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Home , Bapu (book), Chauri Chaura incident, Garam Dal, Kasturba Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose

Lesson 11 THEY SHOWED US THE PATH RANI LAXMIBAI

The fearless queen of Jhansi, Rani Laxmi Bai was one of the leading figures of the 1857 war of independence. Born on 19 November 1828 in Varanasi as Manikarnika Tambe, she grew up to become an icon for the freedom struggle against the British rule in .

Manikarnika lost her mother at the very young age of four and was raised by her father who worked in the court of the Peshwa of Bithoo. The Peshwa raised her like his own daughter and it was here that unlike most girls who were trained to be a good wife, Manu learnt horseback riding, fencing and shooting. She also received education, which was extremely rare for women in those times. She married the Maharaja of Jhansi in 1842 following which she was rechristened as Rani Laxmibai in honour of Goddess Laxmi on her wedding day.

Following the marriage, she gave birth to her son in 1851 who died within four months. The couple then adopted the son of the Maharaja’s cousin whom they named Damodar Rao. After the death of the Maharaja, the British refused to acknowledge Damodar Rao as the legal heir to the throne of Jhansi, citing the Doctrine of Lapse.

According to this, any princely state under the direct or indirect (as a vassal) control of the where the ruler did not have a legal male heir would be annexed by the company.

As per this, any adopted son of the Indian ruler could not be proclaimed as heir to the kingdom. She also appealed to a court in which discarded her case. In the year 1851, when the entire country was already fighting the first war for Independence, Rani joined the wagon after Sir Hugh Rose demanded the complete surrender of Jhansi. She was further supported by great warriors like Gulam Gaus Khan, Dost Khan, Khuda Baksh, Sunder- Mundar, Lala Bhau Bakshi, Moti Bai, Deewan Raghunath Singh and Deewan Jawahar Singh among others. To strengthen her defence, Rani also had an army of women.

It is said that she fought the British bravely with her infant son Damodar tied to her back and swords in her hands. After giving a tough fight to the Britishers, she was killed on 17 June 1988, following which troops whisked away her body so that her last wish of not being captured by the British could be fulfilled. Today Rani Jhansi Museum in the Fort of Jhansi is home to some of the weapons used by Rani Laxmibai and her fellow warriors throughout the Rebellion of 1857. The museum houses a collection of archaeological remains of the period between the 9th and 12th centuries AD. SUBHASH CHANDRA

Subhas Chandra Bose, byname Netaji (Hindi: “Respected Leader”), (born c. , 1897, , Orissa [now ], India— died August 18, 1945, , ?), Indian revolutionary prominent in the independence movement against British rule of India. The son of a wealthy and prominent Bengali lawyer, Bose studied at Presidency College, Calcutta (), from which he was expelled in 1916 for nationalist activities, and the Scottish Churches College (graduating in 1919). He then was sent by his parents to the in England to prepare for the . In 1920 he passed the civil service examination. Activity In Exile

In Nazi Bose came under the tutelage of a newly created , guided by . He and other Indians who had gathered in made regular broadcasts from the German-sponsored Radio beginning in January 1942, speaking in English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and .

A little more than a year after the Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia, Bose left Germany, traveling by German and Japanese submarines and by plane, and arrived in May 1943 in Tokyo. On July 4 he assumed leadership of the Indian Independence Movement in East Asia and proceeded, with Japanese aid and influence, to form a trained army of about 40,000 troops in Japanese- occupied Southeast Asia. On October 21, 1943, Bose proclaimed the establishment of a provisional independent Indian government, and his so- called (Azad Hind Fauj), alongside Japanese troops, advanced to Rangoon () and thence overland into India, reaching Indian soil on March 18, 1944, and moving into and the plains of . In a stubborn battle, the mixed Indian and Japanese forces, lacking Japanese air support, were defeated and forced to retreat; the Indian National Army nevertheless for some time succeeded in maintaining its identity as a liberation army, based in Burma and then Indochina. With the defeat of Japan, however, Bose’s fortunes ended. A few days after Japan’s announced surrender in , Bose, fleeing Southeast Asia, reportedly died in a Japanese hospital in Taiwan as a result of burn injuries from a plane crash.

Keshav Gangadhar Tilak was born on July 22, 1856 in a middle class Chitpavan Brahmin family in Ratnagiri, a small coastal town in south-western . His father, Gangadhar Shastri was a noted scholar and school teacher at Ratnagiri. His mother's name was Paravti Bai Gangadhar. Following his father's transfer, the family shifted to Poona (now ). In 1871 Tilak was married to Tapibai who was later rechristened as Satyabhamabai. Due to this fundamental difference in outlook, Tilak and his supporters came to be known as the extremist wing of Party. Tilak’s endeavours were supported by fellow nationalists of and of Punjab. The trio came to be popularly referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal. In the 1907 national session of the Indian National Congress, a massive trouble broke out between the moderate and extremist sections of the Indian National Congress Party. As a result of which, the Congress split into two factions.

Towards his nationalistic goals, Bal Gangadhar Tilak published two newspapers -'Mahratta' (English) and '' (Marathi). Both the newspapers stressed on making the Indians aware of the glorious past and encouraged the masses to be self reliant. In other words, the newspaper actively propagated the cause of national freedom.

Tilak was so disappointed by the brutal incident of Jalianwala Bagh massacre that his health started declining. Despite his illness, Tilak issued a call to the Indians not to stop the movement no matter what happened. He was raring to lead the movement but his health did not permit. Tilak suffered from diabetes and had become very weak by this time. In mid-July 1920, his condition worsened and on August 1, he passed away.

Even as this sad news was spreading, a veritable ocean of people surged to his house. Over 2 lakh people gathered at his residence in Bombay to have the last glimpse of their beloved leader MAHATMA

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, also known as , was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Wikipedia

Born: 2 October 1869, Died: 30 January 1948, Other names: Mahatma Gandhi, ji, Gandhi ji, M. K. Gandhi Spouse: MAHATMA GANDHI (1869–1948) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is widely recognized as one of the twentieth century's greatest political and spiritual leaders. Honored in India as the father of the nation, he pioneered and practiced the principle of —resistance to tyranny through mass nonviolent . Major movements of Mahatma Gandhi are as follows: 1. (1917): In Champaran district of Bihar the condition of Indigo cultivators became miserable under Tinkathiya system. Under this system the cultivators were forced to cultivate Indigo on the best 3/20th part of their land and were forced to sell them at a cheaper price. The situation for the farmers became worse due to harsh weather conditions and levy of heavy taxes. Then, Rajkumar Shukla met Mahatma Gandhi at Lucknow and invited him. At Champaran, Mahatma Gandhi adopted the approach of civil disobedience movement and launched demonstrations and strikes against the landlords. As a result, the government set up a Champaran agrarian committee of which Gandhi ji was also one of the members. All the demands of the cultivators were accepted and the Satyagraha was successful.

2. Kheda Satyagraha (1917 -1918): A no-tax campaign was started by Mohan Lal Pandey in 1917 who demanded the remission of taxes due to poor harvest or crop failure in Kheda village, . Mahatma Gandhi was invited and he joined the movement on 22 March, 1918. There, he started Satyagraha. The movement was also joined by and Indulal Yagnik. Finally, the demands were fulfilled by the British government and it was successful. 3. (1919): Khilafat movement was started by the Ali brothers to show the protest against unjust done with the Turkey after the First World War. Under the guidance of Mahatma Gandhi the movement was launched against the British government to restore the collapsing status of the Caliph in Turkey. All India Conference was held in Delhi where Mahatma Gandhi was elected as a president. He also returned the medals received from the in South Africa. The success of the Khilafat movement made him the national leader. 4. Non-Cooperation Movement (1920): Non-Cooperation movement was launched in 1920 by Mahatma Gandhi due to the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. Mahatma Gandhi thought that this will continue and Britishers will enjoy their control over Indians. With the help of Congress, Gandhi ji convinced people for starting non-cooperation movement in a peaceful way which is key factor to attain independence. He framed the concept of and it became a crucial element in the Indian freedom struggle. The movement gained momentum and people started boycotting the products and establishments of British government like schools, colleges, government offices. But due to incident, Mahatma Gandhi ended the movement because in this incident 23 police officials were killed. 5. Civil-Disobedience Movement (1930): Mahatma Gandhi in March 1930 addressed the nation in a newspaper, and expressed his willingness to suspend the movement if his eleven demands get accepted by the government. But the government at that time was of Lord Irwin and he did not respond back to him. As a result, Mahatma Gandhi initiated the movement with full vigour. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Patel’s strength takes place in his boyhood years. When he was young, Vallahbhai suffered from a boil. There was a man in his village who used to cure boils by touching them with hot iron. Vallabhbhai went to him to remove the boil that he had. The man heated the iron rod until it grew red but seeing how young Vallabhbhai was, he hesitated. Vallabhbhai fearlessly responded, "What are you waiting for? The iron will grow cold. Hurry up, brand the boil,". Vallabhbhai picked up the glowing rod and burnt the boil. Those who watched him were shocked. But there was not a trace of pain in the boy's face. Sardar Patel went to England to study law and returned to India in 1915. After returning he met Gandhi and soon joined him in many issues of the day including one in which he represented workers in a dispute with mill owners in Ahmedabad in 1918. Patel had a successful law practice, but as he became more influenced by the ideas of Gandhi he gave it up and threw himself into the campaign for Indian independence. In 1931, Patel was elected President of the Indian National Congress. Gandhi vested great confidence in him through all the years of their friendship. Gandhi’s assassination left Sardar Patel without the guidance of his political mentor and the "Father of the Nation. His memory as the "Iron Man of India", came from his steely determination and pragmatism. Nowhere was this more apparent than when, as Home Minister and Minister of States, he took action to consolidate the Indian Union and authorized the police to merge Hyderabad into India. EXERCISES 11. They Showed Us The Path A. 1. Manu 2. Subhash Chandra Bose 3. October 2, 1869 4. Bal Gangadhar Tilak 5. Subhash Chandra Bose

B. 1. Subhash Chandra Bose 2. Subhash Chandra Bose 3. Bal Gangadhar Tilak 4. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel 5. Mahatma Gandhi C. 1. T 2. F 3. F 4. T 5. T D. 1. Kesari and Maharatta were the names of two weeklies, started by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. 2. INA (Indian National Army) was founded by Subhash Chandra Bose. It was formed to fight against British empire for independence. 3. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose formed Rani Jhansi Battalion. 4. The two factions of Indian National Congress were Garam Dal (Hot Faction) and Naram Dal (Soft Faction) 5. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel convinced the princely states to merge into the Union of India.