INDIAN HISTORY- IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES

1. Robert Clive

2. Joseph Dupleix

3. Farrukhsiyar

4. Alivardi Khan

5. Siraj-ud-Daulah

6. Shuja-ud-Daulah

7. Shah Alam II

8. Mir Jafar

9. Mir Qasim

10. Warren Hastings

11. Ahmad Shah Abdali

12. Baji Rao

13. Balaji Baji Rao

14. Peshwa Madhavrao

15. Hyder Ali

16. Tipu Sultan

17. Hastings

18. Cornwallis

19. General Bakht Khan

20. Cornwallis (GG 1798-1805): First to bring into existence and organize the civil services

21. Metcalfe- lifted the restrictions on the Indian press in 1835

22. Lytton- Vernacular Press Act of 1878

23. Mayo- resolution of 1870

24. Lord Ripon- resolution of 1882; Ilbert Bill controversy

25. Lord Dufferin- Safety Valve Theory

26. Lord Macaulay

27. James Thomson- LG of NW province in 1843; introduced a comprehensive scheme of village

schooling

28. Philip Spratt- Meerut Conspiracy Case

29. Benjamin Francis Bradley- Meerut Conspiracy Case

30. Satyendranath Tagore- first Indian member of the ICS

31. Satyendranath Sinha- first Indian member of the Imperial Legislative Council
 Socio-Religious Movements:

32. Raja Rammohun Roy: Brahmo Samaj; rationalist, promoted monotheism and opposed idolatry,
preached that we should learn the best (and rational) practices from all religions, sati abolition
(achieved via act in 1829), promoter of women’s education, great internationalist (supported
Spanish, irish revolutions

33. Debendranath Tagore: Leader of Tattvabodhini Sabha and Brahmo Samaj

34. Keshub Chandra Sen: Appointed ‘Acharya’ of Brahmo Samaj by D. Tagore. Popularized the
movement, and opened branches of Brahmo Samaj outside Bengal. D. Tagore didn’t like his
radical ideas, such as praising rational teachings of other religions and promoting inter-caste
marriages, so dismissed him in 1865. In 1866, KCS then founded the ‘Brahmo Samaj of India’,
whereas DT’s branch came to be known was ‘Adi Brahmo Samaj’.In 1863, he helped found the
‘Prarthana Samaj’ in Bombay.

35. Akshay Kumar Dutt- Bengal Renaissance, Tattvabodhini Sabha (just say early social reformer;
believed in rationalism, humanism, and religious universalism)

36. Jyotiba Phule: Born in a low-caste Mali family; led a movement against the brahminical
domination of Hindu society; accorded the highest priority to education of the depressed
classes, and especially girls. Set up the Satyashodhak Samaj, whose main aim was spread of
education among the depressed classes. He aimed at complete abolition of the caste system.
The key difference between this Samaj and other contemporaneous movements was that the
leadership here was provided by the lower castes themselves, and Raja Bali was used as a
rallying symbol, against Rama ‘of the upper castes’

37. Gopal Hari Deshmukh ‘Lokahitwadi’: Just your regular social reformer

38. Gopal Krishna Gokhale: Founded ‘The Servants of India Society’, whose main aim was to train
national missionaries for the service of the nation; i.e. to train a cadre of selfless workers who
were to devote their lives to the cause of the country as a religious spirit. SIS made many efforts
to improve Indian education

39. Ramakrishna Paramhansa: Preached the universal message of Vedanta, and said that all
religions were one; service of man = service of God. Aimed to bring a band of monks who would
practice a life of renunciation and practical spirituality, and spread the word further, and also
carry out charitable work for all, with no consideration for caste, creed, gender etc.

40. Narendranath Dutta: Swami Vivekananda; said: ‘Knowledge without action is useless’; also said,
for India, fusion of Hinduism and Islam was the only hope. Used Ramakrishna Mission for
humanitarian relief and social work

41. Dayanand Saraswati: Established Arya Samaj, wrote ‘Satyarth Prakash’. Gave the slogan ‘Back to
the Vedas’. Believed in classless, casteless society. Believed in supremacy of the vedas, but
launched a frontal attach on later Hindu texts and on Hindu orthodoxy. Opposed idol worship
 42. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar: Cited Vedas to prove that Hindu religion sanctioned widow
remarriage; instrumental in getting the Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856; pioneer of
women’s education (founded more than 35 schools for women); secretary of the famous
Bethune School for Girls

43. E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker: Organized the Self-Respect Movement, demanding the lifting of ban
on entry of lower castes into temples

44. Sri Narayan Guru: Kerala; ‘one religion, one caste, one God for mankind’

45. M. Malabari: A Parsi social reformer; founded the Seva Sadan in 1885, an organization which
specialized in taking care of women who were exploited and then discarded by society

46. Sri Narayan Guru: Worked among the untouchable toddy-trapper Ezhavas of Kerala for their
uplift; worked significantly to the Temple Entry Movement

47. Raghunath Rao

48. Syed Ahemd Raibarelvi: Founder of Wahabi movement

49. Syed Ahmed Khan

50. Dudu Mian: Key in Faraizi movement, which was an orthodox Muslim movement that aimed to
create a paramilitary force to fight Hindu landlords and the police
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51. Sarojini Naidu

52. Rashbehari Ghosh

53. RC Dutt- historian (economic critique)

Early nationalists:

54. Dadabhai Naoroji: Founded East India League in London

55. Surendranath Banerjee: founded Indian Association of Calcutta in 1876 (most important pre INC
political grouping, formed to agitate against pro-landlord policies of the British); in 1883, he
became the first Indian journalist to be imprisoned for writing an article criticizing a judge of the
Calcutta High Court
 56. Pherozshah Mehta: Bombay Presidency Association, Indian National Conference (pre-INC)

57. Ranade: Poona Sarvajanik Sabha; Prarthana Sabha

58. DE Wacha

59. WC Bonnerjee: First ever president of the INC (1885 session)

Some of the earliest Muslims to join the Congress:

60. Badruddin Tayyabji- with Pherozshah Mehta, founded the pre-Congress Bombay Presidency
Association in 1885

61. Mir Musharraf A. Bhimji

62. Hamid Ali Khan

63. Maulana Azad

64. Mohammad Ali

65. Hasrat Mohani

Early revolutionary terrorists:

66. Rashbehari Bose

67. Sachin Sanyal

 Both of the above played a big role in propagating revolutionary terrorism in Bengal after the
Swadeshi movement, and also provided leadership to the Ghadar movement in Punjab. Bose
later played a part in the Indian National Army as well.

68. Prafulla Chaki

69. Khudiram Bose

Threw a bomb on carriage in 1908 etc.

Early extremists:
70. Raj Narain Bose

71. Ashwini Kumar Dutta

72. Balgangadhar Tilak:

 Journalist, early legislator
 His name is closely associated with the nationalist fight for the freedom of the press
 Joined INC in 1890; one of the most prominent extremist/ radical leaders, opposed to
moderate views of Gokhale and others
 Conflict with Gokhale over Age of Consent Bill; although Tilak was for social reform, he didn’t
want to come in conflict with orthodox Hindus at that stage of India’s political history
 Started using Ganesh Mahotsav and Shivaji Jayanti as political platforms from 1894 onwards,
inadvertently fanning communal sentiments as well
 During Bombay’s bubonic plague of 1896, wrote incendiary articles in his newspapers Kesari
and Mahratta against British actions of invasive home searches and segregation camps
 His followers, the Chapekar brothers, killed a British official responsible for atrocities during
the plague
 Brits blamed him, and he was arrested in 1897
 This led to a huge public outrage, demonstrating that INC was going some way towards
arousing mass consciousness about civil rights
  In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at a carriage and killed a white
woman; Tilak wrote articles defending the revolutionaries
 For this, he was charged with sedition and transported to Burma for 6 years
 Came back in 1914, rejoined the Congress after publicly denouncing violence, and started the
Home Rule League Movement in 1916

73. Lala Lajpat Rai (Punjab)

 Popularly known as Punjab Kesari
 Follower of Dayanand Saraswati
 Deported without trial to Burma in 1907, but allowed to return for lack of evidence
 Founded Servants of the People Society (different from ‘Servants of India Society’, which
was founded by GK Gokhale)
 Died during Simon Commission agitations

74. Bipin Chandra Pal

 Swadeshi, boycott, swaraj, national education
 Retired from politics after Swadeshi movement, around 1908

75. Aurobindo Ghosh (Bengal)

 Swadeshi, boycott, swaraj, national education
 Retired from politics after Swadeshi movement, around 1908

76. VO Chidambaram Pillai (Madras)

 Disciple of Tilak
 Founded Swadeshi Shipping Company in early 1900s
 Arrested for sedition in 1908

77. Lala Hardayal: Ghadr movement

78. Madam Bhikaji Cama:

 Contracted the Bombay Bubonic Plague of 1896
 In London, came into contact with Shyamji Krishna Verma, founder of India House in
London, who was known for trying to rally Indians abroad
 They together found India Home Rule Society in London
 Later established Paris India Society
 Published Bande Mataram and Madan’s Talwar, and these were smuggled into India via the
French colony of Pondicherry
 Ardent advocate of voting rights for women

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79. The Aga Khan: One of the earliest proponents of the idea of the Muslim League (eventually
founded under the aegis of some Nawab somewhere)
 80. Saifuddin Kitchlew

81. C.R. Das

82. Acharya Narayan Dev

83. Shyama Prasad Mukherji

84. J.B. Kriplani- Champaran Satyagraha

85. Deen Dayal Upadhyay

Swarajists:
86. Motilal Nehru
87. CR Das
88. Ajmal Khan

No-changers:
89. C. Rajagopalachari
90. Vallabhai Patel
91. MA Ansari
92. Rajendra Prasad: (was also involved in the Champaran satyagraha)

93. MN Roy: Founded the CPI in 1920 in Tashkent

94. SA Dange: Another communist leader

95. Surya Sen: Chittagong Armoury Raid, under the banner of Indian Republican Army
96. Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutt, Santi Ghosh, Suniti Chanderi, Bina Das: involved in
revolutionary terrorism with Surya Sen

97. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan: ‘Frontier Gandhi’; worked in Peshawar via his volunteer brigade called
‘Khudai Khidmatgars’/ ‘Red Shirts’ who were pledged to the idea of freedom struggle and non-
violence; contributed substantially to the CDM; during CDM, largely due to his work, the
Garhwal Rifles refused to fire on unarmed demonstrators. This response, in a province where
92% population was Muslim, shook the British administration

98. Rani Gaidinliu: worked in Manipur and Nepal; contributed to CDM and was sent to life
imprisonment in 1932
 99. Vinoba Bhave: First person to offer individual satyagraha that was launched by Gandhi after first
world war started, but before QIM

100. Stafford Cripps

Ran underground movements during the Quit India Movement

101. Usha Sharma: started an underground radio in Bombay at the time of QIM
102. Jaiprakash Narain
103. Achyut Patwardhan
104. Aruna Asaf Ali
105. Sucheta Kriplani
---
Communist leaders, part of Kisan Sabha movement; left the AIKS during the Second World War
because of split
106. Indulal Yagnik- Kheda Satyagraha
107. NG Ranga
108. Swami Sahajanand Saraswati

---
109. M. Malabari
110. Radhakant Deb
111. CN Mulaidar
112. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed
113. Chakra Bisoi
114. Sido and Kanhu
115. Gomdhar Konwar
116. Sewaram
117. Chittur Singh
118. Baba Ram Singh
119. Biswas brothers
120. Madari Pasi
121. Rajbanshis

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

ABV was the 11th PM of India, and the first non-Congress PM to stay in office for a full 5-year term
(during his third term)

 In 2015, his birthday (December 25) was declared ‘Good Governance Day’

Achievements in second term in office (1998-99, 13 months):

 1998: India conducted 5 nuclear tests in Pokharan (Operation Shakti)

 Lahore summit:
 Vajpayee began a push for a full-scale diplomatic peace process with Pakistan
 Inauguration of the Delhi-Lahore bus service in February 1999
  Lahore Declaration espoused a commitment to dialogue, expanded trade relations and
mutual friendship and envisaged a goal of denuclearised South Asia
 This eased the tension created by the 1998 nuclear tests
 Kargil war in 1999 played a big role in helping him win re-election after AIADMK pulled the plug
on the second Vajpayee government
 Lost face later in 1999 when an AI flight was hijacked and flown to Qandhar; India had to free
Maulana Masood Azhar, who was responsible for several terrorist acts against India (including
the later, 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament)

Third term (full 5 years):

 Pet infra projects: National Highway Development Project and Pradhanmantri Gram Sadak
Yojana; high rate of road construction
 Phase 1 of NHDP saw construction of the Golden Quadrilateral connecting Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai, and Kolkata; this was completed in 2012
 Phase 2 built NS and EW corridors, connecting Srinagar-Kanyakumari and Porbandar-Silchar
(Assam) respectively
 The UPA government in 2013 admitted before the Supreme Court that the NDA regime, in
five years, constructed nearly half the total length of national highways laid during the last 32
years

 Vajpayee promoted pro-business, free market reforms to reinvigorate India's economic

transformation and expansion that were started by the former PM Narasimha Rao but stalled
after 1996 due to unstable governments and the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Increased
competitiveness, extra funding and support for the information technology sector and high-tech
industries, improvements in infrastructure, deregulation of trade, investments and corporate
laws - all increased foreign capital investment and set in motion an economic expansion
 In 2001, launched the Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan
 Foreign Policy:
 Agra summit with Musharraf (failure)
 Improved Sino-Indian relations by recognizing Tibet as part of China (which in return
accepted Sikkim as a part of India)

Madan Mohan Malviya

MMM was an educationalist, journalist, lawyer, social reformer, and politician. He was 4-time president
of the INC (only leader to hold that distinction before independence). Also addressed as Mahamana.

 Ethnically from Malwa (MP), hence ‘Malviya’

 Coined the slogan Satyamev Jayate
 Journalistic career: was editor of ‘Indian Opinion’, ‘Abhyudaya’, ‘Maryada’, ‘Hindustan Times’
 Law practise: Practised in Allahabad court; to work more actively in promoting the spread of
education, gave up his law practise in 1911, and proclaimed that he was going to follow Sanyasa
forver, relying on society’s support for sustainence; however, fought the Chauri-Chaura case as a
one-off in 1924
  Played an important part in the removal of untouchability and in giving direction to
the Harijan movement. He worked for the eradication of caste barriers in temples and other
social barriers, and made massive efforts for the entry of so called untouchables into any Hindu
temple
 He remained a member of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1912 and when in 1919 it was
converted to the Central Legislative Assembly he remained its member as well, till 1926
 Founded BHU in 1916, which is the largest residential university in Asia
 In 1916, founded the Ganga Mahasabha in retaliation to British plans to make a dam on the
river; proposal was revoked
 He was a moderate leader, opposed separate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow pact
in 1916
 Was a delegate at the First Round Table Conference in 1930
 Was an important figure in the Non-cooperation movement. However, he was opposed to the
politics of appeasement and the participation of Congress in the Khilafat movement
 In 1932, an agreement known as Poona Pact was signed between Dr. Ambedkar (on behalf of
the depressed classes among Hindus) and Malviya (on behalf of the other Hindus). The
agreement gave reserved seats for the depressed classes in the Provisional legislatures, within
the general electorate and not by creating a separate electorate
 Left INC in 1934 to protest Communal Award which gave separate electorates based on religious
lines and was one of the first members of the Hindu Mahasabha

B.R. Ambedkar

Dr. Ambedkar was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Modern

Buddhist Movement and campaigned against social discrimination against Untouchables (Dalits),
women and labour. He was Independent India's first law minister and the principal architect of
the Constitution of India.

He was appointed to the Bombay Presidency Committee to work with the all-European Simon
Commission in 1925. This commission had sparked great protests across India, and while its report was
ignored by most Indians, Ambedkar himself wrote a separate set of recommendations for the future
Constitution of India

Ambedkar was the first Indian to pursue an Economics doctorate degree abroad. According to him the
industrialization and agricultural industry growth could enhance the economy of the nation. He stressed
on money investment in the agricultural industry as the primary industry of India. He supported
economic and social development of the society for nations progress. He also emphasised on education,
public hygiene, community health, and residential facilities as the basic amenities. His DSc thesis "The
problems of Rupee, its origin and solution (1923)" reveals the factors responsible for Rupee fall. He
proved the importance of price stability than exchange stability. He analysed the silver and gold rate
exchange and its effect on Indian economy.

(Also: Poona Pact (1932), conversion to Buddhism)