Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
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Name	Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Birth date	28 May 1883
Birth place	Bhagur, Nashik district, Bombay Presidency
Death date	26 February 1966
Death place	Mumbai
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Veer Savarkar
Occupation	Revolutionary, politician, writer
Movement	Hindutva, Indian independence movement

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian independence activist, writer, and ideologue who played a controversial role in anti-colonial resistance and in developing the political concept of Hindutva. A trained lawyer and prolific polemicist, he combined organizational activity in London and Bombay with militant plans and extensive writings that influenced figures across Indian National Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party, and other Hindu Mahasabha constituencies. His life spanned insurgent plots, trial and imprisonment, ideological debates with contemporaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Subhas Chandra Bose, and continuing historiographical disputes.

Early life and education

Born in Bhagur near Nashik in the Bombay Presidency, he was the son of Damodar Savarkar and Raghuvaribai Savarkar, and grew up in a Marathi-speaking family with connections to Maharashtra social networks. He attended local schools and later matriculated at Wilson College, Mumbai, and pursued further law studies at Gray's Inn in London, where he encountered émigré associations including India House, India Society, and personalities linked to the diaspora such as Shyamji Krishna Varma, Vincent Furse (associate networks), and activists from Bengal and Punjab. In London he met figures like Madam Cama and corresponded with members of the Ghadar Party and revolutionary circles that traced ties to the Young India movement.

Revolutionary activities and armed resistance

In London and later in Mumbai, he engaged with revolutionary cells that debated direct action inspired by incidents such as the Alipore Bomb Case and the activities of Khudai Khidmatgar sympathizers; his contacts encompassed radicals from Bengal like Aurobindo Ghosh, Bagha Jatin networks, and militants from Bombay and Poona. He organized associations, advocated for armed revolt, and was implicated in plots that resonated with attempts like the Maniktala conspiracy and the international outreach of Hindu–German Conspiracy. His arrest involved colonial security agencies including the Scotland Yard and the intelligence apparatus of the British Indian Army; prosecutions referenced statutes under the Indian Penal Code and wartime measures such as the Defence of India Act.

Imprisonment, exile and imprisonment at Ratnagiri

Tried under the Defense of India Act 1915 and convicted in cases connected to the Bombay Conspiracy Cases, he was deported from England to India and sentenced to transportation for life to the penal settlement at Cellular Jail in Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Later transferred to mainland custody, he was imprisoned at facilities including Yerawada Jail in Pune and finally at Ratnagiri where he served an extended period under close surveillance by colonial officials such as Lord Reading's administration and prison superintendents overseeing political detainees. During incarceration he corresponded with leaders across the independence spectrum including Bal Gangadhar Tilak supporters and younger activists, and his case figured in debates in the British Parliament and among reformers like Gopal Krishna Gokhale's successors.

Political ideology and Hindutva

After release, he elaborated an ideological framework he labeled Hindutva in works such as "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?" and other polemics addressing communal identity, citing cultural references from Sanskrit sources, historical narratives involving Maurya Empire, Gupta Empire, Mughal Empire, and interpretations of medieval encounters with Delhi Sultanate and British Raj rule. He founded and led organizations including the Hindu Mahasabha and influenced thinkers in Indian National Congress schisms, debating secularists like Jawaharlal Nehru and social reformers like B.R. Ambedkar. His positions provoked responses from Mahatma Gandhi and nationalists such as C.R. Das and were discussed in newspapers including The Times of India and vernacular presses in Bombay and Poona.

Role in Indian independence movement and later political career

Throughout the independence struggle he remained a polarizing figure: praised by supporters in Maharashtra and followers in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-aligned circles, criticized by others in Congress Socialist Party and Communist Party of India. He contested electoral politics and engaged in organizational work with the Hindu Mahasabha, sometimes cooperating tactically with leaders like V.D. Savarkar allies (note: surname overlaps with regional activists) and opposing strategies advocated by Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas Chandra Bose. After independence in 1947 he continued political activity in Bombay State and Maharashtra debates, influencing postcolonial parties including Bharatiya Jana Sangh antecedents and later Bharatiya Janata Party ideologues.

Personal life, writings and legacy

He married Yashodabai and maintained familial ties in Nashik and Poona, while his prolific output included titles such as "The First War of Indian Independence", "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?", and numerous essays and poems in Marathi and English. His polemical corpus addressed history, law, and identity and engaged responses from historians like R.C. Majumdar, critics such as Aijaz Ahmad and scholars in Postcolonial studies. Debates about his alleged collaboration during certain legal episodes involved inquiries by figures including P.V. Narasimha Rao-era commentators and legal scholars referencing trials and pardon processes. Commemorations and controversies persist in institutions like Veer Savarkar Memorial discussions, academic conferences at University of Mumbai and critiques in journals associated with Indian History Congress. His legacy affects contemporary discourse in Indian politics, historiography among scholars in South Asian Studies, and public memory in Maharashtra and across the Indian subcontinent.

Category:People from Nashik district Category:Indian revolutionaries Category:1883 births Category:1966 deaths