Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar: A prominent leader of the Scheduled Castes. Built up a party of the untouchables, became a member of the Constituent Assembly and piloted through it the Indian Constitution which declared India to be Republic. He also piloted the Hindu Code through the Indian Legislature.

Sir Surendranath Banerjee: Born in 1848 of a Brahman family of Calcutta, he graduated from Calcutta University, passed the ICS Examination in 1869, joined Indian Civil Service in 1871, but was soon dismissed from the service. He played a prominent part in founding the Indian Association in 1876 and in holding the first All-India National Conference in Calcutta in 1883. He presided over the eleventh session of the Indian National Congress held at Poona in 1895 and also over the eighteenth session held at Ahmedabad in 1902.

W.C. Banerjee (1844-1906): A renowned Barrister, he became the first president of the Indian National Congress held at Bombay in 1885. He anglicised his family name Banerjee to Bonnerjee. He was made Congress president a second time at its Allahabd session in 1892.

Mrs. Annie Besant (1847-1933): English theosophist, born in London in October 1847. She founded the Central Hindu College at Banaras, and was elected president of the Theosophical Society in 1907. In 1916 she founded the Indian Home Rule League and became its first president and in 1917 she was the president of the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta session. She published an Autobiography in 1893 and the Religious Problem in India in 1902. In her How India Wrought for Freedom she called India her “motherland”.

Subhas Chandra Bose: Popularly known as Netaji, was born on January 23, 1879, at Cuttack in Orissa to respectable middle-class Bengali parents. He passed the Indian Civil Service Examination in 1920. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1921. In 1938 he was the President of the INC at its Haripura session and in 1939 he was elected president of its Tripuri session. In 1943 he took charge of Indian National Army in Singapore. He died in a plane crash on August 18, 1945.

Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917): A prominent businessman of Bombay with trading connections with England. He was elected president of the Indian National Congress at its second session held in Calcutta in 1886. He was the first Indian to be elected a member of the House of Commons in England on a ticket of Liberal Party. Twice again, in 1893 and in 1906 he was elected president of the INC. He dedicated his entire life to the Nationalist movement.

Chittaranjan Das (1870-1925): An eminent lawyer practising in the High Court of Calcutta. He became the elected Mayor of Calcutta with Subhash Chandra Bose as the Chief Executive Officer of the Calcutta Corporation. He became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1922. He died on June 16, 1925.

Swami Dayanand Saraswati (1824-83): He was the founder of the Arya Samaj (1875). He wanted to rebuild Hindu religion and society in India. ‘Go back to the Vedas’ was his motto. He started the Shuddhi movement, that is to say, the movement for re-converting non-Hindus to Hinduism. He was a great force in the promotion of Indian nationalism in the nineteenth century. He is also known for his role in spreading modern education in India and his works for rational revivalism of religion and emancipation of women

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Better known as Mahatma Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 at Porbandar in Gujarat. Became a barrister-at-law (1891) in England. Went to South Africa in 1893. Stayed there till 1914 for the cause of the emancipation of the Indians from the insulting life to which they had been so long condemned in South-Africa. Launched in India: Non-cooperation movement (1919), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930), Quit India Movement (1942). Gandhi was the father of the Indian nation which he had led to the dawn of an age of independence. He was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948.

Aurobindo Ghosh (1872-1950): An ardent nationalist who later became a saint, was educated in England. His views were readily accepted by Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab and Bal Ganghadhar Tilak of Maharashtra and led to the formation within the Congress of an extremist school. He propagated his ideas through journals like the Bandemataram and Karmayogin. He passed away in 1950.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1886-1915): He was a prominent Indian nationalist, and presided over the 1905 session of the Indian National Congress. He became a member of the Bombay Legislative Council in 1902. In 1905 he founded at Poona the Servants of India Society. In the enlarged Viceregal legislature set up in 1910 Gokhale was the commanding figure. His last public duty was to serve as a Member of the Indian Public Services Commission (1912-15). He died in 1915.

Lala Har Dayal: In 1908 he left India and settled in the USA, where he organised the Gadar party. Expelled from the USA, went to Europe and set up his headquarters in Berlin. He advocated organised rebellion against the British rule in India.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya (1861-1946): A leading nationalist leader. Born in Allahabad, began his career in 1885 as a school teacher and in 1893 enrolled himself as a lawyer in the Allahabad High Court. He also tried his hand at journalism and between 1885 and 1907 edited three journals named Hindustan, Indian Union and Abhydaya. Later on joined the second session of the Indian National Congress held in 1886 and twice became its president in 1909 and 1918. Malviya was also elected a member of the Legislative Council of the U.P. in 1902 and later on of the Legislative Assembly. His greatest achievement was the foundation in 1915 in Banaras of the Banaras Hindu University by raising the necessary funds from the princes and people of India.

Mrs. Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949):  A talented Indian lady born of Bengali parents was a poet and orator who took a prominent part in Indian politics. She presided over the Cawnpore session of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and was the first lady to be appointed a state Governor in the Republic of India.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964): He was the first Prime Minister of independent India and is known as the architect of modern India. Born in Allahabad on November 14, 1889 as the only son of Pandit Motilal Nehru and Swaruprani. In 1928 he became the Central Secretary of the Indian National Congress and in 1929 its President. At the Lahore session under his presidentship Congress passed the Independence Resolution. He became President of the Congress again in 1936, 1946 and in every session from 1951 to 1954. Nehru was not only a great statesman but a great orator. His Autobiography published in 1936 created world-wide interest. His other works are India and the World, Soviet Russia, Glimpses of World History, Unity of India and Independence and After.

Pandit Motilal Nehru (1861-1931): He was born on 6th May, 1861 in Delhi and was a Kashmiri Brahman. He began his career as a lawyer at the Allahabad High Court, joined the Indian National Movement after the inauguration of Montford Reforms and  started a journal named ‘The Independent’ to support the cause of Indian Nationalism. Along with C.R. Das he formed the Swarajist party within the Congress. On behalf of the Indian National Congress he drew up in 1928 a report known as the Nehru Report on the future constitution of India.

Sister Nivedita: A famous disciple of Swami Vivekananda, she was an Irish lady named Miss Margaret Noble. She met Swami Vivekananda in London and later on came over to India where she was formally initiated as disciple of Swami Vivekananda and was attached to the Ramakrishna Mission, devoted herself to social service, rendering exemplary services to the Indian community in Calcutta during the outbreak of the plague epidemic. The Cradle Tales of India is one of her many works.

Mrs. Vijayalakshmi Pandit: Born in 1900, was a talented daughter of Pandit Motilal Nehru. She held many high offices since Indian independence including the post of India’s High Commissioner in England (1955-61) and India’s Ambassador to the U.S.S.R as well as to the U.S.A. (1949-51). She was the president of the U.N. General Assembly in 1954.

Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922): She was one of the few Indian ladies who availed themselves of Western education in the nineteenth century. She made a great impression on the Western world by her erudition and eloquence which had earned her the title of “Saraswati”.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad: He was the first President of the Republic of India. Born in Bihar in 1884, educated at the Calcutta University, he began his career as an advocate and soon commanded a very large practice at Patna High Court. Prasad became the President of Congress in 1934, 1939 and 1947; a minister in Nehru’s cabinet in 1947. From 1946 to 1949 he presided over the Indian Constituent Assembly. In 1950 he was elected as the first President of the Republic of India and reelected in 1952 and again in 1957.

Dr. Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan: The second President of the Republic of India. He had been appointed as the professor of Eastern Religions at the University of Oxford (1936-39). Radha Krishanan was appointed as India’s ambassador to the USSR in 1949. In 1962 he became the President of India.

Chakravarti Rajagopalachari: A prominent Indian politician, born in south India in 1879. He was the General Secretary of the Indian National Congress and member of the Congress working committee. Rajgopalachari was the Chief Minister of Madras from 1937-39 and again from 1952-54, supported the idea of the partition of India into India and Pakistan as the price of Indian independence. Chakravarti became the first Indian Governor of West Bengal in 1947-48 and then first Indian Governor General of India from 1948-50 and was Home Minister of India from 1950 to 1951.

Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1834-86): He was a very great spiritual teacher of the Hindus in modern times. Born in the district of Hooghly in Western Bengal he became attached to the temple of gooddness Kali at Dakshineswar, near Calcutta as a priest. Ramkrishna preached that as different words in different languages denote the same substance, so Allah, Hari, Christ, etc. are different names under which the people worship the same great God, who is one. His two-noteworthy disciples were Keshobchandra Sen and Swami Vivekanand.

Madhav Govinda Ranade (1852-1904): Ranade was a reformer and scholar. He became a judge of the Bombay High Court. He became a devoted and enthusiastic member of the Prarthna Samaj of Bombay. He was one of the founders of the Widow Re-Marriage Association in 1861 and of Deccan Education Society.

Lala Lajpat Rai (1865-1920): Indian national leader known as “Lion of Punjab”. Founder editor of Bande Mataram, The Punjabee and The People. Died of injuries caused by police lathi-charge while leading a demonstration against Simon Commission at Lahore in 1920. Author of Young India, the Arya Samaj and England’s Debt to India.

Srinivasa Ramanujam (1887-1920): Indian mathematician contributed to the theory of numbers.

Raja Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1883): Born in the Hoogli district of West Bengal, he preached the unity of God, opposed caste distinctions, polygamy and Sati and forced widowhood of women who would like to remarry. He protested against the press regulations issued by Governor-General, Lord Hastings and against the Jury Act of 1827. Mughal Emperor Akbar II (1806-37) invested him with the title of Raja. He died at Bristol on the 27th September, 1833.

V.D.C. Savarkar (1883-1966): He founded Mitra Mandal aimed at achieving freedom by armed rebellion, founded Abhinav Bharat, started Free Indian Society in England. Savarkar was arrested in Nasik conspiracy case and sentenced to transportation for life and freed in 1937. He has authored Indian War of Independence.

Satyajit Ray (1922-1992): Indian film maker, winner of Bharat Ratna, recipient of Lifetime Achievement award. Special Oscar winner and many other national and international awards. First Indian film maker to win “Legion d’Honeur”, the highest civilian award of France in 1987.

Bhagat Singh (1907-1931): Known as Shahid-e-Azam. Founded Naujawan Bharat Sabha. Exploded bomb in Central Legislative Assembly at Delhi on April 8, 1929. He was arrested and sentenced for life. He, along with Sukh Dev and Shivram Rajguru, was hanged on March 23, 1931 for participating in Lahore conspiracy.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): Poet, novelist, patriot, educationist, essayist, painter and philosopher. He founded Shantinikatan (now Viswabharati University) in West Bengal. He was the first Asian to receive Nobel Prize on Literature (for Gitanjali in 1913). Writer of National Anthems for India and Bangladesh. His other works include Gora, Post Office, Home and the World etc.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920): Patriot and statesman, known as “Lokamanya”. He organised Nationalist (or Extremist) Party with Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal. Britishers called him “Father of Indian Unrest”. He gave the clarion call “Swaraj is my birth right”. Tilak was the founder-editor of Maharatta (English) and Kesari (Marathi). He authored Geetha-rahasyam.

Shyamaji Krishna Varman (1857-1930): Nationalist leader and founder of India Home Rule Society (1905). Organised first commemoration of Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 in 1905 at London. Instituted travel scholarships for Indian intellectuals to visit abroad. India House in London founded by him was a centre of revolutionary activities. He died in exile at Geneva.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave: Saintly personality who ardently believed in the non-violent Satyagraha and had devoted his life to social welfare. He was the founder of the Bhoodan movement

Swami Vivekanda (1863-1902): Disciple of Rama Krishna Paramahansa, and founder of Ramakrishna Mission at Belur. He championed the supremarcy of Vedantic philosophy and his talk at the Chicago conference of world religions in 1893 made westerns realise the greatness of Hinduism for the first time.

Zakir Hussain (1897-1969): Proposed Wardha Scheme of education. Was formerly Vice-Chacnellor of Jamia Millia college. He was elected as President of India in 1967.