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Monday, October 17, 2016

Suryakant Tripathi Nirala




SURYAKANT TRIPATHI ‘NIRALA’
Date of Birth: 21st February, 1899 and Date of Death: 15th October, 1961
Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’ (21st February, 1899 – 15th October, 1961) was one of the most famous figures of the modern Hindi literature.  He was a poet, novelist, essayist and story-writer.  He also drew many sketches.

Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, one of the most significant poets of modern Hindi, was born on 21st February, 1899 in a Brahmin family of Midnapore in Bengal (originally from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh).  He was also a famous poet of Hindi Kavi Sammelan.  Though a student of Bengali, Nirala took keen interest in Sanskrit from the very beginning.  In time, through his natural intelligence and acquired knowledge, he became an authority on various languages – Bengali, English, Sanskrit and Hindi.

Nirala’s life, barring short periods, was one long sequence of misfortunes and tragedies.  His father, ‘Pandit Ramsahaya Tripathi’ was a government servant and was a tyrannical person.  His mother died when he was very young.  Nirala was educated in the Bengali medium.  However, after passing matriculation exam, he continued his education at home by reading Sanskrit and English literature.  Thereon he shifted to Lucknow and then to Village Gadhakola of District Unnao, to which his father originally belonged.  Growing up, he took inspiration from personalities like, Ramakrishna Paramhans, Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore.

After his marriage at a young age, Nirala learnt Hindi at the insistence of his wife, ‘Manohara Devi’.  Soon, he started writing poems in Hindi, instead of Bengali.  After a bad childhood, Nirala had few good years with his wife.  But this phase was short-lived as his wife died, when he was 20, and later his daughter (who was a widow) also expired.  He also went through a financial crunch.  During this phase, he worked for many publishers, worked as proof-reader and also edited Samanvaya.

Most of his life was somewhat in the Bohemian tradition.  Since he was more or less a rebel, both in form and content, acceptance did not come easily.  What he got in plenty was ridicule and derision.  All this must have played a role in making him a victim of Schiziphrenia in his later life.  He wrote strongly against social injustice and exploitation in the society.

Nirala died in Allahabad on 15th October, 1961.  The world of Hindi literature is remarkable for ideological and aesthetic divisions.  But today, the same reviled Nirala is one of the very few people in Hindi literature who are admired and respected by almost all, across all divisions.

Today, a park, Nirala Uddyan, an auditorium, Nirala Prekhagrah and a Degree College – Mahapran Nirala Degree College, in the Unnao district are named after him.  His life size but has been installed at the main market square of Daraganj, Allahabad, a place where he lived for most of his life.

Nirala pioneered the Chhayavaad movement along with Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant and Mahadevi Varma.  Nirala’s Parimal and Anaamika are considered as the original Chhaya-vaadi Hindi literature.  He was unrecognised during his life.  His style of poetry, revolutionary for his time, often was unpublished due to its unconventional nature.  He voiced his protest against exploitation through his verses.  He amalgamated Vedanta, nationalism, mysticism, and love for nature and progressive humanist ideals in his works.  The sources of his themes include history, religion, nature, Puranas and contemporary social and political questions.  He initiated the use of blank verse in his poems.  He introduced aesthetic sense, love of nature, personal viewpoint and freedom of form and content in writing which went on to become the chief tenets of Chhayawad.  His multifaceted genius, which ushered in a new style of poetry, acquired him a pseudonym, Nirala (unique).  His poem Saroj Smriti is one of the greatest, showing his emotions and sentiments for his daughter.   Nirala is also creadited with bringing in free verse in the modern Hindi prose.

His thinking was influenced by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Swami Vivekananda and in the literary field by Michael Mudhusudan Dutta and Rabindaranath Tagore.

MAHADEVI VARMA
Date of Birth: 26th March, 1907 and Date of Death: 11th September, 1987
Mahadevi Varma (26th March, 1907 - 11th September, 1987) best known as an outstanding Hindi poet, was a freedom fighter, woman’s activist and educationist from India.  She is widely regarded as the “modern Meera” [citation needed].  She was a major poet of the Chhayavaad generation, a period of romanticism in Modern Hindi poetry ranging from 1914-1938.  With passage of time, her limited but outstanding prose has been recognised as unique in Hindi Literature.  She was a prominent poet in Hindi Kavi sammelans (Gatherings of poets).

She was the Principal, and then the Vice Chancellor of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, a woman’s residential college in Allahabad.  She was awarded India’s highest literary award, for lifetime achievement, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979, followed by the Jnanpith Award in 1982.  She was the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, in 1988.

Mahadevi was born in Farrukhabad, United Provinces in a family of lawyers.  She was educated at Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.  She was the eldest child of Govinda Prasad and Hemrani and had two brothers and a sister, Shyama.  She was married in 1914 with Dr. Swarup Narain Varma in Indore at a tender age of 7.  She stayed with her parents while her husband studied in Lucknow to complete his education, during which time, she received her higher education at the Allahabad University and passed her B.A examination in 1929 and completed her M.A in Sanskrit in 1933.  She later joined her husband in the princely state of Tamkoi around 1920 and later moved to Allahabad to pursue her interest in poetry with agreement from her husband, as she refused to accept her marriage with him in childhood.  Mahadevi Varma and her husband mostly lived separately pursuing their respective interests and used to meet occasionally.
After the death of her husband in 1966, she moved permanently to Allahabad and lived there until her death.  Mahadevi Varma was deeply affected by Buddhism and also contributed to the Indian freedom movement.  She even tried to become a Buddhist bhikshuni.
Mahadevi was appointed as the first headmistress of Allahabad (Prayag) Mahila Vidyapeeth, which was started with a view to imparting cultural and literary education to girls through Hindi medium.  Later, she became the chancellor of the institute.
She died on 11th September, 1987 at 9:27 pm.  Her bunglow still stands at Ashok Nagar colony in Allahabad.  It is under possession of descendants of her deceased secretary, Pt. Ganga Prasad Pandey.  One her birth centenary year (2007), they have recreated a room dedicated to her memory.  Mahadevi Verma (1907-87), was educated in Allahabad, where she founded the ‘Prayag Mahila Vidyapitha’, promoting education for girls.  An active freedom fighter, Mahadevi Verma is regarded as one of the four pillars of the great Romantic movement in modern Hindi poetry, Chayavada, the remaining three being Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant.  She is renowned for her book of memoirs, Atit Ke Chalchitra (The Moving Frames of the Past) and Smriti Ki Rekhayen (The Lines of Memory).  Her poetic canvas boasts Dipshikha (The Flame of an Earthen Lamp, 1942), a book comprising fifty one lyrics, all which carry maturity of expression and intense mystical quality.  Some of her other famous publications are Nihar (1930), Rashmi (1932), Neerja (1934), and Sandhya Geet (1936).  Of her four prose woks, Shrinkhala ki Kadiyan deals with the plight of Indian women.  Her reflections on art and literature included in Sahityakaar ki Astha, evince a highly cultivated aesthetic sensibility, firmly rooted in the permanent values of life.

In 1935, she was appointed Honorary Editor of the famous Hindi monthly magazine Chand.  She was honoured with the Padma Bhushan by the President of India.  She died on 11th September, 1987.
Works: Mahadevi is considered to be one of the four major poets of the Chhayavaadi school of the Hindi literature, others being Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’, Jaishankar Prasad and Sumitranandan Pant.  She was also a noted painter.  She drew a number of illustrations for her poetic works like Deepshikha and Yama.
Poetry: Her poems have been published under a number of other titles as well, but they contain the poems from these collections only.  They include: 1. Neehar (1930), 2. Agnirekah (1990, published after her death), 3. Pagal hai kya? (1971, published in 2005).
Awards and honours: Mahadevi Varma’s creative talents and sharp intellect soon earned her a prominent place in the Hindi Literary world.  She is considered among the four pillars of the Chhayavaad movement.  In 1934, she received Sekseriya Puraskar from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan for her work, Niraja.  Her poetry collection received the Jnanapith Award, one of the highest Indian literary awards.
She also Honored with “Proud Past Alumni” in the list of 42 members, from “Allahabad University Alumni Association”,










VINOBA BHAVE
Date of birth: 11th September, 1895 and Date of death: 15th November, 1982
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 1st September, 1895 into a plous 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 is 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.  Non-violence and compassion being a hallmark of his philosophy, he also campaigned against the slaughtering of cows.  Vinoba spent the late 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 15th November, 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.

BANKIM CHANDRA CHATTOPADHYAY
Date of birth: 27the June, 1838, and Date of death: 8th April, 1894
Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, was a famous Bengali writer, poet and journalist.  He was the composer of India’s national song Vande Mataram, originally a Bengali and Sanskrit stotra personifying India as mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Freedom Movement.  Bankim Chandra wrote 13 novels and several ‘serious, seriocomic, satirical, scientific and critical treaties’ in Bengali.  His works were widely translated into other regional languages of India as well as in English.

Bankim Chandra was born to an orthodox Brahmin family at Kanthalpara, North 24 Parganas.  He was educated at Hoogly College and Presidency College, Calcutta.  He was one of the first graduates of the University of Calcutta.  From 1858, until his retirement in 1891, he served as a deputy magistrate and deputy collector in the Government of British India.

When Bipin Chandra Pal decided to start a patriotic journal in August, 1906, he named it Vande Mataram, after Bankim Chandra’s song.  Lala Lajpat Rai also published a journal of the same name.

Bankim Chandra was born in the village Kanthalpara in the district of Naihati, in an orthodox Bengal Brahmin family, the youngest of three brothers, to Yadav (or Jadab) Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Durgadebi.  His family was orthodox, and his father, a government official who went on to become the Deputy Collector of Midnapur.  One of his brothers, Sanjeeb Chandra Chatterjee, was also a novelist and his known for his famous book “Palamau”.

He was educated at the Mohsin College in Hugli-Chinsura and later at the Presidency College, graduating with a degree in Arts in 1857.  He was one of the first two graduates of the University of Calcutta.  He later obtained a degree in Law as well, in 1869.

He was appointed as Deputy Collector, just like his father, of Jessore, Chatterjee went on to become a Deputy Magistrate, retiring from government service in 1891.
His first fiction to appear in print was Rajmohan’s Wife.  In was written in English and was probably a translation of the novelette submitted for the prize.  (Citation needed) Durgeshnondini, his first Bengali romance and the first ever novel in Bengali, was published in 1865.  Kapalkundala (1866) is Chatterjee’s first major publication.  Bankim Chandra’s next major novel was Chandrasekhar (1877), which contains who largely unrelated parallel plots.

Bankim Chandra’s next novel, Devi Chaudhurani, was published in 1884.  His final novel, Sitaram (1886), Bankim Chandra’s humorous sketches are his best known works other than his novels.  He was one of the first intellectuals who wrote in a British colony, accepting and rejecting the status at the same time.

He was married at a very young of age of eleven, he had a son from his first wife, she died in 1859.  He later married Rajalakshmi Devi.  They had three daughters.

BIPIN CHANDRA PAL
Date of Birth: 7th November, 1858 and Date of Death: 20th May, 1932
Bipin Chandra Pal was an Indian nationalist.  He was among the triumvirate of Lal Bal Pal.  Bipin Chandra Pal was born in Poil Village, Habiganj District, Bangladesh, in a wealthy Hindu Vaishnava family.  His father was Ramchandra Pal, a Persian scholar and small landowner.  His son was Niranjan Pal, one of the founders of Bombay Talkies.  B.C. Pal is known as the ‘Father of Revolutionary Thoughts’ in India and was one of the freedom fighters of India.

Bipin Chandra Pal was a teacher, journalist, orator, writer and librarian; he was famous as one of the triumvirate of three militant patriots of the Congress – the “Pal” of Lal Bal Pal.  The trio was responsible for initiating the first popular upsurge against British colonial policy in the 1905 partition of Bengal, before the advent of Gandhi into Indian politics.  Pal was also the founder of the journal Bande Mataram.

Even thought he understood the positive aspects of Empire as a ‘great idea’, the ‘Federal-idea is greater’.  In both public and private life he was radical.  He married a widow (he had to sever ties to his family for this).  At the time of B.G. Tilak’s (“Bal”) arrest and government repression in 1907, he left for England, where he was briefly associated with the radical India House and founder the Swaraj journal.  He was among the first to criticize Gandhi or the ‘Gandhi cult’ since it ‘sought to replace the present government by no government or by the priestly autocracy of the Mahatma’.  His criticism of Gandhi was persistent beginning with Gandhi’s arrival in India and open in 1921 session of the Indian National Congress he delivered in his presidential speech a severe criticism of Gandhi’s ideas as based on magic rather than logic, addressing Gandhi: “You wanted magic.  I tried to give you logic.  But logic is in bad odour when the popular mind is excited.   You wanted mantaram, I am not a Rishi and cannot give Mantaram…. I have never spoken a half-truth when I know the truth…. I have never tried to lead people in faith blindfolded’, for his ‘priestly, pontifical tendencies’, his alliance with pan-Islamism during the Khilafat movement, which led to Pal’s eclipse from political life from 1922 till his death in 1932 under conditions of object poverty.  Comparing Gandhi with Leo Tolstoy during the year he died, Pal noted that Tolstoy ‘was an honest philosophical anarchist’ while Gandhi remained in his eyes as ‘a papal autocrat’ Firm and ethically grounded, not only did he perceive the ‘Congress Babel’ in terms of its short-sightedness in late 1920s or, Congress as an instance of repudiating debt’s folly, composed of a generation ‘that knows no Joseph’, Pal’s critical comments should be located in context, since nobody can jump out of his skin of time.

The trio had advocated radical means to get their message across the British, like boycotting British manufactured goods, burning Western clothes made in the mills of Manchester or Swadeshi and strikes and lockouts of British owned businesses and industrial concerns.

He came under the influence of eminent Bengali leaders, not as a hero-worshipper or somebody looking for a guru for guidance, of his time such as Keshab Chandra Sen and Sibnath Sastri, as his family were in Brahmo Samaj.  He was imprisoned for six months on the grounds of his refusal to give evidence against Sri Aurobindo in the Vande Mataram sedition case.  He died on 20th May, 1932.

CHANDRASEKHAR AZAD
Date of birth: 23rd July, 1906 and Date of Death: 27th February, 1931
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 generations 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 last name ‘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 other had committed themselves to absolute independence by any means.  He was most famous for the Kakori Rail Dacoity in 1925and the assassination of the assistant superintendent of Police John Poyaniz 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 27th 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.

LAKSHMI BAI, THE RANI OF JHANSI
Date of Birth: 19th November, 1835 and Date of Death: 17th June, 1858
Lakshmi Bai, the Rani of Jhansi (Marathi), a well known as Jhansi Ki Rani, or the queen of Jhansi, was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and a symbol of resistance to British rule in India.  She was the queen of the Maratha-ruled princely state of Jhansi, situated in the northern part of India.

Originally named Manikarnika and nicknamed Manu, she was born on 19th November, 1835, at Kashi (Varanas) to Maharashtrian Karhade Brahmin family, the daughter of Moropant Tambe and Bhagirathibai Tambe.  She lost her mother at the age of four.  Her father, Moropant Tambe, worked at the court of Peshwa at Bithur, who brought her up like his own daughter, and called her “Chhabili” for her light-heartedness.  She was educated at home.

Because of her father’s influence at court, Rani Lakshmi Bai had more independence than most women, who were normally restricted to the zenana.  She studied self defence, horsemanship, archery, and even formed her own army out of her female friends at court.  Tatya Tope who was considered as a nightmare by the British during the ‘Great Revolt of 1857’ was Lakshmi Bai’s tutor.  She was married to Raja Gangadhar Rao Newalkar, the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842, and became the queen of Jhansi.  After their marriage, she was given the name Lakshmi Bai.  The Raja was very affectionate to her.  She gave birth to a son Damodar Rao in 1851.  However, the child died when he was about four months old.  After the death of their son, the Raja and Rani of Jhansi adopted Anand Rao.  Anand Rao was the son of Gangadhar Rao’s cousin.  He was later renamed as Damodar Rao.

Dalhousie then annexed Jhansi, saying that the throne had “lapsed” and claimed the right to put Jhansi under his protection.  In March, 1854, she was given a pension of 60,000 rupees and ordered to leave the palace and the Jhansi fort but it was denied by her.

On 10th May, 1857 the Indian Rebellion started in Meerut.  This began after rumours that the new bullet casings for the Lee Enfield rifles were coated with pork and beef fat; British commanders insisted on their use and started to discipline anyone who disobeyed.  During this rebellion sepoys killed many British soldiers and officers of the East India Company.

Along with the young Anand Rao, the Rani decamped to Kalpi along with her forces where she joined other rebel forces, including those of Tatya Tope.  The Rani and Tatya moved on to Gwalior, where the combined rebel forces defeated the army of the Maharaja of Gwalior after his armies deserted the rebel forces.  They then occupied a strategic fort at Gwalior.  However, on the 17th of June, 1858, while batting in full warrior regalia against the 8th (King’s Royal Irish) Hussars in Kotah-ki Serai near the Phool Bagh area of Gwalior, she died.  The British captured Gwalior three days later.  In the British report of the battle, General Hugh Rose commented that the Rani, “remarkable for her beauty, cleverness and perseverance”, had been “the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders”.

Rani was memorialised in bronze statues at Jhansi and Gwalior, both of which portray her on horseback.  Another equestrian statue can be seen in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

KASTURBA GANDHI
Date of Birth: 11th April, 1869 and Date of Death: 22nd February, 1944
Kasturba Gandhi, affectionately called Ba, was the wife of Mohandas Gandhi, whom she married at the age of 13.  Born to wealthy businessman Gokuladas Makharji of Porbandar, Kasturba married Mohandas Gandhi in May, 1882.  At the time, she was illiterate, and so Gandhi taught her to read and write – a potentially radical move, given the position of women in India at that time.  When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise newborn son Harilal.  She had three more sons – Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900).  In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi decided to practice brahmacharya, and the couple became celibate.  Although she stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas.  Gandhi had to work hard to persuade her to see (and agree to) his side of the viewpoint.  Kasturba was deeply religious.  Like her husband, she renounced all caste distinctions and lived in ashrams.  Kasturba often joined her husband in political protests.  She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband.  From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban.  During the 1913, protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labour prison.  Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband’s place when he was under arrest.  In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him.  She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children.  Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis.  Stress from the Quit India Movement’s arrests and ashram life caused her to fall ill.  After contracting pneumonia, she died from a severe heart attack on 22nd February, 1944.

LALA LAJPAT RAI
Date of Birth: 28th January, 1865 and Date of Death: 17th November, 1928
Lala Lajpat Rai, was an Indian politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj.  The freedom fighter was popularly known as Punjab (Lion of the Punjab).  Rai was born on 28th January, 1865 in village Dhudi Ke, in present day Moga district of Punjab, India.  He was the eldest son of Munshi Radha Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi.  His father had a chequered relationship with Hinduism – having converted to Islam and then reverted back to Hinduism, which had a lasting effect on Rai’s attitude towards religions other than Hinduism.  He was one of the three most prominent Hindu Nationalist members of the Indian National Congress, who fought for, and gave their lives during the Indian Independence movement in the first half of the twentieth century.  The other two were Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra and Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal.  Collectively, they were dubbed Lal-Bal-Pal.  Rai was also a member of the Hindu Maha Sabha, a forerunner of the current day Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  The trio wanted a degree of self-government that was considered radical at the time.  They were the first Indian leaders to demand complete political independence.  Rai led the Punjab protests against the Amritsar Massacre (1919) and the Non-Cooperation Movement (1919-1922).  He was repeatedly arrested.  Rai hewever, disagreed with Mohandas Gandhi’s suspension of the movement due to the Chauri Chaura incident, and formed the Congress Independence Party, which was particularly pro-Hindu in voice and policy.  He was not only a good orator but also a prolific and versatile writer.  His journal Arya Gazette concentrated mainly on subjects related to the Arya Samaj.  Bande Mataram and people, contained his inspiring speeches to end oppression by the foreign rulers.  He founded the Servants of the People Society, which worked for the freedom movement as well as for social reform in the country.  He also wrote an autobiography in English titled the Story of My Life.  Lajpat Rai came early under the influence of the dynamic Hindu reformer, Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj.  In conjunction with likeminded people like Mahatma Hans Raj and Lala Sain Das, he was instrumental in laying the foundations of a strong Arya Samaj presence among the Punjabi Hindu urban populace.  A strong believer in leading by example, he himself led a procession to demonstrate against the Simon Commission, which was to prove fatal for him.  He was made the target of a brutal lathi charge in which he was injured badly.  A meeting was held the same evening where he spoke with such vigour that his words, “Every blow aimed at me is a nail in the coffin of British imperialism”, became historic.  Though he recovered from the fever and pain within three days, yet his health had received a permanent setback and on 17th November, 1928, he succumbed to the fatal injuries.  The Lajpa Nagar, Lajpat Nagar Central Market, Lala Lajpat Rai Hall of Residence at Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Engineering and Technology, Moga are named in his honour.

MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE
Date of Birth: ……………. and Date of Death: 16th January, 1901
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 student who appeared in the Matriculation Examination held in Bombay in 1859.  He achieved distinctions in all his degree courses, commencing with B.A.  Honours in 1862, M.A. in 1864 and L.L.B. and L.L.B. Honours 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 remarriage, 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 setting 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 overdependence 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 16th January, 1901 of now common ailment angina pectoris.

SHIVARAM RAJGURU
Year of Birth: 1908 and Date of Death: 23rd March, 1931
Hari Shivaram Rajguru was an Indian revolutionary.  He is best known as an accomplice of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev in the killing o a British police officer in 1928 in order to take revenge for the death of veteran leader Lala Lajpat Rai due to excessive police beating.  All three were convicted of the crime and hanged on 23rd March, 1931.  Rajguru was hiding in Nagpur.  He met Dr. K.B. Hedgewar and was hiding in one of the RSS worker’s house.  But after some days he went to Pune and later was arrested there.

RAM MANOHAR LOHIA
Date of Birth: 23rd March, 1910 and Date of Death: 12th October, 1967
Ram Manohar Lahia was an Indian freedom fighter and a socialist political leader.  He was born on 23rd March, 1910 in a village named Akbarpur in Faizabad district, Uttar Pradesh, in India.  Ram’s father, Hira Lal, was a nationalist by spirit and a teacher by profession.  His mother, Chanda, died when Ram was very young.  Ram was introduced to the Indian Independence Movement at an early age by his father through the various protest assemblies Hari Lal took his son to.  Ram made his first contribution to the freedom struggle by organising a small hartal on the death of Lokmanya Tialk.  Hari Lal, an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi, took his son along on a meeting with the Mahatma.  This meeting deeply influenced Lohia and sustained him during trying circumstances and helped seed his thoughts, actions and love for swaraj.  Ram was so impressed by Gandhiji’s spiritual power and radiant self-control that the pledged to follow the Mahatma’s footsteps.  He proved his allegiance to Gandhi and more importantly to the movement as a whole, by joining a satyagraha march at the age of ten.  Lohia met Jawaharlal Nehru in 1921.  Over the years they developed a close friendship.  Lohia, however, never hesitated to censure Nehru on his political beliefs and openly expressed disagreement with Nehru on many key issues.

Lohia organised a student protest in 1928 to protest all-white Simon Commission which was to consider the possibility of granting India dominion status without requiring consultation of the Indian people.  Lohia attended the Baaras Hindu University to complete his intermediate course work after standing first in his school’s matric examinations.  In 1929, Lohia completed his B.A. from Calcutta University.  He decided to attend Berlin University, Germany over all prestigious educational institutes in Britain to convey his dim view of British philosophy.  He soon learned German and received financial assistance based on his outstanding academic performance.  While in Europe, Lohia attended the League of Nations assembly in Geneva.  India was represented by the Maharaja of Bikaner, an ally of the British Raj.  Lohia took exception to this and launched a protest there and there from the visitors’ gallery.  He fired several letters to editors of newspapers and magazines to clarify the reasons for his protest.  The whole incident made Lohia a recognized figure in India overnight.  Lohia helped organise the Association of European Indians and became secretary of the club.  The main focus of the organisation was to preserve and expand Indian nationalism outside of India.  Lohia wrote his Ph.D. thesis paper on the topic of Salt Satyagraha, focusing on Gandhiji’s socio-economic theory.  Lohia joined the Indian National Congress as soon as he returned to India.  Lohia wa attracted to socialism and helped lay the foundation of Congress Socialist Party, founded 1934, by writing many impressive articles on the feasibility of a socialist India.  Lohia formed a new branch in the Indian National Congress – the All India Congress Committee (a foreign affairs department).  Nehru appointed Lohia as the first secretary of the committee.  During the two years that he served he helped define what would be India’s foreign policy.  In the onset of the Second World War, Lohia saw an opportunity to collapse the British Raj in India.  He made a series of caustic speeches urging Indians to boycott all government institutions.  He was arrested on 24th May, 1939, but released by authorities the very next day in fear of a youth uprising.  Soon after his release, Lohia wrote an article called “Satyagraha Now” in Gandhiji’s newspaper, Harijan, on 1st June, 1940.  Within six days of the publication of the article, he was arrested and sentenced to two years of jail.  During his sentencing the Magistrate said, “He (Lohia) is a top-class scholar, civilized gentleman, has liberal ideology and high moral character”.  In a meeting of Congress Committee Gandhi said, “I cannot sit quiet as long as Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia is in prison.  I do not yet know a person braver and simpler than him.  He never propagated violence.  Whatever he has done has increased his esteem and his honour”.  Lohia was mentally tortured and interrogated by his jailers.  In December, of 1941, all the arrested Congress leaders, including Lohia, were released in a desperate attempt by the government to stabilize India internally.  He vigorously wrote articles to spread the message of toppling the British imperialist governments from countries in Asia and Africa.  He also came up with a hypothetical blueprint for new Indian cities that could self-administer themselves so well that there would not be need for the police or army.  Gandhi and the Indian National Congress launched the Quit India movement in 1942.  Prominent leaders, including Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Azad, were jailed.  The “secondary cadre” stepped-up to the challenge to continue the struggle and to keep the flame for swaraj burning within the people’s hearts.  Leaders who were still free carried out their operations from underground.  Lohia printed and distributed many posters, pamphlets and bulletins on the theme of “Do or Die” on his secret printing-press.  Lohia, along with freedom fighter Usha Mehta, broadcast messages in Bombay from a secret radio station called Congress Radio for three months before detection, as a measure to give the disarrayed Indian population a sense of hope and spirit in absence of their leaders.  He also edited Inquilab (Revolution), a Congress Party monthly along with Aruna Asaf Ali.  Lohia then went to Calcutta to revive the movement there.  He changed his name to hide from the police who were closing in on him.  Lohia fled to Nepal’s dense jungles evade the British.  There he met the Nepalese people and Koirala brothers (freedom fighters in Nepal), who remained Lohia’s allies for the rest of their lives.  Lohia was captured in May of 1944, in Bombay.  Lohia was taken to a prison in Lahore, notorious throughout India for its tormenting environment.  In the prison he underwent extreme torture.  His health was destroyed but his courage remained.  Even though he was not as fit his courage and will power strengthened through the ordeal.  Under Gandhiji’s pressure the Government released Lohia and his comrade Jayaprakash Narayan.  A huge crowd waited to give the two a hero’s welcome.  Lohia decided to visit a friend in Goa to relax.  Lohia was alarmed to learn that the Portuguese government had censured the people’s freedom of speech and assembly.  He decided to deliver a speech to oppose the policy but was arrested even before he could reach the meeting location.  The Portuguese government relented and allowed the people the right to assemble.  The Goan people weaved Lohia’s tale of unselfish work for Goa in their folk songs.  As India’s tryst with freedom neared, Hindu-Muslim strife increased.  Lohia strongly opposed partitioning India in his speeches and writings.  He appealed to communities in riot torn regions to stay united, ignore the violence surrounding them and stick to Gandhiji’s ideals of non-violence.  Lohia comforted the Mahatma as a nation that once wielded the power of non-violence took refuge in killing their, own brothers and sisters.  Lohia remained beside Gandhiji as son would remain beside a father.  Lohia was a socialist and wanted to united all the socialists in the world to form a potent platform.  He was the General Secretary of Praja Socialist Party.  He established the World Development Council and eventually the World Government to maintain peace in the world.  During his last few years, besides politics, he spent hours talking to thousands of young adults on topics ranging from Indian literature to politics and art.  Lohia died on 12th October, 1967 in New Delhi.  He left behind no property or bank balance, just prudent contemplations.

SAROJINI NAIDU
Date of Birth: 13th February, 1879 and Date of Death: 2nd March, 1949
Sarojini Naidu (13th February, 1879 – 2nd March, 1949) was known as Bharatiya Kokola (The Nightingale of India) and was a child prodigy, freedom fighter and poet.  Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India.  Sarojini Chattopadhyaya was born in Hyderabad, India as the eldest daughter of scientist-philosopher, Aghornath Chattopadhyaya and Barada Sundari Devi, a poetess.  Her father was the founder of the Nizam College.  She learnt to speak Urdu, Telugu, English, Persian and Bengali.  Her favourite poet was P.B. Shelley.  She attained national fame for entering Madras University at the age of twelve.  At sixteen, she travelled to England to study first at King’s College, London, and Girton College, Cambridge.  At the age of 15, she met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu and fell in love with him.  He was from South India.  After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she married him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed.  Her marriage was a very happy one.  They were married by the Brahmo Marriage Act (1872), in Madras in 1898.  They had 4 children: Jayasurya, Padmaj, Randheer and Leilamani.





KANDUKURI VEERESALINGAM
Date of Birth: 16th April, 1848
Kandukuri Veeresalingam (1848-1919) and Paravastu Chinnayasuri are considered prophets of Modern Andhra.  Veeresalingam awakened Andhras out of their suffocating medieval orthodox customs and superstitions.  He was not only a reformer, but also a literary activist.  His literary activities were varied.  He was the first to write a Telugu novel, Telugu drama, books on natural sciences and history in Telugu, and Telugu prose for women.  He was considered the father of renaissance in Andhra.

Veeresalingam was born into a poor Brahmin family on 16th April, 1848 at Rajahmundry.  His father was Subbarayudu and mother was Purnamma.  He lost his father at the age of four.  In spite of poverty, his mother sent him to the Government District School.  He finished Matriculation in 1869 and worked as a teacher in Korangi Town.  Later he worked in Rajahmundry City as a Senior Telugu Pundit.

He was a reformist writer.  His initial writings were in classical style of Prabadhas.  He wrote several Satakas, such as Gopal Satakamu, Markandeya Satakamu etc.  Later he became interested in erotic literature.  His sensual writings include Suddhandhra Niroshtya naishadhamu, Rasikajana Ranjanamu, Suddhan drottara Ramayanamu, Suddharndhra Bharata Sangrahamu etc.  His Abhagyopakhyanamu is a humorous satire on the Andhra society.  His novel Rajasekhara Charitram was the first Telugu novel.

Veeresalingam was one of the greatest personalities and earliest reformers in India to demand for radical changes in Telugu Indian society.  He had a keen insight, great courage and dynamic energy.  He fought against untruth and championed the cause of progress with vigor.  He fought for education for women, and remarriage of widows.  He started Vivekavardini, a monthly journal, to point out and criticize the defects in the society.  He also maintained several other journals like Chintamani, Sateehitabodha, Satyasavardhani, Satyavadi etc., and helped develop the Telugu literature and reformation of the society.  He established in 1874 a girl’s school at Dhavaleswaram to encourage women’s education.  In 1884, he established another school for girls at Innispeta in Rajahmundry.  He also established an organisation called Hitakarini Society and donated all his property for the social activities to improve the society and support various organisations set up by him.  He ridiculed the opponents of women’s education in many satires, lampoons and drama like “Brahma Vivaham”.  Through his writings he criticized early marriages.  Kanyasulkam (price of bride) and marriages of old men with young girls.

Veeresalingam developed contacts with influential British officials and other eminent citizens of Madras.  He began to give seminars to convince the orthodox leaders that re-marriage of widows was not prohibited by Dharma Sastra (Scriptural Law).  In these seminars he used to quote verses from scriptures to prove his point.  The orthodox leaders took up the challenge and arranged special meetings and debates to counter Veeresalingam’s arguments.  The opponents of remarriage failed to prove their point and resorted to physical violence against Veeresalingam.  He didn’t back down and fearlessly established a Remarriage Association and sent his students nook and corner of the Andhra Nation to find young men willing to marry widows.  He arranged the first widow remarriage on 11th December, 1881.  Because of these reformist activities Veeresalingam became famous even abroad.  The Government in appreciation of his work conferred on him the title of “Rao Bahdur” in 1893.  Later he established a Widow Home.

He also fought against the system of concubines called nauch system.  Keeping concubines was regarded as a status symbol.  Most of these concubines were from Devadasi tribe/caste.  Usually in the houses of these Davadasis the corrupt officials made illegal deals.  So, it became a common practice to use these concubines to get favours from the officials.  Veeresalingam attacked this sexual corruption in the society.

Sir Kandukuri Veeresalingam was a multifaceted personality and he reformed the society with his literature and revolutionary activities.  He was a crusader and one of the greatest leaders that India ever had.



CHATTRAPATHI SHIVAJI RAJE BHONSLE
Date of Birth: 19th February, 1630 and Date of Death: 3rd April, 1680
Chattrapathi Sivaji Raje Bhonsle (19th February, 1630 – 3rd April, 1680), with the royal title Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was a Maratha aristocrat of the Bhonsle clan who founded the Maratha empire.  Shivaji led a resistance to free the Maratha kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur, and establish Hindari Swarajya (“self-rule of Hindu people”).  He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Vedant Raigad as its capital, and successfully fought against the Mughal to defend his kingdom.  He was crowned as Chattrapati (“sovereign”) of the Maratha kingdom in 1674.

He achieved the re-establishment of Hindu rule in the region after being ruled and dominated by various foreign Muslim dynasties for several hundred years.  He established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of a well-regulated and disciplined military and well-structured administrative organisation.  The prevalent practices of treating women as spoils of war, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration.  Shivaji was a religious Hindu.  He also innovated rules of military engagement, pioneering the “Shiva sutra” or ganimi kava (guerrilla tactics), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his larger and more powerful enemies and built many sea-forts.

Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri, near the Junnar city in Pune district.  While his mother Jijabai was pregnant, she had prayed to the local deity Shivai for blessings for her expected child.  Shivaji was named after this local deity.

Shivaji’s father Shahaji Bhonsle served alongside Malik Ambar, who defended the Deccan region against the Mughals.  His mother Jijabai was the daughter of Lakhujirao Jadhav of Sindkhed.

Shivaji was extremely devoted to his mother Jijabai, who was deeply religious.  This religious environment had a profound influence on Shivaji, and he carefully studied the two great Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata.  The morality and spiritual messages of the epics made a great impression on him.  Throughout his life he was deeply interested in religious teachings, and sought the company of Hindu and Sufi (an esoteric Muslim sect) saints throughtu his life.

In 1645, at the age of 16, Shivaji carried out his first military action by attacking and capturing Torna Fort of the Bijapur kingdom.  By 1647 he had captured Kondana and Rajgad forts and had control of much of the southern Pune region.  By 1654 Shivaji had captured forts in the Western Ghats and along the Konkan coast.  In a bid to contain Shivaji, Adilshan imprisoned Shivaji’s father in 1648-49 and sent an army led by Farradkhan against Shahji’s other son Sambhaji at Bangalore, and another army led by Fattekhan against Shivaji at Purandhar.  Both Bhonsle brothers defeated the invading armies.

Shaista Khan pressed his advantage of larger, better provisioned and heavily armed Mughal army and made inroads into some of the Maratha territory.  Although he held Pune for almost a year, he had little further success.  He had set up his residence at Lal Mahal, Shivaji’s palace, in the city of Pune.

In 1664, Shivaji invaded Surat, an important and wealthy Mughal trading city, and looted it to replenish his now depleted treasury and also as a revenge for the capture and looting of Maratha territory by Shaista Khan.  (Surat was again sacked by Shivaji in 1670).

At the end of 1676, Shivaji Maharaj launched a wave of conquests in southern India with a massive force of 50,000 (30,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry).  He captured the forts at Vellore and Jinji that belonged to the sultanate of Bijapur and are in modern-day Tamilnadu.

Shivaji is well known for his benevolent attitude towards his subjects.  He believed that there was a close bond between the state and the citizens.  He encouraged all accomplished and competent individuals to participate in the ongoing political/military struggle.  He is remembered as a just and welfare-minded king.  He brought revolutionary changes in military organisation, fort architecture, society and politics.

The organisation of Shivaji’s administration was composed of eight ministers of pradhaanas:
Peshwa:  Mukhya (main) Pradhan, next to the king, for supervising and governing under king’s orders in his absence.  The king’s orders bore the Peshwa’s seal.
Mazumdar:  An auditor to take care of income and expenditure checks, keep the king informed of finances and sign districts-level accounts.
Navis or Waqia Mantri:  To record daily activities of the royal family and to serve as master of ceremony.
Shru Navis or Sachiv:  To oversee the king’s correspondence to ensure letter and style adherence to wisehrs of the king and check accounts of palace and Parganas.
Sumant or Dabir:  For foreign affairs and to receive ambassadors.
Senapati or Sir-nobut:  To keep troops ready and the king fully informed.
Panditrao:  To promote learning, spirituality and settle religious disputes.
Nyayadhish:  The highest judicial authority.

Shivaji demonstrated great skill in creating his military organisation, which lasted till the demise of the Maratha Empire.  He was one of the pioneers of commando actions, then known as ganimi kava.  His Mavala army’s war cry was Har Har Mahadev (“Hail Lord Our God”, Har and Mahadev being common names of Shiva).  Shivaji was responsible for many significant changes in military organisation:

  • A standing army belonging to the state, called paga.
  • All war horses belonged to the state; responsibility for their upkeep rested on the Sovereign.
  • Creation of part time soldiers from peasants who worked for eight months in their fields and supported four months in war for which they were paid.
  • Highly mobile and light infantry and cavalry excelling in commando tactics.
  • The introduction of a centralised intelligence department; Bahirjee Naik was the foremost spy who provided Shivaji with enemy information in all of Shivaji’s campaigns.
  • A potent and effective navy.
  • Introduction of filed craft, such as guerrilla warfare, commando actions, and swift flanking attacks.
  • Innovation of weapons and firepower, innovative use of traditional weapons like the tiger claw (vaghnakh) and vita.
  • Militarisation of large swathes of society, across all classes, with the entire peasant population of settlements and villages near forts actively involved in their defence.

Shivaji realised the importance of having a secure coastline and protecting the western Konkan coastline from the attacks of Siddi’s fleet.  His strategy was to build a strong navy to protect and bolster his kingdom.  He was also concerned about the growing dominance of British Indian naval forces in regional waters and actively sought to resist it.  For this reason he is also referred to as the “Father of Indian Navy”.

HINDI LITERATURE:
JAISHANKAR PRASAD
Date of Birth: 30th January, 1889 and Date of Death: 14th January, 1937
Jaishankar Prasad, (30th January, 1889 – 14th January, 1937) one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre.

Jaishankar Prasad was born on 30th January, 1889, in an elite madheshiya vaisya family in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.  His father Babu Devki Prasad, also known as Sunghani Sahu was a tobacco dealer.  After, he lost his father at an early age; he had to encounter some family problems at a relatively young age, and left school after class eight.  However, he remained interested in literature, languages, and ancient history, and continued studying at home; thereafter he developed a special inclination towards the Vedas and these interests are innately reflected in the deep philosophical contender/content of his works.

Language and Influence:  His initial poetry (Chitraadhar collection) was done in the Braj dialect of Hindi, but later he switched to the Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi.  In his earlier days, he was influenced by Sanskrit dramas, but later the influence of Bengali and Persian dramas is evident on his works.  Prasad’s most famous dramas include Skandagupta, Chandragupta and Dhruvaswamini.

Poetic Style:  He is considered one of the Four Pillars (Char Stambh) of Romanticism in Hindi Literature (Chhayavad), along with Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma, and Suryakant Tripathi ‘Nirala’.  His style of poetry can at best be described as “touching”.  Art and philosophy have been exquisitely amalgamated in his writings.  His vocabulary avoids the Persian element of Hindi and mainly consists of Sanskrit (Tatsama) words and words derived from Sanskrit (Tadbhava words) – some of them made really exquisitely by himself.  By this means, he arrives at a sophisticated diction that was typical for Hindi Romanticism of the 1920s and 30s, and also, on the Urdu side, for Muhammad Iqbal.

SUBHADRA KUMARI CHAUHAN
Date of Birth: 15th February, 1904 and Death of Year: 1948
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (15th February, 1904 – 1948) was an Indian poetess famous for her emotionally charged Hindi songs, born in Nihalur village in Allahabad district in Uttar Pradesh.  She initially studied in the Crosthwaite Girls’ School I Allahabad and passed the middle-school examination in 1919.  After her marriage to Thakur Lakshman Singh Chauhan of Khandwa in the same year, she moved to Jabalpur.

She had five children.  Sudha Chauhan (now deceased), Ajay Chauhan (now deceased), Vijay Chauhan (now deceased), Ashok Chauhan (now deceased) and Mamta Chauhan (Bhargava), currently residing in Buffalo, New York.  The Spouses of Ajay and Ashok Chauhan currently live in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Subhadra Kumari Chauhan joined the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921 and was the first woman Satyagrahi to court arrest in Nagpur.  She was jailed twice for her involvement in protests against the British rule I 1923 and 1942.

She was authored a number of popular works in Hindi poetry.  Her most famous composition is Jhansi Ki Rani, an emotionally charged poem describing the life of Rani Lakshmi Bai.  The poem is one of the most recited and sung poems in Hindi literature.  This and her other poems, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basan, Rakhi Ki Chunauti and Vida, openly talk about the freedom movement.  They are said to have inspired great numbers of Indian youth to participate in the Indian Freedom Movement.  Here is the opening stanza of Jhansi ki Rani:
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan wrote in the Khariboli dialect of Hindi, in a simple, clear style.  Apart from heroic poems, she also wrote poems for children.  She wrote some short stories based on the life of the middle class too.

She died in 1948 in a car accident near kalbodi (in Seoni, MP).  An Indian Coast Guard ship has been named after her.  A Statue of Subhadra Kumari Chauhan has been installed by the M.P. Government in front of the municipal Corporation Office of Jabalpur.
Collections of Poems: [1] Tridhara, [2] Mukul (1930), [3] Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped.
These anthologies consist some of the well known poems like Jhansi ki Raani, Veeron Ka Kaisa Ho Basant and Yeh Kadamb Ka Ped.
Collections of Short Stories:  [1] Bhikhre Moti (1932), [2] Unmadini (1934), [3] Seedhe-Saade Chitra (1946), [4] Seedhe-saade Chitra (1946).

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