India is a republican country in South Asia. Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Burma are neighboring countries of India . It is the seventh largest country and second populous country in the world. India has been several heroes and kings who have transformed their nations with their courage, determination and excellent leadership. These great leaders have battled against all odds and bring the success to the nation. Some of them sacrificed their life for the freedom of India from British Government. Their lives have inspired a whole generation of Indians and others all around the world. We are proud of our great leaders who make this country very famous. Marthanda Varma, Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, Tipu Sultan, Sarojini Naidu, Pazhassi Raja etc are some of the historical leaders from South India, who fought for the nation.
1. Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma (Anizham Thirunal) was the Maharajah of the state Travancore from 1729 to 1758. He was the son of rani Attingal. Marthandavarma inherited the throne of Travancore formerly known as Venad, from king Ramavarma his uncle as per the traditions existed. Because of this reason he had to face opposition from his cousins Pappu and Raman Thampis, the sons of King Ravi Varma and from ‘Ettuveettil Pillamar’(nobles of the 8 houses). They decided to kill him. However, Marthanda Varma destroyed both the feudal nobles and his cousins. On getting throne of Travancore in 1729, he started on his campaign of expansion and started conquering the neighboring kingdoms assisted by his able minister Ramayyan Dalawa. He defeated Dutch in the battle of Kulachal in 1741 and expand the states upto Kochi. Actually the modern history of Travancore starts with Marthanda Varma. He was acknowledged as the ‘Maker of Modern Travancore’ for developing a small kingdom into a powerful state. Under his reign Travancore emerged as the independent realm of political, cultural and social activities. He arranged proper tax system and provided many irrigation facilities. He made the army of Travancore advanced by introducing guns and weapons. Marthanda Varma is also renowned for his erecting the majestic Sri Padmanabha Temple of Trivandrum. He died in 1758, leaving his kingdom to his nephew Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma (Dharma Raja).
2. Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma was the Maharaja of the state of Travancore, in India during 1829-1846. He was also a great lover of music and a musician himself. He encouraged Indian music, Hindustani and Carnatic music. He composed more than 400 musical compositions and his favorite was Padmanabha Pahi, Deva Deva, Sarasijanabha and Sree Ramana Vibho. In his time, music and other art forms were flourishing in various parts of South India. In addition, he had good knowledge in many languages like Sanskrit, Hindi, Malayalam, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil, Oriya and English. He built many famous buildings like the Astronomical Observatory in Thiruvananthapuram, museum, zoo, the government press, Trivandrum public library that’s now called the State Central Library, the Oriental Manuscript Library and other units. Swathi Thirunal bring modern medicine into the state. He had very good interest in astronomy. He married to Thiruvattar Ammachi Panapillai Amma Srimathi Narayani Pillai Kochamma of the Thiruvattar Ammaveedu family and had a son. But Swathi Thirunal fell in love with a Thanjavur dancer, Sughandavalli, whom he married later. Then Sughandavalli banished from Travancore by his aunt and wife, Swathi Thirunal fall into deep depression. He decided to end his life with slow starvation and eventually died at the young age of thirty three.
3. Sakthan Thampuran
Sakthan Thampuran was the king of Cochin during 1751-1805. His palace is situated in Thrissur which is formerly part of Cochin and the cultural capital of Kerala. Sakthan Thampuran is foundering of Thrissur and Thrissur Pooram was introduced by him. Sakthan Thampuran’s orginal name is Raja Rama Varma. He was a brave and able ruler. He punished criminals mercilessly. So people called him Sakthan Thampuran which means powerful king in Malayalam language. The rule of Sakthan Thampuran marks the beginning of the modern history of Thrissur.
4. Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan also known as Tiger of Mysore was a ruler of Mysore during 1782-1799. His father was famous ruler Haider Ali. He helped his father to defeat the British in the Second Mysore War. He defeated the Marathas and the Nizams several times. In the battle of Pollilur and Anglo Mysore wars, Tippu Sultan proved himself to be the Tiger of Mysore. In the Fourth Anglo Mysore War, he fought with the British till his last breath and was not ready to give up. He completed the project of Lal Bagh started by his father Haidar Ali, and built roads, public buildings, and ports along the Kerala shoreline. He built a strong army . He started a coinage system, a new calendar, and a new system of weights and measures. His trade extended to countries like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, France, Turkey, and Iran. He was also a good poet. Though he was a Muslim, but majority of his subjects are Hindus. Tipu Sultan died defending his capital Srirangapattana, on May 4, 1799.
5. Velu Thampi Dalawa
Velu Thampi Dalawa (Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi) was the Dalawa or Prime Minister of the Travancore between 1801 and 1809 during the reign of maharajah Bala Rama Varma . He was started a rebellion against the British Resident Macaulay’s intervention in the affairs of Travancore. In his famous Kundara proclamation, in 1809, he gave a pledge to the people to rise up against the British. He had good relationship with Paliath Achan, the Diwan of Cochin in the beginning. However, in the later stages he fought a lonely battle against British. At the brink of defeat, he chose to kill himself to avoid humiliating surrender.
6. Pazhassi Raja
Pazhassi Raja is popularly known as the Lion of Kerala was the ruler of Kottayam in the late 17th century. He achieved the title Veera (brave). He led a serious revolution against the revenue policy of the British East India Company in 1797, and stopped the collection of revenues at Kottayam. Following this the British tried to capture him, then the king escaped to the hills and led a guerrilla war against the British, but finally he was killed by British. Pazhassi raja tomb is situated in the wayanad district at ananthavady.
7. Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was a distinguished poet and renowned freedom fighter. She was popularly known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India). She was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India. After seeing Gandhiji, Sarojini Naidu totally contributed herself to the fight for freedom. The independence of India became the heart and soul of her work. She was responsible for awakening the women of India. She got a Kaiser- I- Hind Gold Medal award for her outstanding work during the plague epidemic. In 1942, she was arrested during the “Quit India” protest and stayed in jail for 21 months with Gandhiji. She is also famous in writing poetry. She used her beautiful words in the poems to awaken the spirit of independence in the hearts of villagers. On March 2 1949, she died and India lost her beloved child, “Bulbul”. Her name will be in the Golden history of India as an inspiring poet and a brave freedom fighter. Being one of the most famous heroines of the 20th century, her birthday is celebrated as “Women’s Day”.
8. Chakravarti Rajgopalachari
C.Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji was a freedom fighter, lawyer, social reformer, thinker and famous writer. He was the second Government general of independent India. Later he became the chief minister of Madras’s state. He was very close to Gandhiji and Gandhiji referred to him as, “the keeper of my conscience”. In 1921, he was appointed the general-secretary of the Congress. He got the opportunities to work with the great leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad etc. He played a pivotal role in the life history of the party Congress. Later he fell out of Congress, formed his own ‘Swatantra’ Party due to the misunderstanding with Gandhiji. In addition, he had powers to implement the social reforms. The famous Meenakshi Temple of Madurai was opened to Harijans during his time. Rajaji introduced a sales tax, an innovation in revenue collection in India. He was also a famous writer. He wrote about religion, philosophy, history, world events etc. He has translated Ramayana and Mahabharata. He got the highest National Award of “Bharat Ratna” in 1954. He died in 1972 at the age of 94.
9. Subramanya Bharathi
Subramanya Bharathi was a Tamil poet, reformer and freedom fighter. He is popularly known as Mahakavi Bharati. He gives a message to South Indians to join the great Indian struggle for independence through his poems and prose. He worked as assistant editor of a Tamil daily ‘Swadeshamitran’, the editor of a Tamil weekly ‘India’ and another English newspaper ‘Bala Bharatham’. These newspapers not only helped to awaken the feeling of nationalism among the people, but also served to bring out the creativity of Bharathi. He composed Carnatic music kritis in Tamil on love, devotion, etc. He set his songs to music and could sing them well in a variety of ragas. He was simultaneously against social poverty, exploitation and abuse of the downtrodden people and the British ruling over the country. He was always positive in his thoughts and action. He died 1921 at the age of 39.
10. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a famous teacher, philosopher, and statesman. Moreover, he was the first Vice President and second President of India. When he was in Oxford university as a lecturer, he used his lectures as a platform to further India’s cause for freedom. He was elected Vice Chancellor of the Andhra University in 1931, and he became the Vice Chancellor of the Benaras Hindu University in 1939. In 1946, he was appointed as Ambassador to UNESCO. Radhakrishnan was appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union. He helped laid the foundation for a strong relationship with Soviet Union. He was elected first Vice-President of India in 1952. After serving two terms as Vice-President, he was elected President of India in 1962. In this time India fought wars with Pakistan and China. He was honored with the Bharat Ratna in 1954. He died on April 17 in 1975. His birthday on September 5 is celebrated in India as Teacher’s Day.