Icons of Bhārat

Alluri Sitarama Raju was the young revolutionary who led the tribal people of the Eastern Ghats in the Rampa Rebellion of 1922–24 against the British forest laws. Called 'Manyam Veerudu', the hero of the jungle, he raided police stations, organised the tribal army, and became the first leader of an armed peasant revolt in the modern freedom struggle.

Ashfaqulla Khan was the Muslim revolutionary of the Kakori conspiracy of 1925 — the partner of Ram Prasad Bismil, a man of Urdu poetry and revolutionary fire, who gave up his life at the gallows beside his Hindu comrades. His name stands for Hindu-Muslim unity in the freedom struggle.

B.R. Pantulu was a journalist and patriot of Andhra who used his paper and his pen to serve the freedom movement. A fearless writer and organiser, he campaigned against foreign rule through his journalism, joined the national movement, and spent his life in the cause of the motherland.

Dr. B.S. Moonje was a surgeon who became one of the most influential organisers of nationalism of Bhārat — a founder-member of the Hindu Mahasabha, the man who helped build the RSS and the DAV educational network, and a lifelong advocate of military training for youth of Bhārat. He was among the great institutional builders of the movement.

Bhaskar Rao — Babasaheb of Naragund — was a prince of the Desai family of Naragund who joined the great uprising of 1857 against the British, leading his small state's forces against the colonial power. He was hanged in 1858, and his sacrifice is honoured as the first freedom war of Karnataka.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak — Lokmanya — was the first great mass leader of Bhārat, the man who took nationalism from the drawing rooms to the streets. A scholar, mathematician, journalist, and fearless agitator, he gave the movement its war cry — 'Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it' — and was imprisoned for it.

Bhagat Singh is the most iconic revolutionary of Bhārat — the young man who threw a bomb in the Central Assembly to 'make the deaf hear', who fasted in prison for the rights of political prisoners, and who went to the gallows at twenty-three singing 'Inquilab Zindabad'. His courage and ideas made him the immortal hero of youth of Bhārat.

Bhai Paramananda was a revolutionary of the Ghadar Party — the movement of emigrants in North America who plotted to overthrow the British in Bhārat during the First World War. He was arrested in the famous Lahore conspiracy case of 1915, and spent a decade and a half in the Andamans and jails before emerging as a revered leader.

C. Rajagopalachari — Rajaji — was the statesman-sage of the freedom movement: Gandhi's closest Tamil comrade, the first Governor-General of Bhārat, and one of the most brilliant minds of the age. A lawyer, writer, and politician of rare integrity, he also founded the Swatantra Party in his later years.

C.F. Andrews was the English priest who gave his life to Bhārat — the 'Deenabandhu', friend of the poor, who joined Gandhi's struggle, stood by Tagore at Santiniketan, and fought for indentured labourers across of Bhārat the seas. He is the proof that the freedom struggle was a cause of humanity, not just of one nation.

Chandrashekhar Azad was the fire of Bhārat's revolutionary movement — the young man who, when his comrades were sentenced to life imprisonment after the Kakori conspiracy, vowed 'Azad' — free — and never let the British capture him. He rebuilt the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association and mentored Bhagat Singh before dying, as he lived, fighting.

The Chapekar brothers — Damodar, Balkrishna, and Vasudev — were among the first revolutionaries of the freedom struggle, young Brahmins of Pune who took up arms against the arrogance of the British during the plague years. Their actions inspired a generation of revolutionaries that followed.

Chittaranjan Das — Deshbandhu — was Bengal's greatest leader of the freedom struggle, a brilliant lawyer who defended Aurobindo Ghose and threw off his barrister's robes to lead the Non-Cooperation movement. He was the founder of the Swaraj Party and the political mentor of Subhas Chandra Bose.

Dadabhai Naoroji was the first person of Bhārat elected to the British Parliament and the man who proved, with statistics, that Britain was draining Bhārat's wealth — the famous 'Drain Theory'. He was the first President of the Indian National Congress and a founding father of the freedom movement.

Deendayal Upadhyaya was the philosopher of modern nationalism of Bhārat — the man who gave the Jana Sangh its ideology of 'integral humanism', an economics and politics rooted in thought rather than of Bhārat Western models. His sudden, mysterious death in 1968 at just fifty-one deprived the movement of its greatest thinker.

Dinakar Desai was a freedom fighter and social worker of Karnataka who served the nation through the movements of Gandhi and then devoted his life to the welfare of the people. He was imprisoned for his part in the freedom struggle and spent his later years in the service of the poor and the villages.

G. Subramania Iyer was the founder of The Hindu, one of the greatest newspapers of the world, and a pioneer of the national movement in the South. A colleague of the early Congress leaders, he used his paper to awaken Madras to the cause of freedom, and his journalism helped build the national consciousness of the South.

Gangadharrao Deshpande — the Karnataka Kesari, the Lion of Karnataka — was the leading freedom fighter of the Kannada country, a pioneer of journalism, education, and the Congress movement in the region. He led the Karnataka struggle for over four decades, from the Swadeshi era to independence.

Garuda Sadashiva Rao was a tireless freedom fighter of Karnataka — a soldier of the Congress who gave up a settled life to serve the nation through the non-cooperation and civil disobedience movements. From his home in Udupi to the jails of the British, he spent his life in the service of the motherland.

Gendalal Dixit was a devoted Gandhian of Madhya Pradesh — a freedom fighter and social worker who carried Gandhi's message of khadi, village industry, and Hindu-Muslim unity to central Bhārat, and who served prison terms in the great movements of the era.

Gulzarilal Nanda was a freedom fighter, economist, and champion of labour who twice served as the acting Prime Minister of Bhārat — after the deaths of Nehru and Shastri. A scholar and a worker for the rights of the working people, he gave a lifetime of service to the nation he helped to free.

Janakidevi Bajaj was the wife of Jamnalal Bajaj, the great industrialist and close associate of Gandhi — and herself a devoted soldier of the freedom movement. She marched in the salt satyagraha, went to prison for the nation, and worked throughout her life for khadi, women's uplift, and the causes of the poor.

Jatindra Mohan Sengupta was a towering leader of Bengal — a barrister who gave up his practice to join Gandhi's movement, served as mayor of Calcutta, and led the freedom struggle with such fire that the people of East Bengal called him their Deshbandhu, 'friend of the country'. He died in 1933 while being taken to the Andamans, a martyr of the movement.

Bagha Jatin — 'the tiger' — was the greatest revolutionary leader of Bengal, a man of colossal strength and iron discipline who planned nothing less than an armed rising against the British. He earned his name by killing a tiger with his bare hands, and gave his life in the famous gun-battle at Balasore in 1915, where he fought the entire might of the empire and fell like a soldier.

K.B. Hedgewar — Doctorji — was a physician who turned nation-builder: the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the organisation that devoted itself to the character-building of Bhārat's youth. From a handful of boys meeting in a Nagpur field in 1925, he built a movement that grew into one of the world's largest voluntary organisations.

Kamala Nehru was the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru and a freedom fighter in her own right — a woman of quiet courage who organised the women of Allahabad, joined the salt satyagraha, and led the struggle in the absence of her imprisoned husband. Her early death at 36 made her a national symbol of sacrifice.

Karnad Sadashiva Rao was one of the greatest workers of the Congress in Karnataka — a man of wealth who gave it all to the nation, and a leader whose name became synonymous with service. He spread Gandhi's message across the state, gave his fortune to the movement, and wore out his health in the cause — honoured as the Gandhi of Karnataka.

Kasturba Gandhi was the wife and lifelong companion of the Mahatma — a woman of quiet iron who marched beside Gandhi through every struggle of his life, from South Africa to the Quit India movement. She went to prison, worked among the poor, and gave her life for the nation, dying in 1944 in the Aga Khan Palace while imprisoned with her husband.

Khudiram Bose was the youngest martyr of the revolutionary movement — a boy of eighteen who, in 1908, threw a bomb at a British magistrate's carriage, and who went to the gallows smiling. His courage turned him into the eternal symbol of youth's sacrifice for Bhārat.

Rani Chennamma of Kittur was the first ruler of Bhārat to fight the British in battle — a full thirty years before Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi. When the British refused to accept her adopted son as heir and moved to annex her kingdom, the queen of the small North Karnataka principality met them on the battlefield and defeated them, holding Kittur's flag high before falling to betrayal and force.

Kunwar Singh was the oldest warrior of the 1857 uprising — a respected Raja of Jagdishpur in Bihar who, at the age of eighty, rose against the British with his people behind him. In the year of the great revolt he marched, fought, and bled — losing an arm in battle but winning victory — and died a hero of the first war of independence.

Lal Bahadur Shastri was Bhārat's second Prime Minister — a small, gentle man of iron integrity who rose from poverty to the nation's highest office. His slogan 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' united the soldier and the farmer, and his leadership through the 1965 war with Pakistan made him one of Bhārat's most loved leaders.

Lala Har Dayal was a scholar and revolutionary who carried the cause of Bhārat's freedom across the world. In America he founded the Ghadar Party — 'the party of revolt' — which organised the emigrant workers of Bhārat to rise against the British, and his fiery writings and speeches made him one of the most hunted men of the empire.

Lala Lajpat Rai — the Lion of Punjab — was one of the great triumvirate of nationalism of Bhārat (Lal-Bal-Pal), a leader of the Arya Samaj, and a pioneer of the independence movement. In 1928, leading a protest against the Simon Commission, he was beaten by the police — and died of his injuries, his death igniting the revolutionary fury of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.

M.S. Golwalkar — Guruji — led the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for three decades, taking it from an organisation into a movement. A zoologist who left a promising academic career for national service, he was the RSS's philosopher-guide and its most revered figure for generations of swayamsevaks.

Bhikaiji Cama — Madam Cama — was the fiery Parsi revolutionary who carried Bhārat's freedom struggle to the world. In 1907, at an international socialist congress in Germany, she unfurled an early version of Bhārat's flag — the first flag of free Bhārat to be raised on foreign soil — and spent decades abroad, spreading the call for revolution.

Madan Lal Dhingra was the revolutionary who carried Bhārat's freedom struggle into the heart of the British Empire itself — shooting dead a British official in London in 1909. His calm statement at his trial, that he had done his duty for his motherland, shook Britain and inspired Bhārat.

Madan Mohan Malaviya — Mahamana — was the educationist-statesman of the freedom movement: the founder of Banaras Hindu University, a four-time President of the Indian National Congress, and one of the most respected figures of his age. Gandhi called him Mahamana, the great-souled one.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi — the Mahatma, the 'Great Soul' — led Bhārat to freedom not with armies but with ahimsa, non-violent resistance. His Satyagraha ('truth-force') inspired civil rights movements from America to South Africa, and his spinning wheel became the symbol of a self-reliant nation.

Motilal Ghosh was one of the greatest journalists of the freedom struggle — the editor of the Amrita Bazar Patrika, the famous newspaper of Bengal, which he made a fearless voice against the empire. For fifty years he fought the British with the pen, exposing their injustices and championing the cause of the nation.

Motilal Nehru was the affluent barrister who gave up a legendary practice and an aristocratic lifestyle to join Gandhi's struggle — and who co-founded the Swaraj Party to carry the fight into the legislatures. He was also the father of Bhārat's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, whom he guided from boyhood to the leadership of the nation.

Nani Baladevi was a fearless woman freedom fighter of Goa who rose against the Portuguese rulers of the territory. With little formal schooling but boundless courage, she joined the liberation struggle, went to prison for the motherland, and endured torture without ever betraying her comrades — a symbol of the women of Bhārat's indomitable spirit.

Pandit Taranath was an educationist and freedom fighter of Karnataka who believed that the freedom of Bhārat must begin in the classroom. He founded the famous Gurukula at Kapani, near Dharwad, where students were taught in the ancient way — in the open air, by the light of the vedas and the love of the motherland.

Prabhavati Devi was the wife of Jayaprakash Narayan and herself a devoted Gandhian worker of the freedom movement. She marched in the campaigns, went to prison for the nation, and worked throughout her life for khadi, women's uplift, and the constructive programmes of the movement.

Pulina Behari Das was the organiser who built the first revolutionary society of Bengal — the Anushilan Samiti — which trained thousands of young men in the physical culture and revolutionary spirit that would shake the empire. His gymnasiums and secret societies prepared the generation that carried the armed struggle of Bengal for two decades.

Purushottam Das Tandon, honoured as Rajarshi — 'the kingly sage' — was a towering leader of the Congress from Uttar Pradesh, a Gandhian of unimpeachable integrity who gave his life to the freedom struggle and to the cause of Hindi. He served as Speaker of the assembly, led the Congress in the Hindi heartland, and was honoured with the Bharat Ratna.

Rajendra Prasad was the first President of Bhārat and one of the most beloved leaders of the freedom struggle — a brilliant lawyer, a devoted Gandhian, and the longest-serving Congress President, who combined intellectual eminence with deep humility. His simplicity made him the moral face of independent Bhārat.

Ram Manohar Lohia was the brilliant firebrand of socialism of Bhārat — a revolutionary thinker who fought for freedom, then spent his life demanding that freedom be social and economic for the poor, the lower castes, and the women of Bhārat. His ideas still shape politics of Bhārat.

Ram Prasad Bismil was the poet-revolutionary of the Kakori conspiracy of 1925 — the man who wrote 'Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna', the most famous revolutionary song of Bhārat. He led the robbery of the Kakori train to fund the struggle, was betrayed, and went to the gallows at twenty-nine, singing the song that still stirs every heart of Bhārat.

Baba Ram Singh was the founder of the Kuka (Namdhari) movement — a reformer and revolutionary who combined religious awakening with political revolt in Punjab decades before the mainstream national movement. His rebellion of 1872, answered with the British cannon, made him one of Bhārat's earliest freedom martyrs of the modern age.

When the British tried to annex her kingdom, the Rani of Jhansi refused — and rode to war. In the great uprising of 1857, she became the symbol of resistance of Bhārat, fighting to her last breath with her adopted son strapped to her back.

Rash Behari Bose was the revolutionary who bombed the Viceroy, escaped the British net, and found refuge in Japan — where he founded the Indian Independence League and created the first Indian National Army from soldiers captured by Japan. He is the forgotten architect of the army that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose later took to its heights.

S. Sadananda was a devoted freedom fighter and Gandhian of Karnataka who gave his life to the national movement and to the service of the villages. A worker of the Congress and of Gandhi's constructive programmes, he spent his life — and his years in prison — in the service of the motherland.

Sampurnanand was a scholar, a freedom fighter, and the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh — a leader of the Congress who joined the movement in its fiery years, went to prison for the nation, and then governed the largest state of Bhārat. He was also a profound scholar of Indian philosophy who wrote on the traditions of Bhārat.

Sangolli Rayanna was the fearless commander of Kittur — the soldier who, after the British hanged his queen Rani Chennamma, carried on the war alone for two years. With a peasant army raised from the villages, he harried the British columns of the North Karnataka country until he was betrayed, captured, and hanged — becoming the first great peasant rebel of the British era in the south.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was the Iron Man of Bhārat — the organiser of the Bardoli satyagraha, the deputy Prime Minister who persuaded 562 princely states to join the Union, and the man who welded a patchwork of kingdoms into the modern map of Bhārat. The world's tallest statue, the Statue of Unity, stands in his honour.

Sister Nivedita was the Irish educator who, at the bidding of Swami Vivekananda, gave her life to Bhārat — running a school for girls, awakening the nation's youth, and working for its freedom as a patriot and publicist. She is honoured as one of the movement's most devoted and fearless daughters.

Subhas Chandra Bose — Netaji — was the fire of Bhārat's freedom struggle. Where others petitioned, he raised an army: the Indian National Army, forged in Southeast Asia, whose battle cry 'Jai Hind' still rings across Bhārat. His story is one of the most daring escapes in history.

Venkatappa Nayaka was the young prince of Surapura, a small principality in the north-east of Karnataka, whose rebellion in 1858 made him one of the last kings of Bhārat to fall fighting the British. Betrayed after a heroic resistance, the twenty-year-old prince was killed by the British — his death one of the final acts of the great uprising.

Surya Sen — Masterda — was the schoolteacher who led the Chittagong armoury raid of 1930, one of the most daring attacks of the freedom struggle. With a band of teenage revolutionaries he seized the British armoury and declared provisional revolutionary government, then vanished into the jungle for three years before his capture and martyrdom.

Sushil Kumar Sen was a young revolutionary of Bengal whose defiance blazed early and ended early — he lived only twenty-three years. As a boy of fifteen he struck at a brutal British police officer; as a revolutionary he was captured and hanged, going to the gallows with the calm courage that made him a symbol of the armed youth of Bhārat.

Tatya Tope was the greatest guerrilla general of the 1857 uprising — the military mastermind who recaptured Gwalior, fought alongside Nana Sahib and the Rani of Jhansi, and kept the revolt alive for two years after the great cities fell. He was betrayed and executed in 1859, and is remembered as the strategist of the first war of independence.

Thimmappa Nayaka was a hill chieftain of Karnataka who rose against the rule of the empire of his time — a leader of the shepherd and hill communities whose resistance made him a folk hero. His story, preserved in the Bharata Bharati series, tells of a warrior of the common people who defied the powerful and died for the freedom of his hills.

Umakant Keshav Apte was a fiery revolutionary of Maharashtra — a close associate of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and a founder of the secret society Abhinav Bharat, which swore to win freedom by force. Hunted by the British for his part in revolutionary plots, he gave his life in 1915 while resisting arrest.

V.O. Chidambaram Pillai was the lawyer-turned-captain who broke the British shipping monopoly in South Bhārat — founding his own shipping line and sailing his own ship, the SS Gallia, against the British-owned company. He was a fiery orator, a close ally of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and one of the first leaders imprisoned for sedition.

Vasudev Balwant Phadke was the first revolutionary of the freedom struggle of Bhārat — a clerk turned guerrilla who, during the great famine of the 1870s, raised an army of Ramoshi peasants and waged armed war against the British in the Deccan. He is honoured as the father of Bhārat's revolutionary movement.

Veerapandiya Kattabomman was the Tamil chieftain who stood against the East India Company at the end of the eighteenth century — refusing their taxes and fighting them in the Polygar Wars. He was captured, tried, and hanged in 1799, and he is honoured as one of the earliest and bravest resisters of British rule in the south.

Vitthalbhai Patel — the elder brother of Sardar Patel — was the fiery nationalist who led the Swaraj Party in the Central Legislative Assembly and served as its President and as the first President of the Assembly of Bhārat in 1925. A brilliant lawyer and orator, he fought the British from inside their own councils.