Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha - History

History

After the downfall of the Vijayanagara Empire, through the period of British rule, Karnataka was divided into six parts, namely Bombay Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka, Madras Karnataka, Coorg, Mysore and smaller princely states like Mudhol, Jamkhandi, Savanur etc. The result was that the Kannada culture and language in these areas were eclipsed by other cultures. For example, in the four districts of Dharwad, Belgaum, North Kanara and Bijapur districts that comprised Bombay Karnataka, Kannada culture and language had suffered severe setbacks due to prolonged Maratha rule. When the British introduced their system of education in this area, they were under the impression that these districts were part of Maharashtra and started Marathi schools there. Mr. Walter Elliott, Deputy Collector of Dharwad, soon found that the language of the people was Kannada, but Marathi was imposed upon them. Out of sympathy for the Kannada people and his knowledge of Kannada, Elliot started Kannada schools in Dharwad around 1830. Balashastri Jambhekar, an education officer of the Bombay Government, also felt that the since the language of the people was Kannada, there should be Kannada schools in these four districts.

A determined effort to establish Kannada schools was made by Mr. W. A. Russell, who after serving as Professor in the Deccan College at Pune, was appointed as Educational Inspector of the Southern Division of the Bombay Province. To Russell's amazement, he found that there were not a sufficient number of persons who could teach Kannada effectively. He induced officers in other departments of the Bombay Government who were Kannadigas and who knew Kannada sufficiently to join the Education Department. Among them were Srinivas Rodda, Bhujangarao Huilgol, Venkatarangu Katti and others. When Mr. R. H. Deshpande who was studying in the Deccan college passed his M.A. examination with a gold medal in 1884, Russell persuaded him to join the Education department and assured him that he would, with his stellar academic career, soon replace him as the Inspector of the Southern Division. True to his word, Russell promoted Mr. Deshpande as deputy inspector of Karwar within a few months of his joining Sardar High School in Belgaum. However, Mr. Russell was subsequently shifted from his post and in his place a Marathi officer was posted. For the next 25 years, three Marathi officers ruled over the Bombay Karnataka area and introduced Marathi in the Kannada schools. Mr. Deshpande naturally resented this and decided to revolt against this foisting of Marathi on Kannada children, but as a Government servant, there were restrictions on what he could do. He took shelter under the British policy of encouraging education in the vernacular language and decided to establish a Sangha for the protection of Kannada and the Unification of the Karnataka areas. Thus the Karnataka Vidyavardhaka Sangha came into being on 20th July, 1890.