Bagha Jatin

Bagha Jatin
Date of Birth	:	Dec 7, 1879
Date of Death	:	Sep 10, 1915
Place of Birth	:	Nadia district

Bagha Jatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee was a Bengali Indian revolutionary activist against British rule. He was one of the leaders of the Yugantar party that was the main association of revolutionaries in Bengal, and was responsible for the planned German Plot during World War I. Jatin was born in Kayagram, a village in the Kushtia subdivision of Nadia district in what is now Bangladesh. His parents were Umeshchandra Mukherjee and Sharatshashi; he grew up in his ancestral home at Jhenaidah till his father's death when Jatin was five years old. His mother settled in her parents' home in Kayagram with him and his elder sister Benodebala. As he grew older, Jatin gained a reputation for physical bravery and great strength; the name by which he came to be known ("Bagha Jatin" - Tiger Jatin) derived from an incident in which he killed a tiger with nothing but a knife.
After passing the Entrance examination in 1895, he joined the Calcutta Central College (now Maulana Azad College), for his First Arts. Soon he started visiting Swami Vivekananda, whose social thought, and especially his vision of a politically independent India, had a great influence on him. In 1900, Jatin married Indubala Banerjee of the Kumarkhali upazila in Kushtia; they had four children: Atindra (1903-1906), Ashalata (1907-1976), Tejendra (1909-1989) and Birendra (1913-1991). Jatin, together with Barindra Ghosh, set up a terrorist bomb factory near Deoghar, while Barin did the same at Maniktala in Calcutta; the aim, aside from the general production of terror, was the elimination of certain British officers. In 1908 Jatin was not one of over thirty revolutionaries accused in the Alipore bomb case following the Muzaffarpur bombing. During the Alipore Bomb Case, Jatin took over the leadership of the Yugantar Party, and revitalised the links between the central organization in Calcutta and its several branches spread all over Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and several places in U.P. On 24 January 1910, as part of a Yugantar campaign against those who had been responsible for the arrests and trials in the Alipore bomb case, Samsul Alam, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, was shot and killed by Biren Dutta Gupta on the stairs of the Calcutta High Court building. Jatin was arrested in connection with this murder, but was released and immediately re-arrested along with forty-six others in connection with the Howrah conspiracy case. While held in Howrah jail, awaiting trial, Jatin made contact with many fellow prisoners, prominent revolutionaries belonging to various groups operating in different parts of Bengal, who were all accused in the case. He was also informed by his emissaries abroad that very soon Germany was to declare war against England. He counted heavily on this war to organise an armed uprising among the Indian soldiers in various regiments. The Howrah conspiracy case failed due to lack of proper evidence ,and Jatin was acquitted in 1911 and released. He lost his government job, and started a contract business constructing the Jessore-Jhenaidah railway line. He went on a pilgrimage, and at Hardwar visited Bholananda Giri who had given him spiritual instruction in 1906. Jatin went on to Brindavan where he met Swami Niralamba (who, before becoming a sanyasi, had been Jateendra Nath Bannerjee), a renowned revolutionary who followed Sri Aurobindo's teachings. Niralamba gave Jatin information about and links to the units set up by him in Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab, revolutionary activities in these regions being led by Lala Hardayal and Rash Behari Bose. On return from his pilgrimage, Jatin started reorganising Yugantar. During the flooding of Hughli and Midnapore, relief work brought together the leaders of various of these groups, and they chose Jatin and Rashbehari Bose as leaders in Bengal and northern India respectively. There were also attempts to organise expatriate Indian revolutionaries; a Yugantar Ashram was set up in San Francisco, California, and the Sikh community also became involved. When World War I broke out, European-based Indian revolutionaries met in Berlin in order to form the Indian Independence Party, and gained the support of the German government. In September 1914, the International Pro-India Committee was formed at Zurich by Champakaraman Pillai, who also became its president. Later it was merged into a bigger body, the Berlin Committee, led by Chatto, alias Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, which had as members almost all the prominent Indian revolutionaries abroad, including the leaders of the Ghadar Party. Many members of the Gadhar party arrived in India, and helped the revolutionaries in their attempts to create an uprising inside India during World War I, with the help of arms, ammunition, and funds supplied by the German government. Yugantar, under Jatin's leadership, had been planning and organising an armed revolt. Rash Behari Bose accepted the task of carrying out the plan in Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab. This plan came to be known as the the German Plot, the Indo-German Conspiracy, or the Zimmermann Plan. Yugantar started to collect funds by organising a series of dacoities (armed robberies) known as "Taxicab dacoities" and "Boat dacoities". As the police activities to prevent any uprising increased, eminent members of Yugantar suggested that Jatin should move to a safer place. Balasore on the Orissa coast was selected as a suitable place, as it was very near the spot where German arms were to be landed for the Indian rising. To facilitate transmission of information to Jatin, a business house under the name "Universal Emporium" was set up, as a branch of Harry & Sons in Calcutta, which had been created in order to keep contacts with revolutionaries abroad. Jatin therefore moved to a hideout outside Kaptipada village in the native state of Mayurbhanj, more than thirty miles away from Balasore. Jatin was alerted and advised to leave his hiding place, but his insistence on taking Niren and Jatish with him delayed his departure by a few hours, by which time a large force of police, headed by top European officers from Calcutta and Balasore, reinforced by the army unit from Chandbali in Mayurbhanj State, had reached the neighbourhood. Jatin and his companions walked through the forests and hills of Mayurbhanj, and after two days reached Balasore Railway Station. The police had announced a reward for the capture of the fleeing revolutionaries, so the local villagers were also in pursuit. With occasional skirmishes, the revolutionaries, running through jungles and marshy land in torrential rain, finally took up position on September 9, 1915 in an improvised trench in undergrowth on a hillock at Chashakhand in Balasore. Chittapriya and his companions asked Jatin to leave and go to safety while they guarded the rear. Jatin refused to leave them, however. The contingent of Government forces surrounded them. A gunfight ensued, lasting seventy-five minutes, between the five revolutionaries armed with Mauser pistols and a large number of police and army armed with modern rifles. It ended with an unrecorded number of casualties on the Government side; on the revolutionary side, Chittapriya Ray Chaudhuri died, Jatin and Jatish were seriously wounded, and Manoranjan Sengupta and Niren were captured after their ammunition ran out. Jatin died in Balasore hospital on 10 September 1915.

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Khudiram Bose

Khudiram Bose
Date of Birth	:	Dec 3, 1889
Date of Death	:	Aug 11, 1908
Place of Birth	:	Bengal

Khudiram Bose was an Indian freedom fighter, one of the youngest revolutionaries early in the Indian independence movement. Bose was born on 3rd December 1889 in the village Bahuvaini in Medinipur district of Bengal. His father Trailokyanath Basu was the Tahsildar of the town of the Nadazol prince. His mother Lakshmipriya Devi was a pious lady, who was well known for her virtuous life and generosity. Bose was inspired by his readings of the Bhagavad Gita, which helped him embrace revolutionary activities aimed at ending the British Raj. He was especially disillusioned with the British following the partition of Bengal conflagration in 1909. He joined Jugantar - the party of revolutionary activists. At the nascent age of sixteen, Bose was defying police after planting bombs near police stations and targeting government officials. He was arrested three years later on charges of conducting a series of bomb attacks.The specific bombing for which he was sentenced to death resulted in the deaths of 3 unrelated innocents: Mrs Kennedy, her daughter and a servant. Khudiram and Prafulla Chaki were sent to Muzaffarpur, Bihar to assasinate Kingsford, the Calcutta Presidency Magistrate, and later, magistrate of Muzaffarpur,Bihar.
Khudiram and Prafulla watched the usual movements of Kingsford and prepared a plan to kill him.In the evening of 30 April 1908, the duo waited in front of the gate of European Club fot the carriage of Kingsford to come.When a vehicle came out of the gate, they threw bombs and blew up the carriage. Unfortunately, the vehicle was not carrying Kingsford, rather two innocent British ladies - Mrs and Miss Kenedy (the wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy ) were killed.The terrorist duo fled. Prafulla committed suicide when cornered by police at the Samastipur Railway station. Khudiram was later arrested. On this Muzaffarpur bombing and other charges of bombings carried out by him, a pretence of trial was carried out for two months. In the end, he was sentenced to death at a tender age of 19.He was hanged on 11 August 1908.

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Dinesh Gupta

Dinesh Gupta
Date of Birth	:	Dec 6, 1911
Date of Death	:	Jul 7, 1931
Place of Birth	:	Josholong

Dinesh Chandra Gupta or Dinesh Gupta was a Bengali Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. Dinesh Gupta was born on 6 December 1911 in the village of Josholong in Munshiganj District, now in Bangladesh. While he was studying in Dhaka College, Dinesh joined Bengal Volunteers - a group organised by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1928 , at the occasion of Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress. Soon the Bengal Volunteers transformed itself to a more active revolutionary association and planned to liquidate infamous British police officers. The association targeted Col NS Simpson, the Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the brutal oppression on the prisoners in the jails. The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie Square in Kolkata. On 8 December 1930, Dinesh along with Benoy Basu and Badal Gupta, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson.
British police started firing. What ensued was a brief gunfight between the 3 young revolutionaries and the police.Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting. Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal Gupta took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers.Benoy was taken to the hospital where he died on 13 December 1930. However, Dinesh survived the near-fatal injury. He was convicted and the verdict of the trial was death by hanging for anti-government activities and murder. While awaiting execution, Dinesh wrote a number of letters from his prison cell on the heroism of the revolutionaries and his belief in the greatness of self-sacrifice. Dinesh Chandra Gupta was only 19 when he was hanged on 7 July 1931 at Alipore Jail. The martyrdom of Benoy, Badal, and Dinesh inspired futher revolutionary activities in Bengal, as well as the rest of India. After independence, Dalsousie Square was named B.B.D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.

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Badal Gupta

Badal Gupta
Date of Birth	:	1912
Date of Death	:	1930
Place of Birth	:	Dhaka

Badal Gupta was a Bengali Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. Badal Gupta was born Sudhir Gupta in the village Purba Shimulia (West Shimulia) in the Vikrampur region of Dhaka District, now in Bangladesh. Badal was greatly inspired towards patriotism by Nikunja Sen, a teacher of the Banaripara School of Vikrampur. Badal joined the Bengal Volunteers (BV) as a member. Bengal Volunteers targetted Col NS Simpson,The Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the brutal oppression on the prisoners in the jails.
The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata. On 8 December 1930, Badal along with Dinesh chandra Gupta and Benoy, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. British police started firing.What ensued was a brief gunfight between the 3 young revolutionaries and the police.Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting. Soon police overpowered them.However, the three did not wish to be arrested.Badal took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers.Badal died on the spot. The martyrdome and self-sacrifice of Benoy,Badal and Dinesh inspired further revolutionary activities in Bengal,in particular and India,in general. After independence, the dalsousie square was named B.B.D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.

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Benoy Basu

Benoy Basu
Date of Birth	:	Sep 11, 1908
Date of Death	:	Dec 13, 1930
Place of Birth	:	Rohitbhog

Benoy Krishna Basu was an Bengali Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter. Benoy Basu was born on 11 September 1908, in the village Rohitbhog in the Munshiganj District, now in Bangladesh. His father, Rebatimohan Basu was an engineer. After passing the Matriculation Examination in Dhaka, Benoy enrolled into the Mitford Medical School (now Sir Salimullah Medical College).Under the influence of Hemchandra Ghosh, a revolutionary of Dhaka ,Benoy joined the 'Mukti Sangha', a secret society closely connected with the Jugantar Party. He could not complete medical studies due to his association with revolutionary activities. Benoy and his peer revolutionaries joined Bengal Volunteers - a group organised by Subhas Chandra Bose in 1928 , at the occasion of Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress.Soon Benoy started a local unit of the organisation in Dhaka , named Bengal Volunteers in Dacca .Later, the Bengal Volunteers became a more active revolutionary association and prepared a plan of "Operation Freedom" against the police repression in Bengal , especially against the inhuman conduct with the political prisoners in different jails. In August 1930, the revolutionary group planned to kill Lowman, the Inspector General of Police who was due to present in the Medical School Hospital to see an ailing senior police official undergoing treatment.On 29 August 1930, Benoy casually clad in a traditional Bengali attire breached the security and fired at close range. Lowman died instantly and Hodson, the Superintendent of police, was grievously injured. Benoy fled and took shelter in Kolkata. The police declared a cash prize of Rs 5000 against Benoy's head but he was not to be arrested. The next target was Col NS Simpson,The Inspector General of Prisons, who was infamous for the brutal oppression on the prisoners in the jails. The revolutionaries decided not only to murder him, but also to strike a terror in the British official circles by launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the Writers' Building in the Dalhousie square in Kolkata.
On 8 December 1930, Benoy along with Dinesh chandra Gupta and Badal Gupta, dressed in European costume, entered the Writers' Building and shot dead Simpson. British police started firing.What ensued was a brief gunfight between the 3 young revolutionaries and the police.Some other officers like Twynam, Prentice and Nelson suffered injuries during the shooting. Soon police overpowered them. However, the three did not wish to be arrested. Badal took Potassium cyanide, while Benoy and Dinesh shot themselves with their own revolvers. Benoy was taken to the hospital where he died on 13 December 1930. The martyrdome and self-sacrifice of Benoy,Badal and Dinesh inspired futher revolutionary activities in Bengal,in particular and India,in general. After independence, the dalsousie square was named B.B.D. Bagh - after the Benoy-Badal-Dinesh trio.

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Gopinath Bordoloi

Gopinath Bordoloi
Date of Birth	:	1890
Date of Death	:	1950
Place of Birth	:	India

Gopinath Bordoloi was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of Asam, and also a leading Indian freedom-fighter from Assam. After rising through Congress ranks in the 1930s, Bordoloi's biggest battle came as Bengal's Muslim majority wanted to include the overwhelmingly Hindu Assam in a Muslim-majority Pakistan. Organizing protests and engaging the colonial government on the highest level prevented mass communal riots in Assam and allowed for it to preserve its territorial integrity within India. After India's Independence, he worked closely with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to secure Assam against Communist China and East Pakistan, and also organize the return of millions of refugees who fled East Pakistan due to widespread violence and intimidation during partition. His work gave a base of communal harmony, democracy and stability which kept Assam secure and progressive right up till the 1971 war over East Pakistan's independence. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1999.

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Surya Sen

Surya Sen
Date of Birth	:	-
Date of Death	:	Jan 8, 1934
Place of Birth	:	India

Surya Sen, a teacher by profession,he was a prominent Bengali Indian freedom fighter and was the chief architect of anti-British freedom movement in Chittagong, Bengal (now in Bangladesh). A resident of Noapara under Chittagong, he was initiated into revolutionary ideas in 1916 by one of his teachers while he was a student of BA Class in the Behrampore College. On his return to Chittagong in 1918, he became the president of the Chittagong branch of the Indian National Congress, revived the hardline patriotic organisation and became a teacher of the local national school. Hence, he was known as Mastarda (teacher brother).

By 1923 Surya Sen established a number of hardline patriotic organisations (including Jugantar) in different parts of Chittagong district. Aware of the limited equipment and other resources of the freedom fighters, he was convinced of the need for secret guerrilla warfare against the colonial Government. One of his early successful undertakings was a broad day robbery at the treasury office of the Assam-Bengal Railway at Chittagong. His subsequent major success in the anti-British revolutionary violence was the Chittagong Armoury Raid in 1930. Surya Sen, being constantly followed up by the police, had to hide at the house of Sabitri Devi, a widow, near Patiya. A police and military force under Captain Cameron surrounded the house on 13 June 1932.Cameron was shot dead while ascending the staircase and Surya Sen along with Pritilata Waddedar and Kalpana Dutta escaped to safety. Ultimately a villager revealed the hiding place of Surya Sen at Gahira village in Chittagong and in the early hours of 17th February 1933, a Gurkha contingent surrounded the hideout and a soldier seized Surya Sen while he was trying to break the cordon. Tarakeswar Dastidar, the new president of the Chittagong Branch Jugantar Party, made a preparation to rescue Surya Sen from the Chittagong Jail. But the plot was unearthed and consequently frustrated. Tarakeswar and Kalpana along with others were arrested. Special tribunals tried Surya Sen, Tarakeswar Dastidar, and Kalpana Datta in 1933. Sentenced to death in August 1933, Surya Sen was hanged in the Chittagong Jail on the 8th January, 1934. At the time of his execution, the detainees kept up a continuous chorus of revolutionary songs. The villager who had revealed the hiding place of Surya Sen to the police was murdered in broad daylight on the 8th January, 1934.

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Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore
Date of Birth	:	May 7, 1861
Date of Death	:	Aug 8, 1941
Place of Birth	:	West Bengal

Rabindranath Tagore was a rare and great personality. He was a scholar, freedom fighter, writer and painter and above all a humble man. His contributions to Indian Literature was immense. He won the noble prize in 1913 for his collection of well known poems 'Gitanjali'. Tagore was born on May 7, 1861 to Debendranath Tagore and Sharada Devi at Jorasanko in West Bengal. He did his schooling in the prestigious St. Xavier School. He has written thousands of Poems and lyrics and about 35 plays about 12 novels, numerous short stories and a mass of prose literature. He was called as 'Vishwa Kavi'. Besides the famous ' Gitanjali' his other well known poetic works include ' Sonar Tari', 'Puravi', ' The cycle of the spring', ' The evening songs' etc. The names of his well known novels are: 'Gora', ' The wreck', ' Raja Rani', ' Ghare Baire', ' Raj Rishi' etc. ' Chitra' is his famous play in verse. ' Kabuli Wallah' and ' Kshudita Pashan' are his famous stories. In 1901, he founded the Vishwabharati University- earlier known as Shantiniketan at Bolepur in West Bengal. This was founded with the aim of evolving a world culture, a synthesis of eastern and western values. Our National Anthem 'Jana Gana Mana ......' was written by him.

Rabindranath Tagore, also known by the sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali poet, Brahmo (syncretic Hindu monotheist) philosopher, visual artist, playwright, composer, and novelist whose avant-garde works reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A celebrated cultural icon of Bengal, he became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Rabindranath Tagore, pronounced Ravindronath Thakhur, was born May 7, 1861 or the 25th day of the month of Baisakhi in the year 1268 (Bengali lunar calendar) in Calcutta, amidst turmoil of British and Indian relations. Tagore (nicknamed "Rabi") was born the youngest of fourteen children in the Jorasanko mansion of parents Debendranath Tagore and Sarada Devi. He was the sixth child born to Sarada devi and Mahashri Debendranath Tagore. After undergoing his upanayan (coming-of-age) rite at age eleven, Tagore and his father left Calcutta on February 14, 1873 to tour India for several months, visiting his father's Santiniketan estate and Amritsar before reaching the Himalayan hill station of Dalhousie. There, Tagore read biographies, studied history, astronomy, modern science, and Sanskrit, and examined the classical poetry of Kalidasa. In 1877, he arose to notability when he composed several works, including a long poem set in the Maithili style pioneered by Vidyapati. Seeking to become a barrister, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, England in 1878; later, he studied at University College London, but returned to Bengal in 1880 without a degree. On 9 December 1883, he married Mrinalini Devi; they had five children, four of whom later died before reaching full adulthood. In 1890, Tagore (joined in 1898 by his wife and children) began managing his family's estates in Shelidah, a region now in Bangladesh. Known as "Zamindar Babu", Tagore traveled across the vast estate while living out of the family's luxurious barge, the Padma, to collect (mostly token) rents and bless villagers; in exchange, he had feasts held in his honour. During these years, Tagore's Sadhana period (1891-1895; named for one of Tagore's magazines) was among his most fecund, with more than half the stories of the three-volume and eighty-four-story Galpaguchchha written. With irony and emotional weight, they depicted a wide range of Bengali lifestyles, particularly village life. Tagore was nursed in the political ideals bequeathed to him by his father, the honorary Secretary of the British Indian Association. Tagore, unlike most of the other freedom fighters of his time, exposed the depravity of the British rule by chronicling all his adversities with British imperialism through poetry and literary works. He wrote most of his pieces in his mother tongue, Bengali, to be later translated to cater to his vast audience. He used his literature as a mobilization for political and social reform, hence allowing other nations to be aware and further apply international pressure to Britain to be accountable for its actions. He documented everything that would expose Britain's true intentions in India.

He was always a poet foremost, but due to the situation he was born into, his role in India's independence movement was to inspire faith in the dream that was unfulfilled. Without faith there was no future to be created. Tagore said, "It is the dreamer who builds up civilization; it is he who can realize the spiritual unity reigning supreme over all differences of race." Instilling national pride, he believed that India must earn her freedom.

He was insistent that the Englishman in India was an external fact and that the country was the most true and complete fact: "Try to build up your country by your own strength because realization becomes complete through creation." Hence, Tagore advocated that we can only realize our own self in the country if we seek to create the country we wish to live in by our thought, our activity and our service. The homeland is the creation of the mind and that is why the soul realizes itself (finds itself) in its own experience in the motherland. Tagore asked his people, in "Swadeshi Samaj", to win back the country, not from the British, but from apathy and indifference. He believed the country would attain a form of salvation only when all of its parts pulsated with passion for the recovery of the motherland. Hence, Tagore's method for liberation was an internal, intellectual movement: "Unreasoning faith, blind habits of mind, adherence to customs that had no merit save their age, the repression of intellect and heart in the unproductive channel of inaction - all of this is the antithesis of the forces that reveal people in all their full glory and dignity. This is the root cause of degeneration." His goal was not economic restructuring, but emotional liberation from the British, leading to economic and political reform.

Tagore was not a supporter of the non-cooperation movement as he felt the end result of disassociation from the British would be futile, since the future would only lead back to assimilation. Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore differed in this way in their thinking on how to free India. Tagore and Gandhi, however, had a fond affinity for one another. Gandhi termed Tagore as his "Gurudev". Jawaharlal Nehru stated, "No two persons could possibly differ so much as Gandhi and Tagore." Yet this is a perfect example of the Hindu philosophy of acceptance in the pursuit of knowledge and the richness of India's age-long cultural genius. Gandhi consulted Tagore regarding methods of liberating India, stating that knowing his best friend was spiritually with him sustained him in the midst of the storms he entered.

Tagore began to resurrect his people by the introduction of schools. He taught subjects promoting that man can extend his own horizon and achieve a second birth through creativity and art. He opened his first school in Santiniketan. He began the regeneration by directing his efforts primarily at education with the foremost hope of promoting literacy and then health via enforcement of social conduct. Tagore was born into the priestly class, placing him in the highest class in Indian culture. However, he believed that India, by creating smaller and smaller spheres was destroying the vitality of her people. He refused to reap any benefit from the caste system and lived among the poorest of people. He recognized that when the British government created separate electorates for the castes among Hindus, its intention was to separate the Hindu community. Gandhi and Tagore, both of the same mind, protested to this differentiation, leading to Gandhi announcing a fast until death on September 0, 1932, which did not end in tragedy. This consciousness of the abject condition and miserable helplessness of the poor, unlucky people was the basis of his political philosophy in the years that followed.

Rabindranath Tagore was probably most famously known as the author of India's national anthem, J"ana Gana Mana." The national anthem was first sung on December 27, 1911 at the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in glory of the motherland. It is also a song of reverence to the Lord of the Universe, the Dispenser of Human Destiny, Arjuna, who drives India's history through the ages along the rugged road with the rise and fall of nations

As Tagore became recognized as a prolific poet, through the translation to English of his most famous work Gitanjali, he acquired international fame with an introduction by W.B. Yeats. He was selected for the Nobel Prize in literature the next year and was granted a Nobel laureate subsequently in 1914. Furthermore, the University of Calcutta gave him an honorary Doctorate of Literature. The British government conferred upon him a knighthood celebrating the occasion of the King Emperor. However, in 1916, the poet renounced this knightship in protest to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 where 379 people were killed as the Imperial Government obtained the right to jail without trial, anyone whom they regarded as fractious. He wrote a stinging letter abandoning all amity and worked to strengthen India on a grassroots level.

In the years that followed before and after the Independence of India, Tagore became a spiritual ambassador, visiting Japan, Central and North America and other nations promoting understanding of culture and the follies of aggressive nationalism. He grew as a writer of poems. In his career, from 1878 to 1931, he wrote: songs, plays, novels, short stories, literary criticisms, lectures on religion and philosophy, and dramas. Then, from 1928 to 1940, he produced two thousand paintings. In later years, as Tagore reached his sixties, he tried to finance his Vishva-Bharati University personally. He relied on royalties and proceeds from his lecture tours. By 1941, Tagore's health had seriously deteriorated. When India attained independence, its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a great admirer of Tagore, had an act passed to adopt Vishva-Bharati as one of the Central Universities. Tagore died peacefully, after an operation in Calcutta on August 7, 1941. Calcutta residents came by the thousands to have a last look at their beloved poet, as his body was carried to the bank of the Hoogly River for cremation. He was the quintessence of Indian culture and the living voice of India. Convincingly, he was the Prophet of Peace.

Bibliography (partial)

Bangla-language originals

Poetry

Manasi 1890 (The Ideal One)
Sonar Tari 1894 (The Golden Boat)
Gitanjali 1910 (Song Offerings)
Gitimalya 1914 (Wreath of Songs)
Balaka 1916 (The Flight of Cranes)

Dramas

Valmiki Pratibha 1881 (The Genius of Valmiki)
Visarjan 1890 (The Sacrifice)
Raja 1910 (The King of the Dark Chamber)
Dak Ghar 1912 (The Post Office)
Achalayatan 1912 (The Immovable)
Muktadhara 1922 (The Waterfall)
Raktakaravi 1926 (Red Oleanders)

Literary fiction

Gora 1910 (Fair-faced)
Ghare-Baire 1916 (The Home and the World)
Yogayog 1929 (Crosscurrents)
Autobiographies

Jivansmriti 1912 (My Reminiscences)
Chhelebela 1940 (My Boyhood Days)

English-language translations

Creative Unity (1922)
Fruit-Gathering (1916)
The Fugitive (1921)
The Gardener (1913)
Gitanjali: Song Offerings (1912)
Glimpses of Bengal (1991)
The Home and the World (1985)
I Won't Let you Go: Selected Poems (1991)
My Boyhood Days (1943)
My Reminiscences (1991)
Nationalism (1991)
The Post Office (1996)
Sadhana: The Realisation of Life (1913)
Selected Letters (1997)
Selected Poems (1994)
Selected Short Stories (1991)

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Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Date of Birth	:	Nov 11, 1888
Date of Death	:	Feb 22, 1958
Place of Birth	:	-

Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin, better known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a renowned scholar, poet, freedom fighter and leader of the Indian National Congress in India's struggle for Independence. He was well versed in many languages viz. Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, Persian and Bengali, and a prolific debater - as depicted by his name, Abul Kalam, which literally means father or lord of dialogue. His forefathers came from Herat, Afghanistan in Babur's days. His mother was an Arab and the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad Zaher Watri and his father, Maulana Khairuddin, was a Bengali Muslim of Afghan (probably Tajik) origins. Khairuddin left India during the Sepoy Mutiny, proceeded to Mecca and settled there. He came back to Calcutta with his family in 1890. Azad was a descendant of a lineage maulanas. He was given the chrono-grammatical name of Firoz Bakht (of exalted destiny), but was commonly called Muhiyuddin Ahmad. Educated according to the traditional curriculum, Azad learned Arabic and Persian first, and then philosophy, geometry, mathematics and algebra. He was taught at home, first by his father, later by appointed teachers who were eminent in their respective fields. Seeing that English was fast becoming the international language, Azad taught himself to read, write and speak the language. He was an Ahle-Hadees, and followed the way of Salafi Manhaj. He adopted the pen name Azad to signify his freedom from traditional Muslim ways. Azad was introduced to the freedom struggle by revolutionary Shri Shyam Sunder Chakravarthy. Most revolutionaries in Bengal were Hindus. Azad greatly surprised his fellow Hindu revolutionaries with his willingness to join the freedom struggle. At first his peers were skeptical of his intentions.

Azad found the revolutionary activities restricted to Bengal and Bihar. Within two years, Azad helped setup secret revolutionary centers all over north India and Bombay.

Most revolutionaries were anti-Muslim because they felt that the British Government was using the Muslim community against India's freedom struggle. Azad tried to convince his colleagues that indifference and hostility toward the Muslims would only make the path to freedom more difficult.

Azad began publication of a journal called Al Hilal (the Crescent) in June 1912 to increase revolutionary recruits amongst the Muslims. The Al Hilal reached a circulation of 26,000 in two years. The British Government used the Press Act and then the Defense of India Regulations Act in 1916 to shut the journal down.

Azad roused the Muslim community through the Khilafat Movement. The aim of the movement was to re-instate the Khalifa as the head of British captured Turkey.

Azad supported Gandhiji's non-cooperation movement and joined the Indian National Congress (I.N.C) in January 1920. He presided over the special session of Congress in September 1923 and is said to be at the age of 35, the youngest man elected as the President of the Congress.

Azad was arrested in 1930 for violation of the salt laws as part of Gandhhiji's Salt Satyagraha. He was put in Meerut jail for a year and a half.

Azad was the staunchest opponent of partition of India into India and Pakistan. He supported a confederation of autonomous provinces with their own constitutions but common defense and economy, an arrangement suggested in the British Cabinet Mission Plan of May 1946. According to Azad partition was against the grain of the Indian culture which did not believe in "divorce before marriage." Partition shattered his dream of an unified nation where the Hindu and Muslim faiths would learn to co-exist in harmony.

Maulana Azad served as the Minister of Education in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet from 1947 to 1958. He died in August 1958. Azad was honored with the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1992. Azad is featured on an Indian postage stamp; there are many schools, colleges, roads and hospitals all over India named after him, the most famous of which is the Maulana Azad Medical College (situated in Old Delhi, on the site of an erstwhile British jail, and flanked by the Khooni Darwaza, a commemorative arch of the last of the Mughal heirs - murdered by a British officer in 1857). It is consistently rated among the top ten medical colleges in India.

His writings

As a scholar, Maulana Azad produced monumental literary works. Azad penned the book India Wins Freedom in 1957. He had also authored the Ghubar-i-Khatir, written in jail between 1942-1945, and with the Tadhkirah, a masterpiece of the Urdu language.

His commentary on the Qur'an is unique in the realm of Muslim liberation.

Whatever role he was called upon to play whether in the field of literature or politics, he lent to it a dignity and poise which was entirely his own. He is also remembered as a poet and writer of great skill.

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Chittaranjan Das

Chittaranjan Das
Date of Birth	:	Nov 25, 1870
Date of Death	:	Jun 16, 1925
Place of Birth	:	India

Chittaranjan Das (C.R.Das) (popularly called Deshbandhu) was a Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement.

Educated in England, his public career began in 1909 when he successfully defended Aurobindo Ghosh on charges of involvement in the previous year's Alipore bomb case.

He was a leading figure in Bengal during the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1919-1922, and initiated the ban on British clothes, setting an example by burning his own European clothes and taking up "desi" Khadi clothes. With Motilal Nehru, he founded the Swaraj Party to express his non-moderate opinions.

He brought out a newspaper called Forward and later changed its name to Liberty to fight the British Raj. When the Calcutta Corporation was formed, he became its first Mayor. He presided over the Gaya session of the Indian National Congress. Throughout his political life, he was plagued with ill health but despite that, he showed valor, courage and determinism in rising up to the British.

He was a believer of non-violence and constitutional methods for the realisation of national independence, and advocated communal harmony and championed the cause of national education. His legacy was carried forward by his disciples, and notably by Subhash Chandra Bose.

He is generally referred to by the honorific Desh Bandhu meaning "comrade of the nation."

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Bipin Chandra Pal

Bipin Chandra Pal
Date of Birth	:	Nov 7, 1858
Date of Death	:	-
Place of Birth	:	Sylhet (Bangladesh)

Bipin Chandra Pal was born on November 7, 1858 in Sylhet, (now in Bangladesh), in a wealthy Hindu Kayastha family. His father was Ramchandra Pal. He was a teacher, journalist, orator, writer and librarian who started the journal Bande Mataram.
He was one of the trilogy of the three Extremist patriots of the Indian National Congress who had fought and gave his life during Indian independence movement in the first half of the twentieth century. The other two were Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Together they were known as Lal-Bal-Pal. They had advocated extremist means to get their message across to the British, like boycotting British manufactured goods, burning Western clothes made in the mills of Manchester and strikes and lock outs of British owned businesses and industrial concerns. He came under the influence of eminent Bengali leaders of his time such as Keshab Chandra Sen and Pandit Sivanath Sastri, and joined the Brahmo Samaj. He was imprisoned for six months on the grounds of his refusal to give evidence against Sri Aurobindo in the Bande Mataram sedition case.

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Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose
Date of Birth	:	Jan 23, 1897
Date of Death	:	Aug 18, 1945
Place of Birth	:	Orissa

Subhash Chandra Bose (January 23, 1897 - August 18, 1945?), also known as Netaji, was one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. Subhas Chandra Bose was born to an affluent family in Cuttack, Orissa. His father, Janakinath Bose, was a public prosecutor who believed in orthodox nationalism, and later became a member of the Bengal Legislative Council. His mother was Prabhavati Bose, a remarkable example of Indian womanhood. Bose was educated at Cambridge University. In 1920, Bose took the Indian Civil Service entrance examination and was placed second. However, he resigned from the prestigious Indian Civil Service in April 1921 despite his high ranking in the merit list, and went on to become an active member of India's independence movement. He joined the Indian National Congress, and was particularly active in its youth wing. Subhas Chandra Bose felt that young militant groups could be molded into a military arm of the freedom movement and used to further the cause. Gandhiji opposed this ideology because it directly conflicted with his policy of ahimsa (non-violence). The British Government in India perceived Subhas as a potential source of danger and had him arrested without any charge on October 25, 1924. He was sent to Alipore Jail, Calcutta and in January 25, 1925 transferred to Mandalay, Burma. He was released from Mandalay in May, 1927 due to his ill health. Upon return to Calcutta, Subhas was elected President of the Bengal Congress Committee on October 27, 1927.
Subhas was one of the few politicians who sought and worked towards Hindu-Muslim unity on the basis of respect of each community's rights. Subhas, being a man of ideals, believed in independence from the social evil of religious discord. In January 1930 Subhas was arrested while leading a procession condemning imprisonment of revolutionaries. He was offered bail on condition that he signs a bond to refrain from all political activities, which he refused. As a result he was sentenced to a year's imprisonment. On his release from jail, Subhas was sworn in as Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation. In 1931 the split between Gandhiji and Subhas crystallized. Although the two never saw eye to eye on their view of freedom and the movement itself, Subhas felt that Gandhiji had done a great disservice to the movement by agreeing to take part in the Second Round Table Conference. Subhas viewed freedom as an absolute necessity, unlike the freedom which Gandhiji was "negotiating" with the British. Subhas was arrested again while returning from Bombay to Calcutta, and imprisoned in several jails outside West Bengal in fear of an uprising. His health once again deteriorated and the medical facilities diagnosed him with tuberculosis. It was recommended that he be sent to Switzerland for treatment. Realizing that his avenues abroad were greater with the restrictions of the British, Subhas set sail for Europe on February 23, 1933. Subhas stayed in various parts of Europe from March 1993 to March 1936 making contacts with Indian revolutionaries and European socialists supporting India's Struggle for Independence. Subhas met Mussolini in Italy and made Vienna his headquarters. Subhas was opposed to the racial theory of Nazism but appreciated its organizational strength and discipline. On March 27, 1936 he sailed for Bombay and but was escorted to jail immediately after disembarking. After lying low for a year, he was able to work actively. He attended the All India Congress Committee Session in Calcutta, the first one he attended after a lapse of nearly six years. Time had healed the tensions between Subhas and Gandhiji, and Gandhiji supported Subhas in his efforts to become the President of the next Congress session, 1938. He went to England for a month in 1938 and rallied for the Indian freedom cause amongst Indian students and British labor leaders sympathetic toward India's cause. It was a bold move since he was constantly under British surveillance. Upon his return to India in February 1938, Subhas was elected President of the Indian National Congress. An excerpt from his Presidential address read, "I have no doubt in my mind that our chief national problems relating to the eradication of poverty, illiteracy and disease and the scientific production and distribution can be tackled only along socialistic lines... ." Subhas emphasized that political freedom alone would not be sufficient, as the ills of the British reign would continue to haunt post-Independent India. He stressed the need to solve linguistic and religious prejudices and to achieve a high literacy rate amongst Indians. Gandhiji found Subhas's ideologies far too leftist and strongly disagreed with Subhas's criticism of village industries and stress on competing with the rest of the world in the Industrial age. Opposition from Sardar Vallabhai Patel, lack of support from Gandhiji and Nehru's indecision marked Subhas's year as the President of the Congress. One of Subhas' major contributions was setting up of a National Planning Committee, for the development of an economic program running parallel to the national movement. Differences between Gandhiji and Subhas led to a crisis when Gandhiji opposed Subhas' idea that the Bengal Government (a coalition between the Krishak Praja Party & Muslim League) be ousted and the Congress take charge in coalition with the Krishak party. The idea was criticized by Gandhiji and Nehru, which resulted in the strengthening of the Muslim League in Bengal and ultimately partition of India. It is obvious today that had Subhas been able to carry out his plans, Bengal would be a different entity on the atlas. Despite opposition from the Congress brass, Subhas was a favorite amongst the majority as he was re-elected for a second term in March 1939. Gandhiji considered Subhas's victory as his personal defeat and went on a fast to rally the members of the Working Committee to resign. Subhas resigned and Dr. Rajendra Prasad assumed the Presidency of the Congress. In May 1939, Subhas formed the Forward Bloc within the Congress as an umbrella organization of the left forces within the Congress. Gandhiji and his supporters accused Subhas of breach of Congress party discipline and drafted a resolution removing Subhas from the Congress Working Committee and restrained him from holding any office for three years. On September 3, 1939 Subhas was informed that war had broken out between Britain and Germany. Subhas discussed the idea of an underground struggle against the British with members of the Forward Bloc. Subhas pressurized the Congress leaders to get a Declaration of War Aims from the Viceroy; he declined. Subhas was elected President of the West Bengal Provincial Congress. In December the Congress Working Committee subverted the Provincial Committee's authority and appointed its own ad hoc committee. The Forward Bloc progressively became militant and by April 1940 most of its senior members were arrested. Subhas was convinced that the only way he could bring about India's Independence was by leaving the country and fighting from foreign territories. He had made contact with radical Punjab and Pathan activists who had contacts in Afghanistan and Russia to organize a militia. Subhas knew that Britain was in a vulnerable position following the surrender of France in June 1940. He announced the launch of Siraj-ud-daula Day on July 3, in memory of the last king of Bengal who was defeated by Clive. His plan was to hold a procession and to unify Hindu and Muslim nationalists. The Government interceded and imprisoned Subhas on July 2, 1940 in Presidency Jail, Calcutta. Netaji believed that foreign assistance was a must to free India from British rule. In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, Subhas sought assistance from Germany, Italy, and Japan as they were enemies of Britain and thus would be natural allies. In 1941, he evaded a house-arrest in Calcutta by disguising himself as a Maulavi and going to Kabul, Afghanistan. Later, he procured an Italian passport and fled to Berlin, Germany. There he met Hitler and discussed his plans and sought his assistance to free India. He also sought assistance from Mussolini. From time to time, he aired his speeches on the Azad Hind Radio from Berlin to communicate his intentions to fellow Indians and to prove that he was still alive. After the defeat of Germany, Netaji realized that he could not continue his struggle from Germany anymore. Ultimately, Netaji reached Japan in June, 1943. He established the Indian National Army (INA) with some 30,000 Indian soldiers. He also set up a radio network in South East Asia in order to appeal to the people, both in India and outside, for support. The INA declared war against Britain and America. However, the INA had to retreat from the Indo-Burmese border after a heavy defeat of the Japanese troops there. The British defense was impenetrable. Though the "Delhi Chalo" mission failed, Netaji proved to the world that his determination was strong and his attitude was positive in his dream to free India from the clutches of the British.

On August 16, 1945 Netaji boarded a plane from Singapore to Bangkok. Netaji was scheduled to fly in a Type 97-2 bomber 'Sally' from Bangkok to Saigon. The plane made a stopover in Taipei and crashed within minutes of take-off from Taipei. Netaji's body was cremated in Taipei on August 20, 1945 and his ashes were flown to Tokyo on September 5, 1945 where they rest in the Renkoji Temple. To this day, many believe that Netaji escaped from the air crash and went into hiding.

Netaji wanted unconditional and complete freedom. He dreamed of a classless society with no caste barriers, social inequalities or religious intolerance. He believed in equal distribution of wealth and destruction of communalism. His slogan "Jai Hind" still acts as a great binding force today

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Mahadeo Govind Ranade

Mahadeo Govind Ranade
Date of Birth	:	-
Date of Death	:	Jan 16, 1901
Place of Birth	:	-

At the age of six, Ranade was sent to a Marathi school in Kolhapur, and in 1851, when he was nine, he was transferred to an English school. Ranade completed his schooling at the Elphinstone Institute, Bombay. His academic performance was so good that within a year he was admitted into the prestigious Elphinstone College, Bombay.

Ranade was a scholar. He spent hours reading with utmost concentration, not stopping to relax or socialize.Ranade was among the 21 students who appeared in the Matriculation Examination held in Bombay in 1859. He achieved distinctions in all his degree courses, commencing with B.A. Honors in 1862, M.A. in 1864 and LL.B. and LL.B. Honors in 1864 and 1865 respectively. Almost throughout his academic career he was a scholarship-holder. Ranade became a proponent of the Vidhava-vivaha Uttejaka Mandali (Society for the Encouragement of Widow-remarriage) founded in 1845 by English and Sanskrit scholar, Vishnushastri Pandit. Ranade was also actively involved with the Prathna Samaj, which was similar to the Brahmo Samaj movement in Bengal. Ranade gave the Samaj his best in forwarding social reforms like inter-dining and inter- marriage, widow re-marriage, upliftment of women and the depressed classes. Ranade helped found the Indian National Social Conference to function like the social wing of the Indian National Congress. The Conference aimed at educating women, prevent child marriage and oppose the dowry system. In 1881 he was given the position of Special Sub-Judge in Poona which gave him the opportunity to come closer to the poor farmers and assist in settling land related disputes. While in the Legislative Council, Ranade wrote the "Rise and Fall of the Maratha Power" with Chatrapati Shivaji as the key figure. The same year he published an "Introduction to the Satara Rajas" and "The Peshwa Diaries." Ranade studied the economies of Switzerland, France, Italy and Belgium and made comparisons with the Indian economy. He felt the fragile state of the economy was because of the over-dependence on agriculture -an occupation that suffered from drawbacks like floods, droughts, famines, heavy taxation and inadequate irrigation facilities and relief measures during famines. Ranade stressed on the development of indigenous small industries. He forwarded the idea for the establishment of agricultural banks by the Government, to give loans directly to the peasants. From 1893 to 1900, Ranade served on the bench of the Bombay High Court where he took several steps to the liberalize the Hindu Law with regard to women's rights. Ranade died on January 16, 1901 of now common ailment angina pectoris.

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Senapati Bapat

Senapati Bapat
Date of Birth	:	Nov 12, 1880
Date of Death	:	Nov 28, 1967
Place of Birth	:	Maharashtra

Senapati Bapat was born in Ahmednagar, a district of Maharashtra, on November 12, 1880. He was fearless as a child. Having once almost drowned in a nearby stream, he didn't think twice of venturing into the stream again. He brought this same dedication and fearlessness to the aide of his motherland.

Bapat was educated in Edinburgh, Scotland, because he lost a scholarship he had received from the British Government, for expressing anti-British views at a meeting of the Independent Labor Party. Despite the loss of the scholarship he continued his studies abroad, and came home with preliminary knowledge of how to build bombs. Armed with this knowledge he planned to join other revolutionaries to use it against the British Government, not in an attempt to kill innocent victims, but to draw attention to the cause of freedom. On August 15, 1947 when India was declared free, Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian flag in Delhi for the first time. Senapati Bapat was given the same honor in Pune. After independence Senapati Bapat took an active part in political life. He passed away on November 28, 1967 at the age of 87

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Kulapati K.M. Munshi

Kulapati K.M. Munshi
Date of Birth	:	Dec 30, 1887
Date of Death	:	1971
Place of Birth	:	Broach

Versatile", "a philosopher in action", "a man of great ideas and great courage", "a multi-faceted genius"-these are the ways in which friends and admirers described Dr. Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, the founder of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.The versatility of Munshiji is seen in his roles as lawyer, creative writer, constitution-maker, freedom fighter, administrator, organization-builder and champion of Indian culture. Dr. Munshi looked upon himself as a "sea shell thrown up by the mighty flood of Indian renaissance." He founded the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan along with a few friends late in 1938. Born in Broach on December 30, 1887, Munshiji came under the influence of Sri Aurobindo while studying at Baroda College. A prize winner at the B.A. and LL.B. examinations, he enrolled himself initially as a Pleader and later as an Advocate in the Bombay Bar. He first joined Dr. Besant's All India Home Rule League in 1916 and later the Indian National Congress. He married Lilavati Sheth in 1926 (who was one of his literary critics) after the death of his first wife, Atilakshmi Pathak, whom he married when he was just 13.
He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council in 1927. He took part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and was imprisoned for 6 months. In 1932 he was sentenced to two years' rigorous imprisonment. He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly in 1937 and appointed the Home Minister in the first Congress Government. He served as India's Agent-General in Hyderabad when the Nizam was trying to keep his State independent of the Indian Union. He became a member of the Constituent Assembly in 1948. He was Food and Agriculture Minister of the Government of India in 1950. He was Governor of Uttar Pradesh during 1952-57. He resigned from the Congress and became the Vice President of the newly formed "Swatantra Party" standing for free enterprise. Till his death in 1971 he devoted all his energies to the building up of the Bhavan as the premier cultural organization of the country.

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Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Date of Birth	:	Dec 25, 1876
Date of Death	:	Sep 11, 1948
Place of Birth	:	Karachi

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was an Indian Muslim politician and statesman who led the All India Muslim League and founded Pakistan, serving as its first Governor-General. He is commonly known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-Azam and Baba-i-Qaum ("Father of the Nation"); his birth and death anniversaries are national holidays in Pakistan. Jinnah was born as Mahomedali Jinnahbhai in Wazir Mansion, Karachi. The earliest records of his school register suggest he was born on October 20, 1875, but Sarojini Naidu, the author of Jinnah's first biography gives the date December 25, 1876. Jinnah was the eldest of five children born to Jinnahbhai Poonja (1857 - 1901), a prosperous Gujarati merchant from Kathiawar, Gujarat. His family belonged to the Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam. Jinnah had a turbulent time at several different schools, but finally found stability at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi.

In 1893, he went to London to work for Graham's Shipping and Trading Company. He had been married to a 16-year old, distant relative named Emibai, but she died shortly after he moved to London. His mother died around this time as well. In 1894, Jinnah quit his job to study law at Lincoln'While celebrated as a great leader in Pakistan, Jinnah remains a controversial figure, provoking intense criticism for his role in the partition of India. Jinnah's life came under considerable pressure when his father's business was ruined. Settling in Mumbai (then Bombay), he became a successful lawyer - gaining particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case". Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. He was not an observing Muslim, taking pork and alcohol, dressed throughout his life in European-style clothes, and spoke in English more than his mother tongue, Gujarati. His reputation as a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire him as defence attorney for his sedition trial in 1905. Jinnah ably argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous term of imprisonment. Through the 1940s, Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis - only his sister and a few others close to Jinnah were aware of his condition. In 1948, Jinnah's health began to falter, hindered further by the heavy workload that had fallen upon him following Pakistan's creation. Attempting to recuperate, he spent many months at his official retreat in Ziarat, but died on September 11, 1948 from a combination of tuberculosis and lung cancer. His funeral was followed by the construction of a massive mausoleum - Mazar-e-Quaid - in Karachi to honour him; official and military ceremonies are hosted there on special occasions.

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Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Date of Birth	:	May 28, 1883
Date of Death	:	1966
Place of Birth	:	Nasik

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, sometimes called Veer Savarkar or Vir Savarkar was an Indian freedom fighter and a Hindu nationalist leader. Vinayak Savarkar was a great orator, prolific writer, historian, poet, philosopher and social worker who devoted his entire life to the cause of the Indian Independence movement. He is regarded by some as one of the greatest revolutionaries in the Indian freedom struggle, while others consider him a communalist and Machiavellian manipulator. He was also one of the most controversial figures of the independence movement. Being a descendant of a line of Sanskrit scholars, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar took great interest in History, Politics, Literature and Indian culture. His book, 'First war of Indian Independence Movement': 1857, served as an inspiration for many freedom fighters. Born in the village of Bhagur near Nasik, he was one among four children born to Damodarpant Savarkar and Radhabai. His initial education was at the Shivaji School, Nasik. He lost his mother at the age of nine. Brought up by his father, he was influenced by the freedom struggle in British India and got drawn towards it. He lost his father during the plague that struck India in 1899. In March 1901, he married Yamunabai. Post marriage, in 1902, he joined Fergusson College in Pune to study further. In June 1906, he received a scholarship and left for London to study law. As a student, Savarkar was involved in the Swadeshi movement. He later joined Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Swaraj Party. When in London, he founded the Free India Society. The Society celebrated important dates on the Indian calendar including festivals, freedom movement landmarks, and was dedicated to furthering discussion about Indian freedom which came to be highly unacceptable to the British. He is reported to have quoted, "We must stop complaining about this British officer or that officer, this law or that law.

There would be no end to that. Our movement must not be limited to being against any particular law, but it must be for acquiring the authority to make the laws itself. In other words, we want Absolute Political Independence." In 1908, when he wrote "The Indian War of Independence 1857", the British government immediately enforced a ban on the publication in both Britain and India. Later, it was published by Madame Bhikaiji Cama in Holland, and was smuggled into India to reach revolutionaries working across the country against British rule. In 1909, Madanlal Dhingra, a keen follower of Savarkar shot Sir Wyllie after a failed assassination attempt on the then Viceroy, Lord Curzon. In the political crisis that ensued, Savarkar stood out with a decision not to condemn the act. When the then British Collector of Nasik, A.M.T. Jackson was shot by a youth, Savarkar finally fell under the net of the British authorities. He was implicated in the murder citing his connections with India House. A warrant was issued on 13th March, 1910, following which he was arrested in Paris. He hatched a plan to escape at Marseilles which failed. He was captured and brought to Bombay (Mumbai) on the S.S. Morea, and imprisoned at the Yervada Prison. He was tried, and at the age of 27 years, sentenced to 50 years imprisonment at the infamous Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. On 4th July, 1911, he was transported to the Andamans. He appealed for clemency in 1911, and again in 1913, during Sir Reginald Craddock's visit. In 1920, many prominent freedom fighters including Vithalbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded the release of Savarkar and his brother in the Central Legislative Assembly. On May 2, 1921, Savarkar was moved to Ratnagiri jail, and from there to the Yeravada jail. It was in Ratnagiri jail that Savarkar wrote the book 'Hindutva'. In January 6, 1924 he was released under conditions of stringent restrictions imposed on his travel and activities. Savarkar, though an atheist himself, reluctantly accepted the presidency of the Hindu Mahasabha, and was its president for seven consecutive years. During this time, he contributed significantly to its evolution as a separate political party. The Hindu Mahasabha, under Savarkar's presidency, did not support the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi in August 1942. The Communist Party of India and the Muslim League were the other political parties which did not support the Quit India Movement. His view of post-independence India envisioned a militarily strong, cohesive and self-sufficient nation.

His Writings

His literary works in Marathi include "Kamala", "Mazi Janmathep" (My Life Sentence), and most famously "1857 - The First war of Independence". Another noted book was "Kala Pani" (similar to Life Sentence, but on the island prison on the Andamans), which reflected the treatment of Indian freedom fighters by the British. He wrote several books when in prison. Among those that he wrote when in Ratnagiri jail, was the profoundly influential book 'Hindutva', which deals with the Hindu nationalistic approach to the idea of the Indian nation and Hinduism. Other books written by him include "Hindu Padpadashahi" and "My Transportation for Life". At the same time, religious divisions in India were beginning to fissure. He described what he saw as the atrocities of British and Muslims on Hindu residents in Kerala, in the book, "Mopalyanche Band" (Muslims' Strike) and also "Gandhi Gondhal" (Gandhi's Nonsense), a political critique of Gandhi's politics. Savarkar, by now, had become a committed and persuasive critic of the Gandhian vision of India's future. He is also the author of poems like "Sagara pran talmalala", and "Jayostute" (written in praise of freedom), claimed to be one of the most moving, inspiring and patriotic works in Marathi literature by his followers and some critics.

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Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar

Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar
Date of Birth	:	-
Date of Death	:	-
Place of Birth	:	Gujarat

Ganesh Vasudev Mavlankar was an Indian freedom fighter and the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. Mavlankar hailed from Marathi background but lived and worked in Ahmedabad, capital of Gujarat. He was a colleague and close friend of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Mavlankar joined the Indian Independence Movement with the Non-Cooperation Movement. Although he temporarily joined the Swaraj Party in the 1920s, he returned to Mahatma Gandhi and the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. In 1952, after the first general elections in independent India, G.V. Mavlankar was elected the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He would serve many years in the Parliament of India.

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Vinoba Bhave

Vinoba Bhave
Date of Birth	:	Sep 11, 1895
Date of Death	:	Nov 15, 1982
Place of Birth	:	Maharashtra

Vinoba Bhave, born Vinayak Narahari Bhave and often called Acharya (In Sanskrit and Hindi means teacher), is considered as a National Teacher of India and the spiritual successor of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in Gagode, Maharashtra on September 11, 1895 into a pious family of the Chitpavan Brahmin clan. He was highly inspired after reading the Bhagavad Gita, one of the holiest Hindu scriptures at a very young age. He was associated with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement. In 1932 he was sent to jail by the British colonial government because of his fight against British rule. There he gave a series of talks on the Gita, in his native language Marathi, to his fellow prisoners. These highly inspiring talks were later published as the book "Talks on the Gita", and it has been translated to many languages both in India and elsewhere. Vinoba felt that the source of these talks was something above and he believed that its influence will endure even if his other works were forgotten. In 1940 he was chosen by Gandhi to be the first Individual Satyagrahi (an Individual standing up for Truth instead of a collective action) against the British rule. Bhave also participated in the Quit India Movement.

Vinoba's religious outlook was very broad and it synthesized the truths of many religions. This can be seen in one of his hymns "Om Tat" which contains symbols of many religions. He was also a scholar of many languages. Vinoba observed the life of the average Indian living in a village and tried to find solutions for the problems he faced with a firm spiritual foundation. This formed the core of his Sarvodaya (Awakening of all potentials) movement. Another example of this is the Bhoodhan (land gift) movement. He walked all across India asking people with land to consider him as one of their sons and so give him a portion of their land which he then distributed to landless poor. Nonviolence and compassion being a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows. Vinoba spent the later part of his life at his ashram in Paunar, Maharashtra. He controversially backed the Indian Emergency imposed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, calling it Anushasana Parva (Time for Discipline).

He died on November 15, 1982 after refusing food and medicine few days earlier. Some Indians have identified this as sallekhana. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1983.

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Vithalbhai Patel

Vithalbhai Patel
Date of Birth	:	1871
Date of Death	:	1935
Place of Birth	:	Gujarat

Vithalbhai Patel was an Indian legislator and political leader, and co-founder of the Swaraj Party. Born in Nadiad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, Vithalbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was the third of five Patel brothers, four years elder to Vallabhbhai Patel, raised in the village of Karamsad. Vithalbhai educated himself in Nadiad and in Bombay, and worked as a pleader (a junior lawyer) in the courts of Godhra and Borsad. At a very young age, he was married to a girl from another village, Diwaliba. His younger brother Vallabhbhai Patel had similarly studied by himself and worked as a pleader. Studying in England was a dream to both men, although they did not know this. Vallabhbhai had saved enough money and ordered his passport and travel tickets, when the postman delivered them to Vithalbhai, on account that it was addressed to a Mr. V.J. Patel, Pleader. Vithalbhai insisted on traveling on those documents actually meant for Vallabhbhai, pointing out that it would be socially criticized that an older brother followed the lead of the younger. Respecting his brother despite the obvious cruelty of fate on his own hard work, Vallabhbhai allowed him to proceed to England, and even paid for his stay. Vithalbhai entered the Middle Temple Inn in London, and completed the 36-month course in 30, emerging at the top of his class. Returning to Gujarat in 1913, Vithalbhai became an important barrister in the courts of Bombay and Ahmedabad. However, his wife died in 1915, and he remained a widower. Patel entered politics before his more renowned brother, winning a seat on the Bombay Legislative Council, a body with no real functions. Although failing to achieve anything concrete in terms of the fight for national independence, self-government or public welfare, Patel grew popular and respected by his oratorical and witty mastery and belittling of the Raj's officials, winning many a battle of wit, which bore little overall significance. He rose to the presidency of the Imperial Legislative Council, a collage of pro-British elected and appointed Indians and Englishmen designated to rubber-stamp the Viceroy's decisions.


Although never truly accepting the philosophy and leadership of Mohandas Gandhi, Patel joined the Congress and the struggle for freedom. He had no regional base of support, yet he was an influential leader who expanded the struggle through fiery speeches and articles published. When Gandhi aborted the struggle in 1922 following the Chauri Chaura Incident, Patel left the Congress to form the Swaraj Party with Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru, which would seek to foil the Raj by sabotaging the government after gaining entry in the councils. The party only succeeded in dividing the Congress and finally itself, but Patel and others were important voices who rebelled against the leadership of Gandhi when the nation anguished over the abortion of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Vithalbhai Patel rejoined the Congress in 1930 upon the declaration of Purna Swaraj (Complete Independence), yet later gave it up after the end of the Salt Satyagraha. He became a fierce critic of Gandhi and a strong ally of Subhas Chandra Bose. Bose and Patel travelled across Europe, gathering funds and political support - among others, they met Eamon DeValera, President of Ireland. However, Patel fell seriously ill, and died in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Narahar Vishnu Gadgil

Narahar Vishnu Gadgil
Date of Birth	:	-
Date of Death	:	-
Place of Birth	:	Maharashtra

Narahar Vishnu Gadgil was an Indian freedom fighter and one of its chief political leaders in Maharashtra. Upon Indian independence, Gadgil became the Minister for Public Works in the first Indian Cabinet led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Gadgil's Ministry undertook the project of building a military-calibre road from Pathankot to Srinagar via Jammu in Kashmir, during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1947. He is the author of the book 'Government from Inside.'

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Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Gopal Krishna Gokhale
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."

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