Satyavati Devi (26 January 1906 — 21 October 1945) was a participant in

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. She was considered to be the Joan of Arc of India.

Family

She was the granddaughter of Swami Shraddhanand, and the daughter of advocate Dhani Ram and Ved Kumari. She married an officer of the Delhi Cloth Mills.

Activism

Among nationalist women in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, Satyavati took a leadership role.

Aruna Asaf Ali Aruna Asaf Ali (''née'' Ganguly; 16 July 1909 – 29 July 1996) was an Indian educator, political activist, and publisher. An active participant in the Indian independence movement, she is widely remembered for hoisting the Indian National fl ...

credits Satyavati with motivating her to join the nationalist movement. Satyavati undertook social work among mill workers at textile mills in

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

and

. She founded the Congress Mahila Samaj and Congress Desh Sevika Dal and she also co-founded the Congress Socialist Party. She took an active part in

Civil disobedience movement The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...

. During civil disobedience movement she became the leader of the women wing of the congress in Delhi and led the movement. She organised the breaking of the Salt Law in Delhi where she and a group of volunteers manufactured and distributed packets of illegal salt to people gathered there. She was arrested by the police and was sentenced to two years imprisonment in 1932. While she was imprisoned in the jail she contracted pleurisy and tuberculosis. While at jail, despite being very ill, she refused to give a bond of good behaviour and assurance that she would desist from political activity, that could have secured her release and hope for treatment. She died in 1945 at the age of 41 from tuberculosis.

Writings

Jailed women political freedom fighters composed poems and nationalist tracts, which were smuggled out and published. One of the pieces written by Satyavati Devi, titled ‘Bahin Satyavati Ka Jail Sandesh’ (Sister Satyavati's prison message) goes as follows:
This is a message from your jailed sister Sister Satyavati appeals to you Do not slacken from your work Jump, if required, into the burning flames The sacred battle should be full of strength Once you have stepped forward, never retreat Die before the men in the battlefield Do not fear bullets or sticks Put your head forward before the men Once lit, the fire should never go out I have full faith now Because the women have prepared themselves This and other writings and prison songs seemed to be aimed at motivating and mobilising women to enter India's Independence movement.

Recognition

Although she is believed to be an unsung hero of India's freedom struggle,

Satyawati College Satyawati College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, in New Delhi, India. It offers both morning and evening classes to a student base of almost 3000, with a permanent teaching staff of around 150. This college comes under Nort ...

(

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

) established by the government of Delhi in 1972 is named after her.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Satyavati 1904 births 1945 deaths Prisoners and detainees of British India Indian independence activists from Delhi Date of birth missing Date of death missing 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Women Indian independence activists 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian poets Indian women poets Writers from Delhi Tuberculosis deaths in India