Freedom Fighters of India: Top 10 Unknown Personalities

Almost every child in India knows that our country was known as the Golden Bird. However, the struggle behind maintaining this title didn’t come easily to us. There were many unsung heroes of India and freedom fighters who shed their blood just to protect our country and provide Independence from slavery. It’s been 78 years since we attained freedom, and we only know about famous personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and Jawaharlal Nehru (the Prime Minister of India). They played an active role in the fight for freedom, but many unsung freedom fighters worked for the country’s betterment and still didn’t receive the public attention they deserved. In this blog, we will discuss the top 10 unknown freedom fighters of India.

Top 10 Unsung Heroes of India

1.Khudiram Bose

Khudiram Bose, often titled “the boy revolutionary”, made the supreme sacrifice for India at the age of 18. He was hanged by British officials, making him the youngest revolutionary in our country. The only motto of the freedom fighters and unsung heroes of India was to save the country’s people from slavery and exploitation. Similarly, he was deeply hurt by the Partition of Bengal, which made him an activist, and he was deeply inspired by Aurobindo Ghosh and Sister Nivedita, who were already part of the movement to safeguard his country’s people.

During his first arrest, he was only 15 years old. Apart from this, he gained hands-on experience in making live bombs that were used to target British officials. He was sentenced to death on 11 August 1908 for attempting to assassinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate of Calcutta, Douglas H. Kingsford. It is still an unknown story to many people and remains part of West Bengal’s folklore.

2.Kartar Singh Sarabha

The fight for freedom was not a matter of years; it was a conspiracy against our country, which was planned by every country in the world to exploit our culture and heritage. To stop this, Kartar Singh Sarabha, one of the most influential unsung heroes of India, played a crucial role. He joined the Gadar Party, formed in Oregon, USA, under the guidance of Punjabi expatriates, to drive the British out of India. To accomplish his mission, he flew down to India to prepare Indian soldiers against the British Raj, but sadly, he was captured by the British army before the mission and laid down his life at the age of 19 in the service of the nation. One of the great examples of bravery that inspired several Indian revolutionaries, including Bhagat Singh.

3.Rani Gaidinliu

Gaidinliu, which is known as Manipur in the present day, witnesses a true Braveheart lady named Rani Gaidinliu. Her story is as courageous as hers, and the way she fought against the wrong deeds of the British. Her revolution began at the age of 13 with the Haraka Movement. A socio-religious movement against the British Clan who attempted to convert the Naga Tribe. This movement began with the aim of “Naga self-rule,” and Gaidinliu served as its spiritual leader. She strongly opposed the British Raj, motivated her tribe to speak out against injustice, and organized guerrilla strikes against the British army. For carrying out revolutionary movements, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. Her release came after India attained Independence in 1947. She was given the name ‘Rani’ by Jawaharlal Nehru.

4.Alluri Sitarama Raju

One of the greatest unsung heroes of India is Alluri Sitarama Raju, also known as the Jungle Hero. A sanyasi and a tribal leader, famous for his guerrilla warfare techniques that he used to attack and raid police stations for arms and ammunition. He was the main leader of the Rampa rebellion, a tribal revolt that occurred in the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh in modern times. Over time, he gained strong local support, making it hard to locate him. During that time, the British army announced a cash prize of Rs 10,000 for his arrest. Later on, to save his tribe’s people from misery and torture, he surrendered himself to the police.

5.Vallinayagam Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai

Vallinayagam Olaganathan Chidambaram Pillai’s contribution to India’s Independence is unique and significant, apart from organizing marches and strikes and fighting legal battles for people experiencing poverty. He emphasized strategic warfare rather than physical warfare and launched the country’s first shipping service, the Swadesh Steam Navigation Company, which operated between Tuticorin and Colombo. His decision adversely impacted the British army, and to jeopardize his efforts, they arrested him and tortured him very badly. Moreover, his company was taken over, and his barrister title was also taken up. His end days were miserable, spent writing commentaries and compiling old Tamil texts. He was titled as Kappalottiya Tamizhan (The Tamil Helmsman).

6.Ram Prasad Bismil

You have heard the slogan “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai”, but the person who gave this slogan is never known to us. His name is Ram Prasad Bismil, an unsung hero of India who conveyed his message of freedom through his writings and poetry. He was very well-versed in Hindi and Tamil languages.

7.Ka Phan Nonglait

Ka Phan Nonglait, one of the bravest female fighters of India, is not known outside her tribe of Meghalaya. She belonged to the Khasi hills in the Northeast—a courageous freedom fighter who fought against the British Raj during the First War of Independence in 1857. As a tribute to her supreme sacrifices, her home was protected by her tribe for many years.

8.Matangini Hazra

One of the prominent women freedom fighters and an unsung warrior of India, who strongly believed in the Gandhian philosophy and was titled as “Gandhi Buri”. At the age of 73, she rallied with countless women to take over a police station and was shot during the process. Her entire life was spent in the Independence movements. Her fierceness gave other women the courage to participate in India’s Independence.

9.George Verghese Joseph

Kerala is the only state in India with a 100% literacy rate. George Verghese Joseph was born here and was one of the most educated people in our country. He applied his legal education to protect revolutionaries from illegal British laws used to secure convictions. He fiercely opposed the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre that happened in Amritsar.

10.Kotwal Dhan Singh Gurjar

While discussing the name of Kotwal Dhan Singh Gurjar, we cannot forget that he was among the unsung heroes of India, serving as the head of a police station in Meerut. During the First World War, his colleagues and sepoys were jailed, and he joined the mass movement for Independence to free the working people from jail. Later, in rage, the British army burned his village and murdered the village people.

To Wrap Up

There are numerous other stories of Independence and people who lost their lives in the process of saving their country from slavery. We have just mentioned a few of the unsung heroes of India that no one knows about, but their contributions in shaping our country are immense. We should thank everyone who contributed to bringing about a revolution in our country, which continues to unfold. As a parent or teacher, it’s our responsibility to make our kids aware of the freedom fighters of India and the contributions they made to our country.