Brajkishore Prasad (1877–1946) was a lawyer inspired by

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

during the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

Early life and education

Born in a

Kayastha Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...

family in Srinagar, Siwan district, Prasad gained his early education in

Chhapra Chhapra (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Chaparā'') is a city and headquarters of the Saran District in the Indian state of Bihar. It is situated near the junction of the Ghaghara River and the Ganges River. Chhapra grew in importance as a river-based mar ...

and

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

before moving to Presidency College in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where he completed his legal training. He married Phuljhari Devi. He set up a legal practise in

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

and had two sons, Vishwa Nath and Shiv Nath Prasad, more commonly known as SN Prasad, and two daughters, Prabhavati Devi and Vidyawati.

Career

He met with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

in 1915 and was inspired. He decided to get involved full-time in the freedom struggle and gave up his legal practice. He was instrumental in Gandhi taking up the Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha, in which Gandhi handpicked

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...

and

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as ''Honorary titles of Indian leaders, Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist politician, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, wh ...

along with him to successfully lead the movement. Gandhi was so impressed by Prasad's dedication that he set aside a full chapter on him in his autobiographical book, ''

The Story of My Experiments with Truth ''The Story of My Experiments with Truth'' (, , ) is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921. It was written in weekly installments and published in his journal ''Navjivan'' from 1925 to 1929 ...

'', called "The Gentle Bihari". Prasad remained at the forefront of the freedom struggle in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, and his collaboration with several colleagues was instrumental in the setting up of the Bihar Vidyapeeth. For the last ten years of his life he was severely infirmed, and died in 1946. s:The Story of My Experiments with Truth/Part V/The Gentle Bihari The National Book Trust, India, recently published a biography titled ''Braja Kishore Prasad: The Hero of Many Battles'', authored by Sachidanand Sinha..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Brajkishore 1877 births 1946 deaths Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Indian independence activists from Bihar People from Siwan district University of Calcutta alumni People from Patna Prisoners and detainees of British India Founders of Indian schools and colleges Gandhians 19th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian lawyers Lawyers in British India