freedom fighter in news

Rani Durgavati

• Rani Durgavati was born in 1524, in Mahoba’s Chandela dynasty in Uttar Pradesh.

• June 24 is marked as a day of sacrifice when the queen is believed to have died while fighting the Mughals in 

the mid-16th century.

• Durgavati, however, was widowed in 1550, a few years after her marriage. Her young son Bir Narayan 

presided over the throne in name, and she ruled as the regent.

• During her reign, Durgavati fought with Baz Bahadur, the sultan of the neighboring Malwa who was eventually 

defeated by Akbar.

• Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar who chronicled these years in Akbarnama, described Durgavati as a 

combination of “beauty, grace, and manlike courage and bravery”. He further added that the prosperity of 

the kingdom was such that people paid their taxes in gold coins and elephants.

Mihir Bhoj (836 - 885 AD)

• Mihir Bhoj was a ruler of the Gurjara- Pratihara dynasty. He succeeded his father Ramabhadra and was in 

power from 836 until 885 CE.

• Some of Bhoja’s coins feature the term Adivaraha, which indicates that he was a devoted devotee of Vishnu.During his reign, Kannauj served as the state capital, which was known as Panchala during this time. Mihir 

Bhoj’s kingdom extended from Multan in the west to Bengal in the east and from Kashmir in the north to 

Karnataka in the south.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920)

• His famous declaration was - “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it”.

• The British Government termed him as the "Father of Indian Unrest" and his followers gave him the title of 

‘Lokmanya’, which means, one who is respected by the people.

• He maintained that simple constitutional agitation was not enough against the British. Instead, he advocated 

boycott movement to fight imperial rule. Thus, Tilak and his supporters came to be known as the extremist 

wing of Indian National Congress.

• He was one of the trios of Lal-Bal-Pal; others being Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab.

• Tilak proposed grand celebrations on ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ and ‘Shivaji Jayanti'. He believed that these 

celebrations could bring a sense of unity and inspire nationalist sentiment among Indians.

Journalistic and Literary Contributions

• Tilak published two newspapers - Mahratta (in English) and Kesari (in Marathi). Both the newspapers stressed 

on making the Indians aware of the glorious past and encouraged the masses to be self-reliant.

• Following killing of plague commissioner Rand in 1897 by Chapekar brothers, Tilak was imprisoned for 18 

months on sedition charges for inciting murder. He wrote Gita Rahasya during the imprisonment.

All India Home Rule League

• Tilak founded the All-India Home Rule League in 1916 along with Annie Besant. The goal of the League was to 

achieve self-government in India.

• Tilak's league worked in areas like Maharashtra (excluding Bombay city), Karnataka, Central provinces and 

Berar, and Annie Besant's league worked in the rest of India. 

Matangini Hazara (1870 – 1942)

• She was leading one of the five batches of volunteers (Vidyut Bahini) during Quit India Movement.

• Matangini Hazra actively joined the freedom struggle and was so influenced by Gandhi’s beliefs, that she 

earned the name Gandhi Buri (the old Gandhian woman).

• She was arrested for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930. 

• In 1942, Hazra led a large procession of around 6,000 protesters with the aim to take over the Tamluk police 

station from British authorities. Amid the conflict, Hazra was shot dead.

• Her death incited revolutionaries to establish their own parallel government in Medinipur, which functioned 

till 1944, when it was disbanded at Gandhi’s request.

• In 1977, the first statue in the Kolkata Maidan dedicated to a woman revolutionary was that of Matangini 

Hazra.May 1924, when Raju, the charismatic 'Manyam Veerudu' or Hero of the Jungle, was apprehended and 

executed.

Sri Aurobindo Ghosh (1872 – 1950)

• Aurobindo Ghose was an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, poet, and Indian nationalist.

• He was one of the founders of the Anushilan Samiti which protested against the atrocities of the British 

government. He was also charged in the Alipore Bomb Case and sentenced to jail.

• He gave up active politics after his stint in jail and devoted himself to spiritualism. He reached Pondicherry

in 1910. In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (referred to as "The Mother"), Sri 

Aurobindo Ashram was founded.

• His main literary works are The Life Divine, Synthesis of Yoga, and Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817 – 1898)

• Sayyid Ahmad Khan was a leading Muslim social reformer. He was deeply impressed by modern scientific 

thought and dedicated his life to reconciling it with Islam.

• He declared the Quran as the sole authoritative work for Islam, considering all other writings as secondary. 

He interpreted the Quran in the light of contemporary rationalism and science.

• He urged people to develop critical thinking and freedom of thought, emphasizing that civilized life requires 

freedom of thought. He established the Mohammaden Anglo-Oriental College in 1875, which later became 

the Aligarh Muslim University.

• He emphasized raising the status of women in society, advocating for the removal of purdah, and promoting 

education among women. He also criticized practices like polygamy and easy divorce.

• In the initial phase, he stood for the Hindu-Muslim unity and was nationalistic in his point of view. In his later 

years, he discouraged his followers from participating in the national movement started by Congress.

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621 – 1675)

• Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in Amritsar in 1621 to Mata Nanki and Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh guru, who 

raised an army against the Mughals and introduced the concept of warrior saint.

• As a boy, he was called Tyag Mal because of his ascetic nature. His bravery and heroic swordsmanship in the 

battle earned him the name of Tegh Bahadur. (“Tegh” is ‘sword’ in Punjabi).

• He contributed many hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib including the Saloks, or couplets. He is regarded as the 

savior guru, and he resisted the forced conversions of non-Muslims to Islam.

• His martyrdom is remembered as the Shaheedi Divas every year on November 24.

Lachit Borphukan (1622 – 1672)

• Born in 1622, Lachit Borphukon led the Ahom troops which fought and defeated the advancing Mughal troops 

at the Battle of Saraighat on the outskirts of Guwahati in 1671.

• Borphukan is also considered as the inspiration behind strengthening India’s naval force and revitalizing inland 

water transport and creating infrastructure associated with it.

• Since 1999, the Lachit Borphukan gold medal has been awarded to the best cadet from the National Defence 

Academy.