Indian History

February 22 is the birth anniversary of Swami Shraddhanand , a pioneer of Indian culture and nationalism. Swami Shraddhanand was a leading member of the famous reform movement Arya Samaj and tried his best to propagate the ideals and teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati , who founded the movement in 1875. A nationalist leader from Punjab, he strove hard to reform Hinduism of purging it all later degenerate features that had crept into it.  Born as Munshi Ram Vij on February 22, 1856 at Talwan village in Jalandhar district in Punjab province, Shraddhanand has left an indelible mark on India’s culture which will continue to inspire future generations. Shraddhanand was a courageous social reformer who opposed illiteracy, the prevailing caste system, untouchability, and advocated widow remarriage, national unity and integrity. On 4th April, 1919, he delivered a speech on the Hindu Muslim unity from the pulpit of Jama Masjid in Delhi. To B R Ambedkar , Shraddhanand was ‘the greatest...

1 892 -  Birth of  Indulal Yajnik  on  22 February 1892 . Born at  Nadiad  in the present-day  Kheda  district of Gujarat, Indulal Yajnik was a freedom fighter and one of the finest editors. A social worker and peasant leader from Gujarat he was a gifted journalist. He was associated with the home rule movement started by  Annie Besant . Yajnik actively participated in the  Kheda Satyagraha  organized by Gandhi to secure exemption for the peasants from payment of land tax for the crops that had failed. He launched two Gujarati monthlies –  Navjivan Ame Saty  and  Yugadharm  and a daily  Nutan Gujarat . Indulal Yajnik  established schools for the Bhil children and was the secretary of the Antyaj Seva Mandal, with Thakkar Bapa as its president. He was actively associated with the Kisan Sabha work and organsied the cooperative movement among the peasants of Gujarat. In 1942 he presided over the annual ses...

1630 -  Birth of Shivaji. Founder of the Maratha kingdom in 17th-century, Shivaji was born in the hill-fort of Shivneri near Junnar (in the Pune district of Maharashtra) on February 19, 1630. However, according to one school of thought, he was born in 1627. 1915 -   Death of Gopal Krishna Gokhale on   19 February in 1915 . Born on   9 May in 1866 , Gopal Krishna Gokhale was an Indian freedom fighter and political guru of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the president of the Benares session of Indian National Congress in 1905. In that year he had founded Servants of India Society. Ridiculing the idea of Swaraj in 1903, Gopal Krishna Gokhale had said "Only mad men outside lunatic asylums could think or talk of independence" In  1907 , the Congress had been divided into two factions in the Surat session. While the moderate faction was headed by Gopal Krishna Gokhale,  Bal Gangadhar Tilak  was the leader of the extremist group. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was also a ...

  1486   - Birth of  Chaitanya Mahaprabhu    on   18th February in 1486 . Considered to be one the greatest saints of Bhakti Movement, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was born on 18th February in 1486 in   Navadwip   (Nadia) in a Brahmin family in West Bengal. Nimai and Gauranga were his other names.  Chaitanya Mahaprabhu gave great impetus to Vaishnavism in Bengal. This greatest religious reformer  laid the foundation of the Gaudiya sect of Vaishnavs. He was an exponent of a new style of Bhajan singing.  1905 - Foundation of the  Indian Home Rule Society  (IHRS) in  1905 . The Indian Home Rule Society (IHRS) was an Indian organisation founded on  18 February  in London in 1905 that sought to promote the cause of self-rule in British India. It was founded by Indian revolutionary leader  Shyamji Krishna Varma .  

  1792-  Birth of  Budhu Bhagat  on  17 February,   1792  in Jharkhand .      Budhu Bhagat was the leader of  Kol  rebellion and  Larka  rebellion in 1831—32 in Chhotanagpur. Born on  17 February 1792  into an Oraon farmer family, Budhu Bhagat had employed tactic of guerrilla warfare against the British. His resistance to the British forces ended when he was killed on  13 February 1832  by them . 

1869  - Death of Mirza Ghalib on 15 February 1869. He was a famous Urdu poet during the Mughal period. Ghalib was buried near the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya in Hazrat Nizamuddin locality in Delhi Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, Mirza Ghalib was patronized by the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar (Zafar ascended the Mughal throne in 1837). He was born in Agra on 27 December 1797.  Ghalib was also well versed in Persian.  1948 - Death of famous Hindi poet Subhadra Kumari Chauhan on 15 February 1948. One of her most popular poems is Jhansi Ki Rani. She was born on 16 August 1904.