Underrated Freedom Struggle Fighters - Part 1
Independence Day is coming up & you know of heroes like Subhash Chandra Bose and Lokmanya Tilak.
But do you know these underrated freedom fighters - without whom the fire of स्वराज्य wouldn’t have caught on?
Our history books often skip their contributions, so let’s remember their stories and their impact.
1. Birsa Munda (बिरसा मुंडा)
In the 1890s, Birsa rallied the Munda आदिवासी communities across Chotanagpur, turning land alienation and forced labour into a political fight.
His उलगुलान (Great Tumult) peaked in 1899-1900 with guerrilla actions against colonial posts.
Arrested in February 1900, he died in Ranchi jail that June - aged 25. The shock he created forced the state to confront tribal land theft, culminating in the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act, 1908, which restricted transfer of tribal land to non-tribals and recognised customary rights.
His playbook - rights over जल–जंगल–ज़मीन - became the grammar of later tribal movements across India.
2. Rani Velu Nachiyar (रानी वेलु नाचियार)
Over half a century before Rani Lakshmibai, the Sivaganga Queen waged war on the East India Company.
After her husband’s death, she went into exile, built alliances (notably with Hyder Ali), struck the Company’s armoury using her commander Kuyili’s famous self-sacrifice, and retook Sivaganga in 1780.
She ruled till c.1790 and died in 1796.
She stands as India’s earliest queen to defeat & dislodge Company power.
3. Pa Togan Nengminja Sangma (प टोगन नेंगमिंजा संगमा)
This Garo (आ.चिक) commander led a daring night attack on British positions in the Garo Hills. In the battle at Chisobibra in 1872 he was killed, but his resistance seeded a long memory of sovereignty in the Northeast.
To this day, Meghalaya officially observes his death anniversary on 12th December; and a memorial stands at Chisobibra near Williamnagar honouring his work.
4. The Chapekar Brothers (चापेकर बंधु)
Damodar, Balkrishna and Vasudev responded to Puna’s plague “controls” of 1897 - midnight home invasions, troop-led searches, religious violations - by assassinating Plague Commissioner W. C. Rand and his escort Lt. Ayerst on 22 June 1897.
They were hanged later, but sparked a new wave of revolutionary nationalism in Western India and forced a rethink of coercive public-health policing.
If you want more, drop names in the comments - I’ll keep this series going.
Share this with pride. जय हिन्द!