminated food on the Dhunis to create an atmosphere of violence. Due to the physical and mental torture of the native states, Govindguru had to take refuge first in Idar state and finally in the hills of Mangarh (now on the border of Gujarat and Rajasthan). Thousands of tribals killed in Mangarh massacre An incident like Jallianwala Bagh of Amritsar also took place here in the hills of Mangarh (which is now on the border of Mahisagar district-Rajasthan border). At the same time, the British army, native states surrounded the hills of Mangarh and attacked with cannon, machine gun, gun. In which more than 1500 tribals were killed. His disciple Punja Pargi was also arrested for this incident. He was sentenced to 10 years after completion of the sentence. He lived in Kamboi village near Jhalod and Shri Govindguru died in 1931 while preaching his Bhagat sect.
– Shri Govindguru University is located in Godhra, the headquarters of Panchmahal
Named after Govindguru, who became the messiah and religious leader of the tribals, the newly built university of Central Gujarat was established in 2016 by the then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel in Godhra, the headquarters of Panchmahal district, which is currently Dr. Pratapsingh Chauhan is currently working as VC, the students here do not need to go to far-flung cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara etc.
Thus, on the occasion of World Tribal Day, Govindguru, who has awakened such social and religious consciousness along with the spirit of revolution, has truly become the “Guru Govind” of the tribals. (Google translation from Gujarati)
Dr. Ganesh Nisarta
ASI Professor and Researcher
Government Vinay Mahavidyalaya, Shehra
