Allan Octavian Hume

Allan Octavian Hume (6 June 1829 - 31 July 1912) was acivil servant, political reformer and amateur ornithologist inBritish India. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress, a political party that was later to lead the Indian independence movement. A notable ornithologist, Hume has been called "the Father of Indian Ornithology" and, by those who found him dogmatic, "the Pope of Indian ornithology."[1] [edit]Life and career Hume was born at St Mary Cray, Kent,[2] the son of Joseph Hume, the Radical MP. He was educated at East India Company College, Haileybury, and then at University College Hospital, where he studiedmedicine and surgery. In 1849 he sailed to India and the following year joined the Bengal Civil Service at Etawah in the North-Western Provinces, in what is now Uttar Pradesh. His career in India included service as a district officer from 1849 to 1867, head of a central department from 1867 to 1870, secretary to the Government from 1870 to 1879.[3] It was only nine years after his entry to India that Hume faced the Indian Rebellion of 1857 during which time he was involved in several military actions for which he was created a Companion of the Bath in 1860. Initially it appeared that he was safe in Etawah, which was not far from Meerut where the rebellion began. This however changed and Hume had to take refuge in Agra fort for six months.[4]Nonetheless, all but one Indian official remained loyal and Hume resumed his position in Etawah in January 1858. He built up an irregular force of 650 loyal Indian troops and took part in engagements with them. Hume blamed British ineptitude for the uprising and pursued a policy of mercy and forbearance.[5]

In his early service as a District Officer in the Indian Civil Service, he began introducing free primary education and creating a local vernacular newspaper, Lokmitra (The People's Friend). He married Mary Anne Grindall in 1853.[6] The system of departmental examinations introduced soon after (Hume joined the civil services) enabled Hume so to outdistance his seniors that when the rebellion broke out he was officiating Collector of Etawah, which lies between Agra and Cawnpur. Rebel troops were constantly passing through the district, and for a time it was necessary to abandon headquarters ; but both before and after the removal of the women and children to Agra, Hume acted with vigour and judgment. The steadfast loyalty of many native officials and landowners, and the people generally, was largely due to his influence, and enabled him to raise a local brigade of horse. In a daring attack on a body of rebels at Jaswantnagar he carried away the wounded joint magistrate, Mr. Clearmont Daniel,[7]under a heavy fire, and many months later he engaged in a desperate action against Firoz Shah and his Oudh freebooters at Hurchandpur. Company rule had come to an end before the ravines of the Jumna and the Chambul in the district had been cleared of fugitive rebels. Hume richly merited the C.B. (Civil division) awarded him in 1860. He remained in charge of the district for ten years or so and did good work. Obituary The Times of August 1st, 1912 He took up the cause of education and founded scholarships for higher education. He wrote, in 1859 he wrote that education played a key role in avoiding revolts like the one in 1857: ... assert its supremacy as it may at the bayonet's point, a free and civilized government must look for its stability and permanence to the enlightenment of the people and their moral and intellectual capacity to appreciate its blessings.[6] In 1863 he moved for separate schools for juvenile delinquents rather than imprisonment. His efforts led to a juvenile reformatory not far from Etawah. He also started free schools in Etawah and by 1857 he established 181 schools with 5186 students including two girls. In 1867 he became Commissioner of Customs for the North West Province, and in 1870 he became attached to the central government as Director-General of Agriculture. In 1879 he returned to provincial government at Allahabad.[6] Hume's appointment, in 1867, to be Commissioner of Customs in Upper India gave him charge of the huge physical barrier[8] which stretched across the country for 2,500 miles from Attock, on the Indus, to the confines of the Madras Presidency. He carried out the first negotiations with Rajputana Chiefs, leading to the abolition of this barrier, and Lord Mayo rewarded him with the Secretaryship to Government in the Home, and afterwards, from 1871,

in the Revenue and Agricultural Departments. Leaving Simla, he returned to the North-West Provinces in October, 1879, as a member of the Board of Revenue where ideological difference with his superiors led to his demotion.[9][10] He was against the revenue earned through liquor traffic and described it as "The wages of sin". With his progressive ideas about social reform, he advocated women's education, was against infanticide and enforced widowhood. Hume laid out in Etawah a neatly gridded commercial district that is now known as Humeganj but often pronounced Homeganj. The high school that he helped build with his own money is still in operation, now as a junior college, and it was said to have a floor plan resembling the letter H. This, according to some was an indication of Hume's imperial ego.[11] Others have pointed out that he was victimized as he was out of step with the policies of the Government often intruding into every aspect of administration with his critical opinions.[9] Hume proposed to develop fuelwood plantations "in every village in the drier portions of the country" and thereby provide a substitute heating and cooking fuel so that manure could be returned to the land. Such plantations, he wrote, were "a thing that is entirely in accord with the traditions of the country -- a thing that the people would understand, appreciate, and, with a little judicious pressure, cooperate in." He wanted model farms to be established in every district. He noted that rural indebtedness was caused mainly by the use of land as security, a practice that had been introduced by the British. Hume denounced it as another of "the cruel blunders into which our narrow-minded, though wholly benevolent, desire to reproduce England in India has led us." Hume also wanted government-run banks, at least until cooperative banks could be established.[6] He was very outspoken and never feared to criticise when he thought the Government was in the wrong. In 1861, he objected to the concentration of police and judicial functions in the hands of the police superintendent. In March 1861, he took a medical leave due to a breakdown from overwork and departed for Britain. Before leaving, he condemned the flogging and punitive measures initiated by the provincial government as 'barbarous torture'. He was allowed to return to Etawah only after apologizing for the tone of his criticism.[5] He criticized the administration of Lord Lytton (before 1879) which according to him cared little for the welfare and aspiration of the people of India. Lord Lytton's foreign policy according to Hume had led to the waste of "millions and millions of Indian money".[6]Hume was critical of the land revenue policy and suggested that it was the cause of poverty in India. His superiors were irritated and attempted to restrict his powers and this led him to publish a book onAgricultural Reform in India in 1879.[5][12]

In 1879 he went against the authorities and finally resigned in 1882.[3] The Government of Lord Lytton dismissed him from his position in the Secretariat. No clear reason was given except that it "was based entirely on the consideration of what was most desirable in the interests of the public service". The press declared that his main wrong doing was that he was too honest and too independent. ThePioneer wrote that it was "the grossest jobbery ever perpetrated" ; the Indian Daily News wrote that it was a "great wrong" while The Statesman said that "undoubtedly he has been treated shamefully and cruelly." The Englishman in an article dated 27 June 1879, commenting on the event stated, "There is no security or safety now for officers in Government employment."[13] In spite of the humiliation of demotion he did not resign at once from service and it has been suggested that this was because he needed his salary to support the publication of the "The Game Birds of India" that he was then working on.[9] Hume retired from the civil service in 1882. In 1883 he wrote an open letter to the graduates of Calcutta University, calling upon them to form their own national political movement. This led in 1885 to the first session of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay.[14] In 1887 he wrote to the Public Commission of India stating I look upon myself as a Native of India.[9] His wife Mary died in 1890, and their only daughter was the widow of Mr. Ross Scott who was sometime Judicial Commissioner of Oudh. Hume left India in 1894 and settled at The Chalet, 4, Kingswood Road, Upper Norwood in London. He died at the age of eighty-three on 31 July 1912. His ashes are buried in Brookwood Cemetery. In 1973, the Indian postal department released a commemorative stamp. [edit]Theosophy Hume did not have great regard for institutional Christianity, but believed in the immortality of the soul and in the idea of a supreme ultimate.[5] Hume wanted to become a chela (student) of the Tibetan spiritual gurus. During the few years of his connection with the Theosophical Society Hume wrote three articles on Fragments of Occult Truth under the pseudonym "H. X." published in The Theosophist. These were written in response to questions from Mr. Terry, an Australian Theosophist. He also privately printed several Theosophical pamphlets titled Hints on Esoteric Theosophy. The later numbers of the Fragments, in answer to the same enquirer, were written by A.P. Sinnett and signed by him, as authorized by Mahatma K. H., A Lay-Chela. Madame Blavatsky was a regular visitor at Hume's Rothney castle at Simla and an account of her visit may be found in Simla, Past and Present by Edward John Buck (who succeeded Mr. Hume in charge of the Agricultural Department).[15] A long story about Hume and his wife

appears in A.P. Sinnett's book Occult World, and the synopsis was published in a local paper of India. The story relates how at a dinner party, Madame Blavatsky asked Mrs Hume if there was anything she wanted. She replied that there was a brooch, her mother had given her, that had gone out of her possession some time ago. Blavatsky said she would try to recover it through occult means. After some interlude, later that evening, the brooch was found in a garden, where the party was directed by Blavatsky. Later, Hume privately expressed grave doubts on certain powers attributed to Madame Blavatsky and due to this, soon fell out of favour with the Theosophists.[9] Hume's interest in spirituality brought him into contact with many Indian thinkers. He however lost all interest in the theosophical movement in 1883[16] and became involved with the creation of the Indian National Congress.[17] [edit]Contribution to ornithology and natural history From early days, Hume had a special interest in science. Science, he wrote: ...teaches men to take an interest in things outside and beyond The gratification of the animal instinct and the sordid and selfish cares of worldly advancement; it teaches a love of truth for its own sake and leads to a purely disinterested exercise of intellectual faculties and of natural history he wrote in 1867:[6] ... alike to young and old, the study of Natural History in all its branches offers, next to religion, the most powerful safeguard against those worldly temptations to which all ages are exposed. There is no department of natural science the faithful study of which does not leave us with juster and loftier views of the greatness, goodness, and wisdom of the Creator, that does not leave us less selfish and less worldly, less spiritually choked up with those devil's thorns, the love of dissipation, wealth, power, and place, that does not, in a word, leave us wiser, better and more useful to our fellow-men. During his career in Etawah, he built a personal collection of bird specimens, however it was destroyed during the 1857 rebellion. Subsequently he started afresh with a systematic plan to survey and document the birds of the Indian Subcontinent and in the process he accumulated the largest collection of Asiatic birds in the world, which he housed in a museum and library at his home in Rothney Castle on Jakko Hill, Simla. Rothney castle originally belonged to P. Mitchell, C.I.E and after Hume bought it, he tried to convert the house into a palace expecting it to be bought by the Government as a Viceregal residence since the Governor-General then occupied Peterhoff, a building too small for large parties. Hume spent over two hundred thousand pounds on the grounds and buildings. He added enormous reception rooms suitable for large dinner parties and balls, as well as a magnificent conservatory and spacious hall

with walls displaying his superb collection of Indian horns. He hired a European gardener, and made the grounds and conservatory a perpetual horticultural exhibition, to which he courteously admitted all visitors.[6] Rothney Castle could only be reached by a troublesome climb, and was never purchased by the British Government and Hume himself never used the larger rooms except for one that he converted into a museum for his collection of birds, and for occasional dances.[6] He made several expeditions to collect birds both on health leave and where work took him. He was Collector and Magistrate of Etawah from 1856 to 1867 during which time he studied the birds of that area. He later became Commissioner of Inland Customs which made him responsible for the control of 2,500 miles (4,000 km) of coast from near Peshawar in the northwest to Cuttack on the Bay of Bengal. He travelled on horseback and camel in areas of Rajasthan to negotiate treaties with various local maharajas to control the export of salt and during these travels he took note of the birdlife: The nests are placed indifferently on all kinds of trees (I have notes of finding them on mango, plum, orange, tamarind, toon, etc.), never at any great elevation from the ground, and usually in small trees, be the kind chosen what it may. Sometimes a high hedgerow, such as our great Customs hedge, is chosen, and occasionally a solitary caper or stunted acacia-bush. On the nesting of the Bay-backed Shrike (Lanius vittatus) in The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds. His expedition to the Indus area was one of the largest and it started in late November 1871 and continued until the end of February 1872. In March 1873, he visited the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal. In 1875 he visited the Laccadive Islands. And in 1881 he made his last ornithological expedition to Manipur. This was made on special leave following his demotion from the Central Government to a junior position on the Board of Revenue of the North Western Provinces. He used this vast bird collection to produce a massive publication on all the birds of India. Unfortunately this work was lost in 1885 when all Hume's manuscripts were sold by a servant as waste paper. Hume's interest in ornithology reduced due to this theft as well as a landslip caused by heavy rains in Simla which damaged his personal museum and specimens. He wrote to the British Museum wishing to donate his collection on certain conditions. One of the conditions was that the collection was to be examined by Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe and personally packed by him, apart from raising Dr. Sharpe's rank and salary due to the additional burden on his work caused by his collection. The British Museum was unable to heed to his conditions. It was only after the destruction of nearly 20000 specimens, that alarm

bells were raised by Dr. Sharpe and the Museum authorities let him visit India to supervise the transfer of the specimens to the British Museum.[6] Sharpe wrote of Hume's impressive private ornithological museum:[6] I arrived at Rothney Castle about 10 am on the 19th of May, and was warmly welcomed by Mr Hume, who lives in a most picturesque situation high up on JakkoFrom my bedroom window, I had a fine view of the snowy range. Although somewhat tired by my jolt in the Tonga from Solun, I gladly accompanied Mr. Hume at once into the museumI had heard so much from my friends, who knew the collection intimately,that I was not so much surprised when at last I stood in the celebrated museum and gazed at the dozens upon dozens of tin cases which filled the room. Before the landslip occurred, which carried away one end of the museum, It must have been an admirably arranged building, quite three times as large as our meeting-room at the Zoological Society, andmuch more lofty. Throughout this large room went three rows of table cases with glass tops, in which were arranged a series of the birds of India sufficient for the identification of each species, while underneath these tablecases where enormous cabinets made of tin, with trays inside, containing species of birds in the table cases above. All of the rooms were racks reaching up to the ceiling, and containing immense cases full of birds On the western side of the museum was the library, reached by a descent of three steps, a cheerful room, furnished with large tables, and containing besides the egg-cabinets, a well-chosen set of working-volumes. One ceases to wonder at the amount of work its owner got through when the excellent plan of his museum is considered. In a few minutes an immense series of specimens could be spread out on the tables, while all the books were at hand for immediate referenceAfter explaining to me the contents of the museum, we went below into the basement, which consisted of eight great rooms, six of them full, from floor to ceiling, of cases of birds, while at the back of the house two large verandahs were piled high with cases full of large birds, such as Pelicans, Cranes, Vultures, &c. An inspection of a great cabinet containing a further series of about 5000 eggs completed our survey. Mr. Hume gave me the keys of the museum, and I was free to commence my task at once. Sharpe also noted:[6] Mr. Hume was a naturalist of no ordinary calibre, and this great collection will remain a monument of his genius and energy of its founder long after he who formed it has passed away...Such a private collection as Mr. Hume's is not likely to be formed again; for it is doubtful if such a combination of genius for organisation with energy for the completion of so great a scheme, and the scientific knowledge requisite for its proper development will again be combined in a single individual.

The Hume collection of birds as it went to the British museum in 1884 consisted of 82,000 specimens of which 75,577 were finally placed in the Museum. A breakup of that collection is as follows (old names retained).[6] Hadromys humei The Hume Collection contained 258 types. In addition there were nearly 400 mammal specimens including new species such as Hadromys humei.[18] The egg collection was made up of carefully authenticated contributions from knowledgeable contacts and on the authenticity and importance of the collection, E. W. Oates wrote in the 1901 Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum (Volume 1): The Hume Collection consists almost entirely of the eggs of Indian birds. Mr. Hume seldom or never purchased a specimen, and the large collection brought together by him in the course of many years was the result of the willing co-operation of numerous friends resident in India and Burma. Every specimen in the collection may be said to have been properly authenticated by a competent naturalist; and the history of most of the clutches has been carefully recorded in Mr. Hume's 'Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds', of which two editions have been published. An additional species, the Large-billed Reed-WarblerAcrocephalus orinus was known from just one specimen collected by him in 1869.[20] The status of the species was contested for long and DNA comparisons with similar species in 2002 suggested that it was a valid species.[21] It was only in 2006 that the species was seen again in Thailand. Hume made several expeditions solely to study ornithology and in March 1873 he made one to the Andaman, Nicobar and other islands in the Bay of Bengal along with geologists Dr. Ferdinand Stoliczka and Dr. Dougall of the Geological Survey of India and James WoodMason of the Indian Museum in Calcutta.[6] Hume employed William Ruxton Davison as a curator of his personal bird collection and also sent him out on collection trips to various parts of India, when he was held up with official responsibilities.[6]Around 1878 he was spending about 1500 a year on his ornithological surveys.[9]

This was Hume's first major work. It had 422 pages and accounts of 81 species. It was dedicated to Edward Blythand Dr. Thomas C. Jerdon who, he wrote [had] done more for Indian Ornithology than all other modern observers put together and he described himself

as their friend and pupil. He hoped that his book would form a nucleus round which future observation may crystallize and that others around the country could help him fill in many of the woeful blanks remaining in record. In the preface he notes: ...if these notes chance to be of the slightest use to you, use them; if not burn them, if it so please you, but do not waste your time in abusing me or them, since no one can think more poorly of them than I do myself. Stray Feathers Hume started the quarterly journal Stray Feathers in 1872. At that time the only journal for the Indian region that published on ornithology was the "Journal of the Asiatic Society". He had wondered if there was merit to start a new journal and in that idea was supported by Stoliczka. To return; the notion that Stray Feathers might possibly interfere in any way with our scientific palladium, the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, is much like that entertained in England, when I was a boy, as to the probable effects of Railways on road and canal traffic. Hume, 1874[23] He used the journal to publish descriptions of his new discoveries, such as Hume's Owl, Hume's Wheatear and Hume's Whitethroat. He wrote extensively on his own observation as well as critical reviews of all the ornithological works of the time and earned himself the nickname of Pope of Indian ornithology. He critiqued a monograph on parrots, Die Papageien by Friedrich Hermann Otto Finschsuggesting that name changes (by "cabinet naturalists") were aimed at claiming authority to species without the trouble of actually discovering them. He wrote: Let us treat our author as he treats other people's species. Finsch! contrary to all rules of orthography! What is that s doing there? Finch! Dr. Fringilla, MIHI! Classich gebildetes wort!! Hume, 1874[24] Hume in turn was attacked, for instance by Viscount Walden, but Finsch later became a friend.[25][26] Hume sometimes mixed personal beliefs in notes that he published in Stray Feathers. For instance he believed that birds flew by altering the physics ("altered polarity") of their body and repelling the force of gravity. He further noted that this ability was normal in birds and could be acquired by humans by maintaining spiritual purity claiming that he knew of at least three Indian Yogis and numerous saints in the past with this ability of aethrobacy.[27][28] [edit]Network of correspondents

Hume built up a network of ornithologists reporting from various parts of India. More than 200 correspondents are listed in his Game Birds and this was only a fraction of the subscribers of Stray Feathers. This huge network made it possible for Hume to cover a much larger geographic region in his ornithological work. During the time of Hume, Blyth was considered the father of Indian ornithology. Hume's achievement which made use of a large network of correspondents was recognized even during his time: Mr. Blyth, who is rightly called the Father of Indian Ornithology, "was by far the most important contributor to our knowledge of the Birds of India." Seated, as the head of the Asiatic Society's Museum, he, by intercourse and through correspondents, not only formed a large collection for the Society, but also enriched the pages of the Society's Journal with the results of his study, and thus did more for the extension of the study of the Avifauna of India than all previous writers. There can be no work on Indian Ornithology without reference to his voluminous contributions. The most recent authority, however, is Mr. Allen O. Hume, C.B., who, like Blyth and Jerdon, got around him numerous workers, and did so much for Ornithology, that without his JournalStray Feathers, no accurate knowledge could be gained of the distribution of Indian birds. His large museum, so liberally made over to the nation, is ample evidence of his zeal and the purpose to which he worked. Ever saddled with his official work, he yet found time for carrying out a most noble object. His Nests and Eggs, Scrap Book and numerous articles on birds of various parts of India, the Andamans and the Malay Peninsula, are standing monuments of his fame throughout the length and breadth of the civilized world. His writings and the field notes of his curator, contributors and collectors are the pith of every book on Indian Birds, and his vast collection is the ground upon which all Indian Naturalists must work. Though differing from him on some points, yet the palm is his as an authority above the rest in regard to the Ornis of India. Amongst the hundred and one contributors to the Science in the pages of Stray Feathers, there are some who may be ranked as specialists in this department, and their labors need a record. These are Mr. W. T. Blanford, late of the Geological Survey, an ever watchful and zealous Naturalist of some eminence. Mr. Theobald, also of the Geological Survey, Mr. Ball of the same Department, and Mr. W. E. Brooks. All these worked in Northern India, while for work in the Western portion must stand the names of Major Butler, of the 66th Regiment, Mr. W. F. Sinclair, Collector of Colaba, Mr. G. Vidal, the Collector of Bombay, Mr. J. Davidson, Collector of Khandeish, and Mr. Fairbank, each one having respectively worked the Avifauna of Sind, the Concan, the Deccan and Khandeish. James Murray[30]

He also corresponded and stayed up to date with the works of ornithologists outside India including R. Bowdler-Sharpe, the Marquis of Tweeddale, Pere David, Dresser, Benedykt Dybowski, John Henry Gurney, J.H.Gurney, Jr., Johann Friedrich Naumann, Severtzov and Dr. Middendorff. [edit]Game Birds of India, Burmah and Ceylon (1879-1881) This work was co-authored by C. H. T. Marshall. The three volume work on the game birds was made using contributions and notes from a network of 200 or more correspondents. Hume delegated the task of getting the plates made to Marshall. The chromolithographs of the birds were drawn by W. Foster, E. Neale, M. Herbert, Stanley Wilson and others and the plates were produced by F. Waller in London. Hume had sent specific notes on colours of soft parts and instructions to the artists. He was unsatisfied with many of the plates and included additional notes on the plates in the book. This book was started at the point when the government demoted Hume and only the need to finance the publication of this book prevented him from retiring from service. He had estimated that it would cost 4000 to publish it and he retired from service on 1 January 1882 after the publication.[5][9] In the preface Hume wrote: In the second place, we have had great disappointment in artists. Some have proved careless, some have subordinated accuracy of delineation to pictorial effect, and though we have, at some loss, rejected many, we have yet been compelled to retain some plates which are far from satisfactory to us. while his co-author Marshall, wrote: I have performed my portion of the work to the very best of my abilities, and yet personally felt almost as if I were sailing under false colors in appearing before the world as one of the authors of this book; but I allow my name to appear as such, partly because Mr. Hume strongly wishes it, partly because I do believe that as Mr. Hume says this work, which has been for years called for, would never have appeared had I not proceeded to England, and arranged for the preparation of the plates, and partly because with the explanation thus afforded no one can justly misconstrue my action. Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds (1883) This was another major work by Hume and in it he covered descriptions of the nests, eggs and the breeding seasons of most Indian bird species. It makes use of notes from contributors to his journals as well as other correspondents and works of the time. A second edition of this book was made in 1889 which was edited by Eugene Oates. This was published when he had himself given up all interest in ornithology. An event precipitated by the loss of his manuscripts through the actions of a servant. He wrote in the preface:

I have long regretted my inability to issue a revised edition of 'Nests and Eggs'. For many years after the first Rough Draft appeared, I went on laboriously accumulating materials for a re-issue, but subsequently circumstances prevented my undertaking the work. Now, fortunately, my friend Mr. Eugene Oates has taken the matter up, and much as I may personally regret having to hand over to another a task, the performance of which I should so much have enjoyed, it is some consolation to feel that the readers, at any rate, of this work will have no cause for regret, but rather of rejoicing that the work has passed into younger and stronger hands. One thing seems necessary to explain. The present Edition does not include quite all the materials I had accumulated for this work. Many years ago, during my absence from Simla, a servant broke into my museum and stole thence several cwts. of manuscript, which he sold as waste paper. This manuscript included more or less complete life-histories of some 700 species of birds, and also a certain number of detailed accounts of nidification. All small notes on slips of paper were left, but almost every article written on full-sized foolscap sheets was abstracted. It was not for many months that the theft was discovered, and then very little of the MSS. could be recovered. Rothney Castle, Simla, October 19th, 1889 Eugene Oates wrote his own editorial note Mr. Hume has sufficiently explained the circumstances under which this edition of his popular work has been brought about. I have merely to add that, as I was engaged on a work on the Birds of India, I thought it would be easier for me than for anyone else to assist Mr. Hume. I was also in England, and knew that my labour would be very much lightened by passing the work through the press in this country. Another reason, perhaps the most important, was the fear that, as Mr. Hume had given up entirely and absolutely the study of birds, the valuable material he had taken such pains to accumulate for this edition might be irretrievably lost or further injured by lapse of time unless early steps were taken to utilize it. This nearly marked the end of Hume's interest in ornithology. Hume's last piece of ornithological writing was done in 1891 as part of an Introduction to the Scientific Results of the Second Yarkand Mission an official publication on the contributions of Dr. Ferdinand Stoliczka, who died during the return journey on this mission. Stoliczka in a dying request had asked that Hume should edit the volume on the ornithological results. After retiring from the civil services and towards the end ofLord Lytton's rule, Hume observed that the people of India had a sense of hopelessness and wanted to do something, noting "a sudden violent outbreak of sporadic crime, murders of obnoxious persons, robbery of bankers and looting of bazaars, acts really of lawlessness which by a due coalescence of forces might any day develop into a National Revolt." Concerning the British government, he

stated that a studied and invariable disregard, if not actually contempt for the opinions and feelings of our subjects, is at the present day the leading characteristic of our government in every branch of the administration.[33] There were agrarian riots in the Deccan and Bombay, and Hume suggested that an Indian Union would be a good safety valve and outlet to avoid further unrest. On the 1st of March 1883 he wrote a letter to the graduates of the University of Calcutta:[14] If only fifty men, good and true, can be found to join as founders, the thing can be established and the further development will be comparatively easy. ... And if even the leaders of thought are all either such poor creatures, or so selfishly wedded to personal concerns that they dare not strike a blow for their country's sake, then justly and rightly are they kept down and trampled on, for they deserve nothing better. Every nation secures precisely as good a Government as it merits. If you the picked men, the most highly educated of the nation, cannot, scorning personal ease and selfish objects, make a resolute struggle to secure greater freedom for yourselves and your country, a more impartial administration, a larger share in the management of your own affairs, then we, your friends, are wrong and our adversaries right, then are Lord Ripon's noble aspirations for your good fruitless and visionary, then, at present at any rate all hopes of progress are at an end and India truly neither desires nor deserves any better Government than she enjoys. Only, if this be so, let us hear no more factious, peevish complaints that you are kept in leading strings and treated like children, for you will have proved yourself such. Men know how to act. Let there be no more complaining of Englishmen being preferred to you in all important offices, for if you lack that public spirit, that highest form of altruistic devotion that leads men to subordinate private ease to the public weal - that patriotism that has made Englishmen what they are - then rightly are these preferred to you, rightly and inevitably have they become your rulers. And rulers and task-masters they must continue, let the yoke gall your shoulders never so sorely, until you realise and stand prepared to act upon the eternal truth that selfsacrifice and unselfishness are the only unfailing guides to freedom and happiness. His poem The Old Man's Hope published in Calcutta in 1886 also captures the sentiment:[34] Sons of Ind, why sit ye idle, Wait ye for some Deva's aid? Buckle to, be up and doing! Nations by themselves are made!

Are ye Serfs or are ye Freemen, Ye that grovel in the shade?

In your own hands rest the issues! By themselves are nations made! ... The idea of the Indian Union took shape and Hume initially had some support from Lord Dufferin for this, although the latter wished to have no official link to it. Dufferin's support was short-lived.[35] It has been suggested that the idea was originally conceived in a private meeting of seventeen men after a Theosophical Convention held at Madras in December 1884. Hume took the initiative, and it was in March 1885, when the first notice was issued convening the first Indian National Union to meet at Poona the following December.[14] He attempted to increase the Congress base by bringing in more farmers, townspeople and Muslims between 1886 and 1887 and this created a backlash from the British, leading to backtracking by the Congress. Hume was disappointed when Congress opposed moves to raise the age of marriage for Indian girls and failed to focus on issues of poverty. Some Indian princes did not like the idea of democracy and some organizations like the United Indian Patriotic Association went about trying to undermine the Congress by showing it as an organization with a seditious character.[36] In 1892, he tried to get them to act by warning of a violent agrarian revolution but this only outraged the British establishment and frightened the Congress leaders. Disappointed by the continued lack of Indian leaders willing to work for the cause of national emancipation, Hume left for Britain in 1894.[5] The 27th session of the Indian National Congress at Bankipur (2628 December 1912) recorded their "profound sorrow at the death of Allan Octavian Hume, C.B., father and founder of the Congress, to whose lifelong services, rendered at rare self-sacrifice, India feels deep and lasting gratitude, and in whose death the cause of Indian progress and reform sustained irreparable loss."[37]

South London Botanical Institute After the loss of his manuscript containing his lifetime of ornithological notes. Hume took up a great interest in horticulture while at Shimla. ... He erected large conservatories in the grounds of Rothney Castle, filled them with the choicest flowers, and engaged English gardeners to help him in the work. From this, on returning to England, he went on to scientific botany. But this, as Kipling says, is another story, and must be left to another pen.[38] In 1910 Hume bought the premises of 323 Norwood Road, and modified it to have a herbarium and library. He called this establishment the South London Botanical

Institute which continues to promote the study of plants to the present day. Hume objected to advertisement and refused to have any public ceremony to open the institute. Frederick Townsend, F.L.S., an eminent botanist, who died in 1905, had left instructions that his herbarium and collection was to be given to the institute, which was then only being contemplated.[39] The SLBI has a herbarium containing approximately 100,000 specimens mostly of flowering plants from Europe including many collected by Hume. The collection was later augmented by the addition of other herbaria over the years, and has significant collections of Rubus (bramble) species and of the Shetland flora, the latter including a major gift from the late Richard Palmer, joint author of the standard work on Shetland plants. Other resources include a very good library originally containing Hume's own books. The institute today has classroom facilities, a small botanical garden, and an ongoing programme of talks and courses. In the years leading up to the establishment of the Institute, Hume built up links with many of the leading botanists of his day. He worked with F. H. Davey and in the Flora of Cornwall (1909), Davey thanks Hume as his companion on excursions in Cornwall and Devon, and for help in the compilation of the 'Flora', publication of which was financed by Hume.[40] [edit]Tributes The Government of India honoured Hume in 1973 when the Indian Post released a postage stamp of denomination 20 paise on his death anniversary. The government at that time was the Indian National Congress party, which he had helped found in 1885. He also figured first in a long series of miniature portraits arranged in a four postage stamp se-tenant set issued in 1985 commemorating the Centenaryof the Indian National Congress.[41]

G. Subramania Iyer Ganapathy Dikshitar Subramania Iyer

Ganapathy Dikshitar Subramania Iyer (Tamil: )(b. January 19, 1855 - d. April 18, 1916) was a leading Indian journalist, social reformer and freedom fighter who founded 'The Hindu' newspaper on September 20, 1878. He was proprietor,editor and Managing Director of The Hindu from September 20, 1878 to October 1898. Early life Subramania Iyer was born in January 1855 in Tiruvadi in the then Tanjore district. He was the fourth of seven sons of Ganapathi Dikshitar, a pleader in the Munsiff's Court of Tiruvadi. Subramania Iyer had his early schooling in Tiruvadi and matriculated from St. Peter's College,Tanjore in 1871. In 1873, he passed his arts examinations in merit and attended a teacher's training course at Madras from 1874 to 1875. Subramania Iyer taught at the Church of Scotland Mission School at Madras from 1875 to 1877 and at Pachaiyappa's High School in 1877. In 1877, he cleared his B. A. examinations as a private candidate and was appointed headmaster of the Anglo-Vernacular school, Triplicane in 1879. Founding of The Hindu In order to voice their support for Sir T. Muthuswamy Iyer to be appointed to the bench of the Madras High Court, Subramania Iyer founded The Hindu along with M. Veeraraghavachariar, T. T. Rangachariar, P. V. Rangachariar, D. Kesava Rao Pant and N. Subba Rao Pantulu, on September 20, 1878. Initially, The Hindu was started as a weekly, but later, it was converted into a tri-weekly and then a daily.

As Editor of The Hindu 1878-1898 Soon, 'The Triplicane Six' broke up when the other students were called to the Bar and editor G. Subramania Iyer and Veeraraghavachariar were the only ones who remained with the newspaper. The Hindu made its presence felt for the first time since its inception. Subramania Iyer was known for his fiery articles with plenty of sting. Subramania Iyer actively supported the cause of India's freedom and used his newspaper to protest British Imperialism. In 1897, when Bal Gangadhar Tilak was arrested by British authorities, The Hindu vehementy condemned the arrest. On December 3, 1883, the paper moved to 100 Mount Road and established its own press called 'The National Press'. The Hindu welcomed the birth of the Indian National Congress in a December 12, 1885 editorial: The objective of the Congress... is to bring to a focus to our scattered political energy and to give solidity and organisation to native opinion... [on such] topics in which... all parts of the country are interested... . In May 1889, at Subramania Iyer's invitation, the Anglo-Indian barrister Eardley Norton began to write a regular column Olla Podrida for the newspaper. The two later became intimate friends. Subramania Iyer was dead against conservatism and blind superstitions and try to use his newspaper as a vehicle for reform. However, Subramania Iyer's articles landed the newspaper in many defamation suites and Subramania Iyer was reduced to dire financial straits while trying to fight them. In 1898, Subramania Iyer quit as Chief-editor and was succeeded by Veeraraghavachariar. In 1906, the newspaper was bought by prosperous barrister Kasturi Ranga Iyengar. Politics Subramania Iyer actively participated in the Indian Independence movement. He was one of the 72 delegates present at the Bombay Conference at Tejpal Sanskrit College on December 12, 1885, which resulted in the founding of the Indian National Congress. In the second session of the Indian National Congress, Subramania Iyer was selected member of the Committee to report on the representation of Indians in the public services. In the Madras session of 1887, Subramania Iyer was appointed member of the Committee which framed the constitution of the Indian National Congress. During the 1894 Madras session, he was selected as a part of the delegation which presented the case of Indian nationalists before the

Secretary of State for India in London. In 1906, he was appointed member of the Standing Committee to promote the objectives of the Indian National Congress. When he conducted his widowed daughter's remarriage in 1889, Subramania Iyer was socially boycotted by his own relatives apart from the conservative Mylapore society. Subramania Iyer lost the support of conservative elements who formed a powerful lobby in the Indian National Congress. As a result, he was never elected President of the Indian National COngress nor was he ever elected to theMadras Legislative Council. Social Reforms Subramania Iyer campaigned vehemently for reforms in Hindu society. He supported widow remarriage and desired to abolish untouchability and child marriages. Subramania Iyer arranged for the remarriage of his eldest daughter, Sivapriyammal, who had been widowed at the age of 13, to a boy in Bombay during the 1889 Congress session. Subramania Iyer wrote in The Hindu that: the degraded condition" of Dalits was "notorious and the peculiarities of The Hindu social system are such that from this system no hope whatever of their amelioration can be entertained." It seemed hopeless, he commented, for Dalits "to expect redemption from anything that The Hindu might do" and "no amount of admiration for our religion will bring social salvation to these poor people. He realised the importance of speaking in the local language and addressed the masses in Tamil in his public lectures. He encouraged Subramaniya Bharathi in his early years and kept him in his house. Later Life and Death In 1898, Subramania Iyer relinquished his claims over 'The Hindu' and concentrated his energies onSwadesamitran, the Tamil language newspaper which he had started in 1882. When he left The Hinduin 1898, he made the Swadesamitran, a tri-weekly and, in 1899, a daily, the first in Tamil. Subramania Aiyar's pen "dipped in a paste of the extra-pungent thin green chillies" - as Subramania Bharati described his Editor's writing style - got him in trouble with the British in 1908. He suffered jail terms and persecutions which gradually broke his health. In his later years, Subramania Iyer was diagnosed with leprosy and succumbed to the disease on April 18, 1916.

Dadabhai Naoroji The Honourable Dadabhai Naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 30 June 1917) (Hindi:

), known as

the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commonsbetween 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be aBritish MP.[1] He is also credited with the founding of theIndian National Congress, along with A.O. Hume andDinshaw Edulji Wacha. Contents [hide]

1 Career 2 Works 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links [edit]Career At the early age of 25, he was appointed leading Professor at the Elphinstone Institution in 1850, becoming the first Indian to hold such an academic position.[2] Being an Athornan (ordained priest), Naoroji founded the Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the

Mazdayasne Path) on 1 August 1851 to restore theZoroastrian religion to its original purity and simplicity. In 1854, he also founded a fortnightly publication, the Rast Goftar (or The Truth Teller), to clarify Zoroastrian concepts. By 1855 he was Professor of Mathematics andNatural philosophy in Bombay. He travelled to London in 1855 to become a partner in Cama & Co, opening aLiverpool location for the first Indian company to be established in Britain. Within three years, he had resigned on ethical grounds. In 1859, he established his own cotton trading company, Naoroji & Co.[3] Later, he became professor of Gujarati at University College London. In 1867 Naoroji helped establish the East India Association, one of the predecessor organizations of the Indian National Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before the British public. The Association was instrumental in counter-acting the propaganda by the Ethnological Society of London which, in its session in 1866, had tried to prove the inferiority of the Asians to the Europeans. This Association soon won the support of eminent Englishmen and was able to exercise considerable influence in the British Parliament. In 1874, he became Prime Minister of Baroda and was a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay (188588). He was also a member of the Indian National Association founded by Sir Surendranath Banerjea fromCalcutta a few years before the founding of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, with the same objectives and practices. The two groups later merged into the INC, and Naoroji was elected President of the Congress in 1886. Naoroji published Poverty and un-British Rule in India in 1901. Naoroji moved to Britain once again and continued his political involvement. Elected for the Liberal Party inFinsbury Central at the 1892 general election, he was the first British Indian MP. He refused to take the oath on theBible as he was not a Christian, but was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of God on his copy ofKhordeh Avesta. In Parliament, he spoke on Irish Home Rule and the condition of the Indian people. In his political campaign and duties as an MP, he was assisted byMuhammed Ali Jinnah, the future Muslim nationalist and founder of Pakistan. In 1906, Naoroji was again elected president of the Indian National Congress. Naoroji was a staunch moderate within the Congress, during the phase when opinion in the party was split between the moderates and extremists. Naoroji was a mentor to both Gopal Krishna Gokhale andMohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was married to Gulbai at the age of eleven. He died in Bombay on 30 June 1917, at age 92. Today the Dadabhai Naoroji Road, a heritage road of Mumbai, is named after him. Also, the Dadabhoy Naoroji Road in Karachi, Pakistan is also named after him as well as the Naoroji Road in the Bloomsbury area of London.

Works

The manners and customs of the Parsees (Bombay, 1864) The European and Asiatic races (London, 1866) Admission of educated natives into the Indian Civil Service (London, 1868) The wants and means of India (London, 1870) Condition of India (Madras, 1881) Poverty of India: A Paper Read Before the Bombay Branche of the East India Association,Bombay, Ranima Union Press, (1876)

C. L. Parekh, ed., Essays, Speeches, Addresses and Writings of the Honourable Dadabhai Naoroji, Bombay, Caxton Printing Works (1887). An excerpt, "The Benefits of British Rule", in a modernized text by J. S. Arkenberg, ed., on line at Paul Halsall, ed., Internet Modern History Sourcebook.

Lord Salisburys Blackman (Lucknow, 1889) Naoroji, Dadabhai (1861). The Parsee Religion. University of London. Dadabhai Naoroji (1901). Poverty and Un-British Rule in India. Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.; Commonwealth Publishers, 1988. ISBN 8190006622

Gopal Krishna Gokhale Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Gopal Krishna Gokhale, CIE (Marathi: ) (9 May 1866 19 February 1915) was one of the founding social and political leaders during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Empire in India. Gokhale was a senior leader of the Indian National Congress and founder of the Servants of India Society. Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale promoted not only primarily independence from the British Empire but also social reform. To achieve his goals, Gokhale followed two overarching principles: non-violence and reform within existing government institutions. [edit]Background and education Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on May 9, 1866 in Kotaluk, Maharashtra, a state on the western coast of India that was then part of the Bombay Presidency. Although they were Chitpavan Brahmins, Gokhales family was relatively poor. Even so, they ensured that Gokhale received an English education, which would place Gokhale in a position to obtain employment as a clerk or minor official in the British Raj. Being one of the first generations of Indians to receive a university education, Gokhale graduated from Elphinstone College in 1884. Gokhales education tremendously influenced the course of his future career in addition to learning English, he was exposed to western political thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and Edmund Burke.[1] Although he would come to criticize unhesitatingly many aspects of the English colonial regime, the respect for English political theory and institutions that Gokhale acquired in his college years would remain with him for the rest of his life. [edit]Indian National Congress and Rivalry with Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Gokhale became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889, as a protg of social reformerMahadev Govind Ranade. Along with other contemporary leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Annie Besant, Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians. He was moderate in his views and attitudes, and sought to petition the British authorities by cultivating a process of dialogue and discussion which would yield greater British respect for Indian rights. Gokhale had visited Ireland[2] and had arranged for an Irish nationalist, Alfred Webb, to serve as President of the Indian National Congress in 1894. The following year, Gokhale became the Congresss joint secretary along with Tilak. In many ways, Tilak and Gokhales early careers paralleled both were Chitpavan Brahmin(though unlike Gokhale, Tilak was wealthy), both attended Elphinstone College, both became mathematics professors, and both were important members of the Deccan Education Society. When both became active in the Congress, however, the divergence of their views concerning how best to improve the lives of Indians became increasingly apparent.[3] Gokhales first major confrontation with Tilak centered around one of his pet projects, the Age of Consent Bill introduced by the British Imperial Government, in 1891-92. Gokhale and his fellow liberal reformers, wishing to purge what they saw as superstitions and abuses from their native Hinduism, wished through the Consent Bill to curb child marriage abuses. Though the Bill was not extreme, only raising the age of consent from ten to twelve, Tilak took issue with it; he did not object per se to the idea of moving towards the elimination of child marriage, but rather to the idea of British interference with Hindu tradition. For Tilak, such reform movements were not to be sought after under imperial rule when they would be enforced by the British, but rather after independence was achieved when Indians would enforce it on themselves. Despite Tilaks opposition, however, Gokhale and the reformers won the day and the bill became law in the Bombay Presidency.[4] In 1905, Gokhale became president of the Indian National Congress. Gokhale used his now considerable influence to undermine his longtime rival, Tilak, refusing to support Tilak as candidate for president of the Congress in 1906. By now, Congress was split: Gokhale and Tilak were the respective leaders of the moderates and the "extremists" (the latter now known by the more politically correct term, 'aggressive nationalists') in the Congress. Tilak was an advocate of civil agitation and direct revolution to overthrow the British Empire, whereas Gokhale was a moderate reformist. As a result, the Congress Party split into two wings and was largely robbed of its effectiveness for a decade. The two sides would later patch up in 1916 after Gokhale died.

[edit]Servants of India Society In 1905, when Gokhale was elected president of the Indian National Congress and was at the height of his political power, he founded the Servants of India Society to specifically further one of the causes dearest to his heart: the expansion of Indian education. For Gokhale, true political change in India would only be possible when a new generation of Indians became educated as to their civil and patriotic duty to their country and to each other. Believing existing educational institutions and theIndian Civil Service did not do enough to provide Indians with opportunities to gain this political education, Gokhale hoped the Servants of India Society would fill this need. In his preamble to the SISs constitution, Gokhale wrote that The Servants of India Society will train men prepared to devote their lives to the cause of country in a religious spirit, and will seek to promote, by all constitutional means, the national interests of the Indian people. [5] The Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest, and among its many projects organized mobile libraries, founded schools, and provided night classes for factory workers.[6] Although the Society lost much of its vigor following Gokhales death, it still exists to this day, though its membership is small. [edit]Involvement with British Imperial Government Gokhale, though an earlier leader of the Indian nationalist movement, was not primarily concerned with independence but rather with social reform; he believed such reform would be best achieved by working within existing British government institutions, a position which earned him the enmity of more aggressive nationalists such as Tilak. Undeterred by such opposition, Gokhale would work directly with the British throughout his political career in order to further his reform goals. In 1899, Gokhale was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council. He was elected to the Council of India of Governor-General of India on 22 May 1903 as non-officiating member represeting Bombay Province.[7] He later served to Imperial Legislative Council after its expansion in 1909. He there obtained a reputation as extremely knowledgeable and contributed significantly to the annual budget debates. Gokhale developed so great a reputation among the British that he was invited to London to meet with secretary of state Lord John Morley, with whom he established a rapport. Gokhale would help during his visit to shape the Morley-Minto Reforms introduced in1909. Gokhale was appointed a CIE (Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire) in the 1904 New Year's Honours List, a formal recognition by the Empire of his service. [edit]Mentor to both Jinnah and Gandhi

Gokhale was famously a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi in his formative years. In 1912, Gokhale visited South Africa at Gandhi's invitation. As a young barrister, Gandhi returned from his struggles against the Empire in South Africa and received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians. By 1920, Gandhi emerged as the leader of the Indian Independence Movement. In his autobiography, Gandhi calls Gokhale his mentor and guide. Gandhi also recognised Gokhale as an admirable leader and master politician, describing him as 'pure as crystal, gentle as a lamb, brave as a lion and chivalrous to a fault and the most perfect man in the political field'.[8] Despite his deep respect for Gokhale, however, Gandhi would reject Gokhale's faith in western institutions as a means of achieving political reform and ultimately chose not to become a member of Gokhale's Servants of India Society.[9] Gokhale was also the role model and mentor of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the future founder of Pakistan, who in 1912, aspired to become the "Muslim Gokhale". Even the Aga Khan ( the Spiritual Head of the Islamic sect of Ismaili Khojas & grandfather of the present Aga Khan) has stated in his autobiography that Gokhale's influence on his thinking was probably considerable. [edit]Gokhale Institute The Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), commonly known as Gokhale Institute, is one of the oldest research and training institutes in Economics in India. It is located on BMCC Road in the Deccan Gymkhana area of Pune, Maharashtra. The Institute was founded with an endowment offered to the Servants of India Society by Shri R R Kale. The Servants of India Society are thetrustees of the Institute. [edit]Death Gokhale continued to be politically active through the last years of his life. This included extensive traveling abroad: in addition to his 1908 trip to England, he also visited South Africa in 1912, where his protege Gandhi was working to improve conditions for the Indian minority living there. Meanwhile, he continued to be involved in the Servants of India Society, the Congress, and the Legislative Council while constantly advocating the advancement of Indian education. All these stresses took their toll, however, and Gokhale died on Feb 19 1915 at forty-nine years of age. [edit]Impact on Indian Nationalist Movement Gokhale's impact on the course of the Indian nationalist movement was considerable. Through his close relationship with the highest levels of British imperial government, Gokhale forced India's colonial masters to recognize the capabilities of a new generation of educated Indians and to include them more than ever before in the governing process.

Gokhales firm belief in the need for universal education deeply inspired the next great man on the Indian political stage, Mohandas K. Gandhi; his faith in western political institutions though rejected by Gandhi, was adopted by an independent India in 1950.

Madan Mohan Malaviya

Madan Mohan Malaviya (Hindi: ) (18611946) was an Indian educationist, and freedom fighter notable for his role in the Indian independence movement and his espousal of Hindu nationalism. Later in life, he was also addressed as 'Mahamana'.[1] He was the President of the Indian National Congress on four occasions and today is most remembered as the founder of the largest residential university in Asia and one of the largest in the world[2], having over 12,000 students across arts sciences, engineering and technology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916, of which he also remained the Vice Chancellor, 19191938 [3][4] Pandit Malviya was one of the founders of Scouting in India.[5] He also founded a highly influential, English-newspaper, The Leader published fromAllahabad in 1909.[6] He was also the Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindiedition in 1936.[6] [edit]Early life and education Pandit Malaviya was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh,India on 25 December 1861, in a Brahmin family of Brijnath and Moona Devi. He was the fifth child in a family of five brothers and two sisters. His ancestors, known for their Sanskrit scholarship, originally hailed

from Malwaand hence came to be known as 'Malaviyas'. His father Pandit Brijnath was also a learned man in Sanskritscriptures, and used to recite the Bhagvat Katha to earn a living.[7][8] Pandit Malviya's education began at age five in Sanskrit, when he was sent to Pandit Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala, where he completed his primary education and later another school run by Vidha Vardini Sabha. He then joined Allahabad Zila School (Allahabad District School), where he started writing poems under the pen name Makarand which were published in journals and magazines. Pandit Malviya matriculated in 1879 from the Muir Central College, now known asAllahabad University. Harrison College's Principal provided a monthly scholarship to Pandit Malviya, whose family had been facing financial hardships, and he was able to complete his B.A. at theUniversity of Calcutta. [edit]Career Though he wanted to pursue an M.A. in Sanskrit, his family conditions didn't allowed it and his father wanted him to take his family profession of Bhagavat recital, thus in July 1884 Madan Mohan Malviya started his career as teacher in Allahabad District School. In December 1886, he attended the IIndCongress session in Calcutta under chairmanship of Dadabhai Naoroji, where he spoke on the issue of representation in Councils. His address not only impressed Dadabhai but also Raja Rampal Singh, ruler of Kalakankar estate near Allahabad, who started a Hindi weekly Hindustan but was looking for a suitable editor to turn it into a daily. Thus in July 1887, he left his school job and joined as the editor of the nationalist weekly, he remained here for two and a half years, and left for Allahabad to join L.L.B., it was here that it was offered co-editorship of The Indian Union, an English daily. After finishing his law degree, he started practicing law at Allahabad District Court in 1891, and moved to Allahabad High Court by December 1893[8][9] Malviya Ji became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1909, 1918, 1930 and 1932. Like many of the contemporary leaders of Indian National Congress he was a Moderate. Though, Scouting in India was officially founded in British India in 1909, at the Bishop Cotton's Boys School in Bangalore, Scouting for native Indians was started by Justice Vivian Bose, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Pandit Hridayanath Kunzru, Girija Shankar Bajpai, Annie Besant and George Arundale, in 1913, he also started a Scouting inspired organisation called Seva Samithi.[10] It was a unique and rare combination in him that he was a political leader of mass acceptance, together with being a widely respected educational luminary. To redeem his resolve to serve

the cause of education and social-service he renounced his well established practice of law in 1911, for ever. In order to follow the tradition of Sannyasa throughout his life, he pursued the avowed commitment to live on the society's support. But when 177 freedom fighters were convicted to be hanged in the Chouri-choura case he appeared before the court, despite his vow and got acquitted 156 freedom fighters.[11] In April 1911, Annie Besant met him and they decided to unite their forces and work for a common Hindu University at Varanasi. Annie and fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College, which she has founded in 1898 also agreed to Government of India's precondition that the college should become a part of the new University. Thus Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was established in 1916, through under the Parliamentary legislation, 'B.H.U. Act 1915', today it remains a prominent institution of learning in India.[3][12] He remained a member of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1912 and when in 1919 it was converted to the Central Legislative Assembly it remained its member as well, till 1926.[13] In early 1920s, he became one of the important figures in the Non-cooperation movement of Mahatma Gandhi,[14] and was subsequently arrested on 25 April 1932, along with 450 other Congress volunteers in Delhi, only a few days after he was appointed the President of Congress after the arrest of Sarojini Naidu.[15] Then in 1928 he joined Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru and many others in protesting against the Simon Commission, which had been set up by the British to consider India's future. Just as the "Buy British" campaign was sweeping England, he issued, on 30 May 1932, a manifesto urging concentration on the "Buy Indian" movement in India.[16] Totally opposed to the politics of appeasement, Malviya had opposed the separate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow Pact of 1916 and also opposed the participation of Congress in theKhilafat movement in early 20's. Giving his clear verdict against the division of the country, he cautioned Gandhiji against bargaining for freedom at the cost of division of the country.[11] He also represented India at the First Round Table Conference in 1931. In 1939, he left the Vice chancellorship of BHU and was succeeded by none other than S. Radhakrishnan, who went on to become the President of India.[17] Malviya Ji popularised the slogan Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone will triumph).[18] Malaviya ji also graced the position of Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition in 1936. The paper was saved from an untimely demise when he stepped in to realise his vision of a newspaper in Delhi." [19] Malaviya raised Rs. 50,000 rupees to acquire the Hindustan Times along with

the help of nationalist leaders Lala Lajpat Rai and M. R. Jayakar and industrilist Ghanshyam Das Birla, who paid most of the cash. The paper is now owned by the Birla family. [edit]Social work He worked for the eradication of caste barrier in temples and other social barriers. He is believed to have undergone a Kayakalpa[citation needed]. Also, he organized a mass of 200 Dalit peoples, including the Hindu Dalit (Harijan) leader P. N. Rajbhoj to demand entry at the Kalaram Temple on a Rath Yatraday. All those who participated in this event took a dip in the Godavari River and chanted Hindu mantras.[20] Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya made massive efforts for the entry into any Hindu temple.[20] [edit]Legacy Malviya Nagar in Allahabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Bhopal and Jaipurare named after him. A postage stamp has been printed in India in his honour.[21] Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) at Jaipur is named after him, as is Madan Mohan Malaviya Engineering College in Gorakhpur, UP. He started the tradition of Arati at Har ki Pauri Haridwar to the sacred Ganges river which is performed till date, the Malviya Dwipa, a small island across the ghat, named after him. This was inline with the Ganesha Festival started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Maharashtra to organize the masses. Mahamana's life size portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall of India's Parliament by the then President of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and his life-size statue was unveiled in 1961 by the then President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan in front of the BHU main gate on the occasion of his birth centenary. This year 2011 is being celebrated as his 150th birth centenary by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. In front of the main Gate leading to the Assembly Hall and outside the porch, there exists a bust of Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya, which was inaugurated by the former Lt. Governor of Delhi, Dr. A.N. Jha on 25 December 1971.[13]Pt. On 25 December 2008, on his birth anniversary, the national memorial of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya was inaugurated by the then president A P J Abdul Kalam at 53, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, inDelhi.[22] As was the tradition in those days, he was married in 1878, when he was about sixteen years of age to Kundan Devi of Mirzapur. The couple had five sons and five daughters, out of which four sons, Ramakant, Radhakant, Mukund, Govind and two daughters Rama and Malati survived. Mahamana's youngest son Pt. Govind Malaviya (1902-1961)(Freedom Fighter), was a Member of India's Parliament till his death in 1961. He was the only one from Mahamana's

family who became Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University. One of Madan Mohan Malaviya's grand daughter in-law Smt Saraswati Malviya (Freedom Fighter), wife of Late Shri Shridhar Malaviya (Freedom Fighter, and eldest son of Mahamana's eldest son Shri Ramakant Malviya) lives in Allahabad with her daughters. The house in which she currently resides has hosted numerous political luminaries including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Feroz Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Late Shri Rajeev Gandhi to name a few. Among his eminent grandsons are Pt. Shashidhar Malaviya, who resides in the USA and has to his credit many IBM inventions, Pt. Prem Dhar Malaviya who served in the Indian Police Service and worked as Director-General of Police for the state of Madhya Pradesh and the National Police Academy of India, Pt. Lakshmi Dhar Malaviya who lives in Japan and worked as Professor in the Osaka International University, and Pt. Justice Giridhar Malaviya who lives in Allahabad and worked as an Hon'ble Judge of the Allahabad High Court, and is President of many social and educational institutions, and is a patron of the All-India Mahamana Malaviya Mission. One of Mahamana's ten great grandson Shri Rajeev Malaviya, has a doctorate in International Relations and has represented the country at World Forums. Shri Rajeev Malaviya is currently the President of a private organization Mahamana Malaviya Foundation. Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya's grand-daughter Dr. Manju Malviya Sharma a Ph.D. botanist, from his daughter Rama [23], who is a former Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. She is a fellow of National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) and Third World Academy of Sciences. She is recipient of many awards and distinctions and has also received Padma Bhushan. Presently she is President and Executive Director of Indian Institute of Advanced Research at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, which she has established [24].

Bipin Chandra Pal

[edit]Early life and background Bipin Chandra Pal was born in Poil Village, Habiganj District, Bangladesh, in a wealthy HinduVaishnava family. His father was Ramchandra Pal, a Persian scholar and small landowner. His son was Niranjan Pal, one of the founders of Bombay Talkies. B.C. Pal is known as the 'Father Of Revolutionary Thoughts' in India and was one of the freedom fighters of India . [edit]Career Bipin Chandra Pal was a teacher, journalist, orator, writer and librarian, he was famous as one of thetriumvirate of three militant patriots of the Congresses - the "Pal" of Lal Bal Pal. The trio was responsible for initiating the first popular upsurge against British colonial policy in the 1905 partition ofBengal, before the advent of Gandhi into Indian politics. Pal was also the founder of the journal Bande Mataram. Even though he understood the positive aspects of Empire as a `great idea', the `Federal-idea is greater'.[1] In both public and private life he was radical. He married a widow (he had to sever ties to his family for this). At the time of B. G. Tilak's ("Bal") arrest and government repression in 1907, he left forEngland, where he was briefly associated with the radical India House and founded the Swaraj journal. However, political repercussions in the wake of Curson Wyllie's assassination in 1909 by Madanlal Dhingra lead to the collapse of this publication, driving Pal to penury and mental collapse in London.[2]In the aftermath, he totally moved away from his 'extremist' phase and even nationalism, as he contemplated an association of free nations as the great federal-idea. His plea for a transcendence to a broader entity than nation derived from the notion of the sociability of human beings, which he thought would create a common bond between nations.[3][4][5] He was among the first to

criticize Gandhi or the 'Gandhi cult' since it `sought to replace the present government by no government or by the priestly autocracy of the Mahatma.'[6] His criticism of Gandhi was persistent beginning with Gandhi's arrival in India and open in 1921 session of the Indian National Congress he delivered in his presidential speech a severe criticism of Gandhi's ideas as based on magic rather than logic, addressing Gandhi: 'You wanted magic. I tried to give you logic. But logic is in bad odour when the popular mind is excited. You wanted mantaram, I am not a Rishi and cannot give Mantaram...I have never spoken a half-truth when I know the truth...I have never tried to lead people in faith blind-folded',[7]for his 'priestly, pontifical tendencies', his alliance with pan-Islamism during the Khilafat movement, which led to Pal's eclipse from political life from 1922 till his death in 1932 under conditions of abject poverty. Comparing Gandhi with Leo Tolstoy during the year he died, Pal noted that Tolstoy 'was an honest philosophical anarchist' while Gandhi remained in his eyes as 'a papal autocrat'[8][9][10] Firm and ethically grounded, not only did he perceive the 'Congress Babel' in terms of its shortsightedness in late 1920s or, Congress as an instance of repudiating debt's folly, composed of a generation 'that knows no Joseph', Pal's critical comments should be located in context, since nobody can jump out of his skin of time. An estimation of Bipin Chandra Pal's entire corpus and the depth of his published writing cannot produce a fair idea or provide due justice if that is produced with the benefit of post-independence hindsight. Though there are many articles and books written about him from India and Europe, most of which is not hagiographical, his 'pen played not an inconsiderable part in the political and social ferments that have stirred the aters of Indian life', as the Earl of Ronaldshay wrote in 1925, what Nehru said in a speech during Pal's birth centenary in 1958 surmises 'a great man who functioned on a high level on both religious and political planes'[11] opens a gate for enquiring this high-minded yet anomalous persona. The trio had advocated radical means to get their message across to the British, like boycottingBritish manufactured goods, burning Western clothes made in the mills of Manchester or Swadeshi and strikes and lockouts of British owned businesses and industrial concerns. He came under the influence of eminent Bengali leaders,not as a hero-worshipper or somebody looking for a guru for guidance, of his time such as Keshab Chandra Sen and Sibnath Sastri, as his family were in Brahmo Samaj. He was imprisoned for six months on the grounds of his refusal to give evidence against Sri Aurobindo in the Vande Mataram sedition case. He died on May 20, 1932.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Lokmanya Tilak (Marathi:

pronunciation (helpinfo) Born as Keshav

Gangadhar Tilak) 23 July 18561 August 1920 (aged 64), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer and independence fighter who was the first popular leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader "Father of the Indian unrest". He was also conferred with the honorary title ofLokmanya, which literally means "Accepted by the people (as their leader)". Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of "Swaraj" (self-rule) in Indian consciousness. His famous quote, "swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it!" is well-remembered in India even today. [edit]Early life Lokmanya Tilak was born at Chummakachu Lane (Ranjani Aaleea) in Chikhalgaon, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra to a Chitpavan Brahmin family. His father,Mr.Ramachandra Tilak was a famous schoolteacher and a Sanskrit scholar who died when Tilak was sixteen. His brilliance rubbed off on young Tilak, who graduated from Deccan College, Pune in 1877. Tilak was among one of the first generation of Indians to receive a college education.[1] Tilak was expected, as was the tradition then, to actively participate in public affairs. He believed that Religion and practical life are not different. To take to Sanyasa (renunciation) is not to abandon life. The real spirit is to make the country your family instead of working only for your own. The step beyond is to serve humanity and the next step is to serve God. This dedication to humanity would be a fundamental element in the Indian Nationalist movement.[2]

After graduating, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune. Later due to some ideological differences with the colleagues in the New School, he decided to withdraw from that activity. About that time he became a journalist. He was a strong critic of the Western education system, feeling it demeaned the Indian students and disrespected India's heritage. He organized the Deccan Education Society with a few of his college friends, including Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Vishnu shastri Chiplunkar whose goal was to improve the quality of education for India's youth. The Deccan Education Society was set up to create a new system that taught young Indians nationalist ideas through an emphasis on Indian culture.[3] Tilak began a mass movement towards independence that was camouflaged by an emphasis on a religious and cultural revival.[4] He taught Mathematics at Fergusson College. [edit]Political career [edit]Indian National Congress Tilak'' joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He opposed its moderate attitude, especially towards the fight for self government. He was one of the most eminent radicals at the time. Despite being personally opposed to early marriage, Tilak opposed the 1891 [1891 Age of Consent Act|Age of Consent bill]], seeing it as interference with Hinduism and a dangerous precedent. The act raised the age at which a girl could get married from 10 to 12. A plague epidemic spread from Mumbaito Pune in late 1896, and by January 1897, it reached epidemic proportions. In order to suppress the epidemic and prevent its spread, it was decided to take drastic action, accordingly a Special Plague Committee, with jurisdiction over Pune city, its suburbs and Pune cantonment was appointed under the Chairmanship of W. C. Rand, I. C. S, Assistant Collector of Pune by way of a government order dated 8 March 1897.Tilak took up the people's cause by publishing inflammatory articles in his paperKesari.[Kesari was written in Marathi and Maratha was written in English], quoting the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, to say that no blame could be attached to anyone who killed an oppressor without any thought of reward. Following this, on 22 June, Rand and another British officer Lt. Ayerst were shot and killed by the Chapekar brothers and their other associates. Tilak was charged with incitement to murder and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. When he emerged from prison, he was revered as a martyr and a national hero and adopted a new slogan, "Swaraj (Self-Rule) is my birth right and I shall have it."

Following the partition of Bengal in 1905, which was a strategy set out by Lord Curzon to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged a boycott, regarded as the Swadeshi movement.[5] Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and was supported by fellow Indian nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. They were referred to as theLal-Bal-Pal triumvirate. In 1907, the annual session of the Congress Party was held at Surat (Gujarat). Trouble broke out between the moderate and the extremist factions of the party over the selection of the new president of the Congress. The party split into the "Jahal matavadi" ("Hot Faction," or extremists), led by Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai, and the "Maval matavadi"("Soft Faction," or moderates). Nationalists like Aurobindo Ghose were Tilak supporters. [edit]Arrest On 30 April 1908 two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur in order to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed some women travelling in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was hanged. Tilak in his paper Kesari defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or Self-rule. The Government swiftly arrested him for sedition. He asked a young Muhammad Ali Jinnah to represent him. But the British judge convicted him and he was imprisoned from 1908 to 1914 in theMandalay Prison, Burma.[6] While imprisoned, he continued to read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian Nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the most famous "Gita Rahasya". Lots of copies of which were sold and the money was donated for the freedom fighting. Much has been said of his trial of 1908, it being the most historic trial. His last words on the verdict of the Jury were such: "In spite of the verdict of the Jury, I maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destiny of men and nations and it may be the will of providence that the cause which I represent may prosper more by my suffering than by my remaining free". These words now can be seen imprinted on the wall of Room. No. 46 at Bombay High Court. [edit]Life after prison Tilak had mellowed after his release in June 1914, more because of the diabetes and hardship in Mandalay prison. When World war I started in August, Tilak, cabled the King-Emperor in Britain of his support and turned his oratory to find new recruits for war efforts. He welcomed The Indian Councils Act, popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms which had been passed by British parliament in May 1909 terming it as a marked increase of

confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled. Acts of violence actually retarded than hastened the pace of political reforms, he felt. He was eager for reconciliation with Congress and had abandoned his demand for direct action and settled for agitations strictly by constitutional means - a line advocated by his rival Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Tilak saw the spark in Gandhi and tried his best to convince Gandhi to leave the idea of "Total Ahimsa" and try to get "Swarajya" by all means. Gandhi though looked upon him as his guru, did do not change his mind. [edit]All India Home Rule League Later, Tilak re-united with his fellow nationalists and re-joined the Indian National Congress in 1916. He also helped found the All India Home Rule League in 1916-18 with G. S. Khaparde and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. After years of trying to reunite the moderate and radical factions, he gave up and focused on the Home Rule League, which sought self-rule. Tilak travelled from village to village trying to conjure up support from farmers and locals to join the movement towards self-rule.[6] Tilak was impressed by theRussian Revolution, and expressed his admiration for Lenin.[7] Tilak, who started his political life as a Maratha propagandist, progressed into a prominent nationalist after his close association with Indian nationalists following the partition of Bengal. When asked in Calcutta whether he envisioned a Maratha type of government for Free India, Tilak replied that the Maratha dominated Governments of 17th and 18th centuries were outmoded in the 20th century and he wanted a genuine federal system for Free India where every religion and race was an equal partner. He added that only such a form of Government would be able to safeguard India's freedom. He was the first Congress leader to suggest that Hindi written in the Devanagari script be accepted as the sole national language of India. [edit]Social contribution In 1894, Tilak transformed household worshipping of Ganesha into Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav and he also made Shiva Jayanti(birth anniversary celebrations of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) as a social festival. It is touted to be an effective demonstration of festival procession. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar was the first editor of Kesari, a prominent Marathi weekly in his days which was started by Lokmanya Tilak in 1880-81. Gopal Ganesh Agarkar subsequently left Kesari out of ideological differences with Bal Gangadhar Tilak concerning the primacy of political reforms over social reforms, and started his own periodical Sudharak. Lokmanya Tilak, established the Shri Shivaji Raigad Smarak Mandal along with Senapati Khanderao Dabhade IInd of Talegaon Dabhade, who became the Founder President of the

Mandal. In 1895, Tilak founded the Shri Shivaji Fund Committee for celebration of 'Shiv Punya Tithi' and for the reconstruction of the Samadhi of Shivaji Maharaj at Fort Raigad. Tilak said, "I regard India as my Motherland and my Goddess, the people in India my kith and kin, and loyal and steadfast work for their political and social emancipation my highest religion and duty"[8]

Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 17 November 1928,Punjabi: , Urdu: ; Hindi: ) was an Indian author, freedom fighter and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari (Punjabi:The Lion of Punjab) or Sher-e-Punjab (Hindi:The Lion of Punjab) meaning the same and was part of the Lal Bal Paltrio.[1][2] He was also associated with activities of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company in their early stages. He sustained serious injuries by the police when leading a non-violent protest against the Simon Commission and died less than three weeks later. His death anniversary (November 17) is celebrated as martyr's day in India. [3][4] [edit]Early life Lajpat Rai was born in an Agarwal family in Dhudike (now in Moga district, Punjab) on 28 January, in 1865.[5][6][7] His grandfather was a Svetambara Jain while his father had great respect for Islam, and he even fasted and prayed like muslims, but did not embrace Islam largely due to his family's attachment to the Hindu faith.[8] Lala Lajpat Rai had his initial education in Govt. Higher Secondary School,Rewari(now in Haryana, was earlier in Punjab), in the late 1870s and early 1880s, where his father, Radha Krishan, was an Urdu teacher. Lala Lajpat Rai was influenced by Hinduism and Manusmriti and created a career of reforming Indian policy through politics and writing.[9] (When studying law in Lahore, he continued to practice Hinduism. He became a large believer in the idea that Hinduism, above nationality, was the pivotal point upon which an Indian lifestyle must be based.) Hinduism, he believed, led to practices of peace to humanity, and the idea that when nationalist ideas were added to this peaceful belief system, a non-secular nation could be formed. His involvement with Hindu Mahasabha leaders gathered criticism from the Bharat Sabha as the Mahasabhas were non-secular, which did not conform with the system laid out by the Indian National Congress.[10] This focus on Hindu practices in the subcontinent would ultimately lead him to

the continuation of peaceful movements to create successful demonstrations for Indian independence. He founded the National College, inside the Bradlaugh Hall in Lahore to impart quality education to the Indians, who did not want to join British institutions.[11][12]Graduates of the National College included Bhagat Singh. He was elected President of the Congress party in the Calcutta Special Session of 1920.[13] [edit]Travels to America See also: Ghadr Party Rai traveled to the US in 1907, and then returned during World War I. He toured Sikh communities along the US West Coast; visited Tuskegee University in Alabama; and met with workers in the Philippines. His travelogue, The United States of America (1916), details these travels and features extensive quotations from leading African American intellectuals, including W.E.B. DuBois andFredrick Douglass. The book also argues for the notion of color-caste, suggesting a sociological similarities between race in the US and caste in India. The term comes from sociological work done atColumbia University during the 1910s. During World War I, Lajpat Rai lived in the United States, but he returned to India in 1919 and in the following year led the special session of the Congress Party that launched the noncooperation movement. Imprisoned from 1921 to 1923, he was elected to the legislative assembly on his release.[14] [edit]Commission protests On 30 October 1928, Lajpat Rai led a silent non-violent procession with Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviyato protest against the Simon Commission at Lahore, but the police responded with a violent lathi charge. During this procession, Rai became the target of the lathi charge (a form of crowd control in which the police use heavy staves or 'lathis' in Hindi) led by British police. Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten with lathis at the chest. He was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries.[14] Bhagat Singh, who was an eyewitness to this event, claimed that it was this act that caused him to 'vow to take revenge' against the culprits of this violence.[15] [edit]Inspiration and memorial The Lala Lajpat Rai Trust was formed in 1959 on the eve of his Centenary Birth Celebration, to promote education. The trust was founded by a group of Punjabi philanthropists (including R.P Gupta and B.M Grover) who have settled and prospered in the Indian State of Maharashtra.

A statue of Lajpat Rai stands at the central square in Shimla, India. Lajpat Nagar and Lajpat Nagar Central Market in New Delhi, Lajpat Rai Market in Chandani Chowk , Delhi. Lala Lajpat Rai Hall of Residence at Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in Kharagpur and Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Engineering and Technology(LLRIET), Moga are named in his honor. Also many institutes, Schools and Library in his hometown of Jagraon, district Ludhiana are named after him. The bus terminus in Jagraon, Punjab, India is named after Lala Lajpat Rai. Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital, Kanpur is also named in his honor. Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Management is also one of the famous B-schools in Mumbai. [edit]Gulab Devi Chest Hospital Lala Lajpat Rai's mother, Gulab Devi, died of TB in Lahore. In order to perpetuate her memory, Lala Lajpat Rai established a Trust in 1927 to build and run a TB Hospital for women reportedly at the spot where she had breathed her last.[16] The Trust purchased 40 acres of land in April 1930 from the then Government which gave a free grant of an additional 10 acres on Ferozepur Road (now Sharah-e- Roomi). Construction work was started in 1931 and completed in 1934 when the Hospital gates were opened to TB patients. A marble plaque bears witness to the opening of the Hospital on 17 July 1934 by Mahatma Gandhi. On the migration of trustees to India in 1947, the Government invited Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan, Syed Maratab Ali, Professor Dr.Amiruddin and some other notables and philanthropists to become acting Trustees of the Hospital in July 1948.They constituted a Managing Committee with Begum Raana in the Chair, for running the Gulab Devi Chest Hospital.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vinyak Dmodar Svarkar pronunciation (helpinfo)) (May 28, 1883 February 26, 1966) was an Indian freedom fighter,[3] revolutionary[4] and politician. He was the proponent of liberty as the ultimate ideal.[5] Savarkar was a poet, writer and playwright. He launched a movement for religious reform advocating dismantling the system of caste in Hindu culture, and reconversion of the converted Hindus back to Hindu religion. Savarkar created the term Hindutva, and emphasized its distinctiveness from Hinduism which he associated with social and political disunity. Savarkars Hindutva sought to create an inclusive collective identity. The five elements of Savarkar's philosophy wereUtilitarianism, Rationalism and Positivism, Humanismand Universalism, Pragmatism an d Realism.[6] Savarkar's revolutionary activities began when studying in India and England, where he was associated with theIndia House and founded student societies includingAbhinav Bharat Society and the Free India Society, as well as publications espousing the cause of complete Indian independence by revolutionary means.[7] Savarkar published The Indian War of Independence about theIndian rebellion of 1857 that was banned by British authorities. He was arrested in 1910 for his connections with the revolutionary group India House. Following a failed attempt to escape while being transported fromMarseilles, Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms amounting to 50 years' imprisonment and moved to theCellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

While in jail, Savarkar wrote the work describingHindutva, openly espousing Hindu nationalism. He was released in 1921 under restrictions after signing a plea forclemency in which he renounced revolutionary activities. Travelling widely, Savarkar became a forceful orator and writer, advocating Hindu political and social unity. Serving as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar endorsed the ideal of India as a Hindu Rashtra and opposed the Quit India struggle in 1942, calling it a "Quit India but keep your army" movement. He became a fierce critic of the Indian National Congress and its acceptance of India's partition, and was one of those accused in theassassination of Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was acquitted as the charges could not be proven. The airport at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital, has been named Veer Savarkar International Airport.[8]The commemorative blue plaque on India House fixed by the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England reads "Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 18831966 Indian patriot and philosopher lived here".[9] [edit]Early life Vinayak was born in the family of Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nasik, Maharashtra. He had three other siblings namely Ganesh, Narayan, and a sister named Mainabai. After death of parents the eldest sibling Ganesh, known as Babarao, took responsibility of the family. Babarao played a supportive and influential role in Vinayak's teenage life. During this period, Vinayak organised a youth group called Mitra Mela (Band of Friends) and encouraged revolutionary and nationalist views of passion using this group.[10] In 1901, Vinayak Savarkar married Yamunabai, daughter of Ramchandra Triambak Chiplunkar, who supported his university education. Subsequently in 1902, he enrolled in Fergusson College, in Pune (then Poona).[10] As a young man, he was inspired by the new generation of radical political leaders namely Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal andLala Lajpat Rai[10] along with the political struggle against the partition of Bengal and the risingSwadeshi campaign. He was involved in various nationalist activities at various levels. In 1905, duringDussehra festivities Vinayak organised setting up of a bonfire of foreign goods and clothes. Along with his fellow students and friends he formed a political outfit called Abhinav Bharat. Vinayak was soon expelled from college due to his activities but was still permitted to take his Bachelor of Arts degree examinations. After completing his degree, nationalist activist Shyam Krishnavarma helped Vinayak to go to England to study law, on a scholarship.[10] It was during this period that Garam Dal, (literally translated as Hot Faction) was formed under the leadership of Tilak, due to the split of Indian National Congress. The

members of Garam Dal, did not acknowledge the moderate Indian National Congress leadership agenda which advocated dialogue and reconciliation with the British Raj. Tilak advocated the philosophy of Swaraj and was soon imprisoned for his support of revolutionary activities.[10] [edit]Activities at India House Savarkar envisioned a guerrilla war for independence along the lines of the famous armed uprising of 1857. Studying the history of the revolt, from English as well as Indian sources, Savarkar wrote the book, The History of the War of Indian Independence. He analyzed the circumstances of 1857 uprising and assailed British rule in India as unjust and oppressive. It was via this book that Savarkar became one of the first writers to allude the uprising as India's "First War for Independence."[11] The book was banned from publication throughout the British Empire. Madame Bhikaji Cama, and expatriate Indian revolutionary obtained its publication in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Widely smuggled and circulated, the book attained great popularity and influenced rising young Indians, savarkar was studying revolutionary methods and he came into contact with a veteran of the Russian Revolution of 1905, who imparted him the knowledge of bomb-making. Savarkar had printed and circulated a manual amongst his friends, on bomb-making and other methods ofguerrilla warfare. In 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra, a keen follower and friend of Savarkar, assassinated British MP Sir Curzon Wylie in a public meeting. Dhingra's action provoked controversy across Britain and India, evoking enthusiastic admiration as well as condemnation. Savarkar published an article in which he all but endorsed the murder and worked to organise support, both political and for Dhingra's legal defence. At a meeting of Indians called for a condemnation of Dhingra's deed, Savarkar protested the intention of condemnation and was drawn into a hot debate and angry scuffle with other attendants. A secretive and restricted trial and a sentence awarding the death penalty to Dhingra provoked an outcry and protest across the Indian student and political community. Strongly protesting the verdict, Savarkar struggled with British authorities in laying claim to Dhingra's remains following his execution. Savarkar hailed Dhingra as a hero and martyr, and began encouraging revolution with greater intensity. [edit]Arrest in London and in Marseilles In India, Ganesh Savarkar had organised an armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909. The British police implicated Savarkar in the investigation for allegedly plotting the crime. Hoping to evade arrest, Savarkar moved to Madame Cama's home in Paris. He was nevertheless arrested by police on March 13, 1910. In the final days of

freedom, Savarkar wrote letters to a close friend planning his escape. Knowing that he would most likely be shipped to India, Savarkar asked his friend to keep track of which ship and route he would be taken through. When the ship S.S. Morea reached the port of Marseilles on July 8, 1910, Savarkar escaped from his cell through a porthole and dived into the water, swimming to the shore in the hope that his friend would be there to receive him in a car. But his friend was late in arriving, and the alarm having been raised, Savarkar was re-arrested. [edit]Savarkar case Savarkar's arrest at Marseilles caused the French government to protest to the British, which argued that the British could only revover Savarkar if they took appropriate legal proceedings for his rendition. This dispute came before the Permanent Court of International Arbitration in 1910, and it gave its decision in 1911. The case excited much controversy as was reported by the New York Times, and it considered it involved an interesting international question of the right of asylum. The Court held, firstly, that since there was a pattern of collaboration between the two countries regarding the possibility of Savarkar's escape in Marseilles and since there was neither force nor fraud in inducing the French authorities to return Savarkar to them, the British authorities did not have to hand him back to the French in order for the latter to hold rendition proceedings. On the other hand, the tribunal also observed that there had been an "irregularity" in Savarkar's arrest and delivery over to the Indian Army Military Police guard.[12][13] [edit]Trial and Andaman Arriving in Mumbai (colonial name Bombay), he was taken to the Yeravda Central Jail. Following a trial, Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment and transported on July 4, 1911 to the infamous Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. His fellow captives included many political prisoners, who were forced to perform hard labour for many years. Reunited with his brother Ganesh, the Savarkars nevertheless struggled in the harsh environment. Forced to arise at 5 a.m., tasks including cutting trees and chopping wood, and working at the oil mill under regimental strictness, with talking amidst prisoners strictly prohibited during mealtime. Prisoners were subject to frequent mistreatment and torture. Contact with the outside world and home was restricted to the writing and mailing of one letter a year. In these years, Savarkar withdrew within himself and performed his routine tasks mechanically. Obtaining permission to start a rudimentary jail library, Savarkar would also teach some fellow convicts to read and write. Savarkar appealed for clemency in 1911 and again during Sir Reginald Craddock's visit in 1913, citing poor health in the oppressive conditions. In 1920, the Indian National

Congress and leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Vithalbhai Patel and Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded his unconditional release. Savarkar tactically signed a statement endorsing the trial, verdict and British law, and renouncing violence, a bargain for freedom. On May 2, 1921, the Savarkar brothers were moved to a jail in Ratnagiri, and later to the Yeravda Central Jail. He was finally released on January 6, 1924 under stringent restrictions he was not to leave Ratnagiri District and was to refrain from political activities for the next five years. However, police restrictions on his activities would not be dropped until provincial autonomy was granted in 1937. Puniyani considers Savarkar to be a coward for submitting such clemency offers, and notes that Savarkar's anti-British struggles and antiBritish activities totally ceased after his release by the British as per the terms of his internment.[14] Joglekar calls such allegations a Marxist Calumny and considers Savarkar's appeal for clemency a tactical ploy, like Shivaji's letter to Aurangzeb, during his arrest at Agra, Vladimir Lenin's travel by sealed train through Germany as a part of a deal with Germany and Joseph Stalin's pact with Adolf Hitler.[15] Joglekar notes that Shivaji made many promises to Aurangzeb which he did not keep after his escape which was the same done by Savarkar comprimising his patriotism. [edit]Hindutva During his incarceration, Savarkar's views began turning increasingly towards Hindu cultural and political nationalism, and the next phase of his life remained dedicated to this cause.[10] In the brief period he spent at the Ratnagiri jail, Savarkar wrote his ideological treatise Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?. Smuggled out of the prison, it was published by Savarkar's supporters under his alias "Maharatta." In this work, Savarkar promotes a radical new vision of Hindu social and political consciousness. Savarkar began describing a "Hindu" as a patriotic inhabitant of Bharatavarsha, venturing beyond a religious identity.[10] While emphasising the need for patriotic and social unity of all Hindu communities, he described Hinduism,Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism as one and same. He outlined his vision of a "Hindu Rashtra" (Hindu Nation) as "Akhand Bharat" (United India), purportedly stretching across the entire Indian subcontinent: Scholars, historians and Indian politicians have been divided in their interpretation of Savarkar's ideas. A self-described atheist,[1] Savarkar regards being Hindu as a cultural and political identity. While often stressing social and community unity between Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, Savarkar's notions of loyalty to the fatherland are seen as an implicit criticism of Muslims and Christians who regard Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem as their holiest places. Savarkar openly assailed what he saw as Muslim political separatism, arguing that the

loyalty of many Muslims was conflicted. After his release, Savarkar founded the Ratnagiri Hindu Sabha on January 23, 1924, aiming to work for the social and cultural preservation of Hindu heritage and civilisation. Becoming a frequent and forceful orator, Sarvakar agitated for the use of Hindi as a common national language and against caste discrimination and untouchability. Focusing his energies on writing, Savarkar authored the Hindu Pad-pada-shahi[11] a book documenting and extolling the Maratha empire and My Transportation for Life an account of his early revolutionary days, arrest, trial and incarcertaion. He also wrote and published a collection of poems, plays and novels. Another activity he started was to reconvert to Hinduism those who had converted to other faiths. [edit]Leader of the Hindu Mahasabha Although disavowing revolution and politics, Savarkar grew disenchanted with the Congress's emphasis of non-violence and criticised Gandhi for suspending Non-cooperation Movement following the killing of 22 policemen in Chauri Chaura in 1922. He soon joined the Hindu Mahasabha, a political party founded in 1911 and avowed to Hindu political rights and empowerment. The party was disengaged from the Indian independence movement, allowing Savarkar to work without British interference. As his travel restrictions weakened, Savarkar began travelling extensively, delivering speeches exhorting Hindu political unity and criticising the Congress and Muslim politicians. Savarkar and the Mahasabha did not endorse the Salt Satyagraha launched by the Congress in 1930, and neither Savarkar nor any of his supporters participated in civil disobedience. Savarkar focused on expanding the party's membership, revamping its structure and delivering its message. In the wake of the rising popularity of the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Savarkar and his party began gaining traction in the national political environment. Savarkar moved to Mumbai and was elected president of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1937, and would serve until 1943. The Congress swept the polls in 1937 but conflicts between the Congress and Jinnah would exacerbate Hindu-Muslim political divisions. Jinnah derided Congress rule as a "Hindu Raj", and hailed December 22, 1939 as a "Day of Deliverance" for Muslims when the Congress resigned en masse in protest of India's arbitrary inclusion into World War II. Savarkar's message of Hindu unity and empowerment gained increasing popularity amidst the worsening communal climate. However, Savarkar and the Mahasabha joined several political parties including the League and the Communist Party of India in endorsing the war effort.[11] Savarkar publicly encouraged Hindus to enlist in the military, which his supporters described as an effort for Hindus to obtain military training and experience potentially useful in a future confrontation with the British.[11] When the Congress launched the Quit

India rebellion in 1942, Savarkar criticised the rebellion and asked Hindus to stay active in the war effort and not disobey the government.[11] Under his leadership, the Mahasabha won several seats in the central and provincial legislatures, but its overall popularity and influence remainedpoliticians. Hindu Mahasabha activists protested Gandhi's initiative to hold talks with Jinnah in 1944, which Savarkar denounced as "appeasement." He assailed the British proposals for transfer of power, attacking both the Congress and the British for making concessions to Muslim separatists. Soon after Independence, Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee resigned as Vice-President of the Hindu Mahasabha dissociating himself from its Akhand Hindustan plank, which implied undoing partition.[16] [edit]Opposition to the partition of India The Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution in 1940, calling for a separate Muslim state based on the Two-Nation Theory, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar summaries Savarkar's position, in his Pakistan or The Partition of India as follows, Mr. Savarkar... insists that, although there are two nations in India, India shall not be divided into two parts, one for Muslims and the other for the Hindus; that the two nations shall dwell in one country and shall live under the mantle of one single constitution;... In the struggle for political power between the two nations the rule of the game which Mr. Savarkar prescribes is to be one man one vote, be the man Hindu or Muslim. In his scheme a Muslim is to have no advantage which a Hindu does not have. Minority is to be no justification for privilege and majority is to be no ground for penalty. The State will guarantee the Muslims any defined measure of political power in the form of Muslim religion and Muslim culture. But the State will not guarantee secured seats in the Legislature or in the Administration and, if such guarantee is insisted upon by the Muslims, such guaranteed quota is not to exceed their proportion to the general population.[17] [edit]Support for Jewish state in Palestine Savarkar in a statement issued on 19 December 1947, expressed joy at the recognition of the claim of Jewish people to establish an independent Jewish state, and likened the event to the glorious day on which Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage. He considered that justice demanded restoration of entire Palestine to the Jews, their historical holyland and fatherland. He regetted India's vote at theUnited Nations Organisation against the creation of the Jewish state terming the vote a policy of appeasement of Muslims.[18] [edit]Works

Veer Savarkar wrote more than 10,000 pages in the Marathi language. His literary works in Marathiinclude "Kamala", "Mazi Janmathep" (My Life Sentence), and most famously "1857 - The First War of Independence", about what the British referred to as the Sepoy Mutiny. Savarkar popularised the term 'First War of Independence'. Another noted book was "Kale Pani" (similar to Life Sentence, but on the island prison on the Andamans), which reflected the treatment of Indian freedom fighters by the British. In order to counter the then accepted view that India's history was a saga of continuous defeat, he wrote an inspirational historical work, "Saha Soneri Pane" (Six Golden Pages), recounting some of the Golden periods of Indian history. At the same time, religious divisions in India were beginning to fissure. He described what he saw as the atrocities of British and Muslims on Hindu residents in Kerala, in the book, "Mopalyanche Band" (Muslims' Strike) and also "Gandhi Gondhal" (Gandhi's Confusion), a political critique of Gandhi's politics. Savarkar, by now, had become a committed and persuasive critic of the Gandhi-an vision of India's future. He is also the author of poems like "Sagara pran talmalala" (O Great Sea, my heart aches for the motherland), and "Jayostute" (written in praise of freedom), one of the most moving, inspiring and patriotic works in Marathi literature. When in the Cellular jail, Savarkar was denied pen and paper. He composed and wrote his poems on the prison walls with thorns and pebbles, memorised thousands lines of his poetry for years till other prisoners returning home brought them to India. Savarkar is credited with several popular neologisms in Marathi and Hindi, like "Hutatma"(Martyr),"Mahapaur" ( Mayor),Digdarshak (leader or director, one who points in the right direction), Shatkar (a score of sixruns in cricket), Saptahik (weekly), Sansad (Parliament), "doordhwani" ("telephone"), "tanklekhan" ("typewriting") among others. He chaired Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1938. [edit]Arrest and acquittal in Gandhi's assassination Following the assassination of Gandhi on January 30, 1948, police arrested the assassin Pundit Nathuram Godse and his alleged accomplices and conspirators. He was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS's Swayansevak an organisation started by among others Pundit Madan Mohan Malviya and Lala Lajpat Rai. Godse was the editor of Agrani Hindu Rashtra a Marathi daily from Pune which was run by a company "The Hindu Rashtra Prakashan Ltd." This company had contributions from such eminent persons as Gulabchand Hirachand,Bhalji Pendharkar and Jugalkishore Birla. Savarkar had invested 15000 in the company. Savarkar a former president of the Hindu Mahasabha, was arrested on 5 February 1948, from his house in Shivaji Park, and kept under detention in the Arthur Road Prison,

Mumbai. He was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and abetment to murder. Ambedkar[disambiguation needed
]

secretly assured Savarkar's lawyer, Mr. L.B. Bhopatkar,

that his client, was implicated as a murder-suspect on the flimsiest grounds. A day before his arrest, Savarkar in a public written statement, as reported in The Times of India", Mumbai dated 7 February 1948, termed Gandhi's assassination a fratricidal crime, endangering India's existence as a nascent nation.[19][20][21] [edit]The approver's testimony Godse claimed full responsibility for planning and carrying out the attack, However according to Badge the approver, on 17 January 1948, Nathuram Godse went to have a last darshan of Savarkar in Bombay before the assassination. While Badge and Shankar waited outside, Nathuram and Apte went in. On coming out Apte told Badge that Savarkar blessed them "Yashasvi houn ya" (" ", be successful and return). Apte

also said that Savarkar predicted that Gandhiji's 100 years were over and there was no doubt that the task would be successfully finished.[22][23]However Badge's testimony was not accepted as the approver's evidence lacked independent corroboration and hence Savarkar was acquitted. [edit]Kapur commission See also: Kapur Commission On November 12, 1964, a religious programme was organised in Pune, to celebrate the release of theGopal Godse, Madanlal Pahwa, Vishnu Karkare from jail after the expiry of their sentences. Dr. G. V. Ketkar, grandson of Bal Gangadhar Tilak,[24] former editor of Kesari and then editor of Tarun Bharat, who presided over the function, revealed gave information of a conspiracy to kill Gandhi, about which he professed knowledge, six months before the act. Ketkar was arrested. A public furore ensued both outside and inside the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and both houses of the Indian parliament. Under pressure of 29 members of parliament and public opinion the then Union home ministerGulzarilal Nanda, appointed Gopal Swarup Pathak, M. P. and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India, in charge of inquiry of conspiracy to murder Gandhi. The central government intended on conducting a thorough inquiry with the help of old records in consultation with the government of Maharashtra, Pathak was given three months to conduct his inquiry, subsequently Jevanlal Kapur a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India was appointed to conduct the inquiry.[25] The Kapur Commission was provided with evidence not produced in the court; especially the testimony of two of Savarkar's close aides - Appa Ramachandra Kasar, his bodyguard, and Gajanan Vishnu Damle, his secretary,[26] Kasar told the Kapur Commission that Godse and Apte visited Savarkar on or about January 23 or 24,

which was when they returned from Delhi after the bomb incident. Damle deposed that Godse and Apte saw Savarkar in the middle of January and sat with him (Savarkar) in his garden. Justice Kapur concluded: "All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group."[27][28][29] [edit]Later life and Death Despite his exoneration, Savarkar's role in the plot remains a source of intense controversy but at the time the public held him answerable for instigating the murder. Public outrage over Gandhi's murder wrecked the fortunes of the Hindu Mahasabha, whose membership and activity dwindled into insignificance. Savarkar's home in Mumbai was stoned by angry mobs, and his political influence and activism sharply curtailed by widespread public anger.[11] His activities remained confined to occasional speeches and publishing his writings. He considered RSS and its associate organizations with equal ideology. But RSS had a stronger appeal to the votaries of Hindutva. RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar had the highest respect for Savarkar, and RSS continues to acknowledge Savarkar's efforts for the Hindu unity. Savarkar also admired and participated in the activities of RSS. In 1966 Savarkar renounced medicines, food and water leading to his death on February 26, 1966. He was mourned by large crowds that attended his cremation. He had written an article 'Atma-hatya or Deh-tyaag', arguing that suicide in most cases is taking one's life, but renouncing life after the body was no longer capable of functioning properly was a different matter. He left behind a son Vishwas and a daughter Prabha Chiplunkar. His first son, Prabhakar, had died in infancy. His home, possessions and other personal relics have been preserved for public display. Savarkar was a national and political non-entity in independent India by the time he died and thereafter.[30] After his death, since Savarkar was championing militarization, some thought that it would be fitting if his mortal remains were to be carried on a gun-carriage. A request to that effect was made to the then Defence Minister, Y.B. Chavan, who later on became Deputy Prime Minister of India. But Chavan turned down the proposal and not a single minister from the Maharashtra Cabinet showed up in the cremation ground to pay homage to Savarkar. In New Delhi, the Speaker of the Parliament turned down a request that it pay homage to Savarkar. In fact, after the independence of India,Jawaharlal Nehru had put forward a proposal to demolish the Cellular Jail in the Andamans and build a hospital in its place. When Y.B. Chavan, as the Home Minister of India, went to the Andamans, he was asked whether he would like to visit Savarkar's jail but he was not interested. Also when Morarji Desai went as Prime Minister to the Andamans, he too refused to visit

Savarkar's cell.[30] Savarkar's contribution to Indian Freedom Struggle has been immense, starting from his student days in London, where he organized the Indians in England, and France from the famous India House, where he wrote the famous book First Indian War of Independence, inspiring Indians to remember martyrs of 1857, and motivating them to carry on second war of independence. English government at that time, arrested him on political charges of waging a war against the English king, for which he was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment, in 1907 which was unheard of in Indian political circles. No Congress politician was sentenced to such a long and rigorous imprisonment. His entire life was devoted to bring India freedom, from his works and actions.[5] [edit]Film In the 1996 Malayalam movie Kaala Pani directed by Priyadarshan, noted Hindi actor Annu Kapoorplayed the role of Veer Savarkar. In 2001, Ved Rahi and Sudhir Phadke made the biopic film Veer Savarkar, which was released after many years in production. Savarkar is portrayed by Shailendra Gaur.[31][32] The Movie Veer Savarkar was released in 2001 which was produced by Vocalist, Musician and a renowned Savarkar follower Sudhir Phadke. The movie was directed by Ved Rahi and Shailendra Gaur played the role of Veer Savarkar. This movie was made after over a decade of fund raising efforts by Late Sudhir Phadke and his "Savarkar Darshan Prathisthaan", an organization established solely with the purpose of depicting the life of great revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savarkar aka Veer Savarkar, and to inspire particularly the young generation with his thoughts and work. The finance for the film came entirely from hundreds of Veer Savarkar followers, who paid out of their pockets generously, to help the production of a motion picture being made on the life of their hero, the legendary Veer Savarkar. Late Sudhir Phadke, a renowned name in Marathi Music, and an avid follower of Veer Savarkars ideology; spend many years towards latter part of his life, raising funds through his musical concerts, in an effort to bring wishes of Savarkar followers into reality. Maharashtra Government in the honor of he great Freedom Fighter and Patriot, made the movie tax free when it opened in theatres.

Vanchinathan Vanchinathan (Tamil: ) (1886 June 17, 1911), popularly known as Vanchi, was an Indian Tamil independence activist. He is best remembered for having shot dead Ashe, the Collector of Thirunelveliand having later committed suicide in order to evade arrest. [edit]Personal life Vanchinathan was born in 1886 in Shenkottai to Raghupathy Iyer and Rukmani Ammal. His actual name was Shankaran. He did his schooling in Shenkottai and graduated in M.A. from Moolam Thirunal Maharaja College in Thiruvananthapuram. Even while in college, he married Ponnammal and got into a lucrative Government job. [edit]Freedom Movement On June 17, 1911, Vanchi assassinated Ashe, the district collector of Tirunelveli, who was also known as Collector Dorai. He shot Ashe at point-blank range when Ashe's train had stopped at the Maniyachistation, en route to Madras. He committed suicide thereafter. The railway station has since been renamed Vanchi Maniyachi. On that day, Ashe boarded the 9-30 a.m. Maniyachi Mail at Tirunelveli junction. With him was his wife, Mary Lillian Patterson, who had arrived from Ireland only a few days earlier. They had married on April 6, 1898, in Berhampore; Mary was about a year older than Ashe. They were on their way to Kodaikanal where their four children, Molly, Arthur, Sheila, and Herbert, lived in a rented bungalow. At 10-38 the train pulled in at Maniyachi. The Ceylon Boat Mail was due to arrive at 10-48. As the Ashes sat facing each other in the first class carriage, waiting for the Boat Mail to arrive, a neatly dressed man with tufted hair and another young man wearing a dhoti approached the carriage. The former boarded the carriage and pulled out a Belgian-made Browning automatic pistol. The bullet hit Ashe in the chest and he collapsed. The sound of the pistol shot was absorbed by the howling wind. After the shooting the assassin ran along the platform and hid in the latrine. Some time later he was found dead, having shot himself in the mouth. In his pocket was found the following letter: "The mlechas of England having captured our country, tread over the sanathana dharma of the Hindus and destroy them. Every Indian is trying to drive out the English and get swarajyam and restore sanathana dharma. Our Raman, Sivaji, Krishnan, Guru Govindan, Arjuna ruled our land protecting all dharmas and in this land they are making arrangements to crown George V, a mlecha, and one who eats the flesh of cows. Three thousand Madrasees have taken a vow to kill George V as soon as he lands in our country. In order to make others

know our intention, I who am the least in the company, have done this deed this day. This is what everyone in Hindustan should consider it as his duty. sd/- R. Vanchi Aiyar, Shencottah" The contents of the letter indicated that the murder was political and caused great apprehension. The timing of the assassination indicated a protest against the impending coronation.[1] Vanchi was a close collaborator of Varahaneri Venkatesa Subrahmanya Iyer (normally shortened toV.V.S.Aiyar or Va.Ve.Su Iyer), another freedom fighter who sought arms to defeat the British. He trained Vanchinathan to execute the plan in all perfection.[2] They belonged to Bharatha matha Association.[3] The Tamil Nadu Government has decided to build a memorial in Shenkottai the birth place of this martyr.[4] [edit]Trivia In the movie Kappalottiya Tamizhan, Actor Balaji played the role of Vanchinathan. Sivaji Ganesan roled as Va.U. Chidamparam

V. V. S. Aiyar Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar

Portrait of V. V. S. Aiyar Varahaneri Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar (Tamil: ) (April 2, 1881 June 3, 1925), also known as V.V.S. Aiyar, was an Indian revolutionary from Tamil Nadu who fought against the British occupation of India. His contemporaries include Subramanya Bharathi and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, who subscribed to the militant form of resistance against the British. He went into exile inPondicherry, then under French rule, when his militant activities attracted a warrant for his arrest from the British colonial government. V.V.S. Aiyar was also a Tamil writer and is considered as the father of modern Tamil short story. He also translated the Ramavatharam of Kambar and Tirukkural into English. V.V.S Aiyar is mentor of Vanchinathan. [edit]Early life Venkatesa Subramaniam Aiyar was born on April 2, 1881 in a middle class Brahmin family in the suburb ofVarahaneri in Tiruchi. After his early education, he studied for the Law profession and passed the Pleader (junior lawyer) examination from the Madras University in 1902. He then practised as the pleader in the District courts of Tiruchi. Aiyar then moved to Rangoon in 1906 and started practising as a junior in the Chambers of an English Barrister. From Rangoon, he left for London in 1907 and enrolled in Lincoln's Inn aiming to becoming aBarrister at Law. While in London, V.V.S. Aiyar came into contact with Vinayak Damodar

Savarkar, an Indian revolutionary, at the India House. Under Savarkar's influence Aiyar began to take an active role in the militant struggle for Indian independence. [edit]Political activities Aiyar's militant attitude prompted the British Government in 1910 to issue a warrant for his arrest for his alleged involvement in an anarchist conspiracy in London and Paris. Aiyar resigned from the Lincoln's Inn and escaped to Paris. Although he wished to remain in Paris as a political exile, he had to return to India. Aiyar landed in Pondicherry on December 4, 1910 disguised as a muslim to escape arrest and remained there as exile. Aiyar remained in Pondicherry for over ten years. While in Pondicherry, Aiyar met with fellow revolutionaries Subramanya Bharathi and Aurobindo. In Pondicherry, Aiyar was involved in the plot to assassinate Mr. Ashe, the Collector of Tirunelveli. One of his students, Vanchinathan assassinated General Ashe. Thus more trouble arose for V.V.S. Aiyar and his companion Subramanya Bharathi. On 22 September 1914 the German cruiser SMS Emden entered the Madras harbour and bombed the city. The British colonial government blamed this on the activities of the exiles in Pondicherry, and urged the French Governor to deport V.V.S. Aiyar and his companions to Africa. The French police brought several charges against the revolutionaries, but failed to convict them. During this period Aiyar translated the Tirukkural into English. He later revealed that he wanted to leave a legacy behind if he were forced to leave the country. Aiyar returned to Madras after World War I and worked as the editor of the newspaper Desabhaktan(Patriot). He was arrested in 1921 on sedition charges and spent nine months in prison. While in prison Aiyar wrote the book A Study of Kamba Ramayana. [edit]Death V.V.S. Aiyar drowned in the Papanasam Falls in June 1925 in circumstances which remain controversial.

Dayananda Saraswati

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati (Hindi:

, Gujarati:

) (Born:12 February 1824 Died:30 October 1883[2]. ) was an important Hindu religious scholar, reformer, and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. He was the first to give the call for Swarajya[3] "India for Indians" in 1876, later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.[4][5] Denouncing the idolatry and ritualistic worship prevalent in Hinduismat the time, he worked towards reviving Vedic ideologies. Subsequently the philosopher and President of India, S. Radhakrishnan, called him one of "makers of Modern India," as did Sri Aurobindo.[6][7][8] One of his notable disciples was Shyamji Krishna Varma, who founded India House in London and guided other revolutionaries. Others who were influenced by and followed him included Madam Cama, Pran Sukh Yadav,Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Ram Prasad Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Swami Shraddhanand[9] Sukhabodhananda,[10] Mahatma Hansraj and Lala Lajpat Rai.[11][12] One of his most influential works is the book Satyarth Prakash, which contributed to the Indian independence movement. He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from boyhood, and a scholar, who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma andskepticism in dogma, and emphasized the ideals ofbrahmacharya (celibacy) and devotion to God. TheTheosophical Society and the Arya Samaj were united from 1878 to 1882, becoming the Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj.[13] Among Maharishi Dayananda's contributions are his promoting of the equal rights of women, such as the right to education and reading of Indian scriptures, and his translation of the Vedas fromSanskrit into Hindi so that the common person might be able to read them.

[edit]Early life Dayananda was born on February 12 in 1824, in the town of Tankara, near Morvi (Morbi) in theKathiawar region (since India's independence in 1947 Rajkot district) of the princely state of Gujarat, into the affluent and devout Saryupareen Brahmins family of Karshanji Lalji Tiwari and his wife Yashodabai. Since he was born under Mul Nakshatra, he was named "Mulshankar", and led a comfortable early life, studying Sanskrit, the Vedas and other religious texts to prepare himself for a future as a Hindu priest.[14][15] A number of incidents in early childhood resulted in Dayananda's questioning the traditional beliefs ofHinduism and inquiring about God. While still a young child, when his family went to a temple for overnight worship on the night of Maha Shivratri, he stayed up waiting for Lord Shiva to appear to accept the offerings made to his idol. While his family slept, Dayananda saw a mouse eating the offerings. He was utterly surprised and wondered how a God who cannot protect even his own offerings would protect humanity. He argued with his father that they should not be worshipping such a helpless God.[16][17] The deaths of his younger sister and his uncle from cholera caused Dayananda to ponder the meaning of life and death and he started asking questions which worried his parents. He was to be married in his early teens, as was common in nineteenth-century India, but he decided sasi raj marriage was not for him and in 1846 ran away from home.[16][17] Dayananda was disillusioned with classical Hinduism and became a wandering monk. He learnedPanini's grammar to read Sanskrit texts, and understood from them that God can be found. After wandering in search of God for over two decades, he found Swami Virajananda near Mathura, Uttar Pradesh who became his guru.[18] Swami Virajananda told him to throw away all his books, as he wished Dayananda to start from a clean slate and learn directly from the Vedas, the oldest and most foundational scriptures of Hinduism.[17] Dayananda stayed under Swami Virjananda's tutelage for two and a half years. After finishing his education, Virjananda asked him to spread the knowledge of the Vedas in society as his gurudakshina, or tuition-dues.[17] [edit]Dayanand's mission Dayananda mission was to tell the humankind for Universal Brotherhood through nobility as spelt out in Vedas and his first step was to take up the difficult task of reforming Hinduism with dedication despite multiple repeated attempts on his life. He traveled the country challenging religious scholars and priests to discussions and won

repeatedly on the strength of his arguments based on his knowledge of sanskrit and Vedas.[19] He believed that Hinduism had been corrupted by divergence from the founding principles of the Vedas and that Hindus had been misled by the priesthood for the priests' self-aggrandizement. Hindu priests discouraged the laity from readingVedic scriptures and encouraged rituals, such as bathing in theGanges River and feeding of priests on anniversaries, which Dayananda pronounced as superstitionsor selfserving practices. By exhorting the nation to reject such superstitious notions, his aim was to educate the nation to Go back to the Vedas. While he wanted the people to follow the Vedic life, he also exhorted the nation to accept social reforms like the abolition of untouchability, sati, and dowry, education of women, swadeshi and importance of cows for national prosperity as well as the adoption of Hindi as the national language. Through his teachings, preachings, sermons and writings he inspired the nation to aspire to Swarajya (self governance), nationalism, and spiritualism. He advocated the equal rights and respects to women and advocated the full education of a girl child. Swami Dayananda did critical, logical and scientific analyses of all faiths ie Islam and Christianity as well as of other Indian faiths like Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism, in addition to denouncing idolatry in Hinduism, as may be seen in his book Satyartha Prakash.[20] He was against what he considered to be the corruption of the pure faith in his own country. Unlike many other reform movements within Hinduism, the Arya Samaj's appeal was addressed not only to the educated few in India, but to the world as a whole as evidenced in the sixth principle of the Arya Samaj.In fact his teachings professed universalism for the all living beings and not for any particular sect, faith, community or nation. Arya Samaj allows and encourages converts to Hinduism. Dayanandas concept of dharma is stated in the "Beliefs and Disbeliefs" section of Satyartha Prakash. He said: "I accept as Dharma whatever is in full conformity with impartial justice, truthfulness and the like; that which is not opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedas. Whatever is not free from partiality and is unjust, partaking of untruth and the like, and opposed to the teachings of God as embodied in the Vedasthat I hold as adharma" He also said: "He, who after careful thinking, is ever ready to accept truth and reject falsehood; who counts the happiness of others as he does that of his own self, him I call just." Satyarth Prakash

Dayananda's Vedic message was to emphasize respect and reverence for other human beings, supported by the Vedic notion of the divine nature of the individualdivine because the body was the temple where the human essence (soul or "atma") had the possibility to interface with the creator ("Paramatma"). In the ten principles of the Arya Samaj, he enshrined the idea that "All actions should be performed with the prime objective of benefiting mankind", as opposed to following dogmatic rituals or revering idols and symbols. In his own life, he interpreted moksha to be a lower calling (due to its benefit to one individual) than the calling to emancipate others. Dayananda's "back to the Vedas" message influenced many thinkers and philosophers the world over. Taking the cue from him, Sri Aurobindo decided to look for hidden psychological meanings in theVedas [1]. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. 1972. [edit]Arya Samaj Main article: Arya Samaj Swami Dayananda's creation, the Arya Samaj, unequivocally condemns idol worship, animal sacrifice,ancestor worship, pilgrimages, priest craft, offerings made in temples, the caste system,untouchability, child marriages and discrimination against women on the grounds that all these lackedVedic sanction. The Arya Samaj discourages dogma and symbolism and encourages skepticism in beliefs that run contrary to common sense and logic. To many people, the Arya Samaj aims to be a "universal society" based on the authority of the Vedas.[21] [edit]Death In 1883 Dayananda was invited by the Maharaja of Jodhpur to stay at his palace. The Maharaja was eager to become his disciple and learn his teachings. One day Dayananda went to the Maharaja's rest room and saw him with a dance girl named Nanhi Jan. Dayananda boldly asked the Maharaja to forsake the girl and all unethical acts and follow dharma like a true Aryan. Dayananda's suggestion offended the dance girl and she decided to take revenge[22]. She bribed Dayananda's cook to poison him. At bedtime, the cook brought him a glass of milk containing poison and powdered glass. Dayananda drank the milk and went to sleep only to wake up later with a burning sensation. He immediately realized that he had been poisoned and attempted to purge his digestive system of the poisonous substance, but it was too late. The poison had already entered his bloodstream. Dayananda was bedridden and suffered excruciating pain. Many doctors came to treat him but all was in vain. His body was covered all over with large bleeding sores. On seeing Dayananda's suffering the cook was overcome with unbearable guilt and

remorse. He confessed his crime to Dayananda. On his deathbed, Dayananda forgave him and gave him a bag of money and told him to flee the kingdom lest he be found out and executed by the Maharaja's men[23].

Kandukuri Veeresalingam

Rao Bahadur Kandukuri Veeresalingam (Telugu:

) (16 April 1848 27

May 1919), also known as Kandukuri Veeresalingham Pantulu(Telugu: ), was a social reformer of Andhra Pradesh. He was born in an orthodoxNiyogi Telugu Brahmin family. He is widely considered as the man who first brought about a renaissance in Telugu people and Telugu literature. He was influenced by the ideals of Brahmo Samajparticularly those of Keshub Chunder Sen. He got involved in the cause of social reforms. In 1876 he started a Telugu journal and wrote the first prose for women. He encouraged education for women, and started a school in Dowlaiswaram in 1874. He started a social organisation called Hitakarini(Benefactor). [edit]Womens emancipation Kandukuri Veeraselingam Pantulu expressed the opinion, The denigration of women has ruined our society, and dedicated his entire life to the cause of uplift of women in his society. He started a magazine named Vivekavardhini(Knowledge Improver) at Davaleswaram, in which he wrote about womens uplift, criticised superstitious beliefs among people and rampant corruption among officials. Initially he used to get it printed at Chennai but when the magazine picked up in popularity, he set his own press at Rajahmundry. He launched Satihitabobhini, a special magazine for women. Through it, he enlightened women about their rights.

He organised the Rajahmundry Social Reform Association in 1878. Initially, it concentrated on the anti-nautch movement to discourage the hire of nautch girls for celebration, but later concentrated on widow remarriage.[1] He organised the first widow remarriage in the area on 11 December 1881.The groom was Gogulapati Sreeramulu and bride was Gowramma.Many English Police officials attended the marriage. Pyda Ramakrishnayya of Kakinada extended financial support for it. However, both of them faced severe opposition from society. He succeeded in bringing about a change in the mindset of his people and gradually more and more people accepted widow remarriage.After the third widow marriage, Eswar Chandra Vidyasagar sent a message congratulating him.Later a widow orphanage was established. His progressive thoughts brought in severe criticism and opposition but he continued unabated. He fought to abolish child marriages and Kanyasulkam (a kind of dowry given by the groom to the bride's parents). In 1881, his contemporary social and religious reformer, Kolkata-based Sivanath Sastri met him at Rajahmundry, during one of his missionary visits. About his meeting, Sivanath Sastri writes, The next day I went by boat to Rajahmundry, and shall gratefully remember the love and affection of Veerasalingam and the hospitality of his wife. Veerasalingams wife is a remarkable person. On one hand, she is strong willed, powerful and dutiful. On the other, she is soft hearted and dedicated to the well being of others. It is because Veerasalingam got a wife like her that he was able to carry on with his work in spite of social oppression.[2] [edit]Brahmo Samaj In the History of the Brahmo Samaj, Sivanath Sastri writes Kandukuri Veeraselingam Pantulu, He constructed the first Brahmo Mandir in the Andhra country at Rajahmundry in 1887, he constructed a Widows Home, a two storied building and a similar one for the Social Reform Association at Madras; he started the first theistic high school, the Hithakarini School at Rajahmundry in 1908; during the same year he willed away all his property for the benefit of Rajahmundry Widows Home and the school, and placed them under the management of an association, the Hithakarini Samaj. The movement spread from Rajahmundry to Coconada presently Kakinada), Parlakimedi, Palakole, Narsapur, Vijaywada and Tenali. He is also credited with the setting up of Brahmo Samaj at Bangalore. [edit]Literature Veeresalingam panthulu is popularly called Gadhya Thikkana.[3] He wrote about 100 books between 1869 and 1919[4] and introduced the essay, biography, autobiography and the novel into Telugu literature[5] His Satyavathi Charitam was the first social novel in Telugu. He

wrote Rajasekhara Charitamu inspired by Oliver Goldsmiths The Vicar of Wakefied. To him literature was an instrument to fight social evils. He was a poet of considerable renown.[4] He was also one of the members of the first Indian National Congress (INC) meeting held in 1885. He died on 27 May 1919. A statue of his has been installed on Beach Road, Visakhapatnam. Really he did a great job for social reform.

Pandita Ramabai

Pandita Ramabai (Kannada: )(Marathi: ) (23 April 1858 5 April 1922) was a social reformer and activist. She was born as Hindu, started Arya Mahila Samaj and later converted to Christianity to serve widows and helpless women of India. Ramabai was a poet, a scholar, and a champion of improvement in the plight of Indian women. As a social reformer, she championed the cause of emancipation of Indian women. A widely traveled lady, she visited most parts of India, and even went to England (1883) and the U.S. (188688). She wrote many books including her widely popular work titled The High Caste Hindu Woman, which showed the darkest part of subject matter relating to the life of Hindu women, including child brides, child widows and the treatment they receive by the government and society. She had a strong view of what should be accomplished so women would be able to have more freedom, including protection of widowed women and child brides, as many of them were made destitutes by their inlaws. [edit]Early Life Ramabai was born into an intellectual Hindu Chitpavan Brahmin family at Karnataka (Karkala Taluk, Mangalore District). Her father, Anant Shastri Dongre,who stayed at a place in western ghats called Gangamoola,(Mala village,Karkala,Karnataka) was a Sanskrit scholar and believed that women should have education. Against the prevailing traditional Hindu

social structure, he taught Puranas and sanskrit shlokas to Ramabai as well as his second wife, Ramambais mother Laxmibai and how to read and write Sanskrit as well as how to interpret vedic texts. She was raised by her father. Her father faced hardships as he was against the tradition and he advocated education to girl children. He proved in front of Hindu scholars at Soday,(Karnataka) that teaching ladies with sanskrit was not banned in any Shastra or purana. [1] Her father, mother and sister died during 187476, and her brother and she traveled all over India and eventually ended up in Calcutta. Their travel included 2,000 miles by foot! [2] Ramabai's Sanskrit knowledge bewildered the educated people of Kolkata and she was awarded with Pandita title by Calcutta University. She was also awareded with Sarasvathi title in recognition of her ability to interpret various sanskrit volumes. After her brother's death in 1880, even though it was considered inappropriate for a Hindu to marry into a lower caste, she married, on 13 November 1880, Babu Bipin Behari Medhavi, a Bengali lawyer at Bankipore, who was not a Brahmin (a Shudra). Six months after the birth of their daughter Manorama, Babu died in 1882, and Pandita was once again left with just one family member, her daughter, Ramabai received a scholarship to study in England. During her time in England, she converted to Christianity because of monetory requirements, she was given money to get converterd to Christianity. but did not ever lose sight of her goals. She clung to her roots and when she returned to India she started destitute homes and Christian Churches which had Sanskrit writing instead of traditional Latin which was used in England. Ramabai attempted to combine her new Christian ideals with her old Indian Culture and used this mix to promote change in India. Being raised as in the Brahman caste made her uniquely able to bring both men and women to Christianity due to taht castes image as social leaders in India. She also went to America and travelled widely there for three years and gave lectures about the plight of women and child widows in India. Ramabai Foundation was formed at America to collect funds for the future projects of Pandita Ramabai in India and more than $30,000 was collected. More than 10,000 copies of her book High Caste Hindu Women was sold in America, the funds of which were used give shelter to destitute women of India! She wrote a book about her travels to the United States [She wrote about her American experience in a book titled United States Chi Lokasthiti Ani Pravasvrutta (Status of Society of United States and a travelogue)]and it has recently been published in translation as Pandita Ramabai's American Encounter. The book is a traveler's account of the people and culture of the United States. It contains a pointed comparison of the status of women in the U.S. and

India, and strongly suggests that India should follow down the path of reform. However, the book is not without its criticisms of American society, particularly its race problem. [edit]Social Service In addition to her writing she founded the Arya Mahila Sabha in 1881, in Pune, the very first Indian feminist organization. She studied as well as taught about the issues which surround Indian women especially those involved in the Hindu traditions. She spoke against the practice of child marriage and the terrible constraints on the lives of child widows. Ramabai established the Mukti Mission in 1889, in Pune, as a refuge for young widows who were deserted and abused by their families. She also established Krupa Sadan, a home for destitute women.In Sanskrit and most of Indian Languages, the word MUKTHI means liberation. She was also involved in establishing a Church at Mukthi. The Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission is still active today, providing housing, education, vocational training, and medical services, for many needy groups including widows, orphans, and the blind.She also started SHARDA SADAN which also dealt with providing housing, education, vocational training, and medical services, for many needy groups including widows, orphans, and the blind. [edit]Family Life As Pandita Ramabai involved herself in social service, there was little family life for her. Her childhood was full of hardships. She lost her parents early and her husband expired within two years of marriage. She had to educate her only daughter Manorama bai and she did this well. Her daughter Manorama completed BA at Bombay University and went to America for higher studies. She returned to India and worked as Principal of Sharada Sadan, Mumbai. With her help, Pandita Ramabai established Christian High school at Gulbarga (now in Karnataka), a backward district of South India, during 1912 and her daughter was Principal of the school. But, Manorama's untimely death was a shock to Ramabai and eventually, within two years of daughter's death, on 5th April, 1922, she took her last breath. Her contribution to Christianity in India is much appreciated.[3] [edit]Awards and honors "Pandita" and "Saraswathi" at Bengal (before going to England), recognising her skills in Sanskrit.Kaisar-i-Hind medal for community service in 1919, awarded by British Government. She is honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on April 5. On 26 October 1989, in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of Indian women, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp.

Narayana Guru

Sri Nryana Guru (Malayalam: ) (18551928), also known as Sree Nryana Guru Swami, was aHindu saint, sadhu[1][2] and social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society.Gurudevan, as he was fondly known to his followers, ledReform movement in Kerala, revolted against casteism and worked on propagating new values of freedom in spiritualityand of social equality, thereby transforming the Kerala society and as such he is adored as a prophet.[1][2] Nryana Guru is revered for his Vedic knowledge, poeticproficiency, openness to the views of others, non-violentphilosophy and his unrelenting resolve to set aright social wrongs. Nryana Guru was instrumental in setting thespiritual foundations for social reform[3] in today's Kerala and was one of the most successful social reformers who tackled caste in India. He demonstrated a path to social emancipation without invoking the dualism of the oppressed and the oppressor. Guru stressed the need for the spiritual and social upliftment of the downtrodden by their own efforts through the establishment of temples and educational institutions. In the process he brushed aside the superstitions that clouded the fundamental Hindu religious convention of Chaturvarna. [edit]Biography [edit]Family and Early life

Narayana Guru was born on August 20, 1855, in the village of Chempazhanthi near Thiruvananthapuram, the son of Madan Asan, a farmer, and Kutti Amma. The boy was dotingly calledNanu. Madan was also a teacher ("Asan")[citation needed] who was learned in Sanskrit and proficient in Astrology andAyurveda.[citation needed]He had three sisters. As a boy, Nnu would listen to his father with keen interest when he narrated stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to the simple folks of his village. Nnu was initiated into the traditional formal education Ezhuthinirithal by Chempazhanthi Pillai, a local schoolmaster and a village officer. Besides schooling, young Nnu continued to be educated at home, under the guidance of both his father and uncle Krishnan Vaidyan who was a reputedAyurvedic physician and a Sanskrit scholar, where he was taught the basics of the Tamil and Sanskrit languages and traditional subjects such as Siddharupam, Blaprobhodhanamand Amarakosam. As a child, Nanu was very reticent and was intensely drawn to worship at the local temple. He would criticise his own relatives for social discrimination and the apartheid-like practice of segregating children from, supposedly, lower castes. He preferred solitude and would be found immersed in meditation for hours on end. He showed strong affinity for poetics and reasoning, composing hymns and singing them in praise of God. He lost his mother when he was 15. Nnu spent the most part of his early youth assisting his father in tutoring, and his uncle in the practice of Ayurveda, while devoting the rest of his time for devotional practices at the temples nearby.[4] [edit]Transformation as master, yogi and seeker of truth The young Nanu had a keen mind and was sent to a famous scholar, Kummampilli Rman Pillai Asan at Karunagapally, a village fifty miles away from his home, at the age of 21. Living as a guest in a family house Varanapally near Kayamkulam, Nnu, along with other students, was taught Sanskrit language and poetry, drama and literary criticism, and logical rhetoric. He studied the Vedas and theUpanishads. He also began teaching in a near-by school. His knowledge earned him the respect of many and he came to be known as "Nanu Asan". Nanu returned home to spend some time with his father, who was on the death bed. For a short period he ran a village school for the children of his neighbourhood. While continuing his quest for "the ultimate truth", Nanu would often spend time in the confines of temples, writing poems and hymns and lecturing to villagers on philosophy and moral values. [edit]Married life Under pressure from his family, Nanu married Kaliamma, the daughter of a traditional village doctor. The marriage was a simple affair with the groom's sisters themselves investing the

bride with the 'Thaali' (wedding knot) on his behalf. The bride remained with her parents, since Nanu became a wanderer not long after.[citation needed] [edit]'Parivrajaka' (A Spiritual Wanderer) After the demise of his father and wife, Nanu Asan continued his life of a wandering Sanyasi. He became a 'Parivrajaka' (one who wanders from place to place in quest of Truth). It was during one of these days that Nanu met Kunjan Pillai, who later came to be known as Chattampi Swamikal. Kunjan Pillai, who discovered and appreciated Nnu n's philosophical genius and passion for Yoga, introduced him to Thycattu Ayyaavu, a 'Hatha yogi'. Under the Yogi, Nnu n mastered various Yogic practices including Hatha Yoga. The exposure gained from these scholars had a lasting impact on the later life and philosophy of Nryana Guru.[citation needed] [edit]Enlightenment and its poetic expression Nnu moved to his hermitage deep inside the hilly forests of Maruthwmala, where he led an austere life immersed in meditative thought and yoga and subjected himself to extreme sustenance rituals. This phase of solitude lasted for 8 long years. After an unpretentious life of over thirty years abounding in knowledge and harsh experiences, this epoch is considered the culmination of the meditative recluse; the point at which Nryana Guru is believed to have attained a state of Enlightenment. Nryana Guru's later literary and philosophical masterpiece Atmopadesa Satakam (one hundred verses of self-instruction, written in Malayalam circa 1897) is considered a fertile poetic expression, encapsulating the Guru's philosophy of egalitarianism, emanating from the author's attainment of an experienced state of primordial knowledge and quintessence of the Universe; and his ensuing ability to view the human race, from a dignified and elevated perspective, as nothing but one of a genus, in unqualified equality and without any racial, religious, caste or other discriminations whatsoever. [edit]Consecration of Siva Lingam at Aruvippuram Learning from the sacred books and the practice of Yoga did not quench the thirst of Nanu. He continued his wanderings in quest of Truth. By and by, he came to a beautiful place calledAruvippuram. It was a forest area. There were hills around. A gurgling rivulet (of river Neyyar) also flowed there. As more people sought him out for healing or advice, he and his disciples felt the need for a regular temple for worshipping Shiva. At a beautiful spot near the river, he had his followers build a small canopy of coconut leaves and mango leaves over an altar on a rock jutting out in the water. The year was 1888. They improvised lamps with shells and arranged them in rows. They were lighted at dusk and a piper began to play devotional tunes. The whole place was soon filled with pious village folk. Gurudevan, who

had been sitting apart and meditating all night, stood at midnight and walked into the river. As thousands watched silently (If silence had music, the atmosphere was filled with it, wrote one correspondent) he descended into the river and then reemerged, holding an idol of Shiva. He stood beneath the canopy with it in his arms for three hours, totally lost in meditation, tears flowing down his cheeks. Finally, at three in the morning, he installed the idol on the pedestal. His action was equivalent of overturning the tables of the money changers, or refusing to give up a seat on the bus. From the beginning of time, so far as anyone knew, only Brahmins had ever installed an idol. Yet when Gurudevan performed the sacred rite it appeared so natural for him to pick up a small rock and install it. When Brahmins challenged his right to consecrate, he replied in his famous quote:I installed my siva; not a brahmin siva.To those who questioned the timing of the consecration saying it was not an astrologically auspicious time, he replied: Horoscope is to be cast after the birth of a child, not before. He instructed to place a plaque containing a motto on the temple wall which read as: Devoid of dividing walls of Caste Or hatred of rival faith, We all live here In Brotherhood, Such, know this place to be! This Model Foundation! A new phase began in the Guru's life in 1904. He decided to give up his wandering life and settle down in a place to continue his Sadhana (spiritual practice). He chose Sivagiri , twenty miles north of Thiruvananthapuram. Goddess 'Amba' became his deity of worship. Next, he started a Sanskrit school in Varkala. Poor boys and orphans were taken under his care. They were given education regardless of caste distinctions. Temples were built at different places - Thrissur,Kannur, Anchuthengu, Tellicherry, Calicut, Mangalore. A temple was built for Sharada Devi in 1912, at Sivagiri. Worship at such temples helped reduce to a large extent superstitious beliefs and practices. One of the temples built in Thrissur is the Sri Narayana Temple at Koorkenchery. The temple has a school in its compound named Sri Narayana School. The School encourages students' talents by organizing talent competitions. These competitions, regularly held every year, have been a platform for youngsters to stand up and recognize their talents. In 1913, he founded the Advaita Ashram at Aluva. This was an important event in his spiritual quest. This Ashram was dedicated to a great principle - Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (all men are equal in the eyes of God). This became the motto of the new Ashram.

When Nryana Guru attained the age of sixty, his birth day was observed throughout the west-coast from Mangalore to Sri Lanka. Between 1918 and 1923 he visited Sri Lanka many times. In 1921, a Conference of Universal Brotherhood was held at Aluva. Again in 1924, a conference of all religions was held there. Guru stressed the need for a Brahma Vidyalaya for a comparative study of different religious faiths. Sree Nryana Guru had many followers and disciples. Nataraja Guru, a notable disciple of Sree Nryana Guru, introduced Guru's visions and ideals to the western world. He established Narayana Gurukulam in 1923 in the Nilgiri Hills with the blessings of Nryana Guru. [edit]Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (The Brotherhood of All) In 1913, the Guru founded an Ashram at Aluva. It was called the Advaita Ashram. This was an important event in the life of the Guru. The Ashram was dedicated to a great principle Om Sahodaryam Sarvatra (all human beings are equal in the eyes of God). In 1921, a Conference of Universal Brotherhood was held at Aluva. Again in 1924, a conference of all religions was held there. The Guru stressed the need for a Brahma Vidyalayam for the comparative study of various religious faiths. An institution called Narayana Gurukulam was established in the Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu byBodhananda Swamikal and later handed over to Nataraja Guru. [edit]Final Ceylon Journey Gurudevan visited Ceylon again in 1926. He had some moving experiences while travelling in Tamil Nadu in connection with his journey to Ceylon. While he was in Sree Ganapathi temple in heavy rain he said, "If there is anyone writing my biography, these experiences should not be missed, they should be recorded."After that journey to Ceylon, Gurudevan did not want to return. He went back only after repeated requests of his disciples and devotees. [edit]Message to Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam In a message to the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam in 1926 Gurudevan declared, No community can make progress except through organization. He further said in that message, The name Ezhava does not denote a caste or a religion and he made temple rights to everyone. Therefore people can be admitted to this organization without paying heed to differences of caste. On June 14, 1927 Sree Narayana Guru consecrated a mirror - with the message "Om shanti" written on the surface - in a temple in Kalavankode. The prathishta of the mirror is symbolic in that Advaita Vedanta interpret the mirror as the visible symbol of the unity of the Finite and the Infinite. That was the last prathishta that the Guru would do. Schools rather than

temples are to be preferred, he exhorted in a dramatic shift of focus. Gurudevan participated in the anniversary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam held at Palluruthy in 1927. It was a splendid meeting which demonstrated the sincere, devout faith of the people in Gurudevan. T. K. Madhavan was one of the chief architects of this meeting. In 1928 Gurudevan took part in the special meeting of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam at Kottayam and gave away registration certificates to the branch organizations. Even though Guru started SNDP as a forum to lead the activities for social equality and caste less society, eventually SNDP turned out to be a forum of Ezhava caste, which is a contradiction to Guru's vision. Various factions in the SNDP Yogam accuse others of financial irregularities and corruption.[5][6] There are allegations that liquor barons are controlling the SNDP Yogam.[7] It is an irony that today SNDP Yogam represents exactly those things/ideas which Guru opposed. [edit]Sivagiri pilgrimage Sivagiri pilgrimage was conceived by Vallabhasseri Govindan Vaidyar and T K Kittan Writer. It was duly approved by Gurudevan on January, 1928. The setting was SNDP's Nagambadam Shiva temple. It was 3 pm and Gurudevan was resting under a mango tree when the two presented the concept of Sivagiri pilgrimage. Before giving its his blessings he set out the goals of such a pilgrimage. He said: "Let the pilgrims congregate at the beginning of the Gregorian calendar year. It should be Dhanu 16-17 in Malayalam calendar. Let the pilgrims observe 10 days'self-purification according to Sri Buddha's principles of five purities - body, food, mind, word, deed called as Pancha Dharma. He ruled that pilgrims could wear yellow clothes - the colour of the garments Sri Buddha wore. Let no one purchase yellow silk because we have recommended yellow garments. Not even new clothes are required on the pilgrimage. A pilgrim can dip a white garment in turmeric water and wear after drying. The pilgrimage should be conducted with simplicity and preferably be accompanied by the chanting of hymns. There should be no shouting and pilgrims should scrupulously avoid trappings of ostentation. To Govindan Vaidyar and Kitten Writer, Gurudevan counted on his fingers the goals of the pilgrimage, explaining how to achieve them. The goals were the promotion of

1. Education 2. Cleanliness 3. Devotion to God 4. Organization 5. Agriculture 6. Trade

7. Handicrafts 8. Technical training He advised them to organize a series of lectures on the themes with experts conducting them. The lectures should be listened to attentively. More important, the principles should be put into practice. Success must accompany efforts. Only then will the country and the people benefit. this must be the core purpose of Sivagiri pilgrimage. Finally, it was decided to start the first pilgrimage from the village of Elavumthitta in Pathanamthitta District. The S N D P unit No.76 of Elavumthitta selected 5 youngsters for the pilgrimage, namely, P.K.Divakara Panicker, P.K.Kesavan, P.V.Raghavan, M.K.Raghavan, S.Sankunni. All the 5 pilgrims wore bright yellow dress, as suggested by Sree narayana Guru. All the way to Sivagiri, they were reciting 'Swaathanthrya gadha' written by the great poet Kumaranaasan. They were teased with the words 'Manjakkilikal' meaning yellow birds. They never got provoked, with a smile they moved on. The dominant thought in their mind was the mission to fulfil, will have to reach Sivagiri, a great responsibility bestowed on their shoulders by the Sreenarayana devotees. Their mission was a great success. Today thousands are following the way they have shown. The Palluruthi event in 1927 was the last anniversary of the Yogam which Gurudevan attended. It was also the last public function Gurudevan attended. Gurudevan went to Vellur Mutt at Vaikom to rest. There he was taken ill. He went

to Alwaye and later to Trichur for treatment. Dr. Krishnan took Gurudevan to Palghat. From there Gurudevan travelled to Madras for treatment. [edit]Death Guru became seriously ill in September 1928. He remained bedridden for some time. Devotees came in large numbers to have a glimpse. The same year, Gurudevan's birthday was celebrated in many places, mostly in Kerala, Madras, Mangalore, Srilanka and Europe. On 20 September, Guru died.

Syed Ahmed Khan

Javad-ud Daula, Arif Jang, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,KCSI [1] (also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) (Urdu: ( ) October 17, 1817 March 27, 1898), commonly known as Sir Syed,[2] was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist.[3][4] Sir Syed pioneered modern education for the Muslim community in India by founding the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College, which later developed into the Aligarh Muslim University. His work gave rise to a new generation of Muslim intellectuals and politicians who composed theAligarh movement to secure the political future of Muslims of India. In 1842, Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II revived upon Syed Ahmad Khan the title of Javadud Daulah, conferred upon Syed Ahmads grandfather Syed Hadi by Emperor Shah Alam II in about the middle of the 18th century. The Emperor added to it the additional title ofArif Jang. The conferment of these titles was symbolic of Syed Ahmad Khans incorporation into the nobility of Delhi.[5] Born into Muslim nobility, Sir Syed earned a reputation as a distinguished scholar while working as a jurist for theBritish East India Company. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857 he remained loyal to the British and was noted for his actions in saving European lives.[3] After the rebellion he penned the booklet Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (The Causes of the Indian Mutiny) a daring critique, at the time, of British policies that he blamed for causing the revolt. Believing that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook, Sir Syed began promoting Western-style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organising Muslim intellectuals. Towards this goal, Sir

Syed founded the Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental College in 1875 with the aim of promoting social and economic development of Indian Muslims. One of the most influential Muslim politicians of his time, Sir Syed was suspicious of the Indian independence movement and called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj. He denounced nationalist organisations such as the Indian National Congress, instead forming organisations to promote Muslim unity and pro-British attitudes and activities. Sir Syed promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims, and mentored a rising generation of Muslim politicians and intellectuals. Although hailed as a great Muslim leader and social reformer, Sir Syed remains the subject of controversy for his views on Hindu-Muslim issues. Do not show the face of Islam to others; instead show your face as the follower of true Islam representing character, knowledge, tolerance and piety. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan [edit]Early life Syed Ahmed Khan was born in Delhi, then the capital of the Mughal Empire. He was an Indian educator and politician, and an Islamic reformer and modernist. His family is said to have migrated from Herat (now inAfghanistan)[6] in the time of emperor Akbar, although by other accounts his family descended from Arabia. Many generations of his family had since been highly connected with the Mughal administration. His maternal grandfather Khwaja Fariduddin served aswazir in the court of Akbar Shah II.[7] His paternal grandfather Syed Hadi held amansab, a high-ranking administrative position and honorary name of Jawwad Ali Khan in the court of Alamgir II. Sir Syed's father Mir Muhammad Muttaqi was personally close to Akbar Shah II and served as his personal adviser.[8] However, Sir Syed was born at a time when rebellious governors, regional insurrections and the British colonialism had diminished the extent and power of the Mughal state, reducing its monarch to a figurehead status. With his elder brother Syed Muhammad Khan, Sir Syed was raised in a large house in a wealthy area of the city. They were raised in strict accordance with Mughal noble traditions and exposed to politics. Their mother Azis-un-Nisa played a formative role in Sir Syed's life, raising him with rigid discipline with a strong emphasis on education.[9] Sir Syed was taught to read and understand the Qur'an by a female tutor, which was unusual at the time. He received an education traditional to Muslim nobility in Delhi. Under the charge of Hamiduddin, Sir Syed was trained in Persian, Arabic, Urdu and religious subjects. He read the works of Muslim scholars and writers such as Sahbai, Rumi and Ghalib.[citation needed] Other tutors instructed him in mathematics, astronomy and Islamic jurisprudence.[7][10] Sir Syed was

also adept atswimming, wrestling and other sports. He took an active part in the Mughal court's cultural activities. His elder brother founded the city's first printing press in the Urdu language along with the journalSayyad-ul-Akbar.[citation needed] Sir Syed pursued the study of medicine for several years, but did not complete the prescribed course of study.[7] Until the death of his father in 1838, Sir Syed had lived a life customary for an affluent young Muslim noble.[7] Upon his father's death, he inherited the titles of his grandfather and father and was awarded the title of Arif Jung by the emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.[11] Financial difficulties put an end to Sir Syed's formal education, although he continued to study in private, using books on a variety of subjects. Sir Syed assumed editorship of his brother's journal and rejected offers of employment from the Mughal court. [edit]Career Social reforms in the Muslim society were initiated by Abdul Latif. He founded The Mohammedan Literary Society" in Bengal. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental college. Later, this institution came to be known as the Aligarh Muslim University. He opposed ignorance, superstitions and evil customs prevalent in the Muslim society. He firmly believed that the Muslim society would not progress without the acquisition of western education and science. Having recognized the steady decline in Mughal political power, Sir Syed entered the British East India Company's civil service. He was appointed serestadar at the courts of law in Agra, responsible for record-keeping and managing court affairs.[12] In 1840, he was promoted to the title of munshi. In 1858, he was appointed to a high-ranking post at the court in Muradabad, where he began working on his most famous literary work. Acquainted with high-ranking British officials, Sir Syed obtained close knowledge about British colonial politics during his service at the courts. At the outbreak of the Indian rebellion, on May 10, 1857, Sir Syed was serving as the chief assessment officer at the court in Bijnor.[citation needed] Northern India became the scene of the most intense fighting.[13] The conflict had left large numbers of civilians dead. Erstwhile centres of Muslim power such as Delhi, Agra, Lucknow and Kanpur were severely affected. Sir Syed was personally affected by the violence and the ending of the Mughal dynasty amongst many other long-standing kingdoms.[citation needed] Sir Syed and many other Muslims took this as a defeat of Muslim society.[14] He lost several close relatives who died in the violence. Although he succeeded in rescuing his mother from the turmoil, she died in Meerut, owing to the privations she had experienced.[13][citation needed] [edit]The Causes of the Indian Revolt

In 1859 Sir Syed Published the booklet Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind,(The Causes of the Indian Revolt), in which he studied the causes of the Indian revolt.In this, his most famous work, he rejected the common notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim lites, who were insecure at the diminishing influence of Muslim monarchs.He blamed the British East India Company for its aggressive expansion as well as the ignorance of British politicians regarding Indian culture.Sir Syed advised the British to appoint Muslims to assist in administration Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali wrote in the biography of Sir Syed that:"As soon as Sir Syed reached Muradabad, he began to write the pamphlet entitled The Causes of the Indian Revolt( asbab-e-baghawat-e-hind ),in which he did his best to clear the people of India, and especially the Muslims, of the charge of Mutiny. In spite of the obvious danger, he made a courageous and thorough report of the accusations people were making against the Government and refused the theory which the British had invented to explain the causes of the Mutiny. When the work was finished, without waiting for an English translation, Sir Sayyid sent the Urdu version to be printed at the Mufassilat Gazette Press in Agra. Within a few weeks, he received 500 copies back from the printers. His friend warned him not to send the pamphlet to Parliament or to the Government of India.Rae Shankar Das,a great friend of Sir Syed, begged him to burn the books rather than put his life in danger. Sir Syed replied that he was bringing these matters to the attention of the British for the good of his own people, of his country, and of the Government itself. He said that if he came to any harm while doing something that would greatly benefit the rulers and the subjects of India alike, he would gladly suffer whatever befell him. When Rae Shankar Das saw that Sir Syed's mind was made up and nothing could be done to change it, he wept and remained silent. After performing a supplementary prayer and asking God's blessing, Sir Syed sent almost all the 500 copies of his pamphlet to England, one to the Government, and kept the rest himself. When the Government of India had the book translated and presented before the Council, Lord Canning, the Governor-General, and Sir Barthold Frere both accepted it as a sincere and friendly report. The Foreign Secretary Mr Sale Beadon,however, severely attacked it, calling it 'an extremely seditious pamphlet'. He wanted a proper inquiry into the matter and said that the author, unless he could give a satisfactory explanation, should be harshly dealt with. Since no other member of the Council agreed with his opinion, his attack did no harm. Later, Sir Syed was invited to attend Lord Canning's Durbar in Farrukhabad, and happened to meet the Foreign Secretary there. He told Sir Syed that he was displeased with the pamphlet and added that if he had really had the Government's interests at heart, he would not have made his opinion known in this way throughout the country, but would have communicated it

directly to the Government. Sir Syed replied that he had only had five hundred copies printed, the majority of which he had sent to England, while one had been given to the Government of India, and the remaining copies were still in his possession. Furthermore, he had the receipt to prove it. He was aware, he added, that the view of the rulers had been distorted by the stress and anxieties of the times, which made it difficult to put even the most straightforward problem in its right perspective. It was for this reason that he had not communicated his thoughts publicly. He promised that for every copy that could be found circulating in India he would personally pay one thousand rupees. At first, the Foreign Secretary was not convinced, and asked Sir Syed over and over again if he was sure that no other copy had been distributed in India. Sir Syed reassured him on this matter, and the Foreign Secretary never mentioned it again. Later he became one of Sir Syed's strongest supporters. Many official translations were made of the Urdu text of The Causes of the Indian Revolt. The one undertaken by the India Office formed the subject of many discussions and debates.[15] The pamphlet was also translated by the Government of India and several members of parliament, but no version was offered to the public. A translation which has been started by a Government official was finished by Sir Sayyid's great friend, Colonel G. F. I. Graham, and finally published in 1873."[16] [edit]Sir Syed and Mirza Ghalib 1855, he finished his highly scholarly, very well researched and illustrated edition of Abul Fazls Ain-e Akbari,[17] itself an extraordinarily difficult book. Having finished the work to his satisfaction, and believing that Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalibwas a person who would appreciate his labours, Syed Ahmad approached the great Ghalib to write a taqriz (in the convention of the times, a laudatory foreword) for it. Ghalib obliged, but what he did produce was a short Persian poem castigating the Ain-e Akbari, and by implication, the imperial, sumptuous, literate and learned Mughal culture of which it was a product.[18] The least that could be said against it was that the book had little value even as an antique document. Ghalib practically reprimanded Syed Ahmad Khan for wasting his talents and time on dead things.[19] Worse, he praised sky-high the sahibs of England who at that time held all the keys to all the ains in this world.[20] [edit]Scholarly works While continuing to work as a jurist, Sir Syed began focusing on writing, from the age of 23 (in 1840), on various subjects (frommechanics to educational issues), mainly in Urdu, where he wrote, at least, 6000 pages.[22][23] His career as an author began when he published a series of treatises in Urdu on religious subjects in 1842. He published the book A'thar-as-

sanadid (Great Monuments) documenting antiquities of Delhi dating from the medieval era. This work earned him the reputation of a cultured scholar. In 1842, he completed the Jila-ulQulub bi Zikr-il Mahbub and the Tuhfa-i-Hasan, along with the Tahsil fi jar-i-Saqil in 1844. These works focused on religious and cultural subjects. In 1852, he published the two works Namiqa dar bayan masala tasawwur-i-Shaikh and Silsilat ul-Mulk. He released the second edition of A'thar-as-sanadid in 1854.[24] He also penned a commentary on the Bible the first by a Muslim in which he argued that Islam was the closest religion to Christianity, with a common lineage from Abrahamic religions.[7]His other writings such as Loyal Muhammadans of India, Tabyin-ul-Kalam andA Series of Essays on the Life of Muhammadand Subjects Subsidiary Therein helped to create cordial relations between the British authorities and the Muslim community.[7] Throughout his life Syed Ahmad found time for literary and Scholarly pursuits. The range of his literary and Scholarly interests was very wide: history, politics, archaeology, journalism, literature, religion and science. The scope of his major writings is indeed amazing, majority are listed as follows:[25]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Gujarati: ; Devnagari ), pronounced [mondas krmtnd andi] ( listen). 2 October 1869

30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. A pioneer of satyagraha, or resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobediencea philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or totalnonviolenceGandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.[2] Gandhi is often referred to as Mahatma ([matma]; Sanskrit: mahtm or "Great Soul," an honorific first

applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore).[3] In India, he is also called Bapu (Gujarati: , bpu or "Father") and officially honoured as the Father of the Nation. His birthday, 2 October, is commemorated in India as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Gandhi first employed non-violent civil disobedience as an expatriate lawyer in South Africa, in the resident Indian community's struggle for civil rights. After his return to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants, farmers, and urban labourers in protesting excessive landtax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, but above all for achieving Swarajthe independence of India from foreign domination. Gandhi famously led Indians in protesting the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in calling for the British toQuit India in 1942. He was imprisoned for many years, on many occasions, in both South Africa and India.

Gandhi strove to practice non-violence and truth in all situations, and advocated that others do the same. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential communityand wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He ate simple vegetarian food, and also undertook long fasts as means of both self-purification and social protest. Early life and background Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[4] was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal town which was then part of the Bombay Presidency,British India. He was born in his ancestral home, now known asKirti Mandir, Porbandar. His father, Karamchand Gandhi (18221885), who belonged to the Hindu Modh community, served as the diwan (a high official) of Porbander state, a small princely state in theKathiawar Agency of British India.[5] His grandfather was Uttamchand Gandhi, fondly called Utta Gandhi. His mother, Putlibai, who came from the Hindu Pranami Vaishnava community, was Karamchand's fourth wife, the first three wives having apparently died in childbirth.[6] Growing up with a devout mother and the Jain traditions of the region, the young Mohandas absorbed early the influences that would play an important role in his adult life; these included compassion for sentient beings, vegetarianism, fasting for self-purification, and mutual tolerance among individuals of different creeds.[7] The Indian classics, especially the stories of Shravana and Maharaja Harishchandra, had a great impact on Gandhi in his childhood. In his autobiography, he admits that it left an indelible impression on his mind. He writes: "It haunted me and I must have acted Harishchandra to myself times without number." Gandhi's early self-identification with Truth and Love as supreme values is traceable to these epic characters.[8][9] In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji (her first name was usually shortened to "Kasturba", and affectionately to "Ba") in an arranged child marriage, according to the custom of the region.[10] Recalling the day of their marriage, he once said, "As we didn't know much about marriage, for us it meant only wearing new clothes, eating sweets and playing with relatives." However, as was also the custom of the region, the adolescent bride was to spend much time at her parents' house, and away from her husband.[11] In 1885, when Gandhi was 15, the couple's first child was born, but survived only a few days, and Gandhi's father, Karamchand Gandhi, had died earlier that year.[12] Mohandas and Kasturba had four more children, all sons: Harilal, born in 1888; Manilal, born in 1892; Ramdas, born in 1897; and Devdas, born in 1900. At his middle school in Porbandar and high school in Rajkot, Gandhi remained an average student. He

passed thematriculation exam for Samaldas College at Bhavnagar, Gujarat, with some difficulty. While there, he was unhappy, in part because his family wanted him to become a barrister. On 4 September 1888, Gandhi travelled to London, England, to study law at University College London where he studied Indian law and jurisprudence[1] and to train as abarrister at the Inner Temple.[13] His time in London, the Imperial capital, was influenced by a vow he had made to his mother in the presence of the Jain monk Becharji, upon leaving India, to observe the Hindu precepts of abstinence from meat, alcohol, and promiscuity.[14] Although Gandhi experimented with adopting "English" customstaking dancing lessons for examplehe could not stomach the bland vegetarian food offered by his landlady, and he was always hungry until he found one of London's few vegetarian restaurants. Influenced by Salt's book, he joined the Vegetarian Society, was elected to its executive committee,[14] and started a local Bayswater chapter.[6] Some of the vegetarians he met were members of the Theosophical Society, which had been founded in 1875 to further universal brotherhood, and which was devoted to the study of Buddhist and Hindu literature. They encouraged Gandhi to join them in reading the Bhagavad Gitaboth in translation as well as in the original.[14] Not having shown interest in religion before, he became interested in religious thought and began to read Hindu, Muslim[15][16] and Christian scriptures.[6][14] Gandhi was called to the bar on 10 June 1891. Two days later, he left London for India,[6] where he learned that his mother had died while he was in London and that his family had kept the news from him.[14] His attempts at establishing a law practice in Bombay failed and, later, after applying and being turned down for a part-time job as a high school teacher, he ended up returning to Rajkot to make a modest living drafting petitions for litigants, a business he was forced to close when he ran afoul of a British officer. In his autobiography, Gandhi refers to this incident as an unsuccessful attempt to lobby on behalf of his older brother.[6][14] It was in this climate that, in April 1893, he accepted a yearlong contract from Dada Abdulla & Co., an Indian firm, to a post in the Colony of Natal, South Africa, then part of the British Empire.[6] Civil rights movement in South Africa (18931914) In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at Indians. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class to a third-class coach while holding a valid first-class ticket.[17] Travelling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to move to make room for a European passenger.[18] He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another

incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove histurban, which he refused to do.[19] These events were a turning point in Gandhi's life: they shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in society and his people's standing in the British Empire. Gandhi extended his original period of stay in South Africa to assist Indians in opposing a bill to deny them the right to vote. Though unable to halt the bill's passage, his campaign was successful in drawing attention to the grievances of Indians in South Africa. He helped found the Natal Indian Congress in 1894,[6][17] and through this organisation, he moulded the Indian community of South Africa into a unified political force. In January 1897, when Gandhi landed in Durban, a mob of white settlers attacked him and he escaped only through the efforts of the wife of the police superintendent. He, however, refused to press charges against any member of the mob, stating it was one of his principles not to seek redress for a personal wrong in a court of law.[6] In 1906, the Transvaal government promulgated a new Act compelling registration of the colony's Indian population. At a mass protest meeting held in Johannesburg on 11 September that year, Gandhi adopted his still evolving methodology of satyagraha(devotion to the truth), or non-violent protest, for the first time. He urged Indians to defy the new law and to suffer the punishments for doing so. The community adopted this plan, and during the ensuing seven-year struggle, thousands of Indians were jailed, flogged, or shot for striking, refusing to register, for burning their registration cards or engaging in other forms of nonviolent resistance. The government successfully repressed the Indian protesters, but the public outcry over the harsh treatment of peaceful Indian protesters by the South African government forced South African General Jan Christiaan Smuts to negotiate a compromise with Gandhi. Gandhi's ideas took shape, and the concept of satyagraha matured during this struggle. Accusations of racism Some of Gandhi's South African articles are controversial. On 7 March 1908, Gandhi wrote in theIndian Opinion of his time in a South African prison: "Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilisedthe convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals... The kaffirs' sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness. They're loafers... a species of humanity almost unknown among the Indians."[20] Writing on the subject of immigration in 1903, Gandhi commented: "We believe as much in the purity of race as we think they do... We believe also that the white race in South Africa should be the predominating race."[21] During

his time in South Africa, Gandhi protested repeatedly about the social classification of blacks with Indians, whom he described as "undoubtedly infinitely superior to the Kaffirs".[22]Remarks such as these have led many South Africans to accuse Gandhi of racism.[23] Two professors of history who specialise in South Africa, Surendra Bhana and Goolam Vahed, examined this controversy in their text, The Making of a Political Reformer: Gandhi in South Africa, 18931914. (New Delhi: Manohar, 2005). They focus in Chapter 1, "Gandhi, Africans and Indians in Colonial Natal" on the relationship between the African and Indian communities under "White rule" and policies which enforced segregation (and, they argue, led to inevitable conflict between these communities). Of this relationship, they state that, "the young Gandhi was influenced by segregationist notions prevalent in the 1890s."[24] At the same time, they state, "Gandhi's experiences in jail seemed to make him more sensitive to their plight...the later Gandhi mellowed; he seemed much less categorical in his expression of prejudice against Africans, and much more open to seeing points of common cause. His negative views in the Johannesburg jail were reserved for hardened African prisoners rather than Africans generally."[25] However, when plans to unveil a statue of Gandhi in Johannesburg were announced, a movement unsuccessfully tried to block it because of these allegations of racism.[23] Role in Zulu War of 1906 Main article: Bambatha Rebellion In 1906, after the British introduced a new poll-tax in South Africa, Zulus killed two British officers. In response, the British declared war against the Zulu kingdom. Gandhi actively encouraged the British to recruit Indians. He argued that Indians should support the war efforts in order to legitimise their claims to full citizenship. The British, however, refused to commission Indians as army officers. Nonetheless, they accepted Gandhi's offer to let a detachment of Indians volunteer as a stretcher-bearer corps to treat wounded British soldiers. This corps was commanded by Gandhi. On 21 July 1906, Gandhi wrote in Indian Opinion: "The corps had been formed at the instance of the Natal Government by way of experiment, in connection with the operations against the Natives consists of twenty three Indians".[26]Gandhi urged the Indian population in South Africa to join the war through his columns in Indian Opinion: If the Government only realised what reserve force is being wasted, they would make use of it and give Indians the opportunity of a thorough training for actual warfare.[27] In Gandhi's opinion, the Draft Ordinance of 1906 brought the status of Indians below the level of Natives. He therefore urged Indians to resist the Ordinance along the lines

of satyagraha by taking the example of "Kaffirs". In his words, "Even the half-castes and kaffirs, who are less advanced than we, have resisted the government. The pass law applies to them as well, but they do not take out passes."[28] In 1927, Gandhi wrote of the event: "The Boer War had not brought home to me the horrors of war with anything like the vividness that the [Zulu] 'rebellion' did. This was no war but a man-hunt, not only in my opinion, but also in that of many Englishmen with whom I had occasion to talk."[29] Role in World War I In April 1918, during the latter part of World War I, the Viceroy invited Gandhi to a War Conference in Delhi.[30] Perhaps to show his support for the Empire and help his case for India's independence,[31]Gandhi agreed to actively recruit Indians for the war effort.[32] In contrast to the Zulu War of 1906 and the outbreak of World War I in 1914, when he recruited volunteers for the Ambulance Corps, this time Gandhi attempted to recruit combatants. In a June 1918 leaflet entitled "Appeal for Enlistment", Gandhi wrote "To bring about such a state of things we should have the ability to defend ourselves, that is, the ability to bear arms and to use them...If we want to learn the use of arms with the greatest possible despatch, it is our duty to enlist ourselves in the army."[33] He did, however, stipulate in a letter to the Viceroy's private secretary that he "personally will not kill or injure anybody, friend or foe."[34] Gandhi's war recruitment campaign brought into question his consistency on nonviolence as his friend Charlie Andrews confirms, "Personally I have never been able to reconcile this with his own conduct in other respects, and it is one of the points where I have found myself in painful disagreement."[35] Gandhi's private secretary also acknowledges that "The question of the consistency between his creed of 'Ahimsa' (non-violence) and his recruiting campaign was raised not only then but has been discussed ever since."[32] Champaran and Kheda Gandhi's first major achievements came in 1918 with theChamparan and Kheda agitations of Bihar and Gujarat. The Champaran agitation pitted the local peasantry against their largely British landlords who were backed by the local administration. The peasantry was forced to grow Indigo, a cash crop whose demand had been declining over over two decades, and were forced to sell their crops to the planters at a fixed price. Unhappy wIth this, the peasantry appealed to Gandhi at his ashram in Ahmedabad. Pursuing a strategy of non-violent protest, Gandhi "skilfully wrong footed the administration" and "won major concessions from the authorities".[36] Kheda, in 1918, was hit by floods and famine and the peasantry was demanding relief from taxes. Using non-cooperation as a technique, Gandhi advocated the non-payment of taxes

even under the threat of confiscation of land.[37] Gandhi established an ashram there, organising scores of his veteran supporters and fresh volunteers from the region. He organised a detailed study and survey of the villages, accounting for the atrocities and terrible episodes of suffering, including the general state of degenerate living. Building on the confidence of villagers, he began leading the clean-up of villages, building of schools and hospitals and encouraging the village leadership to undo and condemn many social evils such as untouchability and alcoholism. His most important impact came when he was arrested by police on the charge of creating unrest and was ordered to leave the province. Hundreds of thousands of people protested and rallied outside the jail, police stations and courts demanding his release, which the court reluctantly granted. Gandhi led organised protests and strikes against the landlords. With the guidance of the British government, these landlords agreed to suspend revenue hikes until the famine ended and to grant the poor farmers of the region increased compensation and control over farming. It was during this agitation that Gandhi was addressed by the people as Bapu (Father) and Mahatma (Great Soul). In Kheda, Sardar Patelrepresented the farmers in negotiations with the British, who suspended revenue collection and released all the prisoners. As a result, Gandhi became well known in India. Non-cooperation Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the struggle against the British Raj. In Punjab, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of civilians by British troops (also known as the Amritsar Massacre) caused deep trauma to the nation, leading to increased public anger and acts of violence. Gandhi criticised both the actions of the British Raj and the retaliatory violence of Indians. He authored the resolution offering condolences to British civilian victims and condemning the riots which, after initial opposition in the party, was accepted following Gandhi's emotional speech advocating his principle that all violence was evil and could not be justified.[38] After the massacre and subsequent violence, Gandhi began to focus on winning complete self-government and control of all Indian government institutions, maturing soon into Swaraj or complete individual, spiritual, political independence. In December 1921, Gandhi was invested with executive authority on behalf of the Indian National Congress. Under his leadership, the Congress was reorganised with a new constitution, with the goal of Swaraj. Membership in the party was opened to anyone prepared to pay a token fee. A hierarchy of committees was set up to improve discipline, transforming the party from an elite organisation to one of mass national appeal. Gandhi expanded his non-violence platform to include the swadeshi policythe boycott of foreign-

made goods, especially British goods. Linked to this was his advocacy that khadi (homespun cloth) be worn by all Indians instead of British-made textiles. Gandhi exhorted Indian men and women, rich or poor, to spend time each day spinning khadi in support of the independence movement.[39] Gandhi even invented a small, portable spinning wheel that could be folded into the size of a small typewriter.[40] This was a strategy to inculcate discipline and dedication to weeding out the unwilling and ambitious and to include women in the movement at a time when many thought that such activities were not respectable activities for women. In addition to boycotting British products, Gandhi urged the people to boycott British educational institutions and law courts, to resign from government employment, and to forsake British titles and honours. An example demonstrates popularity of Gandhi, importance of participation of people in the freedom movement and Gandhi's words on worth of sacrifice. While he was popularising Khadi in rural Orissa, an aged poor woman who was listening to a speech by Gandhi fought her way to where he was, touched his feet and put a one-paise copper coin in front of him. Gandhi accepted the coin and thanked her. He said to Jamnalal Bajaj about it as:[41] "This coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees." "Non-cooperation" enjoyed widespread appeal and success, increasing excitement and participation from all strata of Indian society. Yet, just as the movement reached its apex, it ended abruptly as a result of a violent clash in the town of Chauri Chaura, Uttar Pradesh, in February 1922. Fearing that the movement was about to take a turn towards violence, and convinced that this would be the undoing of all his work, Gandhi called off the campaign of mass civil disobedience.[42] This was the third time that Gandhi had called off a major campaign.[43] Gandhi was arrested on 10 March 1922, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He began his sentence on 18 March 1922. He was released in February 1924 for an appendicitis operation, having served only 2 years. Without Gandhi's unifying personality, the Indian National Congress began to splinter during his years in prison, splitting into two factions, one led by Chitta Ranjan Das and Motilal Nehru favouring party participation in the legislatures, and the other led by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, opposing this move. Furthermore, cooperation among Hindus and Muslims, which had been strong at the height of the non-violence campaign, was breaking down. Gandhi attempted to bridge these differences through many means, including a three-week fast in the autumn of 1924, but with limited success.[44] Salt Satyagraha (Salt March)

Gandhi stayed out of active politics and, as such, the limelight for most of the 1920s. He focused instead on resolving the wedge between the Swaraj Party and the Indian National Congress, and expanding initiatives against untouchability, alcoholism, ignorance and poverty. He returned to the fore in 1928. In the preceding year, the British government had appointed a new constitutional reform commission under Sir John Simon, which did not include any Indian as its member. The result was a boycott of the commission by Indian political parties. Gandhi pushed through a resolution at the Calcutta Congress in December 1928 calling on the British government to grant India dominion status or face a new campaign of non-cooperation with complete independence for the country as its goal. Gandhi had not only moderated the views of younger men like Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, who sought a demand for immediate independence, but also reduced his own call to a one year wait, instead of two.[45] The British did not respond. On 31 December 1929, the flag of India was unfurled in Lahore. 26 January 1930 was celebrated as India's Independence Day by the Indian National Congress meeting in Lahore. This day was commemorated by almost every other Indian organisation. Gandhi then launched a new satyagraha against the tax on salt in March 1930. This was highlighted by the famous Salt March to Dandi from 12 March to 6 April, where he marched 388 kilometres (241 mi) from Ahmedabad to Dandi, Gujarat to make salt himself. Thousands of Indians joined him on this march to the sea. This campaign was one of his most successful at upsetting British hold on India; Britain responded by imprisoning over 60,000 people. The government, represented by Lord Edward Irwin, decided to negotiate with Gandhi. The GandhiIrwin Pact was signed in March 1931. The British Government agreed to free all political prisoners, in return for the suspension of the civil disobedience movement. Also as a result of the pact, Gandhi was invited to attend the Round Table Conference in London as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress. The conference was a disappointment to Gandhi and the nationalists, because it focused on the Indian princes and Indian minorities rather than on a transfer of power. Furthermore, Lord Irwin's successor, Lord Willingdon, began a new campaign of controlling and subduing the nationalist movement. Gandhi was again arrested, and the government tried to negate his influence by completely isolating him from his followers. But this tactic failed. In 1932, through the campaigning of the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar, the government granted untouchables separate electorates under the new constitution. In protest, Gandhi embarked on a six-day fast in September 1932. The resulting public outcry successfully forced the government to adopt an equitable arrangement through negotiations mediated

by Palwankar Baloo. This was the start of a new campaign by Gandhi to improve the lives of the untouchables, whom he named Harijans, the children of God. On 8 May 1933, Gandhi began a 21-day fast of self-purification to help the Harijan movement.[46] This new campaign was not universally embraced within the Dalit community, as prominent leader B. R. Ambedkar condemned Gandhi's use of the termHarijans as saying that Dalits were socially immature, and that privileged caste Indians played a paternalistic role. Ambedkar and his allies also felt Gandhi was undermining Dalit political rights. Gandhi had also refused to support the untouchables in 192425 when they were campaigning for the right to pray in temples. Because of Gandhi's actions, Ambedkar described him as "devious and untrustworthy".[43] Gandhi, although born into the Vaishya caste, insisted that he was able to speak on behalf of Dalits, despite the presence of Dalit activists such as Ambedkar. In the summer of 1934, three unsuccessful attempts were made on Gandhi's life. When the Congress Party chose to contest elections and accept power under the Federation scheme, Gandhi resigned from party membership. He did not disagree with the party's move, but felt that if he resigned, his popularity with Indians would cease to stifle the party's membership, which actually varied, including communists, socialists, trade unionists, students, religious conservatives, and those with pro-business convictions, and that these various voices would get a chance to make themselves heard. Gandhi also wanted to avoid being a target for Raj propaganda by leading a party that had temporarily accepted political accommodation with the Raj.[47] Gandhi returned to active politics again in 1936, with the Nehru presidency and the Lucknow session of the Congress. Although Gandhi wanted a total focus on the task of winning independence and not speculation about India's future, he did not restrain the Congress from adopting socialism as its goal. Gandhi had a clash with Subhas Chandra Bose, who had been elected president in 1938, and who had previously expressed a lack of faith in non-violence as a means of protest. Despite Gandhi's opposition, Bose won a second term as Congress President, but left the Congress when the All-India leaders resigned en masse in protest of his abandonment of the principles introduced by Gandhi.[48][49] World War II and Quit India World War II broke out in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Initially, Gandhi favoured offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other Congressional leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India in the war, without consultation of the people's representatives. All Congressmen resigned from office.[50] After long deliberations, Gandhi declared that India could not be party to a war ostensibly being fought for democratic freedom, while that freedom was denied to India itself. As the war progressed,

Gandhi intensified his demand for independence, drafting a resolution calling for the British to Quit India. This was Gandhi's and the Congress Party's most definitive revolt aimed at securing the British exit from India.[51] Gandhi was criticised by some Congress party members and other Indian political groups, both pro-British and anti-British. Some felt that not supporting Britain more in its struggle against Nazi Germany was unethical. Others felt that Gandhi's refusal for India to participate in the war was insufficient and more direct opposition should be taken, while Britain fought against Nazism yet continued to contradict itself by refusing to grant India Independence. Quit India became the most forceful movement in the history of the struggle, with mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale.[52] Thousands of freedom fighters were killed or injured by police gunfire, and hundreds of thousands were arrested. Gandhi and his supporters made it clear they would not support the war effort unless India were granted immediate independence. He even clarified that this time the movement would not be stopped if individual acts of violence were committed, saying that the "ordered anarchy" around him was "worse than real anarchy." He called on all Congressmen and Indians to maintain discipline via ahimsa, and Karo Ya Maro ("Do or Die") in the cause of ultimate freedom. Gandhi and the entire Congress Working Committee were arrested in Bombay by the British on 9 August 1942. Gandhi was held for two years in the Aga Khan Palace in Pune. It was here that Gandhi suffered two terrible blows in his personal life. His 50-year old secretary Mahadev Desai died of a heart attack 6 days later and his wife Kasturba died after 18 months imprisonment on 22 February 1944; six weeks later Gandhi suffered a severe malaria attack. He was released before the end of the war on 6 May 1944 because of his failing health and necessary surgery; the Raj did not want him to die in prison and enrage the nation. He came out of detention to an altered political scenethe Muslim League for example, which a few years earlier had appeared marginal, "now occupied the centre of the political stage"[53] and the topic of Jinnah's campaign for Pakistan was a major talking point. Gandhi met Jinnah in September 1944 in Bombay but Jinnah rejected, on the grounds that it fell short of a fully independent Pakistan, his proposal of the right of Muslim provinces to opt out of substantial parts of the forthcoming political union. Although the Quit India movement had moderate success in its objective, the ruthless suppression of the movement[clarification needed] brought order to India by the end of 1943. At the end of the war, the British gave clear indications that power would be transferred to Indian hands. At this point Gandhi called off the struggle, and around 100,000 political prisoners were released, including the Congress's leadership.

Partition of India While the Indian National Congress and Gandhi called for the British to quit India, the Muslim Leaguepassed a resolution for them to divide and quit, in 1943.[54] Gandhi is believed to have been opposed to the partition during independence and suggested an agreement which required the Congress and Muslim League to cooperate and attain independence under a provisional government, thereafter, the question of partition could be resolved by a plebiscite in the districts with a Muslim majority.[55] WhenJinnah called for Direct Action, on 16 August 1946, Gandhi was infuriated and visited the most riot prone areas to stop the massacres, personally.[56] He made strong efforts to unite the Indian Hindus, Muslims and Christians and struggled for the emancipation of the "untouchables" in Hindu society.[57] On the 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Act was invoked and the following carnage witnessed a displacement of up to 12.5 million people in the former British Indian Empire with an estimated loss of life varying from several hundred thousand to a million.[58] But for his teachings, the efforts of his followers, and his own presence, there would have been much more bloodshed during the partition, according to prominent Norwegian historian, Jens Arup Seip.[59] Stanley Wolpert's words sum up Gandhi's role and views on the partition perfectly: Their plan to carve up British India was never approved of or accepted by Gandhi, however, who realised too late that his closest comrades and disciples were more interested in power than principle, and that his own vision had long been clouded by the illusion that the struggle he led for India's freedom was a nonviolent one. On 30 January 1948, Gandhi was shot while he was walking to a platform from which he was to address a prayer meeting. The assassin, Nathuram Godse, was a Hindu nationalist with links to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India by insisting upon a payment to Pakistan.[60] Godse and his co-conspirator Narayan Apte were later tried and convicted; they were executed on 15 November 1949. Gandhi's memorial (or Samdhi) at Rj Ght, New Delhi, bears the epigraph "H Ram", Devanagari: !

or, HeRm), which may be translated as "Oh God". These are widely believed to be Gandhi's last words after he was shot, though the veracity of this statement has been disputed.[61]Jawaharlal Nehru addressed the nation through radio:[62] "Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless,

we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country."Jawaharlal Nehru's address to Gandhi Gandhi's ashes were poured into urns which were sent across India for memorial services. Most were immersed at the Sangam at Allahabad on 12 February 1948, but some were secretly taken away.[63]In 1997, Tushar Gandhi immersed the contents of one urn, found in a bank vault and reclaimed through the courts, at the Sangam at Allahabad.[63][64] Some of Gandhi's ashes were scattered at the source of the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, and a memorial plaque marks the event. On 30 January 2008, the contents of another urn were immersed at Girgaum Chowpatty by the family after a Dubai-based businessman had sent it to a Mumbai museum.[63] Another urn has ended up in a palace of the Aga Khan in Pune[63] (where he had been imprisoned from 1942 to 1944) and another in the SelfRealization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles.[65] The family is aware that these enshrined ashes could be misused for political purposes, but does not want to have them removed because it would entail breaking the shrines.[63] Followers and international influence Gandhi influenced important leaders and political movements. Leaders of the civil rights movement in the United States, including Martin Luther King and James Lawson, drew from the writings of Gandhi in the development of their own theories about nonviolence.[115][116][117] Anti-apartheid activist and former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, was inspired by Gandhi.[118] Others include Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,[119] Steve Biko, Aung San Suu Kyi,[120] and Benigno Aquino, Jr. (the Philippine opposition leader during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos and father of current Philippine president Benigno Aquino III). "Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics."Martin Luther King Jr, 1955[121] In his early years, the former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a follower of the non-violent resistance philosophy of Gandhi.[118] Bhana and Vahed commented on these events as "Gandhi inspired succeeding generations of South African activists seeking to end White rule. This legacy connects him to Nelson Mandela...in a sense Mandela completed what Gandhi started."[122] Gandhi's life and teachings inspired many who specifically referred to Gandhi as their mentor or who dedicated their lives to spreading Gandhi's ideas. In Europe, Romain Rolland was the first to discuss Gandhi in his 1924 book Mahatma Gandhi, and Brazilian anarchist and feminist Maria Lacerda de Moura wrote about Gandhi in her work on pacifism. In 1931,

notable European physicist Albert Einstein exchanged written letters with Gandhi, and called him "a role model for the generations to come" in a later writing about him.[123] Lanza del Vasto went to India in 1936 intending to live with Gandhi; he later returned to Europe to spread Gandhi's philosophy and founded the Community of the Ark in 1948 (modelled after Gandhi's ashrams). Madeleine Slade (known as "Mirabehn") was the daughter of a British admiral who spent much of her adult life in India as a devotee of Gandhi. In addition, the British musician John Lennon referred to Gandhi when discussing his views on non-violence.[124] At the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2007, former U.S. Vice-President and environmentalist Al Gore spoke of Gandhi's influence on him.[125] President of the United States Barack Obama in an address to a Joint Session of the Parliament of India said that: "I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as President of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world." Barack Obama in an address to a Joint Session of the Parliament of India, 2010[126] Obama at the Wakefield High School speech in Sept 2009, said that his biggest inspiration came from Mahatma Gandhi. His reply was in response to the question 'Who was the one person, dead or live, that you would choose to dine with?'. He continued that "He's somebody I find a lot of inspiration in. He inspired Dr. King with his message of nonviolence. He ended up doing so much and changed the world just by the power of his ethics." The Mahatma Gandhi District in Houston, Texas, United States, an ethnic Indian enclave, is named after Gandhi. The district officially received its named on 16 January 2010 when the City of Houston held a naming ceremony.

Jyotiba Phule Born: 11 April, 1827 Passed Away: 28 November, 1890

Contributions Jyotiba Phule was one of the prominent social reformers of the nineteenth century India. He led the movement against theprevailing caste-restrictions in India. He revolted against thedomination of the Brahmins and for the rights of peasants and other low-caste fellow. Jyotiba Phule was believed to be the first Hinduto start an orphanage for the unfortunate children.

Life Jyotirao Phule was born in Satara district of Maharastra in 1827. His father, Govindrao was a vegetable-vendor at Poona. Originally Jyotirao's family belonged to 'mali' caste, considered as inferior by the Brahmins. Since, Jyotirao's father and uncles served as florists, the family came to be known as `Phule'. Jyotirao's mother passed away when he was nine months old.

Jyotirao was an intelligent boy but due to the poor financial condition at home, he had to stop his studies at an early age. He started helping his father by working on the family's farm. Recognising the talent of the child prodigy, few months later, a neighbor persuaded his father to send him to school. In 1841, Jyotirao got admission in the Scottish Mission's High School, Poona. There, he met Sadashiv Ballal Govande, a Brahmin, who remained his close friend throughout his life. Jyotirao was married to Savitribai, when he was thirteen years old.

Movement In 1848, an incident took place in his life that later sparked off the dalit-revolution in the Indian society. Jyotirao was invited to attend a wedding of one of his Brahmin friends. Knowing that he belonged to inferior caste, the relatives of the bridegroom insulted and abused him. Jyotirao left the procession and made up his mind to defy the prevailing castesystem and social restrictions. He then started his campaign of serving the people of lower caste who were deprived of all their rights as human beings.

After reading Thomas Paine's famous book 'The Rights of Man', Jyotirao was greatly influenced by his ideas. He believed that enlightenment of the women and lower caste people was the only solution to combat the social evils. Therefore, in 1848, he along with his wife started a school for the girls.

The orthodox Brahmins of the society were furious at the activities of Jyotirao. They blamed him for vitiating the norms and regulations of the society. Many accused him of acting on behalf of the Christian Missionaries. But Jyotirao was firm and decided to continue the movement. Interestingly, Jyotirao had some Brahmin friends who extended their support to make the movementsuccessful.

Jyotirao attacked the orthodox Brahmins and other upper castes and termed them as "hypocrites". He

campaigned against theauthoritarianism of the upper caste people. He urged the "peasants" and "proletariat" to defy the restrictions imposed upon them.

In 1851, Jyotiba established a girls' school and asked his wife to teach the girls in the school. Jyotirao, later, opened two more schools for the girls and an indigenous school for the lower castes, especially the Mahars and Mangs.

Viewing the pathetic condition of widows and unfortunate children Jyotirao decided the open an orphanage. In order to protect those widows and their children, Jyotiba Phule established an orphanage in 1854. Many young widows, from the upper-caste spent their days in the orphanage.

Satya Shodhak Samaj

After tracing the history of the Brahmin domination in India, Jyotirao blamed the Brahmins for framing the weird and inhuman laws. He concluded that the laws were made to suppress the "shudras" and rule over them. In 1873, Jyotiba Phule formed the Satya Shodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth). The purpose of the organization was to liberate the people of lower-castes from the suppression of the Brahmins. The membership was open to all and the available evidence proves that some Jews were admitted as members. In 1876 there were 316 members of the 'Satya Shodhak Samaj'. In 1868, in order to give the lower-caste people more powers Jyotirao decided to construct a common bathing tank outside his house. He also wished to dine with all, regardless of their caste.

Death Jyotiba Phule devoted his entire life for the liberation of untouchables from the exploitation of Brahmins. He revolted against the tyranny of the upper castes. On 28 November, 1890, the great reformer of India, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule, passed away.

Subramanya Bharathi

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar (Tamil: ) (December 11, 1882 September 11, 1921) was a Tamil poet from Tamil Nadu,India, an independence fighter and iconoclastic reformer. Known as Mahakavi Bharathiyar (the laudatory epithetMaha Kavi meaning Great Poet in many Indian languages), he is celebrated as one of South India's greatest poets. Bharathi was prolific and adept in both the prose and poetry forms. He was one of the early Independent poets and played a vital role in pioneering the Independence movement in its infancy stages in Tamil Nadu. He is well-known for his simple yet stirring use of the language. Contents [hide]

1 Early life 2 Views 3 Bharathiar in Pondicherry 4 Death 5 Family 6 References 7 External links [edit]Early life

Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathiyar was born to Chinnasami Subramanya Iyer and Elakkumi (Lakshmi) Ammaal as "Subbayya" on December 11, 1882 in theTamil village of Ettayapuram. He was educated at a local high school called "The M.D.T. Hindu College" inTirunelveli. From a very young age he learnt music and at 11, he was invited to a conference of Ettayapuram court poets and musicians for composing poems and songs. It was here that he was conferred the title of "Bharathi" ("one blessed by Saraswati, the goddess of learning). Bharathi lost his mother at the age of 5 and his father at the age of 16. He was brought up by his disciplinarian father who wanted him to learn English, excel in arithmetic, become an engineer and lead a comfortable life. However, Bharathi was given to day dreaming and could not concentrate on his studies. In 1897, perhaps to instill a sense of responsibility in him, his father had the 14 year old Bharathi, married to his seven year younger cousin, Chellamal. After this early marriage, Bharathi, curious to see the outside world, left for Benares in 1898. The next four years of his life served as a passage of discovery. During this time he discovered a country in tumult outside his small hamlet. Bharathi worked as a teacher in Madurai Sethupathy High School (now a higher secondary school) and as a journal editor at various times in his life. [edit]Views During his stay in Benares (also known as Kashi and Varanasi), Bharathi was exposed to Hindu spirituality and nationalism. This broadened his outlook and he learned Sanskrit, Hindi and English. In addition, he changed his outward appearance. It is likely that Bharathi was impressed by the turbans worn by Ayyavazhi people (being a tradition in Ayyavazhi society, turbans represented the crowns worn by kings) and started wearing one himself. He also grew a beard and started walking with a straight back.[2] Soon, Bharathi saw beyond the social taboos and superstitions of orthodox South Indian society. In December 1905, he attended the All India Congress session held in Benaras. On his journey back home, he met Sister Nivedita, Vivekanandas spiritual daughter. From her arose another of Bharathis iconoclasm, his stand to recognise the privileges of women. The emancipation of women exercised Bharathis mind greatly. He visualised the 'new woman' as an emanation of Shakti, a willing helpmate of man to build a new earth through co-operative endeavour. During this period, Bharathi understood the need to be well-informed of the world outside and took interest in the world of journalism and the print media of the West. Bharathi joined

as Assistant Editor of the Swadeshamitran, a Tamil daily in 1904. By April 1907, he started editing the Tamil weekly Indiaand the English newspaper Bala Bharatham with M.P.T. Acharya. These newspapers were also a means of expressing Bharathi's creativity, which began to peak during this period. Bharathi started to publish his poems regularly in these editions. From religious hymns to nationalistic writings, from contemplations on the relationship between God and Man to songs on the Russian and Frenchrevolutions, Bharathi's subjects were diverse. He was simultaneously up against society for its mistreatment of the downtrodden people and the British for occupying India. Bharathi participated in the historic Surat Congress in 1907, which deepened the divisions within theIndian National Congress between the militant wing led by Tilak and Aurobindo and the moderate wing. Bharathi supported Tilak and Aurobindo together with V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Kanchi Varathaachariyar. Tilak openly supported armed resistance against the British. In 1908, he gave evidence in the case which had been instituted by the British against V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. In the same year, the proprietor of the journal India was arrested in Madras. Faced with the prospect of arrest, Bharathi escaped to Pondicherry which was under French rule. From there he edited and published the weekly journal India, Vijaya, a Tamil daily, Bala Bharatha, an English monthly, and Suryothayam, a local weekly of Pondicherry. The British tried to suppress Bharathi's output by stopping remittances and letters to the papers. Both India and Vijaya were banned in British India in 1909. During his exile, Bharathi had the opportunity to mix with many other leaders of the revolutionary wing of the Independence movement such as Aurobindo, Lajpat Rai and V.V.S. Aiyar, who had also sought asylum under the French. Bharathi assisted Aurobindo in the Arya journal and later Karma Yogi in Pondicherry. Bharathi entered British India near Cuddalore in November 1918 and was promptly arrested. He was imprisoned in the Central prison in Cuddalore in custody for three weeks from 20 November to 14 December. The following year Bharathi met with Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. His poetry expressed a progressive, reformist ideal. His imagery and the vigour of his verse symbolise Tamil culture in many respects. Bharathiyar advocated greater rights for women. His verse called for emanicipation for women and put a premium on their education. He visualised a modern Indian woman with distinctive features. Bharathi also fought against the caste system in Hindu society. Although born into an orthodoxBrahmin family, he gave up his own caste identity. One of his great sayings meant,

'There are only two castes in the world: one who is educated and one who is not.' He considered all living beings as equal and to illustrate this he even performed upanayanam to a young harijan man and made him a Brahmin. He also scorned the divisive tendencies being imparted into the younger generations by their elderly tutors during his time. He openly criticised the preachers for mixing their individual thoughts while teaching the Vedas and the Gita. [edit]Bharathiar in Pondicherry Pondicherry is a city of rich history. Bharathiar is one of them who makes it all the more interesting. He moved to Pondicherry in the year 1908 to escape his arrest. He took a house in Pondicherry which has been turned into The Bharathiar Museum now. I visited this museum last Sunday. What an experience it has been!! Feels like I have been transported to a new land with new thoughts. The house address is: No. 20, Easwaran Koil Street, Pondicherry 3 I could not believe that this museum is like a 15 minute walk from my house. I imagined Bharathiar walking on the same streets as I was. I wish I could know his thoughts when he was walking in the city. The museum has a collection of his letters, family photographs and lot of books. I felt the museum could have been much better. Perhaps a guide who could explain things to us. The sad part is the museum does not sell any items like his books or memoirs. I was really disappointed with that. They do have a great library which is open on Sundays from 10:00am to 5:00pm. The museum is closed on Mondays. The timings for the other days are 10:00am to 1:00pm and 2:00pm to 5:00pm. I read some of his letters and observed two things: 1. He starts off a letter with the words Om Shakthi 2. He usually signed off the letter saying May you gain immortality There was a postage stamp released on Barathiar which is framed in the museum. There are around 20 photographs collected of his family, friends and relatives. Some names that I can recollect are his wife Chellama, two daughters one is Thangamma, I cant recollect the name of the other), V.V.S Iyer, Sri Aurobindo and many others. While in Pondicherry he was involved with the following journals/magazines: India, Vijaya, Chakravarthini etc.

I especiall liked the front cover of the magazine Chakravarthini (the 1906 edition was displayed) which reads A Tamil Monthly Devoted mainly to the Elevation of India Ladies I felt wow!! The topics for that edition were interesting as well: 1. Women in Buddhism 2. Figures regarding female education in the Madras Presidency 3. Tulsi Rai 4. Infant marriage and female education I think we indeed have come a long way since 1906. When I stood inside the house and looked up to the sky, a tear dropped down my cheeks for no reason. A house where Bharathiar had spent his time. The front hall with an open roof. Wonder how many thoughts he must have had sitting there? It felt very nice. It was mentioned that he composed the poem Crows and Birds are our clan in this house. Bharathiar was an expert in many languages: Tamil, Sanskrit, English, Telugu and French. They had mentioned that he wrote very beautifully in English. I also found the Tamil version of the phrase Liberty, Equality and Fraternity Swathanthiram, Sammathuvam, Sahotharathuvam I was reading a book there where it mentioned when Bharathiar, V.V.S Iyer and Sri Aurobindo used to talk and discuss it was a conversation filled with great patriotism, energy and out of the world. It is unfortunate that nobody could record these conversations. I would like to end my visit with a paragraph from the book written by Dr. S. Ramakrishnan on Bharathiar which I truly agree and felt after the visit to his home: Many of Bharathis lyrics are chicks of fire. They burn up the whole jungle of our vices our apathy, our fear, our pettiness, our casteism, our religious sectarianism, our greed and all that. Thus, purged of our ills, we become pure-hearted and fearless and consequently strong, nay, invincible [edit]Death Bharathi's health was badly affected by the imprisonments and by 1920, when a General Amnesty Order finally removed restrictions on his movements, Bharathi was already struggling. He was struck by an elephant at Parthasarathy temple, Triplicane, Chennai, whom he used to feed regularly. Although he survived the incident, a few months later his health deteriorated and he died on September 12, 1921 early morning around 1 am. Though Bharathi was a people's poet and freedom fighter there were only fourteen people to attend his funeral.[3]

Mahakavi delivered his last speech at Karungalpalayam Library in Erode, which was about the topicMan is Immortal.[4] The last years of his life were spent in a house in Triplicane, Chennai [1]. This house was bought and renovated by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1993 and named 'Bharathiyar Illam' (Home of Bharathiyar). A Tamil Movie [2] was made a few years ago on the life of the poet, titled, Bharathy. This classic film was directed by Gnana Rajasekeran. The main character of Subramanya Bharati is played by a Marathi actor, Sayaji Shinde.

V. O. Chidambaram Pillai V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, (Tamil: . . ) popularly known by his initials, V.O.C. -> Vandanam. OlaganthaPillai. ChidambaramPillai - (spelt Vaa. Oo.Ce in Tamil), was an Indian freedom fighter born on 5 September 1872 in Vandanam (A small village)is very near to Ottapidaram, Tuticorin district of Tamil NaduState of India. He was a prominent lawyer, and a trade union leader. He gets credit for launching the first indigenous Indian shipping service between Tuticorin and Colombo with the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, competing against British ships. He was anIndian National Congress (INC) member, later charged with sedition by the British government and sentenced to life imprisonment; his barrister license was stripped. He is also known as "Kappalottiya Tamilan"" ( [edit]Early days Vallinayagam Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai or else V.O.C. was born on 5 September 1872 to an eminent lawyer olaganathan Pillai and Paramyee in Vandanam, near Ottapidaram, Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu State in India. After completing schooling in Ottapidaram and Tirunelveli, he worked for a few years in the Ottapidaram district administrative office. Later following his fathers footsteps he completed law. [edit]Days as a lawyer As a lawyer he often pleaded for the poor, at times appearing against his father, who appeared for the affluent. Among his notable cases, he proved corruption charges on three submagistrates. In the Kulasekaranallur Asari case he proved innocence for the accused. [edit]Entry into politics [edit]Background In the 1890s and 1900s Indias independence movement and the Swadeshi movement, initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai of Indian National Congress (INC), were at their peak. Mahatma Gandhi was yet to land in India. They were against the British Imperial coercion of trade, which was damaging traditional Indian industries and the communities dependent on them. This is the essence of the Swadeshi movement. In Madras Presidency the Independence movement was championed by the likes of Subramanya Siva, the poet Subramanya Bharathi, and Aurobindo Gosh later to be joined by V.O.C. He entered politics in 1905 following the partition of Bengal, joining the Indian National Congress and taking a hardliner stand. He also presided at the Salem District Congress session. [edit]Shipping company ), or The Tamil Helmsman inTamil.

V.O.C., drawing inspiration from Ramakrishnananda, a disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, resorted toSwadeshi work. Following requests by local citizens, he initiated steps to break the monopoly of British shipping in the coastal trade with Ceylon. On 12 November 1906, V.O.C. formed the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, by purchasing two steamships S.S.Gaelia and S.S.Lawoe, thanks to the assistance and support of Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghose. The ships commenced regular service between Tuticorin andColombo (Srilanka), against the opposition of the British traders and the Imperial Government. V.O.C. was thus laying the foundation for a comprehensive shipping industry in the country, more than just a commercial venture. Until then the commerce between Tuticorin and Colombo was a monopoly enjoyed by the British India Steam Navigation Company (BISN). This was later to be merged with P&O Lines and its Tuticorin agents, A.& F. Harvey. The British had assumed the Indian venture would collapse like a house of cards, but soon found the Indian company to be a formidable challenge. To thwart the new Indian company they resorted to the monopolistic trade practice of reducing the fare per trip to Re.1 (16 annas) per head. Swadeshi company responded by offering a fare of Re.0.5 (8 Annas). The British company went further by offering a free trip to the passengers plus a free umbrella, which had S.S.Gaelia and S.S.Lawoe running nearly empty. By 1909 the company was heading towards bankruptcy. [edit]Conflict with the British Main article: Tinnevely Riot of 1908 To widen the swadeshi base and to create awareness of British Imperialism V.O.C.became instrumental in mobilising the workers of Coral Mills (also managed by A. & F. Harvey) (now part ofMadura Coats) in Tirunelveli. This brought him into increasing conflict with the British Raj. On 12 March 1908, he was arrested on charges of sedition and for two days, Tirunelveli and Tuticorin witnessed unprecedented violence, quelled only by shooting four people to death (a Muslim, a Dalit, a baker and a Hindu temple priest). Punitive police forces were brought in from neighboring districts. [edit]The press But newspapers had taken note of V.O.C. [[Aurobindo Ghosh|Sri Aurobindo's] now his samathi @ Pondicherry, well know as "Annai Samathi"] nationalist Bengali newspaper Bande Mataram (spelt and pronounced as Bnde Matrom in the Bengali language) acclaimed him (March 27, 1908) with "Well Done, Chidambaram". Apart from the Madras press, Anand Bazaar Patrika from Kolkata (Calcutta) carried reports of his

prosecution every day. Funds were raised for his defence not only in India but also by the Indians in South Africa. [edit]Trial Poet Subramanya Bharathi and Subramanya Siva too appeared in the court for questioning for the case instituted against V.O.C. He was charged with sedition and a sentence of two life imprisonments (in effect 40 years) was imposed. He was confined in the Central Prison, Coimbatore (from 9 July 1908 to 1 December 1910).Court sentence may be seen as a reflection of the fear the British had of V.O.C. and their need to contain the rebellion and be sure that others would not follow in Chidambaram Pillai's footsteps.this [edit]Confinement in prison It is to be noted that Chidambaram Pillai was not treated as a 'political prisoner, nor was the sentence 'simple imprisonment, he was rather treated as a convict sentenced to life imprisonment and required to do hard labour. V.O.C. was in fact subjected to inhumane torture, which took a heavy toll on his health. The noted historian and Tamil scholar, R. A. Padmanabhan, would later note in his works "yoked (in place of Bulls) to the oil press like an animal and made to work it in the cruel hot sun.... Even from prison VOC continued a clandestine correspondence, maintaining a steady stream of petitions going into legal niceties. Later the High Court would reduce his sentence and he was finally released on December 12, 1912. [edit]After his release The huge crowds present during his arrest were obviously absent, reminding him of Aurobindo's similar fate upon his release from Uttarpara in 1909 and his famous remark When I went to jail the whole country was alive with the cry of Bande Mataram... when I came out of jail I listened for that cry, but there was instead a silence... a hush had fallen on the country and men seemed bewildered. Upon V.O.C.s release he was not permitted to return to his Tirunelveli district. With his bar license stripped from him he moved to Chennai with his wife and two young sons. To his dismay, theSwadeshi Steam Navigation Company had already been liquidated in 1911, and the ships auctioned to their competitors. V.O.C and his family had lost all their wealth and property in his legal defence. InMadras, almost broke, he continued organising labour welfare organisations. V.O.C. attended theCalcutta Indian National Congress in 1920. He later would quit, but rejoined later. [edit]V.O.C. and Mahatma Gandhi

M.K. Gandhi in 1910s was yet to be known as Mahatma, and V.O.C. carried on a steady stream of correspondence between them (191516). They would even once meet in Chennai, but sadly none of their correspondence was published in the 100-volume Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. In one of the letters Gandhi enquires whether he received the money which he had collected for V.O.C. in South Africa. In another letter V.O.C. expresses unease over an early morning appointment to meet Gandhi, as he explains the unavailability of Tram service at that hour. [edit]Last days On hearing V.O.C.s destitute condition Justice Wallace, the judge who sentenced V.O.C. later beingChief Justice of Madras Presidency, restored his bar license. But V.O.C. spent his last years (1930s) in Kovilpatti heavily in debt, even selling all of his law books for daily survival. V.O.C died on the 18 November 1936 in the Indian National Congress Office at Tuticorin as was his last wish. [edit]Family then and now V.O.C. married Valliammai in 1895, who died in 1901 due to complications in delivery. Later he married Meenakshi Ammiar. The couple would have four sons and four daughters. The eldest son Ulaganathan died in childhood. The second son, Arumugam Pillai, contested Ottapidaram in the 1967 Tamil Nadu assembly elections, but lost (as did many other Congress members, including K. Kamaraj). V.O.C.s third son, Subramaniam, worked for many years in Dinamani (Indian Expressgroup), later in the American Embassy in Chennai. His fourth son, Walleswaren, (referring to the Englishman E.H. Wallace, who first committed his case to the session's court but was instrumental in getting his sanad back) retired working from the Labour welfare department and settled in Dindigul Now settled in Madurai(2009) still alive. All of his daughters were married and several of his descendants live around various places in Chennai. [edit]Scholarly works Apart from the above, V.O.C. was an erudite scholar. The autobiography in Tamil verse which he started in prison was completed upon his release in 1912. He also wrote a commentary on theThirukural and compiled ancient works of Tamil grammar, Tolkappiam. He showed ingenuity in his works of "Meyyaram" and "Meyyarivu, praised for spontaneous style, and earned an indisputable reputation for translations of James Allens books. He authored a few novels, as well. [edit]Impact today

V.O.C. was one of the colourful figures in Indian political life. V.O.C. showed the way for organized effort and sacrifice. He finished his major political work by 1908, but died in late 1936, the passion for freedom still raging in his mind till the last moment. He was an erudite scholar in Tamil, a prolific writer, a fiery speaker, a trade union leader of unique calibre and a dauntless freedom fighter. His life is a story of resistance, strife, struggle, suffering and sacrifice for the cause to which he was committed. [edit]Post independence honours Today his name among people in Tamil Nadu evokes his sufferings in jail and his shipping company. He is aptly called as Kappalottiya Thamizlan - the Tamil who drove the ship, and as "Chekkiluththa Chemmal" -- a great man who pulled the oil press in jail for the sake of his people. The Tuticorin port has been renamed as "VOC port" to honor the great man. The Indian Posts & Telegraphs department of India issued a special postage stamp on 5 September 1972, on the occasion of his birth centenary. A college in Tuticorin is named after V.O.C. Sivaji Ganesan played the lead role in the 1961 Tamil movie Kappalottiya Thamizlan . The Public park and the meeting grounds of Coimbatore is named V.O.C. Park (Vaa. Vu.Ce Poonga) and V.O.C. Grounds (Vaa. Vu.Ce Thidal). The Central Prison in Coimbatore has built a commemorative monument, preserving his Yoke and OilGrinding stone. The Bridge connecting Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai over the river Tamaraparani is named V.O.C. Bridge. he has his current son, grandson,and great grandson also.. his current son is is nagamalai , grandson and great grandson in madurai

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy during his early life as a merchant Erode Venkata Ramasamy[1] (Tamil: ) (17 September 1879 24 December 1973), affectionately called by his followers asPeriyar (Tamil: ), Thanthai Periyar or E. V. R., was a businessman, politician, Indian independenceand social activist, who started the Self-Respect Movement or the Dravidian Movement and proposed the creation of an independent state called Dravida Naducomprising South India. He is also the founder of the socio-cultural organisation, Dravidar Kazhagam.[2][3][4] Periyar was born in Erode, Madras Presidency to a wealthy family of Kannada speaking Balijas.[5][6][7] At a young age, he witnessed numerous incidents of racial, caste and gender discrimination.[5] Periyar married when he was 19, and had a daughter who lived for only 5 months. His first wife, Nagammai, died in 1933.[8] Periyar married for a second time in July 1948.[9] His second wife, Maniammai, continued Periyar's social work after his death in 1973, but still his thoughts and ideas were being spread by Dravidar Kazhagam.[10] Periyar joined the Indian National Congress in 1919, but resigned in 1925 when he felt that the party was only serving the interests of the Brahmins.[11][12] In 1924, Periyar led a nonviolent agitation (satyagraha) in Vaikom,Kerala. From 1929 to 1932 toured Malaysia, Europe, and Russia, which had an influence on him.[13] In 1939, Periyar became the head of the Justice Party,[14] and in 1944, he changed its name to Dravidar Kazhagam.[15]The party

later split and one group led by C. N. Annaduraiformed the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1949.[15] While continuing the Self-Respect Movement, he advocated for an independent Dravida Nadu (Dravidistan).[16] Periyar propagated the principles of rationalism, self-respect, womens rights and eradication of caste. He opposed the exploitation and marginalisation of the non-Brahmin indigenous Dravidian peoples ofSouth India and the imposition of, what he considered, IndoAryan India. His work has greatly revolutionised Tamil society and has significantly removed caste-based discrimination. He is also responsible for bringing new changes to the Tamil alphabet. However, at the same time, Periyar is also held responsible for making controversial statements on the Tamil language, Dalits and Brahmins and for endorsing violence against Brahmins. The citation awarded by the UNESCO described Periyar as "the prophet of the new age, the Socrates of South East Asia, father of social reform movement and arch enemy of ignorance, superstitions, meaningless customs and base manners".[17] Biography Early years Periyar was born as Erode Venkata Ramasami Naicker on 17 September 1879, in the town of Erode, then a part of the Coimbatore District of the Madras Presidency.[18] Periyar's father, a rich businessman, was Venkatappa Naicker (or Venkata), and his mother was Chinna Thayammal, alias Muthammal. He had one elder brother named Krishnaswamy and two sisters named Kannamma and Ponnuthoy.[1][18] He later came to be known as "Periyar" meaning 'respected one' or 'elder' in Tamil.[1] In 1929, Periyar announced the deletion of his caste surname Naicker from his name at the First Provincial Self-Respect Conference of Chenggalpattu.[19] He could speak three Dravidian languages:Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. His mother tongue was Kannada.[20][21][22][23][24] Periyar attended school for five years after which he joined his father's trade at the age of 12. He used to listen to TamilVaishnavite gurus who gave discourses in his house enjoying his father's hospitality. At a young age, he began questioning the apparent contradictions in the Hindu mythological stories which he opined to be lies spread by the Indo-Aryan race.[1] As Periyar grew, he felt that people used religion only as a mask to deceive innocent people and therefore took it as one of his duties in life to warn people against superstitions and priests.[25] Periyar's father arranged for his wedding when he was nineteen. The bride, Nagammai, was only thirteen. It was not, altogether, an arranged marriage because Periyar and Nagammai had known each other and were already in love with each other. Nagammai actively supported

her husband in his later public activities and agitations. Two years after their marriage, a girl child was born to them. However, this child lived only for five months. The couple had no more children.[8] Kasi Pilgrimage Incident In 1904, Periyar went on a pilgrimage to Kasi to worship in the revered Siva temple of Kashi Vishwanath.[1][26] Though regarded as one of the holiest sites of Hinduism, he witnessed immoral activities, begging, and floating dead bodies.[1] His frustrations extended to functional Hinduism in general when he experienced what he called Brahmanic exploitation.[27] However, one particular incident in Kasi had a profound impact on Periyar's ideology and future work. At the worship site there were free meals offered to guests. To Periyar's shock, he was refused meals at choultries, which exclusively fed Brahmins. Due to extreme hunger, Periyar felt compelled to enter one of the choultries disguised as a Brahmin with a sacred thread on his bare chest, but was betrayed by his moustache. The gatekeeper at the temple concluded that Periyar was not a Brahmin, as Brahmins were not permitted by the Hindu shastras to have moustaches. He not only prevented Periyar's entry but also pushed him rudely into the street.[1] As his hunger became intolerable, Periyar was forced to feed on leftovers from the streets. Around this time, he realised that the choultry which had refused him entry was built by a wealthy non-Brahmin from South India.[1] This discriminatory attitude dealt a blow to Periyar's regard for Hinduism, for the events he had witnessed at Kasi were completely different from the picture of Kasi he had in mind, as a holy place which welcomed all.[1] Ramasami was a theist till his visit to Kasi, after which his views changed and he became an atheist.[28] Member of Congress Party (19191925) Periyar Ramaswamy joined the Indian National Congress in 1919 after quitting his business and resigning from public posts. He held the chairmanship of Erode Municipality and wholeheartedly undertook constructive programs spreading the use of Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting shops selling foreign cloth, and eradicating untouchability. In 1921, Periyar courted imprisonment for picketing toddy shops in Erode. When his wife as well as his sister joined the agitation, it gained momentum, and the administration was forced to come to a compromise. He was again arrested during the Non-Cooperation movement and theTemperance movement.[11] In 1922, Periyar was elected the President of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee during the Tirupur session, where he advocated strongly for reservation in government jobs and education. His attempts were defeated in the Congress

party due to a strong presence of discrimination and indifference, which led to him leaving the party in 1925.[12] Vaikom Satyagraha (19241925) Main article: Vaikom Satyagraha In Vaikom, a small town in Kerala state, then Travancore, there were strict laws of untouchability in and around the temple area. Dalits, also known as Harijans were not allowed into the close streets around and leading to the temple, let alone inside it. Anti-caste feelings were growing and in 1924 Vaikom was chosen as a suitable place for an organised Satyagraha, passive resistance campaign as practised by Gandhi. Under his guidance a movement had already begun with the aim of giving all castes the right to enter the temples. Thus, agitations and demonstrations took place. On April 14, Periyar and his wife Nagamma arrived in Vaikom. They were arrested and imprisoned for participation. In spite of Gandhi's objection to non-Keralites and non-Hindus taking part, Periyar and his followers continued to give support to the movement till it was withdrawn. He received the title Vikkom Veeran, mostly given by his Tamil followers who participated in the Satyagraha.[29][30] However, a considerable section of intellectuals feel that Periyar's participation in the Indian independence movement and his contributions in the Vaikom Satyagraha have been highly exaggerated.[31] The way in which the Vaikom Satyagraha events have been recorded provides a clue to the image of the respective organisers. In an article entitle Gandhi and Ambedkar, A Study in Leadership, Eleanor Zelliot relates the 'Vaikom Satyagraha' including Gandhi's negotiations with the temple authorities in relation to the event. Furthermore, the editor of Periyar's Thoughts states that Brahmins purposely suppressed news about Periyar's participation. A leading Congress magazine Young India in its extensive reports on Vaikom never mentions Periyar.[27] Self-Respect Movement Periyar and his followers campaigned constantly to influence and pressure the government to take measures to remove social inequality, even while other nationalist forerunners focused on the struggle for political independence. The Self-Respect Movement was described from the beginning as "dedicated to the goal of giving non-Brahmins a sense of pride based on their Dravidian past".[32] In 1952, the Periyar Self-Respect Movement Institution was registered with a list of objectives of the institution from which may be quoted as for the diffusion of useful knowledge of political education; to allow people to live a life of freedom from slavery to anything against reason and self respect; to do away with needless

customs, meaningless ceremonies, and blind superstitious beliefs in society; to put an end to the present social system in which caste, religion, community and traditional occupations based on the accident of birth, have chained the mass of the people and created "superior" and "inferior" classes... and to give people equal rights; to completely eradicate untouchability and to establish a united society based on brother/sisterhood; to give equal rights to women; to prevent child marriages and marriages based on law favourable to one sect, to conduct and encourage love marriages, widow marriages, inter caste and inter-religious marriages and to have the marriages registered under the Civil Law; and to establish and maintain homes for orphans and widows and to run educational institutions.[26] Propagation of the philosophy of self respect became the full-time activity of Periyar since 1925. A Tamil weekly Kudi Arasu started in 1925, while the English journal Revolt started in 1928 carried on the propaganda among the English educated people.[33] The Self-Respect Movement began to grow fast and received the sympathy of the heads of the Justice Party from the beginning. In May 1929, a conference of Self-Respect Volunteers was held at Pattukkotai under the presidency of S. Guruswami. K.V. Alagiriswami took charge as the head of the volunteer band. Conferences followed in succession throughout the Tamil districts of the former Madras Presidency. A training school in Self-Respect was opened at Erode, the home town of Periyar. The object was not just to introduce social reform but to bring about a social revolution to foster a new spirit and build a new society.[34] International travel (19291932) Between 1929 and 1935, under the strain of World Depression, political thinking worldwide received a jolt from the spread of international communism.[13] Indian political parties, movements and considerable sections of leadership were also affected by intercontinental ideologies. The Self-Respect Movement also came under the influence of the leftist philosophies and institutions. Periyar, after establishing the Self-Respect Movement as an independent institution, began to look for ways to strengthen it politically and socially. To accomplish this, he studied the history and politics of different countries, and personally observed these systems at work.[13] Periyar toured Malaysia for a month, from December 1929 to January 1930, to propagate the self-respect philosophy. Embarking on his journey from Nagapattinam with his wife Nagammal and his followers, Periyar was received by 50,000 Tamil Malaysians in Penang. During the same month, he inaugurated the Tamils Conference, convened by the Tamils Reformatory Sangam in Ipoh, and then went to Singapore. In December 1931 he undertook a tour of Europe, accompanied by S. Ramanathan and Erode Ramu, to personally acquaint himself with their political systems, social movements, way of life, economic and social

progress and administration of public bodies. He visited Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Germany, England, Spain, France and Portugal, staying in Russia for three months. On his return journey he halted at Ceylon and returned to India in November 1932.[13] The tour shaped the political ideology of Periyar to achieve the social concept of SelfRespect. Thecommunist system obtained in Russia appealed to him as appropriately suited to deal with the social ills of the country. Thus, on socio-economic issues Periyar was Marxist, but he did not advocate for abolishing private ownership.[35] Immediately after his return, Periyar, in alliance with the enthusiastic communist M. Singaravelu Chettiar, began to work out a socio-political scheme incorporating socialistand self-respect ideals. This marked a crucial stage of development in the Self-Respect Movementwhich got politicised and found its compatibility in Tamil Nadu.[13] Opposition to Hindi Main article: Anti-Hindi agitations In 1937, when Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari became the Chief Minister of Madras state, he introduced Hindi as a compulsory language of study in schools, thereby igniting a series of anti-Hindi agitations.[36] Tamil nationalists, the Justice Party under Sir A. T. Panneerselvam, and Periyar organised anti-Hindi protests in 1938 which ended with numerous arrests by the Rajaji government.[37] During the same year, the slogan "Tamil Nadu for Tamilians"[38] was first raised by Periyar in protest against the introduction of Hindi in schools. He explained that the introduction of Hindi was a dangerous mechanism used by the Ayrans to infiltrate Dravidian culture.[38] He reasoned that the adoption of Hindi would make Tamils subordinate to Hindi-speaking North Indians. Periyar explained that Hindi would not only halt the progress of Tamilians, but would completely destroy their culture and nullify the progressive ideas that had been successfully inculcated through Tamil in the recent decades.[39] Cutting across party lines, South Indian politicians rallied together in their opposition to Hindi.[40] There were recurrent anti-Hindi agitations in 1948, 1952 and 1965. [41] As President of the Justice Party (19381944) Main article: Justice Party (India) A political party known as the South Indian Libertarian Federation (commonly referred to as Justice Party) was founded in 1916, principally to oppose the economic and political power of the Brahmin jatigroups. The party's goal was to render social justice to nonBrahmin groups. In order to gain the support of the masses, non-Brahmin politicians began propagating an ideology of equality among non-Brahmin jati groups. Brahmanical priesthood

and Sanskritic social class-value hierarchy were blamed for the existence of inequalities among non-Brahmin jati groups.[42] In 1937, when the government required that Hindi be taught in the school system, Periyar organised opposition through the Justice Party to this policy. After 1937, the Dravidian movement derived considerable support from the student community. In later years, opposition to Hindi played a big role in the politics of Tamil Nadu. The fear of the Hindi language had its origin in the conflict between Brahmins and non-Brahmins. To the Tamils, acceptance of Hindi in the school system was a form of bondage. When the Justice Party weakened in the absence of mass support, Periyar took over the leadership of the party after being jailed for opposing Hindi in 1939.[14] Under his tutelage the party prospered, but the party's conservative members, most of whom were rich and educated, withdrew from active participation.[42] Dravidar Kazhagam (1944onwards) Main article: Dravidar Kazhagam Formation of the Dravidar Kazhagam At a rally in 1944, Periyar, in his capacity as the leader of the Justice Party, declared that the party would henceforth be known as the Dravidar Kazhagam, or "Dravidian Association". However, a few who disagreed with Periyar started a splinter group, claiming to be the original Justice Party. This party was led by veteran Justice Party leader P. T. Rajan and survived till 1957. The Dravidar Kazhagam came to be well known amongst the urban communities and students. Villages were influenced by its message. Hindi, and ceremonies that had become associated with Brahmanical priesthood, were identified as alien symbols that should be eliminated from Tamil culture. Brahmins, who were regarded as the guardians of such symbols, came under verbal attack.[15] From 1949 onwards, the Dravidar Kazhagam intensified social reformist work and put forward the fact that superstitions were the cause for the degeneration of Dravidians. The Dravidar Kazhagam vehemently fought for the abolition of untouchability amongst the Dalits. It also focused its attention on theliberation of women, women's education, willing marriage, widow marriage, orphanages and mercy homes.[43] Split with Annadurai Main article: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam In 1949, Periyar's chief lieutenant, Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai, established a separate association called the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), or Dravidian Advancement Association.[15]This was due to differences between the two, where Periyar advocated a

separate independent Dravidian or Tamil state, while Annadurai compromised with the Delhi government combined with claims of increased state independence.[44] Periyar was convinced that individuals and movements that undertake the task of eradicating the social evils in the Indian sub-continent have to pursue the goal with devotion and dedication without deviating from the path and with uncompromising zeal. Thus, if they contest elections aiming to assume political power, they would lose vigor and sense of purpose. But amongst his followers, there were those who had a different view, wanting to enter into politics and have a share in running the government. They were looking for an opportunity to part with Periyar.[citation needed] Thus, when Periyar married Maniammai on 9 July 1948, they quit the Dravidar Kazhagam, stating that Periyar set a bad example by marrying a young woman in his old age - he was 70 and she 30. Those who parted company with Periyar joined the DMK.[9] Though the DMK split from the Dravidar Kazhagam, the organisation made efforts to carry on Periyar's Self-Respect Movement to villagers and urban students. The DMK advocated the thesis that the Tamil language was much richer than Sanskrit and Hindi in content, and thus was a key which opened the door to subjects to be learned.[15] The Dravidar Kazhagam continued to counter Brahminism, Indo-Aryan propaganda, and uphold the Dravidians' right of self-determination.[45] Later years In 1956, despite warnings from P. Kakkan, the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, Periyar organised a procession to the Marina in order to burn pictures of the Hindu God Rama.[46]Periyar was subsequently arrested and confined to prison.[46] The activities of Periyar continued when he went to Bangalore in 1958 to participate in the All India Official Language Conference. There he stressed the need to retain English as the Union Official Language instead of Hindi. Five years later, Periyar travelled to North India to advocate the eradication of the caste system. Nearing Periyar's last years, an award was given to him by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and it was presented to him by the Union Education Minister, Triguna Sen in Madras (Chennai), on 27 June 1970. In his last meeting atThiagaraya Nagar, Chennai on 19 December 1973, Periyar declared a call for action to gain social equality and a dignified way of life. On 24 December 1973, Periyar died at the age of 94.[9]

B. R. Ambedkar

Ambedkar delivering a speech to a rally at Yeola, Nashik, on 13 October 1935 Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Marathi: . [bimraw ramdi ambekr]; 14 April 1891 6 December 1956), popularly also known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, political leader, philosopher, thinker,anthropologist, historian, orator, prolific writer, economist, scholar, editor, a revolutionary and one of the founding fathers of independent India. He was also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of Indian Constitution.[1] Born into a poor Mahar (considered an Untouchable caste) family, Ambedkar spent his whole life fighting against social discrimination, the system of Chaturvarna the categorization of Hindu society into four varnas and theHindu caste system. He converted to Buddhism and is also credited with providing a spark for the conversion of hundreds of thousands of untouchables to Theravada Buddhism. Ambedkar was posthumously awarded theBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in 1990. Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first socalled outcastes to obtain a college education in India. Eventually earning law degrees and multiple doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science fromColumbia University and the London School of Economics, Ambedkar gained a reputation as a scholar and practiced law for a few years, later campaigning by publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's so-called untouchables. He is regarded as a Bodhisattva by some Indian Buddhists, though he never claimed himself to be a Bodhisattva.[2] [edit]Early life and education Ambedkar was born in the British-founded town and military cantonment of Mhow in the Central Provinces (now inMadhya Pradesh).[4] He was the 14th and last child of Ramji

Maloji Sakpal and Bhimabai.[5] His family was ofMarathi background from the town of Ambavade (Mandangad taluka) in the Ratnagiri district of modern-dayMaharashtra. They belonged to the Mahar caste, who were treated as untouchables and subjected to intense socio-economic discrimination.[citation needed] Ambedkar's ancestors had for long been in the employment of the army of the British East India Company, and his father Ramji Sakpal served in the Indian Army at the Mhow cantonment. He had received a degree of formal education in Marathiand English, and encouraged his children to learn and work hard at school.[citation needed] Belonging to the Kabir Panth, Ramji Sakpal encouraged his children to read the Hindu classics. He used his position in the army to lobby for his children to study at the government school, as they faced resistance owing to their caste. Although able to attend school, Ambedkar and other untouchable children were segregated and given no attention or assistance by the teachers. They were not allowed to sit inside the class. Even if they needed to drink water somebody from a higher caste would have to pour that water from a height as they were not allowed to touch either the water or the vessel that contained it. This task was usually performed for the young Ambedkar by the school peon, and if the peon was not available then he had to go without water, Ambedkar states this situation as "No peon, No Water".[6] Ramji Sakpal retired in 1894 and the family moved to Satara two years later. Shortly after their move, Ambedkar's mother died. The children were cared for by their paternal aunt, and lived in difficult circumstances. Only three sons Balaram, Anandrao and Bhimrao and two daughters Manjula and Tulasa of the Ambedkars would go on to survive them. Of his brothers and sisters, only Ambedkar succeeded in passing his examinations and graduating to a higher school. Bhimrao Sakpal Ambavadekar the surname comes from his native village 'Ambavade' in Ratnagiri District.[7] His Brahmin teacher, Mahadev Ambedkar, who was fond of him, changed his surname from 'Ambavadekar' to his own surname 'Ambedkar' in school records.[7] [edit]Higher education Ambedkar married in 1906, and the family moved to Bombay, where he became the first untouchable student at the Government High School near Elphinstone Road.[8] Although excelling in his studies, Ambedkar was increasingly disturbed by the segregation and discrimination that he faced. In 1907, he passed his matriculation examination and entered the University of Bombay, becoming one of the first persons of untouchable origin to enter a college in India. This success provoked celebrations in his community and after a public ceremony he was presented with a biography of the Buddha by his teacher Krishnaji Arjun Keluskar also known as Dada Keluskar, a Maratha caste scholar. Ambedkar's marriage had

been arranged the previous year as per Hindu custom, to Ramabai, a nine-year old girl from Dapoli.[8] In 1908, he entered Elphinstone College and obtained a scholarship of twenty five rupees a month from the Gayakwad ruler of Baroda, Sahyaji Rao III. By 1912, he obtained his degree in economics and political science from Bombay University, and prepared to take up employment with the Baroda state government. His wife gave birth to his first son, Yashwant, in the same year. Ambedkar had just moved his young family and started work, when he dashed back to Mumbai to see his ailing father, who died on 2 February 1913.[citation
needed]

In 1913 he received Baroda State Scholarship of 11.50 British pounds a month for three years to join the Politics Department of Columbia University as a postgraduate student. In New York he stayed atLivingston Hall with his friend Naval Bhathena, a Parsi; the two remained friends for life. He used to sit for hours studying in Low Library. He passed his MA exam in June 1915, majoring in Economics, with Sociology, History, Philosophy and Anthropology as other subjects of study; he presented a thesis,Ancient Indian Commerce. In 1916 he offered another MA thesis, National Dividend of India-A Historic and Analytical Study. On 9 May, he read his paper Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development before a seminar conducted by the anthropologist Alexander Goldenweiser. In October 1916 he was admitted to Gray's Inn for Law, and to the London School of Economics for economics where he started work on a doctoral thesis. In June 1917 he was obliged to go back to India as the term of his scholarship from Baroda ended, however he was given permission to return and submit his thesis within four years. He sent his precious and much-loved collection of books back on a steamer, but it was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine.[citation needed] [edit]Fight against untouchability As he was educated by the Baroda State, he was bound to serve the State. He was appointed as Military Secretary to the Gaikwar of Baroda, which he had to quit within short time, this fiasco was described by Ambedkar in his autobiography Waiting for a Visa as This scene of a dozen Parsis armed with sticks line before me in a menacing mood, and myself standing before them with a terrified look imploring for mercy, is a scene which so long a period as eighteen years had not succeeded in fading away. I can even vividly recall it -- and I never recall it without tears in my eyes. It was then for the first time that I learnt that a person who is an untouchable to a Hindu is also an untouchable to aParsi.[6] Then after he tried to find ways to make a living for his growing family. He worked as a private tutor, as an accountant, investment consulting business, but it failed when his clients learned that he was an untouchable. In 1918 he became Professor of Political Economy in

theSydenham College of Commerce and Economics in Bombay. Even though he was successful with the students, other professors objected to his sharing the same drinking-water jug that they all used.[citation needed] As a leading Indian scholar, Ambedkar had been invited to testify before the Southborough Committee, which was preparing the Government of India Act 1919. At this hearing, Ambedkar argued for creating separate electoratesand reservations for untouchables and other religious communities. In 1920, he began the publication of the weekly Mooknayak (Leader of the Silent) in Mumbai with the help of Shahu I (18841922), Maharaja of Kolhapur. Ambedkar used this journal to criticize orthodox Hindu politicians and a perceived reluctance of the Indian political community to fight caste discrimination. His speech at a Depressed Classes Conference in Kolhapur impressed the local state ruler Shahu IV, who described Ambedkar as thefuture national leader and shocked orthodox society by dining with Ambedkar. Having resigned from his teaching position, in July he returned to London, relying on his own savings, supplemented by loans from the Maharaja of Kolhapur and his friend Naval Bhathena. He returned to the London School of Economics, and to Gray's Inn to read for the Bar. He lived in poverty, and studied constantly in the British Museum. In 1922, through unremitting hard work, Ambedkar once again overfulfilled all expectations: he completed a thesis for a M.Sc. (Economics) degree at London School of Economics, and was called to the bar, and submitted a PhD thesis in economics to the University of London. Ambedkar established a successful legal practice. Early on his legal career, Ambedkar was engaged in a very important lawsuit which had been filed by some Brahmins against three non-Brahmin leaders: K.B. Bagde, Keshavrao Jedhe and Dinkarrao Javalkar. They were being prosecuted for writing a pamphlet stating that Brahmins had ruined India. On the prosecution side was L. B. Bhopatkar, a lawyer from Poona. Ambedkar argued his case very ably, put up a very eloquent defence and won the case in October 1926. The victory was resounding, both socially and individually for the clients.[citation needed] [edit]Missions While practicing law in the Bombay High Court he tried to uplift the untouchables in order to educate them. His first organized attempt to achieve this was the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha, which was intended to promote education and socio-economic improvement, as well as the welfare of "outcastes" or the depressed classes.[clarification needed][citation needed] By 1927 Ambedkar decided to launch active movements against untouchability. He began with public movements and marches to open up and share public drinking water resources, also he began a struggle for the right to enter Hindu temples. He led

a satyagraha in Mahad to fight for the right of the untouchable community to draw water from the main water tank of the town.[9] He took a part of the event in which casteist excerpts from the Manu Smriti text was burned by a Brahmin G.N. Sahasrabuddhe.[10] He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the allEuropean Simon Commission in 1925.[citation needed] This commission had sparked great protests across India, and while its report was ignored by most Indians, Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for future constitutional recommendations.[citation
needed]

[edit]Poona Pact Due to Ambedkar's prominence and popular support amongst the untouchable community, he was invited to attend the Second Round Table Conference in London in 1932.[citation
needed]

Gandhi fiercely opposed separate electorate for untouchables, though he accepted

separate electorate for all other minority groups such as Muslims and Sikhs, saying he feared that separate electorates for untouchables would divide Hindu community into two groups.[citation needed] When the British agreed with Ambedkar and announced the awarding of separate electorates, Gandhi began a fast while imprisoned in the Yerwada Central Jail of Pune in 1932 against the separate electorate for untouchables only. Gandhi's fast provoked huge civil unrest across India, and orthodox Hindu leaders, Congress politicians and activists such as Madan Mohan Malaviya and Palwankar Baloo organized joint meetings with Ambedkar and his supporters at Yeravada. Fearing a communal reprisal and genocide of untouchables, Ambedkar agreed under massive coercion from the supporters of Gandhi. This agreement, which saw Gandhi end his fast, was called the Poona Pact. As a result of the agreement, Ambedkar dropped the demand for separate electorates that was promised through the British Communal Award prior to Ambedkar's meeting with Gandhi. Instead, a certain number of seats were reserved specifically for untouchables (in the agreement, called the "Depressed Class").[citation
needed]

[edit]Political career In 1935, Ambedkar was appointed principal of the Government Law College, Mumbai, a position he held for two years. Settling in Mumbai, Ambedkar oversaw the construction of a house, and stocked his personal library with more than 50,000 books.[11] His wife Ramabai died after a long illness in the same year. It had been her long-standing wish to go on a pilgrimage to Pandharpur, but Ambedkar had refused to let her go, telling her that he would

create a new Pandharpur for her instead of Hinduism's Pandharpur which treated them as untouchables. Speaking at the Yeola Conversion Conference on 13 October in Nasik, Ambedkar announced his intention to convert to a different religion and exhorted his followers to leave Hinduism.[11] He would repeat his message at numerous public meetings across India. In 1936, Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party, which won 15 seats in the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly. He published his book The Annihilation of Caste in the same year, based on the thesis he had written in New York. Attaining immense popular success, Ambedkar's work strongly criticized Hindu orthodox religious leaders and the caste system in general. Ambedkar served on the Defence Advisory Committee and the Viceroy's Executive Council as minister for labour. With What Congress and Gandhi Have Done to the Untouchables, Ambedkar intensified his attacks on Gandhi and the Congress, hypocrisy.[12] In his work Who Were the Shudras?, Ambedkar attempted to explain the formation of the Shudras i.e. the lowest caste in hierarchy of Hindu caste system. He also emphasised how Shudras are separate from Untouchables. Ambedkar oversaw the transformation of his political party into the All India Scheduled Castes Federation, although it performed poorly in the elections held in 1946 for the Constituent Assembly of India. In writing a sequel to Who Were the Shudras? in 1948, Ambedkar lambasted Hinduism in The Untouchables: A Thesis on the Origins of Untouchability: The Hindu Civilisation.... is a diabolical contrivance to suppress and enslave humanity. Its proper name would be infamy. What else can be said of a civilisation which has produced a mass of people.... who are treated as an entity beyond human intercourse and whose mere touch is enough to cause pollution?[12] [edit]Pakistan or the Partition of India Between 1941 and 1945, he published a number of books and pamphlets, including Thoughts on Pakistan, in which he criticized the Muslim League's demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistanbut considered its concession if Muslims demanded so as expedient.[13] In the above book Ambedkar wrote a sub-chapter titled If Muslims truly and deeply desire Pakistan, their choice ought to be accepted. He wrote that if the Muslims are bent on Pakistan, then it must be conceded to them. He asked whether Muslims in the army could be trusted to defend India. In the event of Muslims invading India or in the case of a Muslim rebellion, with whom would the Indian Muslims in the army side? He concluded that, in the interests of the safety of India, Pakistan should be acceded to, should the Muslims demand it. According to Ambedkar, the Hindu assumption that though Hindus and Muslims were two

nations, they could live together under one state, was but an empty sermon, a mad project, to which no sane man would agree.[13] Ambedkar was also critical of Islam and its practices in South Asia. While justifying the Partition of India, he condemned the practice of child marriage in Muslim society, as well as the mistreatment of women. No words can adequately express the great and many evils of polygamy and concubinage, and especially as a source of misery to a Muslim woman. Take the caste system. Everybody infers that Islam must be free from slavery and caste. [] [While slavery existed], much of its support was derived from Islam and Islamic countries. While the prescriptions by the Prophet regarding the just and humane treatment of slaves contained in the Koran are praiseworthy, there is nothing whatever in Islam that lends support to the abolition of this curse. But if slavery has gone, caste among Musalmans [Muslims] has remained.[13] He wrote that Muslim society is "even more full of social evils than Hindu Society is" and criticized Muslims for sugarcoating their sectarian caste system with euphemisms like "brotherhood". He also criticized the discrimination against the Arzal classes among Muslims who were regarded as "degraded", as well as the oppression of women in Muslim society through the oppressive purdahsystem. He alleged that while purdah was also practiced by Hindus, only among Muslims was it sanctioned by religion. He criticized their fanaticism regarding Islam on the grounds that their literalist interpretations of Islamic doctrine made their society very rigid and impermeable to change. He further wrote that Indian Muslims have failed to reform their society unlike Muslims in other countries likeTurkey.[13] [edit]Role in drafting India's Constitution Upon India's independence on 15 August 1947, the new Congress-led government invited Ambedkar to serve as the nation's first law minister, which he accepted. On 29 August, Ambedkar was appointed Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee, charged by the Assembly to write India's new Constitution.[citation needed] Granville Austin has described the Indian Constitution drafted by Ambedkar as 'first and foremost a social document'. ... 'The majority of India's constitutional provisions are either directly arrived at furthering the aim of social revolution or attempt to foster this revolution by establishing conditions necessary for its achievement.' The text prepared by Ambedkar provided constitutional guarantees and protections for a wide range ofcivil liberties for individual citizens, including freedom of religion, the abolition of untouchability and the outlawing of all forms of discrimination Ambedkar argued for extensive economic and social rights for women, and also won the Assembly's support for

introducing a system of reservations of jobs in the civil services, schools and colleges for members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, a system akin to affirmative action. India's lawmakers hoped to eradicate the socio-economic inequalities and lack of opportunities for India's depressed classes through this measure, which had been originally envisioned as temporary on a need basis. The Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 by the Constituent Assembly. Ambedkar resigned from the cabinet in 1951 following the stalling in parliament of his draft of the Hindu Code Bill, which sought to expound gender equality in the laws of inheritance, marriage and the economy. Although supported by Prime Minister Nehru, the cabinet and many other Congress leaders, it received criticism from a large number of members of parliament. Ambedkar independently contested an election in 1952 to the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, but was defeated. He was appointed to the upper house, of parliament, the Rajya Sabha in March 1952 and would remain a member until his death. [edit]Conversion to Buddhism Ambedkar believed that the Mahar people were an ancient Buddhist community of India who had been forced to live outside villages as outcasts because they refused to renounce their Buddhist practices. He considered this to be why they became untouchables and he wrote a book on this topic, entitledWho were the Shudras?. Ambedkar studied Buddhism all his life, and around 1950s, Ambedkar turned his attention fully to Buddhism and travelled to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) to attend a convention of Buddhist scholars and monks.[citation needed] While dedicating a new Buddhist vihara near Pune, Ambedkar announced that he was writing a book on Buddhism, and that as soon as it was finished, he planned to make a formal conversion back to Buddhism.[14] Ambedkar twice visited Burma in 1954; the second time in order to attend the third conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists in Rangoon. In 1955, he founded the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha, or the Buddhist Society of India. He completed his final work, The Buddha and His Dhamma, in 1956. It was published posthumously. After meetings with the Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Hammalawa Saddhatissa,[15] Ambedkar organised a formal public ceremony for himself and his supporters in Nagpur on 14 October 1956. Accepting theThree Refuges and Five Precepts from a Buddhist monk in the traditional manner, Ambedkar completed his own conversion. He then proceeded to convert a large number (some 500,000) of his supporters who were gathered around him.[14] He prescribed the 22 Vows for these converts, after the Three Jewels and Five Precepts. He then traveled to Kathmandu in Nepal to attend the Fourth World Buddhist Conference.[citation needed] His

work on The Buddha or Karl Marx and "Revolution and counter-revolution in ancient India" (which was necessary for understanding his book The Buddha and His Dhamma remained incomplete.[citation needed] [edit]Death Since 1948, Ambedkar had been suffering from diabetes. He was bed-ridden from June to October in 1954 owing to diabetesand failing eyesight.[14] He had been increasingly embittered by political issues, which took a toll on his health. His health worsened during 1955. Three days after completing his final manuscript The Buddha and His Dhamma, it is said[by whom?]that Ambedkar died in his sleep on 6 December 1956 at his home in Delhi. A Buddhist-style cremation was organised for him at DadarChowpatty beach on 7 December, attended by hundreds of thousands of people.[citation needed] A conversion program was supposed to be organised on 16 December 1956.[citation needed] So, those who had attended the cremation were also converted to Buddhism at the same place.[citation needed] Since this incidence Dadar Chowpatty is also known as CHAITYA-BHOOMI. Ambedkar was survived by his second wife Savita Ambedkar (ne Sharda Kabir), who converted to Buddhism with him and died as a Buddhist in 2002; his son Yashwant (known as Bhaiyasaheb Ambedkar); and his daughter-in-law Meera Tai Ambedkar. Ambedkar's grandson, who is the national president of the Indian Buddhist Association, Advt Prakash, n Balasaheb Yaswant Ambedkar, leads the Bhartiya Bahujan Mahasangha and has served in both houses of the Indian Parliament. A number of unfinished typescripts and handwritten drafts were found among Ambedkar's notes and papers and gradually made available. Among these were Waiting for a Visa, which probably dates from 193536 and is an autobiographical work, and the Untouchables, or the Children of India's Ghetto, which refers to the census of 1951.[14] A memorial for Ambedkar was established in his Delhi house at 26 Alipur Road. His birthdate is celebrated as a public holiday known as Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti. He was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1990.[citation
needed]

Many public institutions are named in his honour, such as the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

Open University inHyderabad; Dr BR Ambedkar University in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh; B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur; the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar; the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, otherwise known as Sonegaon Airport; the Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University in Tamilnadu; and the Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College in Chennai,

Tamilnadu. A large official portrait of Ambedkar is on display in the Indian Parliament building. On the anniversary of his birth (14 April) and death (6 December), and on Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din (14 October) at Nagpur, at least half a million people gather to pay homage to him at his memorial in Mumbai.[citation needed] Thousands of bookshops are set up, and books are sold. His message to his followers was "Educate!, Organize!, Agitate!.

Rabindranath Tagore From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rabindranath Tagore[][] (7 May 1861 7 August 1941),[] sobriquet Gurudev,[] was a Bengali polymathwho reshaped his region's literature and music. Author ofGitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse",[1] he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature.[2] In translation his poetry was viewed as spiritual and mercurial; his seemingly mesmeric persona, floccose locks, and empyreal garb garnered him a prophet-like aura in the West. His "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal.[3] A Pirali Brahmin[4][5][6][7] from Kolkata, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old.[8] At age sixteen, he cheekily released his first substantial poems under the pseudonymBhnusiha ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by the region's literary grandees as long-lost classics.[9][10] He graduated to his first short stories and dramasand the aegis of his birth nameby 1877. As a humanist, universalist internationalist, and strident anti-nationalist he denounced the Raj and advocated for independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy endures also in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University. Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic strictures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali(Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced), and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimedor pannedfor their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. He

composed two national anthems: theRepublic of India's Jana Gana Mana and Bangladesh's Amar Shonar Bangla. Early life (18611878) Main article: Early life of Rabindranath Tagore The youngest of thirteen surviving children, Tagore was born in the Jorasanko mansion in Calcutta to parents Debendranath Tagore (18171905) and Sarada Devi (1830 1875).[][11] Tagore familypatriarchs were the Brahmo founders of the Adi Dharm faith. The fabulously loyalist "Prince"Dwarkanath Tagore, with his European estate managers and his serial visits with Victoria and other occidental royals, was his paternal grandfather; Dwarkanath's ancestors hailed from the village of Pithabhog in modern-day Bangladesh.[12] Debendranath had formulated the Brahmoist philosophies espoused by his friend Ram Mohan Roy, and became focal in Brahmo society after Roy's death.[13][14] "Rabi" was raised mostly by servants; his mother had died in his early childhood and his father travelled widely.[16] His home hosted the publication of literary magazines; theatre and recitals of both Bengali and Western classical music featured there regularly, as the Jorasanko Tagores were the center of a large and art-loving social group. Tagore's oldest brotherDwijendranath was a respected philosopher and poet. Another brother,Satyendranath, was the first Indian appointed to the elite and formerly all-European Indian Civil Service. Yet another brother, Jyotirindranath, was a musician, composer, and playwright.[17] His sister Swarnakumari became a novelist. Jyotirindranath's wife Kadambari, slightly older than Tagore, was a dear friend and powerful influence. Her abrupt suicide in 1884 left him for years profoundly distraught. Tagore largely avoided classroom schooling and preferred to roam the manor or nearby Bolpur and Panihati, idylls which the family visited.[18][19] His brother Hemendranath tutored and physically conditioned himby having him swim the Ganges or trek through hills, by gymnastics, and by practicing judo and wrestling. He learned drawing, anatomy, geography and history, literature, mathematics, Sanskrit, and Englishhis least favorite subject.[20]Tagore loathed formal educationhis scholarly travails at the localPresidency College spanned a single day. Years later he held that proper teaching does not explain things; proper teaching stokes curiosity:[21]

His upanayan initiation at age eleven augured a pivotal trip; in February 1873 he decamped with his father for a months-long tour of the outer Raj. They visited his father's Santiniketan estate and rested in Amritsar en route to the Himalayan Dhauladhars.

Their destination was the remote hill station at Dalhousie. Along the way Tagore read biographies; his stridently learned father tutored him in history, astronomy, other modern sciences, and Sanskrit declensions. He read biographies of Benjamin Franklin and others; they shared Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; and together they examined the poetry of Klidsa.[22] In mid-April they reached the station, and at 2,300 metres (7,546 ft) they settled into a house atop Bakrota Hill. Tagore was arrested by the region's deep green gorges, its alpine forests, and its mossy streams and waterfalls.[23] Through the months a frigid regime attended him: daily twilights spent bathing in icy dawn water.[24][25] He returned to Jorosanko and completed a set of major works by 1877, one of them a long poem in the Maithili style of Vidyapati; they were published pseudonymously. Regional experts accepted them as the lost works of Bhnusiha, a newly discovered[] 17thcentury Vaiava poet.[26] He debuted the short-story genre in Bengali with "Bhikharini" ("The Beggar Woman"),[27][28] and his Sandhya Sangit (1882) includes the famous poem "Nirjharer Swapnabhanga" ("The Rousing of the Waterfall"). Servants subjected him to an almost ludic regimentation in a phase he dryly reviled as the "servocracy".[29] His head was water-dunkedto quiet him.[30] He irked his servants by refusing food; he was confined to chalk circles in parody of Sita's forest trial in the Ramayana; and he was regaled with the heroic criminal exploits of Bengal's outlaw-dacoits.[31] Because the Jorasanko manor was in an area of north Calcutta rife with poverty and prostitution,[32] he was forbidden to leave it for any purpose other than traveling to school. He thus became preoccupied with the world outside and nature. Of his 1873 visit to Santiniketan, he wrote:

Shelaidaha (18781901) Debendranath wanted his son to become a barrister; thus, in 1878, Tagore enrolled at a public school in Brighton, East Sussex, England.[15] He stayed for several months at a house that the Tagore family owned near Brighton and Hove, in Medina Villas; in 1877 his nephew and nieceSuren and Indira Devi, the children of Tagore's brother Satyendranathwere sent together with their mother, Tagore's sister-in-law, to live with him.[34] He briefly read law at University College London, but again left school. He opted instead for independent study of Shakespeare, Religio Medici, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra. Lively English, Irish, and Scottish folk tunes impressed Tagore, whose own tradition ofNidhubabuauthored kirtans and tappas and Brahmo hymnody was subdued.[15][35] In 1880 he returned to Bengal degree-less, resolving to reconcile European novelty with Brahmo traditions, taking

the best from each.[36] In 1883 he married Mrinalini Devi, born Bhabatarini, 18731902; they had five children, two of whom died in childhood.[37] In 1890 Tagore began managing his vast ancestral estates in the Shelaidaha region of Bangladesh; he was joined by his wife and children in 1898. Tagore released his Manasi poems (1890), among his best-known work.[38] As Zamindar Babu, Tagore crisscrossed the riverine holdings in command of thePadma, the luxurious family barge. He collected mostly token rents and blessed villagers who in turn honoured him with banquets occasionally of dried rice and sour milk.[39] Here he met Gagan Harkara through whom he became familiar with Lalon whose folk songs had an immense influence on Tagore.[40] Later Tagore too worked to popularize Lalon's songs. The period 18911895, Tagore'sSadhana period, named after one of Tagore's magazines, was his most productive;[16] in these years he wrote more than half the stories of the three-volume, 84story Galpaguchchha.[27] Its ironic and grave tales examined the voluptuous poverty of an idealised rural Bengal.[41] Santiniketan (19011932) In 1901 Tagore moved to Santiniketan to found an ashram with a marble-floored prayer hallThe Mandiran experimental school, groves of trees, gardens, a library.[42] There his wife and two of his children died. His father died in 1905. He received monthly payments as part of his inheritance and income from the Maharaja of Tripura, sales of his family's jewelry, his seaside bungalow inPuri, and a derisory 2,000 in book royalties.[43] He gained Bengali and foreign readers alike; he published Naivedya (1901) and Kheya(1906) and translated poems into free verse. In November 1913, Tagore learned he had won that year's Nobel Prize in Literature: theSwedish Academy appreciated the idealisticand for Westerners accessible nature of a small body of his translated material focussed on the 1912 Gitanjali: Song Offerings.[44] In 1915, the British Crown granted Tagore a knighthood. He renounced it after the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. In 1921, Tagore and agricultural economist Leonard Elmhirst set up the "Institute for Rural Reconstruction", later renamed Shriniketan or "Abode of Welfare", in Surul, a village near the ashram. With it, Tagore sought to moderate Gandhi's Swaraj protests, which he occasionally blamed for British India's perceived mentaland thus ultimately colonial decline.[45] He sought aid from donors, officials, and scholars worldwide to "free village[s] from the shackles of helplessness and ignorance" by "vitalis[ing] knowledge".[46][47] In the early 1930s he targeted ambient "abnormal caste consciousness" and untouchability. He

lectured against these, he penned Dalit heroes for his poems and his dramas, and he campaignedsuccessfullyto open Guruvayoor Temple to Dalits.[48][49] Twilight years (19321941) Main article: Latter life of Rabindranath Tagore Tagore's life as a "peripatetic litterateur" affirmed his opinion that human divisions were shallow. During a May 1932 visit to a Bedouin encampment in the Iraqi desert, the tribal chief told him that "Our prophet has said that a true Muslim is he by whose words and deeds not the least of his brother-men may ever come to any harm ..." Tagore confided in his diary: "I was startled into recognizing in his words the voice of essential humanity."[50] To the end Tagore scrutinised orthodoxyand in 1934, he struck. That year, an earthquake hit Bihar and killed thousands. Gandhi hailed it as seismic karma, as divine retribution avenging the oppression of Dalits. Tagore rebuked him for his seemingly ignominious inferences.[51] He mourned the perennial poverty of Calcutta and the rising tide of militant mediocritysocial, cultural, architecturalin Bengal. He detailed these newly plebeian aesthetics in an unrhymed hundred-line poem whose technique of searing double-vision foreshadowed Satyajit Ray's film Apur Sansar.[52][53] Fifteen new volumes appeared, among them prose-poem works Punashcha (1932), Shes Saptak (1935), andPatraput (1936). Experimentation continued in his prose-songs and dancedramas: Chitra (1914),Shyama (1939), and Chandalika (1938); and in his novels: Dui Bon (1933), Malancha (1934), and Char Adhyay (1934). Tagore's remit expanded to science in his last years, as hinted in Visva-Parichay, 1937 collection of essays. His respect for scientific laws and his exploration of biology, physics, and astronomy informed his poetry, which exhibited extensive naturalism and verisimilitude.[54] He wove the process of science, the narratives of scientists, into stories in Se (1937), Tin Sangi(1940), and Galpasalpa (1941). His last five years were marked by chronic pain and two long periods of illness. These began when Tagore lost consciousness in late 1937; he remained comatose and near death for a time. This was followed in late 1940 by a similar spell. He never recovered. Poetry from these valetudinary years is among his finest.[55][56] A period of prolonged agony ended with Tagore's death on 7 August 1941, aged eighty; he was in an upstairs room of the Jorasanko mansion he was raised in.[57][58] The date is still mourned.[59] A. K. Sen, brother of the first chief election commissioner, received dictation from Tagore on 30 July 1941, a day prior to a scheduled operation: his last poem.[60]

Travels

Between 1878 and 1932, Tagore set foot in more than thirty countries on five continents.[61] In 1912, he took a sheaf of his translated works to England, where they gained attention from missionary and Gandhi protg Charles F. Andrews, Irish poetWilliam Butler Yeats, Ezra Pound, Robert Bridges, Ernest Rhys,Thomas Sturge Moore, and others.[62] Yeats wrote the preface to the English translation of Gitanjali; Andrews joined Tagore at Santiniketan. In November 1912 Tagore began touring the United States[63] and the United Kingdom, staying in Butterton, Staffordshire with Andrews's clergymen friends.[64] From May 1916 until April 1917, he lectured in Japan and the United States.[65] He denounced nationalism.[66] His essay "Nationalism in India" was scorned and praised; it was admired by Romain Rolland and other pacifists.[67] Shortly after returning home the 63-year-old Tagore accepted an invitation from the Peruvian government. He travelled to Mexico. Each government pledged US$100,000 to his school to commemorate the visits.[69] A week after his 6 November 1924 arrival in Buenos Aires,[70] an ill Tagore shifted to the Villa Miralro at the behest of Victoria Ocampo. He left for home in January 1925. In May 1926 Tagore reached Naples; the next day he metMussolini in Rome.[71] Their warm rapport ended when Tagore pronounced upon Il Duce's fascist finesse.[72] He had earlier enthused: "[w]ithout any doubt he is a great personality. There is such a massive vigour in that head that it reminds one of Michael Angelos chisel." A "firebath" of fascism was to have educed "the immortal soul of Italy ... clothed in quenchless light".[73] On 14 July 1927 Tagore and two companions began a four-month tour of Southeast Asia. They visited Bali, Java, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Siam, and Singapore. The resultant travelogues compose Jatri (1929).[74] In early 1930 he left Bengal for a nearly year-long tour of Europe and the United States. Upon returning to Britainand as his paintings exhibited in Paris and Londonhe lodged at a Birmingham Quaker settlement. He wrote his OxfordHibbert Lectures[] and spoke at the annual London Quaker meet.[75] There, addressing relations between the British and the Indiansa topic he would tackle repeatedly over the next two yearsTagore spoke of a "dark chasm of aloofness".[76] He visited Aga Khan III, stayed at Dartington Hall, toured Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany from June to midSeptember 1930, then went on into the Soviet Union.[77] In April 1932 Tagore, intrigued by the Persian mystic Hafez, was hosted by Reza Shah Pahlavi.[78][79] In his other travels, Tagore interacted with Henri Bergson, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost,Thomas Mann, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and Romain Rolland.[80][81][82] Visits to Persia and Iraq (in 1932) and Sri Lanka (in 1933) composed Tagore's final foreign tour, and his dislike of communalism and nationalism only deepened.

Bharathidasan Bharathidasan

"Puratchi Kavingar" means "Revolutionary Poet" Bharathidasan (Tamil: ) (April 29, 1891 - April 21, 1964; also spelt Bharatidasan) was a twentieth century Tamil poet and rationalist whose literary works handled mostly socio-political issues. His writings served as a catalyst for the growth of the Dravidian movement inTamil Nadu. In addition to poetry, his views found expression in other forms such as plays, film scripts, short stories and essays. He was mentored by Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi (after whom he called himself "Bharathidasan"). But Bharathidasan, unlike Bharathi rarely used words derived from Sanskrit in his works; also Bharathidasan's works were more political. [edit]Life Bharathidasan was born to Kanagasabai Mudaliar and Lakshmi Ammal in a well-to-do merchant family of Pondicherry. His original name was Subburathina He underwent formal education in Tamil literature, Tamil grammar and Saiva siddharth Vedanta under reputed scholars. He also studied at the Collge Calv in Pondicherry. In 1909, he was introduced to Subramanya Bharathi, and his interactions with the Mahakavi had a major impact on him. He initially worked as a Tamil teacher in the French territory of Karaikal. He actively participated in the Indian Independence Movement and through his writings,he openly opposed the British and the French Government. He was sentenced and imprisoned by the French Government for voicing views against the French Government that was ruling Pondicherry then. He was a strong supporter of Periyar and an important member of the Suya-Mariyadhai iyyakam(meaning Self-Respect movement) and Dravida Movement , founded by Periyar. Biggest leader Pavalareru Perunchitthiranaar's Friend. During the Atheist's conference in Chennai, he signed a document having the words "I am an undying atheist". Throughout his writing career he was encouraged by political leaders such as Annadurai and M. G. Ramachandran. In 1954 he was elected to the Pondicherry

Legislative Assembly. He remained a prolific writer until he died in 1964 in a hospital in Chennai. [edit]Literary works Bharathidasan penned his works under differentpseudonyms such as Paavendar,Puduvai Kalaimakal, Desopakari, Desabhaktan, Anantapotini, Swadesamitiran, Tamilarasu, Tupleks, Kirukkan, Kindalkaran and the name by which he known today - Bharathidasan. As he was a staunch follower of Anti-Brahmanism, many of his works were anti-Brahmin in nature. Often he talked of "Tamil Race" and "Aryan Race" as polar opposites. His works include

Srimayilam Suppiramaniar Thuthiyamuthu Sanjivi Parvathin Saaral Edhirpaaraadha Mutham Kaadhal Ninaivugal Nalla Theerppu Alagin Sirippu Kudumba Vilakku Pandiyan Parisu Irunda Veedu Tamil Illakiyam Amaidhi - Oomai Saumiyan Kavingyar Pesugiraar Kadhala Kadamaiya Hindi Ethurppu Paadalgal Kannagi Puratchi Kaapiyam Manimekalai Venpa Panmanithiral Tenaruvi Isai Paadalgal

[edit]Awards and recognitions

Bharathidasan was conferred with the title of "Puratchi Kavingyar" (meaning the "Revolutionary Poet") by Periyar. He won the Golden Parrot Prize in 1946 for his play Amaithi-Oomai (Peace and Dumbness). He was given the Sahitya Academy award posthumously in 1970 for his play Pisiranthaiyar

In 9 October 2001, a commemorative stamp of Bharathidasan was released by the Postal Department in Chennai.

SUNDARAM PILLAI Prof. Manonmaneeyam Sundaram Pillai MA (1855-1897)

Article by Dr.Kanam Sankara Pillai Pathanamthitta, Kerala

Raja Kesava Dasan the famous Divanji of Travancore who constructed the Alapuzha port brought two Vellala families from Thirunelveli for account keeping.

One was Arjunan Piilai of Vadkkekara and the other Perumal Pillai of Thekkekara. Sundaram was the son of Perumal Pillai and Madathy Ammal. He studied the famous Tamil works like Thevaram, Thirikural, Thiruvachakam of Manikkavachakar in early childhood.

For higher education he went to Trivandrum. Bensley Seshayyar, Pillaveettil Mathevan Pillai, Pandithar Swaminataha Pillai were his teachers.

Rangarayar son of Sir T.Madavarayar was his classmate. In 1880 he got Main Economics. He is the First MA holder of Travancore and so got the name- MA Sundaram Pillai.

He married Sivakami Ammal at the age of 22. He became a disciple of Kodaknalloor Swamikal.

With Thycaud Ayya Swamikal he started Saiva Prekasa Sabha in Trivandrum. Chattampi Swamikal and Sri Narayana Guru were frequent visitors of his residence .

Once Swami Vivekanandan came to his residence to have a discourse with the learned Professor. He was the pet student of Dr. Harvey, Professor of Maharajas College present University College). So he was appointed as Professor in the same college. The famous Tamil play Manonmaneeyam was written by him in 1891. There after he was called Manonmaniyam Sundaram Pillai. The prayer song "Tamizh thai vazhattu" first published by Sundaram Pillai, MA as the invocation to his play, "Manonmaneeyam" was adopted the official "prayer song" of Tamil Nadu in June 1970.

He did research on Pathuppattu of Tamil Sanghom literature. Another work was Kings of Travancore for which he got an award.

He bought a large mountain area of 1000 acres in Peroorkada and named it Harveypurm and constructed his residence- Harvey Bungalow there.

Novelist C.V.Raman Pillai, R.Eswara Pillai, K.P Sankara Menon etc were his students.In 1888 he published Noottakaivilakkam .In 1894 he got Rai Bahadur title .He was known as learned Philosopher and his friend Chief Secretary Thanu Pillai was called Born Philosopher.

With their combined effort the Archeology Department of Travancore was born and Professor was the first Director of the Department. He died on 26th April 1897.

The Manonmaiam Sundanar University in Thirunelveli is named after this Great Professor Ex Finance Minister P.S.Nataraja Pillai was his only son

Maraimalai Adigal

Maraimalai Adigal Maraimalai Adigal (Tamil: ) (15 July 1876 15 September 1950) was an eminent Tamilorator and writer. He was a devout Hindu as a staunch follower of Saivism. He has authored more than 100 books, including works on original poems and dramas, but most famous are his books on his research into Tamil literature. Most of his literary works were on Saivism. He founded a Saivite institution called Podhunilaik Kazhagam. He was an exponent of the Pure Tamil movement and hence considered to be the father of Tamilpuritanism. He advocated the use of Tamil devoid ofSanskrit words and hence changed his birth nameVedhachalam to Maraimalai. Politically he was inclined towards non-Brahminism and hence he and his followers considered that the Self-respect movement was born out of his efforts. Nevertheless, the atheist ideologies of Periyar E. V. Ramasamy were shunned by Maraimalai Adigal and caused years of differences between the two. Maraimalai Adigal spent most of his income on buying his books and after his death his collection were made into a library according to his will. [edit]Early life Maraimalai Adigal was born on 15 July 1876[1] to Cokkanata Pillai and Cinnammai.[2] His birth name was Vedhachalam. He did his early schooling at Wesley Mission High School in Nagappattinam, but had to abandon his formal education with Fourth Form after his father's death.[3] [edit]An erudite Scholar In Three Llanguages ! Tamil, English and Sanskrit [edit]English and Sanskrit Learning

His stint as a student in Wesley Mission High School Nagapattiam made him proficient in English language. When refused to be taught Sanskrit by a Sanskrit teacher on his being a non Brahmin at his early age, he found a way out by teaching a fellow Brahmin student English, learnt fom that boy Sanskrit on daily basis and became proficient in Sanskrit. [edit]Education in Tamil literature Maraimalai Adigal in spite of discontinuing his formal education after 9th grade, continued learning Tamil language from Tamil scholar Narayana Pillai, who was making his livelihood by selling Tamil palm leaf manuscripts.[3] He learnt Sanskrit and Englishthrough his own effort.[2] He later authored several articles in Tamil monthly called Neelalochani. He later studied Saiva Philosophyunder Somasundara Naicker. With the help of Sundaram Pillai, author of Manonmaniam, he learnt Tamil poetic dramas and thus acquired employment as a Tamil teacher in a school inTrivandrum.[3] [edit]Career At the age of seventeen, he got married to Soundaravalli and soon after his marriage, he moved toChennai to work as a sud-editor to a journal Siddantha Deepikai. Later, in March 1898, he quit this job to work with V. G. Suryanarana Sastri as a teacher in Madras Christian College. In his time in Madras Christian College he toured throughout Tamil Nadu giving lectures on Saivism.[3] At about the same time he started a society for Saivism called Saiva Siddhanta Maha Samajam.[1] As a young teacher he was popular with his students who would visit his house to listen to his lectures.[2] (Though he changed his name (Marai = Vedham; Malai = achalam; Adigal = swamy) only in the 1916, we chose to address him as Maraimalai Adigal (for the period prior to 1916)out of shear respect for that great Tamil Scholar/ leader ) "Tamil made optional" by Madras University : In the year 1910 a decision was made by the Madras University to make Tamil language (vernacular) as optional for graduation in Arts subject leaving English as a medium of education. Some members of the University, who were inimical to Tamil but unashamedly calling themselves as Tamils made a proposal to make English and Sanskrit as compulsory subjects. In the absence of a true Tamil who could oppose that shameful act, only a European member took strong objection to that move and questioned as to how Tamil, a language rich in literature and grammar spoken by the majority people could be made as optional, while making Sanskrit, a language not spoken by anybody be made as a compulsory subject. Thus their sinister attempt to make Sanskrit as compulsory failed miserably.

Maraimalai Adigal Left the Job: Because of the above decision of Madras University many Tamil teachers lost their jobs. Realizing the vast knowledge and his great capacity as a teacher Miller the then Head of Christian College Madras and other friends insisted that Maraimalai Adigal be given a job in the college and should not leave the job. As the opportunity to teach Tamil got considerably reduced and number of students opted Tamil was minimal,the need for full time teacher was not a required. Maraimalai Adigal had refused the offer of Miller and other friends from other colleges and resigned his Christian College job to lead an ascetic life in a serene atmosphere outside the city and to study and do research in Tamil. [edit]Works in Tamil literature Apart from being a good orator he composed several Tamil poems too.[3] He authored more than 100 books. Other than essays and novels he wrote books dealing with literary criticism, philosophy and religion, history, psychology and politics.[4] His collections of poems to Hindu god Murugan, which he composed during the times of illness were published as Thiruvotri Muruhar Mummanikkovai in 1900. He also wrote poems in memory of his teacher Somasundara Naiker in 1901 as Somasundarak Kaanjiaakkam. This has been considered as one of his best works. He also released his research work on Tamil literature Mullaip Pattu Aaraichi for students of Tamil literature.[3] He translatedKalidasa's Sakuntalai into Tamil.[1] Some of his prominent works include:[4]

Pattinapalaai Aaraaichi-yurai (1906) Tamizhthaai (1933) Sinthanaikatturaikal (1908) Arivuraikkothu (1921) Chiruvarkaana Senthamizh (1934) Ilainarkaana Inramizh (1957 - posthumous publication) Arivuraikkovai (1971 - posthumous publication) Maraimalaiyatikal paamanaikkovai (1977 - posthumous publication)

In 1911, he published his first novel, Kumuthavalli allathu Naahanaattarasi, an adaptation of English novel Leela by G. W. M. Reynolds.[4]

Maraimalai Adigalar was the first and foremost author of self-improvement/selfhelp/personality development books in India. His works can be compared with those

of Emerson,M.R.Kopmeyer,Dale Carnegie etc. He wrote the following books in the 1890s and they are still available at the leading publishers at Chennai,India :1. Maranathin pin Manithar Nilai (Human Life stage After Death) 2. Mesmerism and Hypnotism 3. Tholaivil unarthal (Telepathy) [edit]As Swami Vedhachalam Maraimalai Adigal as an Author and Publisher: After quitting Christian College job On 10 April 1911, he moved to Pallavaram, a suburb of Chennai. While at Pallavaram, he started to dress as aSanyasin from 27 August 1911 and became to be known as Swami Vedhachalam. He became a devout follower of Saivism and started an institution named Podhunilaik Kazhagam. The motto of the institution was set at Ondre Kulam, Oruvanae Devan (Mankind is one, and God is one). The Kazhagam made efforts to make people of all castes, creeds and religions to worship together. He started a printing press named, "Thiru Murugan Press" (TM Press) in his residence at Pallavaram and published a number of books and magazines detailed above. He also started a monthly called Gnaana Saaharam (Ocean of Wisdom).[3] [edit]Pure Tamil movement Main article: Pure Tamil movement In the year 1916 he became an exponent of pure Tamil movement advocating the use of Tamil language devoid of loan words from Sanskrit. Thus he changed the name of Gnaana Saaharam toArivukkadal and his title of Swami Vedhachalam to Maraimalai Adigal (where Adigal is Tamil for Swami).[5] Thus he is referred to as the Father of Tamil Puritanism.[5][6][7] [edit]Differences with Self-respect movement Although initially a supporter of the Self-respect movement, which he saw as a non-Brahmin movement, he vehemently opposed the atheistic views of its leadership. At one stage he asked Ulaganatha Mudaliar, brother of Thiru. Vi. Kaliyanasundara Mudaliar (Thiru Vi. Ka as he was popularly known) and an eminent Saivite scholar himself, to arrange for a state-wide tour to counter the propaganda of the Self-respect movement.[10] Maraimalai Adigal looked upon the Self-respect movement as a handiwork of the Vaishnavites. On this Maraimalai Adigal wrote Kalyanasundara Mudaliar, although a Saivite himself, disagreed with Maraimalai Adigal. Kalyanasundaram refused to publish Maraimalai Adigal's essay against Self-respect movement in his journal.[10] The antipathy between Maraimalai Adigal and the members of Self-respect movement was also explicit with Kudiarasu, the political organ of Self-respect movement claiming that Maraimalai Adigal was calling for Periyar to be murdered.[11] [edit]Reconciliation

Eventually after years of disagreement, both Maraimalai Adigal and Periyar realised that the disagreement is harmful for their interest and worked towards a repproachment.[12] Periyar offered an unconditional apology to Maraimalai Adigal and in reply, Maraimalai Adigal wrote a series on theRamayana in Periyar's English language weekly Revolt.[13] Although the apology and reconciliation were at a personal level between Periyar and Maraimalai Adigal, the difference in ideologies still made their followers to cross swords.[13] [edit]Maraimalai Adigal Library Maraimalai Adigal spent most of his income on buying books.[5] Research on the readership of his book collections show that between 20 April 1923 to 10 August 1930 a total of 1852 people had borrowed his books.[5] The readership included people from Madras Presidency, Sri Lanka, Burma andMalaysia.[5] Upon his death, on 15 September 1950,[1] according to his will, the books were left for the people of Tamil Nadu and thus a library named after him was started in 1958 in Chennai.[5] The library was a repertoire of books and journals, some printed way back in 1779. The contents of the library were moved in May 2008 to Connemara Public Library.[14]

Thiru. V. Kalyanasundaram Thiruvarur Viruttacala Kalyanasundaram, (Tamil: . ) (1883September 17, 1953), better known by his Tamil initials Thiru Vi Ka ("Mr. V.K."), was a Tamil scholar, essayist and activist. He is esteemed for the strong humanism of his essays, the analytical depth of his commentaries on classical Tamil literature and philosophy, and the clear, fluid style of his prose. His works, along with those of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Maraimalai Adigal, and Arumuga Navalar are considered to have defined the style of modern Tamil prose. Contents [hide]

1 Early life 2 Contribution to Literature 3 Politics 4 Death 5 Stamp 6 References

[edit] Early life Thiru Vi. Ka was born in the village of Tullam in Chengalpet district, near Chennai in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in 1883. He attended the Wesley College High School, and also studied Tamil under Maraimalai Adikal against N. Kathiravel Pillai of Jaffna. He worked briefly as a teacher, and in 1917 became an editorial assistant on Tesapaktan, a nationalist Tamil daily. Thiru Vi. Ka. was soon involved in various aspects of the independence movement. During this period, he became a strong campaigner for worker rights. In 1918, he became active in the trade union movement as an associate of BP Wadia, and organised the first trade unions in the south of India.[1] [edit] Contribution to Literature In 1920, Thiru. Vi. Ka. started the a new Tamil weekly magazine, titled Navasakthi. Navasakthi would be the vehicle for his thoughts for much of the rest of his life. Thiru Vi. Ka. sought to make his magazine a beacon to the Tamil people. His writings reflected his political and philosophical views. He published one of the first Tamil interpretations of the thought of Mahatma Gandhi, which is still regarded as an important milestone in Gandhian studies. He wrote a number of works on the religious and spiritual thought of Ramalinga Swamigal, an influential Tamil Saivite philosopher-saint of the 19th century. He wrote

commentaries on a number of works of classical Tamil literature, which appeared as serials in Navasakthi. Over the course of his writing career, Thiru Vi. Ka. published over fifty books. These include Manitha Vazhkkaiyum Gandhiyadigalum, a study of the implications of Gandhi's thought for human conduct. His Pennin perumai allatu valkait tunai nalam was one of the most read books of that period. Also very influential, albeit at a more critical level, is his study of the concept of Beauty in Hinduism, published as Murugan alladhu azaku(Lord Murugan or Beauty). His writings reflect the internationalism characteristic of Indian intellectuals of that period, a strong pride in Indian and Tamil culture, coupled with a strong belief in the unity and universal kinship of all human thought.[2] In his writings, Thiru Vi. Ka. developed a prose style which built on the inner rhythms of the Tamil language and produced a rhythmic, flowing text. The field of Tamil prose was still relatively new, and the style he developed was extremely influential. His works are today seen as having given a new energy to the Tamil language and regarded as part of the foundations on which the modern Tamil prose style has been built.[3] [edit] Politics Through this period, Thiru Vi. Ka. continued to remain active in politics and the Indian independence struggle. He was considered to be one of the three pillars of the Indian National Congress in Tamil Nadu, even becoming the President of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee in 1926.[4] He spent much time touring Tamil Nadu, making speeches on the need for independence. He remained active well into his sixties, and did not retire from politics until Indian independence in 1947. [edit] Death Thiru Vi. Ka. died on September 19, 1953 at the age of 71.[5] [edit] Stamp On October 21, 2005, the Indian government commemorated his life by releasing a stamp in his honor.[6]

THE IMPACT OF INTRODUCTION OF WESTERN EDUCATION IN INDIA As has been noted by numerous scholars of British rule in India, the physical presence of the British in India was not significant. Yet, for almost two centuries, the British were able to rule two-thirds of the subcontinent directly, and exercise considerable leverage over the Princely States that accounted for the remaining one-third. While the strategy of divide and conquer was used most effectively, an important aspect of British rule in India was the psychological indoctrination of an elite layer within Indian society who were artfully tutored into becoming model British subjects. This English-educated layer of Indian society was craftily encouraged in absorbing values and notions about themselves and their land of birth that would be conducive to the British occupation of India, and furthering British goals of looting India's physical wealth and exploiting it's labour.

In 1835, Thomas Macaulay articulated the goals of British colonial imperialism most succinctly: "We must do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we govern, a class of persons Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, words and intellect." As the architect of Colonial Britain's Educational Policy in India, Thomas Macaulay was to set the tone for what educated Indians were going to learn about themselves, their civilization, and their view of Britain and the world around them. An arch-racist, Thomas Macaulay had nothing but scornful disdain for Indian history and civilization. In his infamous minute of 1835, he wrote that he had "never found one among them (speaking of Orientalists, an opposing political faction) who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia". "It is, no exaggeration to say, that all the historical information which has been collected from all the books written in Sanskrit language is less valuable than what may be found in the most paltry abridgments used at preparatory schools in England".

As a contrast to such unabashed contempt for Indian civilization, we find glowing references to India in the writings of pre-colonial Europeans quoted by Swami Vivekananda: "All history points to India as the mother of science and art," wrote William Macintosh. "This country was anciently so renowned for knowledge and wisdom that the philosophers of Greece did not disdain to travel thither for their improvement." Pierre Sonnerat, a French naturalist, concurred: "We find among the Indians the vestiges of the most remote antiquity.... We know that all peoples came there to draw the elements of their knowledge.... India, in her

splendour, gave religions and laws to all the other peoples; Egypt and Greece owed to her both their fables and their wisdom

But colonial exploitation had created a new imperative for the colonial lords. It could no longer be truthfully acknowledged that India had a rich civilization of its own - that its philosophical and scientific contributions may have influenced European scholars - or helped in shaping the European Renaissance. Britain needed a class of intellectuals meek and docile in their attitude towards the British, but full of hatred towards their fellow citizens. It was thus important to emphasize the negative aspects of the Indian tradition, and obliterate or obscure the positive. Indians were to be taught that they were a deeply conservative and fatalist people - genetically predisposed to irrational superstitions and mystic belief systems. That they had no concept of nation, national feelings or a history. If they had any culture, it had been brought to them by invaders - that they themselves lacked the creative energy to achieve anything by themselves. But the British, on the other hand epitomized modernity they were the harbingers of all that was rational and scientific in the world. With their unique organizational skills and energetic zeal, they would raise India from the morass of casteism and religious bigotry. These and other such ideas were repeatedly filled in the minds of the young Indians who received instruction in the British schools.

All manner of conscious (and subconscious) British (and European) agents would henceforth embark on a journey to rape and conquer the Indian mind. Within a matter of years, J.N Farquhar (a contemporary of Macaulay) was to write: "The new educational policy of the Government created during these years the modern educated class of India. These are men who think and speak in English habitually, who are proud of their citizenship in the British Empire, who are devoted to English literature, and whose intellectual life has been almost entirely formed by the thought of the West, large numbers of them enter government services, while the rest practice law, medicine or teaching, or take to journalism or business."

Macaulay's strategem could not have yielded greater dividends. Charles E. Trevelyan, brother-in-law of Macaulay, stated: " Familiarly acquainted with us by means of our literature, the Indian youth almost cease to regard us as foreigners. They speak of "great" men with the same enthusiasm as we do. Educated in the same way, interested in the same objects, engaged in the same pursuits with ourselves, they become more English than Hindoos, just as the Roman provincial became more Romans than Gauls or Italians.."

That this was no benign process, but intimately related to British colonial goals was expressed quite candidly by Charles Trevelyan in his testimony before the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Government of Indian Territories on 23rd June, 1853: "..... the effect of training in European learning is to give an entirely new turn to the native mind. The young men educated in this way cease to strive after independence according to the original Native model, and aim at, improving the institutions of the country according to the English model, with the ultimate result of establishing constitutional self-government. They cease to regard us as enemies and usurpers, and they look upon us as friends and patrons, and powerful beneficent persons, under whose protection the regeneration of their country will gradually be worked out. ....."

Much of the indoctrination of the Indian mind actually took place outside the formal classrooms and through the sale of British literature to the English-educated Indian who developed a voracious appetite for the British novel and British writings on a host of popular subjects. In a speech before the Edinburgh Philosophical Society in 1846, Thomas Babington (1800-1859), shortly to become Baron Macaulay, offered a toast: "To the literature of Britain . . . which has exercised an influence wider than that of our commerce and mightier than that of our arms . . .before the light of which impious and cruel superstitions are fast taking flight on the Banks of the Ganges!"

However, the British were not content to influence Indian thinking just through books written in the English language. Realizing the danger of Indians discovering their real heritage through the medium of Sanskrit, Christian missionaries such as William Carey anticipated the need for British educators to learn Sanskrit and transcribe and interpret Sanskrit texts in a manner compatible with colonial aims. That Carey's aims were thoroughly duplicitous is brought out in this quote cited by Richard Fox Young: "To gain the ear of those who are thus deceived it is necessary for them to believe that the speaker has a superior knowledge of the subject. In these circumstances a knowledge of Sanskrit is valuable. As the person thus misled, perhaps a Brahman, deems this a most important part of knowledge, if the advocate of truth be deficient therein, he labors against the hill; presumption is altogether against him."

In this manner, India's awareness of it's history and culture was manipulated in the hands of colonial ideologues. Domestic and external views of India were shaped by authors whose attitudes towards all things Indian were shaped either by subconscious prejudice or worse by barely concealed racism. For instance, William Carey (who bemoaned how so few Indians

had converted to Christianity in spite of his best efforts) had little respect or sympathy for Indian traditions. In one of his letters, he described Indian music as "disgusting", bringing to mind "practices dishonorable to God". Charles Grant, who exercised tremendous influence in colonial evangelical circles, published his "Observations" in 1797 in which he attacked almost every aspect of Indian society and religion, describing Indians as morally depraved, "lacking in truth, honesty and good faith" (p.103). British Governor General Cornwallis asserted "Every native of Hindostan, I verily believe, is corrupt".

Victorian writer and important art critic of his time, John Ruskin dismissed all Indian art with ill-concealed contempt: "..the Indian will not draw a form of nature but an amalgamation of monstrous objects". Adding: "To all facts and forms of nature it wilfuly and resolutely opposes itself; it will not draw a man but an eight armed monster, it will not draw a flower but only a spiral or a zig zag". Others such as George Birdwood (who took some interest in Indian decorative art) nevertheless opined: "...painting and sculpture as fine art did not exist in India."

Several British and European historians attempted to portray India as a society that had made no civilizational progress for several centuries. William Jones asserted that Hindu society had been stationary for so long that "in beholding the Hindus of the present day, we are beholding the Hindus of many ages past". James Mill, author of the three-volume History of British India (1818) essentially concurred with William Jones as did Henry Maine. This view of India, as an essentially unchanging society where there was no intellectual debate, or technological innovation - where a hidebound caste system had existed without challenge or reform - where social mobility or class struggle were unheard of, became especially popular with European scholars and intellectuals of the colonial era.

It allowed influential philosophers such as Hegel to posit ethnocentric and self-serving justifications of colonization. Arguing that Europe was "absolutely the end of universal history", he saw Asia as only the beginning of history, where history soon came to a standstill. "If we had formerly the satisfaction of believing in the antiquity of the Indian wisdom and holding it in respect, we now have ascertained through being acquainted with the great astronomical works of the Indians, the inaccuracy of all figures quoted. Nothing can be more confused, nothing more imperfect than the chronology of the Indians; no people which attained to culture in astronomy, mathematics, etc., is as incapable for history; in it they have neither stability nor coherence." With such distorted views of India, it was a small step to

argue that "The British, or rather the East India Company, are the masters of India because it is the fatal destiny of Asian empires to subject themselves to the Europeans."

Hegel's racist consciousness comes out most explicitly in his descriptions of Africans: "It is characteristic of the blacks that their consciousness has not yet even arrived at the intuition of any objectivity, as for example, of God or the law, in which humanity relates to the world and intuits its essence. ...He [the black person] is a human being in the rough."

Such ideas also shaped the views of later German authors such Max Weber famous for his "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism," (1930) who in his descriptions of Indian religion and philosophy focused exclusively on "material renunciation" and the "world denying character" of Indian philosophical systems, ignoring completely the rich heritage of scientific realism and rational analysis that had in fact imbued much of Indian thought. Weber discounted the existence of any rational doctrines in the East, insisting that: "Neither scientific, artistic, governmental, nor economic evolution has led to the modes of rationalization proper to the Occident." Whether it was ignorance or prejudice that determined his views, such views were not uninfluential, and exemplified the euro-centric undercurrent that pervaded most British and European scholarship of that time.

Naturally, British-educated Indians absorbed and internalized such characterizations of themselves and their past. Amongst those most affected by such diminution of the Indian character was the young Gandhi, who when in South Africa, wished to meet General Smuts and offer the cooperation of the South African Indian population for the Boer war effort. In a conversation with the General, Gandhi appears as just the sort of colonized sycophant the British education system had hoped to create: "General Smuts, sir we Indians would like to strengthen the hands of the government in the war. However, our efforts have been rebuffed. Could you inform us about our vices so we would reform and be better citizens of this land?" to which Gen.Smuts replied: "Mr. Gandhi, we are not afraid of your vices, We are afraid of your virtues". (Although Gandhi eventually went through a slow and very gradual nationalist transformation, in 1914 he campaigned for the British war efforts in World War I, and was one of the last of the national leaders to call for complete independence from British rule.)

British-educated Indians grew up learning about Pythagoras, Archimedes, Galileo and Newton without ever learning about Panini, Aryabhatta, Bhaskar or Bhaskaracharya. The logic and epistemology of the Nyaya Sutras, the rationality of the early Buddhists or the

intriguing philosophical systems of the Jains were generally unknown to the them. Neither was there any awareness of the numerous examples of dialectics in nature that are to be found in Indian texts. They may have read Homer or Dickens but not the Panchatantra, the Jataka tales or anything from the Indian epics. Schooled in the aesthetic and literary theories of the West, many felt embarrassed in acknowledging Indian contributions in the arts and literature. What was important to Western civilization was deemed universal, but everything Indian was dismissed as either backward and anachronistic, or at best tolerated as idiosyncratic oddity. Little did the Westernized Indian know what debt "Western Science and Civilization" owed (directly or indirectly) to Indian scientific discoveries and scholarly texts.

Dilip K. Chakrabarti (Colonial Indology) thus summarized the situation: "The model of the Indian past...was foisted on Indians by the hegemonic books written by Western Indologists concerned with language, literature and philosophy who were and perhaps have always been paternalistic at their best and racists at their worst.."

Elaborating on the phenomenon of cultural colonization, Priya Joshi (Culture and Consumption: Fiction, the Reading Public, and the British Novel in Colonial India) writes: "Often, the implementation of a new education system leaves those who are colonized with a lack of identity and a limited sense of their past. The indigenous history and customs once practiced and observed slowly slip away. The colonized become hybrids of two vastly different cultural systems. Colonial education creates a blurring that makes it difficult to differentiate between the new, enforced ideas of the colonizers and the formerly accepted native practices."

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, (Kenya, Decolonising the Mind), displaying anger toward the isolationist feelings colonial education causes, asserted that the process "...annihilates a peoples belief in their names, in their languages, in their environment, in their heritage of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and ultimately in themselves. It makes them see their past as one wasteland of non-achievement and it makes them want to distance themselves from that wasteland. It makes them want to identify with that which is furthest removed from themselves".

Strong traces of such thinking continue to infect young Indians, especially those that migrate to the West. Elements of such mental insecurity and alienation also had an impact on the consciousness of the British-educated Indians who participated in the freedom struggle.

In contemporary academic circles, various false theories continue to percolate. While some write as if Indian civilization has made no substantial progress since the Vedic period, for others the clock stopped with Ashoka, or with the "classical age" of the Guptas. Some Islamic scholars have attempted to construct a more positive view of the Islamic reigns in India, but continue to concur with colonial scholars in seeing pre-Islamic India as socially and culturally moribund and technologically backward. A range of scholars persist in basing their studies on views of Indian history that not only concentrate exclusively on its negative traits, but also fail to situate the negative aspects of Indian history in historical context. Few have attempted to make serious and objective comparisons of Indian social institutions and cultural attributes with those of other nations. Often the Indian historical record is unfavorably compared with European achievements that in fact took place many centuries later.

Unable to rise above the colonial paradigms, many post-independence scholars of Indian history and civilization continue to fumble with colonially inspired doctrines that run counter to the emerging historical record. Others more conscious of British distortions and frustrated by the hyper-critical assessment of some Indian scholars, go to the other extreme of presenting the Indian historical record without any critical analysis whatsoever. Some have even attempted to construct artificially hyped views of Indian history where there is little attempt to distinguish myth from fact. Strong communal biases continue to prevail, as do xenophobic rejections of even potentially useful and valid Western constructs, even as Western-imposed hegemonic economic systems and exploitative economic models continue to dominate the Indian economic landscape and often find unquestioning acceptance.

Thus, one of the most difficult tasks facing the Indian subcontinent is to free all scholarship concerning its development and its relationship to the world from the biased formulations and distortions of colonially-influenced authors. At the same time, Indian authors also need to study the West and other civilizations with dispassionate objectivity - eschewing both craven and uncritical admiration and xenophobic skepticism and distrust of the scientific and cultural achievements made by others.

Jawaharlal Nehru

1st Prime Minister of India In office 15 August 1947 27 May 1964 Monarch President Governor General Deputy Preceded by Succeeded by George VI (1947-1950) Rajendra Prasad Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Vallabhbhai Patel Position established Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting) Minister of Defence In office 31 October 1962 14 November 1962 Preceded by Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon

Succeeded by

Yashwantrao Chavan In office

30 January 1957 17 April 1957 Preceded by Succeeded by Kailash Nath Katju Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon In office 10 February 1953 10 January 1955 Preceded by Succeeded by N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar Kailash Nath Katju Minister of Finance In office 13 February 1958 13 March 1958 Preceded by Succeeded by Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar Morarji Desai In office 24 July 1956 30 August 1956 Preceded by Chintaman Dwarakanath Deshmukh Tiruvellore Thattai Krishnamachariar

Succeeded by

Minister of External Affairs In office 15 August 1947 27 May 1964 Preceded by Succeeded by Position established Gulzarilal Nanda Personal details Born 14 November 1889

Allahabad, United Provinces, British India Died 27 May 1964 (aged 74) New Delhi, India

Political party Indian National Congress Spouse(s) Children Alma mater Profession Religion Kamala Kaul Indira Gandhi Trinity College, Cambridge Inns of Court Barrister Agnostic atheism[1][2][3]

Jawaharlal Nehru (IPA: [darlal neru] ( listen), Hindi: , Urdu: 41 ; November 1889 27 May 1964[4]), often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India (194764) and became noted for his neutralist policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of Indias independence movement in the 1930s and 40s. Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1951 and 1952. Nehru contributed to the establishment of a secular Parliamentary democracy in India and was one of the founders of the international Non-Aligned Movement. The son of moderate nationalist leader and Congressman Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress when fairly young. Rising to become Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence for India from the British Empire. In the long struggle for Indian independence, Nehru was eventually recognized as Gandhi's political heir. Throughout his life, Nehru advocated Democratic socialism/Fabian Socialism and a strong Public sector as the means by which economic development could be pursued by poorer nations. He was the father of Indira Gandhi and the maternal grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi, who would later serve as the third and sixth Prime Ministers of India. Early life and career

The Nehru family. Standing (L to R) are Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Krishna Hutheesing, Indira Gandhi, and Ranjit Pandit. Seated: Swaroop Rani, Motilal Nehru and Kamala Nehru (circa 1927).

Jawaharlal Nehru at Harrow, where he was also known as Joe Nehru. Jawaharlal Nehru was born to Motilal Nehru (18611931) and Swaroop Rani (18631954) in a Kashmiri Pandit family in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He was educated in India and Britain. In England, he attended the independent boy's school, Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. During his time in Britain, Nehru was also known as Joe Nehru.[5][6][7][8][9][10] On 7 February 1916, Nehru married sixteen year old Kamala Kaul. In the first year of the marriage, Kamala gave birth to their only child, Indira Priyadarshini. Much modern speculation has revolved around whether, during the final days of the British in India, Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten, the wife of Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, were romantically involved.[11] Life and career Nehru raised the flag of independent India in New Delhi on 15 August 1947, the day India gained Independence. Nehru's appreciation of the virtues of parliamentary democracy, secularism and liberalism, coupled with his concerns for the poor and underprivileged, are recognised to have guided him in formulating socialist policies that influence India to this day. They also reflect the socialist origins of his worldview. His daughter, Indira Gandhi, and grandson, Rajiv Gandhi, also served as Prime Ministers of India. Successor to Gandhi

On 15 January 1941 Gandhi said, "Some say Pandit Nehru and I were estranged. It will require much more than difference of opinion to estrange us. We had differences from the time we became co-workers and yet I have said for some years and say so now that not Rajaji but Jawaharlal will be my successor."[12] Political apprenticeship

Teen Murti Bhavan, Nehru's residence as Prime Minister, now a museum in his memory. Nehru and his colleagues had been released as the British Cabinet Mission arrived to propose plans for transfer of power. Once elected, Nehru headed an interim government, which was impaired by outbreaks of communal violence and political disorder, and the opposition of the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. After failed bids to form coalitions, Nehru reluctantly supported the partition of India, according to a plan released by the British on 3 June 1947. He took office as the Prime Minister of India on 15 August, and delivered his inaugural address titled "A Tryst With Destiny" "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."[13] However, this period was marked with intense communal violence. This violence swept across the Punjab region, Delhi, Bengal and other parts of India. Nehru conducted joint tours[citation needed] with Pakistani leaders to encourage peace and calm angry and disillusioned refugees. Nehru would work with Maulana Azad and other Muslim leaders to safeguard and encourage Muslims to remain in India. The violence of the time deeply affected Nehru, who called for a ceasefire[citation needed] and UN intervention to stop the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Fearing communal reprisals, Nehru also hesitated in supporting the annexation of Hyderabad

State. Jaswant Singh, a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), viewed Nehru, not Mohammad Ali Jinnah, as causing the partition of India, mostly referring to his highly centralised policies for an independent India in 1947, which Jinnah opposed in favour of a more decentralised India. The split between the two was among the causes of partition. It is believed that personal animosity between the two leaders led to the partition of India.[14][15] In the years following independence, Nehru frequently turned to his daughter Indira to look after him and manage his personal affairs. Under his leadership, the Congress won an overwhelming majority in the elections of 1952. Indira moved into Nehru's official residence to attend to him and became his constant companion in his travels across India and the world. Indira would virtually become Nehru's chief of staff. Nehru's study in Teen Murti Bhavan. Economic policies Nehru presided over the introduction of a modified, Indian version of state planning and control over the economy. Creating the Planning commission of India, Nehru drew up the first Five-Year Plan in 1951, which charted the government's investments in industries and agriculture. Increasing business and income taxes, Nehru envisaged a mixed economy in which the government would manage strategic industries such as mining, electricity and heavy industries, serving public interest and a check to private enterprise. Nehru pursued land redistribution and launched programmes to build irrigation canals, dams and spread the use of fertilizers to increase agricultural production. He also pioneered a series of community development programs aimed at spreading diverse cottage industries and increasing efficiency into rural India. While encouraging the construction of large dams (which Nehru called the "new temples of India"), irrigation works and the generation of hydroelectricity, Nehru also launched India's programme to harness nuclear energy. For most of Nehru's term as prime minister, India would continue to face serious food shortages despite progress and increases in agricultural production. Nehru's industrial policies, summarised in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956, encouraged the growth of diverse manufacturing and heavy industries,[16] yet state planning, controls and regulations began to impair productivity, quality and profitability. Although the Indian economy enjoyed a steady rate of growth at 2.5% per annum (mocked by leftist economist Raj Krishna as a "Hindu rate of growth"), chronic unemployment amidst widespread poverty continued to plague the population. Education and social reform Jawaharlal Nehru was a passionate advocate of education for India's children and youth, believing it essential for India's future progress. His government oversaw the establishment of

many institutions of higher learning, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Management and the National Institutes of Technology. Nehru also outlined a commitment in his five-year plans to guarantee free and compulsory primary education to all of India's children. For this purpose, Nehru oversaw the creation of mass village enrollment programmes and the construction of thousands of schools. Nehru also launched initiatives such as the provision of free milk and meals to children in order to fight malnutrition. Adult education centres, vocational and technical schools were also organised for adults, especially in the rural areas. Under Nehru, the Indian Parliament enacted many changes to Hindu law to criminalize caste discrimination and increase the legal rights and social freedoms of women[17][18][19][20] A system of reservations in government services and educational institutions was created to eradicate the social inequalities and disadvantages faced by peoples of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Nehru also championed secularism and religious harmony, increasing the representation of minorities in government. D. D. Kosambi, a well-known Marxist historian, criticized Nehru in his article for the bourgeoisie class exploitation of Nehru's socialist ideology.[21] National security and foreign policy See also: Role of India in Non-Aligned Movement Nehru led newly independent India from 1947 to 1964, during its first years of freedom from British rule. Both the United States and the Soviet Union competed to make India an ally throughout the Cold War. On the international scene, Nehru was a champion of pacifism and a strong supporter of the United Nations. He pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of nations professing neutrality between the rival blocs of nations led by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Recognising the People's Republic of China soon after its founding (while most of the Western bloc continued relations with the Republic of China), Nehru argued for its inclusion in the United Nations and refused to brand the Chinese as the aggressors in their conflict with Korea.[22] He sought to establish warm and friendly relations with China in 1950, and hoped to act as an intermediary to bridge the gulf and tensions between the communist states and the Western bloc. Meanwhile, Nehru had promised in 1948 to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir under the auspices of the UN but, as Pakistan failed to pull back troops in accordance with the UN resolution and as Nehru grew increasingly wary of the UN, he declined to hold a plebiscite in 1953. He ordered the arrest of the Kashmiri politician Sheikh Abdullah, whom he had previously

supported but now suspected of harbouring separatist ambitions; Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad replaced him. His policy of pacifism and appeasement with respect to China also came unraveled when border disputes led to the Sino-Indian war in 1962.

Jawaharlal Nehru (right) with Muhammad Ali Bogra, Prime Minister of Pakistan (left), during his 1953 visit to Karachi Nehru was hailed by many for working to defuse global tensions and the threat of nuclear weapons.[23] He commissioned the first study of the human effects of nuclear explosions, and campaigned ceaselessly for the abolition of what he called "these frightful engines of destruction." He also had pragmatic reasons for promoting de-nuclearisation, fearing that a nuclear arms race would lead to over-militarisation that would be unaffordable for developing countries such as his own.[24] In 1956 he had criticised the joint invasion of the Suez Canal by the British, French and Israelis. Suspicion and distrust cooled relations between India and the U.S., which suspected Nehru of tacitly supporting the Soviet Union. Accepting the arbitration of the UK and World Bank, Nehru signed the Indus Water Treaty in 1960 with Pakistani ruler Ayub Khan to resolve long-standing disputes about sharing the resources of the major rivers of the Punjab region. "We, who for generations had talked about and attempted in everything a peaceful way and practiced non-violence, should now be, in a sense, glorifying our army, navy and air force. It means a lot. Though it is odd, yet it simply reflects the oddness of life. Though life is logical, we have to face all contingencies, and unless we are prepared to face them, we will go under. There was no greater prince of peace and apostle of non-violence than Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, whom we have lost, but yet, he said it was better to take the sword than to surrender, fail or run away. We cannot live carefree assuming that we are safe. Human nature is such. We cannot take the risks and risk our hard-won freedom. We have to be prepared with all modern defense methods and a well-equipped army, navy and air force."[25][26] Nuclear weapons program

Nehru envisioned the developing of nuclear weapons and established the Atomic Energy Commission of India (AEC) in 1948.[27] Nehru also called Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, a nuclear physicist, who was entrusted with complete authority over all nuclear related affairs and programs and answered only to Nehru himself.[27] Indian nuclear policy was set by unwritten personal understanding between Nehru and Bhabha.[27] Nehru famously said to Bhabha, "Professor Bhabha take care of Physics, leave international relation to me".[27] From the outset in 1948, Nehru had high ambition to developed this program to stand against the industrialized states and the basis of this program was to establish an Indian nuclear weapons capability as part of India's regional superiority to other South-Asian states, most particularly Pakistan.[27] Nehru also told Bhabha, later it was told by Bhabha to Raja Rammanna that, "We must have the capability. We should first prove ourselves and then talk of Gandhi, nonviolence and a world without nuclear weapons.[27] " Final years

Nehru with Ashoke Kumar Sen, S. Radhakrishnan and Bidhan Chandra Roy Nehru had led the Congress to a major victory in the 1957 elections, but his government was facing rising problems and criticism. Disillusioned by intra-party corruption and bickering, Nehru contemplated resigning but continued to serve. The election of his daughter Indira as Congress President in 1959 aroused criticism for alleged nepotism[citation needed], although actually Nehru had disapproved of her election, partly because he considered it smacked of "dynastism"; he said, indeed it was "wholly undemocratic and an undesirable thing", and refused her a position in his cabinet.[28] Indira herself was at loggerheads with her father over policy; most notably, she used his oft-stated personal deference to the Congress Working Committee to push through the dismissal of the Communist Party of India government in the state of Kerala, over his own objections.[28] Nehru began to be frequently embarrassed by her

ruthlessness and disregard for parliamentary tradition, and was "hurt" by what he saw as an assertiveness with no purpose other than to stake out an identity independent of her father.[4] Although the Pancha Sila (Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence) was the basis of the 1954 Sino-Indian border treaty, in later years, Nehru's foreign policy suffered through increasing Chinese assertiveness over border disputes and Nehru's decision to grant political asylum to the 14th Dalai Lama. After years of failed negotiations, Nehru authorized the Indian Army to liberate Goa in 1961 from Portuguese occupation, and then he formally annexed it to India. It increased his popularity, but he was criticized for the use of military force. In the 1962 elections, Nehru led the Congress to victory yet with a diminished majority. Opposition parties ranging from the right-wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party, socialists and the Communist Party of India performed well.

Prime Minister Nehru talks with United Nations General Assembly President Romulo (October 1949).

Nehru lying in state, 1964; the gun carriage used for his state funeral was later used for the state funeral of Mother Teresa From 1959, in a process that accelerated in 1961, Nehru adopted the "Forward Policy" of setting up military outposts in disputed areas of the Sino-Indian border, including in 43 outposts in territory not previously controlled by India.[29] China attacked some of these outposts, and thus the Sino-Indian War began, which India technically lost, but China gained no territory as it withdrew to pre-war lines. The war exposed the weaknesses of India's military, and Nehru was widely criticised for his government's insufficient attention to defence. In response, Nehru sacked the defence minister Krishna Menon and sought U.S.

military aid, but Nehru's health began declining steadily, and he spent months recuperating in Kashmir through 1963. Some historians attribute this dramatic decline to his surprise and chagrin over the Sino-Indian War, which he perceived as a betrayal of trust.[30] Upon his return from Kashmir in May 1964, Nehru suffered a stroke and later a heart attack. He was "taken ill in early hours" of 27 May 1964 and died in "early afternoon" on same day, and his death was announced to Lok Sabha at 1400 local time; cause of death is believed to be heart attack.[31] Nehru was cremated in accordance with Hindu rites at the Shantivana on the banks of the Yamuna River, witnessed by hundreds of thousands of mourners who had flocked into the streets of Delhi and the cremation grounds. Legacy

Bust of Nehru at Aldwych, London As India's first Prime minister and external affairs minister, Jawaharlal Nehru played a major role in shaping modern India's government and political culture along with sound foreign policy. He is praised for creating a system providing universal primary education[citation needed], reaching children in the farthest corners of rural India. Nehru's education policy is also credited for the development of world-class educational institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences,[32] Indian Institutes of Technology,[33] and the Indian Institutes of Management. "Nehru was a great man... Nehru gave to Indians an image of themselves that I don't think others might have succeeded in doing." Sir Isaiah Berlin[34] In addition, Nehru's stance as an unfailing nationalist led him to also implement policies which stressed commonality among Indians while still appreciating regional diversities. This

proved particularly important as post-Independence differences surfaced since British withdrawal from the subcontinent prompted regional leaders to no longer relate to one another as allies against a common adversary. While differences of culture and, especially, language threatened the unity of the new nation, Nehru established programs such as the National Book Trust and the National Literary Academy which promoted the translation of regional literatures between languages and also organized the transfer of materials between regions. In pursuit of a single, unified India, Nehru warned, "Integrate or perish."[35] Commemoration

Nehru distributes sweets among children at Nongpoh, Meghalaya

Jawaharlal Nehru on a 1989 USSR commemorative stamp. In his lifetime, Jawaharlal Nehru enjoyed an iconic status in India and was widely admired across the world for his idealism and statesmanship. His birthday, 14 November, is celebrated in India as Baal Divas ("Children's Day") in recognition of his lifelong passion and work for the welfare, education and development of children and young people. Children across India remember him as Chacha Nehru (Uncle Nehru). Nehru remains a popular symbol of the Congress Party which frequently celebrates his memory. Congress leaders and activists often emulate his style of clothing, especially the Gandhi cap, and his mannerisms. Nehru's ideals and policies continue to shape the Congress Party's manifesto and core political philosophy.

An emotional attachment to his legacy was instrumental in the rise of his daughter Indira to leadership of the Congress Party and the national government. Nehru's personal preference for the sherwani ensured that it continues to be considered formal wear in North India today; aside from lending his name to a kind of cap, the Nehru jacket is named in his honour due to his preference for that style. Numerous public institutions and memorials across India are dedicated to Nehru's memory. The Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi is among the most prestigious universities in India. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port near the city of Mumbai is a modern port and dock designed to handle a huge cargo and traffic load. Nehru's residence in Delhi is preserved as the Teen Murti House now has Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, and one of five Nehru Planetariums that were set in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Allahabad and Pune. The complex also houses the offices of the 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund', established in 1964 under the Chairmanship of Dr S. Radhakrishnan, then President of India. The foundation also gives away the prestigious 'Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fellowship', established in 1968.[36] The Nehru family homes at Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan are also preserved to commemorate Nehru and his family's legacy. In popular culture Many documentaries about Nehru's life have been produced. He has also been portrayed in fictionalised films. The canonical performance is probably that of Roshan Seth, who played him three times: in Richard Attenborough's 1982 film Gandhi, Shyam Benegal's 1988 television series Bharat Ek Khoj, based on Nehru's The Discovery of India, and in a 2007 TV film entitled The Last Days of the Raj.[37] In Ketan Mehta's film Sardar, Nehru was portrayed by Benjamin Gilani. Girish Karnad's historical play, Tughlaq (1962) is an allegory about the Nehruvian era. It was staged by Ebrahim Alkazi with National School of Drama Repertory at Purana Qila, Delhi in 1970s and later at the Festival of India, London in 1982.[38][39] Writings Nehru was a prolific writer in English and wrote a number of books, such as The Discovery of India, Glimpses of World History, and his autobiography, Toward Freedom. Awards In 1955 Nehru awarded himself with Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour

Vallabhbhai Patel

Deputy Prime Minister of India In office 15 August 1947 15 December 1950 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Morarji Desai Minister of Home Affairs In office 15 August 1947 15 December 1950 Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru

Preceded by Position established Succeeded by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari Personal details 31 October 1875 Born Nadiad, Bombay Presidency, British India (now India) Died 15 December 1950 (aged 75)

Mumbai, India Nationality Political party Indian Indian National Congress

Alma mater Middle Temple Profession Religion Lawyer Hinduism

Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (Gujarati: , Hindi pronunciation: [llbbai pel] ( listen)) (31 October 1875 15 December 1950) was an Indian barrister and statesman, one of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and one of the founding fathers of India. He is known to be a social leader of India who played a major role in the country's struggle for independence and guided its integration into a united, independent nation.Therefore he is also regarded as "Bismark of India". He was known as the "Iron Man of India". In India and across the world, he was often addressed as Sardar (Gujarati: , Hindi pronunciation: [srdr]), which means Chief in many languages of India. Raised in the countryside of Gujarat in Leva-Gujjar Patidar[1][2] community and largely selfeducated, Vallabhbhai Patel was employed in successful practice as a lawyer when he was first inspired by the work and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. Patel subsequently organised the peasants of Kheda, Borsad, and Bardoli in Gujarat in non-violent civil disobedience against oppressive policies imposed by the British Raj; in this role, he became one of the most influential leaders in Gujarat. He rose to the leadership of the Indian National Congress and was at the forefront of rebellions and political events, organising the party for elections in 1934 and 1937, and promoting the Quit India movement. As the first Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of India, Patel organised relief for refugees in Punjab and Delhi, and led efforts to restore peace across the nation. Patel took charge of the task to forge a united India from the British colonial provinces allocated to India and more than five hundred self-governing princely states, released from British suzerainty by the Indian Independence Act 1947. Using frank diplomacy, backed with the option and use of military force, Patel's leadership persuaded almost every princely state which did not have a Muslim majority to accede to India. Hailed as the Iron Man of India, he

is also remembered as the "Patron Saint" of India's civil servants for establishing modern allIndia services. Patel was also one of the earliest proponents of property rights and free enterprise in India. [edit] Biography Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel was born at his maternal uncle's house Desai Vago in Nadiad in Leva Patidar Gujjar[1] community of Gujarat. His actual date of birth was never officially recordedPatel entered 31 October as his date of birth on his matriculation examination papers.[3] He was the fourth son of Jhaverbhai and his wife Ladba Patel. They lived in the village of Karamsad, in the Kheda district of the Bombay Presidency, where Jhaverbhai owned a homestead. Somabhai, Narsibhai and Vithalbhai Patel (also a future political leader) were his elder brothers. He had a younger brother, Kashibhai and a sister, Dahiba. As a young boy, Patel helped his father in the fields and twice a month kept a day-long fast, abstaining from food and watera Hindu cultural observance that helped him to develop physical toughness.[4] His father was a devotee of the Swaminarayan Sampraday and would often take Patel to the Swaminarayan Temple in Vadtal about 20 km from Karamsad by foot.[5] When he was eighteen years old, Patel's marriage was arranged with Jhaverba, a young girl of twelve or thirteen years from a nearby village. According to custom, the young bride would continue to live with her parents until her husband started earning and could establish their household. Patel travelled to attend schools in Nadiad, Petlad and Borsad, living self-sufficiently with other boys. He reputedly cultivated a stoic charactera popular anecdote recounts how he lanced his own painful boil without hesitation, even as the barber supposed to do it trembled.[6] Patel passed his matriculation at the late age of 22; at this point, he was generally regarded by his elders as an unambitious man destined for a commonplace job. Patel himself harboured a planhe would study to become a lawyer, work and save funds, travel to England and study to become a barrister.[7] Patel spent years away from his family, studying on his own with books borrowed from other lawyers and passed examinations within two years. Fetching Jhaverba from her parents' home, Patel set up his household in Godhra and was called to the bar. During the many years it took him to save money, Patel now an advocate earned a reputation as a fierce and skilled lawyer. His wife bore him a daughter, Manibehn, in 1904, and a son, Dahyabhai, in 1906. Patel also cared for a friend suffering from Bubonic plague when it swept across Gujarat. When Patel himself came down with the disease, he immediately sent his family to safety, left his home and moved into an isolated house in Nadiad (by other accounts, Patel spent this time in a dilapidated temple); there, he recovered slowly.[8]

Patel practised law in Godhra, Borsad and Anand while taking on the financial burdens of his homestead in Karamsad. When he had saved enough for England and applied for a pass and a ticket, they arrived in the name of "V. J. Patel," at Vithalbhai's home, who bore the same initials. Having harboured his own plans to study in England, Vithalbhai remonstrated to his younger brother that it would be disreputable for an older brother to follow his younger brother. In keeping with concerns for his family's honour, Patel allowed Vithalbhai to go in his place.[9] He also financed his brother's stay and began saving again for his own goals. In 1909, Patel's wife Jhaverba was hospitalised in Mumbai (then Bombay) to undergo a major surgical operation for cancer. Her health suddenly worsened and despite successful emergency surgery, she died in the hospital. Patel was given a note informing him of his wife's demise as he was cross-examining a witness in court. According to others who witnessed, Patel read the note, pocketed it and continued to intensely cross-examine the witness and won the case. He broke the news to others only after the proceedings had ended.[10] Patel himself decided against marrying again. He raised his children with the help of his family and sent them to English-medium schools in Mumbai. At the age of 36, he journeyed to England and enrolled at the Middle Temple Inn in London. Finishing a 36month course in 30 months, Patel topped his class despite having no previous college background. Returning to India, Patel settled in the city of Ahmedabad and became one of the city's most successful barristers. Wearing European-style clothes and urbane mannerisms, he also became a skilled bridge player. Patel nurtured ambitions to expand his practise and accumulate great wealth and to provide his children with modern education. He had also made a pact with his brother Vithalbhai to support his entry into politics in the Bombay Presidency, while Patel himself would remain in Ahmedabad and provide for the family.[11] [edit] Fighting for independence See also: Indian independence movement and Mahatma Gandhi At the urging of his friends, Patel won an election to become the sanitation commissioner of Ahmedabad in 1917. While often clashing with British officials on civic issues, he did not show any interest in politics. Upon hearing of Mohandas Gandhi, he joked to Mavlankar that Gandhi would "ask you if you know how to sift pebbles from wheat. And that is supposed to bring independence."[12] But Patel was deeply impressed when Gandhi defied the British in Champaran for the sake of the area's oppressed farmers. Against the grain of Indian politicians of the time, Gandhi wore Indian-style clothes and emphasised the use of one's mother tongue or any Indian language as opposed to Englishthe lingua franca of India's intellectuals. Patel was particularly attracted to Gandhi's inclination to actionapart from a

resolution condemning the arrest of political leader Annie Besant, Gandhi proposed that volunteers march peacefully demanding to meet her. Patel gave a speech in Borsad in September 1917, encouraging Indians nationwide to sign Gandhi's petition demanding Swarajindependencefrom the British. Meeting Gandhi a month later at the Gujarat Political Conference in Godhra, Patel became the secretary of the Gujarat Sabhaa public body which would become the Gujarati arm of the Indian National Congressat Gandhi's encouragement. Patel now energetically fought against veththe forced servitude of Indians to Europeansand organised relief efforts in wake of plague and famine in Kheda.[13] The Kheda peasants' plea for exemption from taxation had been turned down by British authorities. Gandhi endorsed waging a struggle there, but could not lead it himself due to his activities in Champaran. When Gandhi asked for a Gujarati activist to devote himself completely to the assignment, Patel volunteered, much to Gandhi's personal delight.[14] Though his decision was made on the spot, Patel later said that his desire and commitment came after intensive personal contemplation, as he realised he would have to abandon his career and material ambitions.[15] [edit] Satyagraha in Gujarat See also: Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha and Bardoli Satyagraha Supported by Congress volunteers Narhari Parikh, Mohanlal Pandya and Abbas Tyabji, Vallabhbhai Patel began a village-to-village tour in the Kheda district, documenting grievances and asking villagers for their support for a statewide revolt by refusing the payment of taxes. Patel emphasised potential hardships with the need for complete unity and non-violence despite any provocation. He received enthusiastic responses from virtually every village.[16] When the revolt was launched and revenue refused, the government sent police and intimidation squads to seize property, including confiscating barn animals and whole farms. Patel organised a network of volunteers to work with individual villages helping them hide valuables and protect themselves during raids. Thousands of activists and farmers were arrested, but Patel was not. The revolt began evoking sympathy and admiration across India, including with pro-British Indian politicians. The government agreed to negotiate with Patel and decided to suspend the payment of revenue for the year, even scaling back the rate. Patel emerged as a hero to Gujaratis and admired across India.[17] In 1920, he was elected president of the newly formed Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committeehe would serve as its president till 1945. Patel supported Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement and toured the state to recruit more than 300,000 members and raise over Rs. 1.5 million in funds.[18] Helping organise bonfires of British goods in Ahmedabad, Patel threw in all his English-style clothes. With his daughter

Mani and son Dahya, he switched completely to wearing khadi. Patel also supported Gandhi's controversial suspension of resistance in wake of the Chauri Chaura incident. He worked extensively in the following years in Gujarat against alcoholism, untouchability and caste discrimination, as well as for the empowerment of women. In the Congress, he was a resolute supporter of Gandhi against his Swarajist critics. Patel was elected Ahmedabad's municipal president in 1922, 1924 and 1927during his terms, Ahmedabad was extended a major supply of electricity and the school system underwent major reforms. Drainage and sanitation systems were extended over all the city. He fought for the recognition and payment of teachers employed in schools established by nationalists (out of British control) and even took on sensitive Hindu-Muslim Issues.[19] Sardar Patel personally led relief efforts in the aftermath of the intense torrential rainfall in 1927, which had caused major floods in the city and in the Kheda district and great destruction of life and property. He established refuge centres across the district, raised volunteers, arranged for supply of food, medicines and clothing, as well as emergency funds from the government and public.[20] When Gandhi was in prison, Sardar Patel was asked by Members of Congress to lead the satyagraha in Nagpur in 1923 against a law banning the raising of the Indian flag. He organised thousands of volunteers from all over the country in processions hoisting the flag. Patel negotiated a settlement that obtained the release of all prisoners and allowed nationalists to hoist the flag in public. Later that year, Patel and his allies uncovered evidence suggesting that the police were in league with local dacoits in the Borsad taluka even as the government prepared to levy a major tax for fighting dacoits in the area. More than 6,000 villagers assembled to hear Patel speak and supported the proposed agitation against the tax, which was deemed immoral and unnecessary. He organised hundreds of Congressmen, sent instructions and received information from across the district. Every village in the taluka resisted payment of the tax, and through cohesion, also prevented the seizure of property and lands. After a protracted struggle, the government withdrew the tax. Historians believe that one of Patel's key achievements was the building of cohesion and trust amongst the different castes and communities, which were divided on socio-economic lines.[21] In April 1928, Sardar Patel returned to the freedom struggle from his municipal duties in Ahmedabad when Bardoli suffered from a serious predicament of a famine and steep tax hike. The revenue hike was steeper than it had been in Kheda even though the famine covered a large portion of Gujarat. After cross-examining and talking to village representatives, emphasizing the potential hardship and need for non-violence and cohesion, Patel initiated the strugglecomplete denial of taxes.[22] Sardar Patel organised volunteers, camps and an information network across affected areas. The revenue refusal was stronger

than in Kheda and many sympathy satyagrahas were undertaken across Gujarat. Despite arrests, seizures of property and lands, the struggle intensified. The situation reached a head in August, when through sympathetic intermediaries, he negotiated a settlement repealing the tax hike, reinstating village officials who had resigned in protest and the return of seized property and lands. It was during the struggle and after the victory in Bardoli that Patel was increasingly addressed by his colleagues and followers as Sardar.[23] [edit] Leading the Congress Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel (third from left, in the foreground), and other Congressmen at Wardha As Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March, Patel was arrested in the village of Ras and tried without witnesses, with no lawyer or pressman allowed to attend. Patel's arrest and Gandhi's subsequent arrest caused the Salt Satyagraha to greatly intensify in Gujarat districts across Gujarat launched an anti-tax rebellion until and unless Patel and Gandhi were released.[24] Once released, Patel served as interim Congress president, but was re-arrested while leading a procession in Mumbai. After the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact, Patel was elected Congress president for its 1931 session in Karachihere the Congress ratified the pact, committed itself to the defence of fundamental rights and human freedoms, and a vision of a secular nation, minimum wage and the abolition of untouchability and serfdom. Patel used his position as Congress president in organising the return of confiscated lands to farmers in Gujarat.[25] Upon the failure of the Round Table Conference in London, Gandhi and Patel were arrested in January 1932 when the struggle re-opened, and imprisoned in the Yeravda Central Jail. During this term of imprisonment, Patel and Gandhi grew close to each other, and the two developed a close bond of affection, trust, and frankness. Their mutual relationship could be described as that of an elder brother (Gandhi) and his younger brother (Patel). Despite having arguments with Gandhi, Patel respected his instincts and leadership. During imprisonment, the two would discuss national and social issues, read Hindu epics and crack jokes. Gandhi also taught Patel Sanskrit language. Gandhi's secretary Mahadev Desai kept detailed records of conversations between Gandhi and Patel.[26] When Gandhi embarked on a fast-unto-death protesting the separate electorates allocated for untouchables, Patel looked after Gandhi closely and himself refrained from partaking of food.[27] Patel was later moved to a jail in Nasik, and refused a British offer for a brief release to attend the cremation of his brother Vithalbhai, who had died in 1934. He was finally released in July of the same year. Patel's position a the highest level in the Congress was largely connected with his role from 1934 onwards (when the Congress abandoned its boycott of elections) in the party

organization. Based at an apartment in Mumbai, he became the Congress's main fund-raiser and chairman of its Central Parliamentary Board, playing the leading role in selecting and financing candidates for the 1934 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi and also for the Provincial elections of 1936.[28] As well as collecting funds and selecting candidates, he would also determine the Congress stance on issues and opponents.[29] Not contesting a seat for himself, Patel nevertheless guided Congressmen elected in the provinces and at the national level. In 1935, Patel underwent surgery for hemorrhoids, yet guided efforts against plague in Bardoli and again when a drought struck Gujarat in 1939. Patel would guide the Congress ministries that had won power across India with the aim of preserving party disciplinePatel feared that the British would use opportunities to create conflicts among elected Congressmen, and he did not want the party to be distracted from the goal of complete independence.[30] But Patel would clash with Nehru, opposing declarations of the adoption of socialism at the 1936 Congress session, which he believed was a diversion from the main goal of achieving independence. In 1938, Patel organized rank and file opposition to the attempts of then-Congress president Subhash Bose to move away from Gandhi's principles of non-violent resistance. Patel considered Bose to want more power over the party. He led senior Congress leaders in a protest, which resulted in Bose's resignation. But criticism arose from Bose's supporters, socialists and other Congressmen that Patel himself was acting in an authoritarian manner in his defense of Gandhi's authority. [edit] Quit India Main article: Quit India Movement On the outbreak of World War II Patel supported Nehru's decision to withdraw the Congress from central and provincial legislatures, contrary to Gandhi's advice, as well as an initiative by senior leader Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari to offer Congress's full support to Britain if it promised Indian independence at the end of the war and install a democratic government right away. Gandhi had refused to support Britain on the grounds of his moral opposition to war, while Subhash Chandra Bose was in militant opposition to the British. The British rejected Rajagopalachari's initiative, and Patel embraced Gandhi's leadership again.[31] He participated in Gandhi's call for individual disobedience, and was arrested in 1940 and imprisoned for nine months. He also opposed the proposals of the Cripps' mission in 1942. Patel lost more than twenty pounds during his period in jail.

Azad, Patel and Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940 While Nehru, Rajagopalachari and Maulana Azad initially criticized Gandhi's proposal for an all-out campaign of civil disobedience to force the British to Quit India, Patel was its most fervent supporter. Arguing that the British would retreat from India as they had from Singapore and Burma, Patel stressed that the campaign start without any delay.[32] Though feeling that the British would not quit immediately, Patel favored an all-out rebellion which would galvanize Indian people, who had been divided in their response to the war, In Patel's view, an all-out rebellion would force the British to concede that continuation of colonial rule had no support in India, and thus speed power transfer to Indians.[33] Believing strongly in the need for revolt, Patel stated his intention to resign from the Congress if the revolt was not approved.[34] Gandhi strongly pressured the All India Congress Committee to approve of an all-out campaign of civil disobedience, and the AICC approved the campaign on 7 August 1942. Though Patel's health had suffered during his stint in jail, Patel gave emotional speeches to large crowds across India,[35] asking people to refuse paying taxes and participate in civil disobedience, mass protests and a shutdown of all civil services. He raised funds and prepared a second-tier of command as a precaution against the arrest of national leaders.[36] Patel made a climactic speech to more than 100,000 people gathered at Gowalia Tank in Bombay (Mumbai) on 7 August: The Governor of Burma boasts in London that they left Burma only after reducing everything to dust. So you promise the same thing to India? ... You refer in your radio broadcasts and newspapers to the government established in Burma by Japan as a puppet government? What sort of government do you have in Delhi now?...When France fell before the Nazi onslaught, in the midst of total war, Mr. Churchill offered union with England to the French. That was indeed a stroke of inspired statesmanship. But when it comes to India? Oh no! Constitutional changes in the midst of a war? Absolutely unthinkable ... The object this time is to free India before the Japanese can come and be ready to fight them if they come. They will round up the

leaders, round up all. Then it will be the duty of every Indian to put forth his utmost effort within non-violence. No source is to be left untapped; no weapon untried. This is going to be the opportunity of a lifetime.[37] Historians believe that Patel's speech was instrumental in electrifying nationalists, who had been skeptical of the proposed rebellion. Patel's organising work in this period is credited by historians for ensuring the success of the rebellion across India.[38] Patel was arrested on 9 August and was imprisoned with the entire Congress Working Committee from 1942 to 1945 at the fort in Ahmednagar. Here he spun cloth, played bridge, read a large number of books, took long walks, practised gardening. He also provided emotional support to his colleagues while awaiting news and developments of the outside.[39] Patel was deeply pained at the news of the deaths of Mahadev Desai and Kasturba Gandhi later in the year.[40] But Patel wrote in a letter to his daughter that he and his colleagues were experiencing "fullest peace" for having done "their duty."[41] Even though other political parties had opposed the struggle and the British had employed ruthless means of suppression, the Quit India movement was "by far the most serious rebellion since that of 1857," as the viceroy cabled to Winston Churchill. More than one hundred thousand people were arrested and thousands killed in police firings. Strikes, protests and other revolutionary activities had broken out across India.[42] When Patel was released on 15 June 1945 he realised that the British were preparing proposals to transfer power to Indian hands. [43] [edit] Integration after Independence and Role of Gandhi In the 1946 election for the Congress presidency, Patel stepped down in favor of Nehru at the request of Gandhi. The election's importance stemmed from the fact that the elected President would lead free India's first Government. Gandhi asked all 16 states representatives and Congress to elect the right person and Sardar Patel's name was proposed by 13 states representatives out of 16, but Patel respected Gandhi's request to not be the first prime minister. As a Home Minister, Patel merged all parts of India under federal control but Jammu and Kashmir was left out because of Nehru. After the election of Nehru as the party's president, Patel began directing the Congress campaign for the general elections of the Constituent Assembly of India. In the elections, the Congress won a large majority of the elected seats, dominating the Hindu electorate. But the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah won a large majority of Muslim electorate seats. The League had resolved in 1940 to demand Pakistanan independent state for Muslimsand was a fierce critic of the Congress. The Congress formed governments in all provinces save Sindh, Punjab and Bengal, where it entered into coalitions with other parties.

[edit] Cabinet mission and partition See also: Partition of India When the British mission proposed two plans for transfer of power, there was considerable opposition within the Congress to both. The plan of 16 May 1946 proposed a loose federation with extensive provincial autonomy, and the "grouping" of provinces based on religiousmajority. The plan of 16 June 1946 proposed the partition of India on religious lines, with over 600 princely states free to choose between independence or accession to either dominion. The League approved both plans, while the Congress flatly rejected the 16 June proposal. Gandhi criticised the 16 May proposal as being inherently divisive, but Patel, realizing that rejecting the proposal would mean that only the League would be invited to form a government, lobbied the Congress Working Committee hard to give its assent to the 16 May proposal. Patel engaged the British envoys Sir Stafford Cripps and Lord PethickLawrence and obtained an assurance that the "grouping" clause would not be given practical force, Patel converted Nehru, Rajendra Prasad and Rajagopalachari to accept the plan. When the League retracted its approval of the 16 May plan, the viceroy Lord Wavell invited the Congress to form the government. Under Nehru, who was styled the "Vice President of the Viceroy's Executive Council," Patel took charge of the departments of home affairs and information and broadcasting. He moved into a government house on 1, Aurangzeb Road in Delhithis would be his home till his death in 1950. Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the first Congress leaders to accept the partition of India as a solution to the rising Muslim separatist movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He had been outraged by Jinnah's Direct Action campaign, which had provoked communal violence across India and by the viceroy's vetoes of his home department's plans to stop the violence on the grounds of constitutionality. Patel severely criticised the viceroy's induction of League ministers into the government, and the revalidation of the grouping scheme by the British without Congress approval. Although further outraged at the League's boycott of the assembly and non-acceptance of the plan of 16 May despite entering government, he was also aware that Jinnah did enjoy popular support amongst Muslims, and that an open conflict between him and the nationalists could degenerate into a Hindu-Muslim civil war of disastrous consequences. The continuation of a divided and weak central government would in Patel's mind, result in the wider fragmentation of India by encouraging more than 600 princely states towards independence.[44] Between the months of December 1946 and January 1947, Patel worked with civil servant V. P. Menon on the latter's suggestion for a separate dominion of Pakistan created out of Muslim-majority provinces. Communal violence in Bengal and Punjab in January and March 1947 further convinced Patel of the soundness of

partition. Patel, a fierce critic of Jinnah's demand that the Hindu-majority areas of Punjab and Bengal be included in a Muslim state, obtained the partition of those provinces, thus blocking any possibility of their inclusion in Pakistan. Patel's decisiveness on the partition of Punjab and Bengal had won him many supporters and admirers amongst the Indian public, which had tired of the League's tactics, but he was criticised by Gandhi, Nehru, secular Muslims and socialists for a perceived eagerness to do so. When Lord Louis Mountbatten formally proposed the plan on 3 June 1947, Patel gave his approval and lobbied Nehru and other Congress leaders to accept the proposal. Knowing Gandhi's deep anguish regarding proposals of partition, Patel engaged him in frank discussion in private meetings over the perceived practical unworkability of any Congress-League coalition, the rising violence and the threat of civil war. At the All India Congress Committee meeting called to vote on the proposal, Patel said: I fully appreciate the fears of our brothers from [the Muslim-majority areas]. Nobody likes the division of India and my heart is heavy. But the choice is between one division and many divisions. We must face facts. We cannot give way to emotionalism and sentimentality. The Working Committee has not acted out of fear. But I am afraid of one thing, that all our toil and hard work of these many years might go waste or prove unfruitful. My nine months in office has completely disillusioned me regarding the supposed merits of the Cabinet Mission Plan. Except for a few honourable exceptions, Muslim officials from the top down to the chaprasis (peons or servants) are working for the League. The communal veto given to the League in the Mission Plan would have blocked India's progress at every stage. Whether we like it or not, de facto Pakistan already exists in the Punjab and Bengal. Under the circumstances I would prefer a de jure Pakistan, which may make the League more responsible. Freedom is coming. We have 75 to 80 percent of India, which we can make strong with our own genius. The League can develop the rest of the country.[45]

Following Gandhi's and Congress' approval of the plan, Patel represented India on the Partition Council, where he oversaw the division of public assets, and selected the Indian council of ministers with Nehru. However, neither he nor any other Indian leader had foreseen the intense violence and population transfer that would take place with partition. Patel would take the lead in organising relief and emergency supplies, establishing refugee camps and visiting the border areas with Pakistani leaders to encourage peace. Despite these

efforts, the death toll is estimated at between five hundred thousand to a million people.[46] The estimated number of refugees in both countries exceeds 15 million.[47] Understanding that Delhi and Punjab policemen, accused of organising attacks on Muslims, were personally affected by the tragedies of partition, Patel called out the Indian Army with South Indian regiments to restore order, imposing strict curfews and shoot-at-sight orders. Visiting the Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah area in Delhi, where thousands of Delhi Muslims feared attacks, he prayed at the shrine, visited the people and reinforced the presence of police. He suppressed from the press reports of atrocities in Pakistan against Hindus and Sikhs to prevent retaliatory violence. Establishing the Delhi Emergency Committee to restore order and organising relief efforts for refugees in the capital, Patel publicly warned officials against partiality and neglect. When reports reached Patel that large groups of Sikhs were preparing to attack Muslim convoys heading for Pakistan, Patel hurried to Amritsar and met Sikh and Hindu leaders. Arguing that attacking helpless people was cowardly and dishonourable, Patel emphasised that Sikh actions would result in further attacks against Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan. He assured the community leaders that if they worked to establish peace and order and guarantee the safety of Muslims, the Indian government would react forcefully to any failures of Pakistan to do the same. Additionally, Patel addressed a massive crowd of approximately 200,000 refugees who had surrounded his car after the meetings: Here, in this same city, the blood of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims mingled in the bloodbath of Jallianwala Bagh. I am grieved to think that things have come to such a pass that no Muslim can go about in Amritsar and no Hindu or Sikh can even think of living in Lahore. The butchery of innocent and defenceless men, women and children does not behove brave men... I am quite certain that India's interest lies in getting all her men and women across the border and sending out all Muslims from East Punjab. I have come to you with a specific appeal. Pledge the safety of Muslim refugees crossing the city. Any obstacles or hindrances will only worsen the plight of our refugees who are already performing prodigious feats of endurance. If we have to fight, we must fight clean. Such a fight must await an appropriate time and conditions and you must be watchful in choosing your ground. To fight against the refugees is no fight at all. No laws of humanity or war among honourable men permit the murder of people who have sought shelter and protection. Let there be truce for three months in which both sides can exchange their refugees. This sort of truce is permitted even by laws of war. Let us take the initiative in breaking this vicious circle of attacks and counter-attacks. Hold your hands for a week and see

what happens. Make way for the refugees with your own force of volunteers and let them deliver the refugees safely at our frontier.[48]

Following his dialogue with community leaders and his speech, no further attacks occurred against Muslim refugees, and a wider peace and order was re-established soon over the entire area. However, Patel was criticised by Nehru, secular Muslims and taxed by Gandhi over his alleged wish to see Muslims from other parts of India depart. While Patel vehemently denied such allegations, the acrimony with Maulana Azad and other secular Muslim leaders increased when Patel refused to dismiss Delhi's Sikh police commissioner, who was accused of discrimination. Hindu and Sikh leaders also accused Patel and other leaders of not taking Pakistan sufficiently to task over the attacks on their communities there, and Muslim leaders further criticised him for allegedly neglecting the needs of Muslims leaving for Pakistan, and concentrating resources for incoming Hindu and Sikh refugees. Patel clashed with Nehru and Azad over the allocation of houses in Delhi vacated by Muslims leaving for PakistanNehru and Azad desired to allocate them for displaced Muslims, while Patel argued that no government professing secularism must make such exclusions. However, Patel was publicly defended by Gandhi and received widespread admiration and support for speaking frankly on communal issues and acting decisively and resourcefully to quell disorder and violence. [edit] Political integration of India Main article: Political integration of India This event formed the cornerstone of Patel's popularity in post-independence era and even today, he is remembered as the man who united India. He is, in this regard, compared to Otto von Bismarck of Germany, who did the same thing in 1860s. Under the 3 June plan, more than 600 princely states were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan, or choosing independence. Indian nationalists and large segments of the public feared that if these states did not accede, most of the people and territory would be fragmented. The Congress as well as senior British officials considered Patel the best man for the task of achieving unification of the princely states with the Indian dominion. Gandhi had said to Patel "the problem of the States is so difficult that you alone can solve it".[49] He was considered a statesman of integrity with the practical acumen and resolve to accomplish a monumental task. Patel asked V. P. Menon, a senior civil servant with whom he had worked over the partition of India, to become his right-hand as chief secretary of the States Ministry. On 6 May 1947, Patel began lobbying the princes, attempting to make them receptive towards dialogue with the future Government and trying to forestall potential conflicts. Patel used social meetings and

unofficial surroundings to engage most monarchs, inviting them to lunch and tea at his home in Delhi. At these meetings, Patel stated that there was no inherent conflict between the Congress and the princely order. Nonetheless, he stressed that the princes would need to accede to India in good faith by 15 August 1947. Patel invoked the patriotism of India's monarchs, asking them to join in the freedom of their nation and act as responsible rulers who cared about the future of their people. He persuaded the princes of 565 states of the impossibility of independence from the Indian republic, especially in the presence of growing opposition from their subjects. He proposed favourable terms for the merger, including creation of privy purses for the descendants of the rulers. While encouraging the rulers to act with patriotism, Patel did not rule out force, setting a deadline of 15 August 1947 for them to sign the instrument of accession document. All but three of the states willingly merged into the Indian uniononly Jammu and Kashmir, Junagadh, and Hyderabad did not fall into his basket. Somnath temple Restoration

Somnath temple ruins, 1869

Sardar Patel ordered Somnath temple reconstructed in 1948.

Hyderabad state in 1909. Its area stretches over the present Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra.

British Indian Empire in 1909 Junagadh was especially important to Patel, since it was in his home state of Gujarat and also because this Kathiawar district had the ultra-rich Somnath temple which had been plundered 17 times by Mahmud of Ghazni who broke the temple and its idols to rob it of its riches, emeralds, diamonds and gold. The Nawab had under pressure from Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto acceded to Pakistan. It was however, quite far from Pakistan and 80% of its population was Hindu. Patel combined diplomacy with force, demanding that Pakistan annul the accession, and that the Nawab accede to India. He sent the Army to occupy three principalities of Junagadh to show his resolve. Following widespread protests and the formation of a civil government, or Aarzi Hukumat, both Bhutto and the Nawab fled to Karachi, and under Patel's orders, Indian Army and police units marched into the state. A plebiscite later organised produced a 99.5% vote for merger with India.[50] In a speech at the Bahauddin College in Junagadh following the latter's take-over, Patel emphasised his feeling of urgency on Hyderabad, which he felt was more vital to India than Kashmir: If Hyderabad does not see the writing on the wall, it goes the way Junagadh has gone. Pakistan attempted to set off Kashmir against Junagadh. When we raised the question of settlement in a democratic way, they (Pakistan) at once told us that they would consider it if we applied that policy to Kashmir. Our reply was that we would

agree to Kashmir if they agreed to Hyderabad.[50]

Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states, and included parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra states. Its ruler, the Nizam Osman Ali Khan was a Muslim, although over 80% of its people were Hindu. The Nizam sought independence or accession with Pakistan. Muslim forces loyal to Nizam, called the Razakars, under Qasim Razvi pressed the Nizam to hold out against India, while organising attacks on people on Indian soil. Even though a Standstill Agreement was signed due to the desperate efforts of Lord Mountbatten to avoid a war, the Nizam rejected deals and changed his positions.[51] In September 1948, Patel emphasised in Cabinet meetings that India should talk no more, and reconciled Nehru and the Governor-General, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari to military action. Following preparations, Patel ordered the Indian Army to integrate Hyderabad (in his capacity as Acting Prime Minister) when Nehru was touring Europe.[52] The action was termed Operation Polo, in which thousands of Razakar forces had been killed, but Hyderabad was comfortably secured into the Indian Union. The main aim of Mountbatten and Nehru in avoiding a forced annexation was to prevent an outbreak of Hindu-Muslim violence. Patel insisted that if Hyderabad was allowed to continue with its antics, the prestige of the Government would fall and then neither Hindus nor Muslims would feel secure in its realm. After defeating Nizam, Patel retained him as the ceremonial chief of state, and held talks with him.[53] Sardar Patel is also the man behind the integration of Lakshadweep Islands with the Republic of India. The inhabitants of these islands were cut off from the mainstream of the country and learnt about Indian Independence days after 15 August 1947. It was Patel who realised that Pakistan could lay claim to these islands on the grounds of Muslim majority, though the islands were nowhere near the new state of Pakistan. An Indian Navy ship was sent to Lakshadweep to hoist the national flag by Patel to thwart any attempt by Pakistan to grab the islands. Just a couple of hours thereafter, vessels belonging to the Pakistan Navy were spotted near the islands.These vessels however retreated to Karachi after seeing the Indian flag flying over the Lakshadweep.[54] [edit] Leading India Governor General Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, Nehru and Patel formed the triumvirate which ruled India from 1948 to 1950. Prime Minister Nehru was intensely popular with the masses, but Patel enjoyed the loyalty and faith of rank and file Congressmen, state leaders and India's civil services. Patel was a senior leader in the Constituent Assembly of India and

was responsible in a large measure for shaping India's constitution. He is also known as the " Bismark of India" [55] Patel was a key force behind the appointment of Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar as the chairman of the drafting committee, and the inclusion of leaders from a diverse political spectrum in the process of writing the constitution.[55] Patel was the chairman of the committees responsible for minorities, tribal and excluded areas, fundamental rights and provincial constitutions. Patel piloted a model constitution for the provinces in the Assembly, which contained limited powers for the state governor, who would defer to the Presidenthe clarified it was not the intention to let the governor exercise power which could impede an elected government.[55] He worked closely with Muslim leaders to end separate electorates and the more potent demand for reservation of seats for minorities.[56] Patel would hold personal dialogues with leaders of other minorities on the question, and was responsible for the measure that allows the President to appoint AngloIndians to Parliament. His intervention was key to the passage of two articles that protected civil servants from political involvement and guaranteed their terms and privileges.[55] He was also instrumental in the founding the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, and for his defence of Indian civil servants from political attack, he is known as the "patron saint" of India's services. When a delegation of Gujarati farmers came to him citing their inability to send their milk production to the markets without being fleeced by intermediaries, Patel exhorted them to organise the processing and sale of milk by themselves, and guided them to create the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited, which preceded the Amul milk products brand. Patel also pledged the reconstruction of the ancient but dilapidated Somnath Temple in Saurashtrahe oversaw the creation of a public trust and restoration work, and pledged to dedicate the temple upon the completion of work (the work was completed after Patel's death, and the temple was inaugurated by the first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad). When the Pakistani invasion of Kashmir began in September 1947, Patel immediately wanted to send troops into Kashmir. But agreeing with Nehru and Mountbatten, he waited till Kashmir's monarch had acceded to India. Patel then oversaw India's military operations to secure Srinagar, the Baramulla Pass and the forces retrieved much territory from the invaders. Patel, along with Defence Minister Baldev Singh administered the entire military effort, arranging for troops from different parts of India to be rushed to Kashmir and for a major military road connecting Srinagar to Pathankot be built in 6 months.[57] Patel strongly advised Nehru against going for arbitration to the United Nations, insisting that Pakistan had been wrong to support the invasion and the accession to India was valid. He did not want foreign interference in a bilateral affair. Patel opposed the release of Rs. 55 crores to the Government

of Pakistan, convinced that the money would go to finance the war against India in Kashmir. The Cabinet had approved his point but it was reversed when Gandhi, who feared an intensifying rivalry and further communal violence, went on a fast-unto-death to obtain the release. Patel, though not estranged from Gandhi, was deeply hurt at the rejection of his counsel and a Cabinet decision.[58] In 1949, a crisis arose when the number of Hindu refugees entering West Bengal, Assam and Tripura from East Pakistan climbed over 800,000. The refugees in many cases were being forcibly evicted by Pakistani authorities, and were victims of intimidation and violence.[59] Nehru invited Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan to find a peaceful solution. Despite his aversion, Patel reluctantly met Khan and discussed the matters. Patel strongly criticised, however, Nehru's intention to sign a pact that would create minority commissions in both countries and pledge both India and Pakistan to a commitment to protect each other's minorities.[60] Syama Prasad Mookerjee and K.C. Neogy, two Bengali ministers resigned and Nehru was intensely criticised in West Bengal for allegedly appeasing Pakistan. The pact was immediately in jeopardy. Patel however, publicly came out to Nehru's aid. He gave emotional speeches to members of Parliament, and the people of West Bengal, and spoke with scores of delegations of Congressmen, Hindus, Muslims and other public interest groups, persuading them to give peace a final effort. The pact was approved and within a year, most of the Hindu refugees had returned to East Pakistan.[61] [edit] Gandhi's death and relations with Nehru Patel was intensely loyal to Gandhi and both he and Nehru looked to him to arbitrate disputes. However, Nehru and Patel sparred over national issues. When Nehru asserted control over Kashmir policy, Patel objected to Nehru's sidelining his home ministry's officials.[62] Nehru was offended by Patel's decision-making regarding the states' integration, having neither consulted him nor the cabinet. Patel asked Gandhi to relieve him of his obligation to serve, knowing that he lacked Nehru's youth and popularity. He believed that an open political battle would hurt India. After much personal deliberation and contrary to Patel's prediction, Gandhi on 30 January 1948 told Patel not to leave the government. A free India, according to Gandhi, needed both Patel and Nehru. Patel was the last man to privately talk with Gandhi, who was assassinated just minutes after Patel's departure.[63] At Gandhi's wake, Nehru and Patel embraced each other and addressed the nation together. Patel gave solace to many associates and friends and immediately moved to forestall any possible violence.[64] Within two months of Gandhi's death, Patel suffered a major heart attack; the timely action of his daughter, his secretary and nurse saved Patel's life. Speaking later, Patel attributed the attack to the "grief bottled up" due to Gandhi's death.[65]

Criticism arose from the media and other politicians that Patel's home ministry had failed to protect Gandhi. Emotionally exhausted, Patel tendered a letter of resignation, offering to leave the government. Patel's secretary persuaded him to withhold the letter, seeing it as fodder for Patel's political enemies and political conflict in India.[66] However, Nehru sent Patel a letter dismissing any question of personal differences and his desire for Patel's ouster. He reminded Patel of their 30-year partnership in the freedom struggle and asserted that after Gandhi's death, it was especially wrong for them to quarrel. Nehru, Rajagopalachari and other Congressmen publicly defended Patel. Moved, Patel publicly endorsed Nehru's leadership and refuted any suggestion of discord. Patel publicly dispelled any notion that he sought to be prime minister.[66] Though the two committed themselves to joint leadership and noninterference in Congress party affairs, they would criticise each other in matters of policy, clashing on the issues of Hyderabad's integration and UN mediation in Kashmir. Nehru declined Patel's counsel on sending assistance to Tibet after its 1950 invasion by the People's Republic of China and ejecting the Portuguese from Goa by military force.[67] When Nehru pressured Dr. Rajendra Prasad to decline a nomination to become the first President of India in 1950 in favour of Rajagopalachari, he thus angered the party, which felt Nehru was attempting to impose his will. Nehru sought Patel's help in winning the party over, but Patel declined and Prasad was duly elected. Nehru opposed the 1950 Congress presidential candidate Purushottam Das Tandon, a conservative Hindu leader, endorsing Jivatram Kripalani instead and threatening to resign if Tandon was elected. Patel rejected Nehru's views and endorsed Tandon in Gujarat, where Kripalani received not one vote despite hailing from that state himself.[68] Patel believed Nehru had to understand that his will was not law with the Congress, but he personally discouraged Nehru from resigning after the latter felt that the party had no confidence in him.[69] [edit] Death On 29 March 1949, authorities lost radio contact with a plane carrying Patel, his daughter Maniben and the Maharaja of Patiala. Engine failure caused the pilot to make an emergency landing in a desert area in Rajasthan. With all passengers safe, Patel and others tracked down a nearby village and local officials. When Patel returned to Delhi, thousands of Congressmen gave him a resounding welcome. In Parliament, MPs gave a long, standing ovation to Patel, stopping proceedings for half an hour.[70] In his twilight years, Patel was honoured by members of Parliament and awarded honorary doctorates of law by the Punjab University and Osmania University. Patel's health declined rapidly through the summer of 1950. He later began coughing blood, whereupon Maniben began limiting his meetings and working hours and arranged for a

personalised medical staff to begin attending to Patel. The Chief Minister of West Bengal and doctor Bidhan Roy heard Patel make jokes about his impending end, and in a private meeting Patel frankly admitted to his ministerial colleague N. V. Gadgil that he was not going to live much longer. Patel's health worsened after 2 November, when he began losing consciousness frequently and was confined to his bed. He was flown to Mumbai on 12 December to recuperate at his son Dahyabhai's flathis condition deemed critical, Nehru and Rajagopalachari came to the airport to see him off.[71] After suffering a massive heart attack (his second), he died on 15 December 1950. In an unprecedented and unrepeated gesture, on the day after his death more than 1,500 officers of India's civil and police services congregated to mourn at Patel's residence in Delhi and pledged "complete loyalty and unremitting zeal" in India's service.[72] His cremation in Sonapur, Mumbai, was attended by large crowds, Nehru, Rajagopalachari, President Prasad. Institutions and Monuments

Sardar Patel studied in which school and preschool? Sardar Patel Memorial Trust Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial, Ahmedabad Sardar Sarovar Dam, Gujarat Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat Sardar Patel University, Gujarat Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad Sardar Patel College of Engineering, Mumbai Sardar Patel Institute of Technology, Mumbai Statue of Unity, Gujarat Sardar Patel Institute of Public administration, Ahmedaad Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Foundation, Delhi Sardar Patel Education Trust, Anand Sardar Patel College of Communications & Management, Delhi Sardar Patel Public College, Delhi Sardar Patel College of Education, Gurgaon Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Technology, Vasad Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad Sardar Patel Stadium Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad

Sardar Patel Institute of Economic & Social Research Sardar Vallbhbhai patel Vidyalay, Vadodara

[edit] Artistic depictions of Patel

2000: Arun Sadekar plays Patel in Hey Ram - a film made by Kamal Haasan. 1993: The biopic Sardar was produced and directed by Ketan Mehta and featured noted Indian actor Paresh Rawal as Patel; it focused on Patel's leadership in the years leading up to independence, the partition of India, India's political integration and Patel's relationship with Gandhi and Nehru.

1989: In a satirical novel "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor, the character of Vidur Hastinapuri is simultaneously based on Patel as well as the mythological character Vidura.

1982: In Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982), actor Saeed Jaffrey portrayed Patel. 1976: Kantilal Rathod directed a documentary on Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD

Minister of Education In office 15 August 1947 1958 Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru Personal details Born 11 November 1888 Makkah 22 February 1958 (aged 69) Delhi, India

Died

Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed (Urdu: ) was an Indian Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement, who lived from 11 November 1888 22 February 1958. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines. Following India's independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is also known for having predicted the future military rule and partition of Pakistan before its independence.[1] He was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna in 1992.[2] He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation of India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India.

As a young man, Azad composed poetry in Urdu as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publishing works critical of the British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. Azad became the leader of the Khilafat Movement during which he came into close contact with Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhi's ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked actively to organise the Non-cooperation movement in protest at the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. Azad committed himself to Gandhi's ideals, including promoting Swadeshi (Indigenous) products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. He became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1923. Azad was one of the main organisers of the Dharasana Satyagraha in 1931, and emerged as one of the most important national leaders of the time, prominently leading the causes of Hindu-Muslim unity as well as espousing secularism and socialism.[3] He served as Congress President from 1940 to 1945, during which the Quit India rebellion was launched and Azad was imprisoned with the entire Congress leadership for three years. Azad became the most prominent Muslim opponent of the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan and served in the interim national government. Amidst communal turmoil following the partition of India, he worked for religious harmony. As India's Education Minister, Azad oversaw the establishment of a national education system with free primary education and modern institutions of higher education. He is also credited with the establishment of the Indian Institutes of Technology and the foundation of the University Grants Commission, an important institution to supervise and advance the higher education in the nation.[ Early life Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born on November 11, 1888 in Mecca. Azad's family descended from a line of eminent Ulama or scholars of Islam. His mother was of Arab descent, the daughter of Shaikh Muhammad Zahir Watri, and his father, Maulana Khairuddin lived with his family in the Bengal region until he left India during the First Indian War of Independence and settled in Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, where he met his wife. He came back to Calcutta with his family in 1890. [4][5] Azad mastered several languages, including Pashtu Urdu, Arabic, Hindko, [[Persian and english language|Persian]], Bangla and Hindi. He was also trained in the subjects of Hanafi fiqh, shariat, mathematics, philosophy, world history and science by reputed tutors hired by his family. An avid and determined student, the precocious Azad was running a library, a reading room, a debating society before he was twelve, wanted to write on the life of Ghazali at twelve, was contributing learned articles to Makhzan (the best known literary magazine of the day) at fourteen,[6] was teaching a class of students, most of whom were twice his age, when he was merely fifteen and succeeded in

completing the traditional course of study at the young age of sixteen, nine years ahead of his contemporaries, and brought out a magazine at the same age.[7] In fact, in the field of journalism, he was publishing a poetical journal (Nairang-e-Aalam)[8] and was already an editor of a weekly (Al-Misbah), in 1900, at the age of twelve and, in 1903, brought out a monthly journal, Lissan-us-Sidq, which soon gained popularity.[9] At the age of thirteen, he was married to a young Muslim girl, Zuleikha Begum.[5] Azad compiled many treatises interpreting the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the principles of Fiqh and Kalam.[4] A young man, Azad was also exposed to the modern intellectual life of Kolkata, the then capital of British-ruled India and the centre of cultural and political life. He began to doubt the traditional ways of his father and secretly diversified his studies. Azad learned English through intensive personal study and began learning Western philosophy, history and contemporary politics by reading advanced books and modern periodicals. Azad grew disillusioned with Islamic teachings and was inspired by the modern views of Muslim educationalist Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who had promoted rationalism. Increasingly doubtful of religious dogma, Azad entered a period of self-described "atheism" and "sinfulness" that lasted for almost a decade.[5][10] [edit] Revolutionary and journalist Azad developed political views considered radical for most Muslims of the time and became a full-fledged Indian nationalist.[4] He fiercely criticised the British for racial discrimination and ignoring the needs of common people across India. He also criticised Muslim politicians for focusing on communal issues before the national interest and rejected the All India Muslim League's communal separatism. Azad developed curiosity and interest in the panIslamic doctrines of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and visited Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Turkey. But his views changed considerably when he met revolutionary activists in Iraq and was influenced by their fervent anti-imperialism and nationalism.[4] Against common Muslim opinion of the time, Azad opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905 and became increasingly active in revolutionary activities, to which he was introduced by the prominent Hindu revolutionaries Sri Aurobindo and Shyam Sundar Chakravarthy. Azad initially evoked surprise from other revolutionaries, but Azad won their praise and confidence by working secretly to organise revolutionaries activities and meetings in Bengal, Bihar and Mumbai (then Bombay).[4] Azad's education had been shaped for him to become a cleric, but his rebellious nature and affinity for politics turned him towards journalism. He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called Al-Hilal and openly attacked British policies while exploring the challenges facing common people. Espousing the ideals of Indian nationalism, Azad's

publications were aimed at encouraging young Muslims into fighting for independence and Hindu-Muslim unity.[4] His work helped improve the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, which had been soured by the controversy surrounding the partition of Bengal and the issue of separate communal electorates. With the onset of World War I, the British stiffened censorship and restrictions on political activity. Azad's Al-Hilal was consequently banned in 1914 under the Press Act. Azad started a new journal, the Al-Balagh, which increased its active support for nationalist causes and communal unity. In this period Azad also became active in his support for the Khilafat agitation to protect the position of the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey, who was the caliph for Muslims worldwide. The Sultan had sided against the British in the war and the continuity of his rule came under serious threat, causing distress amongst Muslim conservatives. Azad saw an opportunity to energise Indian Muslims and achieve major political and social reform through the struggle. With his popularity increasing across India, the government outlawed Azad's second publication under the Defence of India Regulations Act and arrested him. The governments of the Bombay Presidency, United Provinces, Punjab and Delhi prohibited his entry into the provinces and Azad was moved to a jail in Ranchi, where he was incarcerated until 1 January 1920.[10] [edit] Non-cooperation Main article: Non-Cooperation Movement

Khilafat movement procession. Upon his release, Azad returned to a political atmosphere charged with sentiments of outrage and rebellion against British rule. The Indian public had been angered by the passage of the Rowlatt Acts in 1919, which severely restricted civil liberties and individual rights. Consequently, thousands of political activists had been arrested and many publications banned. The killing of unarmed civilians at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on 13 April 1919 had provoked intense outrage all over India, alienating most Indians, including long-time British supporters from the authorities. The Khilafat struggle had also peaked with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I and the raging Turkish War of Independence, which

had made the caliphate's position precarious. India's main political party, the Indian National Congress came under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, who had aroused excitement all over India when he led the farmers of Champaran and Kheda in a successful revolt against British authorities in 1918. Gandhi organised the people of the region and pioneered the art of Satyagraha combining mass civil disobedience with complete non-violence and selfreliance. Taking charge of the Congress, Gandhi also reached out to support the Khilafat struggle, helping to bridge Hindu-Muslim political divides. Azad and the Ali brothers warmly welcomed Congress support and began working together on a programme of non-cooperation by asking all Indians to boycott British-run schools, colleges, courts, public services, the civil service, police and military. Non-violence and Hindu-Muslim unity were universally emphasized, while the boycott of foreign goods, especially clothes were organised. Azad joined the Congress and was also elected president of the All India Khilafat Committee. Although Azad and other leaders were soon arrested, the movement drew out millions of people in peaceful processions, strikes and protests. This period marked a transformation in Azad's own life. Along with fellow Khilafat leaders Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan and others, Azad grew personally close to Gandhi and his philosophy. The three men founded the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi as an institution of higher education managed entirely by Indians without any British support or control. Both Azad and Gandhi shared a deep passion for religion and Azad developed a close friendship with him. He adopted the Prophet Muhammad's ideas by living simply, rejecting material possessions and pleasures. He began to spin his own clothes using khadi on the charkha, and began frequently living and participating in the ashrams organised by Gandhi.[citation needed] Becoming deeply committed to ahinsa (non-violence) himself, Azad grew close to fellow nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das and Subhash Chandra Bose.[10] He strongly criticised the continuing suspicion of the Congress amongst the Muslim intellectuals from the Aligarh Muslim University and the Muslim League. The rebellion began a sudden decline when with rising incidences of violence; a nationalist mob killed 22 policemen in Chauri Chaura in 1922. Fearing degeneration into violence, Gandhi asked Indians to suspend the revolt and undertook a five day fast to repent and encourage others to stop the rebellion. Although the movement stopped all over India, several Congress leaders and activists were disillusioned with Gandhi. The following year, the caliphate was overthrown by Mustafa Kemal Atatrk and the Ali brothers grew distant and critical of Gandhi and the Congress. Azad's close friend Chittaranjan Das co-founded the Swaraj Party, breaking from Gandhi's leadership. Despite the circumstances, Azad remained

firmly committed to Gandhi's ideals and leadership. In 1923, he became the youngest man to be elected Congress President. Azad led efforts to organise the Flag Satyagraha in Nagpur. Azad served as president of the 1924 Unity Conference in Delhi, using his position to work to re-unite the Swarajists and the Khilafat leaders under the common banner of the Congress. In the years following the movement, Azad travelled across India, working extensively to promote Gandhi's vision, education and social reform. [edit] Congress leader

At Simla Conference (1946) with Rajendra Prasad, Jinnah and C. Rajagopalachari Azad became an important national leader, and served on the Congress Working Committee and in the offices of general secretary and president many times. The political environment in India re-energised in 1928 with nationalist outrage against the Simon Commission appointed to propose constitutional reforms. The commission included no Indian members and did not even consult Indian leaders and experts. In response, the Congress and other political parties appointed a commission under Motilal Nehru to propose constitutional reforms from Indian opinions. In 1928, Azad endorsed the Nehru Report, which was criticised by the Ali brothers and Muslim League politician Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Azad endorsed the ending of separate electorates based on religion, and called for an independent India to be committed to secularism. At the 1928 Congress session in Guwahati, Azad endorsed Gandhi's call for dominion status for India within a year. If not granted, the Congress would adopt the goal of complete political independence for India. Despite his affinity for Gandhi, Azad also drew close to the young radical leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Bose, who had criticised the delay in demanding full independence. Azad developed a close friendship with Nehru and began espousing socialism as the means to fight inequality, poverty and other national challenges. Azad Decided the name of Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam. He was also a friend of Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari founder of All India Majlis-e-Ahrar. When Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March that inaugurated the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Azad organised and led the nationalist raid, albeit non-violent on the Dharasana salt works in order to protest the salt tax and restriction of its production and sale. The biggest nationalist upheaval in a decade, Azad was imprisoned along with millions of people, and would

frequently be jailed from 1930 to 1934 for long periods of time. Following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1934, Azad was amongst millions of political prisoners released. When elections were called under the Government of India Act 1935, Azad was appointed to organise the Congress election campaign, raising funds, selecting candidates and organising volunteers and rallies across India.[10] Azad had criticised the Act for including a high proportion of unelected members in the central legislature, and did not himself contest a seat. He again declined to contest elections in 1937, and helped head the party's efforts to organise elections and preserve coordination and unity amongst the Congress governments elected in different provinces.[10] At the 1936 Congress session in Lucknow, Azad was drawn into a dispute with right-wing Congressmen Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari regarding the espousal of socialism as the Congress goal. Azad had backed the election of Nehru as Congress President, and supported the resolution endorsing socialism. In doing so, he aligned with Congress socialists like Nehru, Subhash Bose and Jayaprakash Narayan. Azad also supported Nehru's re-election in 1937, at the consternation of many conservative Congressmen. Azad supported dialogue with Jinnah and the Muslim League between 1935 and 1937 over a Congress-League coalition and broader political cooperation. Less inclined to brand the League as obstructive, Azad nevertheless joined the Congress's vehement rejection of Jinnah's demand that the League be seen exclusively as the representative of Indian Muslims. [edit] Quit India Main article: Quit India Movement In 1938, Azad served as an intermediary between the supporters of Gandhi and the Congress faction led by Congress President Subhash Bose, who criticised Gandhi for not launching another rebellion against the British and sought to move the Congress away from Gandhi's leadership. Azad stood by Gandhi with most other Congress leaders, but reluctantly endorsed the Congress's exit from the assemblies in 1939 following the inclusion of India in World War II. Nationalists were infuriated that the viceroy had entered India into the war without consulting national leaders. Although willing to support the British effort in return for independence, Azad sided with Gandhi when the British ignored the Congress overtures. Azad's criticism of Jinnah and the League intensified as Jinnah called Congress rule in the provinces as "Hindu Raj," calling the resignation of the Congress ministries as a "Day of Deliverance" for Muslims. Jinnah and the League's separatist agenda was gaining popular support amongst Muslims. Muslim religious and conservative leaders criticised Azad as being too close to the Congress and placing politics before faith.[10] As the Muslim League

adopted a resolution calling for a separate Muslim state in its session in Lahore in 1940, Azad was elected Congress President in its session in Ramgarh. Speaking vehemently against Jinnah's Two-Nation Theory the notion that Hindus and Muslims were distinct nations Azad lambasted religious separatism and exhorted all Muslims to preserve a united India, as all Hindus and Muslims were Indians who shared deep bonds of brotherhood and nationhood. In his presidential address, Azad said: "...Full eleven centuries have passed by since then. Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of India as Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the religion of the people here for several thousands of years Islam also has been their religion for a thousand years. Just as a Hindu can say with pride that he is an Indian and follows Hinduism, so also we can say with equal pride that we are Indians and follow Islam. I shall enlarge this orbit still further. The Indian Christian is equally entitled to say with pride that he is an Indian and is following a religion of India, namely Christianity."[10]

Azad, Patel and Gandhi at an AICC meeting in Bombay, 1940. In face of increasing popular disenchantment with the British across India, Gandhi and Patel advocated an all-out rebellion demanding immediate independence. The situation had grown precarious as the Japanese conquered Burma and approached India's borders, which left Indians insecure but resentful of the British inability to protect India. Azad was wary and skeptical of the idea, aware that India's Muslims were increasingly looking to Jinnah and had supported the war. Feeling that a struggle would not force a British exit, Azad and Nehru warned that such a campaign would divide India and make the war situation even more precarious. Intensive and emotional debates took place between Azad, Nehru, Gandhi and Patel in the Congress Working Committee's meetings in May and June 1942. In the end, Azad became convinced that decisive action in one form or another had to be taken, as the Congress had to provide leadership to India's people and would lose its standing if it did not.

Supporting the call for the British to "Quit India," Azad began exhorting thousands of people in rallies across the nation to prepare for a definitive, all-out struggle. As Congress President, Azad travelled across India and met with local and provincial Congress leaders and grassroots activists, delivering speeches and planning the rebellion. Despite their previous differences, Azad worked closely with Patel and Dr. Rajendra Prasad to make the rebellion as effective as possible. On 7 August 1942 at the Gowalia Tank in Mumbai, Congress President Azad inaugurated the struggle with a vociferous speech exhorting Indians into action. Just two days later, the British arrested Azad and the entire Congress leadership. While Gandhi was incarcerated at the Aga Khan Palace in Pune, Azad and the Congress Working Committee were imprisoned at a fort in Ahmednagar, where they would remain under isolation and intense security for nearly four years. Outside news and communication had been largely prohibited and completely censored. Although frustrated at their incarceration and isolation, Azad and his companions attested to feeling a deep satisfaction at having done their duty to their country and people.[11] Azad occupied the time playing bridge and acting as the referee in tennis matches played by his colleagues. In the afternoons, Azad began working on his classic Urdu work, the Ghubhar-i-Khatir. Sharing daily chores, Azad also taught the Persian and Urdu languages, as well as Indian and world history to several of his companions. The leaders would generally avoid talking of politics, unwilling to cause any arguments that could exacerbate the pain of their imprisonment. However, each year on 26 January, the leaders would gather to remember their cause and pray together. Azad, Nehru and Patel would briefly speak about the nation and the future. Azad and Nehru proposed an initiative to forge an agreement with the British in 1943. Arguing that the rebellion had been mis-timed, Azad attempted to convince his colleagues that the Congress should agree to negotiate with the British and call for the suspension of disobedience if the British agreed to transfer power. Although his proposal was overwhelmingly rejected, Azad and a few others agreed that Gandhi and the Congress had not done enough. When they learnt of Gandhi holding talks with Jinnah in Mumbai in 1944, Azad criticised Gandhi's move as counter-productive and ill-advised.[12] [edit] Partition of India Main article: Partition of India Patel, Maulana Azad, Jivatram Kripalani and other Congressmen at Wardha. With the end of the war, the British agreed to transfer power to Indian hands. All political prisoners were released in 1946 and Azad led the Congress in the elections for the new Constituent Assembly of India, which would draft India's constitution. He headed the delegation to negotiate with the British Cabinet Mission, in his sixth year as Congress

President. While attacking Jinnah's demand for Pakistan and the mission's proposal of 16 June 1946 that envisaged the partition of India, Azad became a strong proponent of the mission's earlier proposal of 16 May. The proposal advocated a federation with a weak central government and great autonomy for the provinces. Additionally, the proposal called for the "grouping" of provinces on religious lines, which would informally band together the Muslim-majority provinces. While Gandhi and others were suspicious of this clause, Azad argued that the Jinnah's demand for Pakistan would be buried and the concerns of the Muslim community would be assuaged.[13] Under Azad and Patel's backing, the Working Committee approved the resolution against Gandhi's advice. Jawaharlal Nehru replaced Azad as Congress President and led the Congress into the interim government. Azad was appointed to head the Department of Education. However, Jinnah's Direct Action Day agitation for Pakistan, launched on 16 August sparked communal violence across India. Thousands of people were killed as Azad travelled across Bengal and Bihar to calm the tensions and heal relations between Muslims and Hindus. Despite Azad's call for Hindu-Muslim unity, Jinnah's popularity amongst Muslims soared and the League entered a coalition with the Congress in December, but continued to boycott the constituent assembly. Azad had grown increasingly hostile to Jinnah, who had described him as the "Muslim Lord Haw-Haw" and a "Congress Showboy."[14] Despite being a learned scholar of Islam and a Maulana, Azad had been assailed by Muslim religious leaders for his commitment to nationalism and secularism[dubious discuss], which were deemed un-Islamic.[citation needed] Muslim League politicians accused Azad of allowing Muslims to be culturally and politically dominated by the Hindu community. Azad continued to proclaim his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity:[15] "I am proud of being an Indian. I am part of the indivisible unity that is Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure is incomplete. I am an essential element, which has gone to build India. I can never surrender this claim." Amidst more incidences of violence in early 1947, the Congress-League coalition struggled to function. The provinces of Bengal and Punjab were to be partitioned on religious lines, and on 3 June 1947 the British announced a proposal to partition India on religious lines, with the princely states free to choose between either dominion. The proposal was hotly debated in the All India Congress Committee, with Muslim leaders Saifuddin Kitchlew and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan expressing fierce opposition. Azad privately discussed the proposal with Gandhi, Patel and Nehru, but despite his opposition was unable to deny the popularity of the League and the unworkability of any coalition with the League. Faced with the serious

possibility of a civil war, Azad abstained from voting on the resolution, remaining silent and not speaking throughout the AICC session, which ultimately approved the plan.[16] [edit] Post-Independence India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947 brought with it a scourge of violence that swept the Punjab, Bengal,Bihar, Delhi and many other parts of India. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs fled the newly created Pakistan for India, and millions of Muslims fled for West Pakistan and East Pakistan, created out of East Bengal. Violence claimed the lives of an estimated one million people. Azad took up responsibility for the safety of Muslims in India, touring affected areas in Bengal, Bihar, Assam and the Punjab, guiding the organisation of refugee camps, supplies and security. Azad gave speeches to large crowds encouraging peace and calm in the border areas and encouraging Muslims across the country to remain in India and not fear for their safety and security. Focusing on bringing the capital of Delhi back to peace, Azad organised security and relief efforts, but was drawn into a dispute with the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when he demanded the dismissal of Delhi's police commissioner, who was a Sikh accused by Muslims of overlooking attacks and neglecting their safety.[17] Patel argued that the commissioner was not biased, and if his dismissal was forced it would provoke anger amongst Hindus and Sikhs and divide the city police. In Cabinet meetings and discussions with Gandhi, Patel and Azad clashed over security issues in Delhi and Punjab, as well as the allocation of resources for relief and rehabilitation. Patel opposed Azad and Nehru's proposal to reserve the houses vacated by Muslims who had departed for Pakistan for Muslims in India displaced by the violence.[17] Patel argued that a secular government could not offer preferential treatment for any religious community, while Azad remained anxious to assure the rehabilitation of Muslims in India. Maulana Azad had been appointed India's first Minister for Education and served in the Constituent Assembly to draft India's constitution. Azad's persuasion was instrumental in obtaining the approval of Muslim representatives to end the communal electorates, and was a forceful advocate of enshrining the principle of secularism, religious freedom and equality for all Indians. He supported provisions for Muslim citizens to make avail of Muslim personal law in courts.[18] Azad remained a close confidante, supporter and advisor to Prime Minister Nehru, and played an important role in framing national policies. Azad masterminded the creation of national programmes of school and college construction and spreading the enrollment of children and young adults into schools, in order to promote universal primary education. Elected to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, the Lok Sabha in 1952 and again in

1957, Azad supported Nehru's socialist economic and industrial policies, as well as the advancing social rights and economic opportunities for women and underprivileged Indians. In 1956, he served as president of the UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi. Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on writing his book India Wins Freedom, an exhaustive account of India's freedom struggle and its leaders, which was published in 1957. As India's first Minister of Education, he emphasized on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult illiteracy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girls education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.[19] Addressing the conference on All India Education on January 16, 1948, Maulana Azad emphasized,[19] We must not for a moment forget, it is a birth right of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen. He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education,Delhi which later became the Department of Education of the University of Delhi as a research centre for solving new educational problems of the country.[20] Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953.,[21][22] He also laid emphasis on the development of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University.[23] He foresaw a great future in the IITs for India:[23] "I have no doubt that the establishment of this Institute will form a landmark in the progress of higher technological education and research in the country." [edit] Criticism During his life and in contemporary times, Maulana Azad has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent the partition of India although he was committed to united India till his last attempt. He was condemned by the advocates of Pakistan, especially Muslim League.[15] [edit] Legacy and Influence Azad is remembered as amongst the leading Indian nationalists of his time. His firm belief in Hindu-Muslim unity earned him the respect of the Hindu community and he still remains one of the most important symbols of communal harmony in modern India. His work for education and social upliftment in India made him an important influence in guiding India's economic and social development. The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the central Government of India setup the Maulana Azad Education Foundation in 1989 on the occasion of his birth centenary to promote education amongst educationally backward sections of the Society.[24] The Ministry also provides the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Fellowship, an integrated five year fellowship in the

form of financial assistance to students from minority communities to pursue higher studies such as M. Phil and Ph.D.[25] Numerous institutions across India have also been named in his honor. Some of them are the Maulana Azad Medical College in New Delhi, the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad,Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary and Social Education (MACESE Delhi University) the Maulana Azad College in Kolkata and the Maulana Azad library in the Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh. He is celebrated as one of the founders and greatest patrons of the Jamia Millia Islamia. Azad's tomb is located next to the Jama Masjid in Delhi. In recent years great concern has been expressed by many in India over the poor maintenance of the tomb.[15] On 16 November 2005 the Delhi High Court ordered that the tomb of Maulana Azad in New Delhi be renovated and restored as a major national monument. Azad's tomb is a major landmark and receives large numbers of visitors annually.[26] Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as Mir-i- Karawan (the caravan leader), "a very brave and gallant gentleman, a finished product of the culture that, in these days, pertains to few".[15] The Emperor of learning" remarked Mahatma Gandhi about Azad counting him as "a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagorus. [19] [edit] Todays Life His Birthday, November 11 is celebrated as National Education Day in India.

Dr. M. S. Swaminathan

Dr. M. S. Swaminathan

Born Residence Nationality Fields Institutions Alma mater Known for Influences Notable awards

7 August 1925 (age 86) kuttanad, [kerala] kerala India agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan Research Foundation Coimbatore Agricultural College, University of Wisconsin-Madison high-yielding varieties of wheat in India Dr. Norman Borlaug World Food Prize

Maankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (Hindi: . . ; born 7 August 1925) is an Indian agriculture scientist in Kuttanad, kerala. He was the second of four sons of a doctor. He is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is the founder and Chairman of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation.[1] His stated vision is to rid the world of hunger and poverty.[2] Dr. Swaminathan is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls an "evergreen revolution"[3] In 1999, Time magazine placed him in the Time 20 list of most influential Asian people of the 20th century Early Days Swaminathans family was among the most important in the village of Moncombu. Generations before, the rajah of Ambalapuzha had traveled to the neighboring region of Tamil Nadu. He had been very impressed by the scholars at the Thanjavur court and requested that one such scholar be sent to his province. Enji Venkatachella Iyer, Swaminathans ancestor, was chosen to move to Ambalapuzha. The rajah was so delighted and struck by Venkatachella Iyers knowledge of the scriptures that he gifted him acres of

land comprising the village of Monkombu. The family came to be called the Kottaram family kottaram means palace). [edit] Education M. S. Swaminathan was born on August 7, 1925. His father died when Swaminathan was 11. His early schooling was at the Native High School and later at the Little Flower Catholic High School in Kumbakonam. He went to college at Maharajas College in Ernakulam and earned a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc.) in zoology. Swaminathan was strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhis belief in ahimsa or non-violence to achieve Purna swaraj (total freedom) and swadeshi, (self-reliance) on both a personal and national level.[5] During this time of wartime food shortages he chose a career in agriculture and enrolled in Coimbatore Agricultural College where he graduated as valedictorian with another B.Sc, this time in Agricultural Science. In 1947, the year of Indian independence he moved to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) in New Delhi as a post-graduate student in genetics and plant breeding and obtained a post-graduate degree with high distinction in Cytogenetics in 1949. He received a UNESCO Fellowship to continue his IARI research on potato genetics at the Wageningen Agricultural University, Institute of Genetics in the Netherlands. Here he succeeded in standardizing procedures for transferring genes from a wide range of wild species of Solanum to the cultivated potato, Solanum tuberosum. In 1950, he moved to study at the Plant Breeding Institute of the University of Cambridge School of Agriculture. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) degree in 1952, for his thesis, "Species Differentiation, and the Nature of Polyploidy in certain species of the genus Solanum section Tuberarium". His work presented a new concept of the species relationships within the tuber-bearing Solanum. Swaminathan then accepted a post-doctoral research associateship at the University of Wisconsin, Department of Genetics to help set up a USDA Potato Research Station. Despite his strong personal and professional satisfaction with the research work in Wisconsin, he declined the offer of a full time faculty position, returning to India in early 1954.[5] [edit] Personal life M. S. Swaminathan is married to Mina Swaminathan who he met in 1951 while they were both studying at Cambridge. They have three daughters: Soumya Swaminathan, Madhura Swaminathan and Nitya Rao. Dr. Swaminathan lives in Chennai, Tamil Nadu with his wife, and has five grandchildren - Anandi, Shreya, Kalyani, Akshay and Madhav. M.S. Swaminathan has been influenced by the Indian philosopher and mystic Sri Aurobindo. Speaking at Auroville in 1997, he said , "My first visit to Sri Aurobindo Ashram was on 15th August 1947. It was the day of Indias Independence. When everybody was going towards

the Marina Beach in Madras, I was walking towards Egmore Station to take a train to Pondicherry. [edit] Professional achievements Dr. Swaminathan has worked worldwide in collaboration with colleagues and students on a wide range of problems in basic and applied plant breeding, agricultural research and development and the conservation of natural resources. His professional career began in 1949:

1949-55 - Research on potato (Solanum tuberosum), wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), and jute genetics.

195572 - Field research on Mexican dwarf wheat varieties. Teach Cytogenetics, Radiation Genetics, and Mutation Breeding and build up the wheat and rice germplasm collections at Indian Agricultural Research Institute IARI.

197080 - Director-General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),Established the National Bureau of Plant, Animal, and Fish Genetic Resources of India.,[6] Established the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (changed in 2006 to Bioversity International)[7]). Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, Transformed the Pre-investment Forest Survey Programme into the Forest Survey of India.[8]

DNA

198185 - Independent Chairman, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Council, Rome, played a significant role in establishing the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources.[9]

1983 - Developed the concept of Farmers' Rights and the text of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (IUPGR).President of the International Congress of Genetics.[10]

198288 - Director General, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), organized the International Rice Germplasm Centre, now named International Rice Genebank.

1984-90 - President of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources IUCN, develop the Convention on Biological Diversity CBD.

1986-99 - Chairman of the editorial advisory board, World Resources Institute, Washington, D. C., conceived and produced the first "World Resources Report".[11]

1988-91 - Chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Keystone International Dialogue on Plant Genetic Resources,[12] regarding the availability, use, exchange and protection of plant germplasm.

1991-1995 - Member, Governing Board, Auroville Foundation 1988-96 - President, World Wide Fund for NatureIndia WWF,[13] Organized the Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre.[14] Organize the Community Biodiversity Conservation Programme.[15]

1988-99 - Chairman/Trustee, Commonwealth Secretariat Expert Group,[16] organized the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development,[17] for the sustainable and equitable management of tropical rainforests in Guyana. The President of Guyana wrote in 1994 there would have been no Iwokrama without Swaminathan.

1990-93 - Founder/President, International Society for Mangrove Ecosystems (ISME)[18] 1988-98 - Chaired various committees of the Government of India to prepare draft legislations relating to biodiversity (Biodiversity Act)[19] and breeders and farmers rights Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Act).

in 1993 Dr M. S. Swaminathan,headed an expert group to prepare a draft of a national population policy that would be discussed by the Cabinet and then by Parliament. In 1994 it submitted its report.[20]

1994 - Chairman of the Commission on Genetic Diversity of the World Humanity Action Trust.[21] Established a Technical Resource Centre at MSSRF for the implementation of equity provisions of CBD and FAOs Farmers Rights.

1994 onwards - Chairman of the Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), development of policies for the management of the ex situ collections of International Agricultural Research Centers.

1995-1999 Chairman, Auroville Foundation 1999 - Introduced the concept of trusteeship management of Biosphere reserves. Implemented the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve Trust, with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

2001 - Chairman of the Regional Steering Committee for the India Bangladesh joint Project on Biodiversity Management in the Sundarbans World Heritage Site, funded by the UN Foundation and UNDP.

2002 - President of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs which work towards reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats.[22]

2002 - 2005 - Co-chairman with Dr. Pedro Sanchezof the UN Millennium Task Force on Hunger,[23] a comprehensive global action plan for fighting poverty, disease and environmental degradation in developing countries.

Over 68 students have done their Ph.D thesis work under his guidance:

[edit] Notable Mention On the occasion of Nobel Peace Prize award in 1970, the laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, said of Dr. Swaminathan: "The green revolution has been a team effort and much of the credit for its spectacular development must go to Indian officials, Organizations, Scientists and farmers. However, to you, Dr. Swaminathan, a great deal of the credit must go for first recognizing the potential value of the Mexican dwarfs. Had this not occurred, it is quite possible that there would not have been a green revolution in Asia".[26] On the occasion of the presentation of the First World Food Prize[24] to Dr. Swaminathan in October 1987, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar - Secretary General of the United Nations, wrote: "Dr. Swaminathan is a living legend. His contributions to Agricultural Science have made an indelible mark on food production in India and elsewhere in the developing world. By any standards, he will go into the annals of history as a world scientist of rare distinction". Swaminathan has been described by the United Nations Environment Programme as "the Father of Economic Ecology". He was one of three from India included in TIME Magazine's 1999 list of the "20 most influential Asian people of the 20th century", the other two being Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.[25] Following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, he advised India to plant new mangrove groves along the shoreline to minimize damage from future tsunamis.[citation needed] Dr. Swaminathan was the featured speaker at The 2006 Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium: in Des Moines, Iowa on, October 19, 2006. He was sponsored by Humanities Iowa, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Dr. Swaminathan presented The "Third Annual Governor's Lecture" and spoke on "THE GREEN REVOLUTION REDUX: Can we replicate the single greatest period of food production in all human history?" Read full text:,[26] See: Powerpoint Presentation,[27] Hear:[28] about the cultural and social foundations of the Green Revolution in India and the role of historic leaders in India, such as Mahatma Gandhi, in inspiring the Green Revolution there by calling for the alleviation of widespread hunger. He also talked about the links between Gandhi and the great Iowa scientist George Washington Carver.,[29]

Swaminathan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London the U. S. National Academy of Sciences, the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Italian Academy of Sciences. [edit] Controversy A scientific paper in which Swaminathan and his team claimed to have produced a mutant breed of wheat by gamma irradiation of a Mexican variety (Sonora 64) resulting in Sharbati Sonora, claimed to have a very high lysine content led to a major controversy. The case was discussed as a classic example of scientific misdemeanor and was claimed to be an error made by the laboratory assistant.[30] The episode was also compounded by the suicide of an agricultural scientist.[31][32][33][34][35] Recent workers have also studied it as part of a systemic problem in Indian agriculture research.[36] [edit] Publications Dr Swaminathan is a prolific scientific researcher and writer. He published 46 single author papers between 1950 and 1980. Out of 118 two author papers, he was first author of 80. Out of 63 three author papers he was first author of 15. Out of 21 four author papers he was first author of 9. In total he had 254 papers to his credit, 155 of which he was the single author or first author. His scientific papers are in the fields of crop improvement (95), cytogenetics and genetics (87) and phylogenetics (72). His most frequent publishers were: Indian Journal of Genetics (46), Current Science (36), Nature (12) and Radiation Botany (12).[37] Some of the papers are listed below. In addition he has written a few books around the general theme of his life's work, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture for alleviation of hunger. Dr. Swaminathan's books include

"An Evergreen Revolution", 2006.[38] "I Predict: A Century of Hope Towards an Era of Harmony with Nature and Freedom from Hunger", (1999)[39] "Gender Dimensions in Biodiversity Management", (ed.) (1998)[40] "Implementing the Benefit Sharing Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity: Challenges and opportunities" (1997)[41] "Agrobiodiversity and Farmers' Rights", 1996[42] "Sustainable Agriculture: Towards Food Security"[43] "Farmers Rights and Plant Genetic Resources: A dialogue." (ed.) (1995)[44] "Wheat Revolution: a Dialogue" (ed) (1993)[45]

Research reports

He has published laboratory research results in several scientific journals and increasingly writes for a wider audience in environmental journals. Some of his publications are available online in abstract or full text.[46] and.[47]

First author: Swaminathan MS.

o

"CHOPRA VL, BHASKARAN, Cytological aberrations observed in barley embryos cultured in irradiated potato mash.", Radiat Res. 1962 Feb;16:182-8.

"Murty BR., Aspects of Asynapsis in Plants. I. Random and Non Random Chromosome Associations.", Genetics. 1959 Nov;44(6):1271-80.

"NINAN T, MAGOON ML. Effects of virus infection on microsporogenesis and seed fertility in Capsicum.", Genetica. 1959;30:63-9.

"MURTY BR., Effect of x-radiation on pollen tube growth and seed setting in crosses between Nicotiana tabacum and N. rustica.", Z Vererbungsl., 1959;90:393-9.

"GANESAN AT., Kinetics of mitosis in yeasts.", Nature. 1958 August 30;182(4635):610-1.

"Nature of Polyploidy in Some 48-Chromosome Species of the Genus Solanum, Section, Tuberarium.", Genetics. 1954 Jan;39(1):59-76.

Second author
o

GANESAN AT, SWAMINATHAN MS., "Staining the nucleus in yeasts.", Stain Technol. 1958 May;33(3):115-21.

NATARAJAN AT, SWAMINATHAN MS., "Chromosome spreading induced by vegetable oils.", Stain Technol. 1957 Jan;32(1):43-5.

HOWARD HW, SWAMINATHAN MS., "The cytology of haploid plants of Solanum demissum.", Genetica. 1953;26(5-6):381-91.

PRAKKEN R, SWAMINATHAN MS., "Cytological behaviour of some interspecific hybrids in the genus Solanum, sect. Tuberarium.", Genetica. 1952;26(1):77101.

Third author
o

CHOPRA VL, KAPOOR ML, SWAMINATHAN MS., "EFFECTS OF PRE- & POST-TREATMENTS WITH S-2-AMINOETHYLISOTHIOURONIUM BROMIDE HYDROBROMIDE ON THE FREQUENCY OF CHROMOSOME ABERRATIONS & CHLOROPHYLL MUTATIONS INDUCED BY X-RAYS IN BARLEY.", Indian J Exp Biol. 1965 Apr;3:123-5.

NIRULA S, BHASKARAN S, SWAMINATHAN MS., "Effect of linear differentiation of chromosomes on the proportionality between chromosome length and DNA content.", Exp Cell Res. 1961 Jun;24:160-2.

Fourth author
o

Latha R, Rubia L, Bennett J, Swaminathan MS., "Allele mining for stress tolerance genes in Oryza species and related germplasm.", Mol Biotechnol. 2004 Jun;27(2):101-8.

PAI RA, UPADHYA MD, BHASKARAN S, SWAMINATHAN MS., "Chromosome diminution and evolution of polyploid species in Triticum. Chromosoma.", 1961;12:398-409.

Siddiq EA, Kaul AK, Puri RP, Singh VP, Swaminathan MS., "Mutagen-induced variability in protein characters in Oryza sativa.", Mutat Res. 1970 Jul;10(1):81-4.

Environmental articles

First author: Swaminathan MS.mssrf

o

"Nutrition in the third millennium: countries in transition.", Forum Nutr. 2003;56:1824.</ref>

"Bio-diversity: an effective safety net against environmental pollution.", Environ Pollut. 2003;126(3):287-91.

o o

"CGIAR statement on UN treaty.", Nat Biotechnol. 2002 Jun;20(6):547. "Ecology and equity: key determinants of sustainable water security.", Water Sci Technol. 2001;43(4):35-44.

o o

"An evergreen revolution.",Biologist (London). 2000 Apr;47(2):85-9. "Science in response to basic human needs.", Science. 2000 January 21;287(5452):425.

o o o o

"The ecology of hope.", People Planet. 1999;8(4):6-9. "Convocation address.", IIPS News. 1998 Jul;39(2 3):2-8. ""Farmers' Rights and Plant Genetic Resources."", 1998.[48] "Forward: Regional Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Management of Coral Reefs",[49] 1997

"Perspectives for crop protection in sustainable agriculture.", Ciba Found Symp. 1993;177:257-67; discussion 267-72.

"DNA in medicine. Agricultural production.", Lancet. 1984 December 8;2(8415):1329-32.

"Nutrition and agricultural development: new frontiers.", Food Nutr (Roma). 1984;10(1):33-41.

"The age of algeny, genetic destruction of yield barriers and agricultural transformation.", (1968).[50]

Second author
o

Kesavan PC, Swaminathan MS., "Managing extreme natural disasters in coastal areas.", Philos Transact A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2006 August 15;364(1845):2191-216.

Sanchez PA, Swaminathan MS., "Hunger in Africa: the link between unhealthy people and unhealthy soils.", Lancet. 2005 January 29-February 4;365(9457):442-4. 5: Sanchez PA, Swaminathan MS., Public health. Cutting world hunger in half.", Science. 2005 January 21;307(5708):357-9.

Third author
o

Raven P, Fauquet C, Swaminathan MS, Borlaug N, Samper C., "Where next for genome sequencing?", Science. 2006 January 27;311(5760):468.

[edit] Awards and recognition Dr. Swaminathan has received several outstanding awards and prizes. These prizes include large sums of money, which has helped sustain and expand his work.

H.K. Firodia award for excellence in Science & Technology Four Freedoms Award for demonstrating achievement of the principles of Freedom of speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom from want and Freedom from fear, 2000

Planet and Humanity Medal of the International Geographical Union awarded "in recognition of his unique success in outstanding scientific research and its application, leading to Asias Green Revolution. His endeavors to combat hunger and food shortages by promoting new seed varieties and applying these with ecologically sound principles and sustainable agriculture are all part of his profound humanitarian ethos, which reminds scientists and politicians worldwide of their responsibilities for stewardship of nature and humanity on our common Planet Earth." 2000

UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize Laureate for outstanding contributions to the protection and management of the environment. Co - winner with Paul and Anne Ehrlich 1994, $200,000 prize.[51]

The Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement "in recognition of life-long contributions to increasing

biological productivity on an ecologically sustainable basis, and to promoting the conservation of biological diversity1991

Honda Prize,[52] for achieving outstanding results in the field of ecotechnology, 1991 Padma Vibhushan 1989 World Food Prize for advancing human development through increased quantity, guality or accessibility of food, 1987

Golden Heart Presidential Award of the Philippines, conferred by President Corazon Aquino "in recognition of his contribution in resolving a wide range of problems in basic and applied genetics and agricultural research and development in the Philippines, for his accomplishments in the area of agricultural science and research highly beneficial to Filipino farmers, and for having expanded considerably the International Rice Research Institutes capacity for upstream research to bring the fruits of recent advances in science and technology to Asian rice farmers."1987

Albert Einstein World Science Award by the World Cultural Council for research which has brought true benefit and well being to mankind.[53] 1986

Ramon Magsaysay Award

Borlaug Award, given by Coromandel Fertilizers in profound appreciation of his catalytic role in providing deep insights and inspiring fellow scientists to set goals ... for evolving a strategy for agriculture rooted in science, but tempered by a concern for ecology and human values 1979

Padma Bhushan 1972 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership 1971 Padma Shri 1967 Foreign Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences[54]

He holds more than 50 honorary Doctorate degrees from universities around the world. National Awards He has been honored with several awards in India for his work to benefit the country.

Karmaveer Puraskaar Noble Laureates, March,2007 by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs.

Dupont-Solae Award for his contribution to the field of food and nutrition security 2004[55] Life Time Achievement Award from BioSpectrum 2003[56] Indira Gandhi Gold Plaque by the Asiatic Society for his significant contribution towards human progress. 2002

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development "for his outstanding contribution in the domain of plant genetics and ensuring food security to hundreds of millions of citizens in the developing world." This prestigious award honors those outstanding global citizens who have made a significant contribution to humanitys material and cultural progress. 2000

The Indian National Science Academy awarded him Millennium Scientist Award 2001, Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Award for 19992000, Shatabdi Puraskar award in the

field of Agricultural Sciences 1999, Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award 1992, B.P. Pal Memorial Award of the 1998, Meghnad Saha Medal 1981, Silver Jubilee Commemoration Medal for contributions to genetics and agricultural research 1971.

Lokmanya Tilak Award by the Tilak Smarak Trust, in recognition of his contribution to the green revolution in India and for his outstanding scientific and environmental works. 2001[57]

Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development in recognition of creative efforts toward promoting international peace, development and a new international economic order; ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for the larger good of humanity, and enlarging the scope of freedom. 2000

Millennium Alumnus Award by the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University 2000 Prof P N Mehra Memorial Award 1999 Legend in his Lifetime Award by the World Wilderness Trust- India 1999[58] Dr. B.P. Pal Medal for unique contributions to agricultural research and development of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India 1997

V. Gangadharan Award for outstanding contributions to National Development 1997 Dr. B.P. Pal Medal for unique contributions to agricultural research and development of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India 1997

V. Gangadharan Award for outstanding contributions to National Development 1997 Lal Bahadur Shastri Deshgaurav Samman 1992 Dr. J.C. Bose Medal, Bose Institute 1989[59] Krishi Ratna Award for devotion to the cause of agroscience, and for being the benefactor of the farming

community, instituted by the Bharat Krishak Samaj Indian Farmer's Society)/World Agriculture Fair Memorial Trust Society, and presented by President Giani Zail Singh of India 1986

Rathindranath Tagore Prize of Visva Bharati University 1981 R.D. Misra Medal of the Indian Environmental Society 1981[60] Barclay Medal of the Asiatic Society for contributions to genetics 1978 Moudgil Prize of the Bureau of Indian Standards for contributions to standardisation 1978

Birbal Sahni Medal of the Indian Botanical Society for contributions to Applied Botany 1965.[61]

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for contributions to Biological Sciences 1961

International Awards He has been honored with recognition from several international organizations for spreading the benefits of his work to other countries.

Mahatma Gandhi studying with microscope, 1940

UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Gold Medal for his outstanding work in extending the benefits of biotechnology to marginalized and poverty-stricken populations in developing countries and in securing a sound basis for sustainable agricultural, environmental and rural development 1999

Henry Shaw Medal awarded by the Board of Trustees of the Missouri Botanical Garden in consideration of important service to humanity through emphasis on sustainability in agriculture - USA 1998

Ordre du Merite Agricole, Govt of France to honour services of the highest quality rendered to the cause of agriculture 1997

Highest award for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, Govt of China for outstanding contributions to the lofty cause of environmental protection and development, and for his signal accomplishments in the field of international cooperation 1997

Global Environmental Leadership Award for encouraging village-level responses to environmental issues by the Climate Institute 1995

World Academy of Art and Science 1994 Asian Regional Award by the Asian Productivity Organization APO 1994 Charles Darwin International Science and Environment Medal 1993 Commandeur of the Order of the Golden Ark of the Netherlands 1990 The VOLVO Environment Prize for his outstanding research and devoted work in turning Indian food production from a deficit to a much increased supply. 1990.[62]

Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) international award for significant contributions to promoting the knowledge, skill, and technological

empowerment of women in agriculture and for his pioneering role in mainstreaming gender considerations in agriculture and rural development 1985.[63]

Bicentenary Medal of the University of Georgia, U.S.A. 1985 Bennett Commonwealth Prize of the Royal Society of Arts for significant contributions to Household Nutrition Security 1984

Mendel Memorial Medal of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences for contributions to Plant Genetics 1965

[edit] Critics Despite these awards and honors, the credibility of Swaminathan and his promotion of biotechnology remains open to question by some. His record retains some controversy. There are cases of scientific fraud and scandals involving the suicide of a fellow scientist at the (ICAR).[64] The first among those who came to expose many of the claims made by MS Swaminathan was Claude Alvares. In his article The Great Gene Robbery 23 March 1986 The Illustrated Weekly.[27] Alvares provided enough evidences to show that most of the research that were initiated by him and International Rice Research Institute were not original.[65] In the recent years Shiv Vishwanathan in an EPW [28] article writes he is a sociological phenomenon. He is paradigm, exemplar, dissenter, critic and alternative. .....Swaminathan always assimilates the new. Earlier Claude Alvares had given a better picture as follows Strangely, he has become more and more akin to HYV of the seeds he sells. Like them, he is capable of high-yielding varieties of phrase and word. At a Gandhi seminar, he will speak of the relevance of Gandhi. At a meeting in Madras on the necessity of combine harvesters. At another meeting on appropriate technology, he will plump for organic manures. At a talk in London, he will speak on the necessity of chemical fertilizers. He will label slum dwellers ecological refugees, and advertise his career as a quest for imparting an ecological basis to productivity improvement. This, after presiding over, and indiscriminately furthering, one of the ecologically most devastating technologies of modern times the HYV package of the Green revolution.[29]

[edit] Current work

He currently holds the UNESCO -Cousteau Chair[66] in Ecotechnology at the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India.

He is the chairman of the National Commission on Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security of India (National Commission on Farmers).[67]

He is currently spearheading a movement to bridge the Digital divide called, "Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge Centre".[68][69]
o

Bruce Alberts, President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences said of Dr. Swaminathan: "At 80, M.S. retains all the energy and idealism of his youth, and he continues to inspire good behavior and more idealism from millions of his fellow human beings on this Earth. For that, we can all be thankful".[

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam

Abdul Kalam at the 12th Wharton India Economic Forum, 2008. President of India In office

25 July 2002 24 July 2007 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Manmohan Singh

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Preceded by Kocheril Raman Narayanan

Succeeded by Pratibha DeviSingh Patil Personal details 15 October 1931 (age 80) Born Rameswaram, British India (now Tamil Nadu, India) Political party Independent St. Joseph's College, Alma mater Tiruchirappalli Madras Institute of Technology Professor (Aerospace engineering) nuclear scientist Occupation rocket scientist author academic Profession Religion Aerospace engineer Islam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam pronunciation (helpinfo) (Tamil: ; born 15 October 1931) usually referred to as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a renowned aerospace engineer, professor (of Aerospace engineering), and first Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram (IIST), who served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007.[1] During his term as President, he was popularly known as the People's President.[2][3] He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honor in 1997. Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aerospace engineer with DRDO and ISRO. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of

ballistic missile and space rocket technology.[4] Kalam played a pivotal organizational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974. Dr. Kalam has even been circled with various controversies as many scientific experts called him a man with no authority over "nuclear physics" and a man who just carried the works of Dr. Homi Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai.[5] He is currently the a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Chancellor of Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology Thiruvananthapuram, a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University (Chennai), a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Management Indore, and an adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across India. In May 2011, Dr. Kalam launched his mission for the youth of the nation called the What Can I Give Movement.[6] Dr. Kalam better known as a scientist, also has special interest in the field of arts like writing Tamil poems, and also playing the music instrument Veenai.[7] Early life and education Kalam sees the world without fear.[8] He spent most of his childhood running into financial problems and started working at an early age to supplement his family's income.[9] Kalam was brought up in a multi-religious, tolerant society, with Kalam strictly following his religious routine. Kalam, as a child, had a tough routine - he would start his day by getting up at 4:00 am; study and review his homework before going to school to attend the mathematics class as his first class of the day.[8] After completing school, Kalam along with his cousin Samsuddin Kalam distributed papers in order to financially contribute to his father's income.[9] In his school years, Kalam was described as a mediocre student who had average grades in his class, but a bright and hardworking student who had a strong desire to learn.[8] Kalam spent hours on his studies, especially in mathematics, and his teachers always regarded him as a student who made an effort in his studies.[8] After completing his school education, Kalam went onto to attend the Saint Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli where he graduated in Physics[9] in 1954 but towards the end he was not enthusiastic about seeing himself as a physicist.[8] Kalam soon discovered aerospace engineering at Madras, and he regretted the loss of the four years spent in physics.[8] In 1955, Kalam moved to Madras and began taking courses on Aerospace engineering.[8] While Kalam was working on a senior class project, the Dean of the Engineering came by to see Kalam's progress.[8] The Dean was dissatisfied with Kalam's progress and said that his scholarship would be revoked if the project wasn't finished within the next two days.[8] Kalam worked tirelessly on his project, and met the deadline. His tireless effort impressed the Dean who

said, "It was a test, and under extreme stress, Kalam met a difficult deadline to complete the project".[8] [edit] Career as scientist After graduation from Madras Institute of Technology (MIT - Chennai) in 1960, Kalam joined Aeronautical Development Establishment of DRDO as a chief scientist. There, Kalam started his career by designing a small helicopter for the Indian Army, but remained unconvinced with the choice of his job.[8] Kalam was also part of the INCOSPAR commitee working under Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. In 1969, Kalam was transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he was the project-director of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). Joining ISRO was one of Kalam's biggest achievements in life and is said to have found himself when he started to work on the SLV project. However, Kalam first started work on an expandable rocket project independently at DRDO in 1965.[10] In 1969, Kalam received the government's approval and expanded the program to many engineers. In 1979, the first maiden flight of this project was made and in 1980, country's first satellite Rohini was launched with this rocket.[10] From 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV and SLV-III project which proved to be successful. In 1974, Kalam was shifted to the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), a subsidiary of DRDO. Kalam was invited to witnessed the country's first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha as the representative of TBRL, even though he had not participated in developing or even taken part in the test site preparations or weapon designing. Kalam arrived at the test site on the invitation of Dr. Raja Ramanna. In 1970s, a landmark was passed when ISRO first launched into space the locally built Rohini-1, using the SLV rocket.[11] In the 1970s, Kalam also directed the Project Devil and Project Valiant to developed the ballistic missiles from the technology of Kalam's successful SLV programme.[11] Despite the disapproval of Union Cabinet, Premier Indira Gandhi allotted secret funds for these aerospace projects through her discretionary powers under Kalam's directorship.[11] Kalam played an integral role convincing the Union Cabinet to conceal the true nature of these classified aerospace projects.[11] His research and educational leadership brought him great laurels and prestige in 1980s, which prompted the government to initiate an advanced missile program under his directorship.[11] As Chief Executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (I.G.M.D.P), he played a major part in developing many missiles in India including Agni and Prithvi although the entire project has been criticized for being overrun and mismanaged.[12] He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of Defence Research and Development Organisation from July 1992 to December 1999. The Pokhran-II

nuclear tests were conducted during this period where he played an intensive political and technological role. Kalam served as the Chief Project Coordinator, along with R. Chidambaram during the testing phase. Photos and snapshots of him taken by the Media elevated Kalam as the country's top nuclear scientist although Kalam was not directly involved with the nuclear program at the time. [edit] Criticisms and controversy Main article: Pokhran-II The controversy that surrounds Kalam's role as a nuclear scientist, is the lack of reliable and factual reporting of the yield of Pokhran-II tests. The director of the site test, K. Santhanam, publicly admitted that the thermonuclear bomb was a "fizzle" test, criticizing Kalam for issuing the wrong report. However, Kalam dismissed the claims, and R. Chidambaram, a key associated with Pokhran-II, had also described these claims as incorrect.[13] In spite of his leading role in the development of Indian nuclear programme, Dr. Kalam has received rogue criticism from many of his leading nuclear peers who claimed that Dr. Kalam had "no authority" over nuclear science.[14] Dr. Homi Sethna, a chemical engineer criticized Kalam when Dr. Sethna claimed that Dr. Kalam had no background in publishing articles in nuclear science, even in nuclear physics. Sethna maintained that Dr. Kalam received his doctorate in Aerospace engineering which is a completely different discipline from Nuclear engineering, and what various universities awarded him for his achievements had nothing to do with nuclear physics. Sethna, in his last interview, maintained that in 1950s Kalam had failed advanced physics courses during his college life, and quoted "What does he know (about [nuclear] physics)....?", on national television.[15] Others felt that Dr. Kalam had never worked in any of the Indian nuclear power plants and had no role in developing the nuclear weapon which was completed under Dr. Raja Ramanna.[16] Kalam worked as an aerospace engineer in a SLV project in 1970s and 1980s onwards as a project director before he was shifted to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Sethna concluded.[15] In 2008, Indian media questioned his claims over his inventions such as missiles, while working in a classified missile programme.[15]Kalam took the credit of inventing the Agni, Prithvi, and Aakash missile system.[15] All of these were developed, researched and designed by other scientists whereas Dr. Kalam was involved in getting the funds and other logistic tasks.[15] As a director of DRDO, Dr. Kalam named all these missiles and got all the fame. Dr. R N Agarwal, former director, Advanced System Laboratory and former Program Director of Agni missile was considered to be the real architect behind the successful design of Agni Missile.[15] In 2006, senior media correspondent Praful Bidwai in the The Daily Star, wrote that aerospace projects, Project Valiant and Project Devil, which were authorized by former

Premier Indira Gandhi under directorship of aerospace engineer Abdul Kalam, resulted in "total failure"; therefore in 1980s, these project were ultimately cancelled by the government after pressured by Indian Army.[17] Dr. Kalam was also criticized by civil groups over his stand on Kudankulam nuclear plant, where he supported setting up of the nuclear power plant and never spoke with the local people.[18] [edit] Issues with American security authorities Abdul Kalam had his clothes removed for explosives inspections[19] and was frisked by the United States while on a plane in New York on 29 September 2011.[when?] The former President was on the plane when he was frisked again. He was separated from his jacket and shoes for a while. The incident was not reported until 13 November that year.[20] India threatened retaliatory action as there was a "general sense of outrage" around the country.[19][21] The Indian ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao was instructed to raise the scandal at the "highest level" with Washington.[19] External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna said the frisking of Dr. Kalam was "unacceptable and is being taken very seriously".[21] The Indian political class slammed the United States and the Congress condemned its behaviour.[22] The Indian government released a statement expressing its disgust with the treatment of Abdul Kalam.[23] The American media largely ignored the incident, though it received brief mentions on blogs run by Voice of America and The Wall Street Journal websites.[24][25] The United States said it was sorry for its breach of protocol.[20] CPI M General Secretary Prakash Karat called for US citizens to be finger-printed and photographed in return.[21] [edit] Issues held [edit] Future India: 2020 In his book India 2020, Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower. It has been reported that there is a considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by him.[26] Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology. He has proposed a research program for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter of Open Source over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of free software on a large scale will bring the benefits of information technology to more people.[27] [edit] Awards and honours

Year of Award or Honor 2011 2011 2009 2009 2009

Name of Award or Honor Doctor of Science (microbiology) IEEE Honorary Membership Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) Hoover Medal International von Krmn Wings Award

Awarding Organization

S.Gujarati University[citation needed] IEEE[28] Anna University of Technology[citation

needed]

ASME Foundation, USA[29] California Institute of Technology, U.S.A[30]

2008 1997 1990 1981

Doctor of Engineering (Honoris Nanyang Technological University, Causa) Bharat Ratna Padma Vibhushan Padma Bhushan Singapore[31] Government of India Government of India Government of India

[edit] Books and documentaries Kalam's writings Latest Book by APJ Abdul Kalam- "Target Three Billion"

Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A. P. J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari; by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A. P. J. Pub. Corp, 2002.

Scientist to President by Abdul A. P. J. Kalam; Gyan Publishing House, 2003. Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Penguin Books, 2003.

India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan; Penguin Books India, 2003.

India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Excel Books, 2004. Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004.

Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari; Ocean Books, 2005.

Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Pearson Education, ISBN 81-7758-245-3 Indomitable Spirit by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, 2006

The Scientific Indian: A Twenty-first Century Guide to the World around Us by APJ Abdul Kalam and YS Rajan

My Journey by APJ Abdul Kalam, Published By: V Suryanarayana Murthy

Biographies

Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra; Pentagon Publishers, 2002.

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi; Anmol Publications, 2002. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A.P.H. Pub. Corp, 2002.

A Little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli Media Works Private Limited, 2008.[32]

The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M. Nair; Harper Collins, 2008. My Days With Mahatma Abdul Kalam by Fr.A.K. George; ISBN No:978-8190452953; Publisher: Novel Corporation, 2009.[33]