Famous Personalities of Bihar 4
Kunwar Singh
Kunwar Singh (1777 – 26 April 1858) was a notable leader during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He belonged to a royal Ujjainiya(Panwar) Rajput house of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur district, Bihar, India. At the age of 80, he led a select band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the British East India Company. He was the chief organiser of the fight against the British in Bihar. He is popularly known as Veer Kunwar Singh.
Singh led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Bihar. He was nearly eighty and in failing health when he was called upon to take up arms. He gave a good fight and harried British forces for nearly a year and remained invincible until the end. He was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics left the British puzzled.
Singh assumed command of the soldiers who had revolted at Danapur on 25 July. Two days later he occupied Arrah, the district headquarters. Major Vincent Eyre relieved the town on 3 August, defeated Singh’s force and destroyed Jagdishpur. During the rebellion, his army had to cross the Ganges river. Douglas’ army began to shoot at their boat. One of the bullets shattered Singh’s left wrist. Singh felt that his hand had become useless and that there was the additional risk of infection due to the bullet-shot. He drew his sword and cut off his left hand near the elbow and offered it to the Ganges.
Singh left his ancestral village and reached Lucknow in December 1857. In March 1858 he occupied Azamgarh. However, he had to leave the place soon. Pursued by Brigadier Douglas, he retreated towards his home in Ara, Bihar. On 23 April, Singh had a victory near Jagdispur over the force led by Captain le Grand (le gard in Hindi). On 26 April 1858 he died in his village. The mantle of the old chief now fell on his brother Amar Singh II who, despite heavy odds, continued the struggle and for a considerable time, running a parallel government in the district of Shahabad. In October 1859, Amar Singh II joined the rebel leaders in the Nepal Terai.
Shri Krishna Singh
Shri Krishna Singh (21 October 1887 – 31 January 1961), also known as Sri Krishna Sinha, was the first Chief Minister of the Indianstate of Bihar (1946–61). Except for the period of World War II, Sinha was chief minister of Bihar from the time of the first Congress Ministry in 1937 until his death in 1961. Along with the nationalists Desh Ratna Rajendra Prasad and Bihar Vibhuti Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Singh is regarded among the Architects of Modern Bihar. He led the Dalit entry into the Baidyanath Dham temple (Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar), reflecting his commitment to the upliftment and social 
empowerment of dalits. He was the first Chief Minister in the country to abolish the zamindari system. He underwent different terms of imprisonment for a total of about eight years in British India. S.K.Sinha’s mass meetings brought hordes of people to hear him. He was known as “Bihar Kesari” for his lionlike roars when he rose to address the masses. His close friend and eminent Gandhian Bihar Vibhuti Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha in his essay mere Shri Babu wrote that, “Since 1921, the History of Bihar has been the history of the life of Shri Babu”.
The former President of India, Pratibha Patil, released a book on the letters of exchange between Sinha and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru titled Freedom and Beyond. The Nehru-Sinha correspondence touches on subjects such as Indian democracy in the making in early years of Independence, Centre-State relations, role of governor, turbulence in Nepal, Zamindari abolition and education scenario. Sinha was known for his scholarship and erudition and he had given his personal collection of 17,000 books to the public library in Munger in 1959 which is now named after him as Sri Krishna Seva Sadan.
Jagjivan Ram
Jagjivan Ram, (born April 5, 1908, Chandwa, near Arrah, India—died July 6, 1986, New Delhi), Indian politician, government official, and longtime leading spokesman for the Dalits (formerly untouchables; officially called Scheduled Castes), a low-caste Hindu social class in India. He served in the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian parliament) for more than 40 years.
Ram was born into a Dalit family in what is now Bihar state and was among the first of his caste to receive a higher education. He attended Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi and in 1931 earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Calcutta (now in Kolkata). Also in 1931 he became a member of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party), then led by Mohandas K. Gandhi. Ram played a role in the founding (1935) of the All-India Depressed Classes League, an organization dedicated to attaining equality for Dalits. During the late 1930s he also was elected to a position in the Bihar government and helped organize a rural labour movement.
Ram was jailed twice in the early 1940s for his political activities associated with the Quit India movement against British rule. In 1946 he became the youngest minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s provisional government and, after independence in 1947, in the country’s national government. He held the labour portfolio until 1952. Thereafter he served in Nehru’s cabinet in the posts of minister for communications (1952–56), transport and railways (1956–62), and transport and communications (1962–63).
Ram supported Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s daughter) in her bid for elected office, and, when in 1966 she succeeded Lal Bahadur Shastri to the office of prime minister, Ram was appointed minister for labour, employment, and rehabilitation (1966–67). He served as minister for food and agriculture (1967–70), and in 1970 he was made minister of defense. During his tenure in that office, India helped to establish the independent state of Bangladesh. From 1974 to 1977 Ram was minister for agriculture and irrigation. He initially supported Prime Minister Gandhi’s declaration of a state of emergency in 1975. By 1977, however, he and several other politicians had resigned from the cabinet and formed the Janata (People’s) Party (JP; a precursor of the Janata Dal), a coalition that successfully opposed Gandhi and the Congress Party that year in elections to the Lok Sabha. Disappointed that he was not chosen prime minister, Ram once again accepted the post of minister of defense (1977–79) in two JP governments. He remained a member of the Lok Sabha until his death.
Syed Hasan Imam
Syed Hasan Imam (31 August 1871 – 19 April 1933) was an Indian politician who served as the President of the Indian National Congress.[1]
He was the fourth Muslim (After Badruddin Tyabji, Rahimtulla M. Sayani and Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur) to become the President of Indian National Congress. One of his ancestors was the private tutor to Aurangzeb. Hasan Imam’s father was a professor of history at Patna College. By his first wife, he had a son Syed Medhi Imam, educated at Harrow and Oxford University, a barrister of the Supreme Court of India and scholar of Latin and Greek. Hasan Imam also married an Indo-French lady, and Bulu Imam the human rights campaigner, and wildlife expert is their grandson. Regarded as one of India’s finest barristers, some barristers such as Chittaranjan Das(C.R. Das) and H.D.Bose considered Hasan as the best barrister in British India. He is related to many other barristers besides those within his own immediate family including Sir Sultan Ahmed and Syed Abdal Aziz. Hasan Imam’s Cambridge Universityeducated nephew Syed Jafar Imam was also his son-in-law and later become a Supreme Court judge.
Vidyapati
Vidyapati, in full Vidyapati Thakur, (born c. 1352, Bisapi, Madhubani, Bihar province [now in north-central Bihar state, northeastern India]—died 1448, Bisapi), Maithili Brahman writer and poet, known for his many erudite Sanskrit works and also for his erotic poetry written in the Maithili language. He was the first writer to use Maithili as a literary language.
Little detail is known of Vidyapati’s early life, though his status as a Brahman undoubtedly meant rigorous training in Sanskrit and other such marks of scholarship. Likely through his father’s efforts, he received a commission from the king during the reign of Kirti Simha (ruled c. 1370–80). The result of this commission was the long poem Kirtilata (“Vine of Glory”). Vidyapati became a court scholar under Kirti Simha’s son, Deva Simha, for whom he composed Bhuparikrama (“Around the World”), a group of romantic stories that also contained advice to the king.
The poetry for which Vidyapati is best remembered, however, is a collection of love poetry written between 1380 and 1406. This collection expands on what had become the cult of Radha and Krishna, subject also of the 12th-century Bengal poet Jayadeva’s celebrated Gita Govinda (“Song of the Cowherd” [Govinda is another name for Krishna]). According to the English scholar W.G. Archer, Vidyapati’s work is distinct from that of Jayadeva in both form and voice. Unlike Jayadeva’s work, which is a unified dance-drama, Vidyapati’s offering is a collection of separate love songs that examine the many moods and seasons of love and lovemaking. Jayadeva’s viewpoint is also unremittingly masculine, while Vidyapati finds Radha’s feminine sentiments and observations the more nuanced, and he does not esteem Krishna over Radha.
Many of these love songs were written in the court of Shiva Simha, grandson of Vidyapati’s first patron. When in 1406 Muslim armies routed the court, Shiva Simha, Vidyapati’s friend and patron, disappeared, and Vidyapati’s golden age was over. He lived in exile in Nepal, where he wrote the Likhanavali (“How to Write Letters in Sanskrit”), and returned about 1418 to rejoin the court of Mithila. He wrote no more, however, of Krishna and Radha and composed little in the Maithili language. Until his death he produced a number of learned Sanskrit works. He is believed to have retired from the court in 1430 and returned to his village for the remainder of his years.
Though he is little known in the West, Vidyapati remains a treasured poet centuries after his death. Especially the contemporary Maithili and Bengali peoples as well as practitioners of Vaishnavism hold him in high regard.
Devkinandan Khatri
Devaki Nandan Khatri was born at Malinager Village Samastipur, Bihar. After his earlier education he moved to Tekari Estate in Gaya. He became an employee of the Raja of Benares. He started a printing press called “Lahari” and started a Hindi monthly, “Sudarshan”, in 1898. The various works of Khatri and his son Durga Prasad were republished by Lahari Press in the early 21st century. Lahari Press is still in existence in Ramkatora (Pisnahariya Kuwan) very close to area called Lahurabeer in Varanasi.
Khatri made a strong contribution to the learning of the Hindi language by the people of the times. People were so mesmerised by the works Chandrakanta, Chandrakanta Santati and Bhootnath that they started to learn Hindi just to be able to read the works. Khatri did not write any work at one go and then publish the same. He used to write “bayaans”—chapters—on the run from the British and these were published and distributed widely. People would await the new “bayaans” and congregate around those who could read Hindi to hear the latest exploits in the continuing saga.
Khatri had a home called Khatri Haveli in Ramapura, Varanasi. He was living in Musakhand area when he was writing Chandrakanta.
Phaniswarnath Renu
Phanishwar Nath Renu is a revolutionary novelist of the post-Premchand era of the
Hindi literature. He was the voice of the contemporary rural India and among the pioneers to bring regional voices into the mainstream Hindi literature. He was born on 4th March 1921 in Aurahi Hingna in the district of Purnia. He received his primary education in Araria and Forbesganj. He passed his Matriculation from Viratnagar Adarsh Vidyalaya(school), Viratnagar, Nepal. And Intermediate from Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyalay (university) in 1942. He actively participated in the Indian freedom struggle in 1942. He was even involved in the Nepali revolutionary struggle in 1950 against the dictatorship and oppression of the Rana’s which led in the establishment of democracy in Nepal.
Phanishwar Nath Renu’s writings had an intimate feeling with the reader, which he developed by using the local flavor of the language instead of Khari Boli. Few of the novels written by him are Maila Anchal, Parti Parikatha, Juloos, Deerghtapa, Kitne Chaurahe and Paltu Babu Road. Among all his works Maila Anchal (1954) is his masterpiece. He was honored with Padma Shri by the Government of India for this novel. This novel mainly depicts the contemporary social life of the people who are poor and backward. It is considered to be one of the finest novels ever written in Hindi literature. It depicts the landscape of Bihar, the division of society on the basis of caste, Indian struggle of independence, and the true face of rural India. It has introduced a new form of novel by radically changing the structure and narrative style of Hindi novels.
Phanishwar Nath Renu even wrote short stories namely Maare Gaye Gulfam, Ek Adim Ratri Ki Mehak, Lal Pan Ki Begum Panchlight, Thes Samvadiya, Tabe Ekla Chalo Re, and few collection of stories include Thumri Agnikhor, and Acche Aadmi. His short story Panchlight is known for its pleasing portrayal of human behavior. His writings are very similar to Premchand’s writings especially in respect of choice of themes. Another short story Maare Gaye Gulfam was made into a film entitled Teesri Kasam.
This legendary writer left us on 11th April 1977.
Ravish Kumar
Ravish Kumar {born on 5 December 1974} is an Indian TV anchor, writer and journalist who covers topics pertaining to Indian politics and society. He is a senior executive editor at NDTV India,[5] the Hindi news channel of the NDTV news network and hosts a number of programmes including the channel’s flagship weekday show Prime Time, Hum Log and Ravish Ki Report.
He was born in a small district called history city “East Champaran” with its headquarters at Motihari, in Eastern State of India, [Bihar]. He studied at Loyola High School, Patna, and later on he moved to Delhi for his higher studies. He graduated from Deshbandhu college , Delhi . After that he did Mass Communication from IIMC, Delhi.
Meira Kumar
Meira Kumar, (born March 31, 1945, Patna [now in Bihar state], India), Indian diplomat, politician, and government official who served as speaker of the Lok Sabha (lower chamber of the Indian parliament) from 2009 to 2014, the first woman to hold that position.
Kumar was born into a political family of Dalit (formerly untouchable; now, officially, Scheduled Caste) origin. She completed B.A. and M.A. degrees in English literature and an LL.B. from the University of Delhi. Her father, Jagjivan Ram, was prominent in the Indian independence movement and was a longtime crusader for social justice. He served in the union government as minister of defense from 1977 to 1979 and deputy prime minister briefly in 1979. Her mother, Indrani Devi, also was an advocate of independence and was a social worker.
In 1973 Kumar entered the Indian Foreign Service, where she served for more than a decade. After postings to Madrid and London, she decided in 1985 to enter politics, encouraged by her father and by Rajiv Gandhi, then prime minister of India. She ran in a by-election for a seat in the Lok Sabha from a constituency in Uttar Pradesh state, defeating two other Dalit candidates—one of whom, Kumari Mayawati, would later become the first woman Dalit chief minister of an Indian state.
Being close to the politically powerful Gandhi family and representing the lower castes, Kumar’s political career progressed steadily within the Indian National Congress (Congress Party). In 1991–92 she served as the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. She was again chosen for the post in 1996 and remained in office until 1999. In addition, she twice served (1991–2000 and 2002–04) as a member of the Working Committee of the Congress Party, the organization’s highest decision-making body.
Kumar won reelection to the Lok Sabha in 1996 and 1998 from a New Delhi constituency, but in 1999 she lost to a candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She resigned from the Congress Party in 2000, citing differences with the party leadership, but rejoined it two years later. In 2004 and 2009 she contested and won the Lok Sabha seat from Sasaram in Bihar state, the constituency once represented by her father.
In 2004 she was appointed minister of social justice and empowerment in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and continued in that office until 2009. Following her victory in the 2009 elections—in which the UPA again emerged victorious—she was appointed minister for water resources, and in June of that year she was elected unopposed as the speaker of the Lok Sabha.
As speaker, Kumar launched several initiatives within the Lok Sabha, including one in 2011 designed to reduce the amount of paper used in the house. Under its provisions, all Lok Sabha members were issued tablet computers. It is thought that this resulted in a 30 percent reduction in paper usage in that chamber. Kumar also lent her support to the growing nationwide movement opposing violence against women in the country.
Kumar lost her bid to retain her seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, one of the many Congress Party members who were ousted from the chamber in the BJP landslide victory. She left the speaker’s post in early June, following the expiration of her term.
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