Maharana Pratap

Rana Pratap Singhpronunciation (9th May 1540 – 29 January 1597) popularly known as Maharana Pratap, was a ruler of Mewar, a region in north-western India in the present day state of Rajasthan. His birth anniversary, known as Maharana Pratap Jayanti, is celebrated annually on the third day of the Jyestha Shukla phase. He was the eldest son of Maharani Jaiwanta Bai and Udai Singh II^[2] He belonged to the Sisodia clan of Rajputs. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Amar Singh I.

Maharana Pratap Singh
Maharana
Maharana of Mewar
Reign	1 March 1572 - 29 January 1597 (24 years, 327 days)
Coronation	1 March 1572
Predecessor	Udai Singh II
Successor	Amar Singh I
Born	9 May 1540 Kumbhalgarh Fort [Mewar]
Died	29 January 1597 (aged 56) Chavand
Burial	Cremated in Vandoli village
Spouse	Maharani Ajabde Punwar
Full name Maharana Pratap Singh Sisodia
Dynasty	Sisodiya
Father	Udai Singh II
Mother	Maharani Jaiwanta Bai
Religion	Hindu

Accession

In 1569 during the reign of Pratap's father, Udai Singh II, Chittorgarh Fort was conquered by the Mughal emperor Akbar after the third Jauhar.^{[citation needed]} Udai Singh and his family had left before the capture and moved to the foothills of the Aravalli Rangewhere Udai Singh had already founded the city of Udaipur in 1559.^[5] Rani Dheer Bai wanted her son Jagmal to succeed Udai Singh^[6] but senior courtiers preferred Pratap, as the eldest son, to be their king. The desire of the nobles prevailed.

Conflict with the Mughals

Nearly all of Pratap's fellow Rajput chiefs had meanwhile entered into the vassalage of the Mughals. Pratap's own brothers - Shakti Singh, Jagmal and Sagar Singh - served Akbar,^{[citation needed]} and many Rajput chiefs, such as Man Singh I of Amer, served as commanders in Akbar's armies and as members of his council. Akbar sent a total of six diplomatic missions to Rana Pratap, seeking to negotiate the same sort of peaceful alliance that he had concluded with the other Rajput chiefs.^{[citation needed]} The fifth of these, led by Bhagwan Das, was fruitful in that the Rana of Mewar agreed to put on a robe presented by Akbar and he sent his son, Amar Singh, to the Mughal capital.^{[citation needed]} The missions ultimately failed, however, because the Rana refused personally to present himself to the Mughal court. Since no agreement could be reached, all-out war between Mewar and the Mughals became inevitable.

Battle of Haldighati

(In 1576, Akbar deputed Man Singh I and Asaf Khan I to lead a force against Maharana Pratap.)^{[citation needed]} The Rana advanced with a force numbering almost half the Mughal numbers and took a position near Haldighati which was at the entrance of a defile.^{[citation needed]} In Pratap's army the main commanders were Gwalior's Ram Shah Tanwar and his three sons,Rawat Krishnadasji Chundawat, Maan Singhji Jhala and Chandrasenji Rathore of Marwar. His army also included Afghans lead by Hakim Khan Sur and a small contingent of Bhil tribals headed by Rao Poonjaji fighting alongside him.^[8] Anticipating the Mughal attack, the Rana had also devastated the entire region up to Chittor to prevent the Mughal forces access to food and fodder.^{[citation needed]} The Mughals were then guided by Pratap's brother Shakti Singh so that they could face Pratap in the open and with minimum casualties.

The Battle of Haldighati was fought on 18 June 1576 for around 4 hours.^[9] It was primarily fought in the traditional manner between cavalry and elephants since the Mughals found it difficult to transport artillery over the rough terrain. In a traditional fight, the Rajputs were at an advantage.( Their impetuous attack led to a crumbling of the Mughal left and right wings and put pressure on the center until reserves, and a rumor of Akbar's arrival, turned the tide and resulted in a Rajput retreat). The heat and fear of ambush resulted in the Mughals deciding not to pursue the Rajputs into the hills. Thus this battle failed to break the existing stalemate. This fight can be viewed as an assertion of local independence arising from local and regional patriotism.

After the Battle of Haldighati

On the third day after the Battle of Haldighati, on 23 June 1576, Man Singh I conquered Gogunda which was later recaptured by Pratap in July 1576. Pratap then made Kumbhalgarh his temporary capital.^[13] After that, Akbar decided to personally lead the campaign against Pratap. In the process, Gogunda, Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh were occupied by the Mughals, forcing the Rana deeper into the mountainous tracts of southern Mewar. Mughal pressure was exerted on the Afghan chief of Jalor, and the Rajput chiefs of Idar, Sirohi, Banswara, Dungarpur, and Bundi. These states, situated on the borders of Mewar with Gujarat and Malwa had traditionally acknowledged the supremacy of the dominant power in the region. Consequently, the rulers of these states submitted to the Mughals. A Mughal expedition was also sent to Bundi where Duda, the elder son of Rao Surjan Hada, had collaborated with Pratap to take control over Bundi and adjacent areas. Both Surjan Hada and Bhoj, the father and younger brother of Duda, took part in this conflict in support of the Mughals. After a Mughal victory, Duda escaped to the hills and Bundi was conferred upon Bhoj. At this point Pratap found himself isolated and marginalised in Rajput affairs.

Resurgence

Mughal pressure on Mewar relaxed after 1579 following rebellions in Bengal and Bihar and Mirza Hakim's incursion into the Punjab. In 1585, Akbar moved to Lahore and remained there for the next twelve years watching the situation in the north-west. No Mughal expedition was sent to Mewar during this period. Taking advantage of the situation, Pratap recovered many of his lost territories including Kumbhalgarh, Udaipur, Gogunda, Ranthambore and the areas around Chittor, although not Chittor itself. During this period, he also built a new capital, Chavand, near modern Dungarpur. His successful defiance of Mughals using guerrilla strategy also proved inspirational to figures ranging from Shivaji to anti-British revolutionaries in Bengal.

Personal life

Maharana Pratap being the head of the Sisodia clan and the ruler of Mewar had lots of responsibility towards Mewar. His duty was not only to protect the region from Mughals but also to restrict the Rajput kings from joining hands with the Mughals. Back then, many of the Rajput rulers gave their hands to Mughal King Akbar to avoid any possible attacks over their region.

This was strictly against Maharana Pratap‘s principle and perhaps that is why over the years Maharana Pratap married many of the Rajput Princess mainly for political alliances. Maharana Pratap altogether had 11 wives and 17 sons & 5 daughters Maharani Ajadeh was the first wife of Maharana Pratap. He married her at the age of 17 in the year 1557. Out of this wedlock was born Maharana Pratap’s first son and successor Amar Singh I in the year 1559. Ajabde had one more son Bhagawandas.

The list of his Queens are : Maharani Ajabdeh Punwar Rani Solankhinpurbai Rani Champa Bai Jhati Rani Jasobai Chauhan Rani Phool Bai Rathore Rani Shahmati Bai Hada Rani Khichar Ashabai Rani Alamdebai Chauhan Rani Ratnawati Parmar Rani AmarBai Rathore Rani Lakhabai

Death and legacy

Maharana Pratap died of injuries sustained in a hunting accident^[15] at Chavand, which served as his capital, on 29January 1597, aged 57. A chhatri (monument) at the site of Pratap's funeral in Chavand is an important tourist attraction.

Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline Pankhurst (née Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist and leader of the Britishsuffragette movement who helped women win the right to vote. In 1999 Time named Pankhurst as one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century, stating: "she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back." She was widely criticised for her militant tactics, and historians disagree about their effectiveness, but her work is recognised as a crucial element in achieving women's suffrage in Britain.

Emmeline Pankhurst
Emmeline Pankhurst, 1913
Born	Emmeline Goulden 15 July 1858 Moss Side, Manchester, England
Died	14 June 1928 (aged 69) Hampstead, London, England
Burial place	Brompton Cemetery, London
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Richard Pankhurst (m. 1879; his death 1898)
Children	5; including Christabel, Sylvia, andAdela Pankhurst
Relatives	Richard Pankhurst (grandson)

Born in Moss Side, Manchester to politically active parents, Pankhurst was introduced at the age of 14 to the women's suffrage movement. On 18 December 1879, she married Richard Pankhurst, a barrister 24 years her senior known for supporting women's right to vote; they had five children over the next ten years. He supported her activities outside the home, and she founded and became involved with the Women's Franchise League, which advocated suffrage for both married and unmarried women. When that organisation broke apart, she tried to join the left-leaning Independent Labour Party through her friendship with socialist Keir Hardie but was initially refused membership by the local branch on account of her sex. While working as a Poor Law Guardian, she was shocked at the harsh conditions she encountered in Manchester's workhouses.

In 1903, five years after her husband died, Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), an all-women suffrage advocacy organisation dedicated to "deeds, not words."^[4] The group identified as independent from – and often in opposition to – political parties. It became known for physical confrontations: its members smashed windows and assaulted police officers. Pankhurst, her daughters, and other WSPU activists received repeated prison sentences, where they staged hunger strikes to secure better conditions. As Pankhurst's eldest daughter Christabel took leadership of the WSPU, antagonism between the group and the government grew. Eventually the group adopted arson as a tactic, and more moderate organisations spoke out against the Pankhurst family. In 1913 several prominent individuals left the WSPU, among them Pankhurst's daughters Adela and Sylvia. Emmeline was so furious that she "gave [Adela] a ticket, £20, and a letter of introduction to a suffragette in Australia, and firmly insisted that she emigrate." Adela complied and the family rift was never healed. Sylvia became a socialist.

With the advent of the First World War, Emmeline and Christabel called an immediate halt to militant suffrage activism in support of the British government's stand against the "German Peril."^[6] They urged women to aid industrial production and encouraged young men to fight, becoming prominent figures in the white feather movement. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act granted votes to all men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30. This discrepancy was intended to ensure that men did not become minority voters as a consequence of the huge number of deaths suffered during the First World War.^[8] Pankhurst transformed the WSPU machinery into the Women's Party, which was dedicated to promoting women's equality in public life. In her later years, she became concerned with what she perceived as the menace posed by Bolshevism and joined the Conservative Partyand was selected as a Conservative Party candidate for Stepney in 1927. She died on 14 June 1928, only weeks before the Conservative government's Representation of the People Act (1928) extended the vote to all women over 21 years of age on 2 July 1928. She was commemorated two years later with a statue in London's Victoria Tower Gardens.

Tatya Tope

Ramachandra Pandurang Tope (1814 – 18 April 1859) was an Indian leader in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and one of its notable generals. He is better known by his nickname Tatya Tope, which is also transliterated as Tantya Tope or Tantia Topi.

A personal adherent of Nana Sahib of Bithur, he progressed with the Gwalior contingent after the British reoccupied Cawnpore and forced General Windham to retreat from the city. Later on, he came to the relief of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi and with her seized the city of Gwalior. However, he was defeated by General Napier's British Indian troops at Ranod and after a further defeat at Sikarabandoned the campaign.^[2] He was executed by the British Government at Shivpuri on 18 April 1859.

Early life

Born in a Yeola of Nashik District (Maharashtra)Into a Marati Maharastrian Deshastha Brahmin, he was the only son of Pandurang Rao Tope and his wife Rukhmabai. In 1851, when [James Andrew Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie] deprived Nana Sahib of his father's pension, Tatya Tope also became a sworn enemy of the British.

Role in the 1857 uprising

"Tantia Topee's Soldiery"
Illustrated London News, 1858

Nana Sahib decided to use the captives for bargaining with the British.^[3] The Company forces from Allahabad, under the command of General Henry Havelock, advanced relentlessly towards Cawnpore. Two forces sent by Nana Sahib to check their advance were defeated. When it became clear that the bargaining attempts had failed, an order was given to anuj murder the women and children imprisoned at Bibighar, on 15 July. The details of the incident, such as who ordered the massacre, are not clear.^[4] The sepoys refused to kill the captive women and children, but some of them agreed to remove the women and children from the courtyard, when Tope threatened to execute them for dereliction of duty.

See also: Siege of Cawnpore

Old India Photos - Tatya Tope and troops, 1857

After losing Gwalior to the British, Tope and Rao Sahib, nephew of Nana Sahib, fled into the Rajputana. He was able to induce the army of Tonk to join him. He was unable to enter the town of Bundi and though announcing he would go south in fact went west towards Nimach. A British flying column commanded by Colonel Holmes was in pursuit of him and the British commander in Rajputana, General Abraham Robert was able to attack the rebel force when they had reached a position betweenSanganer and Bhilwara. Tope again fled from the field towards Udaipur and, after visiting a Hindu shrine on 13 August, he drew up his forces on the Banas River. They were defeated again by Roberts's forces and Tope fled. He crossed theChambal River and reached the town of Jhalrapatan in the state of Jhalawar. He induced the state forces to rebel against the raja and was able to replace the artillery he had lost at the Banas River. Tope then took his forces towards Indore but was pursued by the British now commanded by General John Michel as he fled towards Sironj. He was still accompanied by Rao Sahib and they decided to divide their forces so that Tope could move to Chanderi, and Rao Sahib, with a smaller force, to Jhansi. However they combined again in October and suffered another defeat at Chota Udaipur. By January 1859 they were in the state of Jaipur and experienced two more defeats. Tope then escaped alone into the jungles of Paron.^{[citation needed]} At this point he met Man Singh, raja of Narwar, and his household and decided to stay with them. Man Singh was in dispute with the maharaja of Gwalior and the British were successful in negotiating with him to surrender to them in return for his life and protection of his family from any reprisals by the maharaja. After this Tope was alone.

Tope admitted the charges brought before him saying that he was answerable to his master the Peshwa only. He was executed at the gallows on 18 April 1859.

Sukhdev Thapar

Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary. He was a senior member of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. He was hanged on 23 March 1931 at the age of 23.

Early life

Sukhdev was born on 15 May 1907 in Ludhiana, Punjab born in Ludhiana, Punjab, British India to Ramlal Thapar (father) and Ila Devi. Sukhdev's father died soon and he was brought up by his uncle Lala Achintram.

Revolutionary activities

Sukhdev Thapar was a member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), and organised revolutionary cells in Punjab and other areas of North India. He also taught at the National College in Lahore, where he and other revolutionaries also established the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, an organisation involved in various activities intended mainly to prepare youths for the struggle for independence and putting an end to communalism.^[1]

Sukhdev is best remembered for his involvement in the Lahore Conspiracy Case of 18 December 1928 and its aftermath. He was an accomplice of Bhagat Singh, and Shivaram Rajguru, whose conspiracy led to the assassination of Deputy Superintendent of Police, J. P. Saunders in 1928 in response to the violent death of a veteran leader, Lala Lajpat Rai. After the Central Assembly Hall bombings in New Delhi on 8 April 1929, the conspirators were arrested and convicted of their crime.

Statues of Bhagat Singh, Rajguruand Sukhdev

On 23 March 1931, the three men were hanged. Their bodies were secretly cremated on the banks of the Satluj river

Sukhdev Thapar
Born	15 May 1907 Ludhiana, Punjab, British India
Died	23 March 1931 (aged 23) Lahore, British India, (now inPunjab, Pakistan)
Nationality	Indian
Organization	Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
Movement	Indian Independence movement

Priyanka Gandhi

Priyanka Vadra (née Gandhi; born 12 January 1972) is an Indian politician, daughter of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. She is the granddaughter of Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, and is a member of the wider Nehru-Gandhi family.

Political career

At a 1999 campaign, she said in an interview with the BBC: "I am very clear in my mind. Politics is not a strong pull, the people are. And I can do things for them without being in politics".^[1] Nonetheless, the question of her joining formal politics would be bothersome: "I have said it a thousand times, I am not interested in joining politics..."

She has however continued to regularly visit her mother's and brother's constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi where she dealt with the people directly. She is a popular figure in the constituency, drawing large crowds everywhere; a popular slogan in Amethi in every election has been Amethi ka danka, bitiya Priyanka (the clarion call from Amethi is for Priyanka [to stand elections]).

In the Indian general election, 2004, she was her mother's campaign manager and helped supervise her brother Rahul Gandhi's campaign. In a press meeting during these elections she said that "politics is all about serving the people and I am already doing that. I may continue doing only that for five years more.

Priyanka Vadra प्रियंका वाड्रा
Born	12 January 1972 (age 44) Delhi, India
Residence	Delhi, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Delhi University (B.A.)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse(s)	Robert Vadra
Parent(s)	Rajiv Gandhi (father) Sonia Gandhi (mother)
Relatives	Rahul Gandhi (brother)
Signature

In the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, 2007, while Rahul Gandhi managed the statewide campaign, she focused on the ten seats in the Amethi Rae Bareilly region, spending two weeks there trying to quell considerable infighting within the party workers over seat allocations.

On the whole, the Congress party was routed in the state, managing 22 seats out of 402, its lowest tally in decades. However, in what is widely seen as a cachet for Priyanka Gandhi's quiet organizational and vote-drawing ability, the Congress which had only two area seats (out of ten) in the 2002 assembly, now managed to wrest seven, while posting significant gains in all the seats, and this despite initial dissidence within the party.

Personal life

She is married to Robert Vadra, a businessman from Delhi. The wedding took place at the Gandhi home, 10 Janpath, on 18 February 1997 in a traditional Hinduceremony.^{[citation needed][3][4]} They have two children. Priyanka Gandhi is a follower of Buddhist philosophy and a practitioner of Vipassanā as taught by S. N. Goenka.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (or Lokmanya Tilak,  pronunciation (help·info); 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, was an Indian nationalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and an independence activist. He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement. The British colonial authorities called him "Father of the Indian unrest." He was also conferred with the honorary title of "Lokmanya", which literally means "accepted by the people (as their leader)".

Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj ("self-rule") and a strong radical in Indian consciousness. He is known for his quote in Marathi, "स्वराज्य हा माझा जन्मसिद्ध हक्क आहे आणि तो मी मिळवणारच" ("Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it!") in India. He formed a close alliance with many Indian National Congress leaders including Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai,Aurobindo Ghose, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. As a strong advocate of Swaraj, he was against Gandhi's policy of Total-ahimsa (non-violence), satyagraha and advocated the use of force where necessary.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Born	23 July 1856 Ratnagiri, Bombay State, British India (present-day Maharashtra,India)[1]
Died	1 August 1920 (aged 64) Mumbai, British India (present-day Maharashtra, India)
Nationality	Indian
Ethnicity	Maharashtrian
Organization	Indian National Congress
Movement	Indian Independence Movement
Religion	Hinduism

Early life

Tilak was born in a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family in Ratnagiri as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, as mentioned above. in headquarters of the eponymous district of present-day Maharashtra (then British India) on 23 July 1856. His ancestral village wasChikhali. His father, Gangadhar Tilak was a school teacher and a Sanskrit scholar who died when Tilak was sixteen. Tilak graduated from Deccan College, Pune in 1877. Tilak was amongst one of the first generation of Indians to receive a college education.^{[citation needed]} In 1871 Tilak was married to Tapibai (a woman belonging to Bal family) when he was sixteen, a few months before his father's death. After marriage, her name was changed to Satyabhamabai. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in first class in Mathematics from Deccan College of Pune in 1877. He left his M.A. course of study midway to join the L.L.B course instead, and in 1879 he obtained his L.L.B degree from Government Law College .^[3] After graduating, Tilak started teaching mathematics at a private school in Pune. Later, due to ideological differences with the colleagues in the new school, he withdrew and became a journalist. Tilak actively participated in public affairs. He stated: "Religion and practical life are not different. To take Sanyas (renunciation) is not to abandon life. The real spirit is to make the country your family work together instead of working only for your own. The step beyond is to serve humanity and the next step is to serve God."

He organised the Deccan Education Society with a few of his college friends, including Gopal Ganesh Agarkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Vishnushastri Chiplunkar. Their goal was to improve the quality of education for India's youth. The Deccan Education Society was set up to create a new system that taught young Indians nationalist ideas through an emphasis on Indian culture.^[5] The Society established the New English School for secondary education and Fergusson College in 1885 for post-secondary studies. Tilak taught mathematics at Fergusson College. He began a mass movement towards independence by an emphasis on a religious and cultural revival.

Political career

Tilak had a long political career agitating for Indian autonomy from the British rule. Before Gandhi, he was the most widely known Indian political leader. Unlike his fellow Maharashtrian contemporary, Gokhale, Tilak was considered a radical leader and was imprisoned on a number of occasions that included a long stint at Mandalay. At one stage in his political life he was called "the father of Indian unrest" by the British authorities.

Indian National Congress

Tilak joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He opposed its moderate attitude, especially towards the fight for self-government. He was one of the most-eminent radicals at the time.^[7]

Despite being personally opposed to early marriage, Tilak was against the 1891 Age of Consent bill, seeing it as interference with Hinduism and a dangerous precedent. The act raised the age at which a girl could get married from 10 to 12 years.

During late 1896, a bubonic plague spread from Bombay to Pune, and by January 1897, it reached epidemic proportions. British troops were brought in to deal with the emergency and harsh measures were employed including forced entry into private houses, examination of occupants, evacuation to hospitals and segregation camps, removing and destroying personal possessions, and preventing patients from entering or leaving the city. By the end of May, the epidemic was under control. Though the British authorities' measures were well-meant, they were widely regarded as acts of tyranny and oppression. Tilak took up this issue by publishing inflammatory articles in his paperKesari (Kesari was written in Marathi, and Mahratta was written in English), quoting the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, to say that no blame could be attached to anyone who killed an oppressor without any thought of reward. Following this, on 22 June 1897, Commissioner Rand and another British officer, Lt. Ayerst were shot and killed by theChapekar brothers and their other associates. According to Barbara and Thomas R. Metcalf, Tilak "almost surely concealed the identities of the perpetrators".^[8]:154 Tilak was charged with incitement to murder and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. When he emerged from prison in present-day Mumbai, he was revered as a martyr and a national hero.^{[citation needed]} He adopted a new slogan coined by his associate Kaka Baptista, "Swaraj (self-rule) is my birthright and I shall have it."

Following the Partition of Bengal, which was a strategy set out by Lord Curzon to weaken the nationalist movement, Tilak encouraged the Swadeshi movement and the Boycott movement.^[10] The movement consisted of the boycott of foreign goods and also the social boycott of any Indian who used foreign goods. The Swadeshi movement consisted of the usage of natively produced goods. Once foreign goods were boycotted, there was a gap which had to be filled by the production of those goods in India itself. Tilak said that the Swadeshi and Boycott movements are two sides of the same coin.

Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and was supported by fellow Indian nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat Rai in Punjab. They were referred to as the "Lal-Bal-Pal triumvirate". In 1907, the annual session of the Congress Party was held at Surat, Gujarat. Trouble broke out over the selection of the new president of the Congress between the moderate and the radical sections of the party . The party split into the radicals faction, led by Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai, and the moderate faction. Nationalists like Aurobindo Ghose, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai were Tilak supporters.

Sedition Charges[edit]

During his lifetime among other political cases, Bala Gangadhar Tilak had been tried for Sedition Charges in three times by British India Government—in 1897,^[12] 1909,^[13] and 1916.^[14]

Imprisonment in Mandalay[edit]

See also: Alipore bomb case

On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur, to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed two women traveling in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was hanged. Tilak, in his paper Kesari, defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly charged him with sedition. At the conclusion of the trial, a special jury convicted him by 7:2 majority. The judge, Dinshaw D. Davar^[15] gave him a six years jail sentence to be served in Mandalay, Burma and a fine of Rs 1,000. On being asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Tilak said:

All that I wish to say is that, in spite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.

In passing sentence, the judge indulged in some scathing strictures against Tilak's conduct. He threw off the judicial restraint which, to some extent, was observable in his charge to the jury. He condemned the articles as "seething with sedition", as preaching violence, speaking of murders with approval. "You hail the advent of the bomb in India as if something had come to India for its good. I say, such journalism is a curse to the country". Tilak was sent to Mandalay from 1908 to 1914.^[16] While imprisoned, he continued to read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the Gita Rahasya. Many copies of which were sold, and the money was donated for the Indian Independence movement.^{[citation needed]}.

Life after Mandalay[edit]

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Tilak developed diabetes during his sentence in Mandalay prison. This and the general ordeal of prison life had mellowed him at his release on 16 June 1914. When World War Istarted in August of that year, Tilak cabled the King-Emperor George V of his support and turned his oratory to find new recruits for war efforts. He welcomed The Indian Councils Act, popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms, which had been passed by British Parliament in May 1909, terming it as "a marked increase of confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled". It was his conviction that acts of violence actually diminished, rather than hastening, the pace of political reforms. He was eager for reconciliation with Congress and had abandoned his demand for direct action and settled for agitations "strictly by constitutional means" – a line advocated by his rival Gokhale.

Tilak tried to convince Mohandas Gandhi to leave the idea of Total non-violence ("Total Ahimsa") and try to get self-rule ("Swarajya") by all means. Gandhi, though he respected Tilak as his guru, did not change his mind.^{[citation needed]}

All India Home Rule League[edit]

Main article: All India Home Rule League

Later, Tilak re-united with his fellow nationalists and re-joined the Indian National Congress in 1916. He also helped found the All India Home Rule League in 1916–18, with G. S. Khaparde and Annie Besant. After years of trying to reunite the moderate and radical factions, he gave up and focused on the Home Rule League, which sought self-rule. Tilak travelled from village to village for support from farmers and locals to join the movement towards self-rule.^[16] Tilak was impressed by the Russian Revolution, and expressed his admiration for Vladimir Lenin.^[17] The league had 1400 members in April 1916, and by 1917 membership had grown to approximately 32,000. Tilak started his Home Rule League in Maharashtra, Central Provinces, and Karnataka and Berar region. Besant's League was active in the rest part of India.^[18]

Tilak, progressed into a prominent nationalist after his close association with Indian nationalists following the partition of Bengal. When asked in Calcutta whether he envisioned a Maratha-type of government for independent India, Tilak replied that the Maratha-dominated governments of 17th and 18th centuries were outmoded in the 20th century, and he wanted a genuine federal system for Free India where every religion and race was an equal partner.^{[citation needed]} He added that only such a form of government would be able to safeguard India's freedom. He was the first Congress leader to suggest that Hindi written in the Devanagari script be accepted as the sole national language of India.^[19]

Social contributions and legacy[edit]

Further information: Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav and Kesari (newspaper)

Tilak started two weeklies, Kesari ("The Lion") in Marathi and Mahratta in English^[20] in 1880–81 with Gopal Ganesh Agarkar as the first editor. By this he was recognized as 'awakener of India'. As Kesari later became a daily and continues publication to this day.

In 1894, Tilak transformed the household worshipping of Ganesha into a grand public event (Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav). The celebrations consisted of several days of processions, music and food. They were organized by the means of subscriptions by neighbourhood, caste, or occupation. Students often would celebrate Hindu and national glory and address political issues; including patronage of Swadeshi goods.

In 1895, Tilak founded the Shri Shivaji Fund Committee for celebration of "Shiv Jayanti", the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire. The project also had the objective of funding the reconstruction of the tomb (Samadhi) of Shivaji at Raigad Fort. For this second objective, Tilak established the Shri Shivaji Raigad Smarak Mandal along with Senapati Khanderao Dabhade II of Talegaon Dabhade, who became the founder President of the Mandal.

The events like the Ganapati festival and Shiv Jayanti were used by Tilak to build a national spirit beyond the circle of educated elite in opposition to colonial rule. But it also exacerbated Hindu-Muslim differences. The festival organizers would urge Hindus to protect cows and boycott the Muharram celebrations organized by Shi'a Muslims, in which Hindus had formerly often participated. Thus, although the celebrations were meant to be a way to oppose colonial rule, they also contributed to religious tensions.^:Contemporary Marathi Hindu nationalist parties like the Shivsena took up his reverence for Shivaji.

The Deccan Education Society that Tilak founded with others in the 1880s still runs Institutions in Pune like the Fergusson College.

The Swadeshi movement started by Tilak at the beginning of the 20th century became part of the Independence movement until that goal was achieved in 1947. One can even say Swadeshi remained part of Indian Government policy until the 1990s when the Congress Government liberalised the economy.

Tilak Smarak Ranga Mandir, a theatre auditorium in Pune is dedicated to him. In 2007, the Government of India released a coin to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Tilak.

Tilak said, "I regard India as my Motherland and my Goddess, the people in India are my kith and kin, and loyal and steadfast work for their political and social emancipation is my highest religion and duty".^[24]

Swami Vivekananda reached Pune by train during September 1892. Tilak happened to be his fellow passenger. Vivekananda stayed in his house "Vinchurkar Wada" in Pune.

Lokmanya: Ek Yug Purush is a film released on January 2, 2015 based on his life. Directed by Om Raut, Tilak is played by actor Subodh Bhave.