Popular poets from the British rule era who fought for India's independence
India was ruled by the British for over 200 years and finally after decades of struggle to attain freedom, our country became independent on August 15, 1947. During the British Raj, there were several movements in which hundreds of people protested against the rulers and even laid down their lives for the country. On the occasion of India's 75th Independence Day, here we look back at some poets who took part in the country's freedom struggle.
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Rabindranath Tagore
Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was not just a noted writer-poet, but also a humanist and one of the exponents of the Bengal Renaissance. Unlike many other freedom fighters, Tagore was much ahead of his time as he didn't believe in the general idea of nationalism. Tagore's poem 'Where The Mind Is Without Fear' and poetry collection 'Gitanjali' are some of his well-known works. He is also known for penning 'Jana Gana Mana', which was adopted as India's national anthem, and 'Amar Shonar Bangla', which is Bangladesh's national anthem now.
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Sarojini Naidu
Poet-politician-activist Sarojini Naidu is best-known as the Nightingale of India. During India's freedom struggle under the British Raj, Naidu was associated with the Indian National Congress and she played an important role in the Civil Disobedience movement. Some of her well-known poems include: 'The Golden Threshold', 'The Bird of Time', 'The Feather of the Dawn' among others.
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Shyamlal Gupta
Popularly known as Parshad (his pen name), Shyamlal Gupta is best-known for penning 'Jhanda Uncha Rahe Humara', which has been adopted as India's flag song. The song is sung by youngsters and adults with great pride and patriotism even today during flag hoisting ceremonies. Poet and lyricist Shyamlal Gupta was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969. Later 1997, a postage stamp was issued in his honor by the Government of India.
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Hasrat Mohani
The popular slogan 'Inquilab Zindabad!' during the Indian Freedom Movement was penned by Hasrat Mohan, a poet who wrote Ghazals mainly about love. He was among one the main founders of the Communist Party of India.
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Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo worked as a civil worker in Baroda, a princely state during the British Raj. During India's freedom struggle under the British Raj, he joined nationalist politics and fought for the country. He later turned into a spiritual reformer and introduced his ideas on progress and spiritual evolution of humans. While he is known for establishing the famous Aurobindo Ashram, some of his popular literary works include 'Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol' (an epic poem), 'The Life Divine' about Integral Yoga among others.
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Makhanlal Chaturvedi
Makhanlal Chaturvedi was a Hindi poet of the Neo-romanticism period. Popularly called Panditji, Chaturvedi was a poet, writer, journalist and essayist of his time while also being an active freedom fighter. One of his patriotic poems is Pushp Ki Abhilasha (A flower’s Dream), which reflects the sentiments and emotions of Indian freedom fighters of that time.
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