Vasudev Balwant Phadke (4 November 1845 – 17 February 1883) was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary who sought India's independence from colonial rule. Phadke was moved by the plight of the farming community and believed that Swaraj was the only remedy for their ills. With the help of various sub-communities of Hindu society he created a movement against British rule. 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. Early years Phadke was born on 4 November 1845 in Shirdhon village of Panvel taluka, now in Raigad district of Maharashtra in a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family of limited means. As a child, he preferred learning physical skills like wrestling and riding over school education and subsequently dropped out of high school. Eventually he moved to Pune and took the job as a clerk with military accounts department in Pune for 15 years. Lahuji Raghoji Salve, then a prominent social figure based in Pune, was his mentor. Salve, an expert wrestler, operated a training center for wrestling. Salve preached the importance of independence from colonial rule. Salve belonged to the Mang community, an untouchable community, taught Phadke the importance of getting backward castes into mainstream independence movement. It was during this period that Phadke began attending lectures by Mahadeo Govind Ranade which mainly focused on how the economic policies of the colonial government hurt the Indian economy. Phadke was deeply hurt by how this was leading to widespread ill-effects in the society. In 1870, he joined a public agitation in Pune that was aimed at addressing people's grievances. Phadke founded an institution, the Aikya Vardhini Sabha, to educate the youth. While working as clerk, he was not able to see his dying mother due to the delay in approval of his leave. This incident enraged Phadke and was to be the turning point in his life. Co-founding of Maharashtra Education Society Phadke was one of the earliest persons to graduate from a British-established institution in Bombay presidency. 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).