Religion and Social Reformers

Swami Keshawanand- Born at village Magloona in Sikar district of present-day Rajasthan in 1883, Swamiji, whose actual name was Birama, was the son of Thakarsi, a penurious camel-driver, and his wife Saran. The famine of 1899 forced the 16-year-old Birama to leave the desert region and move to Punjab in search of livelihood. Circumstances had induced in him an ineffable spiritual quest. He approached Mahant Kushaldas of the Udasin sect, to whom he expressed the desire to learn Sanskrit, to be able to study the higher Hindu scriptures from primary sources. Noting that Birama belonged to the Jat caste, which was barred from learning Sanskrit, On Mahant’s advice he became a Sanyasi and in 1905 Kumbh Mela, He was conferred with the title of Swami Keshawanand by Mahatma Hirandji Avadhut.

The Jalianwalla Bagh Massacre of 1919, which caused a profound impact on the collective psyche of the Punjab, left Swami Keshawanand profoundly moved. He started attending the meetings of the Indian National Congress, joined the Indian Independence Movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, and participated in the non-co-operation movement, for which was imprisoned for two years (1921–1922) at Ferozepur. In 1930, he was given charge of Congress activities in Ferozepur district. He was again arrested the same year, but was soon released pursuant to the Gandhi-Irwin pact.

Royal Services (eg. State Police, Princely State Army,etc.)

Hanuman Singh Budania – . He was in police service of princely state of Bikaner. He was sympathetic to the people who did conspiracy against the state. This fact came to the notice of Bikaner Maharaja and he was warned on this. He left the police services of Bikaner state in 1942 to take part in the struggle for independence and joined Bikaner Rajya Praja Parishad. He spread the message of freedom movement from village to villages and made villagers member of this Parishad. . Maharaja enticed him by offering hundred murabas (irrigated land), but he refused. During the same period there was a conference of the Indian Praja Parishads going on in Udaipur, chaired by Jawahar Lal Nehru. Hanuman Singh Budania approached Pandit Nehru and told every thing to him.

In 1947 the farmer’s movement for freedom and abolition of Jagirs was in full swing. He was arrested along with 8000 participating farmers and left in unknown forest. Later he was arrested and punished with hard imprisonment for one year. To enhance the hardships in jail, snakes were left in his room. He was released only after India got freedom in 1947.

Gurjars

• Vijay Singh Pathik alias Bhoop Singh Gurjar- This man initiated Satyagraha much before Mahatma Gandhi. He joined revolutionary organisation in his teenage and took active part against British rule in India. Pathikji’s non-cooperation movement was so successful that Lokmanya Tilak wrote a letter to Maharana Fateh Singh to meet the demand of the Bijoliya agitators. Mahatma Gandhi sent his secretary Mahadev Desai to study the movement.
• It was Pathikji who fought for the cause of united Rajasthan and had taken up the issue with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel. He was jailed for having led the Kisan agitation in Bijoliya. The Kisan Panchayat, Mahila Mandal and Yuvak Mandal invited Pathik to come and lead them.Women of Mewar started to get respect from their folk men. Pathik made people feel that women and men equality is necessary to develop a prosperous society.

Unification of Rajasthan in seven stages