Known and revered worldwide as Mahatma Gandhi, he advocated nonviolence (ahimsa) as the only path to victory.
India as we know it today would not have been, but for the efforts of selfless and courageous men and women who deemed it their life’s purpose to liberate the country from colonial rule and retain its sovereignty and heritage. Some of these leaders adopted moderate approaches of dialogue, protests and civil disobedience in their struggle for independence, while others wanted self-rule and were literally willing to lay down their lives fighting for it.
However, it cannot be denied that one and all, in their own ways, these freedom fighters were responsible for making India an independent country and helped realise the dream of Swaraj. Here are some of the great leaders to whom we owe our present status as an independent and sovereign republic.
Jawaharlal Nehru
The first Prime Minister of independent India, he was a staunch believer in democratic ideals and helped realize the vision of India as a democracy.
Bhagat Singh
Considered one of the most influential revolutionaries of the Indian independence movement, he, along with Shivaraj Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar became the symbols of courage, action, and spiritedness for Indian youth.
Subhash Chandra Bose
Founder of the Indian National Army, he enlisted the help of Japan in regaining control of several Indian territories under the rule of the British.
Dr. Rajendra Prasad
The first President of the Republic of India, Prasad was one of the architects of the Constitution of India.
Lal Bahadur Shastri
The second Prime Minister of independent India was instrumental in pushing forward the Green Revolution, which made India a food surplus country.
Chandrashekhar Azad
He was one of the fierce patriots who believed in freedom at any cost and accomplished daring deeds in the course of his lifelong fight. He was also the mentor of Bhagat Singh, the famous Indian martyr.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
Known as the Iron man, he helped achieve the political integration of the princely states towards forming a unified independent India.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
The first leader to boldly declare that complete selfgovernance (Swaraj) was the only position acceptable to him, Tilak was instrumental in inciting the desire for freedom in the Indian consciousness as well as saving Indian culture and heritage from insidious western influences.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale
He was one of the most learned men in India, and a leader of social and political reformists as well as a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. He was also a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi when the latter had returned from South Africa and was just beginning to actively participate in the Indian independence movement.
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar
Widely known as the father of the Indian Constitution, he was also instrumental in improving the plight of the dalits, tribals, and other marginalized.
Bagha Jatin Mukherjee
One of the great leaders of the underground resistance, Jatin, along with other revolutionaries, participated in guerrilla warfare on British nationals along with sabotaging British properties, all to disarm the British might.
Dadabhai Naoroji
One of the earliest leaders to lay the foundation for India’s freedom struggle, Naoroji was a founder of the Indian National Congress.
Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai
One of the leading figures of the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857, she rode into battle to save Gwalior Fort, the last bastion of the uprising, and died
Mangal Pandey
Widely known as the initiator of the first war of independence, the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Pandey fired at British officers to vent mass anger among the Sepoys at being made to chew off the pig fat-containing outer layer of the new gun cartridges the Sepoys were to use.
Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore was a great writer and poet who stirred the emotions of the people and fired the spark of patriotism in them through his works. He is most famously known as the author of India’s national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Popularly known as ‘Veer’ Savarkar, he actively denounced British policy and boycotted British goods. He underwent imprisonment in the infamous Andamans prison.
C. Rajagopalachari
A great statesman and scholar, ‘Rajaji’ as he was known, was close to Mahatma Gandhi. He practiced Gandhi’s ideology throughout his life and worked for the Congress party for more than half a century.
Shivaram Hari Rajguru
He was an Indian revolutionary from Maharashtra, known mainly for his involvement in the murder of a British police officer. He was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army(HSRA), who wanted India to be freed from British rule by any means necessary.
Sukhdev Thapar
Sukhdev was a famous Indian revolutionary who played a major role in the India’s struggle for Independence. Sukhdev Thapar was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), and organised revolutionary cells in Punjab and other areas of North India. A devoted leader, he even went on to educate the youth at the National College in Lahore.
Ram Prasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil was an Indian revolutionary who participated in Mainpuri conspiracy of 1918, and the Kakori conspiracy of 1925, both against British Empire. As well as being a freedom fighter, he was also a patriotic poet and wrote in Hindi and Urdu using the pen names Ram, Agyat and Bismil. But, he became popular with the last name “Bismil” only.
Tatya Tope
Ramachandra Pandurang Tope was an Indian Maratha leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and one of its more renowned generals. He was a personal adherent of Nana Saheb of Bithur. He progressed with the Gwalior contingent after the British reoccupation of Kanpur and forced General Windham to retreat from Kanpur.
Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian Punjabi author and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for independence from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari meaning The Lion of Punjab also known as “Sher-EPunjab” in Punjabi. He was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio. He was also associated with activities of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company in their early stages. He sustained serious injuries by the police when leading a non-violent protest against the Simon Commission and died less than three weeks later.
Udham Singh
He was an Indian revolutionary, best known for assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in March 1940 in what has been described as an avenging of the Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre. He is a prominent figure of the Indian independence struggle. He is also referred to as Shaheed-i-Azam Sardar Udham Singh.
Rattling clean website , appreciate it for this post.
I consider something truly interesting about your blog so I saved to favorites.
Greetings! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My site looks weird when viewing from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. With thanks!
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one today..
he blog was how do i say it… relevant, finally something that helped me. Thanks
Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So nice to seek out somebody with some original ideas on this subject. realy thank you for beginning this up. this website is one thing that is needed on the web, someone with a bit of originality. helpful job for bringing one thing new to the web!
Hi! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us useful information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!
Hi! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I really enjoy reading through your posts. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics? Thanks for your time!
Outstanding post, I conceive blog owners should learn a lot from this web blog its real user genial.
Hi there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re utilizing? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most. Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable price? Kudos, I appreciate it!
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking all over for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You’ve made my day! Thanks again!
I will right away grab your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Please let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic information I was looking for this information for my mission.
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
Awsome blog! I am loving it!! Will be back later to read some more. I am bookmarking your feeds also
This really answered my problem, thank you!
Hey there would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog in the near future but I’m having a tough time selecting between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something unique. P.S Apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
Thanks for another informative website. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I’ve a project that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such info.
Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored to death at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I really like the information you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my cell phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, superb blog!
A formidable share, I simply given this onto a colleague who was doing just a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the deal with! However yeah Thnkx for spending the time to debate this, I feel strongly about it and love reading extra on this topic. If doable, as you grow to be experience, would you thoughts updating your blog with more particulars? It’s highly useful for me. Big thumb up for this weblog submit!
I have been reading out a few of your stories and it’s pretty nice stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.
Hello. impressive job. I did not anticipate this. This is a splendid story. Thanks!
I truly appreciate this post. I have been looking everywhere for this! Thank goodness I found it on Bing. You have made my day! Thanks again
Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is entirely off topic but I had to tell someone!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!
of course like your web site but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I will certainly come back again.