img

Submit An Obituary

Honor a Life. Preserve a Legacy.

SACRED LEGACY ARCHIVES™

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

1856-07-23 – 1920-09-01

Portrait of Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Identifier: youngindiainterp01lajp (find matches) Title: Young India; an interpretation and a history of the nationalist movement from within Year: 1916 (1910s) Authors: Lajpat Rai, Lala, 1865-1928 Subjects: Publisher: New York, B.W. Huebsch Contributing Library: The Library of Congress Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: at had caused the people and the country tohave faith not only in the omnipotence of their rul-ers, but also in their altruism. In the words of oneof the leaders of the Nationalist thought (Babu B. C.Pal,^^ The Spirit of Indian Nationalism, page42), the people had been hypnotised to believe in thealtruism of their foreign rulers: * Untrained in the crooked ways of civilised di-plomacy, they had believed what their rulers hadsaid, either of themselves or of their subjects, asgospel truth. They had been told that the people ofIndia were unfitted to manage their ov/n affairs, andthey believed it to be true. They had been told thatthe people were weak and the Government wasstrong. They had been told that India stood on alower plane of humanity and Englands mission wasto civilise the semi-barbarous native. The Na-tionalist school took it upon themselves to expose thehollowness of all these pretensions. They com-menced to make what are called counter-passes in 18 An eminent Bengalee writer. Text Appearing After Image: Bal Ganga Dhar Tilak INDIA FROM 1857 TO 1905 163 hypnotism, and at once awoke the people to a senseof their own strength, an appreciation of their ownculture. In the second place, the object was to create apassionate love of liberty, accompanied by a spiritof sacrifice and readiness to suffer for the cause ofthe country. This was to be done more by examplethan precept. What the programme was may bet-ter be stated in the words of the leader whom wehave quoted above: Boycott both economic and political, boycott offoreign and especially British goods, and of allhonorary associations with the administration, na-tional education implying a withdrawal of theyouths of the nation from the officialised universi-ties and government-controlled schools and colleges,and training them up in institutions conducted onnational lines subject to national control and calcu-lated to help the realisation of the national destiny,national civic volunteering, aiming at imparting ahealthy civic training to the Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.Credit: Internet Archive Book Images

Life & Legacy

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: [keʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək]); 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), was an Indian nationalist and self-rule activist in the Indian independence movement. He was one third of the Lal Bal Pal triumvirate. The honorific "Lokmanya" (meaning "accepted by the people as their leader") was applied to him by his supporters.
Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj ('self-rule') and is known for his quote in Marathi: "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it!". He formed a close alliance with the leaders of the "New Party" (Nationalists), joining forces with Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Aurobindo Ghose to advocate for self-rule. He also worked with V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Muhammad Ali Jinnah who later oversaw Pakistan's independence from British rule.

Occupation & Career

politician, philosopher, writer, revolutionary, freedom fighter, author, journalist, editor, educator

Education

Government Law College, Mumbai, India; Elphinstone College; Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute

Faith & Community

Hinduism

Legacy Highlights

Church

Hinduism

Education & Institutions

Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute · Elphinstone College · Government Law College, Mumbai, India

Verified Legacy Record

Sources & Provenance

  1. Wikidata population candidate Q312555 — wikidata View source

Are you related to Bal Gangadhar Tilak?

Family members can contribute records, photographs and stories or request stewardship of this legacy.

Claim this legacy or contribute family history

Sacred Legacy Memorial Concierge © 2026 All Rights Reserved

View Family Tree