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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JUNE, 1924
succumbed to their difficulties, had they belonged to a less hardy tribe or race. Umaji's example acted doubtless as an inspiration to them ; for he knew by instinct when and how to check their impetuosity or cheer their flagging spirits, and through all the perils and misfortunes which confronted them, he himself "displayed great patience, a steady perseverance and unshaken fortitude."
Although his expulsion from Purandhar Fort by the orders of Baji Rao was the primary cause of Umaji's resort to a life of outlawry, and although he appears to have believed in the justice of his pretensions to certain ancient rights in Purandhar and other places, it is very doubtful whether his claims had any solid foundation. Early in 1830 he obtained an interview with the Raja of Satara and stated his claims against the Pant Sachiv, and the Raja wave definite instructions to the Pant Sachiv to inquire into his case. A little fnter Umaji interviewed the Collector of Poona at Purandhar and produced twenty-four old documents, purporting to establish his right to the ownership of Purandhar Fort. These papers comprised grants, orders and letters to the Kolis, Mhars and Ramosis of Purandhar from foriner native governments ; but the grants were in most cases addressed to the Kolis, who probably represent in the Deccan an even more archaic social stratum than the Ramosis. Similarly the mokasa dues of an important village in the Pant Sachiv's territory (the Bhor State), to which Umáji laid claim, were granted originally to a Koli, and not to a Ramosi. It is probable therefore that, while the Ramosis may have had-a prescriptive right to cer. tain hakks and perquisites in Purandhar, Umaji's claims could not have been sustained at law, though he himself, being almost illiterate, may have cherished the fullest belief in their authenticity. There was probably in his mind a definite connexion between these claims and his private aspirations to tho position and title of a local chief. Had he heen able to secure recognition of his ownership of Purandhar Fort, for example, he would have had greater justification for assuming the title of Raja, which, as mentioned in an earlier paragraph, ho arrogated to himself in 1827. The inhabitants of the Poona district and other tracts of the Deocan were firmly persuaded—and they were probably correct-that from the outset of his career Umáji aspired to emulate the great Sivaji, and, so far as was possible, based his plans and actions upon the model presented by the founder of the Maratha State. The devotion which he inspired in his own men, the influence which he acquired over the popular imagination, his liberality to all sorts and conditions of men, his reverence for his tribal deity, his abstemious habits in later years, his objection to licentious conduct on the part of his militant followers, and his personal fortitude-these traits are reminiscent of the character of the Marath & ruler. But there the possibility of comparison ends. Sivaji was an individual of much more distinguished calibre than the Ramosi Naik and possessed a far more dominant personality. Had the former been in the position and circumstances of the Ramosi Naik in 1826, he would instinctively have realized that he was opposed to a far more powerful political entity than the decadent and corrupt Mughal Empire, and, if he had decided that the game was worth the candle, would have laid his plans for revolt with far more subtlety and circumspection. In brief, Umaji Naik lacked vision and could not let well alone. He paid the full penalty for these shortcomings on the scaffold, and the only satisfaction he can have had was that it had cost the British Government nearly six year's effort to terminate his career of outlawry.
