INDIAN HISTORY LEADERS OF NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866 - 1915) In the 1906 Calcutta session he declared Swaraj for India follow- Political guru of MAHATMA ing the partition of Bengal. GANDHI. He was the leader of moderate He was the author of the monu- group in the Congress Party. mental work Poverty and Un- He played a commendable role British Rule in India. In this in the imperial Legislative book he describes the ‘drain Council of which he was a theory’, i.e. the exploitation of member in 1902. Indian wealth by the British. He founded 'The Servants of India Society' and He organised the Indian Society in England. served as President of the Indian National Con- He was President of the Indian National Congress gress in 1907. three times. Until Mahatma Gandhi appeared, Gopalakrishna He is also known as the Father of Indian Politics Gokhale was the national leader of the freedom and Economics. struggle. He suggested the name ‘Congress’ for the Indian Feroz Shah Mehta (1845 - 1915) National Congress. The word ‘Congress’, which means an assembly of people, was taken from He was chosen the president of Indian National North American history. Congress in 1890. Surendranath Bannerji (1848-1925) His political ideology was, as was the case with most of the Indian leaders of his time, moderate Indian patriot from Bengal, one and was hence not directly opposed to the of the first three candidates to crown’s sovereignty but only demanded more pass the ICS Examination. autonomy for Indians to self-rule. He entered the Indian Civil Serv- ice in 1869 but was dismissed for Badaruddin Tyabji (1844-1906) a minor irregularity. Leader of the Indian National He founded the Indian Associa- Movement. tion in 1876. He was President of He was the first Indian barrister the Indian National Congress twice (1895 and 1902) of the Bombay High Court. and led the anti-partition agitation in 1905. He was the first Muslim to be- come the President of the Na- Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950) tional Congress (in 1887). He was a freedom fighter, poet, scholar, yogi and Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) philosopher. Known as the Grand Old Man of India. Worked towards the cause of India’s freedom, He was a prominent Congress leader and worked and for further evolution of life on earth. for Swaraj in England which was the centre of his The famous Alipore Bomb Case proved to be a political activities. He was associated with Bhikaji turning point in Sri Aurobindo Ghosh’s life. For a Camma. year Aurobindo was an undertrial prisoner in soli- He was the first Indian to be elected to the House tary confinement in the Alipore Central Jail. of Commons from a London constituency (1862). He was an MP in the Parliament of the UK be- He utilized this period of incarceration for an in- tween 1892 and 1895 and the first Asian to be a tense study and practice of the teachings of the British MP. Bhagavad Gita. Deputy Collector Rank File Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1928) The three leaders, Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Dedicated social worker and Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal are known in the his- educationist who joined the In- tory of the Indian freedom movement as Lal, Bal dian National Congress in 1888. and Pal. He supported the extremist lead- Tagore, Rabindranath (1861- ers in the 1907 Congress split 1941) along with Tilak. He started and edited a newspa- Rabindranath Tagore, also known as per Young India, presided over the 1920 Congress Gurudev, is one of our country’s most distinguished and respected men of session and became member of the Indian Legis- letters. lative Assembly in 1923. He was the first Indian and the In 1920 he led the non-cooperation movement in first Asian to have won the Nobel Punjab and was sent to jail. When he visited La- Prize for Literature for his lyric Gitanjali (on No- hore on October 30, 1928 he suffered severe lathi vember 13, 1913). blows in a police attack and later died of his inju- He was a great author and educationist who ries. founded the Shantinikethan (1901) at Bolepur, He is also called Sher-e-Punjab (Punjab Kesari). West Bengal, which later became the Vishwabharati Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856- University. 1920) The British Government knighted him with the ti- Aggressive freedom fighter tle ‘Sir’ which he returned in 1919 in protest against popularly known as Father the Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy. of Indian Unrest. He is also His important books are Bisarjan, Chitra, The called Lokmanya (Loknayak Gardener, Gitanjali, Gora, Hungry Stones, The is Jayaprakash Narayan). Wreck, Lipika and Post Office. His political career began in His famous quotation is: “I am restless, I thirst for 1896 during the famine in the the distant, the far away.” Deccan. Our national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, and the He was the first Indian leader to give the slogan national anthem of Bangladesh 'Amar Sona ‘Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it’. Bangla...." were composed by Tagore. He is the author of Gita Rahasya through which Rash Bihari Bose (1886-1945) he taught the people to fight against oppression He was a revolutionary leader against the British and unrighteousness. Raj in India He started two well-known newspapers Kesari One of the key organisers of the Ghadar con- (Marathi) and Maratta (English) to arouse na- spiracy and later, the Indian National Army. tional sentiments. He was the founder leader of the Home Rule Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988) League in 1916 along with ANNIE BESANT. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Bal Gangadhar Tilak belonged to the extremist staunch Congress man and a wing of Congress along with Lala Lajpat Rai and soldier of the Indian freedom Bipin Chandra Pal. The conflict between moder- struggle. ates and extremists led to a split of Congress at His admirers called him Badshah the Surat session of Congress in 1907. Khan, or the King Khan. Congress was later united at Lucknow session in He was also called Frontier Gan- 1917 due to the efforts of Annie Besant and dhi because he organised the Sudhakar Rao. people of the North-West Frontier Province INDIAN HISTORY
(NWFP) of undivided India (now merged with He later went to South Africa to help Indians there Pakistan) on Gandhian principles. These people at the request of MAHATMA GANDHI. were called Red Shirts for the colour of the uni- Asaf Ali (1888-1953) forms they wore. After the partition of India in 1947, NWFP was merged into Pakistan but the Indian nationalist leader and freedom fighter. A struggle of Frontier Gandhi did not end with it Minister in the interim Government (1946). He and he continued to fight for the independence was India’s first Ambassador to USA. He also of his people, the Pakhtuns or Pathans worked as the governor of Orissa. (Pakhtoonistan). Azad, Chandrasekhar (1906-31) He was the first foreigner to be awarded the Bharat Chandrasekhar Azad was an In- Ratna (1987), the second being NELSON MANDELA. dian revolutionary who was in- He formed the movement known as Khudai volved in the Non-Cooperation Khidniatgan (Servant of God). Movement and the Assembly Bomb incident, the Delhi Con- Ambedkar, B.R. (1891-1956) spiracy, the Lahore Conspiracy Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was etc. an eminent jurist, social reformer He died fighting a lone battle with the police. and scheduled castes leader. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958) He was born on April 14, 1891 at Nationalist Muslim scholar, President Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, into of the Indian National Congress. the Mahar community, which He founded Al Hilal and Al was an untouchable backward caste. Balagh Urdu weeklies. He was the Chairman of Constitution Drafting He was free India’s first Union Committee and is considered the Architect of the Education Minister. Indian Constitution. He established UGC IIT He was Minister of Law (1946-51) in the Nehru (Kharoaghuo) and many other Cabinet. institutions. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna He was posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna in 1990. (1992). He was the main inspiration behind the inclusion He wrote India Wins Freedom. of special provisions in the Constitution of India for the development of scheduled castes people. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee (1838-94) He attended all the three Round Table Confer- Celebrated Bengali novelist and author of Vande ences in London as a representative of the de- Mataram, the National Song of pressed classes of India. India is from his work Anand He was affectionately called Baba Saheb. Math. He became a staunch Buddhist and converted to He also wrote Kapal Kundla, Buddhism in the last stage of his life. Durgesh Nandini, Chandra Andrews, C.F. (1871-1940) Sekhar, Vish Vriksha. His famous book Kamala Charles Freer Andrews was a Brit- Kanter Daftar highlights the ish missionary and close associ- social evils that prevailed in society of that time. ate of Mahatma Gandhi. He came Vande Mataram was first sung at the 1896 ses- to India in 1904 and devoted him- sion of the Indian National Congress. The Eng- self to India’s freedom struggle. lish translation of Vande Mataram was made by He came to be known as Deena SRI AUROBINDO GOSH. Bandhu. Deputy Collector Rank File Banerjee, W.C. (1844-1906) Cama Bhikaji (1861-1936) W.C. Banerjee was the first Presi- Indian revolutionary leader. dent of the Indian National Con- She was the founder of the Free Indian Society in gress held in 1885 at Bombay. He UK. She was the first to unfurl the flag at Stutt- migrated to England in 1902 and gart (Germany) during Social Congress session worked for the Indian cause. He (1907). financed a journal called India. She started a journal, Bande Mataram. The Indian National Congress was founded by a Bipin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) retired British civil servant A.O. HUME. One of the extremist leaders of the Annie Besant (1847-1933) freedom struggle and an ardent Irish by birth, but she became a supporter of the boycott of for- staunch supporter of India’s freedom eign goods, the Swadesi Move- struggle. Known as the Grand Old ment and national education. Lady of Indian Nationalism. He did not believe in dominion She became a member of the status and wanted full-fledged Theosophical Society in 1889 independence. He achieved national stature af- and became its President in 1907. ter the partition of Bengal. Mrs. Annie Besant joined Congress and in 1916 In the 1907 Surat Congress session, he fought for inaugurated the All India Home Rule League in Tilak’s candidature for the presidency. But Madras, with the support and co-operation of Rashbihari Ghosh was selected. Later Congress Lokmanya Tilak. split into two. She played a prominent role in uniting militant Bipin Chandra Pal along with BAL GANGADHAR and moderate leaders at the Congress session at TILAK and LALA LAJPAT RAI were known as Lal, Lucknow in 1920. Pal, Bal the famous extremist Congress leaders. She was the first woman President of Indian Na- tional Congress (1917, Calcutta). Later she left Subhash Chandra Bose (1896-1945) Congress but continued to serve India. Subhash Chandra Bose was the She translated the Bhagavad Gita into English Indian freedom fighter also and wrote the book Death and After. known as Netaji. Bhagat Singh (1907-31) He resigned from the Indian Civil He was a patriot and revolutionary, Service in 1921 and supported known as Shahid-e-Azam. He became the non-cooperation movement a martyr on May 23, 1931 along with led by GANDHI. Sukhdev and Rajguru for participa- He was elected President of Congress in 1938 but tion in the Lahore Conspiracy case. left Congress in 1939 and formed the Forward Bloc He was the first to raise the slo- party in that same year. gan Inquilab Zindabad which He was arrested during World War II but escaped was coined by Muhammad Iqbal. from India and went to Japan where he took over He was the leader of the Hindustan Socialist Re- the leadership of the Indian National Army (INA), publican Army. also known as the Azad Hind Fauj, to fight the Bhagat Singh was sentenced to imprisonment for British, but he was unsuccessful due to Japan’s life for his part in the Central Legislative Assem- surrender after the war. The INA was founded by bly bomb case on April 8, 1929. RASH BEHARI BOSE together with Mohan Singh He founded Nau Jawan Bharat Sabha. in 1942. INDIAN HISTORY
It was Netaji’s wish to unfurl the national flag at Gopalan, A.K. (1904-77) Red Fort in Delhi. It is thus in remembrance of A.K. Gopalan was a Communist leader him that the National Flag is unfurled every year from Kerala. He led the famous Pattin- at Red Fort on Independence Day. ijatha to Madras from Malabar. He gave the slogan Jai Hind to the nation. Also He was arrested during the “Dilli Chalo.” Guruvayur satyagraha. He is believed to have died in an air crash in 1945 Manninuvendi, Kodunkattinte but it is still a controversy. Mattoli, I Saw a New World and His famous quote is “Give me blood. I will give My Memories are his books. you freedom.” He was posthumously decorated He was a Member of Parliament. His wife, Susheela with the Bharat Ratna in 1992. Gopalan, was former Minister of Industry in Kerala. 1997 was celebrated by our country as Subhash Ente Jeevithakatha is his autobiography. Chandra Bose Centenary Year. Gulzarilal Nanda (1898-1998) C.R. Das (1870-1925) Freedom fighter, Gandhian and twice Chita Ranjan Das, also known interim Prime Minister of India after as Deshbandhu, was a lawyer NEHRU’s and LAL BAHADUR SHAS- at the Calcutta Bar, and he en- TRI’s deaths. tered politics in 1920. He was the first Deputy Chair- He presided over the Gaya Con- man of the Planning Commis- gress session and along with sion. Motilal Nehru launched the He received the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Swaraj Party in 1923. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820-98) He got Aurobindo Ghosh freed in the Alipur Bomb Indian social reformer and educationist from Ben- Case. gal. The Jallianwala Bagh Tragedy was investigated He did pioneering work in the field of primary educa- by Jawaharlal Nehru and C.R. Das. tion and widow remarriage. It was due to his pres- He is also simply known as C.R. sure that the British passed the Hindu Widow Re- marriage Act 1856 during LORD DALHOUSIE’s time. Morarji Desai (1896-1995) He was the founder of Bethune School in 1849, the first school exclusive for women. Indian freedom fighter and the 4th Prime Minister of India. Vakkom Abdul Khadar (1917-43) He was Deputy Prime Minister Freedom fighter who was hanged on Sept 10th, 1943. and Finance Minister under Con- gress rule. Khudiram bose (1889-1908) He was the first non-Congress Indian revolutionary. He took part in the looting Prime Minister; he headed a of mailbags at Hatgachha and a bomb attack on Janata Government in 1977. the Bengal Governor’s special train in 1907. He He is the only Indian to have received the Bharat organised a plot in collaboration with Prafulla Ratna (1991), the highest national award of India, Chaki and threw a bomb at the carriage of and the Nishan-e-Pakistan, the highest civilian Kingsford, the session judge of Muzaffarpur. He award of Pakistan. was hanged. His books are Nature Cure, Discourses on Gita Kripalani, Acharya (1882-1982) and The Story of My Life. Acharya Kripalani was the freedom fighter who
Deputy Collector Rank File was President of Congress when Panduraug Shastri Athavale (1920-2003) India became independent. Indian social reformer. He founded the Kisan Musdur He is the founder and leader of the Swadhyaya Praja Party and the Praja Social- Movement. ist Party. SUCHETA KRIPALANI He won the Templeton Award in 1997 which car- was his wife. ries a purse of US$1.2 million in recognition of his Kripalani, Sucheta (1908-74) movement, which has liberated hundred of villag- ers in India from bondage of casteism and other Sucheta Kripalani was a freedom social vices. fighter and the first woman Chief He won the Magsaysay Award in 1996. Minister of independent India He is affectionately known as 'dadaji'. (Uttar Pradesh 1963-67). She was the wife of ACHARYA Sardar K.M. Panikkar (1894-1963) KRIPALANI. Full name is Kovalam Madhava Panikkar. Scholar, historian, diplomat, foreign minister in Annie Mascreen (1902-63) Patiala and Bikaner where he also later became Annie Mascreen was an Indian freedom fighter Prime Minister and given the title of “Sardar”. from Kerala. She was known as the Jhansi Rani of He participated in the Round Table Conference in Travancore. 1930-33. She was the first woman parliamentarian from Kerala. She was elected to the Legislative Assem- After independence, he became Ambassador to bly unopposed in the first general election and China, Egypt and France. Member, States Reor- became a minister. ganisation Commission. (1888-1975) Motilal Nehru (1861-1931) Radhakrishnan, Dr. S. Father of JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, was a nationalist Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan leader of the Gandhian era, and a was the second President of In- noted lawyer of the Allahabad dia, 1962-67. He was the first Vice- High Court. President, 1952-62. Elected as Congress President He was a distinguished philoso- twice; Leader of the Opposition pher and writer. He wrote Reli- in the Central Legislative Assem- gion and Society, The Hindu bly; prepared a draft Constitu- View of Life, An Idealist View of Life, Indian Phi- tion for India. losophy, Bhagavad Gita. He donated his palatial house, Anand Bhavan His birth day, Sept 5 is observed as Teacher's Day. (later known as Swaraj Bhavan), to the Congress He won the Bharat Ratna in 1954 and the Templeton Party. Prize in 1975. He was the founder of the daily Independent (1919). He founded Swaraj Party along with C.R. Rajagopalachari, C. (1878-1972) DAS. Chakravarti Rajagopalachari was a veteran politi- Pandey, Mangel (d. 1857) cian. He is popularly known as Rajaji. First martyr of India's Freedom He was the first and last Indian Governor-General Movement on March 29, 1857. of India 1948-50. Earlier he was Chief Minister of He instigated his comrades to Madras State. He was the first person to win the fight against the use of greased Bharat Ratna in 1954. cartridges and sparked off the He translated The Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and Sepoy Mutiny. He was court Mahabharata and also wrote The Nation’s Voice, martialled and hanged. The Fatal Cart, Reconciliation: Why and How INDIAN HISTORY
Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) She was the first woman Governor of a state (Uttar First and the longest serving Pradesh) in India, (1947-49). President of India, 1950-62, His Her famous works are Bird of Time, The Song of India, Sceptred Flute, Broken Wings and Golden famous work is India Divided. Threshold. He remained Food and Agricul- In 1930 she led the salt satyagraha from Darshan. ture Minister in the interim min- She participated in the Round Table Conference istry and was elected President of 1931. of the Constituent Assembly in 1947. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1962. V.D. Savarkar (1883-1966) He edited a new Hindi Weekly called Desh. Indian revolutionary leader who founded the Mitra Ram Manohar Lohia (1910-68) Mandal, which aimed at achieving freedom by Indian socialist leader. armed rebellion. He was the author of The Indian He was the founder of the Congress Socialist Party. War of Independence. He was the founder of Abhinav Bharat and he Roy, M.N. (1889-1945) started the Free India Society in London. He was called veer for his brave act of jumping Manabendra Nath Roy, whose into the sea from a ship when he was brought for real name was Narendranath trial to India from England. Bhattacharya Roy, was an Indi- He was arrested in the Nasik Conspiracy Case and an politician. sentenced to transportation for life. He was freed He was the founder of the Indian in 1937. Federation of Labour and the Shastri, Lal Bahadur (1904-66) Radical Democratic Party. Lal Bahadur Shastri was the Indian statesman who He was the only Indian to be a member of the succeeded NEHRU as the second Prime Minister Presidia of Communist International. of India (1964-66). Lekshmi Saigal (1914) He resigned from the Ministry of Railways following a railway ac- Captain Lekshmi Saigal was a freedom fighter. cident in 1956. She was the commander of the Women’s Regi- He signed the Tashkent Agree- ment of INA. ment with Ayub Khan for a She was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1998. ceasefire between India and Pa- Mrinalini Sarabai was her sister. kistan. She has contested in the Presidential Election He gave the nation the slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai against Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam but failed. The left Kissan”. parties supported her. He was known as the Man of Peace. He triumphed over Pakistan, but unfortunately died Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) in Tashkent on January 11, 1966, a few hours after Sarojini Naidu, called ‘The Night- he had signed the Indo-Pak accord. ingale of India’, was a great In- He was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna. A dian poetess who wrote in the memorial was set up at Vijay Ghat, Delhi, which English language. shall always remind us about this great son of She participated in India’s free- India. dom struggle and became Presi- Sukh Dev (d. 1931) dent of the Indian National Con- Indian patriot who was hanged by the British for his gress in 1925. (She was the first Indian Woman part in the Lahore Conspiracy along with BHAGAT SINGH President). and Shivram Rajguru on March 23, 1931.
Deputy Collector Rank File Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1875-1950) His famous talk at the Chicago Conference of World Home Minister in independent Religions in 1893 made Westerners realise the India’s first cabinet, during greatness of Hinduism for the first time. which time he worked tirelessly He established the Ramakrishna Mission, in for the integration of the Indian memory of his guru, Ramakrishna Paramahansa princely states. (1836-86). He started his political career at His real name was Narendranath Dutta. His fa- Bardoli where he led peasants’ mous words are: “Be proud that you are an In- agitation against increase in land dian; proudly claim I am an Indian, every Indian is revenue. He became a trusted lieutenant of my brother.” Mahatma GANDHI at the same place. He is the founder of Satyagrahe Patrika. Jayaprakash Narayan (1902-1979) He was in charge of Home, Information and Broad- Jayaprakash Narayan was a freedom fighter and casting in the Interim Ministry. political leader of India. Popularly called JP. He was the first Deputy Prime Minister of India. Narayan played a pivotal role in the Quit India He is also known as the Iron Man of India, and the movement. During the Quit India Movement too Bismarck of India. in 1942, JP was at the helm of the agitation. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna Narayan is remembered for spearheading the in 1991. opposition to Indira Gandhi during the 1970s era. Vijayalakshmi Pandit (1900-90) Jatin Banerjee Sister of Jawaharlal Nehru. Jatin Banerjee is popularly known as “Bagha She was the first woman Minis- Jatin” for his fearlessness and courage. His name ter of an Indian state (Uttar is a symbol of fearlessness and courage to millions Pradesh). of Indians. She holds the distinction of be- ing the first woman to become Ashfaqulla Khan President of the UN General Ashfaqulla Khan was one of the firebrand and Assembly and first Indian woman Ambassador to young revolutionaries, who laid down their life Moscow. for the sake of the motherland. Vinoba Bhave (1895-1982) An important member of the Hindustan Acharya Vinoba Bhave was a fa- Republican Association, Khan, along with his mous Indian social reformer. associates executed the train dacoity at Kakori He was the leader of the and was subsequently hanged by the British. Sarvodaya Movement along Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946) with JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN. He is known for Shramdan and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was a national the Bhoodan Movement. He es- leader and a freedom fighter of India. tablished his ashram at Paunar. Born to an educated orthodox Hindu family at He was the first person to win the Magsaysay Prayag (Allahabad). Award. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1983. Malviya is known for achievements such as found- Vivekananda (1862-1902) ing a university (Banaras Hindu University) in Benaras, India. Swami Vivekananda was a disciple of Rama krishna Paramahamsa who championed Vedantic philoso- A postage stamp has been printed in India in his phy. honor. INDIAN HISTORY
Maulana Mohammad Ali Tantia Tope He is also addressed with the suffix Jauhar, which like other freedom fighters, was one of the great was his pen name, was an Indian Muslim heroes who fought courageously for India’s nationalist and leader of the Khilafat movement. freedom in 1857. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (1880-1936) Mahadev Govind Ranade He was an Indian nationalist and political leader, He was a distinguished scholar, great social and former president of the Indian National reformer, and an author from India. Congress and the Muslim League during the He was a founding member of the Indian National Indian Independence Movement. Congress and owned several designations as member of the Bombay legislative council, Shivaram Rajguru (1908-1931) member of the finance committee at the centre, Hari Shivaram Rajguru was an and the judge of Bombay High Court. Indian revolutionary. He is best known as an accom- Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit plice of Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev in the killing of a Brit- The sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, she was ish police officer in 1928 in or- the first woman to become the President of the der to take revenge for the United Nations General Assembly. She was an death of veteran leader Lala Indian envoy, who was born in the year 1900. Lajpat Rai due to excessive police beating. In the year 1979, she was chosen as the representative of India to the UN Human Rights All three were convicted of the crime and hanged on March 23, 1931. Rajguru was hiding in Nagpur. Commission. Thereafter, she went far away from He met Dr. K. B. Hedgewar and was hiding in one public life. of the RSS worker’s house. But after some days Her writings consist of The Evolution of India (1958) and The Scope of Happiness: A Personal he went to Pune and later was arrested there. Memoir (1979). Independence, 1947 to 1950
The partition was promulgated in the Indian Independence Act 1947 and resulted in the dissolution of the British Indian Empire. On 3 June 1947, Louis Mountbatten, the last British Governor-General of India, announced the partition of the British Indian Empire. On 14 August 1947, Pakistan was declared a separate nation from them. (Later it became Islamic Republic of Pakistan and People’s Republic of Bangladesh). At midnight, on 15 August 1947, India became an independent nation. Prime Minister Nehru and Deputy Prime Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel invited Mountbatten to continue as Governor General of India. He was replaced in June 1948 by Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. Patel took on the responsibility of unifying 565 princely states. The Constituent Assembly completed the work of drafting the constitution on 26 November 1949; on 26 January 1950 the Republic of India was officially proclaimed. The Constituent Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as the first President of India, taking over from Governor General Rajgopalachari. Subsequently, a free and sovereign India absorbed three other territories: Goa (from Portuguese control in 1961), Pondicherry (which the French ceded in 1953–1954) and Sikkim which was absorbed in 1975. In 1952, India held its first general elections, with a voter turnout exceeding 62%.
Deputy Collector Rank File FAMOUS STATEMENTS J.L. Nehru : ‘‘British power became the guardian Lord Dufferin : Congress was a microscopic mi- and upholder of many and evil custom and prac- nority. tice which it other wise condemned.’’ Lord Curzon : Congress was ‘tottering to its fall’ Cornwallis : ‘‘One third of Bengal has been trans- and one of his greatest ambition in India was ‘‘to formed into a jungle inhabitated only by wild beats’’ assist it (congress) a peaceful demise’. A.O. Hume - ‘‘A safety valve for the escape of great Charles Napier: ‘We have no right to seize Sind, and growing forces generated by our action was yet we shall do so and a very advantageous, useful urgently needed’’. humane piece of rascality it will be ’’. Dada Bhai Naroji : Regarding law and orders ‘‘pray Thomas Roe : ‘‘I know these people are best treated strike on the back but dont strike on the belly’’. with the sword in one hand and the caducean in Dufferin : Branded the national leaders as ‘‘Dis- the other.’’ loyal Babus’ ‘‘Seditious Brahmins’ and ‘‘Violent Nabin Chandra Sen : ‘‘The battle of Plassey was Villains’. followed by a night of eternal gloom for India’’. Swami Vivekananda ‘‘For our own motherland a John Sullivan : ‘Our system acts very much like a junction of the two great system - Hinduism and sponge drawing up all the good things from the Islam is the only hope. banks of the Ganges and Squeezing them down Swami Vivekananda ‘‘We are just don’t touchists on the banks Thames’. Our religion is our kitchen, our god is the cooking Tipu Sultan - ‘Better to die like a Soldier, than to and our religion is don’t touch me, I am holy. If this live a miserable dependent on the infidels in the goes on for a century, everyone of us will be in a list of their pensioned Rajas and nobles. lunatic asylum. Peter the Great of Russia ‘‘Bear in mind that the Aurobindo Ghosh : - ‘‘Political freedom is the life commerce of India is the commerce of the world’’. breath of a nation’’. Cornwallis- ‘‘Every native of Hindustan is cor- Tilak : ‘‘Swaraj is my birth right and I will have it. rupt’’. Gandhiji on the eve of Dandi March ‘‘Sedition has William Bentinck : ‘‘The misery hardly find a par- become my religion’’. allel in history of commerce, the bones of the cotton Ram Krishna Paramahamsa ‘‘ God is of no use to weavers were bleaching the plains of India’’. the hungry belly’ Rani of Jhansi - ‘‘With our own hands we shall not Swami Vivekananda: ‘‘Christianity wins its prosperity let our Azadshahi burry’’. by cutting the throats of its fellowmen.”
Liberation of Pondicherry and Goa
Goa was in the hands of Portuguese from 1510 AD onwards. The Liberation Army captured Dadra, Nagarhaveli on 22 July 1954. Goa, Daman and Diu were liberated from the Portuguese in 1964. Pondicherry was under the French. Since 1946, there were freedom struggles in Pondicherry. The legal hand over of Pondicherry was in 1962. Malayalam speaking Mahi, Telegu speaking Yanam and Tamil speaking Karakkal are the parts of Pondicherry. Pondicherry’s new name is Puducherry.