Nana Patil: The Underground Government of Satara

For nearly three years, hundreds of villages in Satara had their own courts, their own police, and their own government — none of it British. Nana Patil ran all of it from underground.

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Modern History · ModHist0169

Nana Patil

“Krantisinh” — ran an underground parallel government from hiding

3 Aug 1900

Born at Yedemachindra, Sangli district, Maharashtra.

1929-32

Goes underground for the first time, as a founding Hindustan Republican Association member.

1932-42

Imprisoned eight or nine times, for continued resistance activity.

Aug 1943

Founds the Prati Sarkar, an underground parallel government, in Satara.

6 Dec 1976

Dies at Walwa, Maharashtra, aged 76.

44 Months in Hiding

Patil ran the Prati Sarkar from underground, evading British capture for 44 months during the Quit India years — nearly four years without being caught.

📑 Contents

1Timeline
2Must Know
3Good to Know
4Test Yourself
5Great to Know

Timeline

3 August 1900: Nana Patil is born at Yedemachindra, Sangli district, Maharashtra.
1929-32: A founding member of the Hindustan Republican Association, he goes underground for the first time.
1932-42: He is imprisoned eight or nine times, for continued resistance activity.
August 1943: During the Quit India Movement, he founds the Prati Sarkar, an underground parallel government, in Satara district.
May 1946: The Prati Sarkar formally ends, after nearly three years of operation.
6 December 1976: He dies at Walwa, Maharashtra, aged 76.

Must Know

Nana Patil was born Nana Ramchandra Pisal Patil on 3 August 1900, at Yedemachindra, Sangli district, Maharashtra. He died on 6 December 1976, at Walwa, Maharashtra.
He is known by the epithet “Krantisinh,” meaning “Revolutionary Lion.”
He founded the Prati Sarkar, an underground parallel government, in Satara district in August 1943. This came during the Quit India Movement.
The Prati Sarkar ran its own village committees and popular courts. It also had an armed volunteer force, the Toofan Sena, and held sway over hundreds of villages.
He remained underground for 44 months during the Quit India years, evading British capture.

Good to Know

He was a founding member of the Hindustan Republican Association. He went underground for the first time between 1929 and 1932.
He was imprisoned eight or nine times between 1932 and 1942, before the Quit India Movement even began.
The Prati Sarkar ran until May 1946, nearly three years. At its height, it held sway over close to 600 villages.
The Toofan Sena, the Prati Sarkar’s armed wing, was commanded by Captain Ramachandra Sripati Lad. It attacked British railway and postal targets.
After independence, he served as a Communist Party of India Member of Parliament, from Satara (1957-62) and Beed (1967-71).
See ModHist0170 — Chittu Pandey, whose Ballia “National Government” ran the same style of local self-rule, but for barely a week rather than years.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

The Prati Sarkar’s popular courts, called Nyayadan Mandals, settled disputes and penalised moneylenders and dacoits. They effectively replaced British judicial authority across its territory.
Decades after independence, he collaborated with Acharya Atre in the movement for Maharashtra’s statehood.
From 1919, he also worked with the reformer group Prarthana Samaj for ten years. He opposed caste discrimination and championed affordable marriages and education.
The Prati Sarkar remains one of the most substantial and long-lasting examples of parallel self-government during the Quit India Movement. Most other 1942 risings elsewhere lasted only days or weeks.
His path from underground revolutionary to elected Communist MP shows how many 1940s resistance leaders continued into formal post-independence politics.

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