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Birsa Munda pronunciation ⓘ (15 November 1875 – 9 June 1900) [4] was an Indian tribal independence activist, and folk hero who belonged to the Munda tribe. He spearheaded a tribal religious millenarian movement that arose in the Bengal Presidency (now Jharkhand) in the late 19th century, during the British Raj, thereby making him an important figure in the history of the Indian independence movement. [5] The revolt mainly concentrated in the Munda belt of Khunti, Tamar, , Sarwada and Bandgaon. [6]
Annie Besant (/ˈbɛzənt/; [1] née Wood ; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, theosophist, freemason, educationist, and activist involved in women's rights, Home Rule, and Indian nationalism. [2] [3] [4] She supported Irish and Indian self-rule. [2] She became the first female president of the Indian National Congress in 1917.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak [1] (born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak [12] [13] (pronunciation: [keʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək]); 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), was an Indian nationalist and self-rule activist in the Indian independence movement. He was one third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. [14] The honorific "Lokmanya" (meaning "accepted by the people as their leader") was applied to him by his supporters. [15]
Ram Prasad Bismil (11 June 1897 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, and revolutionary who fought against British Raj, participating in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, and the Kakori Conspiracy of 1925. He composed in Urdu and Hindi under pen names Ram , Agyat (anonymous) and Bismil (wounded), becoming widely known under the latter. "Bismil" was not his real surname; it was his pen name. Pandit was an honorific title rather than a family surname conferred to him due to his specialised knowledge on several subjects. He was also a translator.
Ranjit Singh [1] (Punjabi pronunciation: [ɾəɳd͡ʒiːt̪(ə̆) sɪ˩˥ŋɡ]; c. 13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and the first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Starting as a local chieftain, by the time of his death he had expanded his kingdom from Ladakh in the north to the borders of Sindh, and from Khyber Pass in the west to the river Sutlej in the east.
Akbar [2] (Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar, [11] (1542-10-15)15 October 1542 [1] – (1605-10-27)27 October 1605), [15] also known as Akbar the Great , [16] was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in the Indian subcontinent. He is generally considered one of the greatest Mughal emperors. [17]
Chanakya (ISO: Cāṇakya , चाणक्य, pronunciation ⓘ ), according to legendary narratives [1] preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta in his rise to power and the establishment of the Maurya Empire. According to these narratives, Chanakya served as the chief adviser and prime minister to both emperors Chandragupta Maurya and his son Bindusara. [8]
Chandragupta Maurya [4] (reigned c. 320 BCE [5] – c. 298 BCE) [6] was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian subcontinent.
Ashoka , also known as Asoka or Aśoka (/əˈʃoʊkə/ [8] ə-SHOH-kə ; Sanskrit: [ɐˈɕoːkɐ], IAST: Aśoka ; c. 304 – 232 BCE), most commonly known as Ashoka the Great , was Emperor of Magadha [9] from c. 268 BCE until his death, and the third ruler of the Maurya Empire. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra. A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.
Sambhaji (Sambhajiraje Shivajiraje Bhonsle, Marathi pronunciation: [saːmˈbʱaːdʑiː ˈbʱos(ə)le]; 14 May 1657 – 11 March 1689), also known as Shambhuraje , ruled from 1681 to 1689 as the second king (Chhatrapati) of the Maratha Empire, a prominent state in early modern India. He was the eldest son of Shivaji, the founder of the Maratha Empire.
Pratap Singh I (18 May 1540 – 19 January 1597), popularly known as Maharana Pratap (IPA: [məɦaːˈɾaːɳaː pɾəˈtaːp] ⓘ ), was king of the Kingdom of Mewar, in north-western India in the present-day state of Rajasthan, from 1572 until his death in 1597. He is notable for leading the Rajput resistance against the expansionist policy of the Mughal Emperor Akbar including the battle of Haldighati.
Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, Marathi pronunciation: [ʃiˈʋaːdʑiː ˈbʱos(ə)le]; c. 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) [13] was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. [14] Shivaji inherited a fiefdom (Marathi: Jagir ) from his father who served as a retainer for the Sultanate of Bijapur, which later formed the genesis of the Maratha Kingdom. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad Fort. [15]
Lakshmibai, Rani of Jhansi (Hindi: Jhānsi Ki Rāni ; born Manikarnika Tambe ; 1827–30, or 1835 – 18 June 1858) was one of the leading figures of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The queen consort of the princely state of Jhansi from 1843 to 1853, she assumed its leadership after the outbreak of the conflict and fought several battles against the British. Her life and deeds are celebrated in modern India and she remains a potent symbol of Indian nationalism.
Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Chandra Shekhar Azad , was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) after the deaths of its founder, Ram Prasad Bismil, and three other prominent party leaders, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Nath Lahiri and Ashfaqulla Khan. He hailed from Bardarka village in Unnao district of United Provinces and his parents were Sitaram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi. He often used the pseudonym "Balraj" while signing pamphl…
Bhagat Singh [2] (27 September 1907 [9] [1] – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary [10] who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationalist. [11] [12] He later took part in a largely symbolic bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly in Delhi and a hunger strike in jail, which—on the back of sympathetic coverage in Indian-owned newspapers—turned him into a household name in the Punjab region, and, after his execution at age 23, a martyr and folk hero in…
Subhas Chandra Bose [4] (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, [8] but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan left a legacy vexed by authoritarianism, [12] antisemitism, [18] and military failure. [22] The honorific Netaji (Hindustani for "Respected Leader") was first applied to Bose in Germany in early 1942—by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin. It is now used th…
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi [3] (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, [8] anti-colonial nationalist, [9] and political ethicist [10] who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, [11] and whose legacy would later inspire movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world. [12] [13]