Bal Gangadhar Tilak

"Self-rule is my birthright": leader of the Radicals in the Indian National Congress.

Life

Teacher and journalist

Tilak was a mathematics teacher and journalist from the Maratha country. He founded the Marathi paper Kesari and the English paper Mahratta, which fiercely attacked colonial rule.

Self-rule is my birthright

He led the Radicals within the Indian National Congress, opposing Moderates such as Gokhale. He advocated boycotting British goods and developing national education, and turned the Ganesh festival and the Shivaji commemoration into mass national celebrations. He proclaimed, "Self-rule is my birthright, and I shall have it."

Mandalay Prison

In 1908 he was convicted of sedition and held for six years in Mandalay Prison in Burma, where he wrote the Gita Rahasya. In 1916 he organized the Home Rule League; he died in 1920.

Legacy

Tilak was called the "Father of the Indian Unrest" and was the national movement leader with the greatest mass influence before Gandhi.

Major works & achievements

• Gita Rahasya

Did you know? On the day he died, Gandhi launched the Non-cooperation movement.

Key dates

• 1881Founds the newspaper Kesari
• 1897First jailed for sedition
• 1907Indian National Congress splits
• 1908Convicted and imprisoned in Mandalay
• 1916Organizes the Home Rule League
• 1920Died