Freedom Fighters of India

British Rule in India (1600-1947)

Introduction

It has been said that the British Empire was picked up in a "fit of absence of mind."  Nowhere was this more true than in the case of India which gradually came under British rule, not by the efforts of Britain's government, but by those of theBritish East Indies Company, founded in 1599 by a group of merchants in search of nothing more than "quiet trade."

Company expansion (1601-1773)

Two main lines of development worked to bring the British East Indies Company to India and make it a power there.  For one thing, by 1600, Portugal was losing control of the East Asian Spice trade.  Therefore, in 1601, the British East Indies Company started sending ships to the Spice Islands to gain a share of this trade.

Growing parliamentary control and rising tensions (1778-1857)

However, while company employees who survived service in India were making their fortunes, the company's loose management was costing it a fortune, forcing it to apply to the Bank of England for a loan in 1773 in order to avoid bankruptcy.  As a result, Parliament exercised increasing control over the company, establishing governors-general to oversee its activities.

From the British Raj to independence (1858-1947)

Britain ruled about 60% of Indian directly and the other 40% indirectly through native princes who followed British policies.  During their time in India, the British developed tea and cotton agriculture and coal and iron industries.

World War I (1914-18) and World War II (1939-45) further catalyzed India’s push for independence, since Britain had to rely heavily on Indian recruits to fill its ranks.  In return, Britain promised more political concessions, thus weakening its hold on India, encouraging more demand by Indians, and so on.

Indian Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)

National Flag India

India-Flag

The National Flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of deep saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. Among Indian citizens who know/speak Hindi(Indian national language) the tricolor flag is most commonly referenced by the word 'Tiranga' which is colloquial of the actual word 'Trirang'(origin Sanskrit). In 'Trirang' 'Tri' means three and 'rang' means color. The colloquial word 'Tiranga' is close to what could mean 'Tir/Teer' means arrow and 'Anga/Ang' meaning organ. It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of India. The flag was subsequently retained as that of the Republic of India. In India, the term "tricolour" (Hindi: तिरंगा, Tirangā) almost always refers to the Indian national flag. The flag is based on the Swaraj flag, a flag of the Indian National Congress designed by Pingali Venkayya

Pingali Venkayya 

     Pingali Venkayya

1. Born: August 2, 1876, Machilipatnam
2. Died: July 4, 1963, Vijayawada
3. 
   

Pingali Venkayya (died 1963) was an Indian freedom fighter and the designer of the flag on which the Indian national flag was based. Various so-called national flags had been used by members of the Indian independence movement prior to independence being achieved in 1947. Venkayya's version was first designed for the Indian National Congress and subsequently modified in 1947.

Freedom Fighters of India

First Indian Freedom Fighter:-

   First Freedom Fighter in India

First Indian freedom fighter King Azhagu Muthu Yadav(1728-1757) was an Indian revolutionary and independence activist. He is regarded for having raised one of the first revolts against the British East India Company in IndiaMR.Subash Yadav researched above 30 years on freedom war and wrote a book in Tamil name "1st freedom fighter King Alagu Muthu Yadav"

Long   years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge...At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.  A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance Jawaharlal Nehru Claiming Independence from British Midnight of August 14, 1947.

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