Historical Figures

Pandit Makhanlal Chaturvedi (4 April 1889 – 30 January 1968)

किसान-कवि, लेखक और निर्भीक पत्रकार पंडित माखनलाल चतुर्वेदी राजद्रोह में जेल गए, CM पद ठुकराया और सम्मान लौटाया शायद ही कोई ऐसा व्यक्ति हो, जिसने स्कूली शिक्षा के दौरान या फिर साहित्य-अध्ययन के दौरान ‘पुष्प की अभिलाषा’ कविता न पढ़ी हो. चाह नहीं मैं सुरबाला के, गहनों में गूंथा जाऊं, चाह नहीं प्रेमी-माला में बिंध, प्यारी को ललचाऊं चाह नहीं सम्राटों के शव पर, हे हरि डाला जाऊं चाह नहीं देवों के सिर पर, चढूं भाग्य पर इठलाऊं मुझे तोड़…

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Firaq Gorakhpuri

Raghupati Sahay – better known under his pen name Firaq Gorakhpuri – was born on 28 August 1896 and he died on 3 March 1982. He is known to have fought to save the idea of secular India, most of his life. He is counted amongst the most influential poets who laid the foundation for the modern Urdu ghazal. He established himself among peers including famous Urdu poets like Allama Iqbal, Yagana Changezi, Jigar Moradabadi, Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmed Faiz,…

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Army Day – India

Army Day, in India, is celebrated on 15 January every year, in recognition of Field Marshal Kodandera M. Cariappa’s (then a Lieutenant General) taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15 January 1949. Celebrations are in the form of parades and other military shows in the national capital New Delhi as well as in all headquarters On 16 January 2021, India celebrated its 73rd Indian…

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Bharatendu Harishchandra

Bharatendu Harishchandra (9 September 1850 – 6 January 1885) Regarded as the father of Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre. He is considered as one of the greatest Hindi writers of modern India. . He authored several dramas, life sketches and travel accounts; a recognized poet, he was a trendsetter in Hindi prose-writing using new media like reports, publications, letters to the editor, translations and literary works to shape public opinion. Writing under the pen name “Rasa”, Harishchandra represented…

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Mirza Ghalib

Mirza Asadullah Khan better known as Mirza Ghalib Ghalib (Urdu: غاؔلِب‬‎, Hindi: ग़ालिब), born Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan (Urdu: مِرزااسَدُاللہ بیگ خان‬, Hindi: मिर्ज़ा असदुल्लाह् बेग ख़ान), 27 December 1797 – 15 February 1869), was a prominent Urdu and Persian-language poet during the last years of the Mughal Empire. He used his pen-names of Ghalib (Urdu: غالِب‬, ġhālib means “dominant”) and Asad (Urdu: اسَد‬, Asad means “lion”). His honorific was Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula. He witnessed the Mughal empires were eclipse, displacement and finally…

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Munshi Nawal Kishore, India’s Amazing Publisher

Munshi Nawal Kishore (3 January 1836 – 19 February 1895) book publisher. On 23 November 1858, at the age of 22, he founded the Nawal Kishore Press at Lucknow. This institution today is the oldest printing and publishing concern in Asia. Mirza Ghalib was one of his admirers.  Munshi Nawal Kishore published more than 5000 books in Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, English, Marathi, Punjabi, Pashto, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu during 1858–1885. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. The Government of…

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