The Great Leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
                     The Great Leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak
LOKMANYA TILAK
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, 
was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an 
independence activist. He was one third of the Lal Bal 
Pal triumvirate. Tilak was the fi rst leader of the Indian 
Independence Movement. The British colonial 
authorities called him "The father of the Indian 
unrest." He was also conferred with the title of 
"Lokmanya"
Source: Google Images
SWARAJ
Tilak was one of the fi rst and strongest advocates of 
Swaraj (self-rule) and a strong radical in Indian 
consciousness. He is known for his quote, "Swaraj is my 
birthright and I shall have it!". He formed a close 
alliance with many Indian National Congress leaders 
including Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo 
Ghose, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Muhammad Ali 
Jinnah.
Source: Google Images
EARLY LIFE
His ancestral village was Chikhali. His father, 
Gangadhar Tilak was a school teacher and a Sanskrit 
scholar who died when Tilak was sixteen. In 1871 Tilak 
was married to Tapibai when he was sixteen. He 
obtained his Bachelor of Arts in fi rst class in 
Mathematics from Deccan College of Pune in 1877. He 
left his M.A. course of study midway to join the LL.B 
course instead, and in 1879 he obtained LL.B degree 
from Government Law College. 
Source: Google Images
POLITICAL CAREER
Tilak had a long political career agitating for Indian 
autonomy from the British rule. Before Gandhi, he was 
the most widely known Indian political leader. Unlike 
his fellow Maharashtrian contemporary, Gokhale, Tilak 
was considered a radical Nationalist but a Social 
conservative. His political life he was called "the 
father of Indian unrest"
Source: Google Images
RADICAL VIEWS
Tilak opposed the moderate views of Gopal Krishna 
Gokhale, and was supported by fellow Indian 
nationalists Bipin Chandra Pal in Bengal and Lala Lajpat 
Rai in Punjab. They were referred to as the Lal-Bal-Pal 
triumvirate. Trouble broke out over the selection of the 
new president of the Congress. The party split into the 
radicals faction, led by Tilak, Pal and Lajpat Rai, and the 
moderate faction.
Source: Google Images
IMPRISONMENT IN MANDALAY
Two Bengali youths threw a bomb on a carriage at 
Muzzafarpur, to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate 
Douglas Kingsford of Calcutta, but erroneously killed two 
women traveling in it. Tilak, in his paper Kesari, 
defended the revolutionaries and called for immediate 
Swaraj or self-rule. The Government swiftly charged him 
with sedition and gave him a six years jail sentence to 
be served in Mandalay, Burma.
Source: Google Images
CONSERVATIVE VIEWS
Tilak did not have a progressive view when it came to 
gender relations. He did not believe that Hindu women 
should get modern education. Rather, he had a more 
conservative view, believing that women were meant to 
be homemakers who had to subordinate themselves to 
the needs of their husbands and children. He also 
refused to sign a petition for the abolition of 
untouchability in 1918.
Source: Google Images
HIS PROMINENCE
 In tributes, Gandhi called him “the Maker of Modern 
India,” and Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s fi rst 
prime minister, described him as “the Father of the 
Indian Revolution.” In 1916 he concluded the Lucknow 
Pact with Mohammed Ali Jinnah, which provided for 
Hindu-Muslim unity in the nationalist struggle.
Source: Google Images
LEGACY
Tilak’s activities aroused the Indian populace, which 
soon also brought him into confl ict with the British 
government, which prosecuted him for sedition and 
sent him to jail in 1897. The trial and sentence earned 
him the title Lokmanya (“Beloved Leader of the 
People”). He was released after 18 months. Tilak was 
one of the fi rst to maintain that Indians should cease to 
cooperate with foreign rule.
Source: Google Images