Kittur Rani Chinnamma   She was the first woman independence activist of India. She stood all alone with a vibrant fiery eye against the British Empire. She did not succeed in driving them away, but she did inspire many women to rise against the British rule. She was Chennamma Queen of the princely state of Kittur in Karnataka. Today she is well known as Kittur Rani Chennamma.   Chennamma (1778-1829 CE) was born at Kakati (Belgaum district) and had the proper education that the girls of the ruling class received in those times. She married Mallasarja Desai, ruler of Kittur at the age of 15. After his death, his son Shivalingarudra Sarja, who had no ch

The Economic Exploitation   The main motivation of British domination and rule was the economic exploitation of India. Naturally, with the gradual political awakening, this caught the attention of some Indians and started the reaction against British rule.   The First Steps by the British   Before British rule, there was no private property in land. The self-governing village community handed over each year to the ruler or to his nominee a share of the annual produce. The East India Company put a stop to this and introduced a new revenue system superseding the right of the village community over land and creating two new forms of property

Rajaji and the Cripps Proposal   The war, which had started in 1939, was now continuing in full rage. By the summer of 1940, Germany had conquered all those who were against them in the European continent except England. England now stood alone. The Congress Working Committee held a meeting in July 1940 and demanded 'an immediate and unequivocal declaration of the full independence of India, which will enable it to throw its full weight into the efforts for the effective organisation of the defence of the country'. In response to this, the Viceroy made an offer known as the August Offer. While reiterating the offer of Dominion Status, he agreed that the writi

Rajgopalchari 1878-1972   This chapter presents the life of one freedom fighter who had the courage and honesty to chart his own path according to his deepest convictions. His name is Rajagopalchari or as he was affectionately called Rajaji. Although in the first part of his political life he was almost totally influenced and under the spell of Gandhi, in the later part of his career he had the inner strength and courage to differ from him and even to stand up, sometimes as a lonely crusader. Today, when one looks in hindsight, one feels that had the Congress party listened to Rajaji, the course of Indian history might have been different. In this contest, we sh

Appendix   Two letters from Sri Aurobindo on the Second World War   1. You have said that you have begun to doubt whether it was the Mother's war and ask me to make you feel again that it is. I affirm again to you most strongly that this is the Mother's war. You should not think of it as a fight for certain nations against others or even for India; it is a struggle for an ideal that has to establish itself on earth in the life of humanity, for a Truth that has yet to realise itself fully and against a darkness and falsehood that are trying to overwhelm the earth and mankind in the immediate future. It is the forces behind the battle that have to be seen and not this or th

The British Conquest of India   Before we come to the main theme of the book, we shall make a brief survey of the advent of the British and the psychological factors that ultimately led to the aspiration for a united India.   The British came to India as traders early in the 17th century. The Moghul emperor Jehangir permitted the English to trade in India in 1608. As a result, the English established a factory at Surat. However, India's connection with the West had started earlier with the Portuguese, who were the first Europeans to establish themselves in India and the last to leave. They arrived as early as 1498 via the ocean route discovered by

Subramaniam Bharati   It will be difficult to enumerate the heroic qualities as they are normally understood in the personality of Subramaniam Bharati. However, there is heroism and heroism; indeed there is the heroism of the patriot and poet who loves his nation and pours out this love in poetry. This literature which becomes immortal inspires men to acts of great valour and self-sacrifice. Of this type Subramaniam Bharati stands out as one of the great exemplars.   Bharati was born in Ettayapuram, in Tamil Nadu, a place well known for the great arts of poetry and music. Its fame had spread throughout the southern parts of India and Tamil scholars