Chakravarty Rajagopalachari

C. Rajagopalachari

Popularly known as "Rajaji," C. Rajagopalachari, the first Indian Governor General of India, was an ardent patriot, a pioneering social reformer, incisive thinker, profound scholar and author. He was also an eminent statesman and able administrator. He personified the ideal of simple living and high thinking. In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru, "Rajaji represents fundamentally the highest type of mind in India."
Born on December 10, 1878 in Tamil Nadu, Rajaji had his education in Bangalore and Madras. He qualified himself for the Bar and built up a lucrative practice. He attended the Surat Session of the Congress in 1907. He first met Gandhiji in 1919 and participated in the Non-cooperation Movement in 1920. He led the Salt Satyagraha Campaign in the South in 1930 and was imprisoned for 9 months.

Rajaji became the Prime Minister of Madras Presidency in 1937 but gave up office in 1939 following the Congress decision against cooperating with the British for unilaterally involving India in the Second World War. He became a member of the Interim Government formed in 1946 at Delhi. On Independence, he became the Governor of West Bengal. In 1948, he became the first Indian Governor General. In 1952, he became the Chief Minister of Madras as a challenge to fight the communists in the Madras State Legislature. He relinquished office in 1954. He was given the highest National Award of "Bharat Ratna" in 1954.
Rajaji was a champion of free enterprise, prohibition and disarmament. He went to the U.S. in 1962 as the leader of the Indian delegation to plead against the piling up of nuclear weapons in the world.
Rajaji was gifted with the rare talent of re-telling stories from the epics and the puranas. He wrote a number of books of enduring value as the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Gita and the Upanishads. He was an accomplished writer and speaker in English and Tamil. Rajaji died in 1972.
Rajaji started to take part in the politics of the nation at the beginning of 1900's. At first he was drawn towards Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He had good relationship with V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, an ardent follower of Tilak. During Home Rule League days he admired Dr. Annie Besant and he highly revered Salem C.Vijayaraghavachariar, one of the founders of Congress.
In the year 1919 Rajaji chose to follow Gandhi, who had just returned from South Africa. In the year 1921, Rajaji was selected as the General Secretary of the Congress Party and he came into close contact with Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad etc. and began to gain lime-light in the party.
At one time considered Mahatma Gandhi's heir, this brilliant lawyer from Salem, Tamil Nadu was regarded in pre-independence years as one of the top five leaders of the Congress along with Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Rajaji was also related to Mahatma Gandhi - as his daughter married Devdas Gandhi. Of the five, Rajaji, Nehru and Patel were christened the "head, heart and hands" of Gandhi, in whose shadows they remained till his death. Ironically, all three of them were to have a tempestuous relationship, bound together only by their common goal and Gandhi's charm. However, they respected each other immensely. Nehru wrote about Rajaji in his autobiography of how Rajaji's "brilliant intellect, selfless character, and penetrating powers of analysis have been a tremendous asset to our cause". Rajaji's intellect and political acumen is often compared with that of Chanakya. He had a very intimate relationship with Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. Infact after his resignation as Governor-General he was called back to join Nehru's Cabinet mainly to work as a bridge between Nehru and Patel, a role in which he very well suited and succeeded after Mahatma Gandhi. Though in later years Rajaji developed differences with Nehru with regards to policy, their personal relationship remained unstrained. Both had high regards and affection on each other. Sardar Patel had always identified Rajaji as one of his close companion, he always shared a cordial relationship with Rajaji. He was so open to Rajaji that he has shared his personal views about Nehru and his policy with him. Both of them were averse to Socialism.

Bagha Jatin Mukherjee

Bagha Jatin Mukherjee(1879-1915) revolutionary activist. Bagha Jatin's real name was Jatindra Nath Banerjee. He hailed from Jhenaidha district. It is said that he came to be called 'Bagha Jatin' after killing a tiger single-handed and without any arms. He learnt short hand and type writing after passing the Entrance Examination and was appointed a stenographer to the government of Bengal. Jatin, a strong and stout young man, proved his efficiency as a sincere, honest, obedient and diligent employee.

Jatin, a man with a strong sense of self-respect and national pride, came in contact with aurobindo ghosh, and took part in climbing, swimming and shooting in the body building Akhda. While working for the Yugantar, he met Naren (manabendra nath roy) and the two soon gained the confidence of one another. In 1908 Jatin, with some revolutionaries, was implicated in the Alipore Conspiracy Case. In the judgement Barin Ghosh was deported for life, many others were sentenced to various terms and the anushilan samiti was declared illegal and banned. Jatin and Naren, acquitted for want of evidence, went in hiding to Hawra-Shibpur area and continued underground works with other revolutionaries.
Jatin was once again arrested in the Hawra-Shibpur Conspiracy Case, and those who were arrested with him were given the common name 'Jatin's gang'. They were so ruthlessly tortured that some of them died and some went insane. Jatin, though acquitted in this case also for want of evidence, was dismissed from service. When in jail, Jatin and Naren made a long term programme to capture power through armed insurrection. They planned to unite different groups of patriots and with this intention Naren travelled extensively all over India as a Sanyasi and organised the revolutionaries in Bengal and elsewhere. The leaders of various groups gathered together on the occasion of relief works during the floods in Hughli and Midnapore. They chose Jatin Mukherjee and Rashbehari Bose as leaders for Bengal and northern India respectively.
Attempts were made to organise the Indian revolutionaries outside India also. A Yugantar Ashram was formed at San Francisco and the Shikh community took active part in the struggle for freedom. With the outbreak of the First World War, the Indian revolutionaries of Europe gathered together in Berlin to form the Indian Independence Party and sought German assistance, to which the German government agreed. The Indian Independence Party sent an emissary to Jatin Mukherjee to negotiate with the German Consul General in Calcutta. In the meantime Jatin was made the Commander-in-Chief of the entire revolutionary forces. Naren, leaving Jatin in hiding in Baleswar (Orissa), went to Batavia to negotiate a deal with German authorities there for the shipment of arms and financial help.
Police, however, discovered the hideout of Jatin in a paddy field. On 9 September 1915, after heavy exchange of fire, two revolutionaries surrendered. Police found Jatin dead with two others injured. Of the two injured one died later and was identified as Chitta Priya Roy Choudhury of Madaripur.

Jatin was born in Kayagram, a village in the Kushtia subdivision of Nadia district in what is now Bangladesh. His parents were Umeshchandra Mukherjee and Sharatshashi; he grew up in his ancestral home at Jhenaidah till his father's death when Jatin was five years old. His mother settled in her parents' home in Kayagram with him and his elder sister Benodebala. As he grew older, Jatin gained a reputation for physical bravery and great strength; charitable and cheerful by temperament, he was fond of enacting mythological plays and playing the roles of god-loving characters like Prahlad, Dhruva, Hanuman, Râja Harish Chandra.[1] The name by which he came to be known ("Bagha Jatin" [variously spelt "Jotin", "Jyotin", and "Jatin" — Tiger Jatin) derived from an incident in which he killed a tiger with nothing but a Darjeeling dagger. The then leading surgeon of Kolkata, Dr Suresh Prasad Sarbadhikari who operated upon Jatin, "took upon himself the responsibility for curing that fatally wounded patient coming twice to his house daily to dress his wounds personally..."

Bipin Chandra Pal

Described as "one of the mightiest prophets of nationalism," Bipin Chandra Pal was associated with India's political history during its phase of the struggle for freedom with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai. The trio was termed the "extremists" as they stood for the ideal of Swaraj or complete political freedom to be achieved through courage, self-help and self-sacrifice Teacher, journalist, writer and librarian, Bipin Chandra Pal started as a supporter of Brahmo Samaj, turned to Vedanta and ended up as an upholder of the Vaishnava philosophy of Sri Chaitanya. He was ardent social reformer-he married a widow of a higher caste twice in his life and gave his powerful support to the Age of Consent Bill of 1891. He wrote a series of studies on the makers of modern India such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Keshab Chandra Sen, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, Rabindranath Tagore, Ashutosh Mukerjee and Annie Besant. He preached a "composite patriotism" that implied a universal outlook.
"Paridarsak" (1886-Bengali weekly), "New India: (1902-English weekly) and "Bande Mataram" (1906-Bengali daily) are some of the journals started by him. Born on November 7, 1858, in a village in Sylhet (now Banglagdesh), of well-to-do parents, Pal had to cut short his education at the Intermediate stage. He came under the influence of eminent Bengali leaders of his time such as Keshab Chandra Sen and Pandit Sivanath Sastri. He was imprisoned for six months on the grounds of his refusal to give evidence against Sri Aurobindo in the Bande Mataram sedition case. He visited England (three times) and America.
Pal opposed Gandhiji's non-cooperation Movement of 1920. The first Congress session he attended was in 1886 as a delegate from Sylhet.
Pal virtually retired from politics from 1920 though he expressed his views on national questions till his death on May 20, 1932.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, born on June 26, 1838, was educated at the Hoogly College and belonged to an orthodox family. He was offered the government post of Deputy Magistrate and Collector which he accepted and held until he retired 1891.
He did for Bengali fiction what Michael Madhusudan Dutt had done for Bengali poetry, that is, he brought in imagination. Chatterjee was more fortunate than Dutt as he did not have to set up his own diction from the very start. The prose style was already standardized; what Chatterjee did was to break its monotony, shear off its ponderous verbosity and give it a twist of informality and intimacy. Chatterjee's own style grew up as he went on writing. Chatterjee, following the discipline of Isvarchandra Gupta, began his literary career as a writer of verse. Fortunately he was not slow to feel that poetry was not his metier. He then turned to fiction. His first attempt was a novel in Bengali submitted for a declared prize. The prize did not come to him and the novelette was never published. His first fiction to appear in print was Rajmohan's Wife. It was written in English and was probably a translation of the novelette submitted for the prize. Durgeshnandini, his first Bengali romance, was published in 1865. The next novel Kapalkundala(1866) is one of the best romances written by Chatterjee. The theme is lyrical and gripping and, in spite of the melodrama and the dual story, the execution is skillful. the heroine, named after the mendicant woman in Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhava , is modelled partly after Kalidasa's Sakuntala and partly after Shakespeare's Miranda.
The next romance Mrinalini(1869) indicates an ameturishness and a definite falling off from the standard. It is a love romance against a historical background sadly neglected and confused. After this Chatterjee was not content to continue only as a writer of prose romances, but appeared also as a writer with the definite mission of simulating the intellect of the Bengali speaking people through literary campaign and of bringing about a cultural revival thereby. With this end in view he brought out monthly Bangadarshan in 1872. In the pages of this magazine all his writings except the very last two works first came out. These writings include novels, stories, humorous sketches, historical and miscellaneous essays, informative articles, religious discourses, literary criticisms and reviews. Vishbriksha (The poison Tree, 1873) was his first novel to appear serially in Bangadarshan.
Chandrasekhar (1877) suffers markedly from the impact of two parallel plots which have little common ground. The scene is once shifted back to eighteenth century. But the novel is not historical. The plot has suffered from the author's weakness for the occult. The next novel Rajani(1877) followed the autobiographical technique of Wilkie Collins' A Woman in White. The title role was modelled after Bulwar Lytton's Nydia in Last Days of Pompeii. In this romance of a blind girl, Chatterjee is at his best as a literary artist. In Krishnakanter Uil (Krishnakanta's Will, 1878) Chatterjee added some amount of feeling to imagination, and as a result it approaches nearest to the western novel. The plot is somewhat akin to that of Poison Tree.
The only novel of Chatterjee's that can claim full recognition as historical fiction is Rajsimha (1881, rewritten and enlarged 1893). Anandamath (The mission house of the Anandas, 1882) is a political novel without a sufficient plot. It definitely marks the decline of Chatterjee's power as a novelist. The plot of the meagre story is based on the Sannyasi rebellion that occurred in North Bengal in 1773. As fiction it can not be called an outstanding work. But as the book that interpreted and illustrated the gospel of patriotism and gave Bengal the song "Bande Mataram" (I worship mother) which became the mantra of nationalism and the national song. Incidentally it gave tremendous impetus to the various patriotic and national activities culminating in the terrorist movement initiated in Bengal in the first decade of the twentieth century. Devi Caudhurani by Chatterjee was published in 1884. The story is romantic and interesting and delightfully told, no doubt. Chatterjee's last novel Sitaram (1886) has for its theme the insurgence of a Hindu chief of lower central Bengal against the impotent Muslim rule. The central figure is well delineated but the other figures are either too idealistic or impalpable.
After the novels, the humorous sketches are the outstanding productions of Chatterjee. Kamalakanter Daptar (The Scribbling of Kamalakanta, 1875; enlarged as Kamalakanta, 1885) contains half humorous and half serious sketches somewhat after De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-eater. It shows the writer at his best.
Bankim Chatterjee was superb story-teller, and a master of romance. He is also a great novelist in spite of the fact that his outlook on life was neither deep nor critical, nor was his canvas wide. But he was something more than a great novelist. He was a path finder and a path maker. Chatterjee represented the English-educated Bengalee with a tolerably peaceful home life, sufficient wherewithal and some prestige, as the bearer of the torch of western enlightment. No Bengali writer before or since has enjoyed such spontaneous and universal popularity as Chatterjee. His novels have been translated in almost all the major languages of India, and have helped to simulate literary impulses in those languages.
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee passed away on April 8, 1894.

Bhulabhai Desai

Bhulabhai Desai, a lawyer politician, was born on October 13, 1877 in Valsad, Gujarat. His father, Jivanji Desai, was a modest Government Pleader, but was allowed to practice law privately. His, mother, Ramabai, was a unschooled yet religious woman. Being the only child of his parents, Bhulabhai was pampered a great deal.
Initially Bhulabhai was schooled by his maternal uncle. Later, he studied at the Avabai School in Valsad and the Bharada High School in Bombay from where he matriculated in 1895, standing first in his school. He then joined the Elphinstone College in Bombay from where he graduated in high standing in English Literature and History. He won the Wordsworth Prize and a scholarship for standing first in History and Political Economy. He did his M.A. in English from the University of Bombay. Bhulabhai was appointed Professor of English and History in the Gujarat College, Ahmedabad. While teaching he also studied Law. He married Ichchhaben while still in school. They had only one son, Dhirubhai. Ichchhabhen died of cancer in 1923.

Bhulabhai Desai was enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court in 1905. He made a mark in the legal profession with his thorough knowledge of legal principles, competence, hard work and persuasive handling of cases. His fluent speech, quick grasp, sharp memory and cheerful temperament contributed to his professional success.
At this time, Lawrence Jenkins, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court took steps toward the "Indianization" of the Bar. Bhulabhai was one of the young and upcoming members of the Bombay Bar. He earned an all India reputation in the field by 1927.
Bhulabhai began his political career in Annie Besant's Home Rule League. He then joined the Liberal Party and remained with it for many years. He opposed the all-white Simon Commission in 1928 by the British Government to report the future of constitutional reforms in India. Bhulabhai considered the Indianization of the army and the navy of far greater importance than that of the civil and the administrative services.
Bhulabhai Desai ably represented the rights of the farmers of Gujarat in the inquiry by the British Government following the Bardoli Satyagraha in 1928. The satyagraha was a No-Tax campaign by the farmers of Gujarat under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Gandhiji want the farmers to be represented by the best advocate who was familiar with the conditions and problems of the local peasants. Bhulabhai seemed the logical choice. Bhulabhai's defense of the demands of the farmers made the Government revise the land revenue it charged, return confiscated land to farmers and release prisoners. So pronounced were the effects of the satyagraha and the inquiry that land revenue was reduced in Punjab and the Central Provinces also.
Bhulabhai Desai formally joined the Congress in 1930 after resigning from the Liberal Party. Convinced about the effectiveness of boycott of foreign goods for furthering the struggle, Bhulabhai formed the Swadeshi Sabha and persuaded 80 textile mills to join in. The Sabha was soon declared illegal and Bhulabhai was arrested in 1932 for his activities in the Sabha. He was treated as an "A" class prisoner with special privileges. While in jail Bhulabhai felt cut off from the outside world. In a letter to his son he wrote, "...in the outer world, my spirits were maintained high," whereas in prison, there is "the stagnant routine and the blank facing of the dead walls." He spent his time reading the Bhagvat Gita and books on various subjects, including Law.
While in jail, Bhulabhai Desai was constantly ill. On his release on health grounds, he went to Europe for treatment. Soon after his return, the Congress Working Committee was reorganized. At Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's insistence, Bhulabhai was included in the committee.
The Government of India Act of 1935, which allowed provincial autonomy, raised the question whether the Congress should participate in the local legislatures. Bhulabhai among others supported Congress participation and this policy was accepted by the committee. There were many naysayers in the Congress regarding entrance into the legislature. When asked if such a decision went well with India's goal for complete independence, he replied that he was not advocating a "faint- hearted course." He felt that "there was greater heroism in what may appear to be a dreary task than engaging in the heat of a struggle... ."
In November 1934, Bhulabhai Desai was elected to the Central Legislative Assembly from Gujarat. He carried out the difficult task as leader of his party with great skill, dignity and a sense of responsibility. Bhulabhai's first appearance in the Central Legislative Assembly was watched with great anticipation. Eminent Congress leaders were present on the occasion. Under his leadership the party functioned as a team. Bhulabhai entered a debate only when it was necessary to do so. When he spoke he did so with fervor and authority, always avoiding harsh language. When Bhulabhai spoke, there hardly ever was an empty seat in the House. He was not forbidding in the House or outside, yet nobody dared take liberties with him.
He firmly believed that only political and economic interests truly aroused national consciousness of the people of the country. He kept religion away from public since he believed that religion was "a matter between man and God."

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, born July 22, 1856, was universally recognized as the Father of Indian Unrest. He was one of the prime architects of modern India and heralded Asian nationalism. His philosophy could not survive after his death as India came under sway of Mahatma Gandhi.
Tilak was a brilliant politician as well as a profound scholar who believed that independence is the foremost necessity for the well being of a nation and that to win it through extreme measures should not be dispensed with. He was the first intellectual leader to understand the importance of mass support and subsequently became the first mass leader of India. He realized that the constitutional agitation in itself was futile against the British and that, moreover, India was ill prepared for an armed revolt.

As a result, although he was helpful to revolutionaries such as Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh and Chaphekar, he did not venture into it himself. Instead, he martialled the extremist wing of Indian National Congress. His movement was based on the principles of Swadeshi (Indigenous), Boycott and Education. It was he who, through his own example, gave prestige to imprisonment in freedom struggle. It is a tragedy that his work is not given the recognition due to it.
Tilak is often misinterpreted. Perhaps it is so because of his style of operation which raised bitter controversies and still more bitter opponenents even outside the beurocracy. Violent arguements characterized his relationship with social reformists such as Agarkar, Ranade and moderates like Ferozshah Mehta. Many blame him for opposing the Age of Consent Bill which raised the age limit for marriage of girls to 12 (from 10). But is fact that at the same time he had signed a counter-proposal where in one of the clauses was that the girls (boys) should not be married until they are 16 (20). He educated all of his daughters and did not marry them till they were over 16. There are instances when he privately paid for the education of women. Still it remains true that he was a reactionary and did not use his considerable influence to give a much-needed support to the social reformists. Probably, he did not want to offend the prevalent rigid system - he, himself, having been brought up in the culturally narrow surroundings of Pune. It seems as if his canvas presented him no room for active social reforms.
He had several discussions with Shankaracharya of Sankeshwar and asserted that like Swami Vivekananda, the modern Shankaracharya must be educated on modern lines. Tilak received Bachelor of Arts degree from The Deccan College, Pune in 1879 and L.L.B. from the Elphinston College, Mumbai in 1882. He was among the founders of the New English School, Pune (1881) of which Prof Chiplunkar became the Principal. He had a genius for organisation and with Agarkar, the then foremost social reformist, started the newspapers 'Kesari' and 'The Maratha' in 1881 and in 1890's started the annual celebration of 'ShivajiFestival' and 'Ganapati Festival' which served a platform for people to join in the nationalist movement against the British. Soon he came to be regarded as the undisputed leader of Maharashtra and was honored with the title 'Lokamanya' in 1893 which became synonymous with him in the 1900. As the nation fumed over the partition of Bengal (1905), Tilak assumed the national leadership with his extremist attitude and stated his position unequivocally as "Swarajya (self rule) is my birth right and I shall have it."
The next three years saw meteoric rise in his stature and the British power which had long since considered him their chief concern and had sent him to prison twice already, decided on a firmer measure. Much has been said of his trial of 1908. He utilized his time in prison in scholarly pursuits and wrote "GitaRahasya", a commentary on the Gita. He returned to Indian political scene in 1915. The political situation was fast changing under the shadow of World War I. Mahatma Gandhi's star was on rise with Satyagraha at Sabarmati in 1914.
The British charged Tilak in 1918. He fought those charges both in India and England, and was judged guilty. Amidst rumors of yet another sentence, he headed the Home-Rule commission in England to debate India's constitutional demands. By that time, Gandhi had made preparations of the first nation wide non-cooperation movement and, perhaps, it was to make way for Gandhi that Tilak left for England. Tilak was, probably, the only leader who could have put brakes on Gandhi. Both had conflicting approaches. Gandhi had the courage to address and solve the issue of untouchability once and forever. He, unlike Tilak, was a fluent speaker in Hindi and could thus reach the masses more easily. It is no secret that he had little respect for Tilak's real politick and Tilak hated adopting means which killed self pride of the masses. Whereas Gandhi preached, "Overcome hatred with love", Tilak pooh poohed moderates saying, "There is no empire lost by a free grant of concession by the rulers to the ruled." In both world wars, Gandhi encouraged Indians to fight for the British Empire unconditionally whereas Tilak held that if Indians were to remain slaves then it mattered little whether they joined army or not. The Mahatma was modern with novel methods. His was a welcome arrival both for the Moderates who needed an answer to the Extremists and Tilak, in particular, and the British who would rather acknowledge and have a saint as the foremost adversary.
In the 20's many of Tilak's followers, Dadasaheb Khaparde and N.C. Kelkar being the most prominent among them, supported Gandhi but none could have his say in the new order. Aurobindo Ghosh had retired to an ascetic life and Savarkar was serving two life sentences in Andaman. The Lokamanya had no worthy successor. Tilak's health continued to deteriorate rapidly at end of July 1920 and he went delirious and was unconscious for 3 days. His last words in the final momentary recovery were, "This happened in 1818 (End of Peshwai) and this in 1918. A hundred years' history - what a life of servitude...Unless Swaraj is obtained, India shall not prosper. It is necessary for our very own existence."
At 00:40 hrs (IST) on Aug 1, 1920, he was declared dead. It is said that the British made an extraordinary request that his brain be handed over to them so that it could be studied, preserved and exhibited. It was not complied with.