Purushotham Das Tandon Indian Freedom Fighter

Purushotham Das Tandon Indian Freedom Fighter

Date of birth: August 1, 1882 and Date of death: July1, 1962
He was freedom fighter from Uttar Pradesh, of Punjabi Khatri descent.  He is widely remembered for his efforts in achieving the Official Language of India status for Hindi.  He also revered as Rajarshi.  He was born at Allahabad.  After obtaining degree in Law and M.A. in History, started his practise in 1906 and joined the Bar of Allahabad High Court in 1908 as a junior to Tej Bahadur Sapru.  He gave up practise in 1921 to concentrate on public activities.
He was a member of Congress Party since his student days in 1899.  In 1906, he represented Allahabad in the AICC.  He was associated with the Congress Party Committee that studied the Jallianwallah Bagh incident in 1919.  He was also a part of the Servants of the People Society.  In the 1920s and 1930s he was arrested for participating in the Non co-operation Movement and Salt Satyagraha respectively.  He and Nehru were among the people arrested even before Mahatma Gandhi returned from the Round Table Conference at London in 1931.  He was known for his efforts in farmer’s movements and he served as the President, Bihar Provisional Kisan Sabha in 1934.  He worked as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Uttar Pradesh for the period of 13 years, from July, 1937 to August, 1950.  He was elected to the Constituent Assembly of India in 1952 and the Rajya Sabha in 1956.  He retired from active public life after that due to indifferent health.  He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award in 1961.

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian Freedom Fighter

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Indian Freedom Fighter

Date of birth: 27the June, 1838, and Date of death: 8^th 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.

Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Indian Freedom Fighter Queens of India

Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Indian Freedom Fighter Queens of India

Date of Birth: 19^th November, 1835 and Date of Death: 17^th 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 19^th 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 10^th 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 17^th of June, 1858, while batting in full warrior regalia against the 8^th (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 Wife of Mahathma Gandhi

KASTURBA GANDHI
Date of Birth: 11^th April, 1869 and Date of Death: 22^nd 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 new born 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 22^nd February, 1944.

Shiva Ram Rajguru Indian Freedom Fighter

Shiva Ram Rajguru Indian Freedom Fighter

Year of Birth: 1908 and Date of Death: 23^rd 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 23^rd 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.

Mahadev Govind Ranade Indian Freedom Fighter Social Reformer

Mahadev Govind Ranade Indian Freedom Fighter Social Reformer

Date of Birth: ……………. and Date of Death: 16^th 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 16^th January, 1901 of now common ailment angina pectoris.

Lala Lajpat Rai Indian Freedom Fighter

Lala Lajpat Rai Indian Freedom Fighter

Date of Birth: 28^th January, 1865 and Date of Death: 17^th November, 1928

Lala Lajpat Rai was born on January 28, 1865 to Munshi Radha Krishna Azad and Gulab Devi at Dhudike village in Ferozpur District. His father was a great scholar of Persian and Urdu while his mother was a strict religious lady and inculcated in her children strong morals values. His family values allowed Lajpat Rai, the freedom of having different faiths and beliefs. Lala Lajpat Rai immensely contributed in attaining independence the nation. He helped in establishing few schools in the country. He also initiated the foundation of Punjab National Bank. In 1897, he founded the Hindu Orphan Relief Movement to keep the Christian missions from securing custody of these children.
While in America he wrote two books: Arya Samaj and England's, Debt to India. His life in America was not bed of roses. He himself cooked his food. He earned money for his living by writing books and articles. Germany was then at war with England. The German Government attempted to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of the Indians by enticing Lalaji. But he refused to be tempted.
While in America, Lalaji found time to visit Japan. In both the countries he made friendship and won the sympathy of influential people. He conducted himself in such a way that both countries came to trust him. Thus he made a name for himself. At the end of the Great War in 1919 he wanted to return to India. The British Government would not give him a passport. In India in Jalianwalla Bagh of Amritsar, British soldiers fired on helpless Indians at a public meeting. Lajpat Rai got news of the dreadful massacre even when he was in New York. He was eager to join his countrymen. He got the passport at the end of the year. In December 1919 Lalaji came from New York to London. There he met the famous author Bernard Shaw and some socialist friends. Then he came to Paris.
Lalaji presided over the first session of the All India Trade Union Congress in 1920. He also went to Geneva to attend the eighth International Labour Conference in 1926 as a representative of Indian labour. He had an opportunity to watch the labour movement in the USA and England where he was required to prolong his stay for political reasons.
He was not only a good orator but also a prolific and versatile writer. His journal Arya Gazette concentrated mainly on the subjects related to the Arya Samaj. Bande Mataram and People, full of fiery essays mirrored the unrest and zeal in him to free his country from the clutches of foreign rule. He founded the Servants of the People Society, which worked for the freedom movement as well as for social reform movement in the country. He led a procession to demonstrate against the Simon Commission. He was made the target of a brutal lathi charge in which he was injured badly. A meeting was held the same evening at which Lalaji, - wounded and aching - 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 17 November1928, he passed away.
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 28^th 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 17^th 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.

Ram Manohar Lohia Indian Freedom Fighter Political Leader

Ram Manohar Lohia Indian Freedom Fighter Political Leader

 Date of Birth: 23^rd March, 1910 and Date of Death: 12^th October, 1967
Ram Manohar Lahia was an Indian freedom fighter and a socialist political leader.  He was born on 23^rd 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 24^th 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 1^st 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 12^th October, 1967 in New Delhi.  He left behind no property or bank balance, just prudent contemplations.

SUBHADRA KUMARI CHAUHAN

Date of Birth: 15^th February, 1904 and Death of Year: 1948
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (15^th 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).

SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE

SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE
Date of Birth: 23^rd January, 1897 and Date of Death: 18^th August, 1945
Subhash Chandra Bose (23^rd January, 1897 - 18^th August, 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 25^th October, 1924.  He was sent to Alipore Jail, Calcutta and in 25^th January, 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 27^th October, 1927.

Subhas was one of the few politicians sought and worked toward 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.  Realising that his avenues abroad were greater with the restrictions of the British, Subhas set sail for Europe on 23^rd February, 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 organisational strength and discipline.  On 27^th March, 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 labour 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 favourite 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 organisation 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 form the Congress Working Committee and restrained him from holding any office for three years.  On 3^rd September, 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 organise 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 3^rd July, in memory of the last king of Bengal who was defeated by the Clive.  His plan was to hold a procession and to unity Hindu and Muslim nationalists.  The Government interceded and imprisoned Subhas on 2^nd July, 1940, in Presidency Jail, Calcutta.  Netaji believed that foreign assistance was a must to fee 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 field 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 realised 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 fee India from the clutches of the British.
On 16^th August, 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 created in Taipei on 20^th August, 1945 and his ashes were flown to Tokyo on 5^th September, 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 wealth and destruction of communalism.  His slogan “Jai Hind” still acts as a great binding force today.

DURGABAI DESHMUKH

DURGABAI DESHMUKH
Date of Birth: 15^th July, 1909 and Date of Death: 9^th May, 1981
She was the mother of social work in India.  She was born in a middles class Andhra family in Kakinada.  In 1937 she founded Andhra Mahila Sabha in Madras which today runs two hospitals, 2 colleges and 3 high schools.  As Member of Parliament she worked to set up a social welfare board on 13.08.1953 to carry out programmes of educating, training and rehabilitating the needy women, children and the disabled.  She was the recipient of a number of awards including Padma Bhushan and the UNESCO award for outstanding work in the field of literacy.

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Indian Social Reformer

Kandukuri Veeresalingam Indian Social Reformer

Date of Birth: 16^th 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 16^th 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 11^th 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.

JAISHANKAR PRASAD

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

Jaishankar Prasad was born on 30^th 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.