Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh (1 December 1886 – 29 April 1979) was an

Indian freedom fighter The Indian independence movement consisted of efforts by individuals and organizations from a wide spectrum of society to obtain political independence from the British, French and Portuguese rule through the use of a many methods. This is a l ...

, journalist, writer, revolutionary, President in the Provisional Government of India, which served as the Indian

Government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

from Kabul in 1915, and social

reformist Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...

in the Republic of India. He also formed the Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. He also took part in the

Balkan War The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defea ...

in the year 1911 along with his fellow students of MAO college. He is popularly known as "Aryan Peshwa".

Early life

Pratap was born in the ruling

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

family of the state of Mursan in the Hathras District of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

on 1 December 1886. He was the third son of Raja

Ghanshyam Singh Swaminarayan (IAST: ', 3 April 1781 – 1 June 1830), also known as Sahajanand Swami, was a yogi and ascetic, who is believed by followers to be a manifestation of God Krishna, or as the highest manifestation of Purushottam, and aroun ...

. At the age of three,

Raja Harnarayan Singh ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested fr ...

of Hathras adopted him as his son.Bhattacharya, Abinash Chandra (1962). ''Bahirbharate Bharater Muktiprayas'' (in Bengali), Kalikata:Firma K.L.Mukhopadhyaya, pp. 9–24 He was married to Balveer Kaur belonging to the ruling Sidhu

family of

Jind Jind is one of the largest and oldest city in Jind district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is administrative headquarter of Jind district. Rani Talab is the main destination for tourists while Pandu-Pindara and Ramrai are the main reli ...

, a princely state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

(then in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

) in 1902 while studying in college.

Education

In 1895 Pratap was admitted to the Government High School in

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

, but soon he switched over to the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental Collegiate School which later on became Aligarh Muslim University Here he received his education under British Headmasters and Muslim teachers all from

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College ( ur, Madrasatul Uloom Musalmanan-e-Hind, italics=yes) was founded in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, initially as a primary school, with the intention of taking it to a college level institution, known as Muhammed ...

founded by Sir Sayed Ahmad Khan.

Nobel prize nomination

He was nominated for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

in 1932. N.A. Nilsson, his nominator, said about him- While nominating for the Peace Nobel Prize, the nominator in a short biography, gave Singh's status as follows: Singh "is the editor of the World Federation and an unofficial envoy of Afghanistan. The nominator wrote a short biography as well as international political activities. Particularly his role in the Indo-Turco-German mission was highlighted. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and Sultan Mohemmod Rishad of Turkey gave him letters for the Afghan King. He arrived in Kabul on Oct. 2, 1915. On December 1, 1915, a Provisional Government for India was organised. Pratap was declared as its President. In 1917 he went to Russia and met Trotsky at Leningrad. From there he came back to meet Kaiser and Sultan, to give the message of the King of Afghanistan. He passed some time in Budapest and Switzerland. He was brought by German aeroplane to Russia, where he met Lenin. From there he went to Afghanistan. King Amanullah sent him on a mission to China, Tibet, Japan, Siam, Germany, Turkey and the U.S.A. After an agreement with the British, the King lost interest in Pratap. In the end, it is summarized: “He is primarily on an unofficial economic mission of Afghanistan. However, being born as an Indian he also wanted to expose the British brutalities in that land of the idealist Americans. At this juncture, when the great freedom movement of India is developing with large momentum it is in the interest of the spiritually minded as well as business people to study carefully this new phenomenon of our social life. …. He hopes to achieve some practical results in this direction during his present sojourn in this country (U.S.A.). He is planning to establish an Afghanistan information bureau and an office of the World Federation at Washington, D.C. He just tries to do his duty according to his best understanding and leaves the working of fate to the Laws of Nature!".. "It will be of interest to know – Why a Swede nominated Singh? The answer is to be found in the documents, which were sent with the nomination letter. Namely, Singh supported the idea of “World Federation”, about which N.A. Nilsson, propagated in 1910, as is evident from: “Fédération Internationale – Discours Au – xviii Congrés Universel de la paix (International Federation – Speeches in – xviii Universal Congress of Peace)."

Freedom movement

In spite of objections from his father-in-law, Pratap went to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

in 1906 to attend the Congress session, and met several leaders involved in the Swadeshi movement, deciding to promote small industries with indigenous goods and local artisans. In January 1915 on learning about his presence in Switzerland, Chatto alias

Virendranath Chattopadhyay Virendranath Chattopadhyaya ( bn, বীরেন্দ্রনাথ চট্টোপাধ্যায়), alias Chatto, (31 October 1880 – 2 September 1937, Moscow), also known by his pseudonym Chatto, was a prominent Indian revolutiona ...

of the newly founded Berlin Committee (Deutsche Verein der Freunde Indien) requested Von Zimmermann of the German foreign ministry to get Pratap invited to Berlin. Already Chatto had sent a first mission to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

led by the Parsi revolutionary Dada Chanji Kersasp. Informed about Chatto's activities from

Shyamji Krishnavarma Shyamji Krishna Varma (4 October 1857 – 30 March 1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, an Indian patriot, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and '' The Indian Sociologist'' in London. A graduate ...

and

Lala Hardayal Lala Har Dayal Mathur (Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...

, Pratap insisted on meeting the

Kaiser Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

personally; Chatto rushed to Geneva to tell Pratap of the Kaiser's eagerness to see him, and they went to Berlin together. Har Dayal, too, followed them. Decorating Pratap with the

Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle (german: Roter Adlerorden) was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful se ...

, the Kaiser showed his awareness of the strategic position of the Phulkian States (

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the '' Qila Mubarak'' (the 'Fortunate Castle') construct ...

and

Nabha Nabha is a city and municipal council in the Patiala district in the south-west of the Indian state of Punjab. It was the capital of the former Nabha State. Nabha is also a sub-division city which comes under Patiala district. Geography Nabha ...

), if India was invaded through the Afghan frontier. According to Pratap's wish, he was taken to a military camp near the Polish border to gain a firsthand knowledge of army policies and functioning. On 10 April 1915 accompanied by the German diplomat

Werner Otto von Hentig Werner Otto von Hentig (22 May 1886, Berlin, Germany – 8 August 1984, Lindesnes, Norway) was a German Army Officer, adventurer and diplomat from Berlin. When still only a 25 year old lieutenant he was commissioned by the Kaiser to lead an exp ...

Maulavi Barkatullah Mohamed Barakatullah Bhopali, known with his honorific as Maulana Barkatullah (7 July 1854 – 20 September 1927), was an Indian revolutionary with sympathy for the Pan-Islamic movement. Barkatullah was born on 7 July 1854 at Itwra Mohall ...

and a few other members, Pratap left Berlin, with due credentials from the Kaiser. In

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

the delegation met the Khedive of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

who during a conversation with Pratap expressed his desire to see the end of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. On their way, in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

they had a visit with Enver Pasha, son-in-law of the Sultan and Defense Minister, who appointed a trusted military officer to guide them. They were received by Rauf Bey with a detachment of 2000 soldiers at

Ispahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

. They reached Kabul on 2 October and were greeted by Habibullah, having a number of discussions.

Provisional Government of India

On 1 December 1915 Pratap established the first Provisional Government of India at

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

in Afghanistan as a

government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...

of Free Hindustan, with himself as President,

as Prime Minister, and Maulana

Ubaidullah Sindhi Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (10 March 1872 – 21 August 1944) was a political activist of the Indian independence movement and one of its vigorous leaders. According to ''Dawn'', Karachi, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi struggled for the independence ...

as Home Minister, declaring jihad on the British. Anti-British forces supported his movement, but because of obvious loyalty to the British, the Amir kept on delaying the expedition to overthrow British rule in India.

In Japan

Return to India

He returned to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

after 32 years on the ship ''City of Paris'', and landed at Madras on 9 August 1946. On reaching India,he went to

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Wardha district. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows at the north, west and south bounda ...

to meet

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

1957 Lok Sabha Election

He was a member of the second

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

in 1957–1962. He was elected as an independent candidate in the 1957 Lok Sabha Elections from

Mathura Lok Sabha constituency Mathura Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 80 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This constituency covers the entire Mathura district. According to Election Commission of India 2009 reports, the Mat ...

defeating

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

(which would later evolve into

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

) candidate and the future Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was in the fourth position among the list of five candidates.Statistical Report on General Elections, 1957 to the Second Lok Sabha
Election Commission of India (1957)

References

External links

*https://www.rajamahendrapratap.com/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20040910013359/http://www.punjabiamericanheritagesociety.com/paf/paf2000/ghadar_ki_goonj.html *http://www.punjabilok.com/misc/freedom/history_of_the_ghadar_movement8.htm
Mahendra Pratap materials at the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
* http://shodh.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/123456789/508/2/02_introudction.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Pratap, Mahendra 1886 births 1979 deaths Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh 20th-century Indian journalists People from Hathras district Aligarh Muslim University alumni Hindu–German Conspiracy India MPs 1957–1962 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Journalists from Uttar Pradesh Indian male journalists People from Mathura district Jat rulers