Today is Jayanti of Dr. Kadambini Ganguly, one of the first woman to receive a medical degree in India, along with Anandibai Joshi, the first ever lady graduate from Kolkata University and the first lady doctor from Kolkata Medical College.

While Anandibai Joshi got her degree from an American university, Kadambini received hers from an Indian college. Also Anandibai could not practice much after graduation, as she passed away due to ill health. She was born on 18th July 1861, in Bhagalpur, to Braja Kishore Basu, a school teacher and a Brahmo by belief. Her family was originally from Barisal now in Bangladesh, and had migrated to Bhagalpur.

Her father along with Abhay Charan Mallick, started the movement for women’s rights in Bhagalpur, establishing the first ever woman’s organization in India in 1863.

July 13, 1660

Battle of Paavan Khind.

300 Marathas vs 10,000 Adil Shahis, in a narrow pass called Ghor Khind, one man Baji Prabhu Deshpande, standing in the way, fighting till the end to protect Shivaji Maharaj. One of the greatest last man stands in history. The Adil Shahis having had to taste many defeats at the hands of Shivaji Maharaj in Pratapgarh and Panhala, decided to go all out for one last offensive. Bijapur ruler Ali Adil Shah II even allied with the Mughals for this purpose.

While we know about the 1857 Revolt, not many know of another revolt that preceeded it way back in 1806.

The Vellore Mutiny, by sepoys of the Madras Regiment, that took place on this date, was one of the very early revolts against British rule.





Vellore, a small city located in the northern part of Tamil Nadu, close to Andhra Pradesh border, so gets it’s name from the Velan trees surrounding it. Now known for it’s leather industry and the CMC Hospital, one of India’s leading healthcare providers.

And the famous Vellore Fort where the mutiny broke out. Built during the Vijayanagara Era in 1566 AD, it gained strategic importance, after Chandragiri became the capital, following the demise of Hampi, post Tallikota.

Who is Zorawar Singh after whom the Indian army's indigenous Light Tank, designed by DRDO, named?

One of the greatest military generals of India,who served under the Dogra ruler Gulab Singh of Jammu, as Governor of Kishtwar, extending the territories of the kingdom beyond Ladakh and Baltistan.
He also attempted to conquer Western Tibet but was killed in the Battle of To-Yo on December 12, 1842. The conqueror of Ladakh, who strode across the Himalayas like a colossus, from Baltistan to Tibet, from Ladakh to Skardu.

If you had travelled on the Chennai-Howrah route by train, you would have gone over one of these bridges on the Godavari river near Rajahmundry at sometime or other.

But how many of you know the history behind these iconic bridges?

Basically the Godavari river, after traversing through Maharashtra, Telangana, reaches it's widest point at Rajahmundry spanning 2.7km, as it breaks up into multiple tributaries after this, forming the fertile delta region of Konaseema.

Somarama one of the Pancharama Kshetras in Andhra Pradesh, called so after the five temples dedicated to Shiva, in coastal Andhra. All Shiva linga at the five temples were apparently, derived from a single linga. Supposedly, this massive Shiva linga was owned by an Asura ruler Tarakasura, which made him practically invincible. It was finally Kumara Swamy who attacked Tarakasura and used his power to kill him.


However, Kumara Swamy discovered that the torn pieces of Tarakasura’s body would rejoin, repeatedly, making his efforts go futile. It was then on the advice of Lord Vishnu, to break the Shiva linga which Taraka was wearing into five pieces, that Kumara Swamy could destroy the Asura king.

He also cautioned Kumara Swamy, that the pieces of the linga would reunite, and hence should be fixed to the ground.

Hiriye Kempe Gowda the founder of Bengaluru, was a chieftain under the Vijayanagara Empire, born on June 27, 1510 at Yelahanka, belonging to the Morasu Gowda clan, also called as the Yelahanka Prabhus. He was the fourth in succession after the dynasty’s founder Rana Bhairave Gowda, and son of Kempananje Gowda. His ancestors belonged to Kanchi and had moved to Karnataka in early 15th century to serve under the Vijayanagara Empire then. Though predominantly Kannada speaking, they knew Telugu also. He got his education in a Gurukula at Aigondapura near Hessaraghata, and soon took over as chieftain in 1531.

June 22, 1897

The Chapekar brothers assasination of W.C.Rand in Pune, proves to be a turning point in the history of Indian freedom struggle, as it sparked off the flames of revolution in Maharashtra and beyond. The Chapekar brothers hailed from Chapa, one of the small hamlets adjoining to Chinchwad, which in a way explains their surname too. The eldest Damodar, was born in 1868, to Dwarka and Hari in a large joint family of twenty that included his parents, aunts, uncles and above all his grandfather, Vinayak, the patriarch. The other two brothers were Balakrishna and Vasudeo.

Today is Jayanti of Lakshman Rao Kirloskar, the founder of the iconic industrial group named after him, one of the great industrialists, who started his career as a teacher, drawing 45 Rs per month, and would go onto found a 10,000 cr conglomerate, and also set up an entire township, in Sangli district. Lakshman Rao Kashinath Kirloskar was born on June 20, 1869 in Gurlahosur, a small village in Belgaum district, to Kashinath, a Ved Pandit. However he was least interested in learning the scriptures, and his passion was mainly drawing, and mechanical engineering.

Breaking away from the family tradition, he enrolled at Mumbai’s JJ School of Art in 1885, much against his father’s wishes, but was supported by his brother Ramuanna.

Haldighati

A narrow mountain pass in the Arravallis located around 40 Km from Udaipur, connecting the districts of Rajsamand and Pali, it is believed to have got it’s name from the turmeric colored soil here.

It would be witness to one of the most epic battle ever in Indian history on this date in 1576.


Akbar had captured Chittorgarh in 1568 after a long siege, that saw the massacre of it’s inhabitants, as well as the heroism of Jaimal and Patta who resisted till the end. . It’s ruler Udai Singh had fled from the fort, and founded a new capital at Udaipur.

However while the fertile eastern plains of Mewar were under Mughal control, the more wooded, hilly regions were still out of bounds, which he needed to get a secure, stable route to Gujarat via Mewar.

Sri Krishna Deva Raya, under whose reign Vijayanagara attained greatest heights. His reign was marked by military conquests, patronage of arts and culture and flourishing of literature, and regarded as the Empire's Golden Age. One of the greatest Hindu rulers ever. His father Tuluva Narasa Nayaka, a former Bunt chieftain, who became the commander, and later rose to power, founding the Tuluva dynasty, was a formidable warrior, and ruler himself.

Much before Sri Krishna Deva Raya ascended the throne, however his elder brother Vira Narasimha Raya ruled for a brief period of 4 yrs between 1505 and 1509. Not really is known much about him except that he spent a good amount of his reign in fighting off rebellious chieftains

Banda Singh Bahadur is brutally tortured and executed on June 9, 1716 by the Mughals for his revolt and refusal to convert to Islam. A true warrior who was a terror to the Mughals.

The great warrior was born as Lachmann Dev on October 1670 in Jammu’s Rajouri region to a Rajput family. It is believed he took to Sanyas, after seeing a pregant doe, he shot, writhing in pain and dying. He met a Sadhu named Janaki Das and became his disciple, adopting the name of Madho Das. After travelling all over the North, he finally settled on the banks of the Godavari near Nanded.

Guru Gobind Singh was dissatisfied with the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah for not punishing the Governor of Sirhind, Nawab Wazir Khan for the murder of his two sons Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh.

“Sarfarosh ki Tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai, dekhna ki zor kitna baazu-e-qatil mein hai”

Jayanti of Ram Prasad Bismil , one of the great revolutionaries in the Indian freedom struggle, the mastermind behind Kakori.

Though Sarfarosh ki Tamanna was written by Bismil Azimbadi , it was he who made that popular, and it became a rallying cry for the revolutionaries. Ram Prasad Bismil was born in Shajahanpur on June 11, 1887, his ancestors hailed from Gwalior, and his native village was close to the Chambal valley. His father was a clerk in the Municipality, and later started a small business lending out money on interest.

One of the greatest Hindu rulers ever, in Indian history, Kapilendra Deva, founder of the Surya Vamsa Gajapati dynasty, who took the empire to it's greatest extent, repelled Muslim invasions of Odisha, patronized arts and culture. Kapilendra Deva came into power following the decline of the Eastern Gangas, and ascended the throne on June 29, 1435 overthrowing the last ruler of the Eastern Gangas Bhanu Deva IV. Also referred to as Kapilendra Routray, he claimed descent from the Surya Vamsha.

Penchalakona is one of the prominent Narasimha Kshetras in Andhra Pradesh, located in Nellore district, nestled within lush green hills, a thick forest and waterfalls all around.

The temple is located at the confluence of the Nallamalla and Seshachalam forest ranges, around 3000 feet above sea level.


As per the Sthala Purana, after killing Hiranyakasipu, Narasimha Swamy, roamed around in his fierce form, frightening everyone around. It was then Lakshmi took birth as Chenchu Lakshmi, the daughter of the chieftain of the Chenchu tribes who inhabited the forests.

Nalwadi Krishna Raja Wadiyar, one of the greatest rulers of the Wadiyar dynasty in the modern era, whom Paul Brunton described as the ideal philosopher-king, and under whom Mysore achieved great progress. If today Mysore region is one of India’s more developed areas, an educational and industrial hub, the credit goes to Nalwadi who had the foresight to invest in education, public works and industry. One of the more prominent Hindu Royal familes of the late medieval era, was that of the Wodeyars or Wadiyars, who ruled over Mysore from the late 1300s till 1950. They were primarily descended from the Urs clan, also called Aras, a surname that means royalty. They were originally Palegars, defending the region around Mysore, during the Vijayanagara Empire.

Jayanti of one of my favorite political leaders, George Fernandes, true maverick, rebel, who had a remarkable life, and spent his last years in isolation, cut off from the world.

A Catholic from Mangalore, who represented Muzaffarpur in Bihar 4 times, an anti nuke activist who presided over Pokhran 2, a pacifist who went on to become one of the best Defense Ministers ever. I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned.

He was born in Mangalore, to an insurance executive, and sent for training as a Roman Catholic priest when he was just 16. Frustrated with what he saw as double standards and hypocrisy in the Church, he left the seminary.

Jayanti of Andhra Ratna Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya, who led the Chirala Satyagraha, the first ever Telugu person to become the secretary of All India Congress Committee.

A post grad in Economics from Edinburgh University, a polyglot fluent in English, Telugu, Hindi, Sanskrit, a brilliant writer known for his extempore verse composition,who set up the  Andhra Vidya Peetha Gosthi, a literary society. The great soul was born on June 2, 1889 in Penuganchiprolu, a small village in Krishna district,known for it’s temples. His ancestors were very well off landlords in Guntur region, while his father Kodandaramaswamy, worked as a school teacher.

His mother Sitamma though died immediately after giving birth to him. With his father too passing away, Gopalakrishna was bought up by his uncle and grandmother.

One of the important phases of Veer Savarkar's life was at Fergusson College, Pune, which laid the foundation for his ideology and thought.

Fergusson College was founded in Pune, 1885, by nationalist leaders Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar along with social reformer Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. It began originally as the New English School, and  later Tilak, Chiplunkar founded the Deccan Education Society in 1884.
Shirole, the Patil of Bhamburde village on West bank of Mutha River , now called as Shivaji Nagar, donated 37 acres of land, on a 99 year lease, for just one rupee.  Inaugurated by William Wordsworth, the grandson of the more illustrious poet of the same name, and the principal of Elphinstone College, it would become a crucible of the nationalist awakening in Maharashtra.

The first Indian immigrants to Trinidad and Tobago arrive on this date in 1845, on the Fatel Razack, creating the Indian diaspora there. Most of them laborers bought to work on the large sugarcane plantations there owned by British.

This date is celebrated as Indian Arrival Day in the country.
Ironically it was the abolition of slavery that bought Indians to Trinidad and Tobago as indentured labor. Basically the sugarcane plantations were faced with a shortage of labor, to make up for it, the British came up with a system of indentured labor.

While there were Chinese too, the majority of the indentured labor bought to Trinidad and Tobago, were primarily Indians, and this period from 1845 to 1917, saw around 147,000 Indians being bought to work on the sugarcane plantations.

One of the more famous Narasimha Kshetras in Andhra Pradesh is hat of Vedagiri Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy, located on a hill called Narasimhakonda, around 15 km from Nellore city, at a village called Devarapalem on the banks of the Penna River.

Nellore dt, incidentally has two famous Narasimha Kshetras, this one and another at Penchalakona.
As per the Sthala Purana, there used to exist flying mountains that travelled from place to place. One of them was Malayagiri, and one of it’s 4 wings fell here, the other 3 fell at Yadagiri, Mangalagiri and Nandagiri.

When the mountain prayed to Vishnu for redemption, he granted the boon, that the places where the wings had fallen would be considered holy, and all these places are prominent Narasimha Kshetras.