Female Indian Freedom Fighters
1 Rani of Jhansi
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi whose heroism and superb leadership laid an outstanding example for all future generations of women freedom fighters. Married to Gangadhar Rao head of the state of Jhansi. She was not allowed to adopt a successor after his death by the British, and Jhansi was annexed.
With the outbreak of the Revolt she became determined to fight back. She used to go into the battlefield dressed as a man. Holding the reins of there horse in her mouth she used the sword with both hands. Under her leadership the Rani's troops showed undaunted courage and returned shot for shot. Considered by the British as the best and bravest military leader of rebels this sparkling epitome of courage died a hero's death in the battlefield.
10. BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL
Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of Lucknow against the British. Although, she was queen and used to a life of luxury, she appeared on the battle-field herself to encourage her troops. Begam Hazrat Mahal held out against the British with all her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal.
KASTURBA GANDHI
9. MADAM CAMA
"This flag is of Indian Independence! Behold, it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young Indians who sacrificed their lives. I call upon you, gentlemen to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence. In the name of this flag, I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to support this flag." -- B. Cama , Stuttgart, Germany, 19she unfurled the first National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart (Germany) in 1907. A thousand representatives from several countries were attending. An Indian lady in a colorful sari was a rare phenomena in those days and her majestic appearance and brave and clear words made everybody think that she was a Maharani or at least a princess from a native state.
The tricolor-flag Madam Cama unfurled had green, saffron, and red stripes. Red represented strength, saffron victory, and green stood for boldness and enthusiasm. there were eight lotuses representing the eight provinces and flowers represented princely states. "Vande Mataram" in Devanagari adorned central saffron stripe which meant "salutation to Mother India." The sun and the moon indicated Hindu and Muslim faiths. The flag was designed by Veer Savarkar with the help of other revolutionaries. After Stuttgart, Madam went to United States. She traveled a lot and informed Americans about Indians struggling for Independence. She told about British efforts to smother the voice of educated Indians who protested against tyranny and despotism of British who always boasted themselves as "mother of parliamentary democracy" over the world! She could be called "Mother India's first cultural representative to USA."Where is the Flag Now?
The flag was smuggled into India by Indulal Yagnik, the socialist leader of Gujarat. It is now on public display at the Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune
4. ARUN ASAF ALI
Aruna was born at Kalka, Haryana into a Bengali Brahmo family. She was educated at Lahore and Nainital. She graduated and worked as a teacher, an achievement in itself for women, given the conditions prevalent in the country at that time. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta. She met Asaf Ali, a leader in the congress party at Allahabad and married him in 1928, despite parental opposition on grounds of religion (she was a Brahmo while he was a Muslim) and age (a difference of more than 20 years).
6. KAMLA NEHRU
Many women of the Nehru family too had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. Kamala Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's wife gave full support to her husband in his desire to work actively for the freedom struggle. In the Nehru hometown of Allahabad she organized processions, addressed meetings and led picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. She played a prominent part in organizing the No Tax Campaign in United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh).
Kamala Kaul Nehru (1899–1936) was the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress and first Prime Minister of India. Kamala married Nehru on 8 February 1916. Their marriage was arranged by his parents.
8. VIJAYALAXMI PANDIT
Jawaharlal Nehur's sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit inspired by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and impressed by Sarojini Naidu entered the Non Cooperation Movement. She was arrested in 1932 and sent to and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment. She was arrested in 1940, and yet again during the Quit India Movement. She attended the Pacific Relations Conference at Hot Springs, U.S.A. as leader of the Indian delegation sponsored by the Indian Council of World Affairs. She was present in San Francisco when the U.N first met there, and through numerous well attended public lectures she challenged the British dominated delegates rights to represent India therein.Sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also played a great role in the freedom movement. She was elected to Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1936 and in 1946. She was the first woman in India to hold a ministerial rank. She was imprisoned thrice for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932. 1941 and 1942. After Independence, she continued to serve the country. She was the first woman to become president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit (1900 - 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician, In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on January 14, 1944. She was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post. In 1937 she was elected to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health. She held the latter post until 1939 and again from 1946 to 1947. In 1946 she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces.
12. Sucheta Kripalani
The contribution of Sucheta Kripalani in the struggle for freedom is also worthy of note. She courted imprisonment for taking part in freedom struggle. She was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946. She was general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967. Sucheta Kripalani was in the words of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, “a person of rare courage and character who brought credit to Indian womanhood.”
She was born in Ambala, Haryana to a Bengali family. Her father, S.N. Majumdar though a government doctor was a nationalist. Educated at Indraprastha College and St.Stephen's College, Delhi she became a lecturer at the Banaras Hindu University. In 1936, she married socialist, Acharya Kriplani and became involved with the Indian National Congress.
Like her contemporaries Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta, she came to the forefront during the Quit India Movement. She later worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She accompanied him to Noakhali in 1946. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution. She became a part of the subcommittee that was handed over the task of laying down the charter for the constitution of India. On 15th August, 1947 she sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly.
After independence she remained involved with politics in U.P. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and 1957 and served as a Minister of State for Small Scale Industries. In 1962, she was elected to the U.P Assembly from Kanpur and served in the Cabinet in 1962. In 1963, she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state. The highlight of her tenure was the firm handling of a state employees strike. The first-ever strike by the state employees which continued for 62 days took place during her regime. She relented only when the employees' leaders agreed for compromise. Although the wife of a socialist, Kriplani cemented her reputation as a firm administrator by refusing their demand for pay hike.
She retired from politics in 1971 and remained in seclusion till her death in 1974.She was a very active member.She became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister of a state
INDIAN FEMALE SOLDIER S UNDER SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE -- KNOWN AS 'RANI OF JHANSI REGIMENT ' FIGHTING AGAINST BRITISH TROOPS
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Lakshmi SAHGALclick and read:->http://en.wikipedia.orghttp:/
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Veteran freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sehgal passes away- July 23, 2012
Veteran freedom fighter Lakshmi Sehgal passed away at the age of 97.
On Thursday, Sehgal was admitted to a hospital in Kanpur after she suffered cardiac arrest.
A long time companion of Subhash Chandra Bose, she was a captain of Rani of Jhansi Regiment of Indian National Army. A doctor by profession, she was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1998. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Sarojini Naidu, also known by the sobriquet The Nightingale of India,[1] was a child prodigy, Indian independence activist
and poet. Naidu was one of the framers of the Indian Constitution.
Naidu is the second Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress[2] and the first woman to become the Governor of Uttar Pradesh state.[3] Her birthday is celebrated as Women's Day in India.[4]
Sarojini Naidu joined the Indian national movement in the wake of partition of Bengal in 1905. She came into contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.[6]
During 1915-1918, she traveled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women empowerment and nationalism. She awakened the women of India and brought them out of the kitchen. She also helped to establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in 1917.[7] She was sent to London along with Annie Besant, President of WIA, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.
The couple had five children. Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani. Her daughter Padmaja followed in to her footprints and became the Governor of West Bengal. In 1961, she published a collection of poems entitled The Feather of The Dawn. [12]
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (3 April 1903 – 29 October 1988) was an Indian social reformer and freedom fighter. She is most remembered for her contribution to the Indian independence movement;
for being the driving force behind the renaissance of Indian
handicrafts, handlooms, and theatre in independent India; and for
upliftment of the socio-economic standard of Indian women by pioneering
the co-operative movement.[1]
Several cultural institutions in India today are a gift of her vision, including the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India.
The doyen of Indian arts and crafts, a person single-handedly responsible for reviving Indian crafts back from oblivion of 200 years of foreign rule where they went without any patronage, be it government or public, due lack of awareness of its richness as well as its accessibility to the common man.
She stressed the significance which handicrafts and cooperative grassroot movements, play in the social and economic upliftement of the Indian people. To this end she withstood great opposition both before and after independence from the power centres, but managed to leave behind a rich and formidable legacy of thriving Indian handicrafts, theatre forms and arts that have now become an integral of our rural economy, across the nation.
Kamaladevi was an exceptional student and also exhibited qualities of determination and courage from an early age. Her parents’ befriended many prominent freedom fighters and intellectuals such as Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and women leaders like Ramabai Ranade, and Annie Besant, this made young Kamaladevi an early enthusiast of the swadeshi nationalist movement.
She studied about ancient Sanskrit drama tradition of Kerala- Kutiyattam, from its greatest Guru and authority of Abhinaya, Nātyāchārya Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār by staying at Guru's home at Killikkurussimangalam.[2]
Tragedy struck early in life, when her elder sister, Saguna, whom she considered a role model, died in her teens, soon after her early marriage, and when she was just seven years old her father died as well. To add to her mother, Girijabai's trouble, he died without leaving a will for his vast property, so according to property laws of the times, the entire property went to her stepson, and they only got a monthly allowance. Girijabai defiantly refused the allowance and decided to raise her daughters on her dowry property.
Her rebellious streak was visible even as a child, when young Kamaladevi questioned the aristocratic division of her mother’s household, and preferred to mingle with her servants and their children wanting to understand their life as well.
Finally when she was twenty years old, Kamaladevi married Harindranath Chattopadhyay, much to the opposition of the orthodox society of the times, which was still heavily against widow marriage. Their only son Ramu was born in the following year.[4] Harin and Kamaladevi stayed together to pursue common dreams, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, and in spite of many difficulties, they were able to work together, to produce plays and skits.
Later she also acted in a few films, in an era when acting was considered unsuitable for women from respectable families. In her first stint, she acted in two silent films, including the first silent film[5] of Kannada film industry, 'Mricchakatika'(Vasantsena) (1931), based on the famous play by Sudraka, also starring Yenakshi Rama Rao, and directed by pioneering Kannada director, Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. In her second stint in films she acted in a 1943 Hindi film, Tansen, also starring K. L. Saigal and Khursheed,[6] followed by Shankar Parvati (1943), and Dhanna Bhagat (1945).[7]
Eventually after many years of marriage, they parted ways amicably. Here again, Kamaladevi broke a tradition by filing for divorce much to the chagrin of the society, rather than stay in a non-functional marriage.
In 1926, she met the suffragette Margaret E. Cousins, the founder of All India Women's Conference (AIWC), and was inspired her to run for the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly. Thus she became the first woman to run for a Legislative seat in India. Though she could campaign for only a few days, she lost only by 200 votes.
On 26 January 1930 she captured the imagination of the entire nation when in a scuffle, she clung to the Indian tricolour to protect it.[8]
Thus began the second phase of life's work in rehabilitation of people as well their lost crafts, she is considered single handedly responsible for the great revival of Indian handicrafts and handloom, in the post-independence era, and is considered her greatest legacy to modern India.[9]
She equally promoted arts and crafts, and instituted the National Awards for Master Craftsmen, and a culmination of her enterprising spirit lead to the setting up Central Cottage Industries Emporia, throughout the nation to cater to the tastes of a nation, rising to its ancient glory.
In 1964 she started the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (NIKC), Bangalore, under the aegis of Bharatiya Natya Sangh, affiliated to the UNESCO. Its present director is famous danseuse Smt. Maya Rao.
Kamaladevi was a woman ahead of her times, she was instrumental in setting up the All India Handicrafts Board, she was also it's the first chairperson, The Crafts Council of India was also the first president of the World Crafts Council, Asia Pacific Region.[10]
She also set up the National School of Drama and later headed the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and also a member of UNESCO. Her acclaimed autobiography, Inner Recesses and Outer Spaces: Memoir was published in 1986.
UNESCO honoured her with an award in 1977 for her contribution towards the promotion of handicrafts. Shantiniketan honoured her with the Desikottama, its highest award. UNIMA (Union Internationals de la Marlonette), International Puppetry organization, also made her their Member of Honour.
Today, the World Crafts Council gives two awards in her memory, the Kamaladevi Awards and the Kamala Sammaan, for exceptional craft persons or to individual for their outstanding contribution to the field of Crafts.[14] Apart from that the Crafts Council of Karnataka, also gives the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Vishwakarma Awards, each year to noteworthy crafts persons.[15]
For over three decades now, Bhartiya Natya Sangha has been awarding the 'Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Award' for the best play of the year.
Women shouldered critical responsibilities in India’s struggle for freedom. They held public meetings, organized picketing of shops selling foreign alcohol and articles, sold Khadi and actively participated in National Movements. They bravely faced the baton of the police and went behind the iron bars. Hundreds and thousands of Indian women dedicated their lives for obtaining freedom of their motherland and only very few could include in this essay due to space restriction.
Mahatma Gandhi squarely summed up the strength of womanhood in his tribute to the gender:
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to women. If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self sacrificing, has she not greater power of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man would not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is woman. I have nursed this thought now for years”.
The list of great women whose names have gone down in history for their dedication and undying devotion to the service of India is a long one. Here are just few of them whose patriotism will be in the hearts of the million of Indians forever.
1.Kittur Rani Chennamma (1778-1829)
Kitturu Rani Chennamma was the queen of the princely state of Kittur in Karnataka. In 1824, 33 years before the 1857 war of independence, she led an armed rebellion against the British in response to the Doctrine of lapse. The resistance ended in her martyrdom and she is remembered today as one of the earliest Indian rulers to have fought for independence. Along with Abbakka Rani, Keladi Chennamma and Onake Obavva she is much venerated in Karnataka as an icon of bravery and women’s pride.
2.Rani of Jhansi(1828-1858)
The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Dressed in man’s clothes, she led her soldiers to war against the British. Even her enemies admired her courage and daring. She fought valiantly and although beaten she refused to surrender and fell as a warrior should, fighting the enemy to the last. Her remarkable courage inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule.
3.Rani Avanti Bai (1831-1858)
Rani Avantibai was born on 16/08/1831.When Vikramaditya Singh, the ruler of Ramgarh State died leaving behind his wife Avantibai and no heir to the throne, the British put the state under court administration. Avantibai vowed to win back her land from the British. She raised an army of four thousand men and led it herself against the British in 1857. A fierce battle ensured and Avantibai fought most valiantly but could not hold out for long against the superior strength of the British army. When her defeat become imminent she killed herself with her own sword and English army couldn’t defeat her in her life. Later Rani Avantibia’s sacrifice became a example to the Lodhian kingdom and became history of the fight for freedom on 20-03-1858. She was a great freedom fighter.
4.Begum Hazrath Mahal (1879)
Begum Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Hazrat Mahal was known as the Begum of Avadh (Oudh). She was stunning beautiful, and used her courage and leadership qualities to rebel against the British East India Company during the First Indian War of Independence.
After her husband had been sent away in exile to Calcutta, she with the cooperation of a zealous hand of supporters like Sarafaddaulah, Bal Krishna, Raja Jai Lal and Mammon Khan worked incessantly to revive the fortunes of Avadh. She seized control of Lucknow in association with the revolutionary forces and set up her son, Prince Birjis Qadir, as the ruler of Avadh, Hazrat Mahal worked in association with Nana Saheb but later escaped from Lucknow and joined the Maulavi of Faizabad in the attack on Sahajahanpur. She was driven from pillar to post, but she made her retreat with fortitude. She rejected with the contempt the promises of allowance and status held out to her by the British against whom her hatred was unrelenting. In the end after bearing misfortune and misery throughout the period of resistance, she found asylum in Nepal where she died in 1879.
5.Sarojinidevi Naidu(1879-1949)
Sarojini Naidu (Chattapadhya) was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father, Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, was the founder of Nizam College of Hyderabad and a scientist. Her mother, Mrs. Varasundari, was a Bengali poetess. Sarojinidevi inherited qualities from both her father and mother.
Once she was working on an algebra problem, and when she couldn’t find the solution she decided to take a break, and in the same book she wrote her first inspired poetry. She got so enthused by this that she wrote “The Lady of the Lake”, a poem 1300 lines long. When her father saw that she was more interested in poetry than mathematics or science, he decided to encourage her. With her father’s support, she wrote the play “Maher Muneer” in the Persian language. Dr. Chattopadhyaya distributed some copies among his friends and sent one copy to the Nawab of Hyderabad. Reading a beautiful play written by a young girl, the Nizam was very impressed. The college gave her a scholarship to study abroad. At the age of 16 she got admitted to King’s College of England. There she met famous laureates of the time.
During her stay in England, Sarojini met Dr. Govind Naidu from southern India. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she got married to him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her father was a progressive thinking person, and he did not care what others said. Her marriage was a very happy one. Her major contribution was also in the field of poetry. Her poetry had beautiful words that could also be sung. Soon she got recognition as the “Bul Bule Hind” when her collection of poems was published in 1905 under the title “Golden Threshold”. After that, she published two other collections of poems–”The Bird of Time” and “The Broken Wings”. In 1918, ” Feast of Youth” was published. Later, “The Magic Tree”, “The Wizard Mask” and “A Treasury of poems” were published. Mahashree Arvind, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands of admirers of her work. Her poems had English words, but an Indian soul.
One day she met Shree Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He said to her to use her poetry and her beautiful words to rejuvenate the spirit of Independence in the hearts of villagers. He asked her to use her talent to free Mother India. Then in 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and she totally directed her energy to the fight for freedom. She would roam around the country like a general of the army and pour enthusiasm among the hearts of Indians. The independence of India became the heart and soul of her work.
She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She brought them out of the kitchen. She traveled from state to state, city after city and asked for the rights of the women. She re-established self-esteem within the women of India.
In 1925, she chaired the summit of Congress in Kanpur. In 1928, she came to the USA with the message of the non-violence movement from Gandhiji. When in 1930, Gandhiji was arrested for a protest, she took the helms of his movement. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Gandhiji and Pundit Malaviyaji. In 1942, she was arrested during the “Quit India” protest and stayed in jail for 21 months with Gandhiji. After independence she became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman governor. She was a woman of a great country, with such a great heritage in which Sitamata, Draupadi, Savitri and Damayanti were born. Their purity, courage,determination and self-confidence were the foundation of her own character and personality.
On March 2, 1949, she took her last breath, and India lost her beloved child, her “Bulbul.” Nevertheless, her name will always be in the golden history of India as an inspiring poet and a brave freedom fighter.
6.Preeti Lata Waddadar (1911-32)
Preetilata was born on 5 May 1911 in the Dholaghat village of Chittagong. Her father’s name was Jagabandhu Wadddadar, the head clerk of Chittagong Municipality. Her mother Protibha Waddadar was a patron of the local revolutionaries and a supporter of Swadeshi movement. In 1927 Preetilata obtained her SSC in first division from Dr Khastogir Girls’ College. Then she moved to Dhaka for her HSC studies and enrolled in Eden College. As a student of Eden Girls’ College, Preetilata joined the Deepali Sangha, a Dhaka based women’s revolutionary organization. In 1929 Preetilata topped among the female students in HSC exam. Due to her outstanding result Preetilata was awarded Tk (Rs.) 20.00 monthly scholarship from the board of education. The financial support enabled Preetilata to pursue her higher studies in Kolkata, the then center of culture and education of united Bangla. In Kolkata, Preetilata succeeded in enrolling in the prestigious Bethune College. As a member of the Revolutionary party Preetilata immediately formed a student front of the revolutionary party with a couple of her classmates. Her group raised money to support the Chittagong based revolutionaries and organized a readers’ forum to promote patriotic spirit among the college students. On the direction of the party high command Preetilata bought explosive implements from underground factories in Kolkata and took the explosives to Chittagong. Her mates at Bethune College, Kalpana Datta, Sarojini Pal, Kumudini Rakkhit, Renuka Ray, and Kamala Mukherjee helped Preetilata in her mission. In 1930 Preetilata, instead of seating for BA (hons), sat for BA (pass) exam and passed BA with distinction. On her return to Chittagong Preetilata started her teaching career and joined as the principal of a newly established English medium school, Aparna Charan Girls High School. Preetilata was a member of Jugantar-a secret revolutionary organization.
The death of comrade Ardhendu Dastidar in the Jalalabad hill war on 22 April 1930 spurred her commitment to revolutionary causes. On 13 June 1932 Preetilata secretly met Mastarda Surya Sen, the legendary Bangalee revolutionary, at the residence of Sabitri Debi of Dholaghat. In the meeting Preetilata demanded that girls should be given equal opportunity in armed revolutionary activities. She argued that many young people have already given their lives for the freedom of the motherland, now it was the time for the girls to embrace the same fate of honor.
The task for attacking the European Club in Chittagong was initially assigned to rebel Shaileshwar Chakraborty which he failed to carry out twice for various reasons. In September 1932 Surya Sen came to South Kattali village to discuss the strategies and tactics for attacking the European Club. On the instruction from the party high command Preetilata and Kalpana Datta, wearing man’s clothes in order to escape the British spies, headed for the secret meeting called by Surya Sen. Unfortunately Kalpana was arrested at Pahartali but Preetilata managed to skip the British spies. In the meeting Surya Sen told Preetilata that she was nominated to lead the attack on the European Club on 23 September 1932 and the other members of her team were: 1. Shanti Chakraborty (Kattali) 2. Kali Dey (Gosail Danga) 3. Sushil Dey (Dharala) 4. Prafulla Das ((Kattali) 5. Mahendra Chaudhury (Mohra).
At 2145 hrs on 23 September Surya Sen, with one of his body guards, came to Kattali to wish luck to his comrades for the success of the operation. At 2200 hrs Preetilata and her comrades, all wearing military uniforms, took farewell from the commander and marched off to carry out the operation. Soon they reached the European Club and took position in the bush near the club. They were carrying rifles robbed from the British armories, pistols and macerates in their waists and bombs in their haversacks. The British colonial officers were having a great time inside the club while Preetilata’s team was preparing the attack. The gate of the club was protected by armed guards. On receiving Morse coded signal from the chef of the club kitchen Preetilata stormed the club firing shots on the armed guards at the gate and shouting “Charge”. Her comrades joined her and kept shooting on the club. Preetilata lead the attack and threw a bomb through the main gate as soon as she reached the gate. The Britons were bewildered at the sudden armed attack and ran their heads off to save their asses. An Englishman tried to play James Bond and threw goblets to the rebels. Preetilata shot him and sent his soul to merry old England.
But soon the military reinforcement from the nearby cantonment came for rescue. Under-equipped to fight the military Preetilata signaled her comrades to retreat. They followed her command and retreated. A few minutes later Preetilata went back to make sure that all her comrades were OK. The group of partisans soon reached the rail line near the club covered by the team leader who followed them to ensure a safe retreat. They were heading for Pahartali bazaar because Kattali village is very close to the bazaar. As the rebels were heading to the bazaar a young Englishman, who hid in the gutter to escape the attack, shot at Preetilata. The bullet hit Preetilata on her chest and she dropped on the road bleeding profusely. But Preetilata was a born rebel and was determined not to surrender to the British colonists so the valiant rebel took out the cyanide pill and swallowed it.
7.Matangini Hazra (1869-1942)
Was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the Indian independence movement until she was shot dead by the British Indian police in front of the Tamluk Police Station (of erstwhile Midnapore District) on September 29, 1942. She was affectionately known as Gandhi buri, Bangla for old lady Gandhi.
Matangini Hazra, who was 73 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station. When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code by the Crown police. As she stepped forward, Matangini Hazra was shot once. Apparently, she had stepped forward and was appealing to the police not to shoot at the crowd.
The Biplabi newspaper of the parallel Tamluk National Government commented:
“” Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind. The police shot her three times. She continued marching despite wounds to the forehead and both hands. “”
As she was repeatedly shot, she kept chanting Vande Mataram, translating as “hail to the Motherland”. She died with the flag of the Indian National Congress held high and still flying.
8.Kasturba Gandhi (April 11, 1869 – 22 February 1944)
Kasturba Gandhi, daughter of Gokuladas Makharji of Porbandar,affectionately called Ba, was the wife of Mohandas Gandhi.
Kasturba Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s wife joined her husband while he was in South Africa and worked with him for many years there. She was a leader of Women’s Satyagraha for which she was imprisoned. She helped her husband in the cause of Indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and the No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat. She was arrested twice for picketing liquor and foreign cloth shops, and in 1939 for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha.
Kasturba married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) through arrangement. They were both 13 years old. At that time, she was illiterate, and so Gandhi taught her to read and write — a potentially radical move, given the position of women in India at that time.
When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal. She had three more sons – Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900).
In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi decided to practice brahmacharya, and the couple became celibate. Although she stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas. Gandhi had to work hard to persuade her to see (and agree to) his points of view. Kasturba was deeply religious. Like her husband, she renounced all caste distinctions and lived in ashrams.
Kasturba often joined her husband in political protests. She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labor prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband’s place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children.
Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. Stress from the Quit India Movement’s arrests and ashram life caused her to fall ill. After contracting pneumonia, she died from a severe heart attack on February 22, 1944. She died in Mahatma Gandhi’s arms while both were still in prison. He was never the same after her death.
9.Kalpana Datta (1913-1995)
Kalpana Joshi (Datta) a revolutionary, was born at Sripur of Chittagong district on 27 July 1913 in a middle-class family. Having matriculated in 1929 from Chittagong, Kalpana Datta went to Calcutta and joined the Bethune college. Greatly influenced by the examples set by the revolutionaries Kshatriya Basu and Kanailal Datta, she soon joined the Chhatri Sangha. Purnendu Dastidar drew her into the revolutionary circle of Mastarda Surya sen.
The Chittagong Armory Raid took place on 18 April 1930 and Kalpana hurried back to Chittagong and came in contact with Surya Sen in May 1931. In the meantime, many of the leaders of the Raid like Ananta Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Loknath Bal had been arrested and were awaiting trial.
Kalpana was entrusted with the safe carrying of heavy explosive materials from Calcutta. She also secretly prepared ‘gun-cotton’ and planned to plant a dynamite fuse under the court building and inside the jail to free the revolutionary leaders, who were being tried in a special Tribunal.
The plot was uncovered and certain restrictions were imposed on Kalpana’s movements. She, however, managed to visit regularly the village of Surya Sen, sometimes even at dead of night. She also used to have regular training in revolver shooting, along with her comrade pritilata waddedar.
In September 1931 Surya Sen decided to entrust Kalpana and Preetilata with a plan to attack the European Club at Chittagong. A week before the action Kalpana was arrested while moving out for a survey work in a boy’s attire. While in jail, she was told about the Pahartali action and the heroic suicide of Preetilata. Being released on bail, she went underground at the bidding of Surya Sen and in the early hours of 17 February 1933 the police encircled their hideout. Surya Sen was captured while Kalpana, along with Manindra Datta, escaped.
On 19 May 1933 Kalpana, with some comrades, was arrested. In the second supplementary trial of Chittagong Armory Raid case, Surya Sen and Tarakeswar Dastidar were sentenced to death, and Kalpana was sentenced to transportation for life. Being released in 1939 she graduated from the Calcutta University in 1940. Soon she joined the CPI and resumed her battle against the British rule. She turned Kalpana Joshi in 1943 when she married PC Joshi, the leader of the CPI. She went back to Chittagong and organised the Kisans’ and women’s fronts of the party. In 1946 she contested, though unsuccessfully, in the elections to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. After 1947 she migrated to India and resigned from active politics.
Kalpana Datta breathed her last at New Delhi on 8 February 1995.
10.Lakshmi Sahgal (Swaminathan) (1914)
Lakshmi Sahgal (or Sahgal) née Swaminathan, also known as Captain Lakshmi (born October 24, 1914 in Madras, Madras Presidency, British India) is an activist of the Indian independence movement, an ex-officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women’s affairs in the Azad Hind Government.
Lakshmi Sahgal later became involved in politics in independent India, serving as a member of parliament in the Upper House and later running for President as a left wing candidate. Lt Col Swaminathan is commonly referred to as Captain Lakshmi in India, referring to her rank at the time of being taken prisoner in Burma, as widely reported in Indian newspapers at the end of the war and which captured the public imagination, as opposed to her not widely known promotion in the last days of Azad Hind.
Sahgal was born as Lakshmi Swaminathan, daughter of Dr S. Swaminathan, a leading lawyer practicing Criminal Law at Madras High Court. Lakshmi Sahgal mother was A.V. Ammukutty, better known as Ammu Swaminathan, a social worker and freedom fighter and hailed from the famous Vadakkath family of Anakkara in Palghat, Kerala. A.V. Kutty Malu Amma was another well known freedom fighter from the same family.
Lakshmi decided to study medicine because she wanted to be of service to the poor, especially to poor women. As a result, she received an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College in 1938. A year later, she received her diploma in gynecology and obstetrics.
In 1940,she left for Singapore where she established a clinic for the poor, mostly migrant labour, from India. She became one of the most popular and prosperous gynecologists in the city. She was not only a competent doctor but also played an active role in the India Independence League which contributed greatly to the freedom movement in India.
In 1942, during the historic surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, she worked hard in serving the prisoners of war who were hurt during the skirmishes. In the process, she came in contact with many Indian Prisoners of War (POW’s) who were thinking of forming an Indian liberation army.
Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on July 2, 1943. In the next few days, at all his public meetings, Netaji spoke of his determination to raise a women’s regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, which would also “fight for Indian Independence and make it complete”.
Lakshmi wasted no time in joining the new regiment, called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. She was given the rank of a Colonel[citation needed]. The unit had the strength of a Brigade. In a regular army, this women’s army unit was the first of its kind in Asia. The army fought on the side of the Axis powers against the British.
Lakshmi was active both militarily and on the medical front. She played a heroic role not only in the fighting. Later, she became the Minister in charge of Women’s Organization in Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India), led by Subhas Chandra Bose.
Lakshmi Sahgal held this portfolio over and above her command of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Lakshmi was captured and brought to British India on March 4, 1946 where she received a heroine’s welcome. The British realised that keeping her a prisoner would prove counter-productive and she was later released.
11.Beena Das (Bhowmick) (1911-1986)
Well-known in the history of Indian freedom fighting for daring attack on English Governor and University Chancellor Stanley Jackson, who was a symbol of a long and oppressive English colonial rule in India. The incident took place during the 1932 convocation of Calcutta University. Although she was unsuccessful, her act inspired many a young mind of those days. Beena Bhowmick’s father was Benee Madhab Das, the well-known educator of the Ravenshaw Collegiate School of Cuttack, Orissa. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, another famous freedom fighter also studied in that school. Bhowmick was acquainted with Bose.
Bhowmick initially studied in the Bethune College in Kolkata, but later migrated to Diocesan College in order to ensure that her revolutionary activities remain unhindered. She passed the BA with honors in English, her daring attempt occurred during her own convocation ceremony. For this she was given 9 years of imprisonment with labor.
After her release in 1939, she joined the “Jugantar” revolutionary club. She was again imprisoned in 1942 for three years while she was the Secretary of Calcutta Congress Committee. In 1947 she married Jatish Bhowmick, a freedom fighter and a fellow member of Jugantar.
A true revolutionary spirit, her activities did not end with the Indian Independence in 1947. She aided Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman during his declaration of revolution in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) against a brutal and oppressive West Pakistan administration. This incident eventually precipitated into the full-scale Bangladesh war. Again in 1975 Mrs. Bhowmick spoke out against the Declaration of Emergency and suppression of personal rights by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She personally witnessed and strongly protested against the police brutality on the refugees in Marichjh(n)api. A good writer, she penned two books, the autobiography “Shrinkhal Jhankar” and “Pitredhan”.
In a characteristic show of idealistic strength, she didn’t accept the “Freedom Fighters’ Pension” offered by the Government of India. After the death of her husband, she decided to live by herself in the Rishikesh (Himalaya), where she died within a month in a lonely condition.
12.Kanaklatha Baruah (1924-1942)
Indian National Congress in Mumbai on August 9,1942, resolved to ‘Do or die’ for Independence of the country and began agitation with ‘Quit India’ slogan against the British regime. Young and old, men and women, boys and girls, all fearlessly and wholeheartedly joined the movement. Among them was Kanaklatha Baruah.
She got an opportunity to fulfill her dream of serving the country. As soon as the ‘Quit India’ movement began the British rulers started arresting Congress leaders. Under the leadership of revolutionary Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, in the district of Darrang a resolution was adopted unanimously to hoist National flag at the court and police station, as they were the marks of British Empire. Being aware of women’s participation in the nation’s freedom struggle, Kanaklatha enrolled herself in the suicide squad. The day for peaceful and non-violent action was decided as September 20.
According to the programme, freedom fighters with National flag had to capture local police station. Four thousands people from Kalabari side and an equal number from Barangabari moved towards Gohpur police station. In the front line was Kanaklatha Baruah holding a National flag in her hands. She requested the officer in charge of the police station to allow her to hoist the flag at the western gate peacefully. The officer in charge ignored her request and threatened to shoot her, if she dared to proceed further. Firebrand Kanaklatha marched ahead and had to face the bullets of the strong police force. She laid down her life for the freedom of the country. Another instance of similar martyrdom was from the district of Nagaon. Berhampur in the district was also on fire of Quit India movement.
13.Nellie Sengupta (Gray)(1886-1973)
Nellie Sengupta was among the English Women who came to India to dedicate her life for its people. Though an outsider she proved herself as a true Indian patriot.
She was born on 12 January 1886 as the daughter of Frederick William Gray and Edith Henrietta Gray. While studying in England, she met Jatindra Mohan Sengupta an Indian patriot. They fell in love and were married. After her marriage, she adopted her husband’s country as her own and associated sincerely with her husband’s work to letterate India from the bondage of British imperialism. Nellie abandoned the land of her birth and fought against the colonial rulers of her motherland for the sake of of her husband. She was a dedicated life partner who whole-heartedly sided with her brave husband on all occasions during their hours of happiness and sorrow. There was doubt among her in-laws whether she would be able to adjust herself in a joint Indian family. But soon Nellie dispelled this doubt by adjusting quickly to the Indian joint family life. They proved to be an ideal couple not only in family life but also in the political field. Her father in law was so impressed with her behavior that he wrote a letter to Nellie’s mother, that she was nothing but prize addition to his joint family and a worthy partner of his son.
She was the inspiring power behind all his activities in the political field. Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu also inspired her.
During the non-cooperation movement she was arrested while selling khadi in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh). Thus she had to endure prison life for the cause of her husband. She helped her husband when he was involved in the strike of the Bengal Assam Railway men as well as steamer service workers in support of the tea plantation laborers who were stranded in Chandpur and were brutally tortured by the British police.
When the health of Jyotindra Mohan deteriorated, Nellie continued his political work. During the days of the Civil Disobedience Movement Nellie accompanied her husband on political tours to Delhi and Amritsar. Jatindra Mohan was arrested for delivering a political lecture. She purposely delivered a speech at a banned meeting in Delhi. She was arrested and put in prison for four months.
Nellie was elected Congress President in 1933. It was a recognition for her valuable contribution to the cause of India’s independence. Later Nellie was elected alderman of Calcutta (Kolkata) Corporation.
After the partition of India, she stayed in her husband’s paternal house. She devoted herself to social welfare work. She was elected unopposed to the East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) Legislative Assembly from Chittagong. She was brought to India for special medical treatment during the last days of her life. In spite of the best treatment made available, she breathed her last on October 23,1973.
14.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya (3 April 1903- 29 October 1988)
Kamaladevi was born in a Saraswat family on 3 April 1903. But above everything, she is remembered for her phenomenal role in reviving the traditional handicrafts of India during the post independence era. Read on to know more about the life history of Kamaladevi Chattapadhya, whose father was the district collector of Mangalore, whereas her mother hailed from one of the wealthiest families of Karnataka.
Kamaladevi fought against social evils that restricted the development of women. She was an active member of the youth wing of INC (Indian National Congress). During partition, Kamaladevi set up co-operative societies and self-employment schemes to help refugees. She worked to revive traditional industries like weaving and handicrafts. As chief of the Board of Handicrafts, she started the pension system for craftsmen.
She was a trade-unionist, a revolutionary, a reformer, a great patron of arts, an accomplished writer, an orator, and a freedom fighter.
Belonging from an illustrious family, she got ample opportunity to meet the great freedom fighters and intellectuals of her time like Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Annie Besant, who being friends of her parents visited her home frequently. Such acquaintances bore great influence on Kamaladevi Chattapadhya, who became an early supporter of the nations’ swadeshi mission. She married at 14 and widowed two years later while still in school. Yet she went on to take up acting which was considered inapt for women in those days.
The life history of Kamaladevi Chattapadhya went on and she next wedded the poet-playwright brother Harindranath Chattapadhya of the great poetess, Sarojini Naidu in 1920. After this, she also acted in two silent movies. Later she shifted to London with her husband, where she enrolled into the Bedford College to study sociology. But the couple returned to India to participate in the nation-wide non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji in 1923. Thereafter, Kamaladevi joined the Seva Dal established to work for social upliftment of the downtrodden.
In her missionary zeal she championed the causes of women empowerment, education, handicraft, theater along with her contribution to the field of arts, crafts and writings. In her pursuit and commitment she turned down many offers such as being nominated to the posts of the Vice President of India, Governor of Orissa or Tamilnadu, Ambassador in Cairo or Moscow. She preferred instead to devote herself to social causes. It was her courage displayed with a keen sense of humour that was extremely rewarding.
As a befitting tribute to a cultural icon of India one can conclude with the words of former President of India, R. Venkataraman, quoted , “Flower buds seemed to blossom at her touch-whether they be flower buds of human beings or institutions. People became more human and more sensitive to the deeper impulses of society when they came into contact with her….”
15.Indira Gandhi (November19,1917-October 31,1984)
Indira Priyadarshini (the second name means ”Dearly Beloved”) was born Nov. 19, 1917, the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru and his wife, Kamala, in Allahabad in northern India. Her grandfather, Motilal Nehru, who owned the house in which they lived, was a brilliant lawyer who discarded a lucrative practice to ally himself with Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Congress Party in the independence movement.
By all accounts, the child’s early years were painfully lonely. The house served as a headquarters for the freedom struggle; her parents were frequently taken off to jail; the police were constantly there.
”My public life started at the age of 3,” she said. ”I have no recollection of games, children’s parties or playing with other children. My favorite occupation as a very small child was to deliver thunderous speeches to the servants, standing on a high table. All my games were political ones – I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.
”I was very headstrong. The whole house was always in a state of tension that nobody had a normal life. There were police raids, arrests and so on, the physical and mental strain. And all the time it was in public.”
What made her childhood even more difficult was the contemptuous treatment given her mother, Kamala, by the far more Westernized and sophisticated women of the Nehru family. Mrs. Gandhi in later life indicated that her own fluency in Hindi, far better than her father’s, and her ”Indianness,” or ability to think and feel as a Hindu Indian, were largely a legacy of her mother. When asked once about the impact of Kamala Nehru on her personality, Mrs. Gandhi replied, ”I saw her being hurt and I was determined not to be hurt.”
The most remarkable of women in modern India’s was Indira Gandhi who from her early years was active in the national liberation struggle. During the 1930 movement, she formed the ‘Vanar Sena’. A children’s brigade to help freedom fighters.
She became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1938. Soon after her return to India in March 1941, she plunged into political activity.
Her public activity entered a new phase with India’s Independence in 1947. She took over the responsibility of running the Prime Minister’s House. The Congress, which had been her political home ever since her childhood, soon drew her into leading political roles, first as member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and later as member of the Central Parliamentary Board in 1958. In 1959, she was elected President of the Indian National Congress. She oriented Congress thinking and action towards basic issues confronting Indian society and enthused the younger generation the task of nation-building.
In the eventful years of her leadership as Prime Minister, Indian society underwent profound changes. She was unremitting in her endeavor for the unity and solidarity of the nation. A staunch defender of the secular ideals of the Constitution, she worked tirelessly for the social and economic advancement of the minorities. She had a vision of a modern self-reliant and dynamic economy.
She fought boldly and vigorously against communalism, obscurantism, and religious fundamentalism of all types. She repeatedly warned the nation that communalism and obscurantism were the tools employed by the forces of destabilization. She laid down her life in defense of the ideals on which the unity and integrity of the Republic are founded. The martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi for upholding the unity of India will reverberate across the centuries.
Rarely in history has one single individual come to be identified totally with the fortunes of a country. She became the indomitable symbol of India’s self-respect and self-confidence. Death came to her when she was at her peak, when her stature and influence were acclaimed the world over.
Women have a special place of pride and honour in the Indian Society. Their role in nation building is also well recognized. Like men they too have excelled in every walk of life. If we turn the pages of History we come across great women rulers, queen warriors, women leaders, women Freedom Fighters, women saints, scholars, writers, social workers and what have you? The country remembers them and honours them and brings out commemorative postage stamps in their fond memory even after they are gone.
Role of
Women in
India’s
Struggle For
Freedom
Siddhartha Dash:-http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2010/August/engpdf/74-76.pdfhttp://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2010/August/engpdf/74-76.pdf
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Attingal Queen.1810-53 Junior Rani H.H. Sri Patmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Dyumani Raja Rajeshwari Rani Gouri Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India
1810-53 Junior Rani H.H. Sri Patmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Dyumani Raja Rajeshwari Rani Gouri Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
1815-29 Regent of Travancore
When her elder sister Regent Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi died after childbirth in 1815 she was only thirteen years of age and being the only female left in the family, besides her deceased sister's little daughter, she became Regent Maharani on behalf of her nephew, the heir, Maharajah Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. She was on her accession actively counselled by her brother in law, Raja Raja Varma of the Changanssery Royal family as well as her husband, Raghava Varma, who belonged to the Royal family of Kilimanoor. Her first act was to appoint a new Dewan, and she continued the reforms of her older sister. Christians got more freedom and some of the restrictions put on some of the lower castes were removed, she also introduced health reforms. er mother, Princes Atham of the Travancore, was the Senior Rani of Attingal. Her first husband was Raghava Varma of the Kilimanoor Royal family and after his death she married his brother After his death in 1824, she married again, but did not have any children. She lived (1802-53).
1815-? Senior Rani Gowri Rukmini Bayi of Attingal in Travancore (India)
succeeded to the title of Senior Rani of Attingal after the death of her mother, the Queen Regent, Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai. Apart from her aunt, who was regent 1815-29, she only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, she married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of Thiruvalla Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma. In 1888 two princesses were adopted from the Mavelikara Royal family into Travancore. (b. 1809-?).
History
On the night of April 11, 1721 150 Britishers were done to death at the Attingal Palace near Thiruvananthapuram. What perhaps was the first major attack on the British in India though rarely mentioned in Indian history . It was a clever plot laid by Kodumon Pillai, Minister of the queen of Attingal, Umayamma Rani, who out smarted the shrewd British who had superior weapons. The Nair Pada and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region. The immediate provocation was about the building of a Fort at Anchu Thengu, Anjengo in British records. The scheming British had entered in to a series of maneuvers to make trade in spices their monopoly. Greed for huge profits drove them wild, capturing the spice country itself later. Those were the early days of the English East India Company in India, the Dutch and the British on Indian shores were engaged in a series of conflicts to stake control of the sea trade. Muslims, traditionally intermediaries in spice trade, were severely affected with the curbs in trade. Equipped with their guns and cannons, what the local soldiers were not yet having, they became menacing. Orders of the Rani to stop the building of the Fort were disobeyed. Initial attacks launched by the Nair Pada was rebuffed with severe casualties. It was after a wait that the clever trap was laid and almost everyone in the Fort was executed. Cannons and gunfire of the British came to naught.
Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani. The sovereigns were ceremonial rulers and the actual power remained with the feudal lords titled Pillais, Nairs, who kept their own armies and administration. Feuds between the Pillais used to lead to intermittent clashes at the time. This was a turning point in the history of Kerala, also India. Travancore stood the side of the British after this episode and emerged as a major power during the reign of King Marthanda Varma. It was Marthanda Varma, who with the support of the British, annexed most of these principalities later and created the unified Travancore. The others were mostly allied with the Dutch, except the extreme north like Kolathu Nadu, modern Kannur. Marthanda Varma was also instrumental in neutralizing the powerful Pillais, Nayars, the story of his avenging the ‘Ettuveettil Pillamar’ is a figurative story of the event. From traders the British soon became sovereigns in India. The famous Kalari culture of the feudal lords, Pillais, stood liquidated during the British period that ensued.
The sequence of events that lead to the massacre were rooted primarily in the English attempts to monopolise trade. The Dutch and the English East India Companies were active in spice trade and both had factories on Indian soil, godowns for merchandise initially, which later were made army barracks. The Dutch had a factory at Thenga Pattinam, now in Kanyakumari district, and the English in Vizhinjam. The negotiations were all with the Pillais who had the authority to deal with the traders. Due to the internecine conflicts and overtures to monopolise trade the factory in Thenga Pattinam was destroyed by the Pillais and the factory chief was executed in the year 1684. Two ships belonging to the Dutch were also set on fire. When complained Attingal Rani agreed to compensate the loss, but this was not possible as the Pillais were adamant. A request from the English that they be permitted to build a big wall around the Vizhinjam factory was also opposed by the Pillais. They fore saw the implications. Kottayam Kerala Varma, the ruling king in Thiruvithamkode, adopted from Kolathunadu in the north, was not in very good terms with these powerful feudal lords. It was during this time that the Attingal Rani gave permission to the English to build a factory at Anchu Thengu in the year 1694.
Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the ministers to the queen, prominent among the Council of Ministers, who advised the Rani that it will eventually prove disastrous. Accordingly the Rani asked the Company to stop building the Fort, this the English refused to heed. And Kodumon Pillai with the help of the Nair Pada in Chirayinkeezh attacked the Fort. The English now equipped with their cannons and guns retaliated and the attempt to stop the British ended in vain. Now, Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai had a tussle going between them and Kodumon Pillai was the favourite of the Rani. How Vanchimuttom, it is believed, secretly helped the English in building the Fort. In 1690 the Rani passed away and the English completed building the Fort in the very next year taking advantage of the confusion. Soon the sea trade was under the control of the British who with their superior arms started dictating terms, in who can trade and at what price, also refused to pay taxes. The queens that followed Umayamma Rani were all adopted from Kolathunadu and they were too weak to manage the scene and the Pillais were restive. Feuds between the two Pillais also became a matter of concern, which gave the English a golden opportunity. The old feudal system was having its own problems.
The English now stationed comfortably at the heavily armed Fort at Anchu Thengu refused to permit anyone else to trade in Attingal principality. Except the Dutch who were very powerful at the time, though the English used to give information about the Dutch vessels to the Muslims who had taken to warfare and were pirates in the seas by now. The English men in the Fort went around trading at their will and started looting the local people who had no choice but obey them. Corruption among the British officers became rampant. The local traders and common people came to hate the English. Each one in the Fort started minting money and one Coifing, who was in charge at the time, was discharged by the Company for misappropriation of money. Next it was the tenure of one Gilford, who made the situation worse from bad. Two incidents at the time became crucial. One was the purchase by one Ignacio, an interpreter of the company, a plot of land belonging to the Devi temple. The one who sold this had no legal rights to sell it and the English forcibly occupied the land despite objections from the local people.
Another episode was the maltreatment to some traders who went to the Fort. A merchant Brahmin who went there was anointed with some ritual powder by a woman, as part of a Christian ceremony, and the insulted man injured the woman taking out his sword. Gilford coming to know about it inflicted severe punishments on the merchants. In fact it was a plot by Gilford who wanted to take revenge on those who refused to help him in his private trade. The matter reached Kodumon Pillai who attacked the Fort with a big force, lost many lives due to gunfire and the English took refuge inside. The Nair Pada burned a ship of the Company and laid a siege on the Fort, but soon after a ship from Mumbai with soldiers arrived and they were saved. The impasse that followed after the cold war between the two Pillais, as to who should be accepted as the Rani in Attingal, was a matter of concern during this period. Eventually in the year 1721 they came to a truce and the sister of the sovereign of Kollam was accepted as queen in Attingal. The British, who had to pay arrears, were contacted and Gilford, facing troubles due to the opposition of the people, decided to meet the queen and also compromise with the Pillais. He sent emissaries to the Palace.
Extensive talks were held through intermediaries and the English agreed to pay up the tax arrears for the period they made default and make relations smooth. To settle the matters they were invited by the Pillais, Gilford and the other Englishmen did not sense the pent up anger and thought it an old story, to the Attingal Palace. Everyone in the Fort were invited for a big party. On 11 th of April almost everyone in the English factory at Anchu Thengu thus came in a procession, as discussed and agreed to. Taking the river route they reached the Palace in great ceremony. The entourage was 150 strong. As the boats landed messengers of the Pillais persuaded the English to leave their guns in the boat as these were not permitted in the Palace. This was complied. Later the English and the Pillais went in to marathon discussions regarding the arrears in taxes and it was dark by then. The English had brought the new currency of the East India Company which the Pillais refused to accept. They demanded that the traditional Venetian currency be paid, what was the dollar of those days, this was not available with the English. Pillais were buying time. They wanted to meet the queen but as it was already dark the Pillais asked the English men to stay for the night and meet her in the morning.
Casey, the second in charge of the Fort, smelt a rat and told Gilford that it was risky to stay there at night but Gilford was not willing to listen. As it was getting pitch dark Gilford heard the unusual movement of people in the Palace and was alarmed. Now sensing danger he sent a messenger to the Fort at Anchu Thengu several kilometers away in the night itself. Soon a huge party of the Nair Pada and the Muslims ran over the English men and every one of the 150 odd people were killed. It was a clean operation where the superior arms did not help. Gilford, crafty and corrupt, to whom they had a long standing grudge, having killed many comrades, was beheaded and the body pinned on a wooden board, then floated in the river. The only one who escaped was the messenger sent by Gilford at night, who reached the Fort the next day. The horrifying revenge was known only at the time. It was mostly women and children at the Fort and the only competent gun man left there, one Samuel, evacuated the women and children to safety by sea. Expecting that the Nair Pada is to attack the Fort soon he sealed the doors. He also burned the large quantity of surplus gun powder stored in the premises.
As expected the attack of the Nair Pada came on April 14 . It was more to capture the Fort and the weaponry. But they could not enter the huge Fort walls and the cannons kept spitting fire, after sporadic attacks repulsed by the gun men they gave up. They returned back after setting fire to the houses in the vicinity of the Fort. On hearing about the tragedy that befell the Englishmen the Rani send a message expressing sorrow about what happened. Trade had become too attractive to lose. The King of Kollam also send a similar message. Taking advantage of the situation the King of Thiruvithamkode, Travancore, Rama Varma, who had assumed the throne only a few days back, made swift moves. Competition between the spice kingdoms was common, for better trading. Originally belonging to Kolathunadu, Rama Varma, brother Aditya Varma and his sisters were adopted in 1696. This adoption had the support of Adams, chief of the Tellicherry factory of the British, under which the Fort at Anchu Thengue also came. After the massacre the Rani and Vanchimuttom Pillai had left to Kollam allied with the Dutch. Rama Varma saw this an opportunity and also wanted to make his sister queen of Attingal. The British interfering in selection of kings and queens was common in this era, using terms in trade as the bait, offering luxuries and various other means.
In 1722 Alexander, a cousin of Adams, was appointed chief of Anchu Thengu. In the same year two more adoptions were made from Kolathunadu, a prince and a princess, at the behest of Adams and one of them was crowned the prince of Travancore. Rama Varma meanwhile gave permission to the English, by now his friends, to build a fort at Colachel and permission to mint coins for Travancore in 1723. He made an agreement with the English giving them monopoly for trade in Travancore and gave permission for yet another fort in Idava in 1726. From the two nephews of Rama Varma one was the Prince of Iraniel, who was to become famous later as Marthanda Varma, and the other Prince of Neyyattinkara. In 1728 the Prince of Neyyattinkara taking the help of the Naiks of Madurai hired a battalion of Vaduka Pada and marched on Attingal. The British all along did not directly confront the Nair Pada but made one to fight another. Fifteen of the leading Pillais in Attingal were executed and the remaining surrendered. Karthika Thirunal, a princess and his own relative, was made the queen of Attingal.
In 1729 after Rama Varma passed away the Neyyattinkara prince and another in Karunagappalli became kings of Travancore and both died in the same year one after other. Prince of Iraniel, Marthanda Varma, became the king of Travancore. He helped the British to contain the Dutch presence in the region and was instrumental in a major expansion drive. Soon Marthanda Varma captured all the remaining Pillais of Attingal involved in the massacre and handed them over to the English. From a small principality that remained south of the river Karamana, Travancore, with the help of the British got extended up to river Periyar in the north. With the help of a Brahmin minister Ramayyan all the principalities were subdued, many of these allied with the Dutch. The traditional social structure with the Nair warriors in charge were razed to the ground. Marthanda Varma raised new armies and this left the traditional warriors jobless. Nair chieftains’ powers of tax collection and legal duties stood removed and those who opposed were mercilessly persecuted, even the women and children not spared. Those favourable were promoted. The state was surrendered to the Padmanabha Swamy temple by Marthanda Varma, under Tulu Brahmin priests, as a clever move to neutralize revolt. But it was an actual surrender to the British that resulted, completed by his heir Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma who consolidated the British connection and Travancore came under the British in 1795. After the war with Mysore, where Tippu Sultan was defeated, Travancore was forced to accept the sovereignty of a Company, the English East India Company, traders became rulers.
The Travancore royalty, as also many other royal families, remained friends of the British, the British crown taking over control from the Company later, till India attained independence. The popular revolts that immediately followed this phase, by Pazhassi Raja in the north and Velu Thambi in the south (1790 – 1810), against the British, were contained. And those who revolted were pauperized and their powers gradually neutralised. Whether the human sacrifice at Attingal taught the British in India a lesson or it helped the chain of events leading to British occupation is a question that remains unanswered. Monopoly trade, what triggered the massacre, later took over the world and remains the most oppressive regime controlling mankind is a valid observation. Resource poor North exploiting the resource rich South using the game of trade continues to operate without any hindrance. The same urge to monopolise trade is what underlies the modern rhetoric of globalisation, only it is now much more subtle and sophisticated. It has become far too well entrenched, have governments as allies and it has become difficult to question the silent war killing millions in poverty.
History
It is beleived that Attingal town was built 800 years ago. During ancient times Attingal was known to be "Chittattinkara" as it is encircled on three sides by the rivers "Vamana puram river" and "Mamom river". Historically, Attingal has been the residence of the women of the Venad royal family. The Attingal Palace dates to 1305 C.E. Attingal and the surrounding areas were a principality within the Travancore kingdom, and were ruled by their queens. By the colonial period, trade flourished with Portuguese and Dutch traders. In 1735, Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, took Attingal.
Feudal status
The mother of the Maharaja of Travancore and her sister received the principality of Attingal in joint appanage. They were consequently styled the Senior and Junior Rani (the female form of Raja or Rana) of Attingal, respectively. Their husbands, known as Koil Tampurans, came from one of four or five princely houses who were closely related to the Royal House. Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
Attingal Revolution
Attingal Mutiny was the first ever rebellion againt the British in India. The grant of Anchuthengu to the English provoked the wrath of a section of the local population and in 1697 the English factory was subjected to a violent but futile attack. In 1721, the English factors felt the need to appease the Rani of Attingal (Queen) after alienating the local population by their "overbearing behaviour". They sent a set of presents to the Rani. The local agents of the "Pillamar" demanded that those presents should be given to them for transmission to the Rani. When it was denied, on the night of April 11, 1721 140 Englishmen were massacred on their way to the Rani, and the fort was laid under siege for nearly six months. The Nair Pada and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region The fort was relieved only when reinforcements for the English arrived from Talassery. Similarly the grant of Talassery was resented by Kurangoth Nair who claimed the territory to be under his control. He in alliance with one of the dissident Kolathiri princes, raided the Company's warehouse and inflicted heavy damage to property in 1704-05.
Attingal Palace
The Attingal palaces (Manomohanavilasom and Koyikkal), which are mentioned in literature dating from 1305 A.D., and many temples are in the Municipality. Chirayinkil, a town famous for its Sarkara Temple, is close by. It is also a major road junction.
Until 1837 Senior Rani Gouri Rukmani Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
The younger daughter of the Queen Regent Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai (1810-15), she succeeded her sister, Gouri Lakshmi Bai, as Senior Rani of Attingal. Two of her sons became Maharajas, she was mother of a total of eight children, and lived (1809-37).
1837-53 Senior Rani Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
Also known as Chathayam Tirunal, she succeeded Gouri Rukmani Bai as joint administrator of the principality of Attingal, which were given as appanage to the two senior Princesses of the Travancore royal family, which follows matrilineal inheritance, according to male primogeniture. She was unmarried and (d. 1853).
Kingdom of Travancore Part-1 of History of Kerala
Travancore Kings
Rama Varma 1663-1672
Aditya Varma 1672-1677
Umayamma Rani‡ 1677-1684
FLAG OF FORMER PRINCELY STATE OF TRAVANCORE
Ravi Varma 1684-1718
Aditya Varma 1718-1719
Unni Kerala Varma 1719-1724
Rajah Rama Varma 1724-1729
Marthanda Varma 1729-1758
Dharma Raja 1758-1798
Balarama Varma 1798-1810
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi‡ 1810-1815
Gowri Parvati Bayi‡ 1815-1829
Swathi Thirunal 1829-1846
Uthram Thirunal 1846-1860
Ayilyam Thirunal 1860-1880
Visakham Thirunal 1880-1885
Moolam Thirunal 1885-1924
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi‡ 1924-1931
Chithira Thirunal 1931-1949
‡ Regent Queens
Capitals
Padmanabhapuram 1721-1795
Thiruvananthapuram 1795-1949
Palaces
Padmanabhapuram Palace
Kilimanoor palace
Kuthira Malika
Kowdiar Palace
The first
War of Independence against the East India Company started from this
Palace in Attingal, Kerala. This war was headed by the Attingal Queen.
google map:-http://wikimapia.org#lat=8.6904027&lon=76.8029952&z=17&l=0&m=b&v=8
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Veera Mangai Velunachiyar was one of the queens in the 18th century in South India. She rebelled against the British Empire and fought for the freedom of India. She was born in 1730 AD to the Mannar Sellamuthu Sethupathy and to Rani Sakandhimuthal of Ramnad Kingdom. She was the only daughter of this Royal family. The Royal couple had no male heir. The royal family brought up the Princess, Velunachiyar, like Prince of Ramnad due to this reason. She was trained in the skills of using weapons and also in martial arts like Valari, stick fighting etc. She learnt horse riding and archery earlier. The Royal couple had engaged teachers to teach her many languages like French, English and Urdu. Thus this young brave Princess had excellent training in all war techniques. She was a scholar in many languages and was ready to rule the Ramnad Kingdom . She married Sivagangai Mannar Muthuvaduganathar at the age of sixteen. In the year 1772 , the English invaded her kingdom . Velu Nachiyar heard that her husband Raja Muthu Vaduganathar and her daughter young Princess Gowri Nachiyar were killed in Kalaiyar Koil war. This war was held in Kalaiyar Koil palace. British troops attacked the palace under the command of Lt.Col. Bon Jour . She was very much worried and wanted to take revenge. Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai and Maruthu brothers sustained injuries. They promised to recapture the samasthan to punish the English. Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai, an incredible and distinguished person was the most powerful administer in Sivagangai samsthanam. Thandavaraya Pillai, the loyalist served (1700-1773) as Palavay and also as Pirathani under the three rulers of Sivagangai samsthanam. He was responsible for the development of Sivagangai samsthanam . At first he served the King Sasivarna Periya Udaiya Thevar during 1730-1750. Later he served under Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar, the King during 1750-1772 . He also served as *Pirathani to the queen Rani Velu Nachiyar.Here Dalavay means military chief and the Pirathani means chief minister. Pirathani was responsible for the improvement of Foreign affairs. Thus the two charges were the most important and also powerful .
(Thandavaraya Pillai was the son of Kathavaraya Pillai who was an accountant and also as Karvar, (administer) in this samsthan.He rendered his service with loyalty from the beginning of this samsthanam. He administered well and helped in the development. The King Udaiya Thevar was very much pleased because of his good administration and granted him his hereditary management. It shows the significance of loyalty of Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai. He advised Veera Mangal Velunachiar to move to different places often in order to avoid British invaders . Meanwhile Dalavay Thandavarayan Pillai wrote a letter to Sultan Hyder Ali on behalf of Velu Nachiyar to provide 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to defeat the British army. But unfortunately he passed away due to old age. She decided to meet Hyder Ali after the demise of Dalavay Thandavarayan Pillai at Mysore with the help of his son. She could explain in detail in Urdu all her problems with East India Company. She explained him her strong opposition of British regime. Hyder Ali was very much pleased and promised to help her in this conflict… He accepted her request with sympathy and provided the necessary military assistance. He orderd Syed Karki of Dindigul fort gladar to provide the required military equipments to Rani Velu Nachiyar. He released 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to Rani Velu Nachiyar immediately. Her troops advanced to Sivaganga with the help provided by Maruthu brothers. The Nawab of Arcot put so many hindrances to avoid the advancement of Rani Velu Nachiyar’s combined troops. The queen and Maruthu brothers overcame all hurdles. They geared up the troops and entered Sivaganga. She defeated the Nawab of Arcot and took him as a captivator. She re-captured her Sivaganga samsthan with the help of Hyder Ali and crowned as queen of the Sivagangai seemai. Velu Nachiyar is only the first queen who raised the revolt against the British emperor. According to historians. Prof.Sanjeevi mentioned in his ‘ Maruthiruvar’ book that ‘ the bravery queen Velu Nachiyar raised revolt against English emperor and fought for the freedom of India 85 years before Jhansi Rani’s freedom struggle in North . Venkatam further stated that Velu Nachiyar is India’s Joan of Arc.
[by sivashanmugam.referred books: The Madura country a manual..J.H.Nelson. The Sivaganga Zamindary..K.Annaswamy Aiyer.Maruthiruvar..Prof.Sanjeevi.Viduthalai porin vidi velligal… M.Balakrishnan..]
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Kuyili was a follower of Rani Velu Nachiar, the 18th century queen of Sivaganga. After her husband Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar was killed in a battle in 1780, Velu Nachiyar fought the British with help from Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali and won the battle. Her army commander Kuyili doused herself with oil, set herself ablaze and walked into a British storehouse of ammunition.
While a commemorative postage stamp on Rani Velu Nachiar
Indian Stamps-Rani Velu Nachchiyar-By India Post
Rani Velu Nachiar and her daughter Vellachi Nachiar lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupakshi near Dindigul. Frustrated by the joining of forces against him, the Nawab ordered that Velu Nachiar and Marudhu Brothers were permitted to return to Sivaganga and rule the country subject to payment of Kist to the Nawab. Abiding by this Order, Rani Velu Nachiar accompanied by Marudu brothers and Vellachi Nachiar entered Sivaganga. An agreement was reached where by Rani Velu Nachiar was permitted to govern the Sivaganga Country and Chinna Marudu, the younger was appointed her minister and the elder Vellai Marudu as the Commander-in-chief. Thus the widow Queen Velu Nachiar succeeded her husband in 1780.
Date Of Issue:-31.12.2008.
Rani Velu Nachiyar (Tamil: இராணி வேலு நாச்சியார்) was an 18th century Indian Queen from Sivaganga. Rani Velu Nachiyar is the first Queen of Tamil Origin to fight against the British in India.[1]
Velu Nachiyar is the first queen who fought for the freedom against British in India and succeeded.
The Queen Velu Nachiar granted powers to Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780. Velu Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). Marudu brothers are the sons of Udayar Servai alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai and Anandayer alias Ponnathal. They are native of Kongulu street of Ramnad. They belonged neither to the family of the ancient poligars nor to their division of the caste.[5]
On 31-December-2008, a commemorative postage stamp on her was released
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CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to honour freedom fighter Kuyili with a memorial in Sivaganga district.
Kuyili was a follower of Rani Velu Nachiar, the 18th century queen of Sivaganga
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1 Rani of Jhansi
Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi whose heroism and superb leadership laid an outstanding example for all future generations of women freedom fighters. Married to Gangadhar Rao head of the state of Jhansi. She was not allowed to adopt a successor after his death by the British, and Jhansi was annexed.
With the outbreak of the Revolt she became determined to fight back. She used to go into the battlefield dressed as a man. Holding the reins of there horse in her mouth she used the sword with both hands. Under her leadership the Rani's troops showed undaunted courage and returned shot for shot. Considered by the British as the best and bravest military leader of rebels this sparkling epitome of courage died a hero's death in the battlefield.
10. BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL
Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of Lucknow against the British. Although, she was queen and used to a life of luxury, she appeared on the battle-field herself to encourage her troops. Begam Hazrat Mahal held out against the British with all her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal.
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9. MADAM CAMA
"This flag is of Indian Independence! Behold, it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young Indians who sacrificed their lives. I call upon you, gentlemen to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence. In the name of this flag, I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to support this flag." -- B. Cama , Stuttgart, Germany, 19she unfurled the first National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart (Germany) in 1907. A thousand representatives from several countries were attending. An Indian lady in a colorful sari was a rare phenomena in those days and her majestic appearance and brave and clear words made everybody think that she was a Maharani or at least a princess from a native state.
The tricolor-flag Madam Cama unfurled had green, saffron, and red stripes. Red represented strength, saffron victory, and green stood for boldness and enthusiasm. there were eight lotuses representing the eight provinces and flowers represented princely states. "Vande Mataram" in Devanagari adorned central saffron stripe which meant "salutation to Mother India." The sun and the moon indicated Hindu and Muslim faiths. The flag was designed by Veer Savarkar with the help of other revolutionaries. After Stuttgart, Madam went to United States. She traveled a lot and informed Americans about Indians struggling for Independence. She told about British efforts to smother the voice of educated Indians who protested against tyranny and despotism of British who always boasted themselves as "mother of parliamentary democracy" over the world! She could be called "Mother India's first cultural representative to USA."Where is the Flag Now?
The flag was smuggled into India by Indulal Yagnik, the socialist leader of Gujarat. It is now on public display at the Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune
4. ARUN ASAF ALI
Aruna was born at Kalka, Haryana into a Bengali Brahmo family. She was educated at Lahore and Nainital. She graduated and worked as a teacher, an achievement in itself for women, given the conditions prevalent in the country at that time. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta. She met Asaf Ali, a leader in the congress party at Allahabad and married him in 1928, despite parental opposition on grounds of religion (she was a Brahmo while he was a Muslim) and age (a difference of more than 20 years).
She became an active member of Congress Party after marriage and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. She was arrested on the charge that she was a vagrant and hence not released in 1931 under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact which stipulated release of all political prisoners. Other women co-prisoners refused to leave the premises unless she was also released and gave in only after Mahatma Gandhi intervened. A public agitation secured her release.
6. KAMLA NEHRU
Many women of the Nehru family too had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. Kamala Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's wife gave full support to her husband in his desire to work actively for the freedom struggle. In the Nehru hometown of Allahabad she organized processions, addressed meetings and led picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. She played a prominent part in organizing the No Tax Campaign in United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh).
Kamala Kaul Nehru (1899–1936) was the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress and first Prime Minister of India. Kamala married Nehru on 8 February 1916. Their marriage was arranged by his parents.
8. VIJAYALAXMI PANDIT
Jawaharlal Nehur's sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit inspired by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and impressed by Sarojini Naidu entered the Non Cooperation Movement. She was arrested in 1932 and sent to and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment. She was arrested in 1940, and yet again during the Quit India Movement. She attended the Pacific Relations Conference at Hot Springs, U.S.A. as leader of the Indian delegation sponsored by the Indian Council of World Affairs. She was present in San Francisco when the U.N first met there, and through numerous well attended public lectures she challenged the British dominated delegates rights to represent India therein.Sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also played a great role in the freedom movement. She was elected to Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1936 and in 1946. She was the first woman in India to hold a ministerial rank. She was imprisoned thrice for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932. 1941 and 1942. After Independence, she continued to serve the country. She was the first woman to become president of the United Nations General Assembly.
Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit (1900 - 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician, In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on January 14, 1944. She was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post. In 1937 she was elected to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health. She held the latter post until 1939 and again from 1946 to 1947. In 1946 she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces.
12. Sucheta Kripalani
The contribution of Sucheta Kripalani in the struggle for freedom is also worthy of note. She courted imprisonment for taking part in freedom struggle. She was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946. She was general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967. Sucheta Kripalani was in the words of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, “a person of rare courage and character who brought credit to Indian womanhood.”
She was born in Ambala, Haryana to a Bengali family. Her father, S.N. Majumdar though a government doctor was a nationalist. Educated at Indraprastha College and St.Stephen's College, Delhi she became a lecturer at the Banaras Hindu University. In 1936, she married socialist, Acharya Kriplani and became involved with the Indian National Congress.
Like her contemporaries Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta, she came to the forefront during the Quit India Movement. She later worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She accompanied him to Noakhali in 1946. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution. She became a part of the subcommittee that was handed over the task of laying down the charter for the constitution of India. On 15th August, 1947 she sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly.
After independence she remained involved with politics in U.P. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and 1957 and served as a Minister of State for Small Scale Industries. In 1962, she was elected to the U.P Assembly from Kanpur and served in the Cabinet in 1962. In 1963, she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state. The highlight of her tenure was the firm handling of a state employees strike. The first-ever strike by the state employees which continued for 62 days took place during her regime. She relented only when the employees' leaders agreed for compromise. Although the wife of a socialist, Kriplani cemented her reputation as a firm administrator by refusing their demand for pay hike.
She retired from politics in 1971 and remained in seclusion till her death in 1974.She was a very active member.She became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister of a state
LAXMI SWAMINATHAN/LAXMI SEHGAL
Rani of Jhansi Regiment 1943 –45.[WITH CAPTAIN LAXMI SWAMINATHAN AND BOSE]CLICK AND READ:-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rani_of_Jhansi_Regiment
INDIAN FEMALE SOLDIER S UNDER SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE -- KNOWN AS 'RANI OF JHANSI REGIMENT ' FIGHTING AGAINST BRITISH TROOPS
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A BRAVE WOMAN PATRIOT FROM PALGHAT ,KERALA - Lt Col LAXMI Swaminathan of the Indian National Army-CLICK AND READ:->http://pazhayathu.blogspot.in
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Veteran freedom fighter Captain Lakshmi Sehgal passes away- July 23, 2012
Veteran freedom fighter Lakshmi Sehgal passed away at the age of 97.
On Thursday, Sehgal was admitted to a hospital in Kanpur after she suffered cardiac arrest.
A long time companion of Subhash Chandra Bose, she was a captain of Rani of Jhansi Regiment of Indian National Army. A doctor by profession, she was honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 1998. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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ALSO READ BLOG:-
INDIA FIGHTS FOR INDEPENDENCE;AND HISTORY OF INDIAN FLAG:-http://pazhayathu.blogspot.in/2010/12/india-fights-for-independenceand.html
PERSONALITIES - KAMALA BAI PRABHU
The visit of Gadhiji to Thalassery
created a lot of enthusiasm among freedom fighters. A lot of women came
forward to court arrest. Among them was Kamala Bai Prabhu who was
arrested and brought before a Joint Magistrate Court. She was senteced
to 6 months imprisonment and Rs. 1,000 fine. Kamala Bai refused to pay
the fine and instead removed her nose-ring and gave it to the
magistrate. The magistrate was not satisfied and asked her to handover
her mangalsutra. She told the magistrate that only the widows can
remove the mangalsutra. The magistrate did not agree and asked the
police to break the mangalsutra and hand it over. Left with no option
kamal bai told a female friend to remove the mangalsutra and give it to
the magistrate. She was then sent to the Vellore central jail.
The incident created a big controlversy. V.P. Narayanan Nambiar raised the issue in the Madras Assembly and S. Sathyamurthy took it up in the Parliament. The issue even came up in the British parliament. Mohammed Ismail, the advisor to the Madras goverment express regrets for the incident. He also ordered that the mangalsutra be returned to Kamala Bai but she refused to accept it. The magistrate Dodwell who created the mangalsutra controversy was sent back to Britain.
The incident created a big controlversy. V.P. Narayanan Nambiar raised the issue in the Madras Assembly and S. Sathyamurthy took it up in the Parliament. The issue even came up in the British parliament. Mohammed Ismail, the advisor to the Madras goverment express regrets for the incident. He also ordered that the mangalsutra be returned to Kamala Bai but she refused to accept it. The magistrate Dodwell who created the mangalsutra controversy was sent back to Britain.
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Sarojini Naidu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sarojini Naidu | |
|---|---|
 Sarojini Naidu in Bombay (now Mumbai), 1946 |
|
| Born | Sarojini Chattopadhyaya 13 February 1879 Hyderabad, Hyderabad State, India |
| Died | 2 March 1949 (aged 70) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Occupation | Poet, writer, social activist |
| Nationality | Indian Bengali |
| Alma mater | King's College London Girton College, Cambridge |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu |
| Children | Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani |
| Signature |  |
Contents |
Early Life
She was born in Hyderabad to Bengali Hindu Kulin Brahmin family to Agorenath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Devi on 18th February 1879. Her father was a doctor of science from Edinburgh University, settled in Hyderabad State, where he founded and administered the Hyderabad College, which later became the Nizam's College in Hyderabad. Her mother was a poetess baji and used to write poetry in Bengali. Sarojini Naidu was the eldest among the eight siblings. One of her brothers Birendranath was a revolutionary and her other brother, Harindranath was a poet, dramatist, and actor. [5]Career
Indian Freedom Fighter
File:She was known as Nightingale of India.Mahatma & Sarojini Naidu 1930.JPG
Sarojini Naidu (extreme right) with Mahatma Gandhi during Salt Satyagraha, 1930
During 1915-1918, she traveled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women empowerment and nationalism. She awakened the women of India and brought them out of the kitchen. She also helped to establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in 1917.[7] She was sent to London along with Annie Besant, President of WIA, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.
President of the Congress
In 1925, Sarojini Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at Cawnpore. In 1929, she presided over East African Indian Congress in South Africa. She was awarded the hind a kesari medal by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India.[8] In 1931, she participated in the Round table conference with Gandhiji and Madan Mohan Malaviya.[9] Sarojini Naidu played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhiji and other leaders. In 1942, Sarojini Naidu was arrested during the "Quit India" movement and was jailed for 21 months with Gandhiji. She shared a very warm relationship with Gandhiji and used to call him "Mickey Mouse".[10]Literary career
Sarojini Naidu began writing at the age of 12. Her play, Maher Muneer, impressed the Nawab of Hyderabad. In 1905, her collection of poems, named "The Broken Exes" was published.[11] Her poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Jawaharlal Nehru .Marriage
During her stay in England, Sarojini met Dr. Govindarajulu Naidu, a non-Brahmin and a doctor by profession, and fell in love with him. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she got married to him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her father approved the marriage and her marriage was a very happy one.[5]The couple had five children. Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, Nilawar and Leelamani. Her daughter Padmaja followed in to her footprints and became the Governor of West Bengal. In 1961, she published a collection of poems entitled The Feather of The Dawn. [12]
Works
Each year links to its corresponding "[year] in poetry" article:- 1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom[13] (text available online)
- 1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London[14]
- 1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring, including "The Gift of India" (first read in public in 1915)[14][15]
- 1916: Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity[16]
- 1943: The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan, posthumously published[14]
- 1961: The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her daughter, Padmaja Naidu[17]
- 1971:The Indian Weavers [18]
Famous Poems
- Damayante to Nala in the Hour of Exile
- Ecstasy
- Indian Dancers
- The Indian Gypsy
- Indian Love-Song
- Indian Weavers
- In Salutation to the Eternal Peace
- In the Forest
- In the Bazaars of Hyderabad
- Leili
- Nightfall in the City of Hyderabad
- Palanquin Bearers
- The Pardah Nashin
- Past and Future
- The Queen's Rival
- The Royal Tombs of Golconda
- The Snake-Charmer
- Song of a Dream
- The Soul's Prayer
- Suttee
- To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus
- To the God of Pain
- Wandering Singers
- Street Cries
- Alabaster
- Autumn Song
- Bangle Sellers
===============================================
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kamaladevi 3 April 1903 Mangalore, Karnataka, India |
| Died | 29 October 1988 (aged 85) |
| Alma mater | Bedford College (London) |
| Spouse(s) | Krishna Rao (m. 1917–1919) Harindranath Chattopadhyay (m. 1919–1988) |
| Children | Ramakrishna Chattopadhyaya |
| Awards | Ramon Magsaysay Award (1966) Padma Bhushan (1955) Padma Vibhushan (1987) |
Several cultural institutions in India today are a gift of her vision, including the National School of Drama, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Central Cottage Industries Emporium, and the Crafts Council of India.
The doyen of Indian arts and crafts, a person single-handedly responsible for reviving Indian crafts back from oblivion of 200 years of foreign rule where they went without any patronage, be it government or public, due lack of awareness of its richness as well as its accessibility to the common man.
She stressed the significance which handicrafts and cooperative grassroot movements, play in the social and economic upliftement of the Indian people. To this end she withstood great opposition both before and after independence from the power centres, but managed to leave behind a rich and formidable legacy of thriving Indian handicrafts, theatre forms and arts that have now become an integral of our rural economy, across the nation.
Contents |
Biography
Early life
Born on 3 April 1903, Kamaladevi was the fourth and youngest daughter of a Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin couple in Mangalore. Her father, Ananthaya Dhareshwar was the District Collector of Mangalore, and her mother Girijabai, from whom she inherited an independent streak, belonged to an aristocratic family from Karnataka. Kamaladevi's grandmother was herself, a scholar of ancient Indian texts, and her a mother was also well-educated though mostly home-educated. Together their presence in the household, gave Kamaladevi a firm grounding and provided benchmarks to respect for her intellect as well as her voice, something that she came to known for in the coming years, when she stood as the voice of the downtrodden as well as the unheard.Kamaladevi was an exceptional student and also exhibited qualities of determination and courage from an early age. Her parents’ befriended many prominent freedom fighters and intellectuals such as Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and women leaders like Ramabai Ranade, and Annie Besant, this made young Kamaladevi an early enthusiast of the swadeshi nationalist movement.
She studied about ancient Sanskrit drama tradition of Kerala- Kutiyattam, from its greatest Guru and authority of Abhinaya, Nātyāchārya Padma Shri Māni Mādhava Chākyār by staying at Guru's home at Killikkurussimangalam.[2]
Tragedy struck early in life, when her elder sister, Saguna, whom she considered a role model, died in her teens, soon after her early marriage, and when she was just seven years old her father died as well. To add to her mother, Girijabai's trouble, he died without leaving a will for his vast property, so according to property laws of the times, the entire property went to her stepson, and they only got a monthly allowance. Girijabai defiantly refused the allowance and decided to raise her daughters on her dowry property.
Her rebellious streak was visible even as a child, when young Kamaladevi questioned the aristocratic division of her mother’s household, and preferred to mingle with her servants and their children wanting to understand their life as well.
First Marriage and widowhood
In 1917, when was only fourteen years of age, she was married to Krishna Rao, and within two years she was widowed, while she was still at school. According to orthodox Hindu rules of the times, being a widow she was not allowed to continue her education, yet she defiantly moved to Chennai, and continued her education from St. Mary's School, Chennai and finally completed her high school in 1918.[3]1920s
Marriage to Harin
Meanwhile studying at Queen Mary’s College in Chennai, she came to know with Suhasini Chattopadhyay, a fellow student and the younger sister of Sarojini Naidu, who later introduced Kamaladevi to their talented brother, Harin, by then a well-known poet-playwright-actor. It was their mutual interest in the arts, which brought them together.Finally when she was twenty years old, Kamaladevi married Harindranath Chattopadhyay, much to the opposition of the orthodox society of the times, which was still heavily against widow marriage. Their only son Ramu was born in the following year.[4] Harin and Kamaladevi stayed together to pursue common dreams, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, and in spite of many difficulties, they were able to work together, to produce plays and skits.
Later she also acted in a few films, in an era when acting was considered unsuitable for women from respectable families. In her first stint, she acted in two silent films, including the first silent film[5] of Kannada film industry, 'Mricchakatika'(Vasantsena) (1931), based on the famous play by Sudraka, also starring Yenakshi Rama Rao, and directed by pioneering Kannada director, Mohan Dayaram Bhavnani. In her second stint in films she acted in a 1943 Hindi film, Tansen, also starring K. L. Saigal and Khursheed,[6] followed by Shankar Parvati (1943), and Dhanna Bhagat (1945).[7]
Eventually after many years of marriage, they parted ways amicably. Here again, Kamaladevi broke a tradition by filing for divorce much to the chagrin of the society, rather than stay in a non-functional marriage.
Move to London
Shortly after their marriage, Harin left for London, on his first trip abroad, and a few months later Kamaladevi joined him, where she joined Bedford College, University of London, and later she received a diploma in Sociology.Call of the Freedom Movement
While still in London, Kamaladevi came to know of Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement in 1923, and she promptly returned to India, to join the Seva Dal, a Gandhian organisation set up to promote social upliftment. Soon she was placed in charge of the women's section of the Dal, where she got involved in recruiting, training and organizing girls and women of all ages women across India, to become voluntary workers, 'sevikas'.In 1926, she met the suffragette Margaret E. Cousins, the founder of All India Women's Conference (AIWC), and was inspired her to run for the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly. Thus she became the first woman to run for a Legislative seat in India. Though she could campaign for only a few days, she lost only by 200 votes.
The All-India Women's Conference
In the following year, she founded the All-India Women's Conference (AIWC) and became its first Organizing Secretary. In the following years, AIWC, grew up to become a national organization of repute, with branches and voluntary programs run throughout the nation, and work steadfastly for legislative reforms. During her tenure, she travelled extensively to many European nations and was inspired to initiate several social reform and community welfare programs, and set up educational institutions, run for the woman, and by women. Another shining example in this series was the formation of Lady Irwin College for Home Sciences, a one of its kind college for women of its times, in New Delhi.1930s
Later she was a part of the seven member lead team, announced by Mahatma Gandhi, in the famous Salt Satyagraha (1930), to prepare Salt at the Bombay beachfront, the only other woman volunteer of the team was Avantikabai Gokhale. Later in a startling move, Kamaladevi went up to a nearby High Court, and asked a magistrate present there whether he would be interested in buying the 'Freedom Salt' she had just prepared.On 26 January 1930 she captured the imagination of the entire nation when in a scuffle, she clung to the Indian tricolour to protect it.[8]
First Indian woman to be arrested
In the 1930s, she was arrested for entering the Bombay Stock Exchange to sell packets of contraband salt, and spent almost a year in prison. In 1936, she became president of the Congress Socialist Party, working alongside Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia and Minoo Masani. For her, feminism was inseparable from socialism, and where necessary she opposed her own colleagues when they ignored or infringed women’s rights. For instance, when Mahatma Gandhi opposed the inclusion of women in the Dandi March (claiming that Englishmen would not hurt women, just as Hindus would not harm cows), Kamaladevi spoke out against this stand. Some time in the 1920s she and Harindranath separated and divorced by mutual consent; their marriage had largely been one of convenience and they had followed different paths.1940s
When World War II broke out Kamaladevi was in England, and she immediately began a world tour to represent India’s situation to other countries and drum up support for Independence after the war.Post-Independence work
Independence of India, brought Partition in its wake, and she plunged into rehabilitation of the refugees. Her first task was to set up the Indian Cooperative Union to help with rehabilitation, and through the Union she made plans for a township on cooperative lines. At length Mahatma Gandhi reluctantly gave her permission on the condition that she did not ask for state assistance, and so after much struggle, the township of Faridabad was set up, on the outskirts of Delhi, rehabilitating over 50,000 refugees from the Northwest Frontier. She worked tirelessly helped the refugees to establish new homes, and new professions, for this they were trained in new skills, she also helped setting up health facilities in the new town.Thus began the second phase of life's work in rehabilitation of people as well their lost crafts, she is considered single handedly responsible for the great revival of Indian handicrafts and handloom, in the post-independence era, and is considered her greatest legacy to modern India.[9]
1950s and beyond
Around this time she became concerned at the possibility that the introduction of Western methods of factory-based mass production in India as part of Nehru's vision for Indian's development would affect traditional artisans, especially women in the unorganised sectors. She set up a series of crafts museums to hold and archive India's indigenous arts and crafts that served as a storehouse for indigenous known how. This included the Theatre Crafts Museum in Delhi.She equally promoted arts and crafts, and instituted the National Awards for Master Craftsmen, and a culmination of her enterprising spirit lead to the setting up Central Cottage Industries Emporia, throughout the nation to cater to the tastes of a nation, rising to its ancient glory.
In 1964 she started the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography (NIKC), Bangalore, under the aegis of Bharatiya Natya Sangh, affiliated to the UNESCO. Its present director is famous danseuse Smt. Maya Rao.
Kamaladevi was a woman ahead of her times, she was instrumental in setting up the All India Handicrafts Board, she was also it's the first chairperson, The Crafts Council of India was also the first president of the World Crafts Council, Asia Pacific Region.[10]
She also set up the National School of Drama and later headed the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and also a member of UNESCO. Her acclaimed autobiography, Inner Recesses and Outer Spaces: Memoir was published in 1986.
Awards and recognition
The Government of India conferred on her the Padma Bhushan (1955) and later the second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan in 1987, which are among the highest civilian awards of the Republic of India. She also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1966) for Community Leadership. She was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship, Ratna Sadsya, the highest award of Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama, given for lifetime achievement in 1974,.[11]UNESCO honoured her with an award in 1977 for her contribution towards the promotion of handicrafts. Shantiniketan honoured her with the Desikottama, its highest award. UNIMA (Union Internationals de la Marlonette), International Puppetry organization, also made her their Member of Honour.
Legacy
In 2007, the Outlook Magazine chose Kamaladevi amongst its list of 60 Great Indians.[12] and she was India Today's, 100 Millennium People.[13]Today, the World Crafts Council gives two awards in her memory, the Kamaladevi Awards and the Kamala Sammaan, for exceptional craft persons or to individual for their outstanding contribution to the field of Crafts.[14] Apart from that the Crafts Council of Karnataka, also gives the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Vishwakarma Awards, each year to noteworthy crafts persons.[15]
For over three decades now, Bhartiya Natya Sangha has been awarding the 'Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya Award' for the best play of the year.
Books by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
- The Awakening of Indian women, Everyman’s Press, 1939.
- Japan-its weakness and strength, Padma Publications 1943.
- Uncle Sam's empire, Padma publications Ltd, 1944.
- In war-torn China, Padma Publications, 1944.
- Towards a National theatre, (All India Women's Conference, Cultural Section. Cultural books), Aundh Pub. Trust, 1945.
- America,: The land of superlatives, Phoenix Publications, 1946.
- At the Cross Roads, National Information and Publications, 1947.
- Socialism and Society, Chetana, 1950.
- Tribalism in India, Brill Academic Pub, 1978, ISBN 0706906527.
- Handicrafts of India, Indian Council for Cultural Relations & New Age International Pub. Ltd., New Delhi, India, 1995. ISBN 99936-12-78-2.
- Indian Women’s Battle for Freedom. South Asia Books, 1983. ISBN 0-8364-0948-5.
- Indian Carpets and Floor Coverings, All India Handicrafts Board, 1974.
- Indian embroidery, Wiley Eastern, 1977.
- India's Craft Tradition, Publications Division, Ministry of I & B, Govt. of India, 2000. ISBN 81-230-0774-4.
- Indian Handicrafts, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd, Bombay India, 1963.
- Traditions of Indian Folk Dance.
- The Glory of Indian Handicrafts, New Delhi, India: Clarion Books, 1985.
- Inner Recesses, Outer Spaces: Memoirs, 1986. ISBN 81-7013-038-7.
Book on Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya
- Sakuntala Narasimhan, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay. New Dawn Books, 1999. ISBN 81-207-2120-9.
- S.R. Bakshi, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya : Role for Women’s Welfare, Om, 2000, ISBN 81-86867-34-1.
- Reena Nanda, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya: A Biography (Modern Indian Greats), Oxford University Press, USA, 2002, ISBN 0-19-565364-5.
- Jamila Brij Bhushan, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya - Portrait of a Rebel, Abhinav Pub, 2003. ISBN 81-7017-033-8.
- M.V. Narayana Rao (Ed.), Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay: A True Karmayogi. The Crafts Council of Karnataka: Bangalore. 2003
- Malvika Singh, The Iconic Women of Modern India - Freeing the Spirit. Penguin, 2006, ISBN 0-14-310082-3.
- Jasleen Dhamija, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, National Book Trust , 2007. ISBN 8123748825
- Indra Gupta , India’s 50 Most Illustrious Women. ISBN 81-88086-19-3.
15 Amazing Indian Women Freedom Fighters
17
Dec
Women shouldered critical responsibilities in India’s struggle for freedom. They held public meetings, organized picketing of shops selling foreign alcohol and articles, sold Khadi and actively participated in National Movements. They bravely faced the baton of the police and went behind the iron bars. Hundreds and thousands of Indian women dedicated their lives for obtaining freedom of their motherland and only very few could include in this essay due to space restriction.
Mahatma Gandhi squarely summed up the strength of womanhood in his tribute to the gender:
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to women. If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man’s superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self sacrificing, has she not greater power of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man would not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is woman. I have nursed this thought now for years”.
The list of great women whose names have gone down in history for their dedication and undying devotion to the service of India is a long one. Here are just few of them whose patriotism will be in the hearts of the million of Indians forever.
1.Kittur Rani Chennamma (1778-1829)
Kitturu Rani Chennamma was the queen of the princely state of Kittur in Karnataka. In 1824, 33 years before the 1857 war of independence, she led an armed rebellion against the British in response to the Doctrine of lapse. The resistance ended in her martyrdom and she is remembered today as one of the earliest Indian rulers to have fought for independence. Along with Abbakka Rani, Keladi Chennamma and Onake Obavva she is much venerated in Karnataka as an icon of bravery and women’s pride.
2.Rani of Jhansi(1828-1858)
The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Dressed in man’s clothes, she led her soldiers to war against the British. Even her enemies admired her courage and daring. She fought valiantly and although beaten she refused to surrender and fell as a warrior should, fighting the enemy to the last. Her remarkable courage inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule.
3.Rani Avanti Bai (1831-1858)
Rani Avantibai was born on 16/08/1831.When Vikramaditya Singh, the ruler of Ramgarh State died leaving behind his wife Avantibai and no heir to the throne, the British put the state under court administration. Avantibai vowed to win back her land from the British. She raised an army of four thousand men and led it herself against the British in 1857. A fierce battle ensured and Avantibai fought most valiantly but could not hold out for long against the superior strength of the British army. When her defeat become imminent she killed herself with her own sword and English army couldn’t defeat her in her life. Later Rani Avantibia’s sacrifice became a example to the Lodhian kingdom and became history of the fight for freedom on 20-03-1858. She was a great freedom fighter.
4.Begum Hazrath Mahal (1879)
Begum Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Hazrat Mahal was known as the Begum of Avadh (Oudh). She was stunning beautiful, and used her courage and leadership qualities to rebel against the British East India Company during the First Indian War of Independence.
After her husband had been sent away in exile to Calcutta, she with the cooperation of a zealous hand of supporters like Sarafaddaulah, Bal Krishna, Raja Jai Lal and Mammon Khan worked incessantly to revive the fortunes of Avadh. She seized control of Lucknow in association with the revolutionary forces and set up her son, Prince Birjis Qadir, as the ruler of Avadh, Hazrat Mahal worked in association with Nana Saheb but later escaped from Lucknow and joined the Maulavi of Faizabad in the attack on Sahajahanpur. She was driven from pillar to post, but she made her retreat with fortitude. She rejected with the contempt the promises of allowance and status held out to her by the British against whom her hatred was unrelenting. In the end after bearing misfortune and misery throughout the period of resistance, she found asylum in Nepal where she died in 1879.
5.Sarojinidevi Naidu(1879-1949)
Sarojini Naidu (Chattapadhya) was born on February 13, 1879 in Hyderabad. Her father, Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, was the founder of Nizam College of Hyderabad and a scientist. Her mother, Mrs. Varasundari, was a Bengali poetess. Sarojinidevi inherited qualities from both her father and mother.
Once she was working on an algebra problem, and when she couldn’t find the solution she decided to take a break, and in the same book she wrote her first inspired poetry. She got so enthused by this that she wrote “The Lady of the Lake”, a poem 1300 lines long. When her father saw that she was more interested in poetry than mathematics or science, he decided to encourage her. With her father’s support, she wrote the play “Maher Muneer” in the Persian language. Dr. Chattopadhyaya distributed some copies among his friends and sent one copy to the Nawab of Hyderabad. Reading a beautiful play written by a young girl, the Nizam was very impressed. The college gave her a scholarship to study abroad. At the age of 16 she got admitted to King’s College of England. There she met famous laureates of the time.
During her stay in England, Sarojini met Dr. Govind Naidu from southern India. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she got married to him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her father was a progressive thinking person, and he did not care what others said. Her marriage was a very happy one. Her major contribution was also in the field of poetry. Her poetry had beautiful words that could also be sung. Soon she got recognition as the “Bul Bule Hind” when her collection of poems was published in 1905 under the title “Golden Threshold”. After that, she published two other collections of poems–”The Bird of Time” and “The Broken Wings”. In 1918, ” Feast of Youth” was published. Later, “The Magic Tree”, “The Wizard Mask” and “A Treasury of poems” were published. Mahashree Arvind, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru were among the thousands of admirers of her work. Her poems had English words, but an Indian soul.
One day she met Shree Gopal Krishna Gokhale. He said to her to use her poetry and her beautiful words to rejuvenate the spirit of Independence in the hearts of villagers. He asked her to use her talent to free Mother India. Then in 1916, she met Mahatma Gandhi, and she totally directed her energy to the fight for freedom. She would roam around the country like a general of the army and pour enthusiasm among the hearts of Indians. The independence of India became the heart and soul of her work.
She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She brought them out of the kitchen. She traveled from state to state, city after city and asked for the rights of the women. She re-established self-esteem within the women of India.
In 1925, she chaired the summit of Congress in Kanpur. In 1928, she came to the USA with the message of the non-violence movement from Gandhiji. When in 1930, Gandhiji was arrested for a protest, she took the helms of his movement. In 1931, she participated in the Round Table Summit, along with Gandhiji and Pundit Malaviyaji. In 1942, she was arrested during the “Quit India” protest and stayed in jail for 21 months with Gandhiji. After independence she became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was the first woman governor. She was a woman of a great country, with such a great heritage in which Sitamata, Draupadi, Savitri and Damayanti were born. Their purity, courage,determination and self-confidence were the foundation of her own character and personality.
On March 2, 1949, she took her last breath, and India lost her beloved child, her “Bulbul.” Nevertheless, her name will always be in the golden history of India as an inspiring poet and a brave freedom fighter.
6.Preeti Lata Waddadar (1911-32)
Preetilata was born on 5 May 1911 in the Dholaghat village of Chittagong. Her father’s name was Jagabandhu Wadddadar, the head clerk of Chittagong Municipality. Her mother Protibha Waddadar was a patron of the local revolutionaries and a supporter of Swadeshi movement. In 1927 Preetilata obtained her SSC in first division from Dr Khastogir Girls’ College. Then she moved to Dhaka for her HSC studies and enrolled in Eden College. As a student of Eden Girls’ College, Preetilata joined the Deepali Sangha, a Dhaka based women’s revolutionary organization. In 1929 Preetilata topped among the female students in HSC exam. Due to her outstanding result Preetilata was awarded Tk (Rs.) 20.00 monthly scholarship from the board of education. The financial support enabled Preetilata to pursue her higher studies in Kolkata, the then center of culture and education of united Bangla. In Kolkata, Preetilata succeeded in enrolling in the prestigious Bethune College. As a member of the Revolutionary party Preetilata immediately formed a student front of the revolutionary party with a couple of her classmates. Her group raised money to support the Chittagong based revolutionaries and organized a readers’ forum to promote patriotic spirit among the college students. On the direction of the party high command Preetilata bought explosive implements from underground factories in Kolkata and took the explosives to Chittagong. Her mates at Bethune College, Kalpana Datta, Sarojini Pal, Kumudini Rakkhit, Renuka Ray, and Kamala Mukherjee helped Preetilata in her mission. In 1930 Preetilata, instead of seating for BA (hons), sat for BA (pass) exam and passed BA with distinction. On her return to Chittagong Preetilata started her teaching career and joined as the principal of a newly established English medium school, Aparna Charan Girls High School. Preetilata was a member of Jugantar-a secret revolutionary organization.
The death of comrade Ardhendu Dastidar in the Jalalabad hill war on 22 April 1930 spurred her commitment to revolutionary causes. On 13 June 1932 Preetilata secretly met Mastarda Surya Sen, the legendary Bangalee revolutionary, at the residence of Sabitri Debi of Dholaghat. In the meeting Preetilata demanded that girls should be given equal opportunity in armed revolutionary activities. She argued that many young people have already given their lives for the freedom of the motherland, now it was the time for the girls to embrace the same fate of honor.
The task for attacking the European Club in Chittagong was initially assigned to rebel Shaileshwar Chakraborty which he failed to carry out twice for various reasons. In September 1932 Surya Sen came to South Kattali village to discuss the strategies and tactics for attacking the European Club. On the instruction from the party high command Preetilata and Kalpana Datta, wearing man’s clothes in order to escape the British spies, headed for the secret meeting called by Surya Sen. Unfortunately Kalpana was arrested at Pahartali but Preetilata managed to skip the British spies. In the meeting Surya Sen told Preetilata that she was nominated to lead the attack on the European Club on 23 September 1932 and the other members of her team were: 1. Shanti Chakraborty (Kattali) 2. Kali Dey (Gosail Danga) 3. Sushil Dey (Dharala) 4. Prafulla Das ((Kattali) 5. Mahendra Chaudhury (Mohra).
At 2145 hrs on 23 September Surya Sen, with one of his body guards, came to Kattali to wish luck to his comrades for the success of the operation. At 2200 hrs Preetilata and her comrades, all wearing military uniforms, took farewell from the commander and marched off to carry out the operation. Soon they reached the European Club and took position in the bush near the club. They were carrying rifles robbed from the British armories, pistols and macerates in their waists and bombs in their haversacks. The British colonial officers were having a great time inside the club while Preetilata’s team was preparing the attack. The gate of the club was protected by armed guards. On receiving Morse coded signal from the chef of the club kitchen Preetilata stormed the club firing shots on the armed guards at the gate and shouting “Charge”. Her comrades joined her and kept shooting on the club. Preetilata lead the attack and threw a bomb through the main gate as soon as she reached the gate. The Britons were bewildered at the sudden armed attack and ran their heads off to save their asses. An Englishman tried to play James Bond and threw goblets to the rebels. Preetilata shot him and sent his soul to merry old England.
But soon the military reinforcement from the nearby cantonment came for rescue. Under-equipped to fight the military Preetilata signaled her comrades to retreat. They followed her command and retreated. A few minutes later Preetilata went back to make sure that all her comrades were OK. The group of partisans soon reached the rail line near the club covered by the team leader who followed them to ensure a safe retreat. They were heading for Pahartali bazaar because Kattali village is very close to the bazaar. As the rebels were heading to the bazaar a young Englishman, who hid in the gutter to escape the attack, shot at Preetilata. The bullet hit Preetilata on her chest and she dropped on the road bleeding profusely. But Preetilata was a born rebel and was determined not to surrender to the British colonists so the valiant rebel took out the cyanide pill and swallowed it.
7.Matangini Hazra (1869-1942)
Was an Indian revolutionary who participated in the Indian independence movement until she was shot dead by the British Indian police in front of the Tamluk Police Station (of erstwhile Midnapore District) on September 29, 1942. She was affectionately known as Gandhi buri, Bangla for old lady Gandhi.
Matangini Hazra, who was 73 years at the time, led a procession of six thousand supporters, mostly women volunteers, with the purpose of taking over the Tamluk police station. When the procession reached the outskirts of the town, they were ordered to disband under Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code by the Crown police. As she stepped forward, Matangini Hazra was shot once. Apparently, she had stepped forward and was appealing to the police not to shoot at the crowd.
The Biplabi newspaper of the parallel Tamluk National Government commented:
“” Matangini led one procession from the north of the criminal court building; even after the firing commenced, she continued to advance with the tri-colour flag, leaving all the volunteers behind. The police shot her three times. She continued marching despite wounds to the forehead and both hands. “”
As she was repeatedly shot, she kept chanting Vande Mataram, translating as “hail to the Motherland”. She died with the flag of the Indian National Congress held high and still flying.
8.Kasturba Gandhi (April 11, 1869 – 22 February 1944)
Kasturba Gandhi, daughter of Gokuladas Makharji of Porbandar,affectionately called Ba, was the wife of Mohandas Gandhi.
Kasturba Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s wife joined her husband while he was in South Africa and worked with him for many years there. She was a leader of Women’s Satyagraha for which she was imprisoned. She helped her husband in the cause of Indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and the No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat. She was arrested twice for picketing liquor and foreign cloth shops, and in 1939 for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha.
Kasturba married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) through arrangement. They were both 13 years old. At that time, she was illiterate, and so Gandhi taught her to read and write — a potentially radical move, given the position of women in India at that time.
When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal. She had three more sons – Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900).
In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi decided to practice brahmacharya, and the couple became celibate. Although she stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas. Gandhi had to work hard to persuade her to see (and agree to) his points of view. Kasturba was deeply religious. Like her husband, she renounced all caste distinctions and lived in ashrams.
Kasturba often joined her husband in political protests. She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labor prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband’s place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children.
Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. Stress from the Quit India Movement’s arrests and ashram life caused her to fall ill. After contracting pneumonia, she died from a severe heart attack on February 22, 1944. She died in Mahatma Gandhi’s arms while both were still in prison. He was never the same after her death.
9.Kalpana Datta (1913-1995)
Kalpana Joshi (Datta) a revolutionary, was born at Sripur of Chittagong district on 27 July 1913 in a middle-class family. Having matriculated in 1929 from Chittagong, Kalpana Datta went to Calcutta and joined the Bethune college. Greatly influenced by the examples set by the revolutionaries Kshatriya Basu and Kanailal Datta, she soon joined the Chhatri Sangha. Purnendu Dastidar drew her into the revolutionary circle of Mastarda Surya sen.
The Chittagong Armory Raid took place on 18 April 1930 and Kalpana hurried back to Chittagong and came in contact with Surya Sen in May 1931. In the meantime, many of the leaders of the Raid like Ananta Singh, Ganesh Ghosh and Loknath Bal had been arrested and were awaiting trial.
Kalpana was entrusted with the safe carrying of heavy explosive materials from Calcutta. She also secretly prepared ‘gun-cotton’ and planned to plant a dynamite fuse under the court building and inside the jail to free the revolutionary leaders, who were being tried in a special Tribunal.
The plot was uncovered and certain restrictions were imposed on Kalpana’s movements. She, however, managed to visit regularly the village of Surya Sen, sometimes even at dead of night. She also used to have regular training in revolver shooting, along with her comrade pritilata waddedar.
In September 1931 Surya Sen decided to entrust Kalpana and Preetilata with a plan to attack the European Club at Chittagong. A week before the action Kalpana was arrested while moving out for a survey work in a boy’s attire. While in jail, she was told about the Pahartali action and the heroic suicide of Preetilata. Being released on bail, she went underground at the bidding of Surya Sen and in the early hours of 17 February 1933 the police encircled their hideout. Surya Sen was captured while Kalpana, along with Manindra Datta, escaped.
On 19 May 1933 Kalpana, with some comrades, was arrested. In the second supplementary trial of Chittagong Armory Raid case, Surya Sen and Tarakeswar Dastidar were sentenced to death, and Kalpana was sentenced to transportation for life. Being released in 1939 she graduated from the Calcutta University in 1940. Soon she joined the CPI and resumed her battle against the British rule. She turned Kalpana Joshi in 1943 when she married PC Joshi, the leader of the CPI. She went back to Chittagong and organised the Kisans’ and women’s fronts of the party. In 1946 she contested, though unsuccessfully, in the elections to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. After 1947 she migrated to India and resigned from active politics.
Kalpana Datta breathed her last at New Delhi on 8 February 1995.
10.Lakshmi Sahgal (Swaminathan) (1914)
Lakshmi Sahgal (or Sahgal) née Swaminathan, also known as Captain Lakshmi (born October 24, 1914 in Madras, Madras Presidency, British India) is an activist of the Indian independence movement, an ex-officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women’s affairs in the Azad Hind Government.
Lakshmi Sahgal later became involved in politics in independent India, serving as a member of parliament in the Upper House and later running for President as a left wing candidate. Lt Col Swaminathan is commonly referred to as Captain Lakshmi in India, referring to her rank at the time of being taken prisoner in Burma, as widely reported in Indian newspapers at the end of the war and which captured the public imagination, as opposed to her not widely known promotion in the last days of Azad Hind.
Sahgal was born as Lakshmi Swaminathan, daughter of Dr S. Swaminathan, a leading lawyer practicing Criminal Law at Madras High Court. Lakshmi Sahgal mother was A.V. Ammukutty, better known as Ammu Swaminathan, a social worker and freedom fighter and hailed from the famous Vadakkath family of Anakkara in Palghat, Kerala. A.V. Kutty Malu Amma was another well known freedom fighter from the same family.
Lakshmi decided to study medicine because she wanted to be of service to the poor, especially to poor women. As a result, she received an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College in 1938. A year later, she received her diploma in gynecology and obstetrics.
In 1940,she left for Singapore where she established a clinic for the poor, mostly migrant labour, from India. She became one of the most popular and prosperous gynecologists in the city. She was not only a competent doctor but also played an active role in the India Independence League which contributed greatly to the freedom movement in India.
In 1942, during the historic surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese, she worked hard in serving the prisoners of war who were hurt during the skirmishes. In the process, she came in contact with many Indian Prisoners of War (POW’s) who were thinking of forming an Indian liberation army.
Subhas Chandra Bose arrived in Singapore on July 2, 1943. In the next few days, at all his public meetings, Netaji spoke of his determination to raise a women’s regiment, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, which would also “fight for Indian Independence and make it complete”.
Lakshmi wasted no time in joining the new regiment, called the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. She was given the rank of a Colonel[citation needed]. The unit had the strength of a Brigade. In a regular army, this women’s army unit was the first of its kind in Asia. The army fought on the side of the Axis powers against the British.
Lakshmi was active both militarily and on the medical front. She played a heroic role not only in the fighting. Later, she became the Minister in charge of Women’s Organization in Arzi Hukumate Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India), led by Subhas Chandra Bose.
Lakshmi Sahgal held this portfolio over and above her command of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment. Lakshmi was captured and brought to British India on March 4, 1946 where she received a heroine’s welcome. The British realised that keeping her a prisoner would prove counter-productive and she was later released.
11.Beena Das (Bhowmick) (1911-1986)
Well-known in the history of Indian freedom fighting for daring attack on English Governor and University Chancellor Stanley Jackson, who was a symbol of a long and oppressive English colonial rule in India. The incident took place during the 1932 convocation of Calcutta University. Although she was unsuccessful, her act inspired many a young mind of those days. Beena Bhowmick’s father was Benee Madhab Das, the well-known educator of the Ravenshaw Collegiate School of Cuttack, Orissa. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, another famous freedom fighter also studied in that school. Bhowmick was acquainted with Bose.
Bhowmick initially studied in the Bethune College in Kolkata, but later migrated to Diocesan College in order to ensure that her revolutionary activities remain unhindered. She passed the BA with honors in English, her daring attempt occurred during her own convocation ceremony. For this she was given 9 years of imprisonment with labor.
After her release in 1939, she joined the “Jugantar” revolutionary club. She was again imprisoned in 1942 for three years while she was the Secretary of Calcutta Congress Committee. In 1947 she married Jatish Bhowmick, a freedom fighter and a fellow member of Jugantar.
A true revolutionary spirit, her activities did not end with the Indian Independence in 1947. She aided Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman during his declaration of revolution in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) against a brutal and oppressive West Pakistan administration. This incident eventually precipitated into the full-scale Bangladesh war. Again in 1975 Mrs. Bhowmick spoke out against the Declaration of Emergency and suppression of personal rights by the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. She personally witnessed and strongly protested against the police brutality on the refugees in Marichjh(n)api. A good writer, she penned two books, the autobiography “Shrinkhal Jhankar” and “Pitredhan”.
In a characteristic show of idealistic strength, she didn’t accept the “Freedom Fighters’ Pension” offered by the Government of India. After the death of her husband, she decided to live by herself in the Rishikesh (Himalaya), where she died within a month in a lonely condition.
12.Kanaklatha Baruah (1924-1942)
Indian National Congress in Mumbai on August 9,1942, resolved to ‘Do or die’ for Independence of the country and began agitation with ‘Quit India’ slogan against the British regime. Young and old, men and women, boys and girls, all fearlessly and wholeheartedly joined the movement. Among them was Kanaklatha Baruah.
She got an opportunity to fulfill her dream of serving the country. As soon as the ‘Quit India’ movement began the British rulers started arresting Congress leaders. Under the leadership of revolutionary Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, in the district of Darrang a resolution was adopted unanimously to hoist National flag at the court and police station, as they were the marks of British Empire. Being aware of women’s participation in the nation’s freedom struggle, Kanaklatha enrolled herself in the suicide squad. The day for peaceful and non-violent action was decided as September 20.
According to the programme, freedom fighters with National flag had to capture local police station. Four thousands people from Kalabari side and an equal number from Barangabari moved towards Gohpur police station. In the front line was Kanaklatha Baruah holding a National flag in her hands. She requested the officer in charge of the police station to allow her to hoist the flag at the western gate peacefully. The officer in charge ignored her request and threatened to shoot her, if she dared to proceed further. Firebrand Kanaklatha marched ahead and had to face the bullets of the strong police force. She laid down her life for the freedom of the country. Another instance of similar martyrdom was from the district of Nagaon. Berhampur in the district was also on fire of Quit India movement.
13.Nellie Sengupta (Gray)(1886-1973)
Nellie Sengupta was among the English Women who came to India to dedicate her life for its people. Though an outsider she proved herself as a true Indian patriot.
She was born on 12 January 1886 as the daughter of Frederick William Gray and Edith Henrietta Gray. While studying in England, she met Jatindra Mohan Sengupta an Indian patriot. They fell in love and were married. After her marriage, she adopted her husband’s country as her own and associated sincerely with her husband’s work to letterate India from the bondage of British imperialism. Nellie abandoned the land of her birth and fought against the colonial rulers of her motherland for the sake of of her husband. She was a dedicated life partner who whole-heartedly sided with her brave husband on all occasions during their hours of happiness and sorrow. There was doubt among her in-laws whether she would be able to adjust herself in a joint Indian family. But soon Nellie dispelled this doubt by adjusting quickly to the Indian joint family life. They proved to be an ideal couple not only in family life but also in the political field. Her father in law was so impressed with her behavior that he wrote a letter to Nellie’s mother, that she was nothing but prize addition to his joint family and a worthy partner of his son.
She was the inspiring power behind all his activities in the political field. Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naidu also inspired her.
During the non-cooperation movement she was arrested while selling khadi in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh). Thus she had to endure prison life for the cause of her husband. She helped her husband when he was involved in the strike of the Bengal Assam Railway men as well as steamer service workers in support of the tea plantation laborers who were stranded in Chandpur and were brutally tortured by the British police.
When the health of Jyotindra Mohan deteriorated, Nellie continued his political work. During the days of the Civil Disobedience Movement Nellie accompanied her husband on political tours to Delhi and Amritsar. Jatindra Mohan was arrested for delivering a political lecture. She purposely delivered a speech at a banned meeting in Delhi. She was arrested and put in prison for four months.
Nellie was elected Congress President in 1933. It was a recognition for her valuable contribution to the cause of India’s independence. Later Nellie was elected alderman of Calcutta (Kolkata) Corporation.
After the partition of India, she stayed in her husband’s paternal house. She devoted herself to social welfare work. She was elected unopposed to the East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) Legislative Assembly from Chittagong. She was brought to India for special medical treatment during the last days of her life. In spite of the best treatment made available, she breathed her last on October 23,1973.
14.Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya (3 April 1903- 29 October 1988)
Kamaladevi was born in a Saraswat family on 3 April 1903. But above everything, she is remembered for her phenomenal role in reviving the traditional handicrafts of India during the post independence era. Read on to know more about the life history of Kamaladevi Chattapadhya, whose father was the district collector of Mangalore, whereas her mother hailed from one of the wealthiest families of Karnataka.
Kamaladevi fought against social evils that restricted the development of women. She was an active member of the youth wing of INC (Indian National Congress). During partition, Kamaladevi set up co-operative societies and self-employment schemes to help refugees. She worked to revive traditional industries like weaving and handicrafts. As chief of the Board of Handicrafts, she started the pension system for craftsmen.
She was a trade-unionist, a revolutionary, a reformer, a great patron of arts, an accomplished writer, an orator, and a freedom fighter.
Belonging from an illustrious family, she got ample opportunity to meet the great freedom fighters and intellectuals of her time like Mahadev Govind Ranade, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Annie Besant, who being friends of her parents visited her home frequently. Such acquaintances bore great influence on Kamaladevi Chattapadhya, who became an early supporter of the nations’ swadeshi mission. She married at 14 and widowed two years later while still in school. Yet she went on to take up acting which was considered inapt for women in those days.
The life history of Kamaladevi Chattapadhya went on and she next wedded the poet-playwright brother Harindranath Chattapadhya of the great poetess, Sarojini Naidu in 1920. After this, she also acted in two silent movies. Later she shifted to London with her husband, where she enrolled into the Bedford College to study sociology. But the couple returned to India to participate in the nation-wide non-cooperation movement launched by Gandhiji in 1923. Thereafter, Kamaladevi joined the Seva Dal established to work for social upliftment of the downtrodden.
In her missionary zeal she championed the causes of women empowerment, education, handicraft, theater along with her contribution to the field of arts, crafts and writings. In her pursuit and commitment she turned down many offers such as being nominated to the posts of the Vice President of India, Governor of Orissa or Tamilnadu, Ambassador in Cairo or Moscow. She preferred instead to devote herself to social causes. It was her courage displayed with a keen sense of humour that was extremely rewarding.
As a befitting tribute to a cultural icon of India one can conclude with the words of former President of India, R. Venkataraman, quoted , “Flower buds seemed to blossom at her touch-whether they be flower buds of human beings or institutions. People became more human and more sensitive to the deeper impulses of society when they came into contact with her….”
15.Indira Gandhi (November19,1917-October 31,1984)
Indira Priyadarshini (the second name means ”Dearly Beloved”) was born Nov. 19, 1917, the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru and his wife, Kamala, in Allahabad in northern India. Her grandfather, Motilal Nehru, who owned the house in which they lived, was a brilliant lawyer who discarded a lucrative practice to ally himself with Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Congress Party in the independence movement.
By all accounts, the child’s early years were painfully lonely. The house served as a headquarters for the freedom struggle; her parents were frequently taken off to jail; the police were constantly there.
”My public life started at the age of 3,” she said. ”I have no recollection of games, children’s parties or playing with other children. My favorite occupation as a very small child was to deliver thunderous speeches to the servants, standing on a high table. All my games were political ones – I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.
”I was very headstrong. The whole house was always in a state of tension that nobody had a normal life. There were police raids, arrests and so on, the physical and mental strain. And all the time it was in public.”
What made her childhood even more difficult was the contemptuous treatment given her mother, Kamala, by the far more Westernized and sophisticated women of the Nehru family. Mrs. Gandhi in later life indicated that her own fluency in Hindi, far better than her father’s, and her ”Indianness,” or ability to think and feel as a Hindu Indian, were largely a legacy of her mother. When asked once about the impact of Kamala Nehru on her personality, Mrs. Gandhi replied, ”I saw her being hurt and I was determined not to be hurt.”
The most remarkable of women in modern India’s was Indira Gandhi who from her early years was active in the national liberation struggle. During the 1930 movement, she formed the ‘Vanar Sena’. A children’s brigade to help freedom fighters.
She became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1938. Soon after her return to India in March 1941, she plunged into political activity.
Her public activity entered a new phase with India’s Independence in 1947. She took over the responsibility of running the Prime Minister’s House. The Congress, which had been her political home ever since her childhood, soon drew her into leading political roles, first as member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and later as member of the Central Parliamentary Board in 1958. In 1959, she was elected President of the Indian National Congress. She oriented Congress thinking and action towards basic issues confronting Indian society and enthused the younger generation the task of nation-building.
In the eventful years of her leadership as Prime Minister, Indian society underwent profound changes. She was unremitting in her endeavor for the unity and solidarity of the nation. A staunch defender of the secular ideals of the Constitution, she worked tirelessly for the social and economic advancement of the minorities. She had a vision of a modern self-reliant and dynamic economy.
She fought boldly and vigorously against communalism, obscurantism, and religious fundamentalism of all types. She repeatedly warned the nation that communalism and obscurantism were the tools employed by the forces of destabilization. She laid down her life in defense of the ideals on which the unity and integrity of the Republic are founded. The martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi for upholding the unity of India will reverberate across the centuries.
Rarely in history has one single individual come to be identified totally with the fortunes of a country. She became the indomitable symbol of India’s self-respect and self-confidence. Death came to her when she was at her peak, when her stature and influence were acclaimed the world over.
Women have a special place of pride and honour in the Indian Society. Their role in nation building is also well recognized. Like men they too have excelled in every walk of life. If we turn the pages of History we come across great women rulers, queen warriors, women leaders, women Freedom Fighters, women saints, scholars, writers, social workers and what have you? The country remembers them and honours them and brings out commemorative postage stamps in their fond memory even after they are gone.
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We record our homage and deep admiration for the Womanhood of India who in the hour of peril for the motherland forsook the shelter of their homes and with unfailing courage and endurance stood shoulder to shoulder with their menfolk, in the frontline of India’s national army to share with them the sacrifices and triumphs of the struggle”. From a Resolution passed on January 26, 1931. When the history of India's fight for Independence comes to be written, the sacrifice made by the women of India will occupy the foremost place - Mahatma GandhiJawaharlal Nehru had remarked, when most of the men-folk were in prison then a remarkable thing happened. Our women came forward and took charge of the struggle. Women had always been there of course but now there was an avalanche of them, which took not only the British Government but their own menfolk by surprise. The entire history of the freedom movement is replete with the saga of bravery, sacrifice and political sagacity of great men and women of the country. This struggle which gained momentum in the early 20th century, threw up stalwarts like Mahatma Gandhi, Lala Lajpat Rai, Motilal Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad, C. Rajagopalachari, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subash Chander Bose. Their number and stature often gives us an erroneous impression that it was only a man’s movement. But it is not so. Many prominent women played a leading role in the freedom movement.The important place assigned to women in India dates back to the time of the Vedas and Smritis. Manu declared that where women were adored, Gods frequented that place, During the Vedic age the position of women in society was very high and they were regarded as equal partners with men in all respects. Who had not heard of Maitri, Gargi, Sati Annusuya and Sita? In keeping with this tradition, burden of tears and toils of the long years of struggle for India’s freedom was borne by the wives, mothers, and daughters, silently and cheerfully. The programme of self-imposed poverty and periodical jail going was possible only because of the willing co-operation of the worker’s family. In the various resistance movements in the villages, the illiterate women played this passive but contributory part as comrades of their menfolk by:- Cristy Chopra- Apeejay School Pitampura Delhi. |
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1 Rani of Jhansi Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi whose heroism and superb leadership laid an outstanding example for all future generations of women freedom fighters. Married to Gangadhar Rao head of the state of Jhansi. She was not allowed to adopt a successor after his death by the British, and Jhansi was annexed. With the outbreak of the Revolt she became determined to fight back. She used to go into the battlefield dressed as a man. Holding the reins of there horse in her mouth she used the sword with both hands. Under her leadership the Rani's troops showed undaunted courage and returned shot for shot. Considered by the British as the best and bravest military leader of rebels this sparkling epitome of courage died a hero's death in the battlefield. ....Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai Biography.........
The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. Dressed in men’s clothes, she led her soldiers to war against the British. Even her enemies admired her courage and daring. She fought valiantly and although beaten she refused to surrender and fell as a warrior should, fighting the enemy to the last. Her remarkable courage inspired many men and women in India to rise against the alien rule. ....Jhansi Ki Rani Lakshmibai Biography.........more.......with Photos
The other remarkable woman elected to the presidentship Indian National Congress was Sarojini Naidu. She became its president.dramatic meeting with another respected leader of time, Gokhle, in 1906 was to change her life forever. His response to her fiery speech brought into her life the impact of a visionary who saw in her oratory and brilliance a leader of the future. The period from 1917 to 1919 was the most dynamic phase of Sarojini's career. During this time, she campaigned for the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms, the Khilafat issue, the draconian Rowlett Act and the Satyagraha. When Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement ,she proved a faithful lieutenant. With great courage she quelled the rioters, sold proscribed literature, addressed frenzied meetings on the carnage at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar.In 1930 when Mahatma Gandhi chose her to lead the Salt Satyagraha the stories of her courage became legion. After Gandhi's arrest she had prepared 2,000 volunteers under the scorching sun to raid the Dahrsana Salt Works, while the police faced them half a mile up the road with rifle, lathis (canes) are steel tipped clubs. The volunteers wildly cheered when she shook off the arm of the British police officer who came to arrest her and marched proudly to the barbed wire stockade where she was interned before being imprisoned. Freedom struggle was in full force and she came under the influence of Gopalakrishna Gokhale and Gandhi. Gokhale advised her to spare all her energy and talents for nation's cause. She gave up writing poetry and fully devoted herself to emancipation of women, education, Hindu-Muslim unity etc. She became a follower of Gandhiji and accompanied him to England. Whenever in England, she openly criticized British rule in India which caught the attention of scholars and intellectuals. 3. KASTURBA GANDHI 
Kasturb Gndhi (April 11, 1869 – 22 February 1944), affectionately called Ba, was the wife of Mohandas Gandhi. Kasturba Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's wife joined her husband while he was in South Africa and worked with him for many years there. She was a leader of Women's Satyagraha for which she was imprisoned. She helped her husband in the cause of Indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and the No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat. She was arrested twice for picketing liquor and foreign cloth shops, and in 1939 for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha. Born to Gokuladas Makharji of Porbandar. Kasturba married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) through arrangement. They were both 13 years old. At that time, she was illiterate, and so Gandhi taught her to read and write — a potentially radical move, given the position of women in India at that time. When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal. She had three more sons - Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900). In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi decided to practice brahmacharya, and the couple became celibate. Although she stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas. Gandhi had to work hard to persuade her to see (and agree to) his points of view. Kasturba was deeply religious. Like her husband, she renounced all caste distinctions and lived in ashrams. Kasturba often joined her husband in political protests. She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labor prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husband's place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children. Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. Stress from the Quit India Movement's arrests and ashram life caused her to fall ill. After contracting pneumonia, she died from a severe heart attack on February 22, 1944. She died in Mahatma Gandhi's arms while both were still in prison. He was never the same after her death.
4. ARUN ASAF ALI Aruna was born at Kalka, Haryana into a Bengali Brahmo family. She was educated at Lahore and Nainital. She graduated and worked as a teacher, an achievement in itself for women, given the conditions prevalent in the country at that time. She taught at the Gokhale Memorial School in Calcutta. She met Asaf Ali, a leader in the congress party at Allahabad and married him in 1928, despite parental opposition on grounds of religion (she was a Brahmo while he was a Muslim) and age (a difference of more than 20 years). She became an active member of Congress Party after marriage and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. She was arrested on the charge that she was a vagrant and hence not released in 1931 under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact which stipulated release of all political prisoners. Other women co-prisoners refused to leave the premises unless she was also released and gave in only after Mahatma Gandhi intervened. A public agitation secured her release. In 1932, she was held prisoner at the Tihar Jail where she protested the indifferent treatment of political prisoners by launching a hunger strike. Her efforts resulted in an improvement of conditions in the Tihar Jail but she was moved to Ambala and was subjected to solitary confinement. She was politically not very active after her release. Her father Upendranath Ganguly hailed from Barisal district of Eastern Bengal but settled in the United Province. He was a restaurant owner and a very adventurous man. Mother Ambalika Devi was the daughter of Trailokyanath Sanyal,a renowned Brahmo leader who wrote many beautiful brahmo hyms. Upendranath Ganguly's younger brother Dhirendranath Ganguly (D G) was one of the earliest film directors. Another brother Nagendranath, a soil biologist was married to Rabindranath Tagore's only surviving daughter Mira Devi though they got separated after sometime. Her sister, Purnima Banerjee was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. On August 8, 1942, the AICC passed the Quit India resolution at the Bombay session. The government responded by arresting the major leaders and all members of the Congress Working Committee and thus tried to pre-empt the movement from success. A young Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the remainder of the session on 9 August and hoisted the Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan. This marked the commencement of the movement. The police fired upon the assembly at the session. Aruna was dubbed the Heroine of the 1942 movement for her bravery in the face of danger and was called Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement in her later years. Despite absence of direct leadership, spontaneous protests and demonstrations were held all over the country, as an expression of desire of India’s youth to achieve independence. Aruna Asaf Ali was awarded International Lenin Peace Prize for the year 1964. She was awarded India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1997. In 1998, a stamp commemorating her was issued. Aruna Asaf Ali marg in New Delhi is named after her. All India Minorities Front distributes the Dr Aruna Asaf Ali Sadbhawana Award annually. 
5. Indira Gandhi The most remarkable of women in modern India’s was Indira Gandhi who from her early years was active in the national liberation struggle. During the 1930 movement, she formed the ‘Vanar Sena’. A children’s brigade to help freedom fighters. She became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1938. Soon after her return to India in March 1941, she plunged into political activity. Her public activity entered a new phase with India’s Independence in 1947. She took over the responsibility of running the Prime Minister’s House. The Congress, which had been her political home ever since her childhood, soon drew her into leading political roles, first as member of the Congress Working Committee in 1955 and later as member of the Central Parliamentary Board in 1958. In 1959, she was elected President of the Indian National Congress. She oriented Congress thinking and action towards basic issues confronting Indian society and enthused the younger generation the task of nation-building. In the eventful years of her leadership as Prime Minister, Indian society underwent profound changes. She was unremitting in her endeavour for the unity and solidarity of the nation. A staunch defender of the secular ideals of the Constitution, she worked tirelessly for the social and economic advancement of the minorities. She had a vision of a modern self-reliant and dynamic economy. She fought boldly and vigorously against communalism, obscurantism, re-vivalism and religious fundamentalism of all types. She repeatedly warned the nation that communalism and obscuranatism were the tools employed by the forces of destabilization. She laid down her life in defence of the ideals on which the unity and integrity of the Republic are founded. The martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi for upholding the unity of India will reverberate across the centuries. Rarely in history has one single individual come to be identifie do totally with the fortunes of a country. She became the indomitable symbol of India’s self-respect and self-confidence. Death came to her when she was at her peak, when her stature and influence were acclaimed the world over
6. KAMLA NEHRU Many women of the Nehru family too had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. Kamala Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru's wife gave full support to her husband in his desire to work actively for the freedom struggle. In the Nehru hometown of Allahabad she organized processions, addressed meetings and led picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops. She played a prominent part in organizing the No Tax Campaign in United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Kamala Kaul Nehru (1899–1936) was the wife of Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress and first Prime Minister of India. Kamala married Nehru on 8 February 1916. Their marriage was arranged by his parents. Brought up in a traditional Hindu Brahmin family, she felt alienated amongst the more Westernized Nehrus. It was only with the involvement of the Nehrus in the national movement, that she emerged into the forefront. In the Non Cooperation movement of 1921, she organized groups of women in Allahabad and picketed shops selling foreign cloth and liquor. When her husband was arrested to prevent him delivering a "seditious" public speech, she went in his place to read it out. She was twice arrested by British authorities. Described as pretty, slim, and tender, Kamala was quiet, unobtrusive, and is thought to have had little impact on her husband. In 1917, she gave birth to a daughter, Indira Priyadarshini, who later succeeded her father as prime minister and head of the Congress party. Kamala died from tuberculosis in Switzerland while her husband was in prison. She spent some time at Gandhi's ashram with Kasturba Gandhi where she built a close friendship with Prabhavati Devi wife of Jayaprakash Narayan.
8. VIJAYALAXMI PANDIT Jawaharlal Nehur's sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit inspired by Rani Lakshmi Bai of Jhansi and impressed by Sarojini Naidu entered the Non Cooperation Movement. She was arrested in 1932 and sent to and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment. She was arrested in 1940, and yet again during the Quit India Movement. She attended the Pacific Relations Conference at Hot Springs, U.S.A. as leader of the Indian delegation sponsored by the Indian Council of World Affairs. She was present in San Francisco when the U.N first met there, and through numerous well attended public lectures she challenged the British dominated delegates rights to represent India therein.Sister of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru also played a great role in the freedom movement. She was elected to Uttar Pradesh Assembly in 1936 and in 1946. She was the first woman in India to hold a ministerial rank. She was imprisoned thrice for taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1932. 1941 and 1942. After Independence, she continued to serve the country. She was the first woman to become president of the United Nations General Assembly. Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit (1900 - 1990) was an Indian diplomat and politician, In 1921 she married Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, who died on January 14, 1944. She was the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post. In 1937 she was elected to the provincial legislature of the United Provinces and was designated minister of local self-government and public health. She held the latter post until 1939 and again from 1946 to 1947. In 1946 she was elected to the Constituent Assembly from the United Provinces. Following India's independence from the British in 1947 she entered the diplomatic service and became India's ambassador to several countries: the Soviet Union from 1947 to 1949, the United States and Mexico from 1949 to 1951, Ireland from 1955 to 1961 (during which time she was also the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom), and Spain from 1958 to 1961. Between 1946 and 1968 she also headed the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1953, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly In India, she served as governor of Maharashtra from 1962 to 1964, after which she was elected to the Indian Lok Sabha from Phulpur, her brother's former constituency. She held office from 1964 to 1968. Pandit was a harsh critic of her niece, Indira Gandhi, after Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1966, and she retired from active politics after relations between them soured On retiring she moved to Dehradun in the Doon Valley in the Himalayan foothills. In 1979 she was appointed the Indian representative to the UN Human Rights Commission, after which she retired from public life. Her writings include The Evolution of India (1958) and The Scope of Happiness: A Personal Memoir (1979). Her daughter Nayantara Sahgal, who later settled in her mother's house in Dehradun, is a well-known novelist.
9. MADAM CAMA "This flag is of Indian Independence! Behold, it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young Indians who sacrificed their lives. I call upon you, gentlemen to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence. In the name of this flag, I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to support this flag." -- B. Cama , Stuttgart, Germany, 19she unfurled the first National Flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart (Germany) in 1907. A thousand representatives from several countries were attending. An Indian lady in a colorful sari was a rare phenomena in those days and her majestic appearance and brave and clear words made everybody think that she was a Maharani or at least a princess from a native state.
The tricolor-flag Madam Cama unfurled had green, saffron, and red stripes. Red represented strength, saffron victory, and green stood for boldness and enthusiasm. there were eight lotuses representing the eight provinces and flowers represented princely states. "Vande Mataram" in Devanagari adorned central saffron stripe which meant "salutation to Mother India." The sun and the moon indicated Hindu and Muslim faiths. The flag was designed by Veer Savarkar with the help of other revolutionaries. After Stuttgart, Madam went to United States. She traveled a lot and informed Americans about Indians struggling for Independence. She told about British efforts to smother the voice of educated Indians who protested against tyranny and despotism of British who always boasted themselves as "mother of parliamentary democracy" over the world! She could be called "Mother India's first cultural representative to USA."Where is the Flag Now? The flag was smuggled into India by Indulal Yagnik, the socialist leader of Gujarat. It is now on public display at the Maratha and Kesari Library in Pune
10. BEGUM HAZRAT MAHAL Begum Hazrat Mahal, the Begaum of Oudh. She took active part in the defence of Lucknow against the British. Although, she was queen and used to a life of luxury, she appeared on the battle-field herself to encourage her troops. Begam Hazrat Mahal held out against the British with all her strength as long as she could. Ultimately she had to give up and take refuge in Nepal. Begum Hazrat Mahal was the wife of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. Begum Hazrat Mahal was endowed with great physical charm and grace as well as organizational skills. After, her husband was exiled to Calcutta, she took charge of the affairs of the state of Awadh, which then was a large part of the current state of Uttar Pradesh, India. During India’s First War of independence (1857-58), she led a band of her supporters against the British, and was even able to seize the control of Lucknow. She declared her son Birjis Qadra as the king of Awadh. She is believed to have worked in close association with other leaders of the India’s First War of Independence, including Nana Sahib. When the forces under the command of the British re-captured Lucknow and most part of the Awadh, she was forced to retreat. She turned down all offers of amnesty and allowances by the British rulers. Ultimately, she had to retreat to Nepal, where she was offered asylum by the Rana prime minister Jung Bahadur. She died there in 1879 and was buried in a nameless grave on the grounds of Kathmandu's Jama Masjid. Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in the honour of Begum Hazrat Mahal on 10th May 1984 
11. Padmaja Naidu Sarojini’s daughter Miss Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of Nation like her mother. At the age of 21, she entered the National scene and became the joint founder of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign goods. She was jailed for taking part in the “Quit India” movement in 1942. After Independence, she became the Governor of West Bengal. During her public life spanning over half a century, she was associated with the Red Cross. Her services to the Nation and especially her humanitarian approach to solve problems will long be remembered.
12. Sucheta Kripalani The contribution of Sucheta Kripalani in the struggle for freedom is also worthy of note. She courted imprisonment for taking part in freedom struggle. She was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly in 1946. She was general secretary of Indian National Congress from 1958 to 1960, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh from 1963 to 1967. Sucheta Kripalani was in the words of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, “a person of rare courage and character who brought credit to Indian womanhood.” She was born in Ambala, Haryana to a Bengali family. Her father, S.N. Majumdar though a government doctor was a nationalist. Educated at Indraprastha College and St.Stephen's College, Delhi she became a lecturer at the Banaras Hindu University. In 1936, she married socialist, Acharya Kriplani and became involved with the Indian National Congress. Like her contemporaries Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta, she came to the forefront during the Quit India Movement. She later worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She accompanied him to Noakhali in 1946. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution. She became a part of the subcommittee that was handed over the task of laying down the charter for the constitution of India. On 15th August, 1947 she sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly. After independence she remained involved with politics in U.P. She was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1952 and 1957 and served as a Minister of State for Small Scale Industries. In 1962, she was elected to the U.P Assembly from Kanpur and served in the Cabinet in 1962. In 1963, she became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state. The highlight of her tenure was the firm handling of a state employees strike. The first-ever strike by the state employees which continued for 62 days took place during her regime. She relented only when the employees' leaders agreed for compromise. Although the wife of a socialist, Kriplani cemented her reputation as a firm administrator by refusing their demand for pay hike. She retired from politics in 1971 and remained in seclusion till her death in 1974.She was a very active member.She became the first woman to be elected Chief Minister of a state Veera Mangai Velunachiyar...... FOREIGN WOMEN IN THE INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT OF INDIA Besides the hundreds and thousands of Indian women who dedicated their lives for the cause of their motherland, there were a number of noble and courageous foreign women who saw in India - its religion, its philosophy and its culture, a hope for the redemption of the world. They thought that in India’s spiritual death shall world find its grave. These noble women were sick of the material west and found in India and in its civilization, solace for their cramped souls.
Sister Nivedita was one among the host of foreign women who were attracted towards Swami Vivekananda and Hindu philosophy. Born in Ireland on 28 October 1867, she arrived in India in January, 1898, in search of truth. She was impressed by the ideals of Womanhood in India. She once remarked that India was the land of great women. She, however, felt that Indian women needed, to cultivate among themselves a wider and broader concept of the nation, so that they could participate along with men in building a free and strong nation.She propagated for the cause of India throughout America and Europe. Swami Vivekananda described her as a real Lioness. Rabindranath Tagore regarded her as Lok-Mata and Aurobindo Ghosh as Agni-sikha. Margaret Elizabeth Noble (1867-1911), better known as Sister Nivedita, was an Anglo-Irish social worker, author, teacher and disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Vivekananda in 1895 in London and travelled to India (Kolkata) in 1898. Swami Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita (which means one who is dedicated to God) on March 25, 1898. In November 1898 she started a school for girls which is now called Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls' High School. She worked to improve the lives of Indian women of all castes. 
14. The Mother Mirra Alfassa, later Morisset and Richard (February 21, 1878 - November 17, 1973), also known as The Mother, was the spiritual partner of Sri Aurobindo. She was born in Paris to Turkish and Egyptian parents and came to his retreat on March 29, 1914 in Pondicherry to collaborate on editing the Arya. Having to leave Pondicherry during the War, she spent most of her time in Japan where she met the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Finally she returned to Pondicherry and settled there in 1920. After November 24, 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, she founded his ashram with a handful of disciples living around the Master. With Sri Aurobindo's full approval she became the leader of the community, a position she held until her death. The Trust she had registered after Sri Aurobindo's death in 1950 continues to look after the institution. The experiences of the last thirty years of the Mother's life were captured in the 13-volume work The Agenda. In those years she attempted the physical transformation of her body in order to become what she felt was the first of a new type of human individual by opening to the Supramental Truth Consciousness, a new power of spirit that Sri Aurobindo had allegedly discovered. Sri Aurobindo considered her an incarnation of the Mother Divine, hence her name "the Mother". The Divine Mother is the feminine aspect (Creative Energy) of the Divine consciousness and spirit. She took charge of Ashram in Pondicherry in 1926. She was the inspirer of Auroville, the international town near Pondicherry. It was to serve as a meeting place for the followers of Shri Aurobindo. Paying her tribute to the Mother at a women’s gathering in Kanpur the late Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi said: “The Mother was a dynamic lady, who came from France and adopted the Indian culture. She played an important role in motivating women like Mrs. Annie Besant and Mrs. Nellie Sen Gupta, The Mother had also contributed to enrich India’s age-old heritage and culture”
Annie Besant an Irish lady became the leader of the of the Theosophical Society. In 1902 while in London she criticized England for the conditions prevalent in India. In 1914 she joined the Indian National Congress and gave it a new direction. The idea of the Home Rule League was first discussed by her. She with the radical congress leader Tilak presented a memorial to Montagu on December 18, 1917 which gave equal rights to women in the matters of political franchise. She was the first woman president of the Congress and gave a powerful lead to women's movement in India. Annie Wood was born in 1847 in London into a middle-class family of Irish origin. She was always proud of being Irish and supported the cause of Irish self-rule throughout her adult life. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving the family almost penniless. Her mother supported the family by running a boarding house for boys at Harrow. However, she was unable to support Annie and persuaded her friend Ellen Marryat to care for her. Marryat made sure that Annie had a good education. She was given a strong sense of duty to society and an equally strong sense of what independent women could achieve. As a young woman, she was also able to travel widely in Europe. There she acquired a taste for Catholic colour and ceremony that never left her. In 1867, at age nineteen she married 26-year-old clergyman Frank Besant, younger brother of Walter Besant. He was an evangelical Anglican clergyman who seemed to share many of her concerns. Soon Frank became vicar of Sibsey in Lincolnshire. Annie moved to Sibsey with her husband, and within a few years they had two children: Digby and Mabel. The marriage was, however, a disaster. The first conflict came over money and Annie's independence. Annie wrote short stories, books for children and articles. As married women did not have the legal right to own property, Frank was able to take all the money she earned. Politics further divided the couple. Annie began to support farm workers who were fighting to unionise and to win better conditions. Frank was a Tory and sided with the landlords and farmers. The tension came to a head when Annie refused to attend Communion. She left him and returned to London. They were legally separated and Annie took her daughter with her. Annie began to question her own faith. She turned to leading churchmen for advice. She even went to see Edward Bouverie Pusey, leader of the Catholic wing of the Church of England. He simply told her she had read too many books. Annie returned to Frank to make one last effort to repair the marriage. It proved useless. She finally left for London. Divorce was unthinkable for Frank, and was not really within the reach of even middle-class people. Annie was to remain Mrs Besant for the rest of her life. At first, she was able to keep contact with both children and to have Mabel live with her. She got a small allowance from Frank. Her husband was given sole custody of their two children. 
MEERA BEN AND SARLA BEN Meera Ben and Sarla Ben popularly known as Mahatama Gandhi's two English daughters also made significant contribution to the cause of freedom. Meera Ben whose real name was Madeleine Slade attended the second Round Table Conference with Gandhi. She sent news releases concerning Gandhi's campaign to the world press for which she was repeatedly threatened by the government, but she continued her work. She undertook Khadi tour throughout the country. She was arrested for entering the city of Bombay in violation of the government order. Catherine Mary Heilman or Sarla Ben as she was better known, went from village to village helping the families of political prisoners. |
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| The list of great women
whose names have gone down in history for their dedication and undying
devotion to the service of India is a long one. Gandhi squarely summed
up the strength of womanhood in his tribute to the gender:
To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to women. If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self sacrificing, has she not greater power of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her man would not be. If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is woman. I have nursed this thought now for years. |
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The Great Indian Women Freedom Fighters
On
the occassion of this Independance Day to remember the Freedom
Fighters, who destroyed their beautiful lives for our Beautiful Life.
There are many Women Freedom Fighters in Indian history, But we know
about few of them only. (I searched for some women Indian freedom
fighters on the Web, but I could not found a single word about them
(i.e. Kanakalatha Baruva - Assam Freedom Fighter, Naanibala Devi,
Suneethi, Shanthi). I am requesting to the readers - Please gather about
our Great Indians who spent their valuable life for our Beautiful
Future. I am here posting about few of the Brave Indian Women Freedom
Fighters.
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| RANI CHENNAMMA |
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| JHANSI RANI |
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| BEGUM HAZRATH MAHAL |
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| RANI AVANTI BAI |
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| PREETI LATHA |
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| DURGA BHABI |
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| LAKSHMI SEHGAL |
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| KALPANA DUTTA |
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| BEENA DAS |
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| KANAKALATHA BARUVA |
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Indian Women Freedom Fighters We Salute
Rani of Jhansi
You will hardly find an Indian who hasn¡¯t grown up hearing the brave adventures of Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. She was one of the leading personalities in the National Uprising of 1857. Because of her never-say-die spirit, today she is an epitome of courage and her name is used as a metaphorfor bravery!
Sarojoni Naidu
Sarojini Naidu has been a beacon of inspiration to many women. At a time when women were oppressed to a large extent in many states, she was one of the first few women who stepped out and took the reins of leadership in her own hands. As the first woman President of Indian National Congress and Governor of Uttar Pradesh, she displayed some rare qualities. Her poems continue to inspire us
Begum Hazrat Mahal
She was one of the iconic freedom fighters of theNational Uprising in 1857. When themutiny began, she was one of the first freedom fighter who urged the rural folk to rise up against the British oppression. She thus seized the control of Lucknow and announced her son as the King of Oudh. However, when the British recaptured Lucknow, she was forcedto retreat to Nepal.-
Re: Indian Women Freedom Fighters We Salute
Vijaylakshmi Pandit
Like her brother Jawaharlal Nehru, she too felt passionately for her country. After serving our nation for years, she became the first woman President of the United Nations General Assembly. A writer, a diplomat, and a politician, her worksare an inspiration to many young women.
Kittur Rani Chennamma
Even though you may hardly be familiar with her name, she was one of the earliest Indian rulers who fought forfreedom. 33 years before the National Uprising, this queen of a princely state in Karnataka led an armed rebellion against the British, and lost her life in the end. Even today, she is revered as one of the bravest women in Karnataka.
Bhikaiji Cama
Bhikaji Cama is undoubtedly one of the bravest women in the history of Indian Freedom Struggle. She was one of the pioneers in setting up the IndianHome Rule Society. When in exile, she wrote several revolutionary literatures from the freedom movement. She even made radical speeches for gender equality in Egypt. -
Re: Indian Women Freedom Fighters We Salute
Sucheta Kriplani
With the dedication and passion that she exuded for her country during the struggle, she was elected as the firstwoman Chief Minister of any Indian state. She stepped up for her country with the Quit India Movement and she was one of Gandhiji¡¯s close associates in several Partition riots. She was a role model and encouraged many women to join the struggle.
Aruna Asaf Ali
She was an active member of the Congress Party who not just fought for our country¡¯s freedom, but also for the rights of political prisoners in Tihar Jail. She launched a hunger strike for the latter and her efforts resulted in improved conditions but she was subjected to solitary confinement. She displayed great courage by standing up to the oppressive rule as well as her family who were against the idea of her marrying a Muslim (she was originally a Brahmo).
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Timeline
The steady change in their position can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country:- 1848: Jyotirao Phule, along with his wife Savitribai Phule, opened a school for girls in Pune, India. Savitribai Phule became the first women teacher in India.
- 1879: John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune established the Bethune School in 1849, which developed into the Bethune College in 1879, thus becoming the first women's college in India.
- 1883: Chandramukhi Basu and Kadambini Ganguly became the first female graduates of India and the British Empire.
- 1886: Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi became the first women from India to be trained in Western medicine.
- 1905: Suzanne RD Tata becomes the first Indian woman to drive a car.[34]
- 1916: The first women's university, SNDT Women's University, was founded on 2 June 1916 by the social reformer Dhondo Keshav Karve with just five students.
- 1917: Annie Besant became the first female president of the Indian National Congress.
- 1919: For her distinguished social service, Pandita Ramabai became the first Indian woman to be awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal by the British Raj.
- 1925: Sarojini Naidu became the first Indian born female president of the Indian National Congress
- 1927: The All India Women's Conference was founded.
- 1944: Asima Chatterjee became the first Indian woman to be conferred the Doctorate of Science by an Indian university
- 1947: On 15 August 1947, following independence, Sarojini Naidu became the governor of the United Provinces, and in the process became India's first woman governor.
- 1951: Prem Mathur of the Deccan Airways becomes the first Indian women commercial pilot.
- 1953: Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit became the first woman (and first Indian) president of the United Nations General Assembly
- 1959: Anna Chandy becomes the first Indian woman judge of a High Court (Kerala High Court)[35]
- 1963: Sucheta Kriplani became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first woman to hold that position in any Indian state.
- 1966: Captain Durga Banerjee becomes the first Indian woman pilot of the state airline, Indian Airlines.
- 1966: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay wins Ramon Magsaysay award for community leadership.
- 1966: Indira Gandhi becomes the first woman Prime Minister of India
- 1970: Kamaljit Sandhu becomes the first Indian woman to win a Gold in the Asian Games
- 1972: Kiran Bedi becomes the first female recruit to join the Indian Police Service.[36]
- 1979: Mother Teresa wins the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first Indian female citizen to do so.
- 1984: On 23 May, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest.
- 1989: Justice M. Fathima Beevi becomes the first woman judge of the Supreme Court of India.[37]
- 1997: Kalpana Chawla becomes the first India-born woman to go into space.[38]
- 1992: Priya Jhingan becomes the first lady cadet to join the Indian Army ==(later commissioned on 6 March 1993)[39]
- 1994: Harita Kaur Deol becomes the first Indian woman pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), on a solo flight.
- 2000: Karnam Malleswari became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal (bronze medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics at Sydney)
- 2002: Lakshmi Sahgal became the first Indian woman to run for the post of President of India.
- 2004: Punita Arora became the first woman in the Indian Army to don the highest rank of Lieutenant General.
- 2007: Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India.
- 2009: Meira Kumar became the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house in Indian Parliament
Role of
Women in
India’s
Struggle For
Freedom
Siddhartha Dash:-http://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2010/August/engpdf/74-76.pdfhttp://orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/2010/August/engpdf/74-76.pdf
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Attingal Queen.1810-53 Junior Rani H.H. Sri Patmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Dyumani Raja Rajeshwari Rani Gouri Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India
1810-53 Junior Rani H.H. Sri Patmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Dyumani Raja Rajeshwari Rani Gouri Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
1815-29 Regent of Travancore
When her elder sister Regent Maharani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi died after childbirth in 1815 she was only thirteen years of age and being the only female left in the family, besides her deceased sister's little daughter, she became Regent Maharani on behalf of her nephew, the heir, Maharajah Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. She was on her accession actively counselled by her brother in law, Raja Raja Varma of the Changanssery Royal family as well as her husband, Raghava Varma, who belonged to the Royal family of Kilimanoor. Her first act was to appoint a new Dewan, and she continued the reforms of her older sister. Christians got more freedom and some of the restrictions put on some of the lower castes were removed, she also introduced health reforms. er mother, Princes Atham of the Travancore, was the Senior Rani of Attingal. Her first husband was Raghava Varma of the Kilimanoor Royal family and after his death she married his brother After his death in 1824, she married again, but did not have any children. She lived (1802-53).
1815-? Senior Rani Gowri Rukmini Bayi of Attingal in Travancore (India)
succeeded to the title of Senior Rani of Attingal after the death of her mother, the Queen Regent, Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai. Apart from her aunt, who was regent 1815-29, she only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, she married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of Thiruvalla Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma. In 1888 two princesses were adopted from the Mavelikara Royal family into Travancore. (b. 1809-?).
History
On the night of April 11, 1721 150 Britishers were done to death at the Attingal Palace near Thiruvananthapuram. What perhaps was the first major attack on the British in India though rarely mentioned in Indian history . It was a clever plot laid by Kodumon Pillai, Minister of the queen of Attingal, Umayamma Rani, who out smarted the shrewd British who had superior weapons. The Nair Pada and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region. The immediate provocation was about the building of a Fort at Anchu Thengu, Anjengo in British records. The scheming British had entered in to a series of maneuvers to make trade in spices their monopoly. Greed for huge profits drove them wild, capturing the spice country itself later. Those were the early days of the English East India Company in India, the Dutch and the British on Indian shores were engaged in a series of conflicts to stake control of the sea trade. Muslims, traditionally intermediaries in spice trade, were severely affected with the curbs in trade. Equipped with their guns and cannons, what the local soldiers were not yet having, they became menacing. Orders of the Rani to stop the building of the Fort were disobeyed. Initial attacks launched by the Nair Pada was rebuffed with severe casualties. It was after a wait that the clever trap was laid and almost everyone in the Fort was executed. Cannons and gunfire of the British came to naught.
Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani. The sovereigns were ceremonial rulers and the actual power remained with the feudal lords titled Pillais, Nairs, who kept their own armies and administration. Feuds between the Pillais used to lead to intermittent clashes at the time. This was a turning point in the history of Kerala, also India. Travancore stood the side of the British after this episode and emerged as a major power during the reign of King Marthanda Varma. It was Marthanda Varma, who with the support of the British, annexed most of these principalities later and created the unified Travancore. The others were mostly allied with the Dutch, except the extreme north like Kolathu Nadu, modern Kannur. Marthanda Varma was also instrumental in neutralizing the powerful Pillais, Nayars, the story of his avenging the ‘Ettuveettil Pillamar’ is a figurative story of the event. From traders the British soon became sovereigns in India. The famous Kalari culture of the feudal lords, Pillais, stood liquidated during the British period that ensued.
The sequence of events that lead to the massacre were rooted primarily in the English attempts to monopolise trade. The Dutch and the English East India Companies were active in spice trade and both had factories on Indian soil, godowns for merchandise initially, which later were made army barracks. The Dutch had a factory at Thenga Pattinam, now in Kanyakumari district, and the English in Vizhinjam. The negotiations were all with the Pillais who had the authority to deal with the traders. Due to the internecine conflicts and overtures to monopolise trade the factory in Thenga Pattinam was destroyed by the Pillais and the factory chief was executed in the year 1684. Two ships belonging to the Dutch were also set on fire. When complained Attingal Rani agreed to compensate the loss, but this was not possible as the Pillais were adamant. A request from the English that they be permitted to build a big wall around the Vizhinjam factory was also opposed by the Pillais. They fore saw the implications. Kottayam Kerala Varma, the ruling king in Thiruvithamkode, adopted from Kolathunadu in the north, was not in very good terms with these powerful feudal lords. It was during this time that the Attingal Rani gave permission to the English to build a factory at Anchu Thengu in the year 1694.
Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the ministers to the queen, prominent among the Council of Ministers, who advised the Rani that it will eventually prove disastrous. Accordingly the Rani asked the Company to stop building the Fort, this the English refused to heed. And Kodumon Pillai with the help of the Nair Pada in Chirayinkeezh attacked the Fort. The English now equipped with their cannons and guns retaliated and the attempt to stop the British ended in vain. Now, Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai had a tussle going between them and Kodumon Pillai was the favourite of the Rani. How Vanchimuttom, it is believed, secretly helped the English in building the Fort. In 1690 the Rani passed away and the English completed building the Fort in the very next year taking advantage of the confusion. Soon the sea trade was under the control of the British who with their superior arms started dictating terms, in who can trade and at what price, also refused to pay taxes. The queens that followed Umayamma Rani were all adopted from Kolathunadu and they were too weak to manage the scene and the Pillais were restive. Feuds between the two Pillais also became a matter of concern, which gave the English a golden opportunity. The old feudal system was having its own problems.
The English now stationed comfortably at the heavily armed Fort at Anchu Thengu refused to permit anyone else to trade in Attingal principality. Except the Dutch who were very powerful at the time, though the English used to give information about the Dutch vessels to the Muslims who had taken to warfare and were pirates in the seas by now. The English men in the Fort went around trading at their will and started looting the local people who had no choice but obey them. Corruption among the British officers became rampant. The local traders and common people came to hate the English. Each one in the Fort started minting money and one Coifing, who was in charge at the time, was discharged by the Company for misappropriation of money. Next it was the tenure of one Gilford, who made the situation worse from bad. Two incidents at the time became crucial. One was the purchase by one Ignacio, an interpreter of the company, a plot of land belonging to the Devi temple. The one who sold this had no legal rights to sell it and the English forcibly occupied the land despite objections from the local people.
Another episode was the maltreatment to some traders who went to the Fort. A merchant Brahmin who went there was anointed with some ritual powder by a woman, as part of a Christian ceremony, and the insulted man injured the woman taking out his sword. Gilford coming to know about it inflicted severe punishments on the merchants. In fact it was a plot by Gilford who wanted to take revenge on those who refused to help him in his private trade. The matter reached Kodumon Pillai who attacked the Fort with a big force, lost many lives due to gunfire and the English took refuge inside. The Nair Pada burned a ship of the Company and laid a siege on the Fort, but soon after a ship from Mumbai with soldiers arrived and they were saved. The impasse that followed after the cold war between the two Pillais, as to who should be accepted as the Rani in Attingal, was a matter of concern during this period. Eventually in the year 1721 they came to a truce and the sister of the sovereign of Kollam was accepted as queen in Attingal. The British, who had to pay arrears, were contacted and Gilford, facing troubles due to the opposition of the people, decided to meet the queen and also compromise with the Pillais. He sent emissaries to the Palace.
Extensive talks were held through intermediaries and the English agreed to pay up the tax arrears for the period they made default and make relations smooth. To settle the matters they were invited by the Pillais, Gilford and the other Englishmen did not sense the pent up anger and thought it an old story, to the Attingal Palace. Everyone in the Fort were invited for a big party. On 11 th of April almost everyone in the English factory at Anchu Thengu thus came in a procession, as discussed and agreed to. Taking the river route they reached the Palace in great ceremony. The entourage was 150 strong. As the boats landed messengers of the Pillais persuaded the English to leave their guns in the boat as these were not permitted in the Palace. This was complied. Later the English and the Pillais went in to marathon discussions regarding the arrears in taxes and it was dark by then. The English had brought the new currency of the East India Company which the Pillais refused to accept. They demanded that the traditional Venetian currency be paid, what was the dollar of those days, this was not available with the English. Pillais were buying time. They wanted to meet the queen but as it was already dark the Pillais asked the English men to stay for the night and meet her in the morning.
Casey, the second in charge of the Fort, smelt a rat and told Gilford that it was risky to stay there at night but Gilford was not willing to listen. As it was getting pitch dark Gilford heard the unusual movement of people in the Palace and was alarmed. Now sensing danger he sent a messenger to the Fort at Anchu Thengu several kilometers away in the night itself. Soon a huge party of the Nair Pada and the Muslims ran over the English men and every one of the 150 odd people were killed. It was a clean operation where the superior arms did not help. Gilford, crafty and corrupt, to whom they had a long standing grudge, having killed many comrades, was beheaded and the body pinned on a wooden board, then floated in the river. The only one who escaped was the messenger sent by Gilford at night, who reached the Fort the next day. The horrifying revenge was known only at the time. It was mostly women and children at the Fort and the only competent gun man left there, one Samuel, evacuated the women and children to safety by sea. Expecting that the Nair Pada is to attack the Fort soon he sealed the doors. He also burned the large quantity of surplus gun powder stored in the premises.
As expected the attack of the Nair Pada came on April 14 . It was more to capture the Fort and the weaponry. But they could not enter the huge Fort walls and the cannons kept spitting fire, after sporadic attacks repulsed by the gun men they gave up. They returned back after setting fire to the houses in the vicinity of the Fort. On hearing about the tragedy that befell the Englishmen the Rani send a message expressing sorrow about what happened. Trade had become too attractive to lose. The King of Kollam also send a similar message. Taking advantage of the situation the King of Thiruvithamkode, Travancore, Rama Varma, who had assumed the throne only a few days back, made swift moves. Competition between the spice kingdoms was common, for better trading. Originally belonging to Kolathunadu, Rama Varma, brother Aditya Varma and his sisters were adopted in 1696. This adoption had the support of Adams, chief of the Tellicherry factory of the British, under which the Fort at Anchu Thengue also came. After the massacre the Rani and Vanchimuttom Pillai had left to Kollam allied with the Dutch. Rama Varma saw this an opportunity and also wanted to make his sister queen of Attingal. The British interfering in selection of kings and queens was common in this era, using terms in trade as the bait, offering luxuries and various other means.
In 1722 Alexander, a cousin of Adams, was appointed chief of Anchu Thengu. In the same year two more adoptions were made from Kolathunadu, a prince and a princess, at the behest of Adams and one of them was crowned the prince of Travancore. Rama Varma meanwhile gave permission to the English, by now his friends, to build a fort at Colachel and permission to mint coins for Travancore in 1723. He made an agreement with the English giving them monopoly for trade in Travancore and gave permission for yet another fort in Idava in 1726. From the two nephews of Rama Varma one was the Prince of Iraniel, who was to become famous later as Marthanda Varma, and the other Prince of Neyyattinkara. In 1728 the Prince of Neyyattinkara taking the help of the Naiks of Madurai hired a battalion of Vaduka Pada and marched on Attingal. The British all along did not directly confront the Nair Pada but made one to fight another. Fifteen of the leading Pillais in Attingal were executed and the remaining surrendered. Karthika Thirunal, a princess and his own relative, was made the queen of Attingal.
In 1729 after Rama Varma passed away the Neyyattinkara prince and another in Karunagappalli became kings of Travancore and both died in the same year one after other. Prince of Iraniel, Marthanda Varma, became the king of Travancore. He helped the British to contain the Dutch presence in the region and was instrumental in a major expansion drive. Soon Marthanda Varma captured all the remaining Pillais of Attingal involved in the massacre and handed them over to the English. From a small principality that remained south of the river Karamana, Travancore, with the help of the British got extended up to river Periyar in the north. With the help of a Brahmin minister Ramayyan all the principalities were subdued, many of these allied with the Dutch. The traditional social structure with the Nair warriors in charge were razed to the ground. Marthanda Varma raised new armies and this left the traditional warriors jobless. Nair chieftains’ powers of tax collection and legal duties stood removed and those who opposed were mercilessly persecuted, even the women and children not spared. Those favourable were promoted. The state was surrendered to the Padmanabha Swamy temple by Marthanda Varma, under Tulu Brahmin priests, as a clever move to neutralize revolt. But it was an actual surrender to the British that resulted, completed by his heir Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma who consolidated the British connection and Travancore came under the British in 1795. After the war with Mysore, where Tippu Sultan was defeated, Travancore was forced to accept the sovereignty of a Company, the English East India Company, traders became rulers.
The Travancore royalty, as also many other royal families, remained friends of the British, the British crown taking over control from the Company later, till India attained independence. The popular revolts that immediately followed this phase, by Pazhassi Raja in the north and Velu Thambi in the south (1790 – 1810), against the British, were contained. And those who revolted were pauperized and their powers gradually neutralised. Whether the human sacrifice at Attingal taught the British in India a lesson or it helped the chain of events leading to British occupation is a question that remains unanswered. Monopoly trade, what triggered the massacre, later took over the world and remains the most oppressive regime controlling mankind is a valid observation. Resource poor North exploiting the resource rich South using the game of trade continues to operate without any hindrance. The same urge to monopolise trade is what underlies the modern rhetoric of globalisation, only it is now much more subtle and sophisticated. It has become far too well entrenched, have governments as allies and it has become difficult to question the silent war killing millions in poverty.
History
It is beleived that Attingal town was built 800 years ago. During ancient times Attingal was known to be "Chittattinkara" as it is encircled on three sides by the rivers "Vamana puram river" and "Mamom river". Historically, Attingal has been the residence of the women of the Venad royal family. The Attingal Palace dates to 1305 C.E. Attingal and the surrounding areas were a principality within the Travancore kingdom, and were ruled by their queens. By the colonial period, trade flourished with Portuguese and Dutch traders. In 1735, Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, took Attingal.
Feudal status
The mother of the Maharaja of Travancore and her sister received the principality of Attingal in joint appanage. They were consequently styled the Senior and Junior Rani (the female form of Raja or Rana) of Attingal, respectively. Their husbands, known as Koil Tampurans, came from one of four or five princely houses who were closely related to the Royal House. Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
Attingal Revolution
Attingal Mutiny was the first ever rebellion againt the British in India. The grant of Anchuthengu to the English provoked the wrath of a section of the local population and in 1697 the English factory was subjected to a violent but futile attack. In 1721, the English factors felt the need to appease the Rani of Attingal (Queen) after alienating the local population by their "overbearing behaviour". They sent a set of presents to the Rani. The local agents of the "Pillamar" demanded that those presents should be given to them for transmission to the Rani. When it was denied, on the night of April 11, 1721 140 Englishmen were massacred on their way to the Rani, and the fort was laid under siege for nearly six months. The Nair Pada and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region The fort was relieved only when reinforcements for the English arrived from Talassery. Similarly the grant of Talassery was resented by Kurangoth Nair who claimed the territory to be under his control. He in alliance with one of the dissident Kolathiri princes, raided the Company's warehouse and inflicted heavy damage to property in 1704-05.
Attingal Palace
The Attingal palaces (Manomohanavilasom and Koyikkal), which are mentioned in literature dating from 1305 A.D., and many temples are in the Municipality. Chirayinkil, a town famous for its Sarkara Temple, is close by. It is also a major road junction.
Until 1837 Senior Rani Gouri Rukmani Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
The younger daughter of the Queen Regent Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai (1810-15), she succeeded her sister, Gouri Lakshmi Bai, as Senior Rani of Attingal. Two of her sons became Maharajas, she was mother of a total of eight children, and lived (1809-37).
1837-53 Senior Rani Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)
Also known as Chathayam Tirunal, she succeeded Gouri Rukmani Bai as joint administrator of the principality of Attingal, which were given as appanage to the two senior Princesses of the Travancore royal family, which follows matrilineal inheritance, according to male primogeniture. She was unmarried and (d. 1853).
THE FIRST INDIAN MUTINY AGAINST BRITISH-1800 MUTINY - AND MASSACRE OF150 BRITISH AT ATTINGAL PALACE IN TRAVANCORE
Kingdom of Travancore Part-1 of History of Kerala
Travancore Kings
Rama Varma 1663-1672
Aditya Varma 1672-1677
Umayamma Rani‡ 1677-1684
FLAG OF FORMER PRINCELY STATE OF TRAVANCORE Ravi Varma 1684-1718
Aditya Varma 1718-1719
Unni Kerala Varma 1719-1724
Rajah Rama Varma 1724-1729
Marthanda Varma 1729-1758
Dharma Raja 1758-1798
Balarama Varma 1798-1810
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi‡ 1810-1815
Gowri Parvati Bayi‡ 1815-1829
Swathi Thirunal 1829-1846
Uthram Thirunal 1846-1860
Ayilyam Thirunal 1860-1880
Visakham Thirunal 1880-1885
Moolam Thirunal 1885-1924Sethu Lakshmi Bayi‡ 1924-1931
Chithira Thirunal 1931-1949
‡ Regent Queens
Capitals
Padmanabhapuram 1721-1795
Thiruvananthapuram 1795-1949
Palaces
Padmanabhapuram Palace
Kilimanoor palace
Kuthira Malika
Kowdiar Palace
 | |
| Attingal palace |
1810-53
Junior Rani H.H. Sri Patmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Dyumani Raja
Rajeshwari Rani Gouri Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore
(India)1815-29 Regent of TravancoreWhen her elder sister Regent Maharani
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi died after childbirth in 1815 she was only thirteen
years of age and being the only female left in the family, besides her
deceased sister's little daughter, she became Regent Maharani
on behalf of her nephew, the heir, Maharajah Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
. She was on her accession actively counselled by her brother in law, Raja Raja Varma of the Changanssery Royal family as well as her husband, Raghava Varma, who belonged to the Royal family of Kilimanoor. Her first act was to appoint a new Dewan, and she continued the reforms of her older sister. Christians got more freedom and some of the restrictions put on some of the lower castes were removed, she also introduced health reforms. her mother, Princes Atham of the Travancore, was the Senior Rani of Attingal. Her first husband was Raghava Varma of the Kilimanoor Royal family and after his death she married his brother After his death in 1824, she married again, but did not have any children. She lived (1802-53).1815-? Senior Rani Gowri Rukmini Bayi of Attingal in Travancore (India)succeeded to the title of Senior Rani of Attingal after the death of her mother, the Queen Regent, Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai. Apart from her aunt, who was regent 1815-29, she only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, she married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of Thiruvalla Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma.
In 1888 two princesses were adopted from the Mavelikara Royal family into Travancore. (b. 1809-?).
History
On the night of April 11, 1721 150 Britishers were done to death at the Attingal Palace near Thiruvananthapuram. What perhaps was the first major attack on the British in India though rarely mentioned in Indian history . It was a clever plot laid by Kodumon Pillai, Minister of the queen of Attingal, Umayamma Rani,
Johan Nieuhof's audience with the Queen of Quilon-umayamma rani
who out smarted the shrewd British who had superior weapons. The Nair Pada(nair soldiers) and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region.
The immediate provocation was about the building of a Fort at Anchu Thengu, Anjengo in British records. The scheming British had entered in to a series of maneuvers to make trade in spices their monopoly. Greed for huge profits drove them wild, capturing the spice country itself later. Those were the early days of the English East India Company in India, the Dutch and the British on Indian shores were engaged in a series of conflicts to stake control of the sea trade.
Muslims, traditionally intermediaries in spice trade, were severely affected with the curbs in trade. Equipped with their guns and cannons, what the local soldiers were not yet having, they became menacing. Orders of the Rani to stop the building of the Fort were disobeyed.
Initial attacks launched by the Nair Pada(nair soldiers) was rebuffed with severe casualties. It was after a wait that the clever trap was laid and almost everyone in the Fort was executed. Cannons and gunfire of the British came to naught.Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
The sovereigns were ceremonial rulers and the actual power remained with the feudal lords titled Pillais,
Ettuveedan Nairfeudal chief
Nairs, who kept their own armies and administration. Feuds between the Pillais used to lead to intermittent clashes at the time.
This was a turning point in the history of Kerala, also India.
Travancore stood the side of the British after this episode and emerged as a major power during the reign of King Marthanda Varma. It was Marthanda Varma, who with the support of the British, annexed most of these principalities later and created the unified Travancore. The others were mostly allied with the Dutch, except the extreme north like Kolathu Nadu, modern Kannur. Marthanda Varma was also instrumental in neutralizing the powerful Pillais, Nayars, the story of his avenging the ‘Ettuveettil Pillamar’ is a figurative story of the event. From traders the British soon became sovereigns in India. The famous Kalari culture of the feudal lords, Pillais, stood liquidated during the British period that ensued
.The sequence of events that lead to the massacre were rooted primarily in the English attempts to monopolise trade. The Dutch and the English East India Companies were active in spice trade and both had factories on Indian soil, godowns for merchandise initially, which later were made army barracks.
The Dutch had a factory at Thenga Pattinam, now in Kanyakumari district, and the English in Vizhinjam. The negotiations were all with the Pillais who had the authority to deal with the traders. Due to the internecine conflicts and overtures to monopolise trade the factory in Thenga Pattinam was destroyed by the Pillais and the factory chief was executed in the year 1684. Two ships belonging to the Dutch were also set on fire. When complained Attingal Rani agreed to compensate the loss, but this was not possible as the Pillais were adamant. A request from the English that they be permitted to build a big wall around the Vizhinjam factory was also opposed by the Pillais. They fore saw the implications
. Kottayam Kerala Varma, the ruling king in Thiruvithamkode, adopted from Kolathunadu in the north, was not in very good terms with these powerful feudal lords. It was during this time that the Attingal Rani gave permission to the English to build a factory at Anchu Thengu in the year 1694.Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the ministers to the queen, prominent among the Council of Ministers, who advised the Rani that it will eventually prove disastrous.
Accordingly the Rani asked the Company to stop building the Fort,
this the English refused to heed. And Kodumon Pillai with the help of the Nair Pada in Chirayinkeezh attacked the Fort. The English now equipped with their cannons and guns retaliated and the attempt to stop the British ended in vain.
Now, Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai had a tussle going between them and Kodumon Pillai was the favourite of the Rani. How Vanchimuttom, it is believed, secretly helped the English in building the Fort. In 1690 the Rani passed away and the English completed building the Fort in the very next year taking advantage of the confusion. Soon the sea trade was under the control of the British who with their superior arms started dictating terms, in who can trade and at what price, also refused to pay taxes.
The queens that followed Umayamma Rani were all adopted from Kolathunadu and they were too weak to manage the scene and the Pillais were restive. Feuds between the two Pillais also became a matter of concern, which gave the English a golden opportunity. The old feudal system was having its own problems.The English now stationed comfortably at the heavily armed Fort at Anchu Thengu
refused to permit anyone else to trade in Attingal principality. Except the Dutch who were very powerful at the time, though the English used to give information about the Dutch vessels to the Muslims who had taken to warfare and were pirates in the seas by now. The English men in the Fort went around trading at their will and started looting the local people who had no choice but obey them.
Corruption among the British officers became rampant. The local traders and common people came to hate the English. Each one in the Fort started minting money and
one Coifing, who was in charge at the time, was discharged by the Company for misappropriation of money.
Next it was the tenure of one Gilford, who made the situation worse from bad. Two incidents at the time became crucial. One was the purchase by one Ignacio, an interpreter of the company, a plot of land belonging to the Devi temple. The one who sold this had no legal rights to sell it and the English forcibly occupied the land despite objections from the local people.
Another episode was the maltreatment to some traders who went to the Fort. A merchant Brahmin who went there was anointed with some ritual powder by a woman, as part of a Christian ceremony, and the insulted man injured the woman taking out his sword. Gilford coming to know about it inflicted severe punishments on the merchants. In fact it was a plot by Gilford who wanted to take revenge on those who refused to help him in his private trade.
The matter reached Kodumon Pillai who attacked the Fort with a big force, lost many lives due to gunfire and the English took refuge inside. The Nair Pada burned a ship of the Company and laid a siege on the Fort, but soon after a ship from Mumbai with soldiers arrived and they were saved.
The impasse that followed after the cold war between the two Pillais, as to who should be accepted as the Rani in Attingal, was a matter of concern during this period. Eventually in the year 1721 they came to a truce and the sister of the sovereign of Kollam was accepted as queen in Attingal.
The British, who had to pay arrears, were contacted and Gilford, facing troubles due to the opposition of the people, decided to meet the queen and also compromise with the Pillais. He sent emissaries to the Palace.Extensive talks were held through intermediaries and the English agreed to pay up the tax arrears for the period they made default and make relations smooth.
To settle the matters they were invited by the Pillais, Gilford and the other Englishmen did not sense the pent up anger and thought it an old story, to the Attingal Palace.
Everyone in the Fort were invited for a big party. On 11 th of April almost everyone in the English factory at Anchu Thengu thus came in a procession, as discussed and agreed to. Taking the river route they reached the Palace in great ceremony. The entourage was 150 strong.
As the boats landed messengers of the Pillais persuaded the English to leave their guns in the boat as these were not permitted in the Palace. This was complied. Later the English and the Pillais went in to marathon discussions regarding the arrears in taxes and it was dark by then.
The English had brought the new currency of the East India Company which the Pillais refused to accept. They demanded that the traditional Venetian currency be paid, what was the dollar of those days, this was not available with the English.
Pillais were buying time. They wanted to meet the queen but as it was already dark the Pillais asked the English men to stay for the night and meet her in the morning.Casey, the second in charge of the Fort, smelt a rat and told Gilford that it was risky to stay there at night but Gilford was not willing to listen.
As it was getting pitch dark Gilford heard the unusual movement of people in the Palace and was alarmed. Now sensing danger he sent a messenger to the Fort at Anchu Thengu several kilometers away in the night itself. Soon a huge party of the Nair Pada and the Muslims ran over the English men and every one of the 150 odd people were killed. It was a clean operation where the superior arms did not help.
Gilford, crafty and corrupt, to whom they had a long standing grudge, having killed many comrades, was beheaded and the body pinned on a wooden board, then floated in the river. The only one who escaped was the messenger sent by Gilford at night, who reached the Fort the next day.
The horrifying revenge was known only at the time. It was mostly women and children at the Fort and the only competent gun man left there, one Samuel, evacuated the women and children to safety by sea. Expecting that the Nair Pada is to attack the Fort soon he sealed the doors. He also burned the large quantity of surplus gun powder stored in the premises.
As expected the attack of the Nair Pada came on April 14 . It was more to capture the Fort and the weaponry. But they could not enter the huge Fort walls and the cannons kept spitting fire, after sporadic attacks repulsed by the gun men they gave up. They returned back after setting fire to the houses in the vicinity of the Fort.
On hearing about the tragedy that befell the Englishmen the Rani send a message expressing sorrow about what happened. Trade had become too attractive to lose. The King of Kollam also send a similar message.
Taking advantage of the situation the King of Thiruvithamkode, Travancore, Rama Varma, who had assumed the throne only a few days back, made swift moves. Competition between the spice kingdoms was common, for better trading. Originally belonging to Kolathunadu, Rama Varma, brother Aditya Varma and his sisters were adopted in 1696. This adoption had the support of Adams, chief of the Tellicherry factory of the British, under which the Fort at Anchu Thengue also came.
After the massacre the Rani and Vanchimuttom Pillai had left to Kollam allied with the Dutch.
Rama Varma saw this an opportunity and also wanted to make his sister queen of Attingal. The British interfering in selection of kings and queens was common in this era, using terms in trade as the bait, offering luxuries and various other means.In 1722 Alexander, a cousin of Adams, was appointed chief of Anchu Thengu.
In the same year two more adoptions were made from Kolathunadu, a prince and a princess, at the behest of Adams and one of them was crowned the prince of Travancore.
Rama Varma meanwhile gave permission to the English, by now his friends, to build a fort at Colachel and permission to mint coins for Travancore in 1723.
He made an agreement with the English giving them monopoly for trade in Travancore and gave permission for yet another fort in Idava in 1726.
From the two nephews of Rama Varma one was the Prince of Iraniel, who was to become famous later as Marthanda Varma, and the other Prince of Neyyattinkara.
In 1728 the Prince of Neyyattinkara taking the help of the Naiks of Madurai hired a battalion of Vaduka Pada and marched on Attingal.
The British all along did not directly confront the Nair Pada but made one to fight another. Fifteen of the leading Pillais in Attingal were executed and the remaining surrendered.
Karthika Thirunal, a princess and his own relative, was made the queen of Attingal.In 1729 after Rama Varma passed away the Neyyattinkara prince and another in Karunagappalli became kings of Travancore and both died in the same year one after other.
Prince of Iraniel, Marthanda Varma, became the king of Travancore.
He helped the British to contain the Dutch presence in the region and was instrumental in a major expansion drive. Soon Marthanda Varma captured all the remaining Pillais of Attingal involved in the massacre and handed them over to the English.
From a small principality that remained south of the river Karamana, Travancore, with the help of the British got extended up to river Periyar in the north. With the help of a Brahmin minister Ramayyan all the principalities were subdued, many of these allied with the Dutch.
The traditional social structure with the Nair warriors in charge were razed to the ground. Marthanda Varma raised new armies and this left the traditional warriors jobless. Nair chieftains’ powers of tax collection and legal duties stood removed and those who opposed were mercilessly persecuted, even the women and children not spared. Those favourable were promoted. The state was surrendered to the Padmanabha Swamy temple by Marthanda Varma, under Tulu Brahmin priests, as a clever move to neutralize revolt. But it was an actual surrender to the British that resulted, completed by his heir Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma who consolidated the British connection and Travancore came under the British in 1795.
After the war with Mysore, where Tippu Sultan was defeated, Travancore was forced to accept the sovereignty of a Company, the English East India Company, traders became rulers.The Travancore royalty, as also many other royal families, remained friends of the British, the British crown taking over control from the Company later, till India attained independence.
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The popular revolts that immediately followed this phase, by Pazhassi Raja in the north and Velu Thambi in the south (1790 – 1810), against the British, were contained.
And those who revolted were pauperized and their powers gradually neutralised. Whether the human sacrifice at Attingal taught the British in India a lesson or it helped the chain of events leading to British occupation is a question that remains unanswered.
Monopoly trade, what triggered the massacre, later took over the world and remains the most oppressive regime controlling mankind is a valid observation. Resource poor North exploiting the resource rich South using the game of trade continues to operate without any hindrance. The same urge to monopolise trade is what underlies the modern rhetoric of globalisation, only it is now much more subtle and sophisticated. It has become far too well entrenched, have governments as allies and it has become difficult to question the silent war killing millions in poverty.
History
It is beleived that Attingal town was built 800 years ago. During ancient times Attingal was known to be "Chittattinkara" as it is encircled on three sides by the rivers "Vamana puram river" and "Mamom river". Historically, Attingal has been the residence of the women of the Venad royal family. The Attingal Palace dates to 1305 C.E. Attingal and the surrounding areas were a principality within the Travancore kingdom, and were ruled by their queens. By the colonial period, trade flourished with Portuguese and Dutch traders. In 1735, Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, took Attingal.
Feudal status
The mother of the Maharaja of Travancore and her sister received the principality of Attingal in joint . They were consequently styled the Senior and Junior Rani (the female form of Raja or Rana) of Attingal, respectively. Their husbands, known as Koil Tampurans, came from one of four or five princely houses who were closely related to the Royal House. Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
Attingal Revolution-(Attingal Mutiny) was the first ever rebellion againt the British in India.
Similarly the grant of Talassery was resented by Kurangoth Nair who claimed the territory to be under his control. He in alliance with one of the dissident Kolathiri princes, raided the Company's warehouse and inflicted heavy damage to property in 1704-05.
Attingal Palace
The Attingal palaces (Manomohanavilasom and Koyikkal), which are mentioned in literature dating from 1305 A.D., and many temples are in the Municipality. Chirayinkil, a town famous for its Sarkara Temple,
is close by. It is also a major road junction.Until 1837 Senior Rani Gouri Rukmani Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)The younger daughter of the Queen Regent Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai (1810-15), she succeeded her sister, Gouri Lakshmi Bai, as Senior Rani of Attingal. Two of her sons became Maharajas, she was mother of a total of eight children, and lived (1809-37).1837-53 Senior Rani Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)Also known as Chathayam Tirunal, she succeeded Gouri Rukmani Bai as joint administrator of the principality of Attingal, which were given as appanage to the two senior Princesses of the Travancore royal family, which follows matrilineal inheritance, according to male primogeniture. She was unmarried and (d. 1853).
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SECOND CHAPTER OF BRITISH RULE IN KERALA(TRAVANCORE)-----------------------------------------------------------------
 |  | |
| AyilyamTh irunal Rani Gouri Lakshmi bai | Uthrittathi Thirunal Rani Gouri Parvathi |
on behalf of her nephew, the heir, Maharajah Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
. She was on her accession actively counselled by her brother in law, Raja Raja Varma of the Changanssery Royal family as well as her husband, Raghava Varma, who belonged to the Royal family of Kilimanoor. Her first act was to appoint a new Dewan, and she continued the reforms of her older sister. Christians got more freedom and some of the restrictions put on some of the lower castes were removed, she also introduced health reforms. her mother, Princes Atham of the Travancore, was the Senior Rani of Attingal. Her first husband was Raghava Varma of the Kilimanoor Royal family and after his death she married his brother After his death in 1824, she married again, but did not have any children. She lived (1802-53).1815-? Senior Rani Gowri Rukmini Bayi of Attingal in Travancore (India)succeeded to the title of Senior Rani of Attingal after the death of her mother, the Queen Regent, Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai. Apart from her aunt, who was regent 1815-29, she only female in the matriarchal Travancore Royal Family, she married Rama Varma Koil Thampuran of Thiruvalla Royal Family in 1819 and had seven children, five sons and two daughters. One of these daughters died soon while the other married and had two sons, including Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma.
A PORTRAIT OF SREE MOOLAM TIRUNAAL, was the ruler of the Indian state of Travancore between 1885 and 1924, succeeding his uncle Maharajah Visakham Thirunal (1880-1885).
In 1888 two princesses were adopted from the Mavelikara Royal family into Travancore. (b. 1809-?).
History
On the night of April 11, 1721 150 Britishers were done to death at the Attingal Palace near Thiruvananthapuram. What perhaps was the first major attack on the British in India though rarely mentioned in Indian history . It was a clever plot laid by Kodumon Pillai, Minister of the queen of Attingal, Umayamma Rani,
who out smarted the shrewd British who had superior weapons. The Nair Pada(nair soldiers) and the local Muslims took part in the operation and the British met with the biggest debacle in the region.
The immediate provocation was about the building of a Fort at Anchu Thengu, Anjengo in British records. The scheming British had entered in to a series of maneuvers to make trade in spices their monopoly. Greed for huge profits drove them wild, capturing the spice country itself later. Those were the early days of the English East India Company in India, the Dutch and the British on Indian shores were engaged in a series of conflicts to stake control of the sea trade.
Muslims, traditionally intermediaries in spice trade, were severely affected with the curbs in trade. Equipped with their guns and cannons, what the local soldiers were not yet having, they became menacing. Orders of the Rani to stop the building of the Fort were disobeyed.
Initial attacks launched by the Nair Pada(nair soldiers) was rebuffed with severe casualties. It was after a wait that the clever trap was laid and almost everyone in the Fort was executed. Cannons and gunfire of the British came to naught.Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
The sovereigns were ceremonial rulers and the actual power remained with the feudal lords titled Pillais,
Ettuveedan Nair feudal chief
Nairs, who kept their own armies and administration. Feuds between the Pillais used to lead to intermittent clashes at the time.
This was a turning point in the history of Kerala, also India.
Travancore stood the side of the British after this episode and emerged as a major power during the reign of King Marthanda Varma. It was Marthanda Varma, who with the support of the British, annexed most of these principalities later and created the unified Travancore. The others were mostly allied with the Dutch, except the extreme north like Kolathu Nadu, modern Kannur. Marthanda Varma was also instrumental in neutralizing the powerful Pillais, Nayars, the story of his avenging the ‘Ettuveettil Pillamar’ is a figurative story of the event. From traders the British soon became sovereigns in India. The famous Kalari culture of the feudal lords, Pillais, stood liquidated during the British period that ensued
.The sequence of events that lead to the massacre were rooted primarily in the English attempts to monopolise trade. The Dutch and the English East India Companies were active in spice trade and both had factories on Indian soil, godowns for merchandise initially, which later were made army barracks.
The Dutch had a factory at Thenga Pattinam, now in Kanyakumari district, and the English in Vizhinjam. The negotiations were all with the Pillais who had the authority to deal with the traders. Due to the internecine conflicts and overtures to monopolise trade the factory in Thenga Pattinam was destroyed by the Pillais and the factory chief was executed in the year 1684. Two ships belonging to the Dutch were also set on fire. When complained Attingal Rani agreed to compensate the loss, but this was not possible as the Pillais were adamant. A request from the English that they be permitted to build a big wall around the Vizhinjam factory was also opposed by the Pillais. They fore saw the implications
. Kottayam Kerala Varma, the ruling king in Thiruvithamkode, adopted from Kolathunadu in the north, was not in very good terms with these powerful feudal lords. It was during this time that the Attingal Rani gave permission to the English to build a factory at Anchu Thengu in the year 1694.Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai were the ministers to the queen, prominent among the Council of Ministers, who advised the Rani that it will eventually prove disastrous.
Accordingly the Rani asked the Company to stop building the Fort,
 |
| Anchuthengu is an old fort, built by the English East India Company for their use. It is situated 40 kms north of Thiruvananthapuram |
this the English refused to heed. And Kodumon Pillai with the help of the Nair Pada in Chirayinkeezh attacked the Fort. The English now equipped with their cannons and guns retaliated and the attempt to stop the British ended in vain.
Now, Vanchimuttom Pillai and Kodumon Pillai had a tussle going between them and Kodumon Pillai was the favourite of the Rani. How Vanchimuttom, it is believed, secretly helped the English in building the Fort. In 1690 the Rani passed away and the English completed building the Fort in the very next year taking advantage of the confusion. Soon the sea trade was under the control of the British who with their superior arms started dictating terms, in who can trade and at what price, also refused to pay taxes.
The queens that followed Umayamma Rani were all adopted from Kolathunadu and they were too weak to manage the scene and the Pillais were restive. Feuds between the two Pillais also became a matter of concern, which gave the English a golden opportunity. The old feudal system was having its own problems.The English now stationed comfortably at the heavily armed Fort at Anchu Thengu
refused to permit anyone else to trade in Attingal principality. Except the Dutch who were very powerful at the time, though the English used to give information about the Dutch vessels to the Muslims who had taken to warfare and were pirates in the seas by now. The English men in the Fort went around trading at their will and started looting the local people who had no choice but obey them.
Corruption among the British officers became rampant. The local traders and common people came to hate the English. Each one in the Fort started minting money and
one Coifing, who was in charge at the time, was discharged by the Company for misappropriation of money.
Next it was the tenure of one Gilford, who made the situation worse from bad. Two incidents at the time became crucial. One was the purchase by one Ignacio, an interpreter of the company, a plot of land belonging to the Devi temple. The one who sold this had no legal rights to sell it and the English forcibly occupied the land despite objections from the local people.
Another episode was the maltreatment to some traders who went to the Fort. A merchant Brahmin who went there was anointed with some ritual powder by a woman, as part of a Christian ceremony, and the insulted man injured the woman taking out his sword. Gilford coming to know about it inflicted severe punishments on the merchants. In fact it was a plot by Gilford who wanted to take revenge on those who refused to help him in his private trade.
The matter reached Kodumon Pillai who attacked the Fort with a big force, lost many lives due to gunfire and the English took refuge inside. The Nair Pada burned a ship of the Company and laid a siege on the Fort, but soon after a ship from Mumbai with soldiers arrived and they were saved.
The impasse that followed after the cold war between the two Pillais, as to who should be accepted as the Rani in Attingal, was a matter of concern during this period. Eventually in the year 1721 they came to a truce and the sister of the sovereign of Kollam was accepted as queen in Attingal.
The British, who had to pay arrears, were contacted and Gilford, facing troubles due to the opposition of the people, decided to meet the queen and also compromise with the Pillais. He sent emissaries to the Palace.Extensive talks were held through intermediaries and the English agreed to pay up the tax arrears for the period they made default and make relations smooth.
To settle the matters they were invited by the Pillais, Gilford and the other Englishmen did not sense the pent up anger and thought it an old story, to the Attingal Palace.
Everyone in the Fort were invited for a big party. On 11 th of April almost everyone in the English factory at Anchu Thengu thus came in a procession, as discussed and agreed to. Taking the river route they reached the Palace in great ceremony. The entourage was 150 strong.
As the boats landed messengers of the Pillais persuaded the English to leave their guns in the boat as these were not permitted in the Palace. This was complied. Later the English and the Pillais went in to marathon discussions regarding the arrears in taxes and it was dark by then.
The English had brought the new currency of the East India Company which the Pillais refused to accept. They demanded that the traditional Venetian currency be paid, what was the dollar of those days, this was not available with the English.
Pillais were buying time. They wanted to meet the queen but as it was already dark the Pillais asked the English men to stay for the night and meet her in the morning.Casey, the second in charge of the Fort, smelt a rat and told Gilford that it was risky to stay there at night but Gilford was not willing to listen.
As it was getting pitch dark Gilford heard the unusual movement of people in the Palace and was alarmed. Now sensing danger he sent a messenger to the Fort at Anchu Thengu several kilometers away in the night itself. Soon a huge party of the Nair Pada and the Muslims ran over the English men and every one of the 150 odd people were killed. It was a clean operation where the superior arms did not help.
Gilford, crafty and corrupt, to whom they had a long standing grudge, having killed many comrades, was beheaded and the body pinned on a wooden board, then floated in the river. The only one who escaped was the messenger sent by Gilford at night, who reached the Fort the next day.
The horrifying revenge was known only at the time. It was mostly women and children at the Fort and the only competent gun man left there, one Samuel, evacuated the women and children to safety by sea. Expecting that the Nair Pada is to attack the Fort soon he sealed the doors. He also burned the large quantity of surplus gun powder stored in the premises.
As expected the attack of the Nair Pada came on April 14 . It was more to capture the Fort and the weaponry. But they could not enter the huge Fort walls and the cannons kept spitting fire, after sporadic attacks repulsed by the gun men they gave up. They returned back after setting fire to the houses in the vicinity of the Fort.
On hearing about the tragedy that befell the Englishmen the Rani send a message expressing sorrow about what happened. Trade had become too attractive to lose. The King of Kollam also send a similar message.
Taking advantage of the situation the King of Thiruvithamkode, Travancore, Rama Varma, who had assumed the throne only a few days back, made swift moves. Competition between the spice kingdoms was common, for better trading. Originally belonging to Kolathunadu, Rama Varma, brother Aditya Varma and his sisters were adopted in 1696. This adoption had the support of Adams, chief of the Tellicherry factory of the British, under which the Fort at Anchu Thengue also came.
After the massacre the Rani and Vanchimuttom Pillai had left to Kollam allied with the Dutch.
Rama Varma saw this an opportunity and also wanted to make his sister queen of Attingal. The British interfering in selection of kings and queens was common in this era, using terms in trade as the bait, offering luxuries and various other means.In 1722 Alexander, a cousin of Adams, was appointed chief of Anchu Thengu.
In the same year two more adoptions were made from Kolathunadu, a prince and a princess, at the behest of Adams and one of them was crowned the prince of Travancore.
Rama Varma meanwhile gave permission to the English, by now his friends, to build a fort at Colachel and permission to mint coins for Travancore in 1723.
He made an agreement with the English giving them monopoly for trade in Travancore and gave permission for yet another fort in Idava in 1726.
From the two nephews of Rama Varma one was the Prince of Iraniel, who was to become famous later as Marthanda Varma, and the other Prince of Neyyattinkara.
In 1728 the Prince of Neyyattinkara taking the help of the Naiks of Madurai hired a battalion of Vaduka Pada and marched on Attingal.
The British all along did not directly confront the Nair Pada but made one to fight another. Fifteen of the leading Pillais in Attingal were executed and the remaining surrendered.
Karthika Thirunal, a princess and his own relative, was made the queen of Attingal.In 1729 after Rama Varma passed away the Neyyattinkara prince and another in Karunagappalli became kings of Travancore and both died in the same year one after other.
He helped the British to contain the Dutch presence in the region and was instrumental in a major expansion drive. Soon Marthanda Varma captured all the remaining Pillais of Attingal involved in the massacre and handed them over to the English.
From a small principality that remained south of the river Karamana, Travancore, with the help of the British got extended up to river Periyar in the north. With the help of a Brahmin minister Ramayyan all the principalities were subdued, many of these allied with the Dutch.
The traditional social structure with the Nair warriors in charge were razed to the ground. Marthanda Varma raised new armies and this left the traditional warriors jobless. Nair chieftains’ powers of tax collection and legal duties stood removed and those who opposed were mercilessly persecuted, even the women and children not spared. Those favourable were promoted. The state was surrendered to the Padmanabha Swamy temple by Marthanda Varma, under Tulu Brahmin priests, as a clever move to neutralize revolt. But it was an actual surrender to the British that resulted, completed by his heir Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma who consolidated the British connection and Travancore came under the British in 1795.
After the war with Mysore, where Tippu Sultan was defeated, Travancore was forced to accept the sovereignty of a Company, the English East India Company, traders became rulers.The Travancore royalty, as also many other royal families, remained friends of the British, the British crown taking over control from the Company later, till India attained independence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The popular revolts that immediately followed this phase, by Pazhassi Raja in the north and Velu Thambi in the south (1790 – 1810), against the British, were contained.
And those who revolted were pauperized and their powers gradually neutralised. Whether the human sacrifice at Attingal taught the British in India a lesson or it helped the chain of events leading to British occupation is a question that remains unanswered.
Monopoly trade, what triggered the massacre, later took over the world and remains the most oppressive regime controlling mankind is a valid observation. Resource poor North exploiting the resource rich South using the game of trade continues to operate without any hindrance. The same urge to monopolise trade is what underlies the modern rhetoric of globalisation, only it is now much more subtle and sophisticated. It has become far too well entrenched, have governments as allies and it has become difficult to question the silent war killing millions in poverty.
History
It is beleived that Attingal town was built 800 years ago. During ancient times Attingal was known to be "Chittattinkara" as it is encircled on three sides by the rivers "Vamana puram river" and "Mamom river". Historically, Attingal has been the residence of the women of the Venad royal family. The Attingal Palace dates to 1305 C.E. Attingal and the surrounding areas were a principality within the Travancore kingdom, and were ruled by their queens. By the colonial period, trade flourished with Portuguese and Dutch traders. In 1735, Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore, took Attingal.
Feudal status
The mother of the Maharaja of Travancore and her sister received the principality of Attingal in joint . They were consequently styled the Senior and Junior Rani (the female form of Raja or Rana) of Attingal, respectively. Their husbands, known as Koil Tampurans, came from one of four or five princely houses who were closely related to the Royal House. Attingal was the seat of the sovereign of Venad during this period and there were only queens, Ranis, in power. Apart from Attingal proper the principalities of Elayidam or Kottarakkara, Perakam or Nedumangad, Thiruvithamkode or Travancore, Kollam, Kaymkulam, Karunagappalli and Karthikappalli were all under the Attingal Rani.
Attingal Revolution-(Attingal Mutiny) was the first ever rebellion againt the British in India.
Similarly the grant of Talassery was resented by Kurangoth Nair who claimed the territory to be under his control. He in alliance with one of the dissident Kolathiri princes, raided the Company's warehouse and inflicted heavy damage to property in 1704-05.
Attingal Palace
The Attingal palaces (Manomohanavilasom and Koyikkal), which are mentioned in literature dating from 1305 A.D., and many temples are in the Municipality. Chirayinkil, a town famous for its Sarkara Temple,
is close by. It is also a major road junction.Until 1837 Senior Rani Gouri Rukmani Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)The younger daughter of the Queen Regent Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bai (1810-15), she succeeded her sister, Gouri Lakshmi Bai, as Senior Rani of Attingal. Two of her sons became Maharajas, she was mother of a total of eight children, and lived (1809-37).1837-53 Senior Rani Parvati Bai of Attingal in Travancore (India)Also known as Chathayam Tirunal, she succeeded Gouri Rukmani Bai as joint administrator of the principality of Attingal, which were given as appanage to the two senior Princesses of the Travancore royal family, which follows matrilineal inheritance, according to male primogeniture. She was unmarried and (d. 1853).
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SECOND CHAPTER OF BRITISH RULE IN KERALA(TRAVANCORE)-----------------------------------------------------------------
BRITISH LOOTING OF TRAVANCORE (NOW SOUTH KERALA) 19TH CENTURY
Rama Varma (AD 1758-1795), successor of Martanda Varma signed a treaty of perpetual friendship with the British in 1795.
This
costly treaty was also perhaps partly responsible for the numerous
taxes on the poorer segments of the society. The administration of Rama
Varma’s successor namely Balarama Varma led to a people’s rebellion
led by Velu Thampi who eventually became the Diwan and was partly
responsible for the
| Dharma Raja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Karthika Thirunal Dharma Rajah |
‘subsidiary treaty’.
This draconian treaty (1805) not only committed to an annual payment of Rs 8 Lakhs equal to about 3 million $ mandatory but also permitted the British to interfere in the internal affairs / decisions of the administration.
For example, when Balarama Varma passed away in 1810, the British
Resident overlooked the claim of Ilaya Raja Kerala Varma, who had been
groomed to succeed Balarama Varma all
along,
and who was a confirmed anti-British, for the throne. The British not
only banished him from Travancore but also kept him as a prisoner. In
his place Rani Laxmi Bai was appointed as the queen; and the
resident(english man) assumed the office of the Diwan as well! Further
she was succeeded by Rani Parvati Bai at the age of 13. Thus the period
after 1795 was indeed a period of turmoil for Travancore.
.
THIS LOOTING by the British LED TO POVERTY IN KERALA
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attingal#History
google map:-http://wikimapia.org#lat=8.6904027&lon=76.8029952&z=17&l=0&m=b&v=8
=========================================================================
Gandhi and Status of Women
by Jyotsna Kamat
Page Last Updated: February 15, 2013
Page Last Updated: February 15, 2013
Article on how Mahatma Gandhi's experiments with truth involved and affected women's status in the 20th century in India.Excerpts from a lecture given at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in December 1998
Women's status at the time
When Gandhiji assumed India's leadership the average life span of an Indian woman was only twenty seven years. Babies and the pregnant women ran a high risk of dying young. Child marriage was very common and widows were in very large number. Only 2% of the women had any kind of education and women did not have an identity of their own. In North India, they practiced the purdah (veil) system. Women could not go out of the house unless accompanied by men and the face covered with cloth. The fortunate ones who could go to school had to commute in covered carts (tangas).
It is in this context that we have to recognize the miracle of Gandhi's work. Gandhiji claimed that a woman is completely equal to a man and practiced it in strict sense. Thousands and millions of women, educated and illiterate, house wives and widows, students and elderly participated in the India's freedom movement because his influence. For Gandhiji, the freedom fight was not political alone; it was also an economic and social reform of a national proportion. After a couple of decades, this equality became very natural in India. After India's freedom (in1947) and adoption of constitution (1950), emphasized equality of women, when Hindu code was formulated, the population was not even impressed. They said -"Of course, it had to be done."
Woman and Progress
Gandhiji always advocated a complete reform which he called "Sarvodaya" meaning comprehensive progress. He believed that the difference between men and women was only physical and has expressed several times in his writings that in many matters especially those of tolerance, patience, and sacrifice the Indian woman is superior to the male. You will discover this when you read his articles from "Young India" and "Harijan". During the 40 years of his political career, he only found more reasons to deepen his faith in what he wrote. He never had a specific program for women, but women had a integral role to play in all his programs. I feel that this is one of the reasons why women participated in his programs so overwhelmingly.
Gandhiji declared that there is no school better than home and there is no teacher better than parents. He said men and women are equal, but not identical. "Intellectually, mentally, and spiritually, woman is equivalent to a male and she can participate in every activity."
Indian society is a male dominated one. Gandhiji has illustrated in his autobiography (The stories of my experiments with truth) how early in his marriage he too wanted to dominate his wife. He often said that paternal society is the root cause of inequality. In his book, there is a very touching chapter about when he asked his wife to clean a public toilet and the resulting conflict between him and his wife. He has written how ashamed he was of himself, and how he took care not to hurt her anymore for the rest of his life. Even though there was big gap between him and his wife intellectually, it did not affect their family life. He has said that Kasturba followed her husband more than was expected of her. Gandhiji followed Bramacharya (strict discipline of food, drinks, and of celibacy) from a very young age, but when his wife passed away, Gandhi grieved that without Ba, his life would have been meaningless. That was the bondage of his 62 years of marriage.
Woman and Social Service
Gandhiji struggled very hard to understand a woman's physical and mental pain. From a young age he introduced his wife and children to social sacrifice and service. He believed that service has to be performed for self-fulfillment, not for public consumption or exhibition. He believed that the publicity given to one's social service actually decrements the value of the service. He tried very hard to eliminate job indignity and bias based on caste system. He tried to do the work of a barber, dhobi (washer man), and janitor to understand them and demonstrate that the work one does has no impact on one's status in the society. For me, the fact that he contributed a great deal in raising his children is very modern concept. On one occasion the white midwife would not show up for his wife's delivery and Gandhiji himself delivered his child. He helped wife with feeding, bathing, and toiletries of the infant. In western countries these days men are encouraged to be with their wives during the delivery and the men are supposed to pitch in with diaper changing, etc. Gandhiji practiced this very modern concept 90 years ago in his own family.
Role of Women
"Womanhood is not restricted to the kitchen", he opined and felt that "Only when the woman is liberated from the slavery of the kitchen, that her true spirit may be discovered". It does not mean that women should not cook, but only that household responsibilities be shared among men, women and children. He wanted women to outgrow the traditional responsibilities and participate in the affairs of nation. He criticized Indian's passion for male progeny. He said that as long as we don't consider girls as natural as our boys our nation will be in a dark eclipse.
Child Widows
Gandhiji was especially considerate of the young widows. In the last 80 years, as a nation, if we have made any progress on the matter of child widows (girls used get married very early and after untimely deaths of their husbands, they were condemned to a life of great agony, shaving heads, living in isolation, and shunned by the society.) it is due to the reformers like Gandhiji and his contemporaries. Gandhiji once noted during his legendary travels across India that he never came across 13 year old who was not married. He declared the marriages in which the girls were not consulted were unholy. At that time in Madras presidency, the number of child widows were alarmingly large. He called upon the young to marry the widows and also to boycott child marriages. (It may be noted here that Gandhiji himself married when very young; he was thirteen.) The history of India knows of many such young men who married widows and went on to work as social reformers.
Temple women and Prostitutes
Gandhiji was very disturbed by the plight of this low caste untouchable section of the society, namely theDevadasis. (see also: The Temple Women) He was hurt by the miserable way the children of brothels were treated. He had made elaborate plans for their rehabilitation. He declared that protecting women's honor was important and as holy as protecting cows. His book "Women and Social Injustice" contains discussions of very deep thoughts and solutions on the topic. He felt that after India became free, the system of temple women and brothels must be abolished. Even though on paper we have abolished the system of Devadasis, rampant exploitation of women as sex servants has continued. There was no way Gandhiji could have predicted modern ways and means of prostitution (call girls, phone sex etc) but he certainly identified its social evil and tried to fight it.
Gandhiji's contribution for betterment of women in India
As we look back at the Indian history and compare the conditions of women before Gandhi's rise, and now, the progress we have made is quite enormous. A whole generation of women leaders came up influenced by Gandhi's vision. If today in India so many women can go to work in offices, educational institutions, and factories without fear or hesitation, the roots for such system were laid 90 years ago by Gandhiji and his followers.
As mentioned earlier, Gandhiji formulated India's freedom struggle as a comprehensive plan for women's development. Even though a lot of inequalities remain in our society, there is a fundamental agreement that men and women are equal. As Indians, we can be very proud that the same cannot be claimed even by so called "advanced nations". In Britain as well as in the U.S.A., women could not vote 75 years ago. But women's voting came very naturally to us from the beginning. About 100 years ago, the western woman could not own property, get a divorce or take the custody of her children. We just have to look at the life and struggles of Dr. Annie Besant to understand the status of western women during Gandhiji's time. The western women had to take to streets, overcome many stereotypes to establish themselves voting and other rights. But for us, political, economic and voting rights came so naturally through the constitution!
Legacy
Today, if Gandhi's agenda has fallen apart, it is due to Indian politics. The continued exploitation of women can be attributed to the degradation in moral values of the society, and utter poverty of our nation. We ignored the role of social service, job dignity, and self reliance. Once in a while we run into true volunteers (like Sushilamma - see visit to an ashram) who believe in Gandhiji's ideals and have implemented his programs. I hope that at least a few of the younger generation take up Gandhiji's unfinished manifesto and work to eliminate social barriers facing women.
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Indian Joan of Arc-Veera Mangai Velunachiyar
Veera Mangai Velunachiyar was one of the queens in the 18th century in South India. She rebelled against the British Empire and fought for the freedom of India. She was born in 1730 AD to the Mannar Sellamuthu Sethupathy and to Rani Sakandhimuthal of Ramnad Kingdom. She was the only daughter of this Royal family. The Royal couple had no male heir. The royal family brought up the Princess, Velunachiyar, like Prince of Ramnad due to this reason. She was trained in the skills of using weapons and also in martial arts like Valari, stick fighting etc. She learnt horse riding and archery earlier. The Royal couple had engaged teachers to teach her many languages like French, English and Urdu. Thus this young brave Princess had excellent training in all war techniques. She was a scholar in many languages and was ready to rule the Ramnad Kingdom . She married Sivagangai Mannar Muthuvaduganathar at the age of sixteen. In the year 1772 , the English invaded her kingdom . Velu Nachiyar heard that her husband Raja Muthu Vaduganathar and her daughter young Princess Gowri Nachiyar were killed in Kalaiyar Koil war. This war was held in Kalaiyar Koil palace. British troops attacked the palace under the command of Lt.Col. Bon Jour . She was very much worried and wanted to take revenge. Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai and Maruthu brothers sustained injuries. They promised to recapture the samasthan to punish the English. Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai, an incredible and distinguished person was the most powerful administer in Sivagangai samsthanam. Thandavaraya Pillai, the loyalist served (1700-1773) as Palavay and also as Pirathani under the three rulers of Sivagangai samsthanam. He was responsible for the development of Sivagangai samsthanam . At first he served the King Sasivarna Periya Udaiya Thevar during 1730-1750. Later he served under Muthu Vaduganatha Thevar, the King during 1750-1772 . He also served as *Pirathani to the queen Rani Velu Nachiyar.Here Dalavay means military chief and the Pirathani means chief minister. Pirathani was responsible for the improvement of Foreign affairs. Thus the two charges were the most important and also powerful .
(Thandavaraya Pillai was the son of Kathavaraya Pillai who was an accountant and also as Karvar, (administer) in this samsthan.He rendered his service with loyalty from the beginning of this samsthanam. He administered well and helped in the development. The King Udaiya Thevar was very much pleased because of his good administration and granted him his hereditary management. It shows the significance of loyalty of Dalavay Thandavaraya Pillai. He advised Veera Mangal Velunachiar to move to different places often in order to avoid British invaders . Meanwhile Dalavay Thandavarayan Pillai wrote a letter to Sultan Hyder Ali on behalf of Velu Nachiyar to provide 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to defeat the British army. But unfortunately he passed away due to old age. She decided to meet Hyder Ali after the demise of Dalavay Thandavarayan Pillai at Mysore with the help of his son. She could explain in detail in Urdu all her problems with East India Company. She explained him her strong opposition of British regime. Hyder Ali was very much pleased and promised to help her in this conflict… He accepted her request with sympathy and provided the necessary military assistance. He orderd Syed Karki of Dindigul fort gladar to provide the required military equipments to Rani Velu Nachiyar. He released 5000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to Rani Velu Nachiyar immediately. Her troops advanced to Sivaganga with the help provided by Maruthu brothers. The Nawab of Arcot put so many hindrances to avoid the advancement of Rani Velu Nachiyar’s combined troops. The queen and Maruthu brothers overcame all hurdles. They geared up the troops and entered Sivaganga. She defeated the Nawab of Arcot and took him as a captivator. She re-captured her Sivaganga samsthan with the help of Hyder Ali and crowned as queen of the Sivagangai seemai. Velu Nachiyar is only the first queen who raised the revolt against the British emperor. According to historians. Prof.Sanjeevi mentioned in his ‘ Maruthiruvar’ book that ‘ the bravery queen Velu Nachiyar raised revolt against English emperor and fought for the freedom of India 85 years before Jhansi Rani’s freedom struggle in North . Venkatam further stated that Velu Nachiyar is India’s Joan of Arc.
[by sivashanmugam.referred books: The Madura country a manual..J.H.Nelson. The Sivaganga Zamindary..K.Annaswamy Aiyer.Maruthiruvar..Prof.Sanjeevi.Viduthalai porin vidi velligal… M.Balakrishnan..]
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sivagangai velu nachiyar palace
Kuyili was a follower of Rani Velu Nachiar, the 18th century queen of Sivaganga. After her husband Muthuvaduganathaperiya Udaiyathevar was killed in a battle in 1780, Velu Nachiyar fought the British with help from Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali and won the battle. Her army commander Kuyili doused herself with oil, set herself ablaze and walked into a British storehouse of ammunition.
While a commemorative postage stamp on Rani Velu Nachiar
was released in 2008, the state will construct a memorial for Kuyili on
the premises of the memorial being constructed for Velu Nachiar in
Sivaganga.
The CM said a memorial would be constructed for philanthropist and educationist Swami Sagajananda of Chidambaram, who had worked for the welfare of the poor. She said the memorial for Dr BR Ambedkar on Greenways road in Mandaveli would also be renovated.
The CM said a memorial would be constructed for philanthropist and educationist Swami Sagajananda of Chidambaram, who had worked for the welfare of the poor. She said the memorial for Dr BR Ambedkar on Greenways road in Mandaveli would also be renovated.
Velu Nachiyar
Rani
Velu Nachiyar was an 18th century Indian Queen from Sivaganga. Rani
Velu Nachiyar is the first Queen of Tamil Origin to fight against the
British in India.
Indian Stamps-Rani Velu Nachchiyar-By India Post
Dec 31st, 2008 by IndianStampGhar.com
Rani Velu Nachiar and her daughter Vellachi Nachiar lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupakshi near Dindigul. Frustrated by the joining of forces against him, the Nawab ordered that Velu Nachiar and Marudhu Brothers were permitted to return to Sivaganga and rule the country subject to payment of Kist to the Nawab. Abiding by this Order, Rani Velu Nachiar accompanied by Marudu brothers and Vellachi Nachiar entered Sivaganga. An agreement was reached where by Rani Velu Nachiar was permitted to govern the Sivaganga Country and Chinna Marudu, the younger was appointed her minister and the elder Vellai Marudu as the Commander-in-chief. Thus the widow Queen Velu Nachiar succeeded her husband in 1780.
Date Of Issue:-31.12.2008.
Velu Nachiyar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velu_Nachiyar
Rani Velu Nachiyar (Tamil: இராணி வேலு நாச்சியார்) was an 18th century Indian Queen from Sivaganga. Rani Velu Nachiyar is the first ...Velu Nachiyar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Born | 3 January 1730 Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Died | the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Name | Velu Nachiyar |
| Occupation | Queen of Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, Circa 1760-1799 |
| Succeeding State | British India |
Her life
She was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the daughter of Chellamuthu Sethupathy. She married the king of Siva Gangai and they had a daughter - Vellachi Nachiar. When her husband Muthuvaduganathaperiya udaiyathevar was killed, she was drawn into battle. Her husband and his second wife were killed by a few British soldiers and the son of the Nawab of Arcot. She escaped with her daughter, lived under the protection of Hyder Ali at Virupachi near Dindigul for eight years.[2] During this period she formed an army and sought an alliance with Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali with the aim of attacking the British. In 1780 Rani Velu Nachiyar fought the British with military assistance from Gopala Nayaker and Hyder Ali and won the battle. When Velu Nachiyar finds the place where the British stock their ammunition, she builds the first human bomb. A faithful follower, Kuyili douses herself in oil, lights herself and walks into the storehouse.[3] Rani Velu Nachiyar formed a woman's army named “udaiyaal” in honour of her adopted daughter — Udaiyaal, who died detonating a British arsenal. Nachiar was one of the few rulers who regained her kingdom and ruled it for 10 more years.[4]Velu Nachiyar is the first queen who fought for the freedom against British in India and succeeded.
The Queen Velu Nachiar granted powers to Marudu brothers to administer the country in 1780. Velu Nachiar died a few years later, but the exact date of her death is not known (it was about 1790). Marudu brothers are the sons of Udayar Servai alias Mookiah Palaniappan Servai and Anandayer alias Ponnathal. They are native of Kongulu street of Ramnad. They belonged neither to the family of the ancient poligars nor to their division of the caste.[5]
On 31-December-2008, a commemorative postage stamp on her was released
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Tamil Nadu to build memorial for freedom fighter Kuyili
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has decided to honour freedom fighter Kuyili with a memorial in Sivaganga district.
Kuyili was a follower of Rani Velu Nachiar, the 18th century queen of Sivaganga
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 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Tuesday, Jan 11, 2011 |
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Metro Plus Coimbatore |
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very nyc.....
ReplyDeleteYou need to mention about Kamala Bai Prabhu also, who belonged to Thalassery. She was a bold lady who took part in freedom movement, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Some details are given in this link : http://www.thalassery.info/personality/kamala_bhai.htm
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