Freedom Fighters

Born: 19 July 1827 
Martyrdom: 8 April 1857
Achievements: A sepoy working under the British East India Company, Mangal Pandey's name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today remembered as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India's First War of Independence. The reason behind this was the rumor that the cartridges used by Indian sepoys were greased with the fat of cow and pig. 

Mangal Pandey, whose name is often preceded by Shaheed meaning a martyr in Hindi, was an Indian soldier during the pre-independence era. A member of the 34th Regiment of the Bengal native infantry of the East India Company, Mangal Pandey is counted among the most popular figures associated with India's freedom struggle in present times. He was born on 19 July 1827 in the Nagwa village in the Ballia district of the Uttar Pradesh state. There still exist families in this village who claim to the descendents of Mangal Pandey. 

However, some disputes exist over the exact place where Mangal Pandey was born. So read on to know more about the biography of Mangal Pandey, who joined the sepoy force of the British East India Company in the year 1849 at the age of 22. His name got etched into the pages of the Indian history after he attacked his senior British officers in an incident, which is today called the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 or the India's First War of Independence. Due to this, he was later captured and hung till death on 8 April in 1857. 

Here's more about the life history of Mangal Pandey, who was a devout Hindu and practiced his religion strictly. It was rumored that the cartridge used in the Enfield P-53 rifle which was being used by the Indian sepoys was greased with the fat of pig and cow fat. These cartridges had to be bitten off in order to remove the cover prior use and this went against the religious beliefs of the Muslims and Hindus. The general opinion was that the Britishers had deliberately done this to hurt the sentiments of Indians. And this was the main reason behind the outburst of Pandey's anger.

Ashfaqulla Khan, a great freedom fighter, was born in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh in 1900. He was the son of Shafiqullah Khan. He was great revolutionary and martyr who sacrificed for the independence of the country. His name is written in golden letters in the history of India.
Ashfaqullah was the member of the revolutionary group whose leader was Ramparsad Bismil. He was best friend of Ramprasad Bismil who also belonged to Shahjahanpur.
Ramprasad was Aryasamaj and Ashfaq was a devout Muslim but their aim was one and same that was to get their motherland liberated from the bonds of foreign rule. They were so devoted to their cause that they chose to be hanged rather than bow down before the foreigners.
The friendship between Ashfaq and Bismil was so deep that once Ashafaq fell ill and had severe fever and under high temperature he was muttering Ram, Ram, and my Ram. Ashfaq’s parents thought that Ashfaq is over­powered by some evil spirits since he was muttering the name of Ram a Hindu Lord.
His parents called a neighbour who told them that Ashfaq is not muttering name of Hindu Lord Ram but in fact Ashfaq was remembering his best friend Ram Prasad Bismil whom he used to address as Ram. Bismil was called and then Ashfaq stopped muttering Ram. Both hugged each other.
Alongwith Sachindra Nath Sanyal Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah founded The Hindustan Republican Association. The Association published a manifesto called Krantikari in 1925. Both Ramprasad and Ashfaqullah conceived the famous Kakori Train bribery with the objective of getting money for carrying out their revolutionary activities.
On August 9, 1925, the train from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow was approaching Kakori Ashfaq boarded the second class compartment with his friends Sachindra Bakshi and Rajendra Laheri.
Ashfaq noticed money bags being taken into guard’s van and being dropped into iron safe. Ashfaq alone together with his friends Sachindra Bakshi, Rajendra Lahiri and Bismil broke the lack of iron safe, took the money and fled. For about a month none of the revolutionaries could be arrested but British government was determined to arrest the culprits.
On 26th September 1925 Bismil was arrested Ashfaq escaped. Any how he reached Delhi where he met a Pathan friend who also hailed from Shahjahanpur. Pathan fell on the greed of money which the Britishers had announced on Ashfaq’s head and sounded the Police which arrested Ashfaq next morning.
When Ashfaq was in jail, the Superintendent of Police who was Muslim came to Ashfaq and said to him, “Ashfaq I am also Muslim. I can get you
released if you become government approver and give testimony against Bismil. He is Hindu and wants to established the rule of Hindus in India; you should part ways with him.” Ashfaq got enraged and replied “I warn you, never utter such words Ramprasad is my brother. I would rather die under the rule of Hindus than to live under British rule.
A committee consisting a Jawahar Lai Nehru and G. B. Pant was formed to defend Ashfaq and Bismil in Kakori train robbery case but its efforts to save revolutionaries in the court of justice failed. Appeals were made to Viceroy to convert his death sentence into life sentence.
Privacy Council was approached. But all efforts went in vain. Britishers did not relent. Ashfaqullah, Bismil, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh were given death sentence. Others were given life sentences.
The entire country protested against death sentences. On 19th December 1927, Ashfaqullah Khan was hanged to death at a jail in Faizabad Ashfaqs last words were “My hands are not soiled with the murder of men. God will give me justice.”
“Shaheedon ki Chitaon par lagaingay har Baras mailey, Watan par Marne walon ka yahee baqui nishan hoga” (Every year fairs will held at the tombs of martyrs, this will be the only surviving sign of those who died for the nation.)
When Gandhiji launched Non Cooperation Movement in 1921 and asked the people not to pay taxes, the revolutionaries like Ashfaq and Bismil actively participated in that movement and whole heartedly supported Gandhiji’s efforts to liberate India from foreign rule.

Swami Vivekananda was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of Vedanta philosophy. He was the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa and was the founder of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission. Swami Vivekananda was the living embodiment of sacrifice and dedicated his life to the country and yearned for the progress of the poor, the helpless and the downtrodden. He showed a beacon of light to a nation that had lost faith in its ability under British rule and inspired self-confidence among Indians that they are second to none. His ringing words and masterful oratory galvanized the slumbering nation.

Swami Vivekananda real name was Narendranath Dutta. He was born on January12, 1863 in Calcutta. His father's name was Vishwanath Dutta and his mother's name Bhuvaneswari Devi. Narendranath acquired the name of Swami Vivekananda when he became a monk.

As a child Narendra was very lively and naughty. He was good in studies as well as in games. He studied instrumental and vocal music and also practiced meditation from a very early age. Even when Narendra was young he questioned the validity of superstitious customs and discrimination based on caste and religion. As a child Narendra had great respect for sanyasis (ascetics). He would give away anything to anybody if asked for. Whenever a beggar asked for alms, he would give him anything he had. Thus from childhood Narendra had the spirit of sacrifice and renunciation.

In 1879, Narendra passed matriculation and entered Presidency College, Calcutta. After one year, he joined the Scottish Church College, Calcutta and studied philosophy. He studied western logic, western philosophy and history of European nations. As he advanced in his studies, his thinking faculty developed. Doubts regarding existence of God started to arise in Narendra's mind. This made him associate with the Brahmo Samaj, an important religious movement of the time, led by Keshab Chandra Sen. But the Samaj's congregational prayers and devotional songs could not satisfy Narendra's zeal to realise God.

During this time Narendra came to know of Sri Ramakrishna Pramahans of Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna was a priest in the temple of Goddess Kali. He was not a scholar. But he was a great devotee. It was being said of him that he had realized God. Once, Narendra went to Dakshineswar to with his friends see him. He asked Ramakrishna, whether he had seen God. The instantaneous answer from Ramakrishna was, "Yes, I have seen God, just as I see you here, only in a more clear sense." Narendra was astounded and puzzled. He could feel the man's words were honest and uttered from depths of experience. He started visiting Ramakrishna frequently.

It was in Narendra's nature to test something thoroughly before he could accept it. He would not accept Ramakrishna as his guru without a test. Ramakrishna used to say that, in order to realize God, one should give up the desire for money and women. One day Narendra hid a rupee under his pillow. Sri Ramakrishna, who had gone out, came into the room and stretched himself on the cot. At once he jumped up as if bitten by a scorpion. When he shook the mattress, the rupee coin fell down. Later he came to know that it was the doing of Narendra. Narendra accepted Sri Ramakrishna as his guru and took training under him for five years in the Advaita Vedanta, the philosophy of non-dualism. Sri Ramakrishna passed away in 1886 and nominated Narendra as his successor. After his death Narendra and a core group of Ramakrishna's disciples took vows to become monks and renounce everything, and started living in a supposedly haunted house in Baranagore.

In 1890, Narendra set out on a long journey. He covered the length and breadth of the country. He visited Varanasi, Ayodhya, Agra, Vrindavan, Alwar etc. Narendra acquired the name of Swami Vivekananda during the journey. It is said that he was given the name Vivekananda by Maharaja of Khetri for his discrimination of things, good and bad. During his journey, Vivekananda stayed at king's palaces, as well as at the huts of the poor. He came in close contact with the cultures of different regions of India and various classes of people in India. Vivekananda observed the imbalance in society and tyranny in the name of caste. He realised the need for a national rejuvenation if India was to survive at all.

Swami Vivekananda reached Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent on December24, 1892. He swam across the sea and started meditating on a lone rock. He meditated for three days and said later that he meditated about the past, present and future of India. The rock is presently popular as Vivekananda memorial and is a major tourist destination.

In 1893, Swami Vivekananda went to America to attend the Conference of World Religions in Chicago. He earned wild applause for beginning his address with the famous words, "Sisters and brothers of America." Swamiji mesmerized everyone in America with his masterful oratory. Wherever he went, he dwelt at length on the greatness of Indian Culture. He spoke with spontaneous ease on every topic, be it History, Sociology, Philosophy or Literature. He deplored the malicious propaganda that had been unleashed by the Christian missionaries in India. Swami Vivekananda also went to England. Many people became his disciples. Most famous among them was Margaret Nivedita'. She came to India and settled here.

Swami Vivekananda returned to India in 1897 after four years of touring in the West. He started disseminating the message of spiritual development among Indians. He realized that social service was possible only through the concerted efforts on an organized mission. To achieve this objective, Swami Vivekananda started Sri Ramakrishna Mission in 1897 and formulated its ideology and goal. During the next two years he bought a site at Belur on the banks of the Ganga, constructed the buildings and established the Ramakrishna Mutt. He once again toured the West from January 1899 to December 1900.

Swami Vivekananda died on July4, 1902 at Belur Mutt near Calcutta.

Vinoba stands as a symbol for the struggle of the good against the evil, of spiritual against the mundane. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived. He was a brilliant scholar who could knowledge accessible to ordinary people. He was Gandhi's ardent follower, who could retain originality in thinking. As S. Radhakrishnan pointed out, "Indeed his life represents harmonious blend of learning, spiritual perception and compassion for the lowly and the lost." His Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement started on April 18, 1951, he attracted the attention of the world. Untouched by publicity and attention, Vinoba had continued his efforts for a just and equitable society. In fact, his life is a saga of his commitment to nonviolent ways of bringing change, his yearning for the highest level of spirituality and his unwavering faith in human values and love.

Madan Lal Dhingra (1883 – 1909) was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist, a revolutionary studying in England. There he killed Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, a British official. It is hailed as one of the first acts of revolution in the Indian independence movement in the 20th century.
Madan Lal Dhingra was born on 18  Sept 1883 in a rich Hindu family of doctors in 1883 in Amritsar in the province of  Punjab. His father was a wealthy  eye specialist and Civil Surgeon of Amritsar. Some say he was the first Indian doctor to reach that eminent position.  Madan Lal’s father, Dr Dhingra had seven sons in all: Kundanlal ( a businessman ), Dr Mohanlal, Dr Biharilal (MRCP 1895), Chamanlal (Barrister from Middle Temple 1899), Chunilal, MADANLAL and Bhajanlal (Barrister from Grays Inn 1911).

Dhingra’s family were loyalists of the British, and disowned him after his expulsion from college in Lahore owing to illicit political activities. Dhingra had to work as a clerk, a Tonga (rickshaw) puller, and a factory labourer. Dhingra attempted to organize a union there, but was sacked. He worked for sometime in Bombay before acting upon the advice of his elder brother and going to England for higher studies.

Madanlal Dhingra studied for Diploma in Civil Engineering at University College, London from 1906-09 (it is interesting to note that Dadabhai Naoroji was Professor of Gujarati in this college from 1856 to 1866. Ravindranath Tagore studied English Literature at the same college during 1878-1880. Dhingra’s elder brother Dr Biharilal passed MRCP from University College Hospital in 1895).  Here he came in contact with Savarkar at India House. (This house at 65 Cromwell Avenue, London was purchased by Shyamji Krishnavarma in 1905.  It was to be used as a students’ hostel.)

Shiv Ram Hari Rajguru was born in an average middle-class Hindu Brahmin family at Khed in Poona district in 1906. He came to Varanasi at a very early age where he learnt Sanskrit and read the Hindu religious scriptures. He had a good memory and learnt by heart the Laghu Siddhant Kaumudi. He loved physical exercises and was associated with a number of such associations. He had great admiration for Shivaji and his guerilla tactics.
At Varanasi, he came in contact with revolutionaries. He joined the movement and became an active member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (H.S.R.A). He was known in the party under the pseudonym of Raghunath. Rajguru had fearless spirit and indomitable courage. The only object of his adoration and worship was his motherland for whose liberation he considered no sacrifice too great. He was a close associate of Chandra Shekhar Azad, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Jatin Das and his field of activity was U.P and Punjab, with Kanpur, Agra and Lahore as his headquarters. Rajguru was a good shot and was regarded as the gunman of the party. He took part in various activities of the revolutionary movement, the most important being Saunders murder. Lala Lajpat Rai, an eminent nationalist leader and popular amongst the revolutionaries, was fatally wounded in a police lathi- charge on 20 October 1928, while leading a procession against the Simon Commission, and died on 17 November 1928. The revolutionaries planned to avenge Lalajis death by killing the Police Superintendent, Scott and the Deputy Superitendent of Police, Saunders who were responsible for the lathi charge leading to the death of Lalaji. Chandra Shekhar Azad, Shiv Ram Rajguru, Bhagat Singh and Jai Gopal were deputed for the work. On 17 December 1928, while Saunders came out of his office and started his motor- cycle, he was shot dead in front of the police headquarters at Lahore by Rajguru. Azad shot dead Channan Singh, a Head Constable, who wanted to chase the three revolutionaries. All of them escaped through the D.A.V. College compound: The same night posters of the HSRA declaring Saunders is dead. Lalaji is avenged were put up throughout the city of Lahore. On 20 December, Rajguru left Lahore disguised as Bhagat Singhs servant, who travelled in a first class compartment with the wife and the young son of the revolutionary Bhagawati Charan. He left Bhagat Singh at Lucknow and went underground.
Later Bhagat Singh was arrested in the Assembly Bomb Case and several other revolutionaries were arrested with the help of approvers (Jai Gopal, Phanindra Nath and Hansraj Vohra). Rajguru was arrested at Poon on 30 September 1929 and a revolver with fourteen cartridges was recovered from a box where he was sleeping. The Government started a case against sixteen persons (including Rajguru), known as the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Judgement was delivered on 7 October 1930, Sardar Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were sentenced to death and the other accused were awarded various terms of imprisonment. The whole nation was awakened and the names of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev became as popular as that of Mahatma Gandhi. Meetings, processions and representations were made for commutation of their death sentence. Mahatma Gandhi and the leaders of the Indian National Congress attempted to save their lives, but they failed. An appeal to the Privy Council was alos rejected. Rajguru along with his two comrades was hanged in the Lahore jail in the evening of 23 March 1931 and their bodies were burnt under police supervision. At the time of his martyrdom, Rajguru was hardly twenty- three years of age.
The execution of the young revolutionaries was regarded as a national disaster and national mourning was observed throughout the country. The A.I.C.C session at Karachi (1931) met under gloom and passed a resolution placing on record its admiration of the bravery and sacrifice of the late Sardar Bhagat Singh and his comrades Sukhdev and Rajguru and mourning with the bereaved families the loss of these lives. The Congress is of opinion that the triple execution is an act of wanton vengeance and is a deliberate flounting of the unanmious demand of the nation for commutation.

Indira Gandhi is born in November 19, 1917 Became Presidentship of Asian Domestic Legislature in 1959; was Parson of Accumulation and Broadcasting in Lal Bahadur Shastri's regime; became Period Pastor in 1966; nationalized subject phytologist in 1969; gave the shibboleth of Garibi Hatao during 1971 head elections; led India to a determining war against Pakistan in 1971. Indira Solon, one of the best-known women of the 20th century, was Maturity Diplomat of Bharat, and daughter of other Prime Reverend Jawaharlal Nehru. Also renowned as Indira Nehru Statesman, she was dropped on Nov 19, 1917 in Allahabad. She was whelped in a bloodline that was at the area of Amerindian freedom shitting. Her dysphemism Jawaharlal Statesman and grandfather Motilal Solon were at the position of Asiatic freedom endeavour. Her overprotect Kamla Nehru, tho' little involved politically, was somebody to governmental pull by the Brits.

Indira Gandhi had a unsocial childhood, with whatsoever of her most vivid remembrances beingness the accounting into her institution of Nation policemen. As her parents did not necessary to channelize her to any of the British schools in India Indira Solon's training took localise tutorials interspersed between periods at train. Indira GandhiIndira Statesman united a Parsi titled Feroze Solon in 1942. The ritual was anti by monotheism Hindus because it was an intercommunal love marriage not set by her parents. Jawaharlal Statesman too anti the family on settlings that the pair were somewhat unsuited because both possessed fiery tempers. Publicly, notwithstanding, both Jawaharlal Statesman and Mahatma Gandhi strenuously defended the matrimony.

Shortly after their rite both Indira Solon and Feroze Statesman were inactive and jailed for nationalist activities. Indira Gandhi was released after viii months and Feroze Gandhi after an year. After the channel Feroze Statesman became application of The Subject Recognise, a publisher founded by Jawaharlal Solon, and Mrs. Indira Solon became the thespian confidant and assistant of her priest during the point of Nehru's undercoat ministership (1947-1965). The twain distributed for a name of period during the 1950s as Feroze Solon launched his own semipolitical advance (from a hunch commencement) in 1960, and the consequent change of her chief in 1964, caused Indira Statesman to retire into a casing and ending herself to her unmediated kinfolk.

After the dying of Jawaharlal Statesman, Lal Bahadur Shastri became Undercoat Minister and Indira Statesman was the clergyman of Substance and Broadcasting in his governance. After Lal Bahadur Shastri's untimely dying in 1966, she was designated as maturity parson by company bosses within the Legislature Set as a cooperation pol. Her candidature was conflicting by Morarji Desai, a oldtimer subject and efflorescence ministerial wannabee himself. The Congress bosses were seemingly sensing for a major illustration acceptable to the grouping, who could not only enjoin comprehensive sustain during the incoming broad election but who would also acquiesce to their counselling. In her initial days as Bloom Reverend, Indira Solon encountered numerous problems specified as Mizo tribal uprisings in the northeast; shortage, dig unrest,and pious structure.

In the quarter pandemic elections held in 1967, Legislature suffered a study setback. Legislature eld was greatly reduced in parliament and non-Congress ministries were planted in State, Kerala, Province, State, Punjab, and Westmost Bengal. This strained Mrs. Indira Gandhi to turn imperative and opt for a periodical of choices that pitted her directly against the Congress Recipient alto overtop, which had previously been built up by her begetter. Hunt to destruct impoverishment, Mrs. Statesman pursued a vigorous policy in 1969 of area improve and placed a control on personalised income, personal prop, and corporate profits. She also nationalized the better phytologist, a forward interval (O)-for Organisation-led by Morarji Desai, and the Congress (I)--for Indira-led by Indira Gandhi.

Indira Solon campaigned fiercely on the catchword of "Garibi Hatao" (extinguish impoverishment) during the fifth unspecialised elections in Mar 1971 and won an new two-third eld. Her leading qualities came to the anterior during India-Pakistan war in 1971 that resulted in achievement of Bangladesh. India achieved determinant ending over Pakistan in the confronting of politic action from both China and the Tied States and a demand of global backing from near every additional commonwealth omit the Country Brotherhood and the Orient Bloc countries. Amerindian success over Pakistan led to a great uprise in Indira Gandhi's popularity and she was compared to Goddess Durga by trivial Indians.

Expectations raised by the garibi hatao campaign Indira Gandhi ji and India's conclusion over Pakistan in 1971 led to eager dissatisfaction and political difficulties in the mid-1970s. Large scheme value of 1971 war, process in grouping oil prices and, discharge in progressive production added to the scheme hardships. During this indication J.P.Narayan initiated a civil insubordination defecation against Indira Solon. In June 1975, amidst all this crises Allahabad Eminent Hotel invalidated her 1971 election on the sediment of electoral malpractices. Instead of resigning, Indira Gandhi declared an Exigency in the country and jailed al her semipolitical opponents. The Brake lasted dirt District 1977 and in the generic election held afterwards she was people by a alignment of parties titled Janta Morcha.

Factionalism among organisation partners led to the founder of Janta governance and Indira Gandhi came posterior to the force formerly again in 1980. But her indorsement innings was assault with difficulties and ain tragedies. Her junior son Sanjay Gandhi died in an air hurl. Her governing was confronted with capital challenges to its noesis to reassert law and tell as conflicts between sacred and social groups poor out in dissimilar parts of the country. After the service had invaded the Prosperous Tabernacle in Amritsar, the leader enclose of the Sikhs, which had been held as an setaceous bivouac by a group of activist Sikhs, she became the take for Disciple anger and on 31 October 1984 she was assassinated by her own Faith bodyguard.

Date of Birth : May 9, 1866 Date of Death : 1915 Place of Birth : Maharashtra
Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on May 9, 1866, in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, and he became one of the most learned men in India, a leader of social and political reformists and one of the earliest, founding leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and the Servants of India Society. The latter was committed to only social reform, but the Congress Party in Gokhale’s time was the main vehicle for Indian political representation. Gokhale was a great, early Indian champion for public education. Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive college education, Gokhale was respected widely in the nascent Indian intellecutal community and acoss India, whose people looked up to him as the least elitist of educated Indians. Coming from a background of poverty, Gokhale was a real man of the people, a hero to young Indians discovering the new age and the prospects of the coming 20th century; he worked amongst common Indians to encourage education, sanitation and public development. He actively spoke against ignorance, casteism and untouchability in Indian society. Gokhale was also reputed for working for trust and friendship between Hindu and Muslim communities. It should be remembered that Gokhale was a pioneer in this work, never done before in Indian history by Indians. Along with distinguished colleagues like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Annie Besant, Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities, cultivate a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights. In 1906, he and Tilak were the respective leaders of the moderates and extremists (now known by the more politically correct term,’aggressive nationalists’) in the Congress. Tilak advocated civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire, and the Congress Party split into two wings. The two sides would patch up in 1916. Gokhale did not support explicit Indian independence, for such an idea was not even understood or expressed until after the World War I.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale’s biggest contribution to India was as a teacher, nurturer of a whole new generation of leaders conscious to their responsibilities to a wider nation. Gokhale was famously a mentor to a young barrister who had been blooded in the work of revolution in South Africa a few years earlier. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi received great warmth and hospitality from Gokhale, including personal guidance, knowledge and understanding of India, the issues of common Indians and Indian politics. By 1920, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would become known as Mahatma Gandhi, and ad the leader of nationalist Indians and the largest non-violent revolution in the history of the world. However, Gokhale himself died in 1915. In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide, while Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan, in 1912 wanted to become the “Muslim Gokhale,” “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity.”

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was an Indian nationalist, social reformer and freedom fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. Tilak sparked the fire for complete independence in Indian consciousness, and is considered the father of Hindu nationalism as well. Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it! This famous quote of his is very popular and well-remembered in India even today.
Reverently addressed as Lokmanya (meaning “Beloved of the people” or “Revered by the world”), Tilak was a scholar of Indian history, Sanskrit, Hinduism, mathematics and astronomy. He was born on July 23, 1856, in a village near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, into a middle class Chitpavan Brahmin family. Tilak was an avid student with a special aptitude for mathematics. He was among India’s first generation of youth to receive a modern, college education. After graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune and later became a journalist. He became a strong critic of the Western education system, feeling it demeaning to Indian students and disrespectful to India’s heritage. He organized the Deccan Education Society to improve the quality of education for India’s youth. Tilak founded the Marathi daily Kesari (The Lion) which fast became a popular reading for the common people of India. Tilak strongly criticized the government for its brutalism in suppression of free expression, especially in face of protests against the division of Bengal in 1905, and for denigrating India’s culture, its people and heritage. He demanded the British immediately give the right to self-government to India’s people. Tilak joined the Indian National Congress in the 1890s, but soon fell into opposition of its liberal-moderate attitude towards the fight for self-government. Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and was supported by fellow Indian nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. In 1907, the Congress Party split into the Garam Dal (literally, “Hot Faction”), led by Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai, and the Naram Dal (literally, “Soft Faction”) led by Gokhale during its convention at Surat in Gujarat. When arrested on charges of sedition in 1906, Tilak asked a young Mohammad Ali Jinnah to represent him. But the British judge convicted him and he was imprisoned from 1908 to 1914 in Mandalay, Burma. Upon his release, Tilak re-united with his fellow nationalists and re-united the Indian National Congress in 1916. He also helped found the All India Home Rule League in 1916-18 with Annie Besant and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Tilak proposed various social reforms, such as a minimum age for marriage, and was especially keen to see a prohibition placed on the sale of alcohol. His thoughts on education and Indian political life have remained highly influential – he was the first Congress leader to suggest that Hindi, written in the devanagari script, should be accepted as the sole national language of India, a policy that was later strongly endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi. However, English, which Tilak wished to remove completely from the Indian mind, remains an important means of communication in India. But the usage of Hindi (and other Indian languages) has been reinforced and widely encouraged since the days of the British Raj, and Tilak’s legacy is often credited with this resurgence. Another of the major contributions relates to the propagation of Sarvajanik (public) Ganesh festival, over 10-11 days from Bhadrapada Shukla (Ganesh) Chaturthi to (Anant) Chaturdashi (in Aug/Sept span), which contributed for people to get together and celebrate the festival and provided a good platform for leaders to inspire masses. His call for boycott of foreign goods also served to inspire patriotism among Indian masses. Tilak was a critic of Mahatma Gandhi’s strategy of non-violent, civil disobedience. Although once considered an extremist revolutionary, in his later years Tilak had considerably mellowed. He favored political dialogue and discussions as a more effective way to obtain political freedom for India, and did not support leaving the British Empire. However, Tilak is considered in many ways to have created the nationalist movement in India, by expanding the struggle for political freedoms and self-government to the common people of India. His writings on Indian culture, history and Hinduism spread a sense of heritage and pride amongst millions of Indians for India’s ancient civilization and glory as a nation.
Tilak was considered the political and spiritual leader of India by many, and Gandhi is considered his successor. When Tilak died in 1920, Gandhi paid his respects at his cremation in Bombay, along with 200,000 people. Gandhi called Tilak “The Maker of Modern India”.
Tilak is also today considered the father of Hindu Nationalism. He was the idol of Indian revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who penned the political doctrine of Hindutva.

Date of Birth : Jul 23, 1906 Date of Death : Feb 27, 1931 Place of Birth : India
Chandrasekhar Azad was a great Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary thinker. Revered for his audacious deeds and fierce patriotism, he was the mentor of Bhagat Singh, the famous Indian martyr. Chandrasekhar Azad is considered one of the greatest Indian freedom fighter along with Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Ram Prasad Bismil, and Ashfaqulla Khan. Chandrasekhar Azad’s parents were Pandit Sita Ram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi. He received his early schooling in Bhavra District Jhabua (Madhya Pradesh). For higher studies he went to the Sanskrit Pathashala at Varanasi. Young Azad was one of the young generation of Indians when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement. But many were disillusioned with the suspension of the struggle in 1922 owing to the Chauri Chaura massacre of 22 policemen. Although Gandhi was appalled by the brutal violence, Azad did not feel that violence was unacceptable in the struggle, especially in view of the Amritsar Massacre of 1919, where Army units killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and wounded thousands in Amritsar. Young Azad and contemporaries like Bhagat Singh were deeply and emotionally influenced by that tragedy. As a revolutionary, he adopted the lastname ‘Azad’, which means “Free” in Urdu.There is an interesting story that while he adopted the name “Azad” he made a pledge that the Police will never capture him alive. Azad and others had committed themselves to absolute independence by any means. He was most famous for The Kakori Rail Dacoity in 1925 and the assassination of the assistant superintendent of Police John Poyantz Saunders in 1928.
Azad and his compatriots would target British officials known for their oppressive actions against ordinary people, or for beating and torturing arrested freedom fighters. Azad was also a believer in socialism as the basis for a future India, free of social and economic oppression and adversity. Bhagat Singh joined Azad following the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, an Indian leader who was beaten to death by police officials. Azad trained Singh and others in covert activities, and the latter grew close to him after witnessing his resolve, patriotism and courage. Along with fellow patriots like Rajguru and Sukhdev, Azad and Singh formed the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, committed to complete Indian independence and socialist principles of for India’s future progress. Betrayed by an informer on 27 February 1931 Azad was encircled by British troops in the Alfred park, Allahabad. He kept on fighting till the last bullet. Azad is a hero to many Indians today. Alfred Park was renamed Chandrasekhar Azad park, as have been scores of schools, colleges, roads and other public institutions across India.

                                         Jawaharlal Nehru

Date of Birth : Nov 14, 1889 Date of Death : May 27, 1964 Place of Birth : Uttar Pradesh Political party : Indian National Congress Took Office : Aug 15, 1947 Left Office : May 27, 1964 Successor : Lal Bahadur Shastri

Jawaharlal Nehru also called Pandit Nehru, was an important leader of the Indian Independence Movement and the Indian National Congress, and became the first Prime Minister of India when India won its independence on August 15, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889, to Swaroop Rani, the wife of Motilal Nehru, a wealthy Allahabad based barrister and political leader himself. He was Nehru’s only son amongst three younger daughters. The Nehru family is of Kashmiri lineage and of the Saraswat Brahmin caste. Educated in the finest Indian schools of the time, Nehru returned from education in England at Harrow, Trinity College, Cambridge and the Inner Temple to practice law before following his father into politics. By his parents’ arrangement, Nehru married Kamala Nehru, then seventeen in 1916. At the time of his wedding on 8 February 1916, Jawaharlal was twenty-six, a British-educated barrister. Kamala came from a well-known business family of Kashmiris in Delhi. His father Motilal Nehru was already a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress and had served as its president. Nehru did not share Motilal’s moderate-liberal line.
He began to draw closer to the rising leadership of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a former barrister who had won battles for equality and political rights for Indians in South Africa, and had emerged a national hero with the successful struggles in Champaran, Bihar and Kheda in Gujarat. Nehru was instantly attracted to Gandhi’s commitment for active but peaceful, civil disobedience. Gandhi himself saw promise and India’s future in the young Jawaharl Nehru. The Nehru family transformed their lifestyle according to Gandhi’s teachings. Jawaharlal and Motilal Nehru abandoned western clothes and tastes for expensive possessions and pastimes, and adopted Hindi, or Hindustani as their common language of use. Young Jawaharlal now wore a khadi kurta and a Gandhi cap, all white – the new uniform of the Indian nationalist. Nehru was first arrested by the British during the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-1922), but released after a few months. After Gandhi suspended civil resistance in 1922 as a result of the killing of policemen in Chauri Chaura, thousands of Congressmen were disillusioned.
When Gandhi opposed participation in the newly created legislative councils, many followed leaders like Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru to form the Swaraj Party, which advocated entry but only to sabotage government from within, as a tool to extracting concessions from the British to ensure stability. But Nehru did not join his father and stayed with Gandhi and the Congress. Jawaharlal was elected President of the Allahabad Municipal Corporation in 1924, and served for two years as the city’s chief executive. Upon his release from prison in 1924, Gandhi succeeded in re-uniting the Congress Party and increasing discipline of Congressmen by expanding activities for social reform and the alleviation of India’s poor. From 1926 to 1928, Jawaharlal served as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, an important step in his rise to Congress national leadership. With the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928, led by the rising nationalist leader Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Congress was back in the business of revolution. In 1928-29, the Congress’s annual session under President Motilal Nehru considered the next step. Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose backed a call for full political independence, while Motilal Nehru and others wanted dominion status within the British Empire.
To resolve the point, Gandhi said that the British would be given two years to grant India dominion status. If they did not, the Congress would launch a national struggle for full, political independence. Nehru and Bose reduced the time of opportunity to one year. The British did not respond. When the Congress convened its session in 1929, Gandhi backed the young Jawaharlal for the Congress presidency. Although confessing embarrassment at his hurried ascent, President Nehru declared India’s independence on January 26, 1930 in Lahore, raised free India’s flag in a large public convention on the banks of the Ravi and inaugurated the struggle. Nehru was arrested in 1930, and during the Salt Satyagraha of 1931 for a number of years. The revolt was an astounding national success. Millions of Indians had participated, and the British were ultimately forced to acknowledge that there was a need for major political reform. When the British promulgated the Government of India Act 1935, the Congress Party decided to contest elections. Nehru stayed out of the elections, but campaigned vigorously nationwide for the party.
The Congress formed governments in almost every province, and won the largest number of seats in the Central Assembly, which the Congress had denounced as powerless. But it was able to exercise control of provincial affairs, giving India its first taste of democratic self-government. Nehru was elected again to the Congress Presidency in 1936, and again in 1937. In his famous speech to the session in Lucknow in 1936, he pushed the passage of the Avadi Resolution which committed the Congress to socialism as the basis of the future agenda of a free India’s government. But the effort was strongly criticized by major Congress leaders, including Gandhi and Sardar Patel, though for different reasons. Nehru transformed his position to commit that the resolution did not in fact bind Congress to socialism, and that the Congress Party’s main goal was independence, not socialism. However, Nehru had grown politically closer to Congress socialists like Jaya Prakash Narayan, Narendra Dev and the liberal-socialist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. During this period, Nehru also wrote his autobiography in which he vividly describes his struggle for (political) freedom, noting that ‘This book was written entirely in prison’.
It is a very readable and honest account that contains many anecdotes and insights in the political and social circumstances of pre-war India. When World War II broke out, Nehru and the Congress condemned the unilateral decision made by the British viceroy to enter India, but were divided as to what to do about it. Nehru and Patel made an offer of cooperation with the British, promising whole-hearted support if after the war, the British would deliver India’s political freedom. This was opposed by Gandhi, but marked the first occasion when Nehru, and indeed a majority of Congress leaders went against his advice. Several British politicians and British officials backed the offer, considering Indian support valuable, but the bid failed when the British ruled out any political reform. The Congress Party ordered all of its elected members in the Central and provincial assemblies to resign, and another national struggle seemed inevitable. Nehru and Maulana Azad were lukewarm to Gandhi’s call for revolt, still considering it a good possibility that the British would ultimately concede independence for Indian support. Although many other Indian political parties opposed the call, Gandhi and Sardar Patel convinced Nehru and Azad, and the entire Indian National Congress to a final showdown with the British Empire.
The Quit India Movement was launched on August 13, 1942. The Congress made an open call for complete independence immediately. Only an independent India would decide whether India would participate in the war. The Congress asked all Indians to boycott British goods, the institutions and factories run by the British, public services and government programs. Major strikes, protests and demonstrations broke out all over India, and although other political parties did not participate, it proved to be the most forceful revolt in the history of British rule. Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were immediately arrested. The Committee was imprisoned in a fort-turned-prison in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, separate from Gandhi, who was imprisoned in Pune. The British had made arrangements to deport the leaders if necessary, but felt that then any chance of regaining order would be lost due to public outrage. Outside, hundreds of thousands of Indian freedom fighters were imprisoned, and thousands were killed in police firings. Upon the end of the war, Nehru and the Congress leadership were released. The new Labour Party government of Clement Attlee in the United Kingdom was preparing plans for India’s independence. Imprisoned for a total of over 13 years, he was President of the Congress in 1929, 1936, 1937 and 1947.
He became the Vice President of the Interim Government on September 2, 1946 and later the Prime Minister of Independent India on August 15, 1947. Jawaharlal Nehru served as India’s Prime Minister from August 15, 1947, to May 27, 1964 – the day he died. Nehru loved children; therefore his birthday is observed as Children’s Day. For children, he was Chacha (uncle) Nehru. In 1946, Nehru had moved into the former residence of the British Commander in Chief of the Indian Army on York Road, in Delhi. With independence, this became the official residence of the PM, and after Nehru’s death in 1964, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Nehru lived alone initially, but was later joined by his daughter Indira Gandhi, who despite having a young family of her own felt a need to take care of her father’s personal needs. Over the years she became his virtual chief of staff – managing his schedule and appointments, instructing the staff of the residence and often accompanying him on foreign trips and in meetings with world leaders. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s administration created the policies that formed the backbone of India’s social and economic development, national defense and position in world affairs for decades, although many times are criticized as very much wrong policies. Nehru also sired the most powerful political dynasty in India’s modern history. His daughter Indira Gandhi would become Prime Minister within two years of his death in 1966, and would serve for 15 years and 3 terms.