Swami Shraddhanand (22 February 1856 – 23 December 1926), also known as Mahatma Munshi Ram Vij, was an

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the san ...

sannyasi ''Sannyasa'' (Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' ...

and an Indian Independence activist who propagated the teachings of

Dayananda Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the bo ...

. This included the establishment of educational institutions, like the

Gurukul Kangri University Gurukula Kangri ( deemed to be university) ('गुरुकुल कांगड़ी समविश्वविद्यालय') is a government-funded deemed to be university u/s 3 of the UGC act 1956 located in Haridwar, Uttarakhand ...

, and played a key role on the ''Sangathan'' (consolidation and organization) and the '' Shuddhi'' (purification), a

Hindu reform movement Contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, reform Hinduism, Neo-Hinduism, or Hindu revivalism, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism, both in a religious or spiritual and in a societal sense. The movement ...

in the 1920s.

Early life and education

He was born on 22 February 1856 in the village of Talwan in the

Jalandhar District Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. District headquarters is Jalandhar city. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent districts ...

of the

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 ...

Province of

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 ...

. He was the youngest child in the family of Lala Nanak Chand, who was a

Police Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

in the United Provinces (now

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 ...

), then administered by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

. His given name was Brihaspati Vij, but later he was called Munshi Ram Vij by his father, a name that stayed with him till he took

sanyas ''Sannyasa'' ( Sanskrit: संन्यास; IAST: ), sometimes spelled Sanyasa (सन्न्यास) or Sanyasi (for the person), is life of renunciation and the fourth stage within the Hindu system of four life stages known as '' A ...

in 1917, variously as Lala Munshi Ram Vij and Mahatma Munshi Ram. He adopted

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

after a few incidents, such as when he was prevented from entering the temple while a noble woman was praying. He also was witness to a "compromising" situation involving a church's father with a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is ...

,Autobiography http://www.vedpedia.com the attempted rape of a young

devotee Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Faith, confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * ...

pontiffs A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was late ...

of the

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal ...

, and the suspicious death of a little girl at the home of a Muslim lawyer. All of these events cemented his

. He eventually passed mukhtari exams and began studying to become a lawyer.

Meeting Dayanand

He first met

Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...

when Dayanand visited

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

to give lectures. His father was handling arrangements and security at the events, due to the attendance of some prominent personalities and British officers. Munshiram attend the lectures at his father's request. He originally went with the intent of spoiling the arrangements, then claimed to be strongly influenced by Dayanand's courage, skill, and strong personality. After completing his studies Munshiram started his practice as

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

Career

Mahatma Munshi Ram or Swami Shraddhanand Arya Samaj

Schools

In 1892

was split into two factions after a controversy over whether to make

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

education the core curriculum at the DAV College Lahore. He left the organization and formed the Punjab

. The Arya Samaj was divided between the Gurukul Section and the DAV Section. Shraddhanand headed for Gurukuls. In 1897, when Lala Lekh Ram was assassinated, Shraddhanand succeeded him. He headed the 'Punjab Arya Pratinidhi Sabha', and started its monthly journal, ''Arya Musafir.'' In 1902 he established a

Gurukul Education in India is primarily managed by state-run public education system, which fall under the command of the government at three levels: central, state and local. Under various articles of the Indian Constitution and the Right of Child ...

in Kangri, India near Haridwar. This school is now recognized as

. In 1917, Mahatma Munshi Ram took sanyas as "Swami Shradhanand Saraswati". Shraddhanand established gurukul Indraprashtha in

Aravali The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana, Rajasthan, and ending in Ahmedabad Gujarat. T ...

near Faridabad, Haryana.

Activism

In 1917, Shraddhanand left Gurukul to become an active member of the

s and the

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 ...

.G.S. Chhatra (2007)
Some Indian Personalities of the Time: Swami Shraddhanand
''Advanced Study in the History of Modern India'' Lotus Press. p. 227. He began working with the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, which he invited to hold its session at Amritsar in 1919. This was because of the Jalianwala massacre, and no one in the Congress Committee agreed to have a session at Amritsar. Shraddhanand presided over the session. He also joined the nationwide protest against the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitel ...

. The same year he protested in front of a posse of Gurkha soldiers at the

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another build ...

Chandni Chowk The Chandni Chowk, also known as Moonlight Square is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India. It is located close to the Old Delhi Railway Station. The Red Fort monument is located at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk. It was ...

, then was allowed to proceed. In the early 1920s he emerged as an important force in the Hindu Sangathan (consolidation) movement, which was a by product of the now revitalised

Hindu Maha Sabha The Hindu Mahasabha (officially Akhil Bhārat Hindū Mahāsabhā, ) is a Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating the interests of orthodox Hindus before the B ...

.Chetan Bhatt (2001)
Shraddhanand
''Hindu Nationalism: Origins, Ideologies and Modern Myths'' Berg Publishers. . p. 62 He wrote on religious issues in both

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

. He published newspapers in the two languages as well. He promoted Hindi in the

Devanagri Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the a ...

script, helped the poor and promoted the education of women. By 1923, he left the social arena and plunged whole-heartedly into his earlier work of the shuddhi movement (re-conversion to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

), which he turned into an important force within Hinduism. In 1922,Dr Ambedkar called Shraddhanand “the greatest and most sincere champion of the Untouchables”. In late 1923, he became the president of ''Bhartiya Hindu Shuddhi Sabha'', created with an aim of reconverting Muslims, specifically 'Malkana Rajputs' in the western

United Province United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. This brought him into direct confrontation with Muslim clerics and leaders of the time.G. R. Thursby (1975)
Controversy
''Hindu-Muslim Relations in British India: A Study of Controversy, Conflict, and Communal Movements in Northern India 1923–1928'', BRILL. . p. 15. 1,63,000 Malkana Rajputs were converted back to Hindu fold due to this movement.

Assassination

To protect Hindu society from the onslaught of Christianity and Islam's forced conversions, the Arya Samaj represented by him, started the 'Shuddhi' ( purification) movement to reconvert to the Hindu fold the converts of Christianity and Islam. This led to increasing communalisation of social life during the 1920s and later snowballed into communal political consciousness. Consequently, on 23 December 1926 he was assassinated by Abdul Rashid. Swami Shraddhanand’s Shuddhi mission of reconverting Malkana Rajputs, did not go down well with late Mahatma Gandhi. In the 1922 issue of his magazine, Young India, he is reported to have criticised Swami Shraddhanand in an article, titled ‘Hindu-Muslim-Tensions: Causes and Resistance’. Gandhi wrote: As a tribute to the man who was martyred for the Hindu cause, Savarkar’s brother Narayanrao decided to start a weekly titled Shraddhanand from Bombay, beginning 10 January 1927. Savarkar contributed several articles to this weekly under pen-names. Today, the 'Swami Shraddhanand Kaksha' at the archeological museum of the

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the ri ...

houses a photographic journey of his life. A statue of him was placed in front of

Delhi Town Hall The Delhi Town Hall is a landmark building, at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi. It was the seat of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from 1866 during the British Raj till late 2009, when offices shifted to the new MCD Civic Centre on Minto R ...

after

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the s ...

, replacing a statue of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

. This location in

Old Delhi Old Delhi or Purani Dilli is an area in the Central Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was founded as a walled city named Shahjahanabad in 1648, when Shah Jahan (the Mughal emperor at the time) decided to shift the Mughal capital from Agra. ...

is termed

ghantaghar Ghantaghar (literally clock-tower) is a location in the center of Chandni Chowk, Delhi, where an iconic clock tower, termed Northbrook Clocktower during early 20th century, stood. The clock tower was built in 1870 and stood there until its partia ...

because the old clock tower stood here until the 1950s.

Personal life

Shraddhanand and his wife Shiva Devi had two sons and two daughters. His wife died when Shraddhanand was only 36 years old. His granddaughter

Satyavati Satyavati ( sa, सत्यवती, ; also spelled Satyawati) was the queen of the Kuru. She is the wife of king Shantanu of Hastinapura, and the great-grandmother of the Pandava and Kaurava princes (The principal characters of the Hin ...

was a prominent opponent of the British rule in India.

Bibliography

* ''The Arya Samaj and Its Detractors: A Vindication'', Rama Deva. Published by s.n, 1910. * ''Hindu Sangathan: Saviour of the Dying Race'', Published by s.n., 1924. * ''Inside Congress'', by Swami Shraddhanand, Compiled by Purushottama Rāmacandra Lele. Published by Phoenix Publications, 1946. * ''Kalyan Marg Ke Pathik'' (Autobiography:Hindi), New Delhi. n.d. * ''Autobiography'' (English Translation), Edited by M. R. Jambunathan. Published by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1961

References

External links

Postage stamp on Swami Shraddhanand by ''IndianPost''
in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shraddhanand, Swami 1856 births 1926 deaths 1926 murders in India People from Jalandhar People murdered in Delhi Indian Hindu monks 20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians Indian independence activists from Punjab (British India) Arya Samajis Hindu writers Indian murder victims Hindu martyrs 20th-century Indian educational theorists 20th-century Indian philosophers 19th-century Indian educational theorists 19th-century Indian philosophers Scholars from Punjab, India