THE PIONEERS

THE PIONEERS

1. KUNWAR SINGH (1777-1858): Born in a noble Rajput family, Kunwar Singh was the proprietor of extensive at Jagdishpur of Shahbad ion Bihar. An illiterate, infirm and old, he was natural leader of men and a poplar landlord. He rose in revolt in 1957 when the British threatened to confiscate his lands and assumed the leadership of the rebellious sepoys. Hew stormed Arrah but had to fall back upon his ancestral castle – which the British eventually destroyed. Kunwar Singh took to the hills of Rohtas when Delhi fell into the hands of the rebels. Realizing that the war would be won or lost in Northern India and not in the lower provinces, he marched towards Delhi. He reached Kalpi at the invitation of Nana Saheb and came to Lucknow following Tatya Tope's defeat. Already developed into a dashing commander, he defeated the British forces twice while occupying Azamgarh in February 1958. when the arrival of British reinforcement made his position at Azamgarh hopeless, Kunwar Singh decided to move back towards Bihar. Keeping the enemy at bay by brilliant rearguard actions he reached Arrah – where the British hoped to intercept him. On 23 April 1858 Kunwar inflicted a crushing defeat on Le Grand's troops and expired the following day as victor.

 

2. TATYA TOPE (1819-1858): Ramchandra Panduranga, alias Tatya Tope, was one of the few military leaders of ability on the rebel side during the Revolt of 1857. A Deshatha Brahmin, Tatya was a personal adherent of Nana Saheb and was bound to his person by ties of loyalty and gratitude. Following the rising of Kanpur, he commanded at the battle of Bithur on 16^th August 1857 which was won by Havelock. After the British re-occupation of Kanpur Tatya progressed with the Gwalior contingent and forced General Windham to retreat from Kanpur. But soon his forces were defeated by Sir Colin Comphell when Jhansi was besieged by the British forces Tatya collected 29,000 men and came to the rescue of Rani Lakshmi Bai. Sir Hugh Rose, however, dispersed his army. Later Tatya sieged the fort of Gwalior with the help of Scindia, but Sir Hugh Rose re-took it. Tatya then escaped to Central India and was defeated by General Napier's troops. Resourceful and intelligent, Tatya had a natural instinct of or guerilla tactics and evaded British pursuits for ten months in Rajasthan and Bundelkhand. He was betrayed into the hands of Captain Meade in the Paron jungles by his friend, Mansingh. He was tried, convicted and executed at Shivpuri on 18^th April 1859.

 

3. NANA SAHEB (1820-1869): Dhondopant, popularly known as Nana Saheb, was an adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II and the heir to the dispossessed late Peshwa's title and estate. Living at Bithur near Kanpur, Nana resented the gradual loss of his status and the consequent humiliation. In vain he pleaded with the British for the restoration of his position and sent his agent to influence the authorities in England. Outwardly maintaining his composure, an aggrieved Nana retired to the monotony of a circumscribed life till June 1857 when the rebels at Kanpur made him their leader. Following the British surrender he took over Kanpur, revived Indian administration and proclaimed himself the Peshwa. When Havelock's fordes came to re-occupy Kanpur, Nana grimly fought back, but lost the battle and evacuated Bithur. Crossing over to Avadh, he came to Kalpi and re-organized his men under Tatya Tope in a bid to recapture Kanpur. The attempt was, however, frustrated by Sir Colin Campbell in November 1857. thereafter, Nana, pursued by his enemies, was on the run from Farukhabad to Bareilly and Bahraich but refusing to give up his hope. At the end of 1858 he was forced by the British army to take refuge in the Nepalese terrain. The defiant Nana Saheb died as a free man, probably in 1859, in spite of all the British attempts for his capture.

 

4. RANI LAKSHMI BAI (1835-1858): Rani Lakshmi Bai, the second wife of the ruler of Jhansi, Gangadhar Rao, was born probably at Banaras. When her husband died without issue ion 1853 she was not permitted by British authorities to adopt a successor. Her territory was later annexed under the "right of lapse" and a mere pension was offered to her. She was reported to have declared then: "Mera Jhansi nahin dungi" (I shall not surrender my Jhansi). When the revolt started the spirited Rani was drawn into the thick of the struggle and he became the authority of her region. She heroically defended Jhansi against Sir Hugh Rose's protracted siege, although ultimately she had to escape. Later Rani Lakshmi Bai joined Tatya Tope and surprised the British by their capture of Gwalior. When Sir Hugh Rose renewed the British attach on Gwalior Fort, the Rani – fighting valiantly was killed in action. An estimate of the Rani's heroic personality has thus been made by Sir Hugh Rose himself: "…… the high descent of the Rani, her unbound literality to her troops and retainers and her fortitude which no reverses could shake, rendered her an influential and dangerous adversary."

 

5. AZIMULLA KHAN (         -1859): The handsome young Azimulla Khan was brought up in a Muslim orphanage and was probably educated in a school at Kanpur where he learnt English and French. From his humble origin, Azimulla rose to the position of Nana Saheb Peshwa Bahadur's agent, went to England to plead for his employer's pension case and stayed there for over two years. On the return journey he visited France and the Crimea and witnessed the military operations there. A confidential advisor to Nana Saheb, Azimulla played a prominent role in organizing the revolt of 1857 at Kanpur. He toured the important stations in Northern India and advocated Hindi-Muslim unity. Letters of Azimulla, found in Bithur, were later published. A diary, depicting the court life of Baji Rao II and Nana Saheb, was also ascribed to him. There is a controversy over his role in the Kanpur massacre. But Azimulla very competently planned and led the outbreak and tried his best to secure help from Turkey and Egypt against the English. After the failure of the revolt, Azimulla accompanied his master, Nana Saheb, to Nepal. There he died in October 1859 following illness.

 

6. DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917): Born in a Parsi priestly family in Bombay, Dadabhai Naoroji was the first Indian lecturer at Elphinstone  Institute. In 1856 he proceeded to England to manage the business interests of Cama & Co., and later he became a part net of this concern. He started the Rast Gaffar, and founded about thirty institutions, designed to promote the political and social advancement of the country. In 1892 he became the first Indian to be elected to the House of Commons- where he fervently pleaded the cause of his country. he was thrice chosen president of the Indian National Congress in 1886, 1892 and 1906. He propounded "drain of wealth of India" theory proved it, thus exposed the true nature of British imperialism.

 

7. HUME (1829-1912): A Scott and a Civil Servant in India whose liberal views did not find favour with his superiors and he had to seek retirement in 1882. Sympathetic towards the aspirations of the Indians Hume, in March 1882, called upon the Calcutta University graduates to make "a resolute struggle to secure freedom for themselves and their country". His appeal did not go in vain and the INC was formed, largely through his initiative, in 1885 and for several years devoutly served as its General Secretary. In 1889 he helped in the setting up of the British Committee of the Congress in London which started its journal, India. In 1894Hume associated himself with it on his return to England and worked for India till he passed away.

 

8. BADRUDDIN TYABJI (1544-1906): He was the first Indian barrister at the Bombay High Court and elevated to the Bench as a High Court Judge in 1894. One of the founders of INC, he became President of the third INC session in Madras in 1887. He also pleaded strongly for the introduction of Lord Ripon's liberal local self-government policy into the Bombay Presidency. First, as the Secretary of the Anjuman-i-Islam of Bombay and later, as its President, he ably served his co-religionists in the twin causes of educational advancement and social reform. He was always anxious for promoting the position of women in all walks of life.

 

9. WOMESH CHUNDER BONNERJEE (1844-1906): born in Calcutta. He was one of the first Indian barristers at the Calcutta High Court. Thrice he was offered a seat on the Bench. It was the proud privilege of Bonnerjee to become the first INC President at Bombay in 1885. In 1892 he presided over the INC sessions. He left India in 1902 to settle in England. HE financed the British Committee of the Congress in London and its journal, India, for many years.

 

10. PHEROZESHAH MEHTA (1845-1915): born in Parsi family of Bombay, Mehta practice in Bombay. He was elected Chairman of the Bombay Corporation. He was largely responsible for the Acts of 1872 and 1888, of which he later could rightly be called the Magna Carta of Municipal freedom. One of the founders of INC, he presided over the Congress session at Calcutta in 1890. Mehta was a stalwart of the Moderate School who dominated the political stage of India till 1915.

 

11. RAHIMATULLA M. SAYANI (1847-1902): One of the first Muslims to obtain a Master's and law degree. He became the Sheriff of Bombay in 1885. He served the pioneer educational institution Anjuman-e-Islam as its Vice President. Sayani presided over the Calcutta Session of the INC in 1896.

 

12. RASHBEHARI GHOSE (1845-1921): born in the district of Burdwan, was an advocate at the Calcutta High Court. He was moderate leader and was the Chairman, reception Committee of the Congress, in its Calcutta Session in 1906. He was also the President elect for the Surat Session in 1907 where, amidst the heated contentions between the Moderates and the Extremists, the Congress ended in a fiasco. When the Congress as a liberal body met a Madras in 1908, Rashbehari presided over this deliberations. A great patron of education, Rashbehari generously gave away a large part of his wealth as endowments to the universities of Calcutta and Banaras.

 

13. SURENDRANATH BANERJEA (1848-1925): An eminent Moderate leader. He passed the ICS examination in 1871 and started his career as an Assistant Magistrate at Sylhet. When a controversy with the Government led him to leave the job he took up a teaching position first at the Metropolitan Institution and later at Free Church College, Calcutta. Six years later he founded the Ripon College believing that while politics was more or less ephemeral educational activity had in it the elements of permanent utility. He founded the Indian Association in 1876. He undertook an extensive four of the country and raised his senatorial voice at the public meetings to rouse national consciousness. For his mission he made use of the press and in 1879 Surendranath convened an National Conference – the precursor of the Indian National Congress. Twice he presided over the Congress sessions, ion 1895 at Poona and in 1902 at Ahmedabad. In  1918 he was elected the first President of the Indian National Liberal Federation.

 

14. MADHUSUDAN DAS (1848-1934): The architect of Modern Orissa – founded Orissa Art wares Factory in 1897 and Utkal Tannery in 1903, with a view to uniting the oriya-speaking tracts he organized Utkala Sammilani in 1903. It was mainly through his exertions that Orissa was born in 1936 as a Governor's province. An advocate of social reforms, he condemned the caste system, upheld the cause of women's education and endeavoured to improve the conditions of the Harijans.

 

15. C. SANKARAN NAIR (1857-1934): born in 1857 was a lawyer and a Congressmen of the moderate school and became the Congress President in 1897. He was appointed a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council in 1915 and held the portfolio of Education. He was responsible for the appointment of the Sadler Commission (1917), and the view-point that education, to be successful, should be national. His minutes of dissent to the Montague-Chelmsford Report on political reforms won the widest appreciation. The Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 caused righteous indignation in him and he resigned from the Viceroy's Executive Council to vindicate the national honour. However, in 1922 Sankaran Nair disapproved of Gandhiji's political programmes and discontinued his connections with the Congress.

 

16. MADAN MOHAN MALVIYA (1861-1946): born at Allahabad started his career as a lawyer. He was moderate Congressmen. Twice he presided over INC in 1909 and in 1918. He was also the President of the two banne3d sessions of the Congress in 1932 and in 1933. He persuaded the Congress to acquire the Jallianwala Bagh - Amritsar territory and raise a memorial for the martyrs. Participating in the Salt Satyagraha, he suffered imprisonment in 1930. President of the Hindu Mahasabha, Malaviya also joined the Swarajist front line. Later in 1926, he organized h is own Nationalist Party. Garnering up all the forces of wealth, energy, time and interest into an organized attempt, Malaviya established the Banaras Hindu University and for several years served as its Vice-Chancellor.

 

17. GOPAL KRISHNA GOKHALE (1866-1915): Born at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, joined the Deccan Education Soceity and was appointed first as a Professor of Fergusson College, Poona, and later as its Principal. Editor of the Sudharak, he was also the Secretary of the Sarvajanik Sabha. Elected to Bombay Legislative Council in 1899, he became a member of the Imperial Legislative Council in 1902. As the leading Indian spokesman in the House he was distinguished for his budget speeches, heard with rapt attention and received as models of Parliamentary eloquence. A critic of Curzon education policy, he fought for the introduction of free and compulsory education in the Country. he opposed the Indian Indentured Labour Plan and mobilized public opinion against it. He also played a prominent role in the deliberations preceding the inaugurated of the Minto-Morley  Reforms in 1909. A very distinguished exponent of the Moderate School and constructive nationalism, Gokhale presided over the Congress session at Banarasin 1905 and protested vehemently against the Government for partitioning Bengal. Later, he visited South Africa championing the cause of Indian settlers and played an important role in bringing about the Gandhi Smuts Settlement of 1914.

 

18. TEJ BAHADUR SAPRU (1872-1959): A lawyer who (specializing in constitutional law) entered politics during the Home Rule Movement served as the secretary of the Congress in 1910 and strove, as a liberal leader, for the attainment of India's self-government. The Nehru Committee Report of 1928 was in sonsiderable measure the result of Sapru's efforts. He also intervened actively as a mediator between the Congress and the British Indian Government following the showdown of the Civil Disobedience movement. When there was a deadlock- during the second world war as to India's constitutional future, Sapru and his committee in 1944 rejected the idea of portioning India and pleaded for an acceptable agreement for the freedom of the country.

 

19. MUKUND RAMARAO JAYAKAR (1873-1959): Born at Bombay, was an eminent lawyer, joined the Home Rule League in 1916. Along with Sapru Jayakar a moderate all through his life played an important role in bringing about the Gandhi-Irwin Pact leading to Gandhiji's participation in the Second Round Table Conference in London. A member of the Constituent Assembly, Jayakar also served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Poona University.

 

20. BAL GANGADHAR TILAK (1856-1920): Lokamanya Tilak, the uncompromising leader of the Extremists, will go down in history as one of the makers of modern India. Influenced by Agarkar, Ranade and Naoroji he waged a battle against the evils of his time, both political and social. He established the Poona New English School (1880), the Fergusson College (1885) and launched two newspaper the Kesari and the Mahratta. He also established Anti-Cow killing Societies. Akharas, Lathi Clubs and organized the Ganapati Festival and the Shivaji Festival. Following the partition of Bengal (1905), he laid stress on boycott, Swadeshi, National Education and Swaraj. An uncompromising patriot he was imprisoned in 1898. He was deported in 1908 for writing seditious articles. Tilak started the Home Rule League in 1916 and later uttered his memorable words, Swaraj is my birth right", in Lucknow Congress (1916). Tilak resented the derogatory remarks of Valentine chirol, a British journalist, against him in a book and went to England to fight a legal battle. The verdict, however, was against him, mainly on considerations other than merit. Lokamanya Tilak was a great scholar and had an insight into the Vedic literature. The Gita Rahasya, his magnum, was written in jail. In spite of the greatness that surrounded him, Tilak remained simple and courteous all through his wife.

 

21. BIPIN CHANDRA PAL (1858-1932): Born in Sylhet, Bipin Chandra Pal joined Presidency College, Calcutta, at the time of Bengal's socio-political regeneration. Discarding orthodox Hinduism he entered into the Brahmo Samaj and visited England and America between 1898 and 1900 as its spokesman. A fine orator, Bipin Chandra founded the English weekly, New India an organ soon turned into the mouthpiece of resurgent India. Bipin Chandra, initially a follower of Surendranath in politics, grew into a radical. He was the first great publicist to give an articulate expression to national aspirations and led the Swadeshi movement. Following the partition of Bengal. From 1905 he carried the gospels of Boycott, Swadesho, National Education, Swaraj and the passive resistance and rallied the extremists of the Punjab, Maharashtra and Bengal. He toured extensively for this purpose and deeply impressed the public in South India. In 1906, Bipin Chandra founded Bande Mataram and suffered six months imprisonment for refusing to give evidence in the Bande Mataram sedition case in 1907. In 1908 he went to England to propagate the nationalist view-point and gradually drifted towards constitutional moderation. He lost the political leadership during his moderatist shift from 1911 to 1921, and especially for his opposition to Gandhian programme of non-cooperation.

 

22. LALA LAJPAT RAI (1865-1928): The eminent nationalist leader and political thinker came initially under the influence of the Arya Samaj. He joined the Congress in 1888 and became famous as an exponent of the Extremist School. He went to England in 1905 to put forward the Indian nationalist opinion before the British public. He was arrested on his return and deported to Mandalay for some time. While visiting U.S.A. during the first World war Lalaji was not allowed to return till 1919. In August 1920 he presided over the special session of the Congress at Calcutta and founded the National School at Lahore during the boycott the government schools. In 1921 and 1922 he suffered two terms of imprisonment. He also presided over the AITUC in 1920. In 1923 he entered the Central Legislative Assembly as a Swarajist and later founded the Nationalist party, which successfully contested the elections of 1926. Lalaji moved the resolution in the Assembly on the boycott of the Simon Commission and, while leading a demonstration against in at Lahore, he was brutally assaulted by the police. On 17 November 1928 he succumbed to his injuries.

 

23. SWAMI SHRADDHANAND (1856-1926): Born at Telwan in the Punjab, the Swami, educated in Banaras, set up his law practice in 1885, came under the influence of Swami Dayanand and started working for the Arya Samaj Renouncing his practice in 1902, he founded the famous Gurukul a residential national university to imbibe national consciousness among the students. He along edited the Journal Sat Dharma pracharak. In 1919, Swamiji led the anti-Rowlatt Bills agitation in Delhi. An advocate of communal harmony, he became the Chairman, Reception Committee, at the Amritsar Congress session and later participates in the Non-Cooperation movement. He suffered imprisonment in 1922 for participating in the Guru-ka-Bagh Satyagraha. A social worker, Swamiji denounced casteism and child marriage and advocated widow remarriage and protection or orphans. A patron of women's education, he had founded a girls college at Jullundhar. He zealously worked for the welfare of the Harijans and established the Dalit Uddhar Sabha in Delhi. He was assassinated by a Muslim fanatic at Delhi.

 

24. HAKIM AJMAL KHAN (1865-1927): A Unani physician, transformed the Tibbia school founded by his family into the Tibbia College of Delhi with a view of modernizing the Unani system of Medicine. Ajmal Khan as a Muslim League leader brought it to the fold of national politics. He was the Chairman of the Congress Reception Committee and of the Hindu Mahasabha at Delhi in 1918. Later he presided over the Muslim league session at Amritsar in 1919, and that of the Congress at Ahmedabad in 1921. He played a leadiong role in the anti-Rowlatt demonstrations at Delhi and he joined, renouncing a British title in 1920, the Khilafat agitation and the Non-Cooperation movement. One of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamic, he was its first Chancellor. Later he shifted the institution from Aligarh to Delhi. In 1923, Ajmal Khan headed the Congress Enquiry Committee on Civil Disobedience and distinguished himself as a Pro-Changer. He was an ardent advocate of communal harmony.

 

25. MAZHAR-UL-HAQ (1866-1930): of Chhapra in Bihar associated himself with the Congress, condemned the communal electorate introduced in India by the Reforms of 1909, became the Chairman of the Congress Reception Committee at Bankipur in 1912 and later in 1914 was a member of the deputation that went to England to plead India's case. President of the Muslim League in 1915, he was largely responsible for bringing it nearer to the Congress. He stood by Gandhiji in his Champaran Satyagraha in 1917. Thrice elected to the imperial Legislature, he resigned from it in 1918 in protest against the Rowlatt Bills. He advocated Swadeshi, also started an English weekly, the Motherland, and suffered imprisonment for criticizing the Government. He lived and died as the true apostle of Indian nationalism.

 

26. MAULANA SHAUKAT ALI (1873-1938): Born at Ramput ion U.P, was a prominent leader of the Khilafat movement, he participated in the Congress deliberations at Amritsar in 1919 and presided over the Khilafat committee, of which he later became the General Secretary. Founder of the Anjuman-e-Khuddaam-e-Kaabaa, Shaukat Ali actively participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement and suffered imprisonment.

 

27. MAULANA MUHAMMAD ALI (1978-1931): Born at Moradabad. He edited the Comrade, an English weekly, and used it for the advocacy of the Khilafat cause. As a follower of Gandhiji, Muhammad Ali led the Khilafat agitation in India and mobilized public opinion in favour of the Non-Cooperation movement. Persuading the Aligarh students and teachers to leave their college, he was largely responsible for setting up the Jamia Millia Islamia and was elected as its first Shaikh-ul-Jamia. In 1921, we suffered imprisonment for declaring it unlawful for the Muslims to serve in the British army. In 1923, he was instrumental in brining about a compromise between the pro-changers and the No-changers and he presided over the Congress session at Coconada.

 

28. MUKHTAR AHMAD ANSARI (1880-1936): Born in Ghazipur district in UP, distinguished himself as a prominent leader of the Home Rule Movement. He was the President of the Muslim League in 1920 and of the Khilafat Committee in 1922 and actively participated in the Non-Cooperation Movement. He was also one of the prominent No-changers. A General Secretary of the Congress, he presided over its deliberations at Madras in 1927, deciding to boycott the Simon Commission. He was the President of the All parties Conference and convention in 1928 endorsing the Nehru Constitution. He acted Chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia. Founder-President of the Congress Parliamentary party, he was responsible for the Congress accepting the Parliamentary Programme in 1934.

 

29. SATYAPAL (1885-1954): born at Amritsar, was an Assistant Surgeon. He, in association with Saifuddin Kitchlew, led the anti-Rowlatt Bills agitation at Amritsar resulting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. he was transported for life but released following a countrywide demand for his freedom. A staunch advocate of communal harmony, Satyapal served as the Secretary of the Provincial Congress Committee and remained its President for several years. He also served the Punjab Legislative Assembly as its speaker and held this office till his death.

 

30. SAIFUDDIN KITCHLEW (1888-1963): born at Amritsar was a barrister. He became a close associate of Gandhiji and played a leading role in the Satyagraha movement of 1919. Following the Jallianwala BAgh massacre, he was transported but was later released. He participated in the Non-Cooperation movement and suffered imprisonment in the famous Karachi case. He defended the accused in the Delhi and Meerut Conspiracy cases.

 

NON-COOPERATION: 1920'S AND 1930'S

31. ASAF ALI: (1888-1953): a barrister, joined the Home Rule movement. An active Congressman, he was arrested in Bombay in 1942 and was detained, along with other leaders, in the Ahmednagar Fort. On release in 1945, he took up the Secretary ship of the INA Defence Committee. Later, in 1946, he joined the Interim Government as a minister and took part in the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly. Asaf Ali was India's first Ambassador to Washington and later he served as the Governor of Orissa. While serving in Switzerland as India's Ambassador he passed away.

 

32. JAMNALAL BAJAJ (1889-1942): The adopted son of a millionaire of Wardhe, he came under the influence of Gandhiji and in 1920 he was elected the chairman of the Congress Reception Committee at Nagpur. Thereafter he occupied the position of the Congress Treasurer a post he held throughout his life. He gave up his title of Rai Bahadur in 1921, founded the Satyagraha Ashram at Wardha and donated a lakh of rupees for the support of lawyers renouncing practice to join the movement. He participated in the Salt Satyagraha and Indiaidual Civilo Disobedience movement. Apart from agitational activities, Jamnalal was always involved in the constr4uctive programme. He founded the Gandhi Seva Sangh, Gau Seva and Sasta Sahitya Mandal and also promoted the causes of rural industries and HArijan uplife. In 1936 he gave Segaon village to Gandhiji as a fight. Gandhiji named it Sevagram and founded his ashram there.

 

33. SAROJINI NAIDU (1879-1949): Born in a family reputed for its scholarity background, Sarojini Naidu was educated in England. She showed a marked flair for literature at an early age which later found expression in beautiful English verses and earned her the title "Ninghtingale of India". Sarojini's poems were typically Indian finding expressions through a Western language and partly, Western influence. Turning a Home Rule Leaguer in 1916 at the call of Mrs. Besant, Sarojini relegated her literary and domestic activities to the background. She then placed herself in the forefront of the national struggle and distinguished herself as one of the chief lieutenants and confidents of Gandhiji. She was the first Indian lady to preside over the Congress (Kanpur, 1925). During the Salt Satyagraha she took over the supreme charge of the Civil Disobedience movement and led the salt raids at Dharsana in 1930. she also played an important role in all the subsequent political movements. At the beginning of the Quit India movement in 1942, she was arrested and detained with Gandhiji at the Aga Khan Palace, Poona. She toured the foreign countries several times to put forward the Indian point of view. Chairman of the Asian Relations Conference in 1947, she was the first Indian lady to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh in free India. A champion or the emancipation of woman, Sarojini fought all her life against poverty, ignorance and social taboos.

 

34. ACHARYA NARENDRA DEV (1889-1956): Born at Faizabad in U.P, He Narendra Dev was educated at Allahabad. He joined the Faizabad Bar in 1915 as a promising lawyer. Hen Gandhiji launched the Non-Cooperation movement he gave up his practice and was one of the first to join the fray. Entering the Kashi Vidyapeeth a its Vice-Principal he became its principal Acharya) in 1925. In 1937, he was elected to the U.P. Legislative Assembly. A member of the provincial Congress Committee and the All India Congress Committee, Narendra Dev was elected to the UPCC as its President in 1936. For several Years he remained a member of the Congress Working Committee and wielded great influence over the Congress policies. An ardent patriot, Narendra Dev took prominent part in all the movements launched for the liberation of the country. Arrested by the British police, he spent over six years of his life in jail. Narendra Dev identified himself with the socialist elements within the Congress and was the President of the Socialist Conference at Patna in 1934. A leading Congress Socialist, Narendra Dev finally broke off from the Congress in 1948. he organized the Socialist Party and, for several years, served as its Chairman. Later, the Socialist Party was merged with the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party under the name of Praja Socialist party. A renowned educationist and a profound scholar, Narendra Dev served the universities of Lucknow and Banaras as Vice Chancellor and represented the country in various international conference.

 

 

35. SWAMI SHAJANAND SARASWATI (1889-1951): Born at Deva (U.P) a participant in the Non-cooperation Movement and Salt Satyagraha. He pioneer the peasants cause and became the founder – President of the Bihar Kisan Sabha in 1927, presided over the All India Kisan Sabha at its Lucknow and Comilla sessions in 1936 and 1938. He urged the Congress to take up the peasants cause. He was responsible for adopting the 1^st of September as the Kisan Day.

 

36. CHITTARANJAN DAS (1870-1925): made his mark in 1908 when he was able, as a defence lawyer, to free Aurobindo in the Alipore Bomb Case. He denounced the Montague-Chelmsford scheme of sprinkling constitutional justice. Initially opposed to Gandhiji's Non-Cooperation programme, Das accepted it at the Nagpur Congress Session in 1920. A President elect for the Ahmedabad Congress Session, Das was imprisoned in connection with the boycott of the Price of Wales visit. In 1922 he presided over the Congress session at Gaya, enunciated his council entry programme for wrecking the constitution from within and formed the Swaraj Party. Winning the Bengal elections in 1923 he attempted to disrupt the dyarranjan. He also presided over the All India Trade Union Congress in 1923 and 1924. In 1925 Deshabandhu the man of proverbial manificence and literary figt, demand "Swaraj for the masses and not for the classes"

 

37. BHULABHAT DESAI (1877-1946): Born in Gujarat, made his debut in politics as a Home Rule Leaguer in 1916 and later joined the Liberal Party. He appeared on behalf of the Bardoli peasants before the Broomfield Committee. Joining the Congress in 1930 he established the Swadeshi Sabha for promoting the boycott of foreign goods. He took a leading part in reviving the parliamentary programme in 1934. Elected to the Central Legislative Assembly he served as the leader of the opposition. He offered individual Satyagraha in 1940 and a suffered imprisonment. He negotiated the Desai-Liaquat pact in 1944 as a measure of solving the Indian constitutional deadlock. His last and perhaps the greatest contribution to the national cause was his brilliant defence of the INA prisoners in 1945.

 

38. GANESH VASUDWO MAVALANKAR: Born at Baroda, was a lawyer. He participated in the no-rent campaign in Kaira, the Non-Cooperation, the Salt Satyagraha, Civil Disobedience, Individual Satyagraha and the Quit India Movements. while in jail he engaged himself in the reform of hardened criminals. As first Speaker of the Lok Sabha of Indian Republic he set up great traditions and laid a solid foundation for parliamentary democracy in India.

 

THE VALOUR OF NATION

39. MUHAMMAD BARKATULLAH (1864-1928): Born in Bhopal, he associated himself with the Bengal revolutionaries following the Swadeshi days. In 1914 Berkatullah reached the USA and joined the Dhadr party. With the outbreak of the first world war, he crossed over to Europe and joined the Indo-German Mission to Istanbul believing that India would be freed from the British rule through German support. The Mission proceeded to Afghanistan and formed a Provisional Free India Government under the leadership of Raja Mahendra Pratap with Barkatullah as Prime Minister. But as the Afghan Government was not helpful, under British pressure, Barkatullah left for Germany to work on the Indian Independence Committee in collaboration with Lala Hardayal and others. When the war ended, Barkatullah toured the European countries pleading for India's freedom. He participated in the anti-Imperialist Brussels Conference in 1927 and died as an exile.

 

40. BIRSA MUNDA (1874-1902): born in the suburb of Ranchi, Birsa originated a new tribal revivalistic cult and came to be known as Bhagawan. Determined to free his agriculturist tribesmen from the oppressions of the local Mahajans, Zamindars, the police and the Government officials, Birsa asked the Mundas in 1895 to stop paying rent and undertaking beggar. In December 1899 the Mundas, led by Birsa, rose in revolt attacking Zamindars, Mahajans, missionaries and the police, British troops were soon called to suppress the rebellion, but Birsa's men continued the resistance in Ranchi and Singhbhum for nearly two months. It ended with the capture and death of young Birsa-suffering from cholera during the trial.

 

41. VINAYAK DAMODAR SAVARKAR (1883-1966): Poet, scholar, social worker historian and one of the earliest revolutionaries, Sarvarkar was born in a Chitpavan Brahmin family of Maharashtra. In 1899, when the was just 16, he founded the Mitra Mandal, with the aim of achieving freedom, if necessary, by armed rebellion. In 1900, he joined the Fergusson College, Poona and impressed upon his fellow students the value of armed struggle. He also insisted upon their taking solemn oath that they would sacrifice everything for the sake of the Motherland. Although he passed the examination creditably, he was not awarded the degree because of his revolutionary activities. He founded the Abhinava Bharat, before the proceeded to London, on a scholarship, to study law. There he started the Free India Society Arrested in 1910 Savarkar was extradited to India. During his voyage in captivity he made a bold attempt to escape when he ship touched Marseilles. He was illegally re-arrested by the British police on the French soil and brought back to India where he was sentenced to transportation for life and sent to the Andamans. On release in 1924, he was interned in Ratnagiri district, where he engaged himself in social work. Freed from internment in 1937, he joined the Hindu Mahasabha, served for several years as its President and devoted the rest of his life organizing the Hindu Community.

 

42. LALA HARDAYAL (1884-1939): Born in Delhi, preached his ideas of violent revolution against the British Raj, was General Secretary of the Ghadar Party. A brilliant orator, he carried on the revolutionary propaganda through the party organ - Ghadar. When arrested by the U.S. police on British complaints and released on bail, Hardayal slipped to Geneva and resumed his activities by publishing Vande Mataram. Soon he came to Berlin to organize the Indian Independence Committee, and successfully enlisted the support of Germany in its favour. The defeat of Germany in the first world war disrupted his plans and paralyzed his activities. Later years he spent in U.S.A. advocating India's cause.

 

43. RASHBEHARI BOSE (1886-1945): Born in Hooghly a revolutionary, planned and organized the bomb outrage on the Viceregal procession on 23 December 1912 for which he associates were caught and received capital punishment. Thereafter he planned arising in India during the first world war with German help. Rashbehari's plans were discovered in 1915 escaped to Japan; he married a Japanese and became a citizen of Japan. During world war II he organized a conference in Tokyo in 1942of Indians living in South East Asia. The conference resulted in the birth of Indian Independence League at Bangkok, which under Rashbehari's leadership, formed the Indian National Army by recruiting Indian prisoners of war. Later he invited and passed over the leadership of the organization to Netaji. Rashbehari died when Japan was collapsing in the war.

 

44. MADAN LAL DHINGRA (1887-1909): On 1^st July 1909, at a gathering in the Imperial Institute of Science and Technology, London, shot and killed Sir William Curzon Wyllie, Political Aide to the Secretary of State for India, who, it was said, was swayed by Sir William into adopting a policy of unrestrained repression in India. Dhingra was arrested and tried for murder. He defended his action: "I believe that a nation held on by foreign bayonets is in a perpetual state of war. Since open battle is rendered impossible to a disarmed race. I attacked by surprise. Sentenced to death, he died on the gallows.

 

45. KHUDIRAM BOSE (1889-1908): Joined in 1908 the Jugantar group of revolutionaries which decided to kill kingsford, the notorious and oppressive Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta; hurled a bomb on his carriage, killing its occupants, Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter on 30 April 1908 at Muzaffarpur, Khudiram was eventually arrested and executed on 11 August 1908.

 

46. SURJYA KUMAR SEN (1893-1934): One of the founders of the revolutionary group in Chittagong, he was involved in the well-known Assam-Bengal Railway political dacoity in 1923 at Chittagong. In 1926 he ore-organized his group under the name, Indian Republican army (Chittagong Branch). He was the leader of the IRA rising in Chittagong town on 18 April 1930, and their glorious fight against the British forces on Jalalabad hill. Frustrating many British attempts to capture him, Surjya Sen became a legend and a popular hero. On 16 February 1933, he was caught as a result of treachery, subjected to brutal tortures and died on the gallows.

 

47. RAMPRASAD BISMIL (1897-1927): Born in Shahjahan, Uttar Pradesh, in 1923 became the acknowledged leader of the military wing of Hindustan Republic Association. An Aryan Samajist in his way of life and a person of literary caste, Bismil was robust, courageous and resourceful. He was famous for his marksmanship and discipline and led the revolutionary raids at Shergunj, Bichpuri and other places. Bismil also led the Kalkori train hold-up and carried out the daring operation on 9 August 1925. Bismil died on the gallows in the Gorakhpur District Jail on 19 December 1927.

 

48. ASHFAQULLAH KHAN (1900-1927): born at Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, came in touch with Ramprasad Bismil and became his trusted comrade. Joining the revolutionary organization – Hindustan Republican Association Ashfaqullah was one of its important members. He was one of the leading figures who executed the daring political, Kakori train hold-up and robbery, dacoity on 9^th August 1925. Ashfaqullah died on the gallows in the Faizabad jail on 19^th December 1927.

 

49. BIR SINGH (?- 1916): Born at Bahowal village in Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab, was involved with the Ghadrite activities in Canada. Returning to India in 1914. He took an active part in organizing a secret violent movement against the British Raj. Arrested on 6^th June, 1915, Bir Singh, who was involved in the first Lahore Conspiracy Case, was tried on the charge of conspiring against the Government and sentenced to death. He died on the gallows in the Lahore Central Jail on 30^th March 1916. Bir Singh was one of the martyrs whose sacrifices transformed Lahore into a political storm centre.

 

A SOCIALIST

50. RAM MANOHAR LOHIA (1910-1968): Born at Faizabad in U.P. Lohia obtained his doctorate from Berlin University, Germany, and developed a strong aversion for violence after witnessing the growth of militarism there. This attitude later led him to join Gandhiji's camp. Meanwhile he grew into a socialist and had close con act with the socialist Leaders of different countries. In 1934, he became a founder-member of the Congress Socialist party and edited its journal, the Congress Socialist. In 1936, at the instance of Nehru, he took over the Foreign Department in the Congress and was instrumental in organizing and developing fraternal relations with the progressive forces in various countries. He also established a separate branch to look after the interests of Indians overseas. A member of the A.I.C.C. he was imprisoned and subjected to severe torture several times. He played on inspiring and leading role during the Quit India Movement and remained engaged in underground activities. In free India, Lohia founded the Socialist Party which was later merged with the K.M.P.P. and renamed as P.S.P. Later he formed the socialist party of India which assumed the name S.S.P. after its merger with P.S.P. A social reformer and a socialist theoretician, Lohia championed the cause of the exploited and suppressed, and fought to end casteism, poverty and ignorance. A great leader of mass agitation, he was the first Indian leader to launch movements in Nepal and Goa. A distinguished parliamentarian he was a forceful journalist who promoted the cause of Hindi as national language.

 

51. CHAKRAVARTI RAJAGOPALACHARI (1878-1972): Born in a village near Hosur in a Salem district, Rajagopalachari studied at Bangalore and Madras. He established a lucrative legal practice and became the Chairman of Salem Municipality in 1917. He participated in the anti-Towlatt Bills Satyagraha in 1919 and gave up his profession in 1920 to join the Non-Cooperation movement. In 1921 he took over the responsibilities of General Secretary, Indian National Congress, and served as aw member of its working committee intermittently for several years. A member of the Civil Disobedience Enquiry Committee in 1923, Rajaji opposed the Council entry programme. He was imprisoned for his participation in the Salt Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience movement. On of the chief organizers of the Congress in the South, he was President of the Tamil Nadu Provincial Congress for several years and led the Congress victory in Madras in the 1937 elections. Rajaji was largely responsible for the Congress decision to form governments in the provinces and he headed the Congress ministry in Madras. During his premiership (1937-39) the Legislations on prohibition and agriculturists relief were passed in the province. In December 1940, Rajaji was sentenced to one year's imprisonment under the defence of India rules. on his release in 1941 he differed with Gandhiji as to the application of non-violence during the war.  Following a controversy with the working committee over certain resolutions passed by the Madras Congress Legislative party, Rajaji resigned from the Congress and the Assembly. Later he evolved a formula for the solution of Indian constitutional tangle in 1944 and assisted Gandhiji in his negotiations with Jinnahb. Returning to the Congress Working Committee in 1946, Rajaji served the Interim Government as Minister for Industry, Supply, Education and Finance and then as the Governor of West Bengal. In 1948 he succeeded Lord Mountbatten as the first Indian Governor General of the Indian Dominion till 26 January 1950, when India became a Republic Later, Rajaji joined the Nehru cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and took over in 1951 the charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Between 1952 and 1954 Rajaji was the Chief Minister of Madras. Differing with the Congress on social and economic issues Rajaji founded the Swatantra Party in 1959 and regularly expressed his views through the Swarajya. An outstanding political leader of the country, he was pioneer of social reform and vigorously advocated the Khadi, prohibition and Harijan uplift. He was the Secretary of the Prohibition League of India in 1930, and an active member of the All India Spinners Association. Rajaji played a prominent role in the Poona Settlement (1932) concerning the Depressed Classes. In 1938 Rajaji was responsible for the Mahabal Temple Entry and the removal of Civil Disabilities Acts. A strong believer in pacifism and a critic of the nuclear weapons, Rajaji was well-known for his campaign against their use.

 

52. ABUL KALAM AZAD (1888-1958): Coming from a distinguished family of Muslim divines, noted for its aristocracy of learning, Mohiuddin Ahmad, popularly known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, was born in Mecca where his ancestors had migrated from India during the revolt of 1    7. Azad spent his childhood in Arabia, studying privately. Later in 1898, he accompanied his parents to India and settled in Calcutta. Here he completed a traditional course in higher Islamic education and distinguished himself as a erudite scholar. The Swadeshi movement in Bengal deeply influenced the patriotic Azad and he associated himself with the revolutionaries of the province. In 1912 he started the Urdu weekly, Al Hilal to propagate nationalist ideals. Through this organ he persuaded his co-religionists to join the national Movement and to understand that the interests of all communities in India were inextricably interwoven. Twice losing the security deposit of the journal for seditious writings, the Maulana started another weekly the Al Balagh in 1915 and faced internment at Ranchi in Bihar. On release in 1920, he came in close contact with Gandhiji and became prominent among those who supported his Non-Cooperation programme for the redress of the Khilafat and the Punjab wrongs. From this time onwards till the dawn of Independence he remained in the forefront of each subsequent movement and suffered imprisonment every time. Chief of the Khilafat Committee, the Maulana was also elected President of the special session of the Congress at Delhi in 1923 and was largely responsible for bringing the No-changers and Pro-changers to a compromise. He also presided over the Jamiat-ul-Ulema and Nationalist Muslim Conference in 1924 and 1929 respectively. When the Congress accepted office in 1937, the Maulana, as a member of its Parliamentary Board, guided the working of the Congress ministries. In 1940 he was again elected President of the Congress and he continued in this capacity till 1946. During this period, he acted as the Chief spokesman of the Congress and had negotiations witch Cripps in 1942. It was under his president ship that the historic Quit India resolution was passed at Bombay. Subsequently he was arrested along with other leaders and detained in the Ahmednagar Fort. On release in 1945, he participated, as the Congress President, in the Simla Conference and a year later led the negotiations with the British Cabinet Mission. A member of the Constituent Assembly, Maulana Azad joined the Interim Government the Constituent Assembly, Maulana Azad joined the Interim Government at Minister of Education and Arts. In free India he became the Education Minister and later took charge of the portfolio of Natural Resources and Scientific Research. He was also elected Deputy leader of the Congress following the first general election. The Maulana's tenure as Education Minister will be remembered for significant measures like the appointment of the University and the Secondary Education Commissions, the re-organization of the All India Council for Technical Education, the rapid development of the Indian Institute of Science, the establishment of University Grants Commission, the Kharagpur Institute of Technology and the setting up of a chain of laboratories for scientific research throughout the country. A profound scholar, an eminent educationist and a farsighted statesman, Maulana Azad represented the ideals of secularism and unity in our national life.

 

53. NARAYANA GURU (1854-1928): Born in a poor Ezhava family at Chempazhanti near Trivendrum, Narayana Guru was a scholar of Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam and a writer of devotional son s. he served as a teacher for some time and practiced Yoga and extreme asceticism. Belonging to the Ezhava Community, which suffered from the age-old disabilities within the Hindu fold, he worked throughout his life for the moral and social advancement of backward communities. He revolted against the severities of the caste system and renovated many neglected temples to set up a parallel system to that of the cast Hindus, who opposed the temple entry of the lower castes. He also succeeded in abolishing animal sacrifices in the name of religion. Narayana Guru persuaded the Ezhawas to give up all irrational practices existing in their community. Settling down in Ariyupuram on the river Neyyar, he founded in 1903 Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam for the social, economic educational and cultural progress of the Ezhavas and other depressed communities, he also advocated inter-marriages between the castes as a means of breaking down the barriers of caste and evolving a casteless and classless society. Narayana Guru worked for a new social order based on the principles of equality and justice and gave the religious reform movement in Kerala a social content.

 

54. PANDITA RAMABAI (1858-1922): Born at a time when her father, a reputed Sanskrit scholar, was cast out of society for teaching Sanskrit and scriptures to women. He travelled in various parts of India with a mission to educate Hindu women and thereby emancipate them from social injustice and tyranny. Losing her educated Shudra husband two years after marriage, she established the Mahila Arya Samaj at Poona to promote Women's education and to discourage child marriage. Ramabai started Sharada Sadan in Bombay, a boarding house and Mukti Sadan at Poona, a colony for the rehabilitation of the famine victims. Pandita Ramabai will be remembered for her spirituality, her life of service and her passion for emancipation of women in India.

 

55.THAKKAR BAPA (1869-1951): Born in Gujarat and qualifying himself as an engineer, Amritlal Vithaldas Thakkar worked in various places in India and briefly in Uganda. Thakkar Bapa, as he was popularly known, associated himself with the Servants of India society, the Depressed Classes Mission and the Widows Home in Poona founded by Karve. He set up cooperative societies for sweepers and scavengers in Bombay and opened schools for the children of labourers at Ahmedabad. He took up labour welfare work at Jamshedpur and organized relief during the famine in Orissa in 1920. Thakkar Bapa prayed a vital role in the movements for the removal of untouchability and the welfare of the aborigines, Statutory provisions incorporated in the Indian Constitution for safeguarding the interests of Harijans and arranging for their development in general were substantially due to the labours of Thakkar Bapa and his associates, Sweet in temper, persuasive in argument and believing in simplicity and austerity, Thakkar Bapa remained all through his life a friend of the humanity of distress.

 

56. GURU RAM SINGH (1816-1885): Started the Namdhari movement. He considered Guru Gobind Singh's Granth as the only true and sacred writing and rejected the idol worship as an insult to God. Guru Ram Singh abolished all caste distinctions among the Sikhs and enjoined the marriage of widows. He persistently advocated the ideals of equality of human beings, clean living and honest earning. He denounced the practices of Suttee, infanticide, child marriage dowry system and drinking. Intensely patriotic Guru Ram Singh aimed at the political regeneration of his country. his inspiring preaching's convulsed the Punjab villages and gathered round him 40,000 militant disciples known as Kukas. The Government was alarmed and arrested Guru Ram Singh and his followers in 1872. Deported to Burma, he died in 1885.

 

57. SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJEE (1901:1953): Born in Calcutta, was an advocate of Calcutta High Court, distinguished himself as an educationist, became the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University at the young age of thirty-three. Shyama Prasad entered the Bengal Legislative Council in 1929 as a Congress candidate and in 1930 as an independent. In 1939, he joined the Hindu Mahasabha and was its President from 1940 to 1944. A Finance Minister of Bengal, 1941-42, Shyama Prasad resigned in protest against the high-handedness of the Government and organized relief during the notorious Bengal Famine. Shyama Prasad was the Union Minister of Industries and Supplies for some time before he resigned in April 1950, following a disagreement on Indo-Pakistan problems. Since then, for all practical purpose he played the role of the leader of the opposition in Parliament. A founder of Bharatiya Jan Singh and its President, Shyama Prasad led the agitation for full integration of the State of Jammu & Kashmir with India. He passed away while he was under detention in Kashmir.

 

58. NANDLAL BOSE (1882-1966): The boy Nandalal came to Calcutta, from Monghyr, in 1897 with a flair for painting. Academically he could not go beyond G.A. standard. Later he joined the Government Art School and became a student of Abanindranath. Nandlal's suttee, offering herself on the pyre of her husband, was acclaimed as a great piece of art and claimed a prize in 1907 in the exhibition of the Indian Society of Oriental Art. With the prize money the toured all over India, visiting temples and examining Indian sculpture and art. Every painting he did thereafter was a welcome addition for the connoisseurs of art. He developed, in the meantime, close relations with Percy Brown, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Okakura and other contemporary artists. His connections with Tagore began in 1909 when he poet asked the artist to illustrate a book of his poems. In 1914, Nandalal joined Santiniketan and later organized its Kala Bhavana. But the artist in him was not aloof from the realities of social life. He founded a handicraft cooperative with a view to promote the economic condition of the artists. On Gandhiji's Invitation he decorated the Pandals of Congress sessions at Lucknow, Haripura and Faizpur. Recipient of many honours, Nandalal was devoted to the Swadeshi. The earth colours, hand-made papers and brushes were the products of his sense of self-reliance.

 

59. JAMINI ROY (1887-1972): Brought up in rural surroundings in Bankura district, Jamini Roy joined the Calcutta Act School and was trained in the Bengal School style. When he was about thirty-four years old he was attracted towards the treasures and potentialities of the folk art. Unlike most of his contemporaries of the Bengal School who were brought up in an urban environment, Jamini Roy the son of a petty landowner was relatively unaffected by the disruptive tendencies of modernism. It was easier for him to develop an intimate personal contact with the indigenous popular art of the villages. Jamini Roy adopted some of the archaic and primitive features of the folk art, such as the large head, large eyes, and the frontal aspect and fitted them into his traditional training. The result was a discovery of a style of his own. His style was as much a revival of folk art as a rebellion against the delicate drawing and hazy colouring of the Bengal School. Jamini Roy was convinced of the limitations of the Bengal School, carried out researches into formal simplification and gradually evolved the highly individual idom of expression in his later paintings.

 

60. JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSE (1858-1937): Doyen of Indian science, Assistant Professor of Physics in Presidency College, Calcutta, undertook research on electrical radiation, demonstrated how animal and vegetable tissues responded to electrical excitation and other stimuli and established the parallelism between plant life and animal life. In 1915 he founded the famous Bose Institute, primarily for plant physiological research.

 

61. UPENDRANATH BRAHMACHARI (1875-1946): Born at Jamalpur, obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology, in 1904 for his researches on "Haemolysis". He carried on most of his researches on Kala-Azar and discovered a urea antimony compound for the treatment of Kala-Azar and its introduction opened up a new vista in the treatment of the disease.

 

62. SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN (1887-1920): The mathematical prodigy, was at Erode. He showed extraordinary talent before he was ten, and by the time he turned thirteen he was recognized as a wonder boy. His interest into abstruse problems in mathematics came to the notice of senior mathematicians in Madras when he was about twenty-three years old. Struggling to find a foot-hold in life his college career being incomplete he become a clerk in the office of the Port Trust of Madras in 1912. Professor Hardy of Cambridge one of the foremost mathematicians of the time invited him to Cambridge, when undertook research in mathematics during his five years stay. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a Fellow of the Trinity College, Cambridge.

 

63. CHANDRASEKHARA VENKATA RAMAN (1888-1970): Born in Tiruchirapally, a professor the Physics in Calcutta University from 1917 to 1933, discovered the phenomenon on the scattering of light that bears his name the Raman effect. This discovery and his other valuable contributions brought him the coveted Nobel Prize in 1930. He was also the founder editor of the Indian Journal of Physics (1926). Going to Bangalore in 1933, Raman worked in the Indian Institute of Science, and along with others, founded the Indian Academy of Science in 1934. He started his Raman Research Institute at Bangalore in 1951.

 

64. SYED HUSSAIN BILGRAMI (1842-1926): One of the first two Indians (the other being Sir K.S. Gupta) to be a member of the India Council of the Secretary of State in London, structured almost all educational institutions in the State of Hyderabad barring perhaps Osmania University and New Girls' School, exhorted his co-religionist to steer clear of the Congress and to concentrate on the educational progress of the community, drafted an address which the proposed Muslim deputation in 1906 presented to the Viceroy, demanded separate electorates and weightage at all states for the Muslim community as also 50% representation in the Viceroy's Executive Council.

 

65. D.K. KARVE (1858-1962): Karve pioneered many social and educational activities. He himself married a widow in 1893 and started the Widow Marriage Association. He established a number of institutions for Hindu widows and for their children. In 1916 he founded the Indian Women's University. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1958 for social services.

 

66. C.N. Annadurai (1909-1969): A scholar, social reformer and political leader, Anna worked as a teacher and then turned to journalism and politics. He worked for the uplift of the workmen. He suffered imprisonment for participating in the linguistic demonstrations. He was an eminent leader of Dravida Kazhagam (Justice Party renamed since 1944). Due to a split in the party in 1949, he organized the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). He served as a great force of political regeneration in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. It was under his leadership that DMK obtained an absolute majority in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 1967 elections.

 

67. RAJA RAM MOHAN ROY (1772-1883): Raja Ram Mohan Roy has been rightly called as 'the morning star of Indian Renaissance', 'prophet of new age', 'for runner of New India, 'first modern Indian' and 'father of Indian Nationalism'. He awakened Indian from the ages-old entrenched ignorance, passivity dogmatism and exclusiveness. He gave a direction to her energies and shaped not only the form and content of but also the methods and techniques of her social and political struggles. He laid the foundation of all the principal movements for the elevation of his countrymen. A religious and social reformer, a nationalist and patriot, a journalist and liberal thinker, he became a perennial spring of inspiration and strength to later day reformers and agitators.

 

He was a widely read and travelled man. comparative study of all the major religions of the world, his knowledge of contemporary history, politics and law and science, his acquaintance with liberal and nationalist movements of Europe and his awareness of developing modern forces broadened his vision and outlook and made him a rationalist and universal humanist.

 

He was the first Indian to realize the superiority of the west over the East in certain fields and also the causes of India's decadence, division and colonial defeat. He thought he had a reform Hinduism, to dispel the darkness of orthodoxy and syperatition to establish the supremacy of man's reason and conscience over all authority to disseminate the liberal message of the West without belittling the East, to promote India's unity and universal brotherhood, and arouse millions of countrymen from their deep sloth and sleep. In other words, he aimed at India's modernization and the synthesis of what was good in oriental and occidental ideas, values and institutions.

 

A devout reformer as he was, he attacked Hindu system of idelatory, ritualism and polytheism and preached the unity of omnipresence of Nature's God. What he believed was that below the dogmas and rituals of all the religions there lay hidden a common core of rational religion and humanitarian ethics. He preached essential oneness of mankind and the family of nations. To propagate his views he founded the Atmiya Sabha (1817) and the Brahma Sabha (1828). He never broke with Hinduism and claimed that his reformed Hinduism was to be found in the ancient Upanishads.

 

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is most remembered as the originator of all important secular movements in India. He was perhaps the first feminist, a stout champion of the rights of women widows and wives, and crusaded successfully against 'Sati' (self-immolation of widows) on the funeral pyres of their husbands). He condemned infanticide, polygamy and child marriage and advocated female education and female right to property. He denounced caste-divisions, separations, and inquality based on ascription. In his view the caste distinctions sapped the very life blood of Indian nation and were undemocratic, inhuman and anti-national.

He strongly promoted English type of education as the main instrument of the social reforms and national progress and favoured the introduction of western science and technology into the educational curriculam of India. He helped the founding of Hindu College of Calcutta in 1816 and also established several free schools to impart English education.

 

He fully understood the value of free Press for diffusion of ideas and in the creation of critical attitude towards anything not rational. He promoted the cause of free journalism. He organized a protest movement against restrictions on the freedom of Press, the advocacy of which was the earliest and the clear warning to the English that the denial of freedom of Press and the accumulation of grievance have led to innumerable revolutions in all parts of the globe. He published his Sambad Kaumudi in Bengali and Mirat-ul-Akbar in Persian. These papers were mainly the organs of the propaganda of social reform.

 

He was quick of realize the importance of vernacular language as a means to propagate his ideas and reach down the masses. He laid down the true foundation of modern Bengal prose and wrote and published 27 works in Bengali.

 

He advocate measures for the Indianisation of the army, trial by jury, separation of executive and judiciary, codification of civil and criminal laws. He criticized the British government for excluding the Indians from higher posts.

 

The miserable plight of the Indian peasants merited his attention. He championed their cause by demanding reduction in the land rents paid by them.

 

Social regeneration in most cases precedes liberal and nationalist maturing and the Raja was the first Indian to realize this. He adopted liberal, constitutional and democratic methods propaganda, petition, creating public opinion reinforced by journalism to achieve his goals. As time went on Ram Mohan realized more and more than political agitation had to be used to influence and pressurize government; and the last years of his life spent in England (he died in England in 1833) were mainly directed to this work, setting a trend for the decades to come. He had a clear vision of the future direction, which India was to follow. It many respects the goals of other 19^th century reformers were no different than that of Ram Mohan Roy. By the end of the 19^th century the dimension of the Raja's mission did not basically change; rather it enlarged; the lines for social and political agitation which he laid down were never diluted. His greatness lies in the fact that he responded receptively to western penetration of India. The Congress moderates were the direct descendents of Raja Ram Mohan Roy's legacy, mission and programme.

 

Raja Ram Mohan Roy's contribution to India can be summed up in the words of his biographer, Miss Colet: "Ram Mohan stands in history as the living bridge, over which Indian matches from her unmeasured past to her incalculable future. He was the arch which spanned the gulf between ancient caste and modern humanity, between superstition and science, between despotism and democracy between immobile custom and a conservative progress."

 

His main contribution was to show the way to the reconciliation of political aims that were western in direction and inspiration with certain elements in the traditional Hindu pattern to show impact, that it was possible to agitate for liberal democracy without ceasing to be Indian. Such an apparently simple premise was to produce a national movement based widely upon a continuing tradition yet forward looking and progressive, its political demands readily comprehensible to the rulers.

 

KESHUB CHANDRA SEN (1838-84):  After the death of the Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Brahmo Samaj was led by Devendranath Tagore and Keshub Chandra Sen, whom the former elevated to leadership next to himself in 1857.

But differences arising from a conflict of two radically temperaments soon led to parting of ways. Keshub, committed to western values and Christian ethics, founded Brahmo Samaj of India in 1866 and advocated a much more aggressive social programme complete abolition of caste distinctions and early marriage, inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage, discarding sacred threads, granting Samaj membership to women, female workers and education Through his journal,  The Indian Mirror, he promoted public opinion against all social evils. Keshub achieved a great success in the passing of the National Marriage Act (1872) which legalized Brahmo marriages.

 

His main contribution in his conception of universalism and the religious unity of mankind and greater stress on the comparative study of all religions. He advocated like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the adoption of Western Value, ideas and institution for the social regeneration of India.

 

A keen study of history, he remained he special role of Asia in the evolution of civilization and suggested the idea of Asian Unity. By Asian he did not mean 'unity against the West.

 

The two Indian tours of Keshub in 1864 and 1868 did much to foster the sense of spiritual and national unity among Indians. His visit to England in 1871 carried the message and Brahmo Samaj to the West. His public meetings in India and in England attracted large cultured and interested audiences. He was the first great reformer to tour his country. in many of his speeches he recounted the evils of British rule: "Not only India; all Asia cries. Behold, the Sweet angel of the East … lies prostrate, a bleeding prisoner;" Thus his Brahmo movement contributed much to promote patriotic and national awareness.

 

ISHWAR CHAND VIDYASAGAR (1820-91): A profound humanist, great scholar and principal of Sanskrit College of Calcutta, he took up the widow remarriage movement, and petitioned the government to make it legal. It was through his unwearied efforts that the Hindu Widow's Remarriage Act (1856) was passed legalizing and marriages of the widows not with standing any custom or interpretation of the Hindu on the contrary. The successful conclusion of the widow remarriage movement was very important because it became the inspiration of other reform movements all over the country.

 

Vidyasagar rendered yeoman's service to the cause of female education. He was one of the leading spirits behind the Bethune School. He was instrumental in opening no less than thirty-five girls schools in Bengal. In 1857-58 Vidyasagar put forth his efforts unsuccessfully to prohibit the evil of polygamy. Thus his name stands foremost in connection with the up life of Indian women.

 

He is venerated as the father of the Bengali prose style'. He rescued the Bengali style from the pedantry of the Pandits and the vulgarity of the realists. His style was graceful and dignified. A pioneer of journalism, he founded the 'Som Prakash' in 1858. He made scholarly and varied contributions which facilitated the cultural renaissance in Bengal. What he did to foster the cause of Sanskrit and vernacular education in various ways is of inestimable values.

 

MAHADEV GOVIND RANADE (1842-1901): Ranade, a distinguished jurist, economist, historian, educationist was essentially a rationalist and humanist in the tradition of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. He held the office of a judge in Bombay High Court and could not therefore take active part in politics. But he devoted himself to the social and economic uplift of the country. a man of broad vision and liberal and rationalist thinking, he was one of the leading spirits of the Prarthna Samaj of Bombay and advocated female emancipation and removal of caste divisions. He was one of the founders of the Widow Marriage Association in 1861. But Ranade struck a middle course between dogmatism and excessive zeal for reform. He promoted the cause of education by helping found the Deccan Education society. He believed that education of the young should be remodeled so as to fit them for the service of the country.

 

He believed the concept of the society as a complex organism and therefore has ideas of reform were very comprehensive. "You cannot," said he, "have a good social system where you find yourself low in the scale of political rights; nor can you be fit to exercise political rights unless your social system is based on reason and justice. You cannot have a good economic system, when your social arrangements are imperfect. If your religious ideas are low and gravelling, you cannot succeed in social, economical and political spheres. This inter-dependence is not an accident but it is the law of our nature." He pleaded for religious toleration and social equality. He advocated a renaissance in society, in religion, and in politics.

He contributed to the developed of economic thought in India. His 'Essays on Indian Economics' proves his understanding of India's economic problems. He was one of the first nationalists to expose the true character of British imperialism. He advocated a vigorous policy of industrial and commercial development of India. He was a severe critic of the laissez-faire theory and favoured governmental aid to and protection of Indian industries. He opposed the existing semi-feudal agrarian relations and advocated their complete restructuring on a capitalist footing.

 

Ranade was one of the brains working behind the Indian National Congress and attended its first session. He denounced British racialism. Ranade was a modern rishi. Who inculcated the ideals of social emancipation, economic progress and national unity and who believed in the synthesis of the values of the East with the political and economic ideals of the West.

 

SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMHANSA (1834-1886): Sir Ramakrishna Paramhansa, mystic saint of Dakshineshwar, was a simple man no scholar but a man of faith….." and not interested in social reform. Essentially religious, yet broadminded, he epitomized out in his own person the techings of all the prophets (including Muhammad and Christ. His doctrine, arrived at by experimentation with other religions, was simply that 'all religions are true' and that all roads lead to God, but that for everyone the religions he was born in was the best possible one. By this simple assertion, he aimed at elimination of the very basis of religious conflict and proved the basic unity of mankind: he worshipped God in a mood of ecstasy-characteristics of Bhakti cult. He did not condemn idolatry, as it met the religious needs of simple people. He discerned divinity in humanity and emphasized that service of man was service of God and means to salvation. He preached in simple parables fascinating all alike. His greatest gift to posterity was the dynamic personality of Swami Vivekanand.

 

SWAMI DAYANAND SARASVATI (1824-1883): Dayanand Sarasvati, a saint-reformer and author of Satyarth Prakash, was the first to preach an aggressive, reformed and militant Hinduism. His Arya Samaj founded in 1875 was an attempt to revive and re-establish Hinduism  purely on a vedic basis. The aim of the Swami was to rally India against the encroaching in roads of Christianity and save Hinduism from the proselization of Islam. He began his Suddhi movement. i.e. reconversion of non-Hindus to Hinduism probably to realize the ideal of unifying India nationally, socially and religiously. He gave a call 'Back to the Vedas'. This slogan really meant an elimination of the developments of the Aryan faith since the Vedas. Significantly Dayanand gave his own modern interpretation to the Vedas commenting in Hindi, which he thought could become a national language, thus bringing them within the reach of common man. a devout reformer, he condemned untouchability and caste with crusading zeal. He raised his voice against other social abuses and in favour of education to all and the elevation of female status. Like previous reformers he also adopted modern reform techniques vernacular, publication, education, organization and pad-yatras to make his Arya Samaj movement reach down the masses and became a real moving national force. With a great urge for social service, Arya Samaj is still important factor in the Hindu resurgence in North India. His famous watch words 'Aryasthan for Aryans had a disguised desire to see the British quit India. He had probably developed the political concept of a united India.

 

VIVEKANAND (1861-1902): What has made Vivekanand great was his flaming patriotism, his zeal for reviving the greatness of Hinduism and service to the motherland. he saw the deficiencies of Hinduism more clearly than many, and he denounced them more vehemently: the degeneration of caste, the stultification of ritual, the physical and moral degradation and low status of women, but it was he who glorified and proved hidden virtues of Hinduism for the first time before an august international assembly at Chicago (1893) placing Hinduism in the cultural map of the modern world; he received much applause for his persuasive eloquence and simple exposition of the principles of Vedanta, which he said, was the religion for all. His triumph in the West restored the self confidence of the Hindus and deepened their sense of national pride and patriotism. Vivekanand's India felt for the first time that there was no reason to be apologetic about Hinduism. But he was no narrow minded saint; he preached the brotherhood of all religions, equality of all men and nations and he ardently favoured a communion of Indian spirituality and Western materialism for the believed that the keynote of our national downfall is that we do not mix with other nations… and do not compare notes."

 

Vivekanand gave a new direction to India's though and energies. His humanism broadened his religious vision and made him remark that religion is of no avail if it cannot wipe the tears of a widow and save the bodies of the poor from starvation and that to find God one should serve the poor, the ignorant, the afflicted service to them is the highest religion.

 

Vivekanand was perhaps the first nationalist to device a programme of national regeneration; besides his advocacy of the restoration of the caste system to its original form, and raising the status of women, he advocated the elevation of the masses for he believed "The only hope of India is from the masses." To him the main task seemed to be to educate these masses, to rouse their consciousness. This task he wanted to entrust to the educated young men and women conscious and educated masses would then surge forward and take helm of society in their firm hands. He was the first Indan to openly declare himself a socialist and boldly predict the advent of the new era where the Shudras (the Toilers) will be rulers while retaining their.

 

Vivekanand assigned a positive role to India's young men and women in the national regeneration and was first Indian to see in them a potential force, an inherent power. He wanted them to become abhay—fearless and strong and develop muscles of iron and nerves of steel since he considered weakness a sin, nay, death. It is a fact that generations of young revolutionaries of India have taken their inspiration from the teachings of Vivekanand, but strangely enough they did not take courage of going to the masses and rousing them, which India needs most even now.

 

The Sway founded the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897. There could be no better tribute of his guru. The mission has probably alleviated more human suffering and spread more education than any other institutions.

 

His thought and utterances had a striking note of optimism regarding India's growth and rise to the status of a great nation but what he wanted was that India should help herself to come up and become self-reliant. He believed, Nations, like individuals, must help themselves.

 

All told, he acquainted the west with India's ancient greatness and the wanted to awaken masses and build youth power, develop national consciousness and life patriotism to a high spiritual level.

 

JOTIBA RAO PHULE (1827-1890): Jotiba Phule, a leader from gardener caste of Poona organized one of the earliest social protest movements among the lower castes in Maharashtra. His writings attacked the socialinguities of the traditional society, the caste, system and the condition of women. He sought the regeneration of the lower castes by promoting education among them and opened several schools for the untouchables, and the non-Brahman boys and girls besides founding homes for the widows' children. In 1873 he founded the Satya Shodak Samaj precisely to assert the worth of man irrespective of caste. He opposed the employment of Brahman priest to conduct wedding and to this end he greatly simplified marriage rituals. To seek depressed classes' emancipation from upper caste hegemony he emphasized on the spirit of self-reliance' along them. In his movements but it was he who helped create consciousness among the lower castes.

 

MAHARISHI DHONDU KESHAV KARVE (1858-1962): Dhandu Keshav Karve was one of those practical social reformers of Maharashtra who with missionary zeal devoted their entire life to the cause of social reform and particularly to the progress of woman. He married a widow himself and in the 1899 opened a Hindu widows Home at Poona. In 1910, he started the Niskam Karma Math (the monastery of disinterested work) with dedicated volunteers to promote the interests of woman kind. But his greatest contribution was the establishment of India's first women's university at Poona in 1916, which was later shifted to Bombay under the name of S.N.D.T. Indian Women's University. Karve was honoured with nation's highest award the Bharat Ratna in 1958.

 

MRS. ANNIE BESANT (1848-1933): Ms. Annie Besant, an Irish Lady and President of the Theosophical Society, who settled down in India promoted reformist Hindu revival emphasizing on the development of national spirit and the spread of education. She founded several social and educational institutions including the Central Hindu College at Banaras which later grew into the famous Banaras Hindu University.

 

Being  ardent supporter of India's freedom and realizing the need of a united political movement to secure that aim, she successfully helped the Congress Moderates and Extremists unite in 1916. As organizer of the Home Rule Movement, she along with Tulak can be credited to have begun in India an agitational nationalism on a nationwide scale taking it down to the masses. She presided over the Congress Session of 1917. She constantly attacked caste and sex inequalities through her journal 'commonweal'. She translated the Gita into English.

 

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1817-1898): Sir Syed was the first great Muslim reformer and educationist to realize the causes of the extreme social and economic backwardness of the Indian Muslims. He devoted his entire life to seek their regeneration, through modern western education national and scientific and through his loyalty to and cooperation with the British. From these two planks of his programme, he never vacillated. In 1875 he founded M.A.O. school at Aligarh which later became a university seat.

 

A rationalist and humanist, he preached religious toleration and opposed any type of fanaticism and exclusiveness. He developed a new apologetics explaining whatever appeared to him as contrary to the conclusions of science or natural law in Islam and in the Quran. In fact he wanted to reconcile modern scientific thought with Islam. He attacked in his writings the Muslim social abuses Purdah, polygamy and easy divorce and was probably the first Muslim reformer to do so. But opposed by the orthodox and for the sake of the integration of all the Muslims in India and the elevation of their status educationally, economically and politically, he abandoned gradually his religious and social programme. A pioneer of Urdu journalism he founded his journal Takdhib alakhlaq. Ardent believer of Hindu-Muslim Unity, he compared then to the two beautiful eyes of the bridge that was India.

 

In spite of expression of such finer sentiments, Sir Syed, in his later years made reactionary assertions by mentioning the fear of Hindu domination', by urging the Muslims to dissociate with Indian National Congress and by pleading for 'communal electorates'. But to think of him as unpatriotic, anti-Hindu or communally separatist would an underestimation of him. In his view cooperation with politically too aggressive Congress would deprive the Muslims of the British patronage and help and hinder their progress. Repeatedly he emphasized that religious difference should have not political or national significance. Nevertheless his anti-Congress stand and false or genuine fears of Hindu domination reinforced by the British policy of 'counterpoise encouraged communal forces.

 

AURBINDO GHOSE (1872-1950): Aurbindo, the saint of Pondicherry and the author of 'The Life Divine' and 'Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol' profoundly influenced by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Swami Vivekanand raised nationalism to the dignity of religion: Nationalism is a religion that has come from God. A lover of freedom, he considered it a precondition without which all national life would remain crushed and smothered. He condemned the moderates for their mendicancy and stood by the side of the Extremists emphasizing the need for the Indian National Congress reach down the masses, and proclaimed that it was through the religion of the Mother, Kali, i.e. the Sakti which represents India, the motherland that the masses could be effectively reached and roused. He considered the Mother a dynamic and directing spirit, a force which would resurrect the sloth-ridden sleepy masses. Unlike many contemporary nationalists, Aurbindo believed in spiritual determinism and was quite optimistic of India's resurgence against the British imperialists. He was one of those early nationalists who through constant propaganda (he was associated with the Bande Matram) preached passive resistance to the British rulers and the boycott of the British goods, talking about Swadharm and Swadeshi. But his nationalism was no narrow; it was cosmopolitan in character; it was only a necessary stage ion the social and political evolution of man leading to the unity of mankind.

 

Because of his extremist and anti-British views he was suspected and considered very dangerous man by the British. In 1908 he was charged with sedition (Alipore case) and put into jail. But his trial, ended in his acquittal. But by that time the 'spiritual being' in him had completely dominated his through, mind, soul and he retired to Pondicherry, where he established an ashram.

 

MUHAMMAD IQBAL (1876-1938): Iqbal, a leading exponent of Islamic though and a post of world celebrity, profoundly influenced the young Indians-Muslim and Hindu in 1920s. Preaching activistic humanism, he like Vivekanand urged the young men to rise, move forward and advance ceaselessly and self-discover their potential. Nothing was more sinful in his view than passivity or inaction. He was deeply in love with humanity and would not exchange it even for divinity.

An ardent nationalist he, in his earlier poetry, extolled patriotism and contributed to the cause of India's freedom by writing his popular poem, 'Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara'.

 

But like Tagore he also visualized the inherent dangers of growing chauvinistic nationalism in many parts of the world. In his later years he exhibited reactionary and separatist learnings

Iqbal was one of the early advocates of Pakistan and yet he appears to have realized its inherent danger and absurdity.

Probably he had changed his mind or he had not given much thought to the question, as it had no importance then. His whole outlook on life does not fit ion with the subsequent developments of the idea of Pakistan or division of India. Whatever the truth his utterances did divert muslim mind in a separatist direction.

 

BHIMARAO RAMJI AMBEDKAR (1891-1956): Bhimarao Ramji was born on 14 April 1891 of Mahar, Hindu untouchable, parents at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh. His father was a Subedar in the army and a kabirpanthi hailing from a village, Ambad, in Ratnagiri district of the then Bombay presidency. It was a large family Bhimarao being the fourteenth child. Educated at Satara and later Bombay, he took his surname 'Ambavadekar' from his native village; a Brahmin teacher at the high school in Satara who was fond his young pupil change the make to Ambedkar in the school records – and it stuck.

 

In 1913, awarded a Baroda state scholarship, Ambedkar proceeded to the United States and joined Columbia University, in New York, where two years later he took his M.A. in Economics with a dissertation on 'Ancient Indian Commerce' In 1926, he obtained a doctorate from the same university. While at Columbia, John Dewey, the philosopher, was among his teachers and helped reinforce the young man's commitment to social reform.

 

In 1916 Ambedkar had moved to the London School of Economics and prepared for the Bar. A year later, however, he had to discontinue his studies owning to financial exigencies. He briefly taught at Bombay's Sydenham College of Commerce as Lecturer in Political Economy, but in 1921 resumed his studies in London and obtained an M.Sc. (1921) and D.Sc. (1923). His D.Sc. thesis, later published, was entitled 'The Problem of the Rupee'.

 

All through the years, the indignities, humiliations and hardships to which he was subjected because of his low caste origins had stirred in his proud, intelligent and sensitive mind a bitter resentment against the rigidities of the social system. They lingered with him to the very end.

 

On returning home in June 1924 Ambedkar started legal practice at the Bombay High Court. This was the beginning of an active public career as social worker, politician, writer, educationist. The same year he founded the Depressed Classes Institute (Bahiskrit Hitkarnini Sabha) in Bombay for the moral and material progress of untouchables. Three years later, he started a Marathi fortnightly, Bahiskrit Bharat and in November 1930 a weekly the Janata.

 

Another organizational that Ambedkar established in 1927 was the Samaj Samata Sangh, its objective being to propagate the gospel of social equality among untouchables and caste Hindus. Inter-caste marriages and inter-caste meals were an integral part of the programme. The Sangh's organ, the Samata, was started in March 1929.

 

In December 1927 Ambedkar led a Satyagraha to establish the right of untouchables to draw water from a public tank at Malad, in Kolaba district; three years later he led another Satyagraha to establish his community's right to enter the famous temple of Kalaram at Nasik. This Satyagraha was not withdrawn until March, 1930.

 

Presently, Ambedkar's eminence as a jurist began to be widely recognized. In 1928 he was appointed Professor at Government Law College, Bombay, seven years later, he was offered the coveted Perry professorship of Jurisprudence. In the mean time he was emerging as a leader of the Depressed Classes, in which capacity he continued to be nominated member (1924-34) of the Bombay Legislative Council. This vantage position enabled him to sponsor several bills for the welfare of his community of which he now emerged as the principal spokesman. He was an official nominee to the Round Table Conference and continued to serve on same of its committees down to 1934. His appointment, it has been said, 'marked a milestone' in the socio-political struggle of his community which had never hitherto been consulted in the governance of the country.

 

While his powerful solicitude for his people was shared by many. Ambedkar's more militant stance, that they be organized politically and treated as distinct from the Hindus, had fewer supporters. This led to a long drawn-out conflict with Gandhi punctuated by threats of fast unto death on the onehand and uneasy compromises on the other.

 

The British government's 'Communal Award' had conceded separate electorate to a number of communities, including the untouchables. Understandably, Gandhi's reaction was one of bitter opposition; he proceeded on a fast unto death in the Yarvada jail (20 September 1932). Four days later, leaders of the untouchables, including Ambedkar, agreed inter alia to an accord called the Poona Pact which provided for reservation of seats for the community in the general (Hindu) constituencies.

 

The compromise was something to which Ambedkar had agreed with great mental reservations; he was bitter and voiced his strong personal resentment against it. From now on, it would seem, his attitude to the Indian National Congress in general and caste Hindus in particular 'grew increasingly bitter and demanding. 'With an uncanny political acumen, he set up an Independent Labour Party in October 1936-7 general elections. Later in April, 1942, he organized the All India Scheduled Castes Federation as a political party. To promote the interests of his community he established the Peoples Education Society in July 1945; It was instrumental in starting a number of colleges for scheduled caste students in Bombay presidency.

 

On the declaration of World War II. Ambedkar stoutly repudiated the claim made by the Congress of representing the Depressed classes, and, politically, drew closer to Jinnah and his All India Muslim League in decrying what he called caste Hindu Chauvinism. His thoughts on Pakistan, published in 1940 although critical of some aspects of Jinnah's leadership, was not overly hostile to the concept per se.

 

From July 1942 to March 1946 Ambedkar served on the Governor General's Executive Council as Member for Labour. Later, the Congress nominated him to the Constituent Assembly in whose deliberations he was to play a prominent role. His thorough knowledge and understanding of constitutional Law marked him out as one of the chief architects of independent India's republican constitution.

 

While Law Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet, Ambedkar was also chairman of the Constituent Assembly's drafting committee and presented before it the draft constitution in 4 November 1948. Later, he was to pilot it successfully through the cut and thrust of debate in the House. He also made a signal contribution towards the drafting of the Hindu Code Bill, which made him known as a modern Manu (after the celebrate Hindu law giver). Ambedkar resigned from the Cabinet in September, 1951. Later, in 1952 in 1953, he lost two successive elections to Parliament.

In October 1935 Ambedkar announced for the first time that his followers would leave the Hindu faith altogether for, within it, they would never win social equality. During 1938-40 he briefly turned to Sikhism, but his efforts to gain a special place for his community within the Sikh fold proved unsuccessful. On 14 October 1956 Ambedkar embraced Buddhism and at a well-attended ceremony at Nagpur advised his followers to accept the new faith; himself giving Deeksha to hundreds of thousands. In retrospect, however, the exercise was to prove futile, fir it did not alter existing realities; furthermore, before long, many reverted to their earlier, Older faith. In November 1956, he attended the fourth conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists at Kathmandu. This was his last public appearance.

 

A prolific writer, some of Ambedkar's works are: Castes in India: their mechanism, genesis and development. 1916; Pakistan or Partition of India, 1946 (originally, 'Thoughts on Pakistan, 1949) and Thoughts on Linguistic States, 1955.

 

JAYPRAKASH NARAYAN (1902-1979): Jayprakash Narayan, more popularly known as 'J.P.', was born on 11 October, 1902 at Sitabdiyara in Saran district on the borders of U.P. and Bihar. His family were respectable, middle class kayasthas of longstanding. His mother was a simple, religious woman. J.P. was educated at the Patna Collegiate School, Bihar Vidyapith and Banaras Hindu University. In 1922 he was awarded scholarship by an association in Calcutta and went to the USA where he stayed for 8 years, studying a lowa, Chicago, Wisconsin, California and Ohio. Earning his way through college he engaged in a variety of jobs including that of a farmer and factory labour. While in the USA, J.P. came under powerful socialist influences and temporarily, even joined a communist cell. He was influenced by M.N. Roy and developed a grave distrust of Gandhi. His wife, Prabhavati, however, came closer to the Mahatma because she lived at his ashram while 'J.P.' was away.

On his return, 'J.P.' joined Banaras Hindu University as Professor of sociology. Later, moved by Jawaharlal Nehru's speeches at the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress he quit his job and joined the party's labour wing. While in jail during the Civil Disobedience Movement he met Achyut Patwardhan (1905-), Minoo Masani and Acharya Narendra Dev (1889-1956) and, in 1934, organized the All India Congress Socialist Party. A treatment critic of British rule, he lent strong support to violent agitation during the Quit India Movement. His exploits during World War II became a byword for national fervour and captured the popular imagination.

 

A radical, 'J.P.' advocated abolition of zamindari, nationalization of natural resources, peasant proprietorship, nationalization of heavy and basic industries and rural uplift. After Independence in 1947, support for violence and Marxism waned in 'JP'; in 1948 he led his socialist group out of the Congress. Later, he veered closer to Vinoba Bhave's Bhoodan and developed his own Jeevandan and Sarvodaya. In 1953, he declined Jawaharlal Nehru's offer to jo9in his government, thereby turning his back on wielding or sharing in political power. In the result, at one time rated as Nehru's logical successor, he ceased to be a realistic possibility for the office of prime ministership in the 1960s. he remained, on the other hand, a leading personality and an example of that small group of nationalist leaders who operate outside the parameters of political party and government.

 

In the mid-70's 'JP' launched a veritable crusade against Indira Gandhi and her 'authoritarian' ways; he opposed with great vigour the imposition of the 'emergency' and was, along with hundreds of other political leaders jailed. Later, he succeeded in launching an anti-Indira Gandhi combine of political groupings called the Janata party. He lived to see the latter installed in office with a convincing majority but half-way through its parliamentary lease of five years was a witness to its discomfiture with large defections leading to political instability and holding of fresh elections.

'JP's own illness brought about a failure of his kidneys while in detention deteriorated after his release. Despite intensive care, he never could however fully recover. Failing health added to his age and growing weakness and he died in his sleep in October 1979, mourned by a grateful nation that bade him a touching farewell.