Chandra Shekhar Azad

He was born as Chandra Shekhar Tiwari on 23 July 1906 in Bhavra village, in the present-day Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh. His parents were Sitaram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi.

As a young boy he learned archery from the tribal Bhils of erstwhile Jhabua, a skill that would help him greatly during the armed struggle against the British. His mother aspired for him to become a great Sanskrit scholar and thus he was sent to Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras, to study.

He was very passionate about India’s freedom struggle from a young age. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919 in which the British army killed hundreds of unarmed civilians and wounded thousands in Amritsar angered the teenage boy and he was convinced that it was perfectly fine to resort to violence against the British.

He was a 15 year old student when Mohandas K. Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921. He joined the movement and was arrested for his participation. When asked for his personal details by the British officers, he gave his name as “Azad” (The Liberated), his father's name as "Swatantrata" (Independence) and his residence as "Jail". From that day onwards he came to be known as Chandra Shekhar Azad.

The Non-Cooperation Movement was suspended in 1922. This greatly agitated Azad who took to more aggressive means of protests after this. He believed that India’s future lay in socialism and devoted himself completely to the independence movement.

He became acquainted with Ram Prasad Bismil who had formed the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), a revolutionary organization. Impressed by the organization’s ideals he joined HRA and became an active member.

In collaboration with other like-minded revolutionaries, he executed several violent acts against the British, including the Kakori Train Robbery of 1925 and the attempt to blow up the Viceroy's train in 1926.

Azad was also acquainted with a young revolutionary named Bhagat Singh who shared several of his values and beliefs regarding the freedom struggle. In collaboration with Singh and others, Azad participated in the shooting of J.P. Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai, one of the leaders of the Indian independence movement.

Azad, who was skilled in archery, made Jhansi the hub for his activities for some time. In a forest near Jhansi he trained other members of his group in shooting practice. Living under the alias of Pandit Harishankar Brahmachari, he was able to establish a good rapport with the local villagers.

Chandra Shekhar Azad was a popular revolutionary patriot best known for reorganizing the Hindustan Republican Association under the new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) and for training and mentoring other revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. Azad was the chief strategist of the HSRA which declined following his death in 1931.