Indian Commemoratives with People - II

Chatrapati Shivaji

19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680, 

With the royal title Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Shivaji was a Maratha Emperor of Yadava Lineage from the Bhosle dynasty who founded the Maratha empire.  Shivaji led a resistance to free the Maratha nation from Sultanate of Bijapur, and establish self rule ("Hindavi Swarajya"). He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital, and fought against the Mughals to defend his kingdom successfully. He was crowned as Chhatrapati - the Soveriegn- of the Maratha Kingdom in 1674.

He achieved the re-establishment of Maratha rule on their homeland after being ruled and dominated by various Muslim dynasties for few hundred years. He established a competent and progressive civil rule with the help of well regulated and disciplined military and well structured administrative organizations. The prevalent practices of treating women as spoils of war, destruction of religious monuments, slavery and forceful religious conversions were firmly opposed under his administration. Shivaji was a religious Hindu, he also innovated rules of military engagement of that era. He pioneered "Shiva sutra" or Ganimi Kava (guerrilla tactics), which leveraged strategic factors like geography, speed, surprise and focused pinpoint attacks to defeat his bigger and more powerful enemies.

  

Sant Dnyaneshwar

1275–1296

He was born in to a Deshastha Brahmin Kulkarni family.He was a 13th century Maharashtran saint (Sant - a title by which he is often referred), poet, philosopher and yogi of the Nath tradition whose works Bhavartha deepika teeka (a commentary on Bhagavad Gita, popularly known as "Dnyaneshwari"), and Amrutanubhav are considered to be milestones in Marathi literature.

Dnyaneshwar moved to Nevasa, a village in Ahmednagar district, where he began his literary work when Nivruttinath instructed him to write a commentary on Bhagavad Gita. The Dnyaneshwari or Bhavartha Deepika Teeka was written down by Sacchidananandbaba from discourses by Dnyaneshwar. By the time the commentary was complete Dnyaneshwar was only 15 years old. Considered a masterpieces of Marathi literature, the Dnyaneshwari's 18 chapters are composed in a metre called "ovi". Dnyaneshwar liberated the "divine knowledge" locked in the Sanskrit language to bring that knowledge into Prakrit (Marathi) and made it available to the common man. He was confident that he would write in marathi in as good or better manner than Sanskrit.

Amrutanubhav, written some time after, is difficult and finds fewer readers.

Containing 10 chapters and 806 ovi, the basis of this book is non dualism (advaita siddhanta). The seventh and biggest chapter (295 ovi) is the most important. Apart from Dnyaneshwari and Amrutanubhav works like Changdev Paasashti (a collection of 65 ovi addressed to an allegedly 1400 years old yogi named Changdev Maharaj), Haripath and around 1000 "abhanga" (authorship of many is disputed due to differences in writing style) are attributed to Dnyaneshwar.

 Syama Prasad Mookerjee

July 6, 1901 – June 23, 1953
Syama Prasad Mookerjee was a minister in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's Cabinet as a Minister for Industry and Supply. Mookerjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, after the differences with Pandit Nehru. He was elected as member of the Legislative Council of Bengal, as an Indian National Congress candidate representing Calcutta University but resigned next year when Congress decided to boycott the legislature. Subsequently, he contested the election as an independent candidate and got elected. He was the Finance minister of Bengal Province during 1941-42.

He emerged as a spokesman for Hindus and shortly joined Hindu Mahasabha and in 1944, he became the President. Mookerjee was political leader who felt the need to counteract the communalist and separatist Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who were demanding either exaggerated Muslim rights or a Muslim state of Pakistan. Mookerjee adopted causes to protect Hindus against what he believed to be the communal propaganda and the divisive agenda of the Muslim League. Mookerjee and his future followers would always cite inherent Hindu practices of tolerance and communal respect as the reason for a healthy, prosperous and safe Muslim population in the country in the first place.

Mookerjee was initially a strong opponent of the Partition of India, but following the communal riots of 1946-47, Mookerjee strongly disfavored Hindus continuing to live in a Muslim-dominated state and under a government controlled by the Muslim League. On 11 February 1941 S P Mookerjee told a Hindu rally that if Muslims wanted to live in Pakistan they should "pack their bag and baggage and leave India... (to) wherever they like". Mookerjee supported the partition of Bengal in 1946 to prevent the inclusion of its Hindu-majority areas in a Muslim-dominated East Pakistan; he also opposed a failed bid for a united but independent Bengal made in 1947 by Sarat Bose, the brother of Subhas Chandra Bose and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, a Bengali Muslim politician.

He wanted the Hindu Mahasabha not to be restricted to Hindus alone or work as apolitical body for the service of masses. Following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by a Hindu fanatic, the Mahasabha was blamed chiefly for the heinous act and became deeply unpopular. Mookerjee himself condemned the murder.

Sant Tukaram

1608–1650

Sant Tukaram was a prominent Varkari Sant and spiritual poet during a Bhakti movement in India.

Sant Tukaramwas born and lived most of his life in Dehu, a town close to Pune city in Mahārāshtra, India. He was born to a couple with the family name "More", the descendent of the Mourya Clan (Āmbile) and first names Bolhobā and Kanakāi.Through a tradition in India in bygone days, Tukaram's family name is rarely used in identifying him. His real name is Tukaram Vhilhoba Aambe. Rather, in accord with another tradition in India of assigning the epithet "sant" (संत) to persons regarded as thoroughly saintly, Sant Tukaram is commonly known in Maharashtra as Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम).

Scholars assign various birth years to Sant Tukaram: 1577, 1598, 1608 and 1609 CE. The year of Sant Tukaram's death —1650 CE— is much more certain.

Sant Tukaram's first wife, Rakhumābāi, died in her early youth. SantTukaram and his second wife, Jijābāi (also known as Āvali), had three sons: Santu or Mahādev, Vithobā, and Nārāyan.

Dilip Purushottam Chitre, a well known Marathi Scholar, identifies Tukaram as first modern poet of Marathi. Chitre believes that Tukaram was the first acceptable saint who denied caste hirearchy in Hindu religion and attacked rituals present in Hindu Dharma.

 

 

Jayaprakash Narayan

 

October 11, 1902 - October 8, 1979

Bharat Ratna Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayanwidely known as JP or Loknayak (leader of the masses), was an Indian independence activist and political leader, remembered especially for leading the opposition to Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and for giving a call for peaceful Total Revolution. His biography, Jayaprakash,Hindi literature, Ramavriksha Benipuri. In 1998, he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, in recognition of his social work. Other awards include the Magsaysay award for Public Service in 1965. The airport of Patna is also named after him. 

After being jailed in 1932 for civil disobedience against British rule, Narayan was imprisoned in Nasik Jail, where he met Ram Manohar Lohia, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and other national leaders. After his release, the Congress Socialist Party, or (CSP), a left-wing group within the Congress, was formed with Acharya Narendra Deva as President and Narayan as General secretary.After independence and the death of Mahatma Gandhi, Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Basawon Singh (Sinha) led the CSP out of Congress to become the opposition Socialist Party, which later took the name Praja Socialist Party. Basawon Singh (Sinha) became the first leader of the opposition in the state and assembly of Bihar and Acharya Narendra Deva became the first leader of opposition in the state and assembly of U.P. His party is the first national party who distributed tickets on caste line. This was the point where Jayaprakash Narayan disagreed with the party principles and pursued Sarvodey and Lokniti.

 

Dadabhai Naoroji

4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917
Naoroji, known as the Grand Old Man of India, was a Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political leader. His book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India brought attention to the draining of India's wealth into Britain. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the British House of Commons between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a British MP. He is also credited with the founding of the Indian National Congress, along with A.O. Hume and Dinshaw Edulji Wacha.

At the early age of 25, he was appointed leading Professor at the Elphinstone Institution in 1850, becoming the first Indian to hold such an academic position. Being an Athornan (ordained priest), Naoroji founded the Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1 August 1851 to restore the Zoroastrian religion to its original purity and simplicity. In 1854, he also founded a fortnightly publication, the Rast Goftar (or The Truth Teller), to clarify Zoroastrian concepts. By 1855 he was Professor of Mathematics and Natural philosophy in Bombay. He travelled to London in 1855 to become a partner in Cama & Co, opening a Liverpool location for the first Indian company to be established in Britain. Within three years, he had resigned on ethical grounds. In 1859 he established his own cotton trading company, Naoroji & Co. Later he became professor of Gujarati at University College London.

In 1867 Naoroji helped establish the East India Association, one of the predecessor organizations of the Indian National Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before the British public. The Association was instrumental in counter-acting the Propaganda by the London Ethnological Society which, in its session in 1866, had tried to prove the inferiority of the Asians to the Europeans. This Association soon won the support of eminent Englishmen and was able to exercise considerable influence in the British Parliament.In 1874 he became Prime Minister of Baroda and was a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay (1885–88). He was also a member of the Indian National Association founded by Sir Surendranath Banerjea from Calcutta a few years before the founding of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, with the same objectives and practices. The two groups later merged into the INC, and Naoroji was elected President of the Congress in 1886. Naoroji published Poverty and un-British Rule in India in 1901.

Naoroji moved to Britain once again and continued his political involvement. Elected for the Liberal Party in Finsbury Central at the 1892 general election, he was the first British Indian MP. He refused to take the oath on the Bible as he was not a Christian, but was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of God on his copy of Khordeh Avesta. In Parliament he spoke on Irish Home Rule and the condition of the Indian people. In his political campaign and duties as an MP, he was assisted by Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the future Muslim nationalist and founder of Pakistan. In 1906, Naoroji was again elected president of the Indian National Congress. Naoroji was a staunch moderate within the Congress, during the phase when opinion in the party was split between the moderates and extremists.

 

 Veer Durgadass Rathod

13 August 1638 - 22 November 1718 

Durgadas Rathore is a famous personality in the annals of Marwar. He is credited with having single-handedly preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar (Jodhpur) after the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century.Durgadas was a Suryavanshi Rathore Rajput, belonging to the Karnot branch of the Rathore clan. He was the son of Askaran Rathore, a Rajput general in the army of Maharaja Jaswant Singh. As his mother did not get along with her husband and co-wives, she lived away from Jodhpur, and Durgadas grew up in a small village (Salwan Kalan and Lunawa). The Maharaja of Marwar was impressed with Durgadas's uprightness and gave him an appointment in the army. 

He played a very significant role in saving Prince Ajit Singh, who was an infant at the time of Maharaja's death and fought against the Mughals for their land which was illegally acclaimed by Aurangzeb.

Aurangzeb's son Sultan Muhammad Akbar rebelled against his father. Naturally, Durgadas extended aid to him in the rebellion. This venture came to naught, as Akbar died in exile; he left his children in the custody of Durgadas. Aurangzeb became extremely anxious to get his grandchildren back. He requested Durgadas, who agreed to send them to Aurangzeb. When the children arrived, Aurangzeb asked a Qazi to start teaching them the Quran. On hearing this, his little granddaughter began reciting ayats from the holy book. Aurangzeb was left dumbfounded. On being asked, his granddaughter told him that while she was in Durgadas's custody, a Qazi had been engaged to take care of their religious training.

Till today, people in Rajasthan pray: Mayee ehra poot jan jehara DURGADAS, baandh mundaso rakhiyo bin thambe aakash. (Mother, give birth to a son just like Durgadas,who stopped the flooding dam of Moghuls (the Moghul Army) without any support (i.e. single handedly)).

Maharana Pratap

 

 May 9,1540 - January 29,1597

Maharana Pratap was the eldest of twenty-five sons and hence given the title of Crown Prince. He was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar, in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs.

In 1567, when Crown Prince Pratap Singh was only 27, Chittor was surrounded by the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar. Maharana Udai Singh II decided to leave Chittor and move his family to Gogunda, rather than capitulate to the Mughals. The young Pratap Singh wanted to stay back and fight the Mughals but the elders intervened and convinced him to leave Chittor, oblivious of the fact that this move from Chittor was going to create history for all times to come.

The year was 1572. Pratap Singh had just become the Maharana of Mewar and he had not been back in Chittor since 1567. His old fort and his home beckoned to him. The pain of his father's death, and the fact that his father had not been able to see Chittor again, troubled the young Maharana deeply. But he was not the only one troubled at this time. Akbar had control of Chittor but not the kingdom of Mewar. So long as the people of Mewar swore by their Maharana, Akbar could not realize his ambition of being the Jahanpanah of Hindustan. He had sent several emissaries to Mewar to get Maharana Pratap to agree to sign a treaty but the latter was only willing to sign a peace treaty whereby the sovereignty of Mewar would be intact. In the course of the year 1573, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Maharana Pratap to agree to the former's suzerainty but Maharana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. Maharana Pratap, angered that his fellow Rajput was aligned with someone who had forced the submission of all Rajputs, refused to sup with Raja Man Singh. The lines were completely drawn now - Akbar understood that Maharana Pratap would never submit and he would have to use his troops against Mewar.

With the failure of efforts to negotiate a peace treaty in 1573, Akbar blockaded Mewar from the rest of the world and alienated Mewar's traditional allies, some of whom were Maharana Pratap's own kith and kin. Akbar then tried to turn the people of the all-important Chittor district against their king so they would not help Pratap. He appointed Kunwar Sagar Singh, a younger brother of Pratap, to rule the conquered territory, However, Sagar, regretting his own treachery, soon returned from Chittor, and committed suicide with a dagger in the Mughal Court. Sakta Singh, Pratap's younger brother now with the Mughal army, is said to have fled the Mughal court temporarily and warned his brother of Akbar's actions.

After 1587, Akbar relinquished his obsessive pursuit of Maharana Pratap and took his battles into Punjab and India's Northwest Frontier. Thus for the last ten years of his life, Maharana Pratap ruled in relative peace and eventually freed most of Mewar, including Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, but not Chittor. Bhagwat Singh Mewar: "Maharana Pratap Singh (was) called the light and life of the Hindu community. There were times when he and his family and children ate bread made of grass." Maharana Pratap became a patron of the Arts. During his reign Padmavat Charita and the poems of Dursa Ahada were written. Palaces at Ubheshwar, Kamal Nath and Chavand bear testimony to his love of architecture. These buildings, built in the dense hilly forest have walls adorned with military-style architecture. But Pratap's broken spirit overpowered him in the twilight of his years. His last moments were an appropriate commentary on his life, when he swore his successor, Crown Prince Amar Singh to eternal conflict against the foes of his country's independence. Maharana Pratap was never able to win back Chittor but he never gave up fighting to win it back.

In January 1597, Maharana Pratap Singh I, Mewar's greatest hero, was seriously injured in a hunting accident. He left his body at Chavand, aged 56, on January 29, 1597. He died fighting for his nation, for his people, and most importantly for his honour.

 

K. Kamaraj

 

15 July 1903 - 2 October 1975
K. Kamaraj 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 for the first time in the world that a measure like this was being executed in 1957.

Kumaraswami Kamaraj, who is better remembered as K. Kamaraj, was a powerful Indian politician. He was regarded as the 'kingmaker' in Indian politics and was widely respected for his traits of honesty, integrity and simplicity. During the struggle for India's independence from the British rule, Kamaraj was a close friend of Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was later appointed as the first prime minister of the country. Read this biography further to learn more about K. Kamaraj.

Kamaraj was called kingmaker because he played a crucial role in the appointment of India's two Prime Ministers - Lal Bahadur Shastri in the year 1964 and again Indira Gandhi in the year 1966. Thus, people fondly called him the Gandhi of South India or even the Black Gandhi. In his hometown Tamil Nadu, the denizens still credit him for spreading education facility to the thousands under the poverty line.

All throughout the reign of K. Kamaraj in Tamil Nadu, he strived to provide free meals and education to people. And this was for the first time in the world that a measure like this was being executed by K. Kamaraj in 1957. Due to his selfless service for the good of the poor and the downtrodden in the society, the Government of India awarded him with the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in the year 1976.

Though K. Kamaraj's nurtured an interest in politics since childhood, it was at the age of 16 that he joined the Indian National Congress as a full time worker. His task was to invite speakers, make arrangements for meetings and collect funds for the Congress party. In the year 1030, Kamaraj also participated in a rally to Vedaranyam spearheaded by C. Rajagopalachari as a part of the salt Satyagraha. There were many occasions when Kumaraswami Kamaraj was put behind the bars during the struggle for India's independence.

Lal Bahadur Shastri

 

2 October 1904 - 11 January 1966 

Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.

Following India's independence, Shastri was appointed Parliamentary Secretary in his home state, Uttar Pradesh. He became the Minister of Police and Transport under Govind Ballabh Pant's Chief Ministership. As the Transport Minister, he was the first to appoint women conductors. As the minister in charge of the Police Department, he ordered that police use jets of water instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds. In 1951, he was made the General Secretary of the All-India Congress Committee, with Jawaharlal Nehru as the Prime Minister. He was directly responsible for the selection of candidates and the direction of publicity and electioneering activities. He played an important role in the landslide successes of the Congress Party in the Indian General Elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962.

In 1951, Nehru nominated him to the Rajya Sabha. He served as the Minister of Railways and Transport in the Central Cabinet from 1951 to 1956. In 1956, he offered his resignation after a railway accident at Mahbubnagar that led to 112 deaths. However, Nehru did not accept his resignation. Three months later, he resigned accepting moral and constitutional responsibility for a railway accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu that resulted in 144 deaths. While speaking in Parliament on the incident, Nehru stated that he was accepting the resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastri was in any way responsible for the accident. Shastri's unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by the citizens.

In 1957, Shastri returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry.  In 1961, he became Minister for Home.  As Union Home Minister he was instrumental in appointing the Committee on Prevention of Corruption under the Chairmanship of K. Santhanam.