BIRTH: 23rd July 1856
Death: 1st August 1920
Achievements: Started two weeklies, 'Kesari' and 'Mahratta', introduced the festivals like 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and Shivaji Jayanti', worked towards women empowerment, formed the "Home Rule League".
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, known as “The Father of Indian Unrest" was born on 23rd July 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. He was a born to Gangadhar Ramachandra Tilak, who was a Sanskrit scholar and a famous teacher and belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmin by caste. Tilak was a bright student and was good in mathematics. Since childhood he had a fanatical attitude towards injustice and was truthful as well as straightforward by nature. He was among India's first generation of youth to receive a modern college education.
At the age of 10, Tilak moved to Pune along with his family as his father was transferred. There he received his education from an Anglo-Vernacular school. Some years later, he lost his mother and when he turned 16, he also lost his father. Then he got married to a 10-year-old girl named Satyabhama while he was studying for his Matriculation. In 1877, Tilak completed his graduation and studied Law. Soon after his graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune. Later, he became a journalist and became a strong critic of the Western education system and stated that it is mortifying to Indian students and disrespectful to the heritage of India. He concluded that good citizens can be shaped only through good education. He believed that every Indian had to be taught about Indian culture and national ideals. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, together with his classmate Agarkar and great social reformer Vishnushastry Chiplunkar, founded “Deccan Education Society” in order to impart quality education to the youth of India. In the following year, after the Deccan Education Society was founded, Tilak started two weeklies, 'Kesari' and 'Mahratta'. 'Kesari' was a Marathi weekly while 'Mahratta' was English weekly and quickly both the newspapers became very popular. In both the newspapers, Tilak tinted the quandary of Indians. He gave a flamboyant picture of the sufferings and of actual happenings of people of India and called upon every Indian to struggle for his right and made use of scorching language to provoke the Indians.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the prominent social reformers of India who devoted his life for social reformation of India, highlighting the importance and need of women education as well as their empowerment. He educated all of his daughters and did not marry them till they were over 16years as he strongly believed about his ideas of women education. To unite the state of Maharashtra, he also introduced the festivals like 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and Shivaji Jayanti', which are today considered as the major festival of the state. As a great social reformer, he demanded the prohibition of child marriage and approved of widow remarriage.
In the year 1890, Bal Gangadhar Tilak joined the Indian National Congress. He was a member of the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University. Also known by the name of Lokmanya, he was charged of writing articles that instigated the people of India to emarge against the government and break laws as well as disturb the peace. He was sentenced to meticulous incarceration for a year and half and was was released in 1898. After his release, Tilak along with his comrades Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, the trio popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal, initiated the Swadeshi Movement. Through newspapers and speeches, Tilak spread the message of Swadeshi to every village in Maharashtra as well as to every Indian. In the meantime, Congress was divided into two camps-Moderates and revolutionary. The revolutionary group was led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak as he opposed to the temperate group led by Gopal Krishna. The revolutionary group was in errand of self rule while the moderate thought that time is not right for such an eventuality. This fissure ultimately led to split in the Congress.
In the year 1906, Tilak was arrested on the charges of sedition and after the trial; he was sentenced to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay in Burma. During the time he spent in the in prison, he was involved in lot of reading and writing. He wrote the book 'Gita-Rahasya' during the time he was in prison. On June 8, 1914 Tilak was released from jail and after his release, he tried to bring the two groups of Congress together to fight against the British Government. However, his efforts in doing this failed. In 1916, he decided to build a separate organization known as the 'Home Rule League', whose objective was swaraj. Tilak said that "swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it!" Tilak went from village to village, and explained the objective of his league to the farmers and won their hearts. He travelled frequently in order to manage the people. While fighting for the people and their cause as well as for the freedom of India, Bal Gangadhar Tilak died on August 1, 1920 and India lost a great leader.
Death: 1st August 1920
Achievements: Started two weeklies, 'Kesari' and 'Mahratta', introduced the festivals like 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and Shivaji Jayanti', worked towards women empowerment, formed the "Home Rule League".
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, known as “The Father of Indian Unrest" was born on 23rd July 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. He was a born to Gangadhar Ramachandra Tilak, who was a Sanskrit scholar and a famous teacher and belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmin by caste. Tilak was a bright student and was good in mathematics. Since childhood he had a fanatical attitude towards injustice and was truthful as well as straightforward by nature. He was among India's first generation of youth to receive a modern college education.
At the age of 10, Tilak moved to Pune along with his family as his father was transferred. There he received his education from an Anglo-Vernacular school. Some years later, he lost his mother and when he turned 16, he also lost his father. Then he got married to a 10-year-old girl named Satyabhama while he was studying for his Matriculation. In 1877, Tilak completed his graduation and studied Law. Soon after his graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a private school in Pune. Later, he became a journalist and became a strong critic of the Western education system and stated that it is mortifying to Indian students and disrespectful to the heritage of India. He concluded that good citizens can be shaped only through good education. He believed that every Indian had to be taught about Indian culture and national ideals. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, together with his classmate Agarkar and great social reformer Vishnushastry Chiplunkar, founded “Deccan Education Society” in order to impart quality education to the youth of India. In the following year, after the Deccan Education Society was founded, Tilak started two weeklies, 'Kesari' and 'Mahratta'. 'Kesari' was a Marathi weekly while 'Mahratta' was English weekly and quickly both the newspapers became very popular. In both the newspapers, Tilak tinted the quandary of Indians. He gave a flamboyant picture of the sufferings and of actual happenings of people of India and called upon every Indian to struggle for his right and made use of scorching language to provoke the Indians.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was one of the prominent social reformers of India who devoted his life for social reformation of India, highlighting the importance and need of women education as well as their empowerment. He educated all of his daughters and did not marry them till they were over 16years as he strongly believed about his ideas of women education. To unite the state of Maharashtra, he also introduced the festivals like 'Ganesh Chaturthi' and Shivaji Jayanti', which are today considered as the major festival of the state. As a great social reformer, he demanded the prohibition of child marriage and approved of widow remarriage.
In the year 1890, Bal Gangadhar Tilak joined the Indian National Congress. He was a member of the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University. Also known by the name of Lokmanya, he was charged of writing articles that instigated the people of India to emarge against the government and break laws as well as disturb the peace. He was sentenced to meticulous incarceration for a year and half and was was released in 1898. After his release, Tilak along with his comrades Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, the trio popularly known as Lal-Bal-Pal, initiated the Swadeshi Movement. Through newspapers and speeches, Tilak spread the message of Swadeshi to every village in Maharashtra as well as to every Indian. In the meantime, Congress was divided into two camps-Moderates and revolutionary. The revolutionary group was led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak as he opposed to the temperate group led by Gopal Krishna. The revolutionary group was in errand of self rule while the moderate thought that time is not right for such an eventuality. This fissure ultimately led to split in the Congress.
In the year 1906, Tilak was arrested on the charges of sedition and after the trial; he was sentenced to 6 years of rigorous imprisonment in Mandalay in Burma. During the time he spent in the in prison, he was involved in lot of reading and writing. He wrote the book 'Gita-Rahasya' during the time he was in prison. On June 8, 1914 Tilak was released from jail and after his release, he tried to bring the two groups of Congress together to fight against the British Government. However, his efforts in doing this failed. In 1916, he decided to build a separate organization known as the 'Home Rule League', whose objective was swaraj. Tilak said that "swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it!" Tilak went from village to village, and explained the objective of his league to the farmers and won their hearts. He travelled frequently in order to manage the people. While fighting for the people and their cause as well as for the freedom of India, Bal Gangadhar Tilak died on August 1, 1920 and India lost a great leader.