Sir Aga Khan   India : Chief of Ismail faith Born : AD 1877                    Died : AD 1957 Aga Khan’s real name was Sir Sultan Mohammad Shah Aga. He is famous for being the Chief of the Ismail sect of Muslims in India and the world over. The Ismails had great faith in Aga Khan. This sect forms a sizable chunk of Muslims in India who are predominantly settled in...

Madan Mohan Malviya   India : Propounder of Hindu Culture Born : AD 1861                    Died : AD 1946 Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya was a staunch supporter of Hindu culture and civilization. His contribution to India’s freedom struggle, as well as to education has been significant. The establishment of Benaras Hindu University is the result of his untiring efforts. It is interesting that while collecting funds for the university, he approached...

Kabir   India : Devotional Poet and Social Reformer Born : AD 1399                    Died : AD 1518 Saint Kabir, a Bhakti poet gave a severe blow to the ostentatious and dead customs of Indian society. His poems are read and sung even today with great relish. He was not only a litterateur of the Bhakti period but was also a social reformer. He tried all his life to unite the...

Ernest Rutherford   Britain : Eminent Scientist Born AD 1871             Died : AD 1937   Ernest Rutherford was born at Nelson in New Zealand in 1871. He -1=4 was extremely brilliant — a child prodigy, indeed. He used to work on his father’s farm when he was a student. He received a scholarship to study at Cambridge University, where he studied science. By that time, research in the field of...

M. Vishwesharayya   India : Eminent Engineer Born : AD 1861                    Died : AD 1962   Mokshagundam was India’s leading Engineer. He helped in building many dams and bridges in the country after independence. Soft-spoken, gentle and efficient, Vishwesharayya can easily be termed the builder of modem India if one were to refer to the construction work he undertook. He worked towards the benefit of the country with complete devotion....

Mohammad Ali Jinnah   Pakistan : Quaid-e-Azam Born : AD 1876          Died : AD 1948 Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the creator of Pakistan’ and was the Governor-General after partition of India in 1947. Jinnah tried to steer his country out of chaos of partition trauma. Pakistan was faced with Hindu-Muslim riots, famine, refugees, and many other problems. However, Jinnah’s astuteness was able to withstand it all. Jinnah was a leading...

Anna Saheb Karve   India : A Great Reformist Born : AD 1858                    Died : AD 1962   Anna Saheb Karve’s life was as simple and clean as that of an ancient ascetic (Rishi-Muni). He was liberal in his views and sympathetic in his attitude. He was deeply moved by the troubles and tribulations of women-folk. What Anna-Saheb did for the uplittment of women in the last decade of the...

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar   India : Brave Revolutionary Born : AD 1883                    Died : AD 1966 Savarkar was a great patriot, a scholar, a poet and a writer all rolled into one. He started patriotic activities even in his student days. At the age of 16, he founded Abhinav Bharat. It would not be an exaggeration to call Savarkar a born revolutionary. He was not awarded his B.A. degree, which...