Famous Indian Freedom Fighters

Since the Portuguese were the first European power to arrive in India and the last to depart, the effort to dislodge them by those whose land they conquered and occupied could not but be a long process that was fraught with bloodshed, grief, sacrifice and frustration. This process began from the day the Portuguese set […]

1640-1755The dynastic union holding together Spain and Portugal since 1580 was dissolved in 1640, and Portuguese independence restored (formally recognized by Spain only in 1668). The Portuguese Colonial Empire had remained an entity separate from the Spanish Colonial Empire, and remained Portuguese.In 1661 English King Charles II. married Portuguese princess Catherine de Braganca. The colonies

Indian National Army was formed under the initiative of leaders like Subhas Chandra Bose, Rashbehari Bose and others who, being imbued with the spirit of national independence, sided with the Axis Powers during the Second World war (1939-1945). The Indian National Army (INA) is also called ‘Azad Hind Fauz’. In December 1941 the Japanese defeated

The British were unable to control the situation in India which was steadily becoming worse. Famine and disorder had sapped the foundations of imperial prestige. Britain emerged from the war victorious but physically exhausted and morally sober. The general elections of 1945 returned Labour to power and Attlee, the British Prime Minister, unwilling to lose

Before you discuss the resolution, let me place before you one or two things, I want you to understand two things very clearly and to consider them from the same point of view from which I am placing them before you. I ask you to consider it from my point of view, because if you

With the outbreak of the war in 1939, Gandhi was dragged back into the political arena. He had supported the Empire in the First World War. In the Boer War, even though his moral sympathies were with the Boers who were fighting for their independence, he had offered his services to the Empire out of

The Civil Disobedience Movement led by M K Gandhi, in the year 1930 was an important milestone in the history of Indian freedom struggle. There are three distinct phases that mark the development of Indian Nationalism. In the first phase, the ideology of the moderates dominated the political scenario. This was followed by the prominence

Partition of Bengal, 1905 effected on 16 October during the viceroyalty of Lord Curzon (1899-1905), proved to be a momentous event in the history of modern Bengal. The idea of partitioning Bengal did not originate with Curzon. Bengal, which included Bihar and Orissa since 1765, was admittedly much too large for a single province of

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was both a military mutiny and a civilian uprising against the British East India Company. Confined mainly to north-central India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, northern Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi), it began in Meerut on 10 May 1857 and largely ended with the fall of Gwalior on 20 June 1858. The rebellion

The rebellion of the Bengal Army in 1857 was a traumatic event in the history of British rule in India. Even today it is difficult to describe it as a ‘War of Independence’, ‘Revolution’, ‘Religious War’ or a ‘Mutiny’. The discussion is made more complicated because of the fact that India is a jigsaw puzzle

Arrival of European traders: Indian trade links with Europe started in through sea route only after the arrival of Vasco da Gama in Calicut, India on May 20, 1498. The Portuguese had traded in Goa as early as 1510, and later founded three other colonies on the west coast in Diu, Bassein, and Mangalore. In

Dr. Zakir Hussain was born at Hyderabad on February 8, 1897, he came of a Pathan family of the upper middle-class, settled at Qaunganj in the District of Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Fida Hussain Khan, went to Hyderabad, studied Law and had a most successful career. Unfortunately, he died when Dr. Zakir Hussain was

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883 into a family of jagirdars in the village of Bhagpur near Nasik. Vinayak was one of four children others being, Ganesh (Babarao), Mainabai and Narayan, born to Damodarpant Savarkar and Radhabai. Being descendents of a line of Sanskrit scholars, the Savarkars inculcated the love of learning

Vallabhbhai Patel was born on October 31, 1875, in a farmer’s family in Nadiad, Gujarat. His father, Zaverbhai, had served in the army of Jhansi ki Rani, and his mother, Ladbai, was a deeply religious woman.Vallabhbhai’s initial schooling was in Gujarati. His brother Vithalbhai, after completing middle school, had enrolled himself in English tutorial classes

Acharya Vinoba Bhave was a scholar, saint, man of God, moral tribune, a beacon of hope and solace to millions in India and abroad. He was Mahatma Gandhi’s spiritual successor.Vinobaji was born in a village in Maharashtra’s Kolaba district on September 11, 1895. He was drawn to Mahatma Gandhi and his unique ‘Weaponless War’ as