Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (27 June 1838—8 April 1894) was a Bengali writer, poet and journalist. He was the composer of India’s national song Vande Mataram, originally a Bengali and Sanskrit stotra personifying India as a mother goddess and inspiring the activists during the Indian Freedom Movement. Bankim Chandra wrote 13 novels and several ‘serious, […]
Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (1890—20th January 1988) was an independence activist of Pashtun descent. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to the British Raj in British India, and a lifelong pacifist and devout Muslim. A close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, Gaffar Khan has been called the “Frontier Gandhi” by
Usha Mehta (March 25, 1920—August 11, 2000) was a Gandhian and freedom fighter of India. She is also remembered for organizing the Congress Radio, also called the Secret Congress Radio, an underground radio station, which functioned for few months during the Quit India Movement of 1942. In 1998, the Government of India conferred on her
Gopinath Bordoloi was the first Chief Minister of the Indian state of Assam, and also a leading Indian independence activist. He was a follower of the Gandhian principle of non-violence as a political tool. Due to his unselfish dedication towards Assam and its people, the then Governor of Assam Jayram Das Doulatram conferred him with
Dr Zakir Hussain (February 1897—3 May 1969) was the 3rd President of India, from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. An educationist and intellectual, Hussain was the country’s first Muslim president. He previously served as Governor of Bihar from 1957 to 1962 and as Vice-President of India from 1962 to 1967.Zakir
Savitribai Jyotirao Phule (January 3, 1831—March 10, 1897) was a social reformer, who, along with her husband, Mahatama Jyotirao Phule, played an important role in improving women’s rights in India during the British Rule.Savitribai was the first female teacher of the first women’s school in India and also considered as the pioneer of modern Marathi
Lakshmi Sahgal (24 October 1914—23 July 2012) was a revolutionist of the Indian Independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Azad Hind government. Sahgal is commonly referred to in India as Captain Lakshmi, a reference to her rank when taken prisoner in Burma.Sahgal was born
Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar (27 November 1888—27 February 1956), popularly known as Dadasaheb, was an independence activist, the President (from 1946 to 1947) of the Central Legislative Assembly, then Speaker of the Constituent Assembly of India, and later the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. His son Purushottam
Purushottam Das Tandon (1st August 1882—1st July 1962) was born at Allahabad. After obtaining a degree in law and an M.A. in history, he started practising in 1906 and joined the bar of Allahabad High Court in 1908 as a junior to Tej Bahadur Sapru. He gave up practise in 1921 to concentrate on public
K. Kamaraj (15 July 1903—20 Oct. 1975) played a crucial role in the appointment of India’s two Prime Ministers—Lal Bahadur Shastri in the year 1964 and Indira Gandhi in the year 1966. All throughout his reign as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, K. Kamaraj strived to provide free meals and education to people. This was
Mahadev Desai was born on New Year’s Day in 1892 in the village of Saras in Surat District of Gujarat to Haribhai Desai a school teacher and his wife Jamnabehan. Jamnabehan died when Desai was only seven years of age. In 1905, aged 13, Mahadev was married to Durgabehan. He was educated at the Surat
Kamlapati Tripathi, the writer, journalist, editor and freedom fighter, was a senior Indian National Congress leader from Varanasi. He served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh as well as the Union Minister for Railways.His father’s name was Pandit Narayanpati Tripathi. He started his career as a journalist working for the daily Hindi newspaper Aaj and
Jivatram Bhagwandas Kriplani was born on 11th November, 1888 in Hyderabad, Sind (presently in Pakistan) to an upper middle-class Hindu Kshatriya Amil family. His father, Kaka Bhagwandas was a Tehsildar (revenue and judicial officer) in government service. It was in Sind itself that Jivatram completed his matriculation and moved to Bombay for further education from
Allama Iqbal was the great poet-philosopher and active political leader born at Sialkot, Punjab, in 1877. He descended from a family of Kashmiri Brahmans, who had embraced Islam about 300 years earlier.Allama Iqbal received his early education in the traditional Madarsa. Later he joined the Sialkot Mission School, from where he passed his matriculate examination.
Begum Hazrat Mahal (1820—1879) was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. She was a real graceful lady, whose beauty had an unbeatable charm. She was also known as the Begum of Awadh. When her husband was exiled to Calcutta (now Kolkata), she took the responsibility of managing the affairs of the state of Awadh