History Under Your Feet

March 23, 1931- The date on which Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged. The podcast takes a look at the trial and the events leading up to the hanging.

Nana Fadnavis, the Maratha Chanakya, who as Prime Minister of the Maratha confederacy, bought it back to the days of glory after the humiliating rout at Panipat. A man who defeated the British twice with his intelligence and diplomacy.

Lal Qile se aaee awaaz,Sehgal Dhillon ShahnawazTeenon ki ho Umar Daraaz.Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, one of the 3 INA officers in the Red Fort trial.

While we know about Rana Pratap, how many know about his son Rana Amar Singh, an equally great warrior like his father who fought 17 battles with the Mughals, winning many of them.

Malhar Rao Holkar, founder of the Holkar dynasty, developed Indore into a major city. One of the powerful Maratha leaders who asserted themselves post Panipat, when the Marathas became a confederacy of various other kingdoms.

If only I have eleven more followers like Sriramulu I will win freedom  in a year.Freedom fighter whose fast unto death led to the creation of a separate Andhra State.

Mrutyuche aavhaan peluni, toch varasa aamhaala dila l
Shivrayaancha Shambhu chaava, Hindu mhanuni amar jahala ll
(Coming from the same legacy that confronted death,
Shivaji’s son Shambhu, became immortal as a Hindu)Quite often, growing up in the shadow of a banyan tree can be quite inhibiting, however much you grow, and you shall always look small against the banyan. In a sense that was what happened to Sambhaji, the son of Sivaji. Growing up in the shadow of a powerful  father, who was a giant of a personality, meant Sambhaji, for all his achievements would never really match up to Sivaji. 

What does one make of a man who flew a daring sortie into Dutch occupied Indonesia and sneaked away their Prime Minister?  Or made equally daring sorties into Kashmir during the first India Pakistan war in 1947?  Or a man who set up industries all over Odisha?  Biju Patnaik was not just a political leader, he was also an aeronautical engineer, a fighter pilot, an industrialist and fought for freedom too. He was a true nationalist, and yet the interests of his beloved Odisha, always were close to his heart. A man of unimpeachable integrity,  and a visionary, that was Biju Patnaik.

Lala Hardayal, the man who co founded the Ghadar Party in US, along with Sohan Singh Bhakna. A legend among revolutionaries, one of the key members of India House in London along with Shyamji Krishna Varma, Veer Savarkar and Madame Bhikaji Cama.

A brilliant polymath who turned down a lucrative career in the Civil Services, as he plunged into the revolutionary movement. A leader who inspired many expat Indians in UK, US and Canada to rise against British imperialism. A man known for his rather simple living and brilliant intellectual capability.

Born on the same date as Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, led a long tribal revolt against the British rule in Sambalpur, harassing them to no end, a hero not known much outside of Odisha.