Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Indian self-rule activist (1856–1920)
About Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Associated Events
Formation of Indian National Congress
Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, founded the Indian National Congress in Bombay in 1885 with 72 delegates, initially as a moderate platform for educated Indians to petition the British government. It evolved into the primary vehicle for India's independence movement.
Bengal Partition of 1905
Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal along religious lines — creating a Muslim-majority East Bengal and Hindu-majority West Bengal — claiming administrative necessity. The massive backlash and Swadeshi movement forced its reversal in 1911, but the idea of religious partition had been seeded.
Swadeshi Movement
The Swadeshi movement called for Indians to boycott British manufactured goods and revive Indian industries, particularly textiles. It was the first mass economic resistance campaign against British rule and provided a model for Gandhi's later movements.