Women in the Indian Freedom Struggle

§1 — Women Leaders: Quick Reference

Women Freedom Fighters: Quick Reference

§2 — Women of the 1857 Revolt

Women of the 1857 Revolt

Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi (1828-1858)

Born Manikarnika Tambe at Varanasi (19 November 1828), married Maharaja Gangadhar Rao of Jhansi (1842). Widowed in 1853, her adopted son's claim was rejected by Dalhousie under the Doctrine of Lapse — Jhansi annexed 1853. When the Revolt broke out, the British re-installed her briefly but she chose resistance. Famous quote: "Mein meri Jhansi nahi doongi" (I shall not give up my Jhansi).

After Hugh Rose besieged Jhansi (March-April 1858), she escaped through the British lines on horseback (with her adopted son Damodar Rao tied to her back, by tradition). Joined Tantia Tope at Kalpi; together they captured Gwalior Fort (early June 1858). Killed in battle at Kotah-ki-Sarai (near Gwalior) on 17 or 18 June 1858 — fighting in male attire as a warrior. She was 29.

British General Hugh Rose paid her this tribute: "the bravest and best military leader of the rebels." Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's poem "Khoob ladi mardani, woh toh Jhansi wali Rani thi" (1930) is iconic.

Begum Hazrat Mahal (c. 1820-1879)

Born Muhammadi Khanum, became the second wife of Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Awadh. After Awadh's annexation (Feb 1856) and Wajid Ali Shah's exile to Calcutta, she stayed in Lucknow. When the Revolt broke out, she crowned her son Birjis Qadr Nawab in July 1857 and ran the rebel administration. She led the defence of Lucknow Residency. After British recapture in March 1858, she fled to Nepal, where King Jung Bahadur Rana granted her asylum. She died at Kathmandu in 1879. India honoured her with a postage stamp in 1984.

Rani Avantibai Lodhi (1831-1858)

Rani Avantibai of Ramgarh (now in MP) raised an army of about 4,000 against the British. After initial successes, she was defeated at Devhargarh hills; rather than surrender, she committed suicide on 20 March 1858. India Post issued a stamp in her honour in 2001.

Other 1857 Women

• Jhalkari Bai — Lakshmibai's bodyguard and double; impersonated her during Jhansi's defence; captured (most accounts say killed) by the British.
• Uda Devi — a sniper from the Pasi caste at Lucknow's Sikandar Bagh.
• Asghari Begum — burned alive by British forces in Bijnor area.
• Begum Zeenat Mahal — Bahadur Shah Zafar's favourite wife; tried with him; exiled to Rangoon.

§3 — Early Women Reformers

Early Women Reformers (Late 19th – Early 20th Century)

• Savitribai Phule (1831-1897) — wife of Jyotirao Phule; co-founded India's first girls' school (Bhide Wada, Pune, 1848); first Indian female teacher.
• Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922) — Sanskrit scholar; founded Sharada Sadan (1889) for widows; Christian convert; feminist writings.
• Tarabai Shinde (1850-1910) — author of "Stri Purush Tulana" (1882) — early feminist tract.
• Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) — Bengali Muslim feminist; "Sultana's Dream" (1905) — feminist science fiction.
• Anandi Gopal Joshi (1865-1887) — first Indian woman doctor.
• Kadambini Ganguly (1861-1923) — first South Asian female practising MD.
• Cornelia Sorabji (1866-1954) — first Indian woman barrister; first woman lawyer to practise in India.

§4 — Women in Swadeshi & Early Nationalism

Women in Swadeshi & Early Nationalism (1905-1916)

Madame Bhikaiji Cama (1861-1936)

Parsi nationalist living in exile. On 22 August 1907 at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany, she unfurled what is often called the "first Indian flag" — three horizontal stripes (green-yellow-red) with "Vande Mataram" inscribed. She declared: "This flag is of Indian independence! Behold, it is born!" She lived in exile in Paris (1907-1935); returned to Bombay 1935; died 1936. Bhikaji Cama Place in New Delhi is named after her.

Annie Besant (1847-1933)

British Theosophist who arrived in India 1893; became Theosophical Society President (1907). Founded Central Hindu College, Banaras (1898) — basis of BHU. Launched Home Rule League at Madras on 1 September 1916. Interned at Ooty (June-September 1917). Became first woman President of the INC at Calcutta in December 1917. Newspapers: New India (Madras), Commonweal.

Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949) — "The Nightingale of India"

Born at Hyderabad, the daughter of Aghorenath Chattopadhyay (Nizam College Principal). Studied at Cambridge (King's College) and Girton College. Returned to India 1898; became a popular poet (The Golden Threshold 1905, The Bird of Time 1912). Joined Gandhi at Sabarmati 1917.

Major contributions:

• Led the Dharasana Salt Satyagraha (21 May 1930) after Gandhi's arrest.
• First Indian woman President of the INC (Kanpur, December 1925).
• Attended the Second Round Table Conference (1931) with Gandhi.
• After Independence, became Governor of United Provinces (1947-1949) — first woman Governor of an Indian state.
• Coined the title "Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity" for Jinnah (1916).

Kasturba Gandhi (1869-1944)

"Ba" — Gandhi's wife. Married him in 1882 (both age 13). Joined his South African satyagraha (1913). Participated in Champaran (1917), Kheda (1918), Non-Cooperation, Salt Satyagraha 1930. Imprisoned multiple times. Died at Aga Khan Palace, Pune on 22 February 1944 while imprisoned with Gandhi during Quit India.

§5 — Women in the Gandhian Era (1917-1942)

Women in the Gandhian Era

Gandhi's mass movements brought tens of thousands of women into political action — a major break with the past. Notable contributors:

Kamala Nehru (1899-1936)

Wife of Jawaharlal Nehru. Active in CDM 1930 — led Allahabad picketing of foreign cloth and liquor shops. Imprisoned. Died of TB in Lausanne 1936. Kamala Nehru College, Delhi is named after her.

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900-1990)

Sister of Jawaharlal Nehru. 1st Indian woman cabinet minister (UP, 1937, Local Self-Government & Health under the Pant Cabinet). Imprisoned thrice in independence movement (1932, 1940, 1942). Post-Independence: Governor of Maharashtra (1962-64); Indian Ambassador to USSR (1947-49), USA (1949-51), UK (1954-61); 1st woman President of UN General Assembly (1953).

Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay (1903-1988)

First Indian woman to contest a Legislative Council election (Madras, 1926; lost narrowly). Salt Satyagraha activist (made and sold contraband salt at Bombay's Choupatty 1930). Theatre, dance, crafts revivalist. After 1947 — pioneered Indian handicrafts movement; founded the All India Handicrafts Board.

Aruna Asaf Ali (1909-1996) — "Heroine of 1942"

Bengali; married Asaf Ali (a Congress leader) in 1928. Imprisoned in 1932. The most iconic moment: 9 August 1942 — after the dawn arrests of all Congress top leadership, she came out of hiding to hoist the tricolour at Gowalia Tank Maidan, Bombay. She remained underground for nearly three years; edited the underground journal Inquilab. Surrendered in January 1946. Awarded Bharat Ratna 1997 (posthumously). Mayor of Delhi, 1958-59 — first Mayor of Delhi.

Sucheta Kripalani (1908-1974)

Married J.B. Kripalani (Congress President 1947). Active in Quit India underground. Post-1947: 1st woman Chief Minister of an Indian state (Uttar Pradesh, 1963-67).

Usha Mehta (1920-2000)

22-year-old student who set up the secret "Congress Radio" from Bombay during Quit India 1942. Daily broadcasts at 7:45 pm on 42.34 metres carried news of the movement. The radio operated for 88 days; British detection led to arrests on 12 November 1942. Usha was sentenced to 4 years' imprisonment.

Matangini Hazra (1869-1942) — "Gandhi Buri"

Bengali widow of Tamluk (Midnapore). Despite being 73 years old, she joined Quit India processions. On 29 September 1942, she was leading a procession at Tamluk to capture the local police station; British police fired. She was shot multiple times; died with the cry "Vande Mataram!" on her lips. Her statue at Calcutta is iconic; Tamluk's Tamralipta Jatiya Sarkar is associated with her memory.

Mridula Sarabhai (1911-1974)

Daughter of Ambalal Sarabhai (Anasuya Sarabhai's brother). Active in Salt Satyagraha 1930, Quit India. Post-1947 — worked with women refugees during Partition; bitterly critical of Pakistan policy; close to Sheikh Abdullah.

Hansa Mehta (1897-1995)

Educationist and feminist. Member of the Constituent Assembly (1946-49); represented India at UN Human Rights Commission (1947-48); responsible for the change of phrase "all men are born free and equal" to "all human beings are born free and equal" in Article 1 of the UDHR (1948).

Rajkumari Amrit Kaur (1889-1964)

Daughter of Raja Sir Harnam Singh of Kapurthala. Salt March 1930; CDM. Post-1947 — first woman Cabinet Minister of independent India (Health, 1947-1957).

§6 — Revolutionary Women

Revolutionary Women

Pritilata Waddedar (1911-1932)

Member of Surya Sen's Chittagong Republican Army. On 23-24 September 1932, she led an attack on the Pahartali European Club (which had a sign "Dogs and Indians not allowed"). The attack succeeded but Pritilata was wounded. To avoid capture, she swallowed potassium cyanide. Aged 21. India's first woman martyr in armed struggle.

Kalpana Dutt (Joshi) (1913-1995)

Another member of Surya Sen's group; arrested 1933; sentenced to transportation for life; released after Independence. Joined CPI; married P.C. Joshi (CPI General Secretary).

Bina Das (1911-1986)

On 6 February 1932, at the Calcutta University Convocation, fired five revolver shots at Bengal Governor Sir Stanley Jackson. All shots missed; she was overpowered, sentenced to 9 years' transportation. After release in 1939, joined Congress. Disappeared in 1986; her body was found weeks later — a poignant end.

Shanti Ghose & Suniti Choudhury (Comilla, December 1931)

Two Bengali schoolgirls (aged 14 and 15) who shot dead DM C.G.B. Stevens of Comilla on 14 December 1931. Tried; sentenced to life imprisonment (their age saved them from hanging); released in 1939.

Durgawati Devi (Durga Bhabhi) (1907-1999)

Wife of HSRA member Bhagwati Charan Vohra. Famously played the role of Bhagat Singh's wife when he escaped from Lahore after the Saunders murder (December 1928).

Nellie Sengupta (1886-1973)

British wife of J.M. Sengupta (Bengali Congress leader). 3rd woman President of INC at Calcutta 1933 (after Annie Besant 1917 and Sarojini Naidu 1925).

§7 — INA & Rani of Jhansi Regiment

Captain Lakshmi Sahgal & the Rani of Jhansi Regiment

Lakshmi Sahgal (1914-2012)

Born Lakshmi Swaminathan at Madras to Tamil Brahmin family. Doctor of medicine. Joined Subhash Bose's INA at Singapore (July 1943). Bose appointed her Captain of the Rani of Jhansi Regiment (RJR), formed on 12 July 1943 at Singapore — the women's combat unit of the INA. RJR recruited about 1,500-2,000 women, mostly Tamil/Malayali plantation workers' daughters from Malaya, Singapore, Burma. First all-women combat unit in Asian colonial history.

Captured by British in Burma May 1945. Released 1946. Post-1947: practised medicine in Kanpur. Co-founded All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA, 1981). Stood as a candidate for President of India in 2002 against A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Padma Vibhushan 1998.

Other RJR Officers

• Manawati Arya (Captain).
• Janaki Davar (Lieutenant — later journalist).
• Aasha Sahay.

§8 — Women's Organisations

Major Women's Organisations

WIA (1917)

The Women's Indian Association founded by Margaret Cousins, Annie Besant, and Dorothy Jinarajadasa at Adyar, Madras. Aims: women's education, raising age of marriage, women's suffrage, women's property rights. Sarojini Naidu was an early member; she led the WIA delegation to Madras Legislative Council demanding women's franchise (1918) — leading to the limited women's suffrage in some provinces by 1921.

AIWC (1927)

Founded at Pune in 1927 by Margaret Cousins (Irish theosophist). 1st Conference January 1927 — focused on women's education. The AIWC successfully:

• Pushed for the Sharda Act 1929 (Child Marriage Restraint Act, raised age of marriage to 14 girls/18 boys).
• Pushed for the Hindu Women's Right to Property Act 1937.
• Demanded women's suffrage on equal terms.
• Continues today (currently HQ Sarojini House, New Delhi).

Major presidents: Sarojini Naidu (1929-30), Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Hansa Mehta.

§9 — Notable Firsts

Notable Firsts (Women in Indian Public Life)

§10 — FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions