Lala Lajpat Rai

Lala Lajpat Rai born was born on January 28, 1865 in Jagraon in Ludhiana and he was an Indian author, freedom fighter and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari Punjabi: The Lion of Punjab or Sher-e-Punjab Urdu: The Lion of Punjab meaning the same and 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. His death anniversary November 17 is one of several days celebrated as Martyrs' Day in India. He was also the founder of Punjab National Bank and Lakshmi Insurance Company. Lala Lajpat Rai was one of the three most prominent Hindu Nationalist members of the Indian National Congress. He was part of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio.

The other two members of the trio were Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal. They formed the extremist faction of the Indian National Congress, as opposed to the moderate one led first by Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He was the eldest son of Munshi Kishan Azad and Gulab Devi who inculcated strong moral values in him. He studied law from Government College in Lahore and thereafter started his legal practice in Hissar. His political career started in 1888 with the Indian National Congress Session at Allahabad. At the next session at Bombay in 1889, he was linked with other two leading freedom fighters Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. The trio was popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal. Lalaji was actively involved in struggle against partition of Bengal. During the struggle he galvanized Indians for a campaign of Swadeshi and was imprisoned for six months for creating turmoil.

Rai traveled to the US in 1907, and then returned during World War. He toured Sikh communities along the US West Coast; visited Tuskegee University in Alabama; and met with workers in the Philippines. His travelogue, The United States of America 1916, details these travels and features extensive quotations from leading African American intellectuals, including W.E.B. DuBois and Fredrick Douglass. The book also argues for the notion of “color-caste,” suggesting a sociological similarities between race in the US and caste in India. The term comes from sociological work done at Columbia University during the 1910s.

During World War I, Lajpat Rai lived in the United States, but he returned to India in 1919 and in the following year led the special session of the Congress Party that launched the noncooperation movement. Imprisoned from 1921 to 1923, he was elected to the legislative assembly on his release. The Lala Lajpat Rai Trust was formed in 1959 on the eve of his Centenary Birth Celebration, to promote education. The trust was founded by a group of Punjabi philanthropists including R.P Gupta and B.M Grover who have settled and prospered in the Indian State of Maharashtra. A state university was created in memory of Lala Lajpat Rai at Hisar, a prominent city in Haryana, where Lala Ji also practised and was married. The university is named as Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Hisar and has started functioning from 1 December, 2010. After his release in 1907, he went to Britain in April 1914 to explain the position of India. During his stay in Britain, the First World War broke out but he was unable to return. So, he went to USA for promoting the cause of India’s freedom struggle. There he founded the India Home League Society of America. He returned to India in 1920 and formed the Congress Independence Party in protest against the Jalianwala Bagh Massacre and Non Cooperation Movement. In 1928, Simon Commission that came to India to discuss constitutional reforms was protested by Lalaji because the commission had no Indian members. The shrewd Britishers brutally lathicharged Lalaji during the protest and because of severe head injuries he expired on November 17, 1928.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

He was born at Porbandar on 2nd October 1869 and passed his childhood in Porbandar, after earning a degree in law in 1891 from the University College London, Gandhi settled in South Africa to practice law.

He was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement. He developed a model to fight for civil rights and freedom that he called Satyagraha. He founded his doctrine of nonviolent protest to achieve political and social progress based upon ahimsa. He was the great leader and father of the nation.

In South Africa, Gandhi faced the discrimination directed at all coloured people. He was thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to move from the first-class. He protested and was allowed on first class the next day. Travelling farther on by stagecoach, he was beaten by a driver for refusing to move to make room for a European passenger. He suffered other hardships on the journey as well, including being barred from several hotels. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do. These events were a turning point in Gandhi's life and shaped his social activism and awakened him to social injustice. After witnessing racism, prejudice and injustice against Indians in South Africa, Gandhi began to question his place in society and his people's standing in the British Empire.

About his family, In May 1883, the 13-year-old Mohandas was married to 14-year-old Kasturbai Makhanji and Children Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas.

He died on 30 January 1948 at the age of 78, Cause of death Assassination by shooting Resting place Rajghat, New Delhi.

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy: Life, Family, Caste and the Man Behind the Self-Respect Movement

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy remains one of the most influential social reformers in South Indian history — the founder of the Self-Respect Movement and a lifelong campaigner against caste discrimination. But beyond his political legacy, many readers come looking for something more specific: who exactly was Periyar's family, what was his caste, and what does the name "Periyar" actually mean? Here's a complete look at both his personal background and his public life.

What Is Periyar's Full Name?

Periyar was born Erode Venkata Ramasami Naicker on 17 September 1879, in the town of Erode, then part of the Coimbatore district of the Madras Presidency. "Erode" refers to his birthplace, "Venkata" honors his father's name, and "Naicker" was his caste surname — which he later dropped entirely in 1929 as a symbolic rejection of caste identity. He is also widely known by the initials E. V. Ramasamy or E. V. R.

Who Was Periyar's Father? (Erode Venkata Naicker)

Periyar's father was Venkatappa Naicker, commonly referred to simply as Venkata Naicker or Erode Venkata Naicker. He was a wealthy and successful merchant in Erode, trading in goods such as brass vessels, hardware, and agricultural produce. Venkata Naicker was also known as a devout, orthodox Hindu of the Vaishnavite tradition, and it was in his household that a young Periyar first grew up surrounded by religious discourses and traditional practices — an upbringing he would later react strongly against.

Who Was Periyar's Mother?

Periyar's mother was Chinna Thayammal, also known by the alias Muthammal. She managed the household in Erode while Periyar's father ran the family business. Periyar had one elder brother, Krishnaswamy, and two sisters, Kannamma and Ponnuthoy.

What Caste Did Periyar Belong To?

Periyar was born into a Balija Naicker family — a prosperous, Kannada-speaking merchant community. The Balija community traces its origins to the Nayak chiefs of the Vijayanagara Empire, which had strong Telugu roots, which is why the caste is sometimes discussed in connection with Telugu-speaking communities such as the Perika Balija (Perika Naidu) caste found in Andhra Pradesh today — both trace back to a broader shared Balija/Naidu lineage, though they are considered distinct sub-communities.

Importantly, Periyar was not a Brahmin — in fact, his lifelong political and social campaign was built specifically around opposing Brahminical dominance and advocating for the rights of non-Brahmin communities in Tamil Nadu. In 1929, he formally dropped his caste surname "Naicker" from his name altogether as a public statement rejecting caste hierarchy.

Was Periyar Telugu? What Was His Mother Tongue?

Periyar could fluently speak three Dravidian languages: Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. His actual mother tongue was Kannada, reflecting his family's Kannada-speaking Balija background, even though he spent his life and built his movement in Tamil-speaking Tamil Nadu, and predominantly used Tamil in his public life and writings. His caste's historical Telugu-Vijayanagara ancestry is why the "was Periyar Telugu" question comes up, though his direct native language was Kannada, not Telugu.

What Does "Periyar" Mean?

"Periyar" is a Tamil word meaning "respected one" or "elder." It was a title given to him in honor of his social work, and it's the name by which he became known to the wider world, distinct from his birth name. He is often referred to with the honorific "Thanthai Periyar," meaning "Father Periyar."

Periyar's Wife and Family Life

Periyar married his first wife, Nagammal, in 1898 when he was 19 years old. The couple had a daughter who lived for only a few months and passed away in infancy; they had no other children, meaning Periyar did not have a surviving son or daughter. Nagammal passed away in 1933. In July 1948, Periyar remarried — his second wife, Maniammai, worked closely alongside him in his social reform activities and continued leading his movement after his death in 1973.

Early Life and the Turning Point at Kashi

Periyar joined his father's trade at the age of 12 after five years of schooling. In 1904, he undertook a pilgrimage to Varanasi (Kashi) to worship at the famous Kashi Vishwanath temple. When he tried to enter a free-lunch hall meant only for Brahmins by disguising himself as one, he was discovered and turned away — only to later learn that the hall had actually been funded by a Dravidian (non-Brahmin) merchant's donation. This experience of caste discrimination at a place he had imagined would treat all Hindus equally became the turning point of his life, transforming him from a believing Hindu into a committed rationalist and anti-caste reformer.

Freedom Movement and the Congress Party (1919–1925)

Periyar joined the Indian National Congress in 1919, giving up his business and resigning from public posts, including the chairmanship of Erode Municipality. He threw himself into the constructive programme — promoting Khadi, picketing toddy shops, boycotting foreign cloth, and campaigning against untouchability. He was imprisoned in 1921 for picketing toddy shops in Erode, and was later arrested again during the Non-Cooperation and Temperance Movements. In 1922, he was elected President of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee. After his push for caste-based reservation in government jobs and education was rejected by the party, he resigned from Congress in 1925.

The Vaikom Struggle (1924–1925)

Periyar played a leading role in the Vaikom Satyagraha in the princely state of Travancore (present-day Kerala), which fought for the right of all castes to access temple roads. As President of the Madras Presidency Congress Committee, he led the agitation after other leaders were arrested, and was himself arrested for his refusal to back down. Mahatma Gandhi later joined negotiations with the Queen of Travancore, resulting in an agreement to remove police restrictions on lower castes using the roads. In 1925, the Madras Presidency Congress formally honored Periyar with the title "Vaikom Veerar" (Vaikom Hero) for his contribution to the struggle.

The Self-Respect Movement (1925–1939)

After leaving Congress, Periyar and his followers dedicated themselves to campaigning for social equality, even as other nationalist leaders focused primarily on political independence from Britain. He was also an outspoken advocate for women's rights and education, criticizing the ways in which women of his era were confined to domestic roles, and pushed hard for their access to education and independence.

UNESCO Recognition

On 27 June 1970, UNESCO honored Periyar with the title "Prophet of the New Age, Socrates of South East Asia, Father of the Social Reform Movement, and Arch-Enemy of Ignorance, Superstitions, Meaningless Customs and Base Manners," presented by India's Union Education Minister Dr. Triguna Sen.

Legacy

Periyar passed away on 24 December 1973, having spent his entire life and personal wealth on social reform — he gave away his property to the public rather than leaving an inheritance. A university in Tamil Nadu, Periyar University, is named in his honor, and he remains one of the most significant figures in the history of India's anti-caste and social justice movements.

Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam born October 15, 1931, Tamil Nadu, India, usually referred as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam^ , was the eleventh President of India, serving from 2002 to 2007. Due to his unconventional working style, he is also popularly known as the People's President. Before his term as India's president, he distinguished himself as engineering visionary and was awarded India's highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work with DRDO and his role as scientific advisor to the Indian government. He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work and is considered a progressive mentor, innovator and visionary in India.

Personal life

APJ Abdul Kalam was born in 1931 in a middle-class family in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, a town well-known for its Hindu shrines. His mother tongue is Tamil. His father, a devout Muslim, owned boats which he rented out to local fishermen and was a good friend of Hindu religious leaders and the school teachers at Rameshwaram. APJ Abdul Kalam mentions in his biography that to support his studies, he started his career as a newspaper vendor. This was also told in the book, A Boy and His Dream: Three Stories from the Childhood of Abdul Kalam by Vinita Krishna. The house Kalam was born in can still be found on the Mosque street at Rameswaram, and his brother's curio shop abuts it. This has become a point-of-call for tourists who seek out the place. Kalam grew up in an intimate relationship with nature, and he says in Wings of Fire that he never could imagine that water could be so powerful a destroying force as that he witnessed when he was six. That was in 1934 when a cyclonic storm swept away the Pamban bridge and a trainload of passengers with it and also Kalam's native village, Dhanushkodi.

Kalam observes strict personal discipline, vegetarianism, teetotalism and celibacy. He is a lover of natural beauty. Kalam is a scholar of Thirukkural; in most of his speeches, he quotes at least one kural. Kalam has written several inspirational books, most notably his autobiography Wings of Fire, aimed at motivating Indian youth. Another of his books, Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life reveals his spiritual side. He has written poems in Tamil as well. It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions of books authored by Dr.Kalam.

Kalam as an engineer

Abdul Kalam graduated from Madras Institute of Technology majoring in Aeronautical Engineering. As the Project Director, he made significant contributions to the development of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), he also played major part in developing many missiles of India including Agni and Prithvi. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999. Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period, led by him.

Honours

He has received honorary doctorates from as many as thirty universities .The Government of India has honoured him with the nation's highest civilian honours: the Padma Bhushan in 1981; Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997.

Kalam is the Fourth President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before being elected to the highest office, the other three being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan ,V. V. Giri and Zakir Hussain. He is also the first scientist and first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Referred to as the "People's President", Kalam is often considered amongst India's greatest presidents, going on to win a poll conducted by news channel CNN-IBN for India's Best President.

Political views

Kalam's probable views on certain issues have been espoused by him in his book India 2020 where he strongly advocates an action plan to develop India into a knowledge superpower and into a developed nation by the year 2020. Kalam is credited with the view that India ought to take a more assertive stance in international relations; he regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.

Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and technology as well. He has proposed a research programme for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter of Open source software over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of open source software on a large scale will bring more people the benefits of information technology.

Kalam's belief in the power of science to resolve society's problems and his views of these problems as a result of inefficient distribution of resources is modernistic. He also sees science and technology as ideology-free areas and emphasizes the cultivation of scientific temper and entrepreneurial drive. In this, he finds a lot of support among India's new business leaders like the founders of Infosys and Wipro, (leading Indian IT corporations) who began their careers as technology professionals much in the same way Kalam did.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Born: November 14, 1889
Died: May 27, 1964
Achievements: Took active part in Non-Cooperation Movement; elected President of the Allahabad Municipal Corporation in 1924, and served for two years as the city's chief executive; Presided over Congress' annual session in Lahore in 1929 and passed a resolution demanding India's independence; elected as Congress President in 1936, 1937, and 1946; became first Prime Minister of independent India; was one of the main architects of Non Aligned Movement.

Jawaharlal Nehru, also known as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, was one of the foremost leaders of Indian freedom struggle. He was the favourite disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and later on went on to become the first Prime Minister of India. Jawahar Lal Nehru is widely regarded as the architect of modern India. He was very fond of children and children used to affectionately call him Chacha Nehru.

Jawahar Lal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889. His father Motilal Nehru was a famous Allahabad based barrister. Jawaharlal Nehru's mother's name was Swaroop Rani. Jawaharlal Nehru was the only son of Motilal Nehru. Motilal Nehru has three daughters apart from Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehrus were Saraswat Brahmin of Kashmiri lineage.

Jawaharlal Nehru received education in some of the finest schools and universities of the world. He did his schooling from Harrow and completed his Law degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. The seven years he spent in England widened his horizons and he acquired a rational and skeptical outlook and sampled Fabian socialism and Irish nationalism, which added to his own patriotic dedication.

Jawaharlal Nehru returned to India in 1912 and started legal practice. He married Kamala Nehru in 1916. Jawahar Lal Nehru joined Home Rule League in 1917. His real initiation into politics came two years later when he came in contact with Mahatma Gandhi in 1919. At that time Mahatma Gandhi had launched a campaign against Rowlatt Act. Nehru was instantly attracted to Gandhi's commitment for active but peaceful, civil disobedience. Gandhi himself saw promise and India's future in the young Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru family changed its family according to Mahatma Gandhi's teachings. Jawaharlal and Motilal Nehru abandoned western clothes and tastes for expensive possessions and pastimes. They now wore a Khadi Kurta and Gandhi cap. Jawaharlal Nehru took active part in the Non- Cooperation Movement 1920-1922) and was arrested for the first time during the movement. He was released after few months.

Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President of the Allahabad Municipal Corporation in 1924, and served for two years as the city's chief executive. This proved to be a valuable administrative experience for stood him in good stead later on when he became the prime minister of the country. He used his tenure to expand public education, health care and sanitation. He resigned in 1926 citing lack of cooperation from civil servants and obstruction from British authorities.

From 1926 to 1928, Jawaharlal served as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. In 1928-29, the Congress's annual session under President Motilal Nehru was held. During that session Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose backed a call for full political independence, while Motilal Nehru and others wanted dominion status within the British Empire. To resolve the point, Gandhi said that the British would be given two years to grant India dominion status. If they did not, the Congress would launch a national struggle for full, political independence. Nehru and Bose reduced the time of opportunity to one year. The British did not respond.

In December 1929, Congress's annual session was held in Lahore and Jawaharlal Nehru was elected as the President of the Congress Party. During that sessions a resolution demanding India's independence was passed and on January 26, 1930 in Lahore, Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled free India's flag. Gandhiji gave a call for Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930. The movement was a great success and forced British Government to acknowledge the need for major political reforms.

When the British promulgated the Government of India Act 1935, the Congress Party decided to contest elections. Nehru stayed out of the elections, but campaigned vigorously nationwide for the party. The Congress formed governments in almost every province, and won the largest number of seats in the Central Assembly. Nehru was elected to the Congress presidency in 1936, 1937, and 1946, and came to occupy a position in the nationalist movement second only to that of Gandhi. Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested in 1942 during Quit India Movement. Released in 1945, he took a leading part in the negotiations that culminated in the emergence of the dominions of India and Pakistan in August 1947.

In 1947, he became the first Prime Minister of independent India. He effectively coped with the formidable challenges of those times: the disorders and mass exodus of minorities across the new border with Pakistan, the integration of 500-odd princely states into the Indian Union, the framing of a new constitution, and the establishment of the political and administrative infrastructure for a parliamentary democracy.

Jawaharlal Nehru played a key role in building modern India. He set up a Planning Commission, encouraged development of science and technology, and launched three successive five-year plans. His policies led to a sizable growth in agricultural and industrial production. Nehru also played a major role in developing independent India's foreign policy. He called for liquidation of colonialism in Asia and Africa and along with Tito and Nasser, was one of the chief architects of the nonaligned movement. He played a constructive, mediatory role in bringing the Korean War to an end and in resolving other international crises, such as those over the Suez Canal and the Congo, offering India's services for conciliation and international policing. He contributed behind the scenes toward the solution of several other explosive issues, such as those of West Berlin, Austria, and Laos.

But Jawahar Lal Nehru couldn't improve India's relations with Pakistan and China. The Kashmir issue proved a stumbling block in reaching an accord with Pakistan, and the border dispute prevented a resolution with China. The Chinese invasion in 1962, which Nehru failed to anticipate, came as a great blow to him and probably hastened his death. Jawaharlal Nehru died of a heart attack on May 27, 1964.

Rajiv Gandhi

Born: August 20, 1944
Died: May 21, 1991
Achievements: Became Prime Minister of India at the age of 40. Led Congress to its greatest victory in the Lok Sabha elections, winning about 80 per cent of seats. Played a key role in the introduction of computers in India.

Rajiv Gandhi was the youngest Prime Minister of India. He became Prime Minister at the age of 40. Rajiv Gandhi came from a family that had great political lineage. He was the eldest son of Indira and Feroze Gandhi. Her mother Indira Gandhi and grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru were Prime Ministers of India. As a Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made a valuable contribution in modernizing Indian administration. He had the vision and foresight to see that information technology will play a key role in the 21 century and worked actively to develop India's capacity in this realm.

Rajiv Gandhi was born on August 20, 1944 in Bombay (Mumbai) in India's most famous political family. His grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru played a stellar role in India's freedom struggle and became independent India's first Prime Minister. His parents lived separately and Rajiv Gandhi was raised at his grandfather's home where her mother lived. Rajeev Gandhi did his schooling from the elite Doon school and then studied at the University of London and at Trinity College, Cambridge in Britain. At Cambridge, Rajiv Ghandi met and fell in love with an Italian student Sonia Maino and they got married in 1969.

Returning to India, Rajeev Ghandi became a commercial airline pilot. His younger brother Sanjay Gandhi entered politics and became a trusted lieutenant of her mother Indira Gandhi. After Sanjay's death in a plane crash in 1980, Rajiv reluctantly entered politics at the instance of his mother. He won his first Lok Sabha election in 1981 from Amethi-the erstwhile constituency of his brother. Soon he became the General Secretary of the Congress Party. After the assassination of Indira Gandhi in October 1984 he became the Prime Minister of India at the age of 40. He called for general elections in 1984 and riding on a massive sympathy wave led Congress to a thumping victory. Congress garnered 80 percent of the seats in the lower house and achieved its greatest victory since independence.

In his initial days as Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi was immensely popular. During his tenure as Prime Minister of India, he brought a certain dynamism to the premiership, which had always been occupied by older people. He is credited with promoting the introduction of computers in India. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi began leading in a direction significantly different from Indira Gandhi's socialism. He improved bilateral relations with the United States and expanded economic and scientific cooperation. He increased government support for science and technology and associated industries, and reduced import quotas, taxes and tariffs on technology-based industries, especially computers, airlines, defence and telecommunications. He worked towards reducing the red tape in the governance and freeing administration from bureaucratic tangles. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi announced a national education policy to modernize and expand higher education programs across India.

Rajiv Gandhi authorised an extensive police and army campaign against the militants in Punjab. Rajiv's government suffered a major setback when its efforts to broker peace between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE rebels backfired. As per the peace accords signed in 1987, the LTTE would disarm to the Indian Peace Keeping Force which was sent to Sri Lanka. But distrust and a few incidents of conflict broke out into open fighting between the LTTE militants and Indian soldiers. Over a thousand Indian soldiers were killed, and at last Rajiv Gandhi had to pull out Indian forces from Sri Lanka. It was a failure of Rajiv's diplomacy.

Although Rajeev Gandhi promised to end corruption, he and his party were themselves implicated in corruption scandals. The major scandal being Bofors Gun scandal involving alleged payoffs by the Swedish Bofors arms company. The scandal rapidly eroded his popularity and he lost the next general elections held in 1989. A coalition comprising government came to the power but it could not last its full term and general elections were called in 1991. While campaigning for elections in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991 by a suicide bomber belonging to LTTE.