Savarkar

Savarkar
Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · source
Name	Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Birth date	28 May 1883
Birth place	Bhagur, Bombay Presidency, British India
Death date	26 February 1966
Death place	Bombay, Bombay State, India
Occupation	Lawyer, writer, activist
Movement	Hindu Mahasabha, Indian independence movement

Savarkar was an Indian lawyer, writer, and political activist known for his role in early 20th-century Indian nationalist movements and for articulating an assertive form of Hindu nationalism. He combined revolutionary activism with prolific authorship in Marathi and English, engaging with figures and institutions across London, Bombay, Pune, and Ratnagiri. His legacy is contested, intersecting debates involving the Indian independence movement, the Hindu Mahasabha, the Indian National Congress, and subsequent developments in Indian politics.

Early life and education

Born in Bhagur in the Bombay Presidency in 1883, he studied at institutions in Nasik and Pune before traveling to London for higher education. In London he enrolled at Gray's Inn and associated with groups linked to the India House circle, interacting with contemporaries from Calcutta, Madras, and the Punjabi diaspora. His exposure to radical literature and the activities of émigré nationalists influenced his transition from student to activist.

Revolutionary activities and arrest

While in London, he became involved with networks around India House, communicating with activists associated with the Ghadar Party, Annie Besant's milieu, and colleagues who later participated in events in Bombay and Poona. Reports link him to contacts in Feni and to conspiratorial episodes that drew the attention of the Scotland Yard, British Raj intelligence, and magistrates in Bombay Presidency. His alleged connections to plots against officials and to clandestine arms flows led to surveillance, arrest, and extradition proceedings involving authorities in London and Bombay.

Trial, imprisonment and exile

Extradited to India, he faced proceedings at courts in Bombay and under statutes enforced by the British Empire. Convicted under charges brought before colonial prosecutors, he was sentenced to transportation and incarcerated in penal institutions including Andaman Islands facilities like the Cellular Jail in Port Blair. His confinement also included periods of internment in Ratnagiri and correspondence with figures in Calcutta and Poona about prison conditions and legal appeals. Debates over his treatment invoked responses from public figures in London, members of the Indian National Congress, and editors at journals in Bombay and Pune.

Political ideology and writings

A prolific polemicist in Marathi and English, he authored works that engaged with texts such as Ramayana commentaries and critiques of colonial policies, addressing audiences in Bombay, Poona, Baroda, and Pune University circles. His writings developed themes drawing on historical episodes like the Third Battle of Panipat and figures such as Shivaji. He debated contemporaries from the Indian National Congress, corresponded with intellectuals in London and Calcutta, and positioned his views in response to movements including the Ghadar Party and the Anushilan Samiti. His legal training at Gray's Inn informed essays on rights and punishments, while translations and treatises engaged with sources from Sanskrit literature and colonial legal codes.

Role in Hindu nationalism and politics

After release, he joined political circuits that included the Hindu Mahasabha and contested ideological space with leaders of the Indian National Congress and regional parties in Bombay Presidency and Maharashtra. He addressed assemblies and meetings in Poona, responded to publicists in newspapers of Bombay and Calcutta, and engaged with organizations such as the Swaraj Party and activists from Punjab and Bengal. His advocacy intersected with debates over identity, citizenship, and communal organization that later informed splinters and realignments involving groups like the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and intellectuals who shaped post-independence policy in New Delhi.

Personal life and later years

He spent his later years corresponding with contemporaries and engaging with legal petitions in courts at Bombay and appeals involving persons linked to the Indian independence movement. His family connections in Poona and Pune maintained links with cultural institutions and presses in Mumbai. His death in 1966 in Bombay prompted reactions from political leaders across parties, commentators in Calcutta and Madras, and historians at universities such as University of Bombay and Aligarh Muslim University who continued to debate his legacy. Category:Indian independence activists