The Fights

When colonial authorities attempted to shut down the historic Sonapur cremation ground at Marine Lines, Nana did not simply debate them in council chambers. He mobilized thousands of local Koli fishermen, leading a peaceful protest march directly to the Governor's Parel mansion to safeguard their sacred ground forever.

When Christian missionaries in 1842 refused to return a converted Brahmin minor to his family, Nana filed a historic Habeas Corpus petition in the Supreme Court to rescue the child. He then defied the orthodox Hindu establishment by organizing the first-ever formal purification ritual (Shuddhikaran) to welcome the boy back into society.

When a violent communal riot erupted in 1851 between Parsis and Muslims over a printing error, British authorities lost control of the streets. Nana personally patrolled the neighborhoods to keep the Hindu majority neutral, then brokered peace by leading a historic 18-carriage reconciliation convoy through the city.

Nearly eighty years before the famous temple entry movements of the 1920s, Nana initiated a historic fight to open the inner sanctum of Pandharpur's Vitthal Temple to non-Brahmins. He also used his influence with the Governor to lift a British ban on divine viewing (devdarshan) by organizing safe sanitation measures for pilgrims.

From co-signing the historic 1823 petition to ban Sati alongside Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Nana's public advocacy spanned his entire life. When the ban was enacted in 1829, he toured the province to moralize the law, ensuring Mumbai remained completely peaceful while Bengal erupted in protest.

When the British Commander-in-Chief proposed a racist amendment in 1862 to exempt European prisoners from wearing heavy iron shackles, Nana stood alone in the Legislative Council to oppose it. He fiercely argued for absolute equality of punishment under the law, setting a powerful early precedent against judicial racism.

Accused of treason by paranoid British officials during the 1857 Uprising, Nana refused to cower and successfully forced the formal withdrawal of all charges. The colonial administration was ultimately forced to turn to him as a peace advisor, proving his influence in the city rivaled their own.

To break the absolute white monopoly on Bombay’s courts, Nana launched a relentless six-year campaign lobbying the British Parliament for native rights. His persistence secured the right for Indians to serve on Grand Juries in 1828 and made him the first Indian Justice of the Peace in 1834.

When the European legal elite introduced a bill in 1862 to ban native advocates from practicing in the Small Cause Court, Nana countered with data from Calcutta to expose their anti-competition trap. Through sharp legislative maneuvering, he forced the council to protect the rights of the first generation of Indian lawyers.

When British troops desecrated the sacred Dwarkanath temple in Gujarat, prompting a retaliatory Diwali boycott by Mumbai's merchant class, the Governor turned to Nana to mediate. By securing a formal British guarantee of compensation and pacifying the merchants, Nana single-handedly restored the festival of lights to the city.

When Christian missionaries introduced textbooks designed to subtly convert public school children to Christianity, Nana personally audited the lessons and gathered over a thousand citizen signatures. His aggressive campaign forced the British administration to ban the books, securing the foundation of secular state education in India.