As the intellectual fountainhead and founder of what is termed as “Hindu nationalism,” Vinayak Damodar Savarkar has emerged as one of the most controversial Indian political thinkers of the 20th Century. This lecture explores the lesser known role and contribution of Savarkar as a revolutionary figure and interprets the impact of his philosophy and writings on India’s revolutionary movement.
Right from his early days in Nasik, where he founded the Mitra Mela and Abhinav Bharat that galvanized revolutionary movements across Maharashtra and created contacts with counterparts in Bengal, the lecture discusses his leadership in leading the revolutionary movement in London as a law student. The coalition of Indian revolutionaries in Europe strove hard to achieve total and complete freedom for India. His works on Mazzini and the First War of Independence of 1857 created a vast intellectual corpus for revolutionary thinking in India. His associates carried on the activity even after his arrest, trial and extradition to the Cellular Jail, especially during the First World War, to get him and other political prisoners released.
This talk encompasses all these aspects of Savarkar’s stormy early life.
About The Speaker: –
Bangalore based historian, Dr. Vikram Sampath is the author of three acclaimed books: Splendours of Royal Mysore: the Untold Story of the Wodeyars; “My Name Is Gauhar Jaan: The Life and Times of a Musician”- and “Voice of the Veena: S Balachander – A Biography”. Vikram was awarded the Sahitya Akademi’s first Yuva Puraskar and the ARSC International Award for Excellence in Historical research in New York for his book on Gauhar Jaan. Read More…
