Share this Article on Facebook Twitter Submit this article to Reddit Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

Bal Gangadhar Tilak , 1856–1920, Indian nationalist leader. He was a journalist in Pune, and in his newspapers, the Marathi-language Kesari [lion] and the English-language Mahratta, he set forth his nationalist ideals. He sought a Hindu revival based on Maratha traditions and independence [swaraj] from Britain. After the Indian National Congress was founded (1885), Tilak became the acknowledged leader of the extreme wing. He fought the moderate measures of Gopal Krishna Gokhale and advocated resistance to British rule; he was arrested (1897) by the British and imprisoned for 18 months. In 1907 a split took place in the Congress, and Tilak led his extremist wing out of the party. The next year he was again imprisoned, this time for six years. Unlike Mohandas Gandhi , he welcomed the Montagu-Chelmsford Report (1918), which conceded a substantial measure of self-rule.

Bibliography: See biographies by T. V. Parvate (1959) and R. Gopal (1965); S. A. Wolpert, Tilak and Gokhale (1962); G. V. Saroja, Tilak and Sankara on Bhagvad Gita (1985).

Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"Bal Gangadhar Tilak." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Bal Gangadhar Tilak." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Tilak-Ba.html

"Bal Gangadhar Tilak." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Tilak-Ba.html

Learn more about citation styles

Tilak, Bal Gangadhar

A Dictionary of Contemporary World History | 2004 | | Copyright

Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (b. 23 July 1856, d. 1 Aug. 1920). Hindu scholar and politician Born in Ratnagiri into an orthodox Chitpavan brahmin familiy, he studied at Poona and obtained a law degree in 1879. Known as Lokamanya (‘revered by the people’), he was imprisoned 1897–9 for alleged sedition in his weekly Marathi-language newspaper Kesari (Lion). At first the radical nationalist was without much influence in the inner circle of the moderate Indian National Congress. However, the nationalist movement was radicalized by the partition of Bengal in 1905, and in 1907 he formed his own movement to demand Indian self-rule. He was imprisoned in 1908, and upon his release in 1914 he formed the Indian Home Rule League, together with Annie Besant. He re-entered the Congress movement in 1915, and in 1919 approved of the Government of India Act, urging cooperation with the British.
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

JAN PALMOWSKI. "Tilak, Bal Gangadhar." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAN PALMOWSKI. "Tilak, Bal Gangadhar." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-TilakBalGangadhar.html

JAN PALMOWSKI. "Tilak, Bal Gangadhar." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-TilakBalGangadhar.html

Learn more about citation styles

Tilak, Bāl Gangādhar

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Tilak, Bāl Gangādhar (1856–1920). Indian politician and patriot, who perceived the importance of religion in political matters, especially in relation to self-government. For his forthright articles in 1908, he was deported to Mandalay for six years. In prison in Mandalay he wrote his famous book Srimad Bhagavad Gītā Rahasya (The True Import of the Gītā), which saw ‘the religion of the Gītā, combining spiritual knowledge, devotion and action’ as the foundation of India's revival. Tilak died on 1 Aug. 1920, and because the people came in such large numbers to pay their last respects to the national hero, the cremation took place at Chowpati Beach, Bombay.
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

JOHN BOWKER. "Tilak, Bāl Gangādhar." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Tilak, Bāl Gangādhar." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-TilakBlGangdhar.html

JOHN BOWKER. "Tilak, Bāl Gangādhar." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-TilakBlGangdhar.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

A mixed legacy: from the Raj to modern India.(FEATURES)
Magazine article from: Harvard International Review; 1/1/2011
Politics flow at the meeting of three rivers: Some 70 million Hindu pilgrims...
Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor; 2/9/2001
Tilak, Bal Gangadhar images
Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Other (Public Domain)

Related topics