introduction
We know about Gandhi, Nehru, Bhagat Singh in the study of Indian freedom movement.
When it comes to women, we only talk about Rani Lakshmibai’s contribution in the revolution of 1857. However, other women freedom fighters contributed greatly to the Indian freedom movement.
Sarojini Naidu is an underrated name among women who contributed to India’s independence.
Sarojini Naidu was not only a freedom fighter but also a prominent female poet of India.
She has also been given the title of ‘Nightingale of India’.
Early life and education
Naidu was born on 13 February 1879 in Hyderabad to eminent linguist Aghornath Chattopadhyay and his wife Barda Sundari Devi, a Bengali poetess.
Her father was also one of the first members of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad.
Sarojini Naidu was a brilliant student who showed mastery in Urdu, Telugu, English, Bengali and Persian.
At the age of 12, she rose to fame by topping the Madras University matriculation examination. This earned her a scholarship from the Nizam of Hyderabad to study abroad.
While Naidu was interested in writing poetry, her father wanted her to become a mathematician.
Sarojini went to study in England and there she met famous literary figures like Edmund Goose and Arthur Simons.
Goose suggested that Naidu should use Indian themes in his poetry.
Naidu expressed the life and events of modern India through his poetry.
Her works – ‘The Golden Threshold’ (1905), ‘The Bird of Time’ (1912), and ‘The Broken Wing’ (1917) found a readership in both India and England.
Sarojini Naidu under the Brahmo Marriage Act (1872) South Indian doctor Dr. Muthyala had an inter-caste marriage with Govindrajulu Naidu.
Contribution to Indian Freedom Struggle
Naidu became part of the freedom movement by showing his oratorical skills. He advocated for women’s rights and their empowerment.
As the partition of Bengal began in 1905, she came into contact with key leaders of the Indian National Congress.
Between 1915-1918, she excelled in presenting her oratorical skills about the social welfare of women.
He encouraged women to come out of their homes and fight for the freedom of the country.
In 1917, Naidu accompanied Home Rule president Ani Beazant to advocate for women’s suffrage before the Joint Select Committee in London.
She supported the Lucknow Pact, a joint Hindu-Muslim demand for British political reform.
In the same year, Naidu joined Gandhi’s Satyagraha and non-violent movement.
In 1919, Naidu also joined the Non-Cooperation Movement as part of his advocacy against British rule.
Naidu also became the first Indian woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1925.
She was also responsible for persuading Gandhi to allow women to join the Salt March in 1930.
In 1931, Sarojini Naidu joined the Round Table Conference in London under the Gandhi-Irvine Pact. However, she was imprisoned in 1932.
Naidu was imprisoned in 1941 for his participation in the Quit India Movement.
After India’s independence in 1947, Naidu became the first Governor of Uttar Pradesh. She held the position until her death in 1949.
Sarojini Naidu was memorialized at the Golden Threshold of the University of Hyderabad.
In 1990, asteroid 5647 Sarojini Naidu was discovered by Eleanor Helin at the Palomar Observatory and named in her memory.
Sarojini Naidu is a prominent female literary laureate and freedom fighter who encouraged women to participate in Indian politics.
More about Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was a child prodigy, freedom fighter and poet, known as the Nightingale of India.
She was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman Governor of Uttar Pradesh, India’s fourth largest state.
By the way, although her name is not as well known as that of India’s female Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, she paved the way for women in Indian politics.
After the arrest of Gandhi, Abbas Taibji and Kasturba Gandhi, she played an important role in the Indian independence movement, joining Mahatma Gandhi in the Salt March to Dandi and later leading the Dharsan Satyagraha.
She was also a wife and mother. Women’s Day is celebrated on her birthday in India.
Sarojini Naidu Info
Sarojini Naidu’s birthday – February 13, 1879
Sarojini Naidu Birthplace – Hyderabad, India
Sarojini Naidu Name of Husband – Govindrajulu Naidu
Sarojini Naidu Date of Death – 2 March
Sarojini Naidu Cause of Death – Cardiac Arrest
Early Life of Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad, India. She was the eldest daughter of Aghornath Chattopadhyay, a scientist, philosopher and educationist, and Varada Sundari Devi, a Bengali poetess.
Her father was the founder of Nizam’s College, Hyderabad and, along with his friend Mulla Abdul Qayyum, was also the first member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad.
The family heritage of the Chattopadhyays was originally from the Brahmin caste in Bengal.
In retaliation for his political actions, he was later fired as principal and even deported.
Sarojini Naidu studied Urdu, Telugu, English, Persian and Bengali languages. P.B. Shelley was her favorite author.
At the age of twelve, she gained national fame by getting admission in the University of Madras.
She moved to England at sixteen, to study first at King’s College London and then at Girton College, Cambridge. While in England she was associated with the suffragette movement.
Even in England, the poets Arthur Simon and Edmund Gauss urged her to explore Indian themes in her prose, such as India’s landscape, its temples, and its people.
In 1905, her first book of poetry, The Golden Threshold, was published.
Her poems feature everyday scenes from Indian life, often taken from streets and markets, so her poems are populated by snake charmers and beggars and bangle sellers.
In 1905, he joined the Indian National Congress to protest the partition of Bengal. She was a champion of women’s rights, education for all and Hindu-Muslim unity.
About Sarojini Naidu Family
When she was in England at the age of 17 Dr. Muthya met Govindrajulu Naidu and fell in love with him.
He was from Andhra Pradesh. Her marriage was very happy. They were married in 1898 in Madras.
Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randhir and Leelamani had four children. Although Govindarajulu was a non-Brahmin, the marriage was blessed by her relatives (a rarity at this time).
Virendranath Chattopadhyay, a famous Indian activist, was Naidu’s brother.
Virendranath was instrumental in setting up the Berlin Committee during World War I and was one of the key figures in the Hindu German Plan, a conspiracy to foment an anti-British, pro-German rebellion in India.
He later committed to communism and moved to Soviet Russia where he is believed to have been executed in 1937 on the orders of Joseph Stalin. Another brother Harindranath was an actor.
Sarojini Naidu Freedom Fighter
After the partition of Bengal in 1905, she joined the Indian independence movement.
Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Ani Besant, C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer, Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were in touch with Sarojini during 1903-17.
Between 1915 and 1918, he lectured on youth welfare, labor dignity, women’s emancipation and nationalism in India.
To advocate for women’s suffrage, she helped form the Women’s Indian Association (WIA) (1917).
On 15 December that year, she led a delegation of women and met the British Secretary of State, who was visiting India, to demand women’s rights and suffrage.
The delegation informed the Minister that women are becoming aware of their civic responsibilities.
At a special session of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay in August 1918, she commented on the rights of women.
In May 1918 she accompanied WIA President Annie Besant to present the case for women’s suffrage before the Joint Select Committee in London, which was debating Indian constitutional reform.
where he told MPs that society was “strong, united and ready to change”. Indian women.
After meeting Jawaharlal Nehru in 1916, she also championed the cause of the Chapel Head Indigo Workers.
The British government passed the Rowlatt Act in March 1919, outlawing the possession of seditious documents.
In protest, Mohandas Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement and Naidu was the first to join the movement that the government was trying to suppress.
In July 1919, Naidu became the Home Rule League’s ambassador to England, where the Government of India Act (1919) was passed, establishing the Legislative Assembly.
But with a limited number of 93 elected representatives (42 appointed and an upper house of 34 elected and 26 appointed members).
Therefore, women did not get the vote. She returned to India in July 1920 and Mahatma Gandhi announced the Non-Cooperation Movement on 1 August.
In January 1924, at the East African Indian Congress, she was one of the two representatives of the Indian National Congress.
She traveled to East and South Africa to meet the needs of the scattered Indian population.
Sarojini Naidu Congress president
In 1925, eight years after Annie Besant was elected, Sarojini Naidu was elected as the first Indian woman to serve as President of the Indian National Congress.
This place was strong. At this point, it is unlikely that any other woman, apart from the regnant queens, would have achieved such a significant political role.
To support India’s cause for independence, Naidu visited New York in October 1928.
He expressed concern about the unequal treatment of African-Americans and Amerindians while there.
After returning to India, she became a member of the Congress Working Committee. The National Congress declared its independence from the British Empire on 26 January 1930.
Mohandas Gandhi was arrested on May 5. Naidu was arrested soon after and remained in custody for several months.
She was released along with Gandhi on 31 January 1931. He was arrested again later that year.
Due to his ill health, Naidu was finally released and Gandhi was released in 1933.
In 1931 he participated in the Round Table Conference in London along with Gandhi and Pandit Malviyaji.
In 1942, she was arrested and spent 21 months in jail with Gandhi during the “Quit India” movement.
Sarojini Naidu works
In 1905, The Golden Threshold was published as the first volume of her book of poems. Two additional volumes were published: The Bird of Time (1912) and The Broken Wing (1917), which also included ‘A Visit to India’.
In 1919, she published an autobiography of Muhammad Jinnah, and in 1943, Allahabad: Kitabistan was published posthumously, along with The Septed Flute: Songs of India.
In 1961, she published ‘The Feather of the Dawn’ which was edited by her daughter Padmaja Naidu.
‘The Indian Weavers’ was published in 1971. Her poetry contained beautiful words that could be sung, which led her to be called the nightingale of India.
Sarojini Naidu Awards and Honours
The British government awarded Naidu the Kaiser-e-Hind medal for his work during the plague epidemic in India, which he later returned in protest at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919.
Naidu’s birthday, February 13, is celebrated as Women’s Day to remember the strong voice of women in India’s history.
Directed by Bhagwan Das Garga and produced by the Films Division of the Government of India, Sarojini Naidu (1960) is a documentary on her life.
Sarojini Naidu was awarded the title “Nightingale of India” for her work in the field of poetry.
conclusion
This is all about the biography of India’s Nightingale Sarojini Naidu. Her spectacular life and courage make her a role model for Indian women.
We study her contribution to India’s freedom struggle and worship her as one of the founders of true India.
