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The Chapekar brothers (also spelt Caphekar or Chaphekar; Marathi चाफेकर) - Damodar Hari Chapekar (1870-1898), Balkrishna Hari Chapekar (1873-1899, also called Bapurao) and Vasudeo Hari Chapekar (1879-1899, also spelt Wasudeva or Wasudev) - were Indian revolutionaries involved in the assassination of W. C. Rand, the British plague commissioner of Pune. The brothers belonged to Chinchwad, then a village, near Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, India. In late 1896, Pune was hit by bubonic plague, part of the global Third plague pandemic; by the end of February 1897, the epidemic was raging, with a mortality rate twice the norm, and half the city's population having left. A Special Plague Committee was formed, under the chairmanship of W. C. Rand, an Indian Civil Services officer, and troops were brought in to deal with the emergency. The measures employed included forced entry into private houses, forced stripping and examination of occupants (including women) by British officers in public, evacuation to hospitals and segregation camps, removing and destroying personal possessions, and preventing movement from the city. These measures were considered oppressive by the populace of Pune and complaints were ignored by Rand. On 22 June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of the coronation of Queen Victoria, Rand and his military escort Lt. Ayerst were shot while returning from the celebrations at Government House. Both died, Ayerst on the spot and Rand of his wounds on 3 July. The Chapekar brothers and two accomplices were charged with the murders in various roles, as well as the shooting of two informants and an attempt to shoot a police officer. All three brothers were found guilty and hanged, an accomplice was dealt with similarly, another, then a schoolboy, was sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment. ==Family history== Damodar Hari, Balkrishna Hari and Vasudeo Hari belonged to Chinchwad, then a village near the former Peshwa capital Pune, in the state of Maharashtra, India. Damodar Hari the eldest, was born in 1868 The name of their grandfather was Vinayak and their mother and father were, respectively, Dwarka and Hari. The brothers' grandfather was the head of the family which consisted of about twenty members, including the brothers' parents, six uncles, two aunts, and two grandmothers. The family was wealthy at the time of Damodar Hari's birth, earlier having had a turnover of lakhs of rupees. With passage of time, mainly on account of Vinayak Chapekar's independent spirit and ways which made him incapable of submitting himself to government service, and his many unsuccessful business ventures, the family gradually sank into poverty. At one time when Damodar Hari was a young boy, the family, consisting of a party of twenty five travellers, went on a pilgrimage to Kashi, with two servants and three carts. Damodar Hari remembers the death of his elder sister at Gwalior. Damodar Hari recalls that their family rose to richness which was a result of this pilgrimage; he refutes it, and is thankful to his grandfather for the opportunity he had of drinking the waters of the Ganga – Ganges, bathing in it, giving alms and touching the feet of Kashivishveshwara.〔 The brothers' father, Hari, was sent to Poona High School up to 6th standard, after which a Shastri was deputed to teach him Sanskrit at home so as to prepare him in the profession of a kirtankar. Hari Vinayak's brothers were taught to play musical instruments so that they could accompany him during his performance. The taking up of the profession of a kirtankar by Hari Vinayak was regarded with disapproval by his caste men and friends of the family, considering the status and antiquity of the family. Vinayak Hari's brothers too looked down on the profession and left it, leaving the house, going their own ways. Even Vinayak Chapekar left the house for the then Maratha capitals of Indore and Dhar, he worked there as a writer, he had an excellent Balbodh and Modi hand. He subsequently stopped speaking any language but Sanskrit, became careless in dress, stopped interaction with others as far as possible, and started to beg on the streets. Other members of the family faced poverty too, and were forced to feed themselves at charity kitchens. Hari Vinayak Chapekar died and was cremated on the banks of Kshipra, sixteen miles from Indore. Hari Vinayak and his family were at Nagpur then but could not attend the funeral, as they were too poor to pay for the journey. Hari Vinayak Chapekar's wife too was alone when she died, Hari Vinayak's poverty prevented him from being with his parents when they died. Hari Vinayak's brothers too went their own ways, only one brother staying back in their ancestral home.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chapekar brothers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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