110 Bal Gangadhar Tilak ,23rd July {1856-1920}

Tilak- The first leader of the Independence Movement, whom the British colonial  Authorities used to call 'The  Father of the Indian Unrest'.

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Q.1-Who was Bal Gangadhar Tilak ?

Ans=Bal Gangadhar Tilak was  an Indian radical Nationalist. He is said to be  one of  the first and strongest advocates of "Swaraj rule." He is known for his Marathi quote, "Swarajya is my birthright and I shall have it!". 

      He formed a close alliance with many Indian National Congress leaders including Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghose, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was called " the Father of Indian Unrest" by the British author Sir Valentine Chirol.

Q.2-Where was he born?

Ans-He was born on 23rd July 1856.

Q.3- What was his real name and what does his title suggest? 

Ans-Keshav Gangadhar Tilak. His title  'Lokmanya' suggests that he was

 accepted by the people  { as their leader. } Gandhiji  called   him  ' The  maker  of  modern India.' 

Q.4-Why was he called Bal Gangadhar Tilak ?

Ans-He was called Bal because he joined Bipin Chandra Pal. He was called Gangadhar because he was born to {his father} Gangadhar Tilak, a school teacher and a Sanskrit scholar.

Q.5-What was his strongest belief?

Ans- His strongest belief was- that the first step of life is humanity and the next step is to serve God.

Q.6- When did he join the Indian National Congress? and when did he leave it?

Ans-In 1890  he joined the Indian National  Congress and in1905 he left it.

Q.7-What did he do when Lord Curzon set out a strategy for the 'Partition of  Bengal [ 1905 ]?

Ans- He encouraged two movements- 1] Swadeshi Movement. 

                                                              2] Boycott  Movement. 

According to him, both these movements were the two sides of the 

same coin because one encouraged the boycott of foreign goods and the 

other boycotted the social boycott of any Indian who uses foreign goods. Unfortunately, we  have  forgotten and with pride  say, " See, I have bought my watch  from the USA."

Q.8-For how many times he was tried for sedition charges?

Ans- 3 times.  [ 1897, 1909 and 1916 ]

    For intensifying animosity against the British Raj, he was tried for 

    sedition charges.

 

Q.9-  Why he was sentenced to imprisonment in Mandalay, Burma?

Ans-On 30 April 1908, two Bengali youths, Prafulla

 Chaki and Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur, to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed two women traveling in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was hanged.
                     Tilak, in his paper Kesari, defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly charged him after the trial, and a special jury convicted him by a 7:2 majority. The judge, Dinshaw D. Davar gave him a six-year jail sentence to be served in Mandalay, Burma, and a fine of Rs 1,000.

 

Q.10- How much time did Tilak spend in Mandalay jail and what did he do there?

Ans- Tilak spent time in jail from 1908 to 1914 and there he wrote "Gita Rahasya."  popularly known as Karmyoga  Shastra.

Q.11- Who was a close friend of Tilak?

Ans - His close friend was  Swami Vivekananda who died at a very young age.

Q.12-What  was the real message behind Bhagawad Gita according to him? 

Ans- Nishkama  Karmayoga.  Means-selfless action.

            He said in his book that "we gain knowledge, we please God with 

devotion still we are not free from Karma. We have to perform, rather  we  should  perform our duties." This is the essence of  Bhagwad  Gita.

Q. 13- Who was the governor to whom Tilak straight ward warned that 

           'Swaraj is our birthright and we shall have it'?

Ans- In  1914, when the First World War broke out, the governor of  Mumbai, Lord  Lington organized a council of war in which the governor invited Tilak  

along with other Indians with the hope that Tilak would give a nod to help  Britishers during the war. But Tilak raised a condition that they were ready to help if

 British  Govt. gives its consent to free India. Otherwise, no Indian would stay 

even in that council.  Not only this, he gave a warning, 'Swaraj is our birthright  and we shall have it.' 

Q.14. What was the Lucknow Pact. Who represented the Indian National Congress at that time? 

Ans-Mohammad Ali Jinnah became the leader of Congress in 1916. He brought a joint congress league pact, Through the pact, the two parties agreed to allow representation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures. Bal Gangadhar Tilak represented the Congress while framing the deal.

Q15.Name the two festivals, Bal Gangadhar  Tilak started.

Ans- Historical records suggest that Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations were initiated by Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaja.In 1893, when the British banned political assemblies, Tilak noticed that Lord Ganesh was considered "the God for everyman", and that Ganesh was worshipped by the members belonging to the upper castes and lower castes alike, leaders and followers alike. In the same year [1893], Tilak organized Ganesh Utsav as a social and religious function to unite all the Indians.

Q16.- When was the Home League Movement established by Tilak?

Ans- on one side, Congress was demanding self-governance of Indians and in 1906 Congress demanded home rule for the first time (In the Calcutta Session of Congress which was presided over by Dada Bhai Naoroji the resolution of Swaraj was taken).

                 On the other side, Through the Shimla Deputation, a group of elite Muslims led by the Aga Khan met Lord Minto in 1906 and demanded a separate electorate for the Muslims. The act of 1909 introduced a few reforms in the legislative councils and increased the involvement of Indians (limited) in the governance of British India yet the position of the Governor-General and his veto power remained unchanged.

          Disappointed with Morley Minto Reform, the Home Rule League Movement was established in 1916 by nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak and English social reformer Annie Besant., an Irish Socialist & Theosophist formed Home Rule League on the line of Irish Home Rule Movements to achieve self-rule from the British Indian government. Tilak’s group was founded in Poona (now Pune, Maharashtra) and 

 focussed on Western India and Besant was set up in Madras and focussed on all over India.  

16-When did he die? 

Ans- He died on 1st August 1920 in Mumbai, on the day of the launching of 

non-co-operation movement.

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