On this Day in History

India’s seventh prime minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who championed the cause of backward castes, was born in a landlord’s family on June 25, 1931, in Allahabad (now in Uttar Pradesh). He died on November 27, 2008, after suffering from multiple ailments for several years. In 1936, he was adopted by Raja Bahadur Ram Gopal Singh of Manda; after Ram Gopal’s... Read More →

The Constitution of India, which made India a sovereign, democratic republic, was adopted on November 26, 1949, and it came into effect on January 26, 1950, which is celebrated as Republic Day. From that day, India was no longer a dominion of the British crown.   Laws meant to govern India were first framed in Britain in the 19th century.... Read More →

One of the most renowned leaders from Maharashtra, Yashwantrao Balwantrao Chavan was born on March 12, 1913, in Devrashtre village (now in the Maharashtra’s Sangli District). Chavan, who was the first Chief Minister of Maharashtra and later held several important portfolios in the union cabinet, died on November 25, 1984, in Delhi after suffering a heart attack.   His father... Read More →

Man Booker Prize-winning author and political activist Arundhati Roy was born on November 24, 1961, in Shillong, Meghalaya. Her father, Ranjit Roy, was a tea planter, and mother, Mary, a women’s rights activist from Kerala. Roy spent her childhood in Kerala’s Aymanam village, a place which she would revisit in her acclaimed debut novel, The God of Small Things. Speaking... Read More →

A Bengali physicist who did pioneering research in wireless wave technology, Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on November 30, 1858. When he died on November 23, 1937, he left behind a rich and diverse legacy, not only as a founding father of experimental science in India, but also as a botanist, biologist and thinker. Add to this the fact that... Read More →

Mulayam Singh Yadav, a leading player in Indian politics and former defence minister of India, was born on November 22, 1939, in Saifai village of Uttar Pradesh’s Etawah district. The Samajwadi Party founder, known for his shrewd political skills, has served as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh several times. Trained as a teacher and wrestler, he plunged into politics as... Read More →

On November 21, 1962, after a month of fighting along its border with India, China declared a unilateral ceasefire, bringing to an end the Sino-Indian War. With tension building on the border areas through 1962, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on October 12 said that he had instructed the Indian army to drive out “Chinese invaders” from Arunachal Pradesh (earlier... Read More →

The ‘Tiger of Mysore’ Tipu Sultan, who bravely fought the British and was known for introducing innovative administrative schemes and military technology, was born on November 20, 1750, in Devanahalli (around 33 km north of present-day Bengaluru). Tipu’s father, Hyder Ali, who served as a military officer at the Mysore kingdom, became the most powerful person in Mysore by 1761.... Read More →

The queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmibai, who died fighting the British during the 1857 revolt and became a supreme symbol of Indian nationalism, was born on November 19, 1828, in Varanasi (in present day Uttar Pradesh) in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family. She was named Manikarnika (or Manu, informally). Her mother, Bhagirathi Sapre, died when she was four years old. Her... Read More →

The director of such cinematic classics as ‘Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’ and ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’, Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, better known as V. Shantaram, was born on November 18, 1901, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. As a teenager he did odd jobs like railroad repairs and maintenance work. When he turned 16, to supplement his meagre wages, he took up a... Read More →