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Essay
Who was Bal Gangadhar Tilak? What were his contributions to the country?
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Bal Gangadhar Tilak is the prominent leader, freedom fighter and social reformer of India. He is the first freedom fighter who gave the speech that ” Freedom is my birthright and I shall have it “. He is member of famous trio” Lal-Bal-Pal” .He was born on 23 rd july, 1856 at Maharashtra in India. His father’s name is Gangadhar Tilak , he was a school teacher and a Sanskrit scholar. He died when Bal Gangadhar Tilak was sixteen. Tilak was married to Tapiba at the age of sixteen in 1871 few months before his father’s death. He has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Mathematics. He completed his degree in LLB from Government Law College. He was a great admirer of Chhatrapati Shivraj. He actively opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905 by lord Karzan. He opposed it tooth and nail. He was arrested in 1908 and given 6 years imprisonment in Mandalay in Burma. In the time of his imprisonment he wrote his famous commentary on Srimad Bhagavad Gita- Gita Rahasya. He was a profound scholar of Indian history and culture and also wrote a book on Vedas Arctic Home in the Vedas. He devoted himself for the freedom of India.Bal Gangadhar Tilak launched the Home Rule League movement in India by the help of Annie Besant. In 1881 he started the publication of Kesari and Maratha for the national awakening. Tilak gained much popularity in Europe and America by his books Orayan and Arctic Home in the Vedas. He was a member of Indian National congress. He is known as the “Father of Indian Unrest”. Mahatma Gandhi called him ” The Maker of modern India “. This legendary personality died on 1st August, 1920 at Maharashtra.