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Great Historical Personalities of Chhattisgarh

Sant Guru Ghasidas

Guru Ghasidas was born on 18th December 1756 in Girodpuri village of Baloda Bazar. His father was Mahangudas and mother was Amrotin. He was married to Safura daughter of Anjori Das of Sirpur. He returned from half way while to to Jagannath puri with his brother in search of peace. He realised that peace cannot be found in temples. it has to be found in side oneself. He medidateed under Aura Dhura tree in Chhatapahar near Girodpuri and discovered Satnam.. After this he started preaching Satnam. His seven teachings are the seven principles of Satnam – Faith on Satnam, prohibition of idol worship, end to caste system, opposition of violence, freedom from vices, no extramarital relationships and no ploughing of fileds after midday. He belived that a perosn should follow high ideals of truth, non-violenece and helping others while reminaing a famiy person. He toured extensively in Chhattisgarh to spread his reigion. He always sided with the exploited poor people and worked for theri upliftment. According to the Raipur Gazettier between 1820 and 1830 2% population of Chhattsgarh had become foloower of Guru Ghasidas. He ended differences between man and man. The guru Gaddi of Satnam Panth is established in Girodpuri where every year on hiis birthday on 18th December a big fair is organized and his followers collect there. He had tought that white flag and Jaitkham are the symbols of the one truth or Satnam. State Government has constructed a Jaitkham which is five meter higher than Qutub Minar (Its height is 77 meters) in Girodpuri. The University in Bilaspur has been named after him. This University has now been made Central University.Government of Chhattisgarh has extablished the Guru Ghasidas award for social justice in his honour.

Veer Narain Singh

The first martyr of Chhattisgarh Veer Narain Singh was born in the year 1795 in zamindar family of Sonakhan in Baloda Bazar. His father Ram Rai had challenges the British on many occassions and was on one occassion arrested by Capain Maxon. However later he was released and his zamindari was returned to him. He was very brave from childhood. He was expert sowardsmann and very good rider. He used to raom about freely in forests. He had taken special interest in religios texts like Ramayana and Mahabharata. He opposed injustice and exploitation. He became the zamkndar after the death of his father in 1830. He used to live in a simple house made of mud and bamboos. The Deputy Commissioner of Raipur did not like him because of his independent nature. A sever fammine struck Sonakhan in 1856. People started dyingo f hunger. Narayan Singh asked makhan, a trader of Kasdol to give ffod grains from his godwon to the farmers for food and seed, but Makhan did not oblige. Narayan Singh broke the locks of the godwon and distributed food grains to the people. He himself informed the Deputy Commissioner about theincident. Makhan also complained to the Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner Elliot issued a warrant of arrest and Narayan Singh was arrested fro Sambalpur on 24th October 1856. He was put in Raipur Jial. On 28th August 1857 Narayan Singh escaped from the jail with his friends and went to Sonakhan. He made an army of 500 trusted soldeirs. The Deputy Commissioner of Raipur announced a reward of Rs 1000 for his arrest. A fierce battle was fougth between the forces of Captain Smith and Sonakhan on 21st December 1857. Narain Singh lost and had to surrender. The Britsh burnt the Sonakhan Village. Narayan Singh was hanged on 10th December 1857 for rebellion and waging war against the Goernment. On 18th January 1858 a revot hapenend in the Raipur police line because of this incident. Government of Chhattisgarh has established the Veer NarainSingh award for development of tribal and backward classes.

Surendra Sai

Surendra Sai was born in Khinda Village of Sambalpur on 23rd January 1809. The king of Sambalpur Maharaj Sai died without a hier in 1827. The British made his widow Queen Mohan Kumar Singh the queen of Sambalpur. Mohan Kumari took away all the traditional rights of tribal people and started exploiting them at teh instance of the British. Due to dissatisfaction among the people against Mohan Kumar, the British removed her and gave the throne to Narayan Singh a relative of the king disregarding the right of Surendra Sai. Surendra Sai revolted.. One night while Surendra Sai was sleeping in a cave Narayann Singh attacked and killed his trusted friend Balbhadradev the Zamindar of Lakhanpur. He also looted the village. In response Surendra Sai attacked and destroyed the fort of Rampur. The Zamindar ran away. The British arrested Surendra Sai with his brother Udant Singh and his uncle Balram Sai for murder and sent them to Hazaribagh Jail. On 30th July 1857 the burdban platoon revolted in Hazaribagh and broke the wall of the jail. Surendra Sai escaped with his brothers and came to Sambalpur. He attacked the fort of Sambalpur on 7th October 1857. The Deputy Commissioner of Sambalpur proposed a truce. Surendra Sai trusted him but he was betrayed and arrested. He escaped once again and started guieralla war with the British. The British Government announced a reward of Rs 1000 for his arrest. he was not cought. Ultimately the Britsh offered him a pension of Rs 4600 per year in 1862. Surendra Sai accepted the proposal but asked his trusted friend Kamal Singh to continue organizing the force. When the British found out they arrested Surendra Sai with his sons and nephews on 23rd January 1864. His estate was seized and he was given punishment of life imprisonment. He was later sent ot Asirgarh Jain where he died on 28th February 1884.

Hanuman Singh

Only 39 days after the hanging of Veer Narain Singh, Thakur Hnuman Singh revolted on 18th Janaury 858 in Raipur.The third regular regiment of the army was posted in Raipur at that time. HanumanSingh was working as Magazine Lashkar in thei regiment. He had pledged to avenge the hanging of Veer Narain Singh. In the night of 18th January 1858 around 7.30 PM, Hanuman Singh entered the house of Seargent Major Sidwel the commandent of the regiment and killed himm with his sword. After this he went to the magazine and called to his comarades to revolt. Unfortunately many soldiers did not join him. Meanehile the news of death fo Sidwel had spread in the cantonment. The Birtish Officers surrounded Hanuman Singh. A battle raged for 6-7 hours and finally after the ammunition was exhausted the sepoys had to surrender. Hanuman Singh escaped. 17 soldiers who were arrested were given death sentence. The names of these 17 soldiers are – Ghazi Khan (Hawadar), Abdul Hayat (Golandaz), Mullu (Golandaz), Shvri Narayan (Golandaz), Pannaal (Sepoy), Matadeen (Seepoy), Thakur Singh (Sepoy), Akbar Hussain (Sepoy), Balli Dubey (Sepoy), Lalla Singh (Sepoy), Buddhu (Sepoy), Parmanand (Sepoy), Shobharam (Sepoy), Durgaprasad (Sepoy), Nazar Mohammad (Sepoy), Shiv Givind (Sepoy) and Devideen (Sepoy).. It appears from the statement of Captain Smith that two days after the revolt on 20th January Hanuman Singh had ried attakcing the residence of Deputy Commissioner of Chhattisgarh once again but Sith woke up and Hanuman Singh had to run. A reward of five hundred rupees was announced for his arrest but he was never found. Government of Chhattisgarh has established an award for coaches of sports in his memory.

Veer Gundadhur

Gundadhur was born in village Netanagar of Bastar. He was the hero if the tribal revolt of 1910. He was from the Dhurwa tribe. At the time King Rudrapratap Dev ruled Bastar. The British had appointed Baijnath Panda as Diwan. The Diwan used to exploit the people. Th epople depended on the forest for their livelihood. Howver due to the policies of the Diwan they were not able to get even samll things. They had to take permission even to pluck leaves and datun from the forest. Peole were also made to work without wages as Begar system was prevalent. The liquor contractors also exploited the tribal people. The uncle o fthe king Lal Kalendra Singh and the step mother of the King, Suvarna Kunwar were very popular. In 1908 a big convention of the people was organized on the bank of Indrawati. The tribal people cme with bow and arrow and vowed to fihgt the exploitation of the Diwan and the British. Yound Gundadhur was chosen to lead the struggle. The real name of gUndadhur was Somaru. He was 35 years old in 1910. The revolt was called Bhumkal which means an upheavel in local language. The message of the revolt used to be sent in the form of chillies tied to branches of mango tree. The people called this Daramiri. Many people joined Bhumkal in a short time. The main activitires were destroying means of communcaton and roads, looting of government offices and burning them. Bhumkal started on 2nd February 1910 and spread to almost entre Bastar in a short period of time. The British sent Majr Gear and R D Baret with 500 armed armymen to quell the revolt. Gundadhur, along with Muratsingh Bakshi, Balaprasad Nazir, Veersingh Bandar, Rani Suwanra Kunwar and lal Kalendra Singh organized therevolt very well. The foest dwellers armed with only spearsm swords, bows and arrows faced the British soldiers armed with modern weapons Hundreds of revolutionaeries and British soldiers were killed. An area of approximately 136 Kilometers from North to South and 95 Kilometers from West to east was affected. Gundadhur fought the British once again in Alanar. Many people were arrested and killed due to teh betrayal of a greedy person named Sonu Manjhi. Many leaders were hanged after beign cought. However Gudadhur could never be captured. People of Bastar still sing songs about Gundadhur and Bhumkal.

Pt. Madhav Rao Sapre

Pt. Madhav rao Sapre was a great journalist, thinker, writer and freedom fighter. He was born in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh on 19th June 1871. His father was Kodopant and mothr was Smt. Laxmibai. His father had settled in Bilapsur. Sapre ji came to Raipur for High School Education and studied in the Governemnt School here. He developed interest in Hindi langage and literature taking inspiration from his teacher Nandlal Dubey. He passed FA from Gwalior and BA from Nagpur. The British government invited him for appointment of important posts due to his exceptional abilities but he refused all offers. In 1899 he was appoinred turor of the princeof Pendra at a salary of fifty rupees per month. using this money he started the first newspaper of Chhattisgarh – Chhattisgarh MItra in the year 1900 with the help of his freind Wamanrao Lakhe and Ramrao Chincholkar. This paper coiuld run only for 3 years due to lack of funds and was closed in 1903.In thsi short time it set new standrads of journalism. Madhawrao Sapre had started critisism in Hindi language in Chhattisgarh MItra for the first time. His story “Tokari Bhar Mitti” is probably the first and one of the greatest stories of all times in Hindi langage. It was published for the firist time in Chhattisgarh Mitra. In 1900 itself Anand Samaj reading room was established in Kankalipara Raipur by insiration from Madhav Rao Sapre. It was the only centre of National and political discources at that time. In 1905 Spre ji established “Hindi Granth Prakashan Mandali” in Nagpur. In 1906, the publiation of a Hindi magazine “Hindi Granthmala” was started, which was baned by the British in 1908 under the press Act. An article in “Swadeshi movement and Boycott” was ublished in this magazine. It was published as a book in 1908 and thousands of copies were sold in not ime. The British Government confiscated it. Sapre ji met Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1905 in the Varanasi convention of the Congress. He was impressed by Tilak and with his permission he started publishing Hindi edition of Marathi Jouranl Kesri published by Tilak by the name of “Hindi Kesri”. from 13th April 1907. Many articles like “Kala Pani”, “Sarkar ki Daman Niti”, “Bharat Mata ke putron ka kartavya’ and “Bam gole ka rahasya” were published in Hindi Kesri. MadhavRao Sapre was arested for publishing these articles. He submitted an apology under pressure from his family whcih he regretted very much. He established Ramdas Math in Raipur in 1910. He started writing in various newspaper and magazine once again. Many of his articles were published in the best magazine of his time – Saraswati. He translated The “Dasbodh” f Guru Ramdas from Marathi to Hindi. He wrote Shriram Charitra, Eknath Charitra, Atma Vidya, Bhartiya Yudh etc. He also translated the famous Marathi book Gita Rahasya written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak into Hindi. He was against untouchability and considred it a blot on Indian society. He was in favour of gilr education. He started the Jankidevi girls’ school in Raipur in 1912. In 1921 inspiired by Mahatma Gandi he started Rashtriya School in Raipur for students who left English schools. He also opened the Hindu orphanage in Raipur. Weekly Karmaveer could be starte din Jabalpur by Makahlal Chaturvedi with the help of Sapre ji. He also helped in starting a newspaper called Sankalp in Nagpur. He was also a good preacher. He was elected the president of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in Dehradun in 1924. He died on 23rd April in Raipur.

Pt. Waman Rao Lakhe

Pt. Waman Rao Lakhe is the father of cooperative movemnt in Chhattisgarh He was born on 17th September 1872 in Raipur. His father was Baliram Lakhe. Madhav Rao Sapre was his close friend. He passed BA from Philip College Nagpur in 1898. When Madhav Rao Sapre started Chhattisgarh Mitra newspaper in 1900, Waman Rao Lake was its owner and publisher. In 1904 he finished study in law and started practice in Rapipur. His wife Smt. Janki Bai always helped him in his social responsibilites. He was elected tothe Municipal Council of Raipur as member from Budhapara ward on several occassions and twice he was also elected President of the council. He established the Raipur Co-operative Central Bank in 1913 to save farmers from the exploitation f money lenders. he was its honorary screatary till 1936 and its president from 1937 to 1940. The building of the Bank could only be constructd due to his efforts. In 1915 he was one of the founder members of the Home Rule League in Nagpur. He presided over the farmers concention organized by madahv Rao Sapre in 1915. The British Government had given him the title of Rai Sahab for his work for poor farmers. In 1920 he returned the title during the Non-cooperation movement on the call given by Mahatma Gandhi. People gave him the litle of Lokpriya. In 1921 when Rashtriya School was started he became its secreatry. In 1922 he was elected President of the Raipur district Congress Cmmittee. In 1930 the Civil Dsobedience Movement started by Mahatma Gandhi was led by Waman Rao Lakhe, Pyarelal Singh, Maulana Abdul Rauf, Mahant Laxmi Narayan Das and Shivdas Daga. They were called the five Pandavas and Waman Rao Lakhe was Yudhishthal. He was arresetd for a speech given against the governemnt in Arang and was given imprisonment for on eyear and a fine of Rs 3000. He was again arrested in 1941 for participating in Individual Satyagrah and was given rigourous imprisonment of four months. He established Kisan Rice Mill in Baloda Bazar in 1945. The MVM School was staretd in Raipur due to his efforts. This chsool has been named after him. He died on 21st August 1948.

Pt. Ravishankar Shukla

Ravishankar Shukla is known as the founder of Madhya Pradesh. He was born on 2nd August 1877 in Sagar. His father was Jagannath Prasad and mother was Tulsi Devi. His initial education was in Sagar. Later his father went to Rajnandgaon and after some time setteled in Raipur. After passing BA, Ravishankar Shukla was appointed in the office of the Chief Commssioner. He left government job in 1901 and became a teacher in Hitkarni School Jabalpur and also studied law. He was married to Bhavani Devi in 1902. After his marriage he came to Khairagarh and was appointed as principal of the high school there. He taught the crown prince of Bastar Rudrapratap Dev, crown prince of Kawardha Yadunandan Singh and Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi. In 1907, Ravishankar Shukla started parcticing law in rajnandgaon. He participated in the Prayag conention of Congress in 1910. Hee established Kanyakubja Sabha in Raipur in 1912. He established the Kanyakubja hostel and also started the monthly Kanyakubja magazine. Hurt by the incident of jaliyanwala Bagh he decided to boycott foreign goods and staretd wearing Khadi. He started the Rashtriya School in Raipur in January 1921. He wrote the history of Ireland which was published as a series in Utthan. In 1921 he was elected member of All India Congress Committee. In the same year he was also elected to the Raipur Zila Parishad. In 1922 he was arensted for nto letting some British officers enter without ticket in th Zila Parishad convention.He was president ofthe Zila Parishad from 1927 to 1936. As president of the Zila Parishad he made singing Vande Matram and hoisting of the Ntional flag compulsory in all schools. In 1924 he was elected member of the Vidhan Sabha. he led the salt satyagrah in Raipur. He was jailed many times. When Gandhiji came to Raipur in November 1933 he stayed in the Budhapara residence of Ravishankar Shukla. He started weekly newspaper mahakoshal in 1935. In 1936 he was education minister in the Khare Ministry. As education Mininster he started the Vidya mandir scheme and the frist Vidya Mandir was inagugerated by Mahatma Gandhi. The Ministry resigned in 1939. In 1940 he participated in teh Individual Satyagrah and was arrested once again. In 1942 he was arrested atthe Malkapur railway station as soon as the quit India moement was announced on 8th August. In the 1946 Vidhan Sabha election Congress won by a huge majority and Ravishankar Shukla became the Chief Minister. He remained Cheif Minister of Central Provinces till 1956. He payed and important role in the meger of 14 princely states of Chhattisgarh in the Indian Union. he played an important role in the establishement of Harisingh Gaur University Sagar and Sanskirt college and Ayurvedic College in raipur. He was also amember of the Costituent Assembly. He became the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh when the new State was formed on 1st Novemer 1956. He died of Heart attack on 31st December 1956. Govefrnment of Chhattisgarh has instituted the Ravishankar Shuka award for Innovations in economic and social sectors inhis honour.

Pt. Sunderlala Sharma

Pt. Sunderlal Sharma is compared to Raja Ram Mohan Roy for his efforts in National awakening. He had a multifaceted personality. He was a great writer, sculptor, painter, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter. He was brom on 21st December 1881 in Chumsur VVillage of Rajim. His father Jiyalal Tiwari was legal advisor in Kanker state. He had formal education only till primary level He learnt Sankrit, Bengali, English, Urdu, Orria etc. by self study. In 1898 he established the Kavi Samaj in Rajim with the help of Vishanath Dubey. This wa sthe first organization for National awakening in the regions. In 1903 he became of member of the Indian National Congress. He participated in the 1907 Surat convention of the Congress. He opened shops of Indian goods for boycott of foreign goods in Rajim and Raipur and continued to run them despite losses by selling his land. He was the main leader of the Kandel movement in Dhamtari and also invited Mahatma Gandhi to lead the movement. Mahatma Gandhi visited Chhattisgarh for the first time on 20th December 1920 on his invitatin. When there was a Hindu Musli riot on Dhamtari in 1925, Pt Sharma was instuemtal in restoring peace. In 1930 he was arrested for elading the jungle Satyagrah. He was imprisoned for two years. He staretd a Sanskrit school and reading room in Rajim. He is also creditted with establishing a library in Brahman Para Raipur. He worked relentlessly for teh upliftment of Harijans. He erformed thread ceremony for Dalits and also got them to perform Yajnas. He is also known as Gandhi of Chhatiisgarh for his efforts for upliftment oof Harijans. He made great efforts for getting the status of languag to Chhattisgarhi Boli. He has written many books in Chhattisgarhi. The main among them are – Prahlad Charitra, Karuna Pachisi, Pralap Padawali, Raghuraj Guna Kirtan, Dhruw Charitra and Chhattisgarhi Danleela. Danleela is still sung in villages. This is the first epic of Cahhattisgarhi language. In his chhattisgarhi poems he used the pen name Sunder kavi. In his last years he remained engaged in agriculture. He died on 28th December 1940. Government of Chhattisgarh has instituted an award in his name for Literature in local language.

Pt. Lochan Prasad Pandey

The name of Pt. Lochan Prasad Pandey is taken with great respect among those who spent their life in the service of Hindi language. He was born in village Balpur of Janjgir Champa on 4th January 1887. His father was Pt. Chintamani and mother was Devhuti Devi. Padmashri Mukutdhar Pandey was his younger brother and Purushottam Pandey was his elder brother. His early education was in his village. After this he was admitted in Central Hindu College Kashi. Here he came in contact with Ayodhya Singh Upadhyaya. He could not complete his education becasue his mother did not want to leave him alone. He learnt not only Hindi but also English, Sanskrit, Orria, Urdu, Bengali and Chhattisgarhi languages. His first poem was pubished in Hindi Pradeep published by Balkrishna Bhatt in 1904. His poen was published in Saraswati in the same year. His Chhattisgarhi play Kalikal was publihsed the next year. Thsi is the first play of Chhattisgarh language. In 1906 his first novel Do Mitra was pubished. This is accepted as the first novel of Chahttisgarh region. In 1909 three books Pravasi, Neeti kavita and Balika Vinod were published. He also edited the Marwari magazine published from Nagpur in this year. In 1910 he edited the poetry compiltion named Kusum Mala. In this he included the poems of almost all important poets of Hindi. This was included in the curriculum of schools by the Government. Another book written by him – Raghuvansh Saar which is a translation from Sankrti was recognized as textbook by Payna and Nagpur Universities. Pt. Locah Prasad Pandey is also known as first poet of mdern Chhattisgarhi. He wrote the first Chhattisragarh peom in 1904 the firs lines of which are-

“Jayati jai Jai Chhattisgarh Des,
Janam Bhumi Sunder Sukh Khan”

He got the title of Kavya Vinod in 1912. In 1910 in the preface to Kusum mala he used the word Prageeti for the first time as a synonym of Lyric. He wrote sonnets in Khari Boli Hindi which became very popular. He taught first in Balpur and then in Natwar school Raigarh. In 1912 he was sent as private secretary by the king of Raigarh to the king of Rewa. Later he was appointed honorary magistrate of Chandrapur Zamindari. He was elected president of the fourth Hindi Sahitya Sammelan held in Jabalpur in 1921. He was chosen secreatry of the provincial Hisotry Council in Raipur in 1939. He wa sgiven the title of Sahitya Vachaspati in the Meerut convention of Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. Pt Lochan Prasad Pandey was also an archiologist. He established the Mahakoshal Historical Society in 1940. He discovered the appealk coins of the Puranic times, Rishabh Teerth mentioned in Mahabharat and studied the caves of Singhanpur, Vikramkhol. Kabra Pahar, etc. He continued to work for the good of the people even after independece. Chandrapur is in Chhattisgarh because of his efforts. The Leprosy Ashram of Champa got Government support due to his efforts. He died at the age of 73 years on 18th November 1959.

E. Raghvendra Rao

E. Raghvendra Rao was born in August 1889 in Kamptee. His father Naganna Rao came to Bilaspur for business and settled there. Raghvedra Rao took admission in Hislop College Nagpur. He went to London for studying law but had to return because of the untimely death of his father. He went to London onceagain in 1912 and completed his studeis and returned after becoming barrister in 1914. He practiced law in Bilaspur. From 1916 to 1927 he was president of the Bilaspur Municipality. He was also president of the Zila Paishad for 8 years. In 1920 he left legal practice on the calll given by Mahatma Gandhi and entered active politics. He was electd president of Mahakoshal Congress Committee in the same year. He joined the Swarajya Party created by Motilal Nehru and he was member of the CP and Berar Vidhan Sabha from 1923 to 1926. He created Swatantra Party with Seth Govinddas and Pt. Ravishankar Shukla. He was education Minister in the MInsitry formed in 1926. He opposed the Simon Commision in spite of being part of the Government. In1930 he was appointed member (Home) in the Governor of Central Provinces Council. He made efforts for iimproving the conditions of farmers. He was made offciating Governor of Central Provinces for four months in 1936. In 1939 Raghvendra Rao was called to London as advisor to Secretary of India. He remained on this post for two years. He was also appointed as member defese in the Viceroy]s executive council. He had great National feeling inspite of being on high posts in the British Government and continued to fight for greater rights for Indians. In 1916 when Plague epdemic spread in Bilaspur he continued to serve the people without care for his own health. During the historical famine of 1929-30 he helped the farmers and suspended the recovery of land revenue. Raghvendra Rao also worked for removal of illeteracy. The Waltair University of Andhra Pradesh gave honorary D. Lit to him. There were more than 15000 books in his personal library which are available in the Municipal library of Bilaspur, Library of SBR College Raipur and Library of University of Nagpur and Andhra Pradesh. He died at a young age of 53 years on 15th June 1942.

Thakur Pyarelal Singh

Thakur Pyarelal was the founder of labour movement and cooperative movement in Chhattisgarh. He was born on 21st December 1891 in Dehan village of Rajnandgaon district. His father was Deendayal Singh and mother was Narmada Devi. He studies in Government High School Raipur and then in Hislop College Nagpur and finally studied lae in Allahabad University. He had started struggle against injustice from childhood. In 1905-06 fees was increased and uniform was made compulsory to prevent poor students from gettng education. The students sis a strike againjst this inthe leadership of Pyarelal Singh and finally succeeded. In 1906 he came in contact with some revolutionaries of Bengal. He had started the Saraswati Library in Rajnandgaon in 1909 in student life itself. In 1928 the Biritsh Government locked this library. Pyarelal Singh first practiced law in Durg and then in Raipur. In April 1920 he led a successful labour strike in BNC Mills Rajnandgaon for 36 days. It was the longest labour strike in the country at this time. He joined non-cooperation movement in the same year and left lagal pratice. He started the Rashtriya school in Rajnandgaon with BaldevPrasad Mishra. In 1924 the labour of BNC Mills struc work again in the leadership of Pyarelal Singh. He was forced to leave Rajnandgaon. He settled in Raipur. He was sent to Jail several times Once during a raid on his house even his sanad of advocate was seized. He was elected secretary of Mahakoshal provincial committee in 1934. In 1936 he was elected member of Central Provinces Vidhan Sabha. He was elected president of Raipur Municipality three times in 1937, 1940 and 1944. He organized the weavers of Chhattisgarh and funded the Chhattisgarh coooperative Bunkar Sangha and remained its president life long. He was founded Chhattisgarh Consumers, M.P. Peetal metal manufacturing Sangh, Vishwakarma Industrial Cooperative Sangh, Telghani Cooperative Sangh, Dheemar cooperative Sangh etc. He was the founder of cooperative movement in Chhattisgarh. He also worked for saving immigrant Chhattisgarhis from exploitations. In 1950 he started publication of a newspaper Rashtrabandhu. He was a scholar of Hindi, Sanskrit, and English and also of History, Plitical science, Religion, Philosophy etc. He used to give speeches in Chhattisgarhi languages to the rural folk. He resigned from the Congress party due to differnce of opinon and joined the Kisan Mazdoor Party formed by Acharya J B Kriplani. He was elected to Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha from Raipur in 1952 and was leader of opposition. He also worked in the Bhoodan movement of Vinoba Bhave. Je dies on 20th October 1954. Government of Chhattisgarh has instituted the Thakur Pyarelal Singh award in his memory for high level work in Cooperative sector.

Pt. Ramdayal Tiwari

Writers like Munshi Prenchand and Suryakant Tripathy Nirala accepted the prominence of Pt. Ramdayal Tiwari in the filed of literary criticism. The magazine Madhuri had given the title of “Samarth Samalochak” to Tiwari ji. Ramdayal Tiwari was born on 23rd July 1892 in Raipur. His father was Rambagas Tiwari and mother was Galarabai. He used to give tuitions for earn becaussse of his poor economic condition. He used to study under a lamp post on the road at night. He was responsible for the decorations during Ganeshotsav in his mohalla. He became a teacher in Raigarh. He had taught Mukutdhar Pandey. He finished his law education in 1915 and started practicing in Raipur. He was a true successor of Madhav Rao sapre in the field of literary criticism. He used to write in Hitwad, MOdern review, Hindu etc. He was an epert in Hindi, English, Sankrit, Urdu Marathi and Orria languages. He was involved in the freedom struggle. In 1930 he took out a procession of more than 10 thousand people disobeying section 144 in protest against the arrest of Thakur Pyarelal and others. In the same year the police lathi charged people collected at Raipur Railway Station to welcome the Satyagrahis. A committee of intellligentia was made to inquire into this incident and Pt. Ramdayal Tiwari was an active member of this committee. It is true that he never went to Jail but his role in the freedom struggel was second to none. In 1935 he was injured in an accident and was hospialised for many months. He wrote Gandhi Meemansa during this time. Later he wrote Gandi X-rayed in English. He also wrote many school books like “Hame Neta” and Swarajya Prashnottari” He wrote about the Rubaiyat of Omar Khiyam from the Indian point of view. He died on 21st August 1942. A school in Amapara Chowk Raipur is named after him.

Yati Yatanlal

Yati Yatanlal was born in a hospital in Bikaner and was left by his parent. He was adopted by a Jian saint Gani Vivekvardhan. He learnt language, literature and culture by self study. At the age of 19 years Gani Vivekvardhan gave him Deeksha of Yati. In 1919he joined politics. In 1921 he joined Congress. He wss elected member of Raipur Congress Comittee in 1922. He was president of Raipur congress from 1924 to 25. He went from village to village for upliftment of Dalits. He established Mahavir Pustakalaya in Raipur and Bhagat Pustakalaya in Mahasamund. He came in contact with Ravishankar Shukla, Sunderlal Sharma, Pyarelal Singh, Laxmi Narayann Das etc. In 1922 he was arrested for stopping the Deputy Commissioner and Police Superintendent from entering without ticket Raipur Political council conventiion. He sat on dharna against foreign goods and liquor and supported swadeshi. In 1930 he actively participated in the Civil Disobedience movement. He led the Jungle Satyagrah in Tamora area of Mahasamund along with Shankar Rao Ganodwale. He was arrested for this on 25th August 1930 and givenone year imprisonment but was released as a result of the Gandhi-Irvin pact on 11th March 9131. In 1934 he worked hard without caring for his own health when there was a cholera epidemic in Raipur. In 1940 he started Individual satyagran on call given b Mahatma Gandhi. He was arrested and ajiled for 4 months. In 1941 when his guardian and Guru Gani Vivekvardhan became ill he reamined aloof from the freedom movement for some time and served him. He used to say very often that whatever he is today he is because of his Guru. He was arrested again in 1942 for participating in Quit India Moement. He remained president of the Raipur district Congress Comitteee again from 1946 to 1949. After independence his interst in politics reduaced and he continued to work for the poor and downtrodden in the Ashram in Mahasamund. He made a big hospital in thsi Ashram in 1976. He did not accept the pension given to freedom fighters by the government. On 4th August 1976 ? he died after a long illmenss. Government of Chhattisgarh has instituted an award in his name for Non-violence and Cow protection.

Pt. Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi

Pt. Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi was a great writer. H edited the literary magazine Saraswati. He was born on 27th May 1894 in Kahiragarh village of Rajnandgaon. In middle school his principal was Pt. Ravishankar Shukla. He used to often read Chandrakanta novel in lonley cremation ground by bunking school.His English translation of a story was first published in Hitkarni in 1911. He pased BA from Central Hindu College Kashi in 1916. In Kashi he had an opportunity to be with greats like Madan Mohan Malviya, Parasnath Singh, Atmaramm Khare, etc. He was married to Laxmidevi. He was appointed as teacher of high schol in Rajnandgaon State. His articles used to be published in big magazines like Hitkarini and Saraswati. In 1920 he went to Allahabad and was appointed editor of Saraswati. This magazine was published from Indian Press Allahabad at that time. Works of Jaishankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Suryakant Tripathy Nirala etc. were published by him. He had some differences of opinon with the management and when his pride was hurt he left Saraswati and came to Kahiragarh in 1925. In 1927 he became editor of Saraswati once again. He continued to work there tll 1929. In 1929 he resinged and after that taught in Kanker. In 1935 he returned to Khairagarh and worked as professor of Ennglish in Victoria High School Khairagarh till 1949. His relationship with Indian Press continued and he edited some text books for them. Meanwhile his books Prayashchit, Pradeep and Ashrudal were published. Prayashchit was Hindi translation of the play by famous Belgian writer Meterlink. Bakshi Ji edited Saraswati from 1952 to 1956 from Khairagarh itself. In 1958-59 his story compilation Jhalmala and Shatdal were pbulished. From 1949 to 1957 Bakshi ji was tutor of the pricesses of Khairagarh. He was appointed Professor in Digvijay College Rajnandgaon in 1959. In 1949 he was given the title of Sahitya Vachaspati by Akhil Bhartiya Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. In 1950 he was elected chairman of Madhya pradesh Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. For someitme he edited daily newspaper Mahakoshal published from Raipur. In 1960 Sagar University gave him the degree of D. Lit. His famous essay compilations are Vishva Sahitya, Panchpatra, Hindi Sahitya Vimarsh, Sahitya Charcha, Majari, Bikhare Panne, Hindi Katha and Sahitya, Mera Desh, Mere Priya Nibandh, Samasya aur Samadhan, Navratra, Hindi Sanitya Ek Etihasik Sameeksha, and Kari. Dau Ramchandra Deeshmush created a folk play on the basis of his essay Kari which is still polular in Chhattisgarh. His story Jhalmala is an all time great. He died on 28th December 1971 in Raipur. His friends used to call him Master Ji. The School Education Department of Government of Chhattisgarh has instituted and award in his memory for teachers. A reseach chair in his mane has been established in Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University in Raipur and a creative chair in Bhilai.

Pt. Mukutdhar Pandey

Pt. Mukutdhar Pandey is considred to be the founder of Chhyavad in Hindi literature. He was born in village Balpur near Chnadrapur in Janjgir Champa district on 30th Deptember 1895. His father was Chintamani Pandey and mother was Devhuti Devi. National level writer Pt. Lochan Prasad Pandey and Purushottam Pandey were his elder brothers. He took admission in Christian Collge Prayag in 1916 but could noto complete his education due to adverse situation and returned to Balpur. He has started writitn gin the tender age of 12 years. He learnt Hindi, English, Urdu, Sanskrit, Orria, and Benagli languages at home. His first poem – Prarthna Panchak, was published in 1909 in Swadesh Bhandhav magazime published from Agra. His poems were published in Swadesh Bandhaav, Hitkarini, Indu, Arya Mahil and Saraswati when he was only in Middel School. He taught in Natwar High School Raigarh from 1931 to 1937 at the request of King Chakradhan Singh of Raigarh. He was also Second Class Magistrate in Raigarh State from 1937 to 1940. in 1920 his esaay series titles Chhayavad was pullbihsed in four issues of magazine Sharda published from Jabalpur. His famous poen Kurri was published in July 1920 in Saraswati. This is considred the first Chhayavadi poen of Hindi. Achrya Ramchandra Shukla, Dr. Ramvilas Sharma, Jaishankar Prasad and Dr. Namwar Singh have called him the first poet of Chhavad. His main published works are – Pooja Ke phool (Petry collection), Shailbala (translated novel), Lachhma (translated novel), Parishram (collection of essays), Hriday Dan (collection of stories), Mama (translated novel), Chhavad aur Anya Nibandh, Smriti Punj. Vishwa Bodh (Collection of Poems, Chhavad aur Anya Shreshtha Nibandh, Meghdoot (Chhattisgarhi translation). Pt. Mukkutdhar Pandey was evry impressed with Kalidas and held that orotection of the books of Kalidas was essential for protection of Indianness. In 1928 he got the opportunity to sit with Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on the dias as president of Rashtrabhasha Sammelan. He looked like ancient Rishis in his wite beard and white hair. He had great love for Chhattisgarh language. He wrote in a letter to Hari Thakur – “Our Chhattisgarhi brothers should converse with each other in Chhattisgarhi only”. He was given the degree of D.Lit by Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University Raipur and Guru Ghasidas University Bilaspur. In 1976 he was honoured with Padmashree by Government of India. He died on 6th November 1989 after a long lillness. School Education Department of Government of Chhattisgarh has insitututed an award in his memory for teachers.

Raja Chakradhar Singh

His father was King Bhupdev Singh and mother was Queen Ramkunwar Devi of Raigarh. Bhupdev Singh constructed Moti Mahal in the city and started a State Ganeshotsav in to celebrate the birth of his son. This became famous all over the country as Ganesh Mela. Chakradahar Singh developed interest in classical music and lliterature. At the age of 9 years he was admitted to Rajkumar College of Raipur in 1914. He was a good player of Tennis, Footballl and Hockey. He was sent for adminitrative training to Chhindwara. He was maried to Dishwarmati the daughter of Zammindar of Chhura. Bharatratna Bismillah Khan had played the shahnai along with his father in Chakradhar Snhg’s marriage On 15th February 1924 he became the king due to the sudden death of his brother Natwar Singh. He stopped the Beagr tradition. He paid special attention to agriculture, education and health. He constructed Badal mahal, Guest House, Town Hall, Hospital, nalghar, Library in Raigarh and also eletrified the city. His durbar was always full of learned persons. There was no important big artist of India of that time who was not honoured by him. These persons included great musicians like Pt. Onkarnath, Manhar Barve, Narayan Vyas, Pt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar and great writers like Pt. mahaveer Prasad Dwivedi. Makahn Lal Chaturvedi, Bhagwati Charan Verma, Pt. Janki Vallabh Shastry, Dr Ramkumar Verma, Rameshwar Shukla Anchal, Padumlal Punnalal Bakshi, Lochan Prasad Pandey and Padmashree Mukutdhar Pandey. Dr Baldev Prasad Mishra was his Diwan and Anand Mohan Bajpai was his personal secretary. Raja Chakradhar Singh fixed a lifelong pension of Rs 50 per month for Mahaveer Prasad Dwivedi after he retired from Saraswati. He himself gave several performances in music convetions. Pt Jagannath of Haipur gharana and Guru Kalika Prasad of Lucknow gharana along with his three sons Achchhan, Lachchhu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj came to Raigarh on his invitation. The members of the royal family and many other people learn Kathak dance from them. Raja Chakradhar Singh created many new Bandhshes of kathak. A colelction of these is published in which Muraj Charan Pushpakar, Tal Toynidhi, Raga Ratna Manjusha and Nartan Sarwaswam are mentioned specially. He developed a special form of Kathak with fusion of Jaipur, Lucknow and Banarash gharanas. This is known as The Raigarh Gharana of Kathak. In 1938 he was chosen the president of Akhil Bhartiya Sangeet Sammelan in Allahabad. In 1939 in Delhi Raja Chakradhar Singh accompanied on Tabla a dance performance of Kartik kalyan in the presence of the Viceroy of India and all the Kings of Indian States. Impressed with this the Viceroy and the King of Datia gave him the title of Sangeet Smrat. He had god command over Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Orria, Udu and Bengali langauges. He was also a good writer. In Hindi his pen name was Cahkrapriya and in Urdu it was Farhat. His famous literary works are Alkapuri, Tilismi Mayachakra, Ramya Rasa, Bairagariya Rajkumar, Kavya Kanan, Prem Ke Teer, Ratnahaar, Mrignayni etc., and in Urdu, Joshe Farhad and Nigahe Farhad. He was very fond of kite flying and had a special room to keep kites and Manjha in his palace. Every year he used to call kite flyers from Lucknow. He also had deep interest in wressling. Many famous wresslers lived in his kingdom, the main among them being Pooran Singh Nikka, Gada Chowbey, Tota, Gunga, Guwartha, Mukka, Banshi Singh and Thakur Singh. Well known painters like Jani Mukherjee and S K verma were in his court who not only made potraits but also illustrations for books. He died at a young age of 42 on 7th October 1947. Madhya Pradesh Government ha made the Chakradhar Natyashala to honour his contribution to music. Government of Chhattisgarh has instituted the Chakradhar award for music and art. The people of the city have named a mohalla Chakradhar Nagar after him.

Sant Gahira Guru

Gariha Guru was a great social reformer, philoshoer, and saint. He was born in 1905 in Gahira village of Lailunga block of Raigarh district. His father was Budki and mother was Sumitra Devi. He was a kanwar farmmer. The real name of Gahira Guru was Rameshwar Kanwar. There was no school in the village so Rameshwar got his education from some Sadhu. He was very sad by the povery and poor condition of forest dwellers. He tried to make them self sufficient. He used to raom the forest and medidate from time to time. He used to preach the shepherds. He was married Purnima and then Ganga Devi. He medidated continusously for 8 days at a place called Teepjharan, after wheich he became a complete Bhakta. He constructed a Shiva temple on Shivratri in Gahira. He used to sing praises of the lord every eveing in this temple. He used to play the flute and also dance in a trance. The other Bhaktas also used to dance with hm. People started calling him Gahira Guruji. He started cleanliness campaign in the villages for whcih he made a group fo 20 youth. He cleaned the entire cillage with is deciples. He made chabutaras around all the trees of the village in two days. In 1943 he established the Sanatan Dharma Samaj in Gahira. All his deciples became its members. His deciples used to ear white cloths and used to do sharan (touching the feet) of elders in the family every day. On every thurseday there was a grou reading of Ramcharit Mana with all family members. Eevry day one handfull of rice and four annas was taken out for the society. They used to do free labour for the society three days in a year. Thousands of volunteer deciples of Gahira Guru spread his message far and wide. As a result of this lakhs of Dalits and backward people from Raigarh, Suguja, Bilaspur, Jashpur, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Uttar Pradeshh joined the movement. Ashrams were established in Samarbaar, Kailash Gufa, Shrikot, Champa, Ambikapur, Vishrampur, Supalaga, Kakna, Patthalgaon, Rajpur, Lilunga and Gahira. Sanatan Sant Samaj was registered on 5th January 1985. He got the Indira Gandhi Social Service award for serving the tribal people in 1986-87. The award was given by the then President of India Gyani Zail Singh. Madhya Pradesh Government also honoured him posthumously with Birsa Munda award and Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh award for his contribution in tribal development. He died on 21st November 1996. Government of Chhattisgarh has isntituted an award in his name.

Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh

Great poet, story writer and thinker Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh was born in Sheopur of Gwalior district of Madhya Pradesh on 13th Novemeber 1917. His father worked in the police department as inspector. In 1935 his first poem – Hriday Ki pyas, was published in the college magazine of Madhav College Ujjain. In 1938 he passed BA from Holkar College Indore. He had started teaching form 1937 in Badnagar for livelihood. Later he taught in Modern School Ujjain, Sharda Shikhsha Sadan Shujalpur and Hitkarni High School Jabalpur. He married Shanta against the wishes of his family in 937. He came in contact with Harishankar Parsai and Pramod Verma in Jabalpr. In 1940 the first ra Saptak was published, which was edited by Sachiidananda Hiranand Agyeya. Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh was the first poet of Tar Saptak. His 17 poems were published in it. This made him famous throughout the country overnight. He was greatly influenced by Marxism, Socialism, Existentialism, Ram Manohar Lohia, Keekeguard, Arvind Ghosh etc. He later came to Nagpur where he became editor in the news department of Akashwani. In 1956 he edited Naya Khoon a weekly newspaper. During the firing incident of Empress Mills he was personally present as a reporter. Very moving description of this is in his poen “Andhere Men”. Muktibodh was a very good journalist. He continued to write on social, political and economic condition of the Country and on International scene. In 1958 he earned his livlihood by writing textbooks. He wrote columns in Sarath, and Karmaveer. From 1953 to 1957 he wrote extensively. He came to Rajnandgaon in 1958. here Kishorilal Shukla appointed his Professor of Hindi in the College. By now his two new books “Nai Kavita Ka Atmasangharsh aur anya Nibandh” and “Kamayani Ek Punarvichar” had been published. He died while beign treated in All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi on 11th September 1964. Many of his books were published afterhis death. Some of them are- Bharat Ka Itihas aur Sanskriti (Criticism), Satah Ke Uthta Admi (Criticism), Kaath Ka Sapna (cllection of stories), Chand Ka Muh Tedha Hai (Collection of Poems), Bhuri Bhuri Khak Dhool (Collection of Poems), Nai Kavita Ka Atma Sangharsha tatha Anya Nibandh (Criticism), Naye Sahitya Ka Saundrya Shastra (Criticism), Sameeksha Ki Sameekshayen (Criticism), Vipatra (Novel), Satah Se Uthta Admi (Novel). Mani Kaul made a movei on his novel Satah Se Uthta Admi. His collection of Poems Chand Ka Muh Tedha Hai received the Sahitya Akadami Award posthumously in 1964. School Educaion Department of Government of Chhattisgarh has intituted an award in his memory.

Minimata

Minimata was the first woman Member of Parliament of Chhattisgarh. She was as social reformer. He was born on the day of Holika Dahan in 1913 in Jamunasukh village of Naugaon district of Assam. Her real name was Meenakshi. Her father was Budharidas and mother was Devmati Bai. They had to go to the tea gardens of Assam in search of work due to a big famine in Chhattisgarh during 1901 to 1910. Meenakshi got education till class seventh in Assam. She was a patriot and had learnt the meaning of feedom in an early age. She used to burn foreign cloths and spread the message os swadeshi even as a child. When Guru Agamdas came to Assam for spreading his religion he had no son. He married Meenakshi in 1932. As wife of the Guru she became known as Minimata in Satnami Samaj. She came to Chhattisgarh after marriage and got education til Matric in Raipur. He had command over Hindi, Assamese, English, Bengali and Chhattisgarhi language. She got the experience of working for the people while travelling with her husband Guru Agamdas. Minimata used to wear Khahdi and political leaders like Sunderlal Sharma, Radhabai, Pyarelal Singh, Ravishankar Shukla Khubchand Baghel etc. used to visit her home often. Guru Agamdas was elected Member of Parliament after independence. He suddenly died in 1951. Minnimata was elected MP in a bue election in Raipur. In 1952 she was elected MP from Raipur and in 1967 from Baloa Bazar. She considred untouchabiity to a blot on the society and continued to work for the people all her life. She presented the Abolition of Untouchability Bill before the Parliament. She opposed harrasment of women, dowery, child marriage etc. She got many widows remarried. She established the Satnami Ashram in Raipur. She ran the Harijan Hostel on Aminpara Raipur. She founded the Chhattisgarh Mazdoor Sangh. She also founded the Akhil Bhartiya Harijan Sevak Sangh and Satnami Mahasamiti. She was also the vice president of the women’s wing of Bhartiya Dalit Varg Sangh. She played an important role in the construction of Hasdeo Irrigation Project. She died in plane accident on 11th August 1972 while going to Delhi from Bhopal. Government of Chhattisgarh ahs instituted the MInimata award for work in Women development in her memory.