Gopal Krishna Gokhale

The Story

Born on 9 May 1866 in Maharashtra, Gokhale studied at Fergusson College in Poona, where he later taught, and entered public life through the Deccan Education Society. His method was the constitutional one: reasoned resolutions, patient petitions and an encyclopaedic command of facts that even British officials respected.

In 1905 he founded the Servants of India Society, a company of full-time workers devoted to the country's service — education, sanitation and national integration — modelled on a secular priesthood. It was the prototype of many constructive organisations that followed, including Gandhi's own experiments.

His finest hour came in 1909–1911, when he was appointed to the Viceroy's Executive Council, where he argued Indian demands from inside the imperial government. He became Congress president in 1915, only months before his death, uniting the moderate and assertive wings for one last season.

Gandhi called him his guru and followed his advice for decades — including, crucially, the counsel to return to India from South Africa. When Gokhale died on 19 February 1915, the freedom movement lost the one man who could speak to all its factions in the same calm voice.