Bal Gangadhar Tilak, born as Keshav Gangadhar Tilak, was an Indian nationalist, journalist, teacher, social reformer, lawyer and an independence activist. He was the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement.

2. INTRODUCTION
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (29th Couplet) Described by British as
"The Father of Indian Unrest " Tilak was born on 23.07.1856.
His slogan, "Swaraj (Self Rule) is my birthright", inspired
millions of Indians. His book "Geetarahasya"a classic treatise on
Geeta in Marathi was written by him, in prison at
Mandalay.Great journalist- editor, an authority on Vedas,
Sanskrit Scholar, mathematician and a natural leader of India.
Died 01.08.1920 "Swaraj is our birthright," thundered Tilak, the
Lion of India.He founded schools andpublished newspapers, all
for his motherland. He rotted in a distant jail at Manda lay, in
Burma. he wore himself out till his last breath, to awaken his
countrymen.

3. When Tilak was ten his father was transferred to Pune from
Ratnagiri. This brought sea change in Tilak’s life. He joined
the Anglo-Vernacular School in Pune and got education from
some of the well known teachers. Soon after coming to Pune
Tilak lost his mother and by the time he was sixteen he lost
his father too. While Tilak was studying in Matriculation he
was married to a 10-year-old girl called Satyabhama. After
passing the Matriculation Examination Tilak joined the
Deccan College. In 1877, Bal Gangadhar Tilak got his B.A.
degree with a first class in mathematics. He continued his
studies and got the LL.B. degree too.

5. He led a simple life, and offered himself, body
and soul, to the service of his country. Tilak had
no property. His clothes were very simple. A
dhoti, a shirt, a shawl on the shoulder and a red
'Pagadi' (a marathi cap) on his head. In many
ways he was the architect of India’s Freedom
Struggle. His ideas and efforts were carried on
by equally worthy next generation of leaders
Gandhiji, Patel, Nehru and others.

7. Achievements: Considered as Father of Indian
National Movement; Founded “Deccan Education Society” to
impart quality education to India's youth; was a member of
the Municipal Council of Pune, Bombay Legislature, and an
elected 'Fellow' of the Bombay University; formed Home Rule
League in 1916 to attain the goal of Swaraj.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak is considered as Father of Indian
National Movement. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a multifaceted
personality. He was a social reformer, freedom fighter, national
leader, and a scholar of Indian history, sanskrit, hinduism,
mathematics and astronomy. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was
popularly called as Lokmanya (Beloved of the people). During
freedom struggle, his slogan “Swaraj is my birthright and I
shall have it” inspired millions of Indians.

8. After graduation, Tilak began teaching mathematics in a
private school in Pune and later became a journalist. He
became a strong critic of the Western education system,
feeling it demeaning to Indian students and disrespectful to
India's heritage. He came to the conclusion that good
citizens can be moulded only through good education. He
believed that every Indian had to be taught about Indian
culture and national ideals. Along with his classmate
Agarkar and great social reformer Vishnushastry
Chiplunkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak founded “Deccan
Education Society” to impart quality education to India's
youth

9. The very next year after the Deccan Education
Society was founded, Tilak started two weeklies,
'Kesari' and 'Mahratta'. 'Kesari' was Marathi weekly
while 'Mahratta' was English weekly. Soon both the
newspapers became very popular. In his newspapers,
Tilak highlighted the plight of Indians. He gave a
vivid picture of the people's sufferings and of actual
happenings. Tilak called upon every Indian to fight
for his right. Bal Gangadhar Tilak used fiery
language to arouse the sleeping Indians.

10. In 1894, Tilak transformed household
worshipping of Ganesha into sarvajanik
ganeshotsav and he also made Shiva
Jayaunti(birth anniversary celebrations of
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj) as a social
festival. It is touted to be an effective
demonstration of festival procession.

11. Political Career

12. Tilak'' joined the Indian National Congress in 1890. He opposed its moderate
attitude, especially towards the fight for self government. He was one of the
most eminent radicals at the time.
In 1891 Tilak opposed the Age of Consent bill. The act raised the age at
which a girl could get married from 10 to 12. The Congress and other
liberals supported it, but lokmanya Tilak was set against it, terming it an
interference with Hinduism. A plague epidemic spread from Mumbai to
Pune in late 1896, and by January 1897, it reached epidemic proportions.
In order to suppress the epidemic and prevent its spread, it was decided to
take drastic action, accordingly a Special Plague Committee, with
jurisdiction over Pune city, its suburbs and Pune cantonment was
appointed under the Chairmanship of W. C. Rand, I. C. S, Assistant
Collector of Pune by way of a government order dated 8 March 1897.Tilak
took up the people's cause by publishing inflammatory articles in his paper
Kesari, quoting the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita to say that no
blame could be attached to anyone who killed an oppressor without any
thought of reward. Following this, on 22 June, Rand and another British
officer Lt. Ayerst were shot and killed by the Chapekar brothers and their
other associates. Tilak was charged with incitement to murder and
sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

13. HIS Arrest

14. On 30 April 1908 two Bengali youths, Prafulla Chaki and
Khudiram Bose, threw a bomb on a carriage at Muzzafarpur in
order to kill the Chief Presidency Magistrate Douglas Kingsford
of Calcutta fame, but erroneously killed some women travelling
in it. While Chaki committed suicide when caught, Bose was tried
and hanged. Tilak in his paper Kesari defended the
revolutionaries and called for immediate Swaraj or Self-rule. The
Government swiftly arrested him for sedition. He asked a young
Muhammad Ali Jinnah to represent him. But the British judge
convicted him and he was imprisoned from 1908 to 1914 in the
Mandalay Prison, Burma.[While imprisoned, he continued to
read and write, further developing his ideas on the Indian
Nationalist movement. While in the prison he wrote the famous
"Gita Rahasya". Lots of copies of which were sold and the money
was donated for the freedom fighting.

15. Life after prison

16. When he emerged from prison, he was revered as a martyr and a
national hero and adopted a new slogan, "Swaraj (Self-Rule) is my
birth right and I shall have it."Tilak had mellowed after his release in
June 1914, more because of the diabetes and hardship in Mandalay
prison. When World war I started in August, Tilak, cabled the King-
Emperor in Britain of his support and turned his oratory to find new
recruits for war efforts. He welcomed The Indian Councils Act,
popularly known as Minto-Morley Reforms which had been passed
by British parliament in May 1909 terming it as ‘a marked increase
of confidence between the Rulers and the Ruled’. Acts of violence
actually retarded than hastened the pace of political reforms, he felt.
He was eager for reconciliation with Congress and had abandoned his
demand for direct action and settled for agitations ‘strictly by
constitutional means’ - a line advocated by his rival Gopal Krishna
Gokhale. Tilak saw the spark in Gandhi and tried his best to convince
Gandhi to leave the idea of "Total Ahinsa" and try to get "Swarajya"
by all means. Gandhi though looked upon him as his guru, did not
change his mind.