Important for GS Prelims- Modern Indian History
About Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- Leader of the Extremist Faction of the Indian National Congress; part of the “Lal-Bal-Pal” triumvirate with Lala Lajpat Rai and Bipin Chandra Pal.
- Popularly titled “Lokamanya” and dubbed the “Father of Indian Unrest” by British authorities.
- Founder of educational institutions, mass-mobilization festivals, and nationalist journalism; also a Sanskrit scholar and author.
Key Facts about Tilak
| Particular | Details |
| Born | July 23, 1856, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra |
| Died | August 1, 1920 |
| Education | B.A. (Mathematics), Deccan College, Pune; LL.B. (1879), Government Law College, Bombay |
| Joined INC | 1890 |
| Newspapers founded | Kesari (Marathi) and The Mahratta (English), both 1881 |
| Institutions co-founded | New English School, Pune (1880); Deccan Education Society (1884); Fergusson College (1885) |
| Ganesh Utsav (public festival) | Established 1893 |
| Shivaji Jayanti (public festival) | Established 1895 |
| All India Home Rule League | Founded April 1916, Belgaum, with Annie Besant |
Key Responsibilities performed by Tilak
- Led the Extremist Faction of the INC and propounded the Four-Point Programme — Swadeshi, Boycott, National Education, Passive Resistance; coined “Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.”
- Collaborated with Jamshedji Tata on the Bombay Swadeshi Stores; led a no-tax campaign during the 1896–97 Maharashtra famine; opposed the Age of Consent Bill (1891) as colonial interference in Hindu social life.
- Founded the All India Home Rule League (April 1916, Belgaum) — distinct from Annie Besant’s parallel Home Rule League; negotiated the Lucknow Pact (1916) with Jinnah, uniting INC and Muslim League.
- Tried thrice under Section 124A, IPC — 1897 (18 months, Justice Strachey widened sedition’s definition), 1908 (6 years, Mandalay Prison), 1916 (acquitted, defended by Jinnah).
- Authored Srimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya (1915), framing the Gita’s message as Nishkam Karmayoga; The Arctic Home in the Vedas (1903), proposing an Arctic origin of the Indo-Aryans; and The Orion, dating Vedic antiquity astronomically.
Conclusion
Bal Gangadhar Tilak, led the Extremist Faction of the INC, propagated Swaraj and the Swadeshi-Boycott-National Education-Passive Resistance programme, founded Kesari and The Mahratta, popularized Ganesh Utsav and Shivaji Jayanti as mass-mobilization tools. PM Modi paid homage to him on his birth anniversary on 23rd July.
| This concept has been elaborately discussed in the following article Prime Minister Pays Tributes on The Birth Anniversaries of Lokmanya Tilak & Chandra Shekhar Azad |