Vasudev Balwant Phadke

The group started an armed struggle to overthrow the colonial government, launching raids on wealthy European businessmen to obtain funds for the purpose.

Phadke came to prominence when he got control of the city of Pune for a few days after catching colonial soldiers off-guard during a surprise attack.

[2] It was during this period that Phadke began attending lectures by Mahadev Govind Ranade which mainly focused on how the economic policies of the colonial government hurt the Indian economy.

[4] In 1860, along with fellow social reformers and revolutionaries Laxman Narhar Indapurkar and Waman Prabhakar Bhave, Phadke co-founded the Poona Native Institution (PNI) which was later renamed as the Maharashtra Education Society (MES).

Severe famine coupled with the apathy of the colonial administration propelled him to tour the Deccan region, urging people to strive for an independent Indian republic.

The income tax which was collected and sent to the colonial government was kept in the house of local business man Balchand Faujmal Sankla.

[citation needed] Meanwhile, the leader of Ramoshi, Daulatrao Naik, who was the main supporter of Phadke, headed towards the Konkan area on the western coast.

His death was a setback to Phadke's revolt: the loss of support forced him to move south to the Shri Shaila Mallikarjun Shrine.

Phadke's plans to organise several simultaneous attacks against the colonial government nationwide were met with very limited success.

Not to be outdone, Phadke in turned offered a bounty for the capture of the Governor of Bombay, announced a reward for the killing of each European, and issued other threats to the government.

A British Major, Henry William Daniell and Abdul Haque, Police Commissioner to the Nizam of Hyderabad, pursued the fleeing Phadke day and night.