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Tilak: The Empire's Biggest Enemy
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was considered to be the biggest threat to the British hegemony.
He was prosecuted thrice for sedition.
Was termed ‘the father of Indian unrest.’
He was convicted for his fiery writings in his nationalist daily Kesari.
Tilak, the first definitive biography of the man who raised the slogan that ‘freedom is my birthright and I shall have it.’
Before Mahatma Gandhi, there was Bal Gangadhar Tilak – the revolutionary who ignited the spark of Indian nationalism. The Times, London, called him ‘the father of Indian unrest,’ and the one-time Secretary of State for India Edward Montagu felt he had ‘the greatest influence of any person’ on the Indian people. Above all, for the British Raj, Tilak was sedition-monger-in-chief, and it prosecuted him thrice for sedition.
Hailed as 'Lokmanya' or 'One Revered by the People,' Tilak transformed India's fight for freedom from polite discourse to a mass uprising. His fierce writings, relentless activism, and controversial stances earned him the title 'enemy of the British government’ from the Raj, which saw him as its greatest threat. And at a time the British were undermining Indian self-esteem and dismissing Indians as ‘uncivilized heathens,’ Tilak argued powerfully and relentlessly that there was much of enormous value in India’s past, its culture, heritage and civilization, awakening Indians to a sense of their own identity. This definitive biography traces Tilak's journey from his early days in Konkan to his influential role across India, highlighting his battles against the British, imprisonments, and commitment to Swaraj.
Rediscover an icon of Indian history whose ideas and actions continue to resonate today. Bal Gangadhar Tilak's story is not just a tale of resistance but a testament to perseverance and conviction.
He was prosecuted thrice for sedition.
Was termed ‘the father of Indian unrest.’
He was convicted for his fiery writings in his nationalist daily Kesari.
Tilak, the first definitive biography of the man who raised the slogan that ‘freedom is my birthright and I shall have it.’
Before Mahatma Gandhi, there was Bal Gangadhar Tilak – the revolutionary who ignited the spark of Indian nationalism. The Times, London, called him ‘the father of Indian unrest,’ and the one-time Secretary of State for India Edward Montagu felt he had ‘the greatest influence of any person’ on the Indian people. Above all, for the British Raj, Tilak was sedition-monger-in-chief, and it prosecuted him thrice for sedition.
Hailed as 'Lokmanya' or 'One Revered by the People,' Tilak transformed India's fight for freedom from polite discourse to a mass uprising. His fierce writings, relentless activism, and controversial stances earned him the title 'enemy of the British government’ from the Raj, which saw him as its greatest threat. And at a time the British were undermining Indian self-esteem and dismissing Indians as ‘uncivilized heathens,’ Tilak argued powerfully and relentlessly that there was much of enormous value in India’s past, its culture, heritage and civilization, awakening Indians to a sense of their own identity. This definitive biography traces Tilak's journey from his early days in Konkan to his influential role across India, highlighting his battles against the British, imprisonments, and commitment to Swaraj.
Rediscover an icon of Indian history whose ideas and actions continue to resonate today. Bal Gangadhar Tilak's story is not just a tale of resistance but a testament to perseverance and conviction.
480 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 15, 2024
“Swarajya is my birth-right, and I shall have it”, was his war cry. He made the Indian freedom struggle to reach the common people. He was the one revered by the people, the “Lokmanya” Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an educationist, a social reformer, a Barrister, a freedom fighter and a great nationalist. The book starts with tracing Tilak’s early life. He met his friend and companion Gopal Ganesh Agarkar at his college life, whose every characteristic was the opposite of Tilak’s. After completing their education, Tilak and Agarkar joined their teacher to a new English school, which would teach about the cultural heritage of Bharat along with modern English education. The school achieved great success that led to the formation of the Deccan Education Society. This was very tragic that Tilak and Agarkar then started to collapsing their friendship with bitter quarrels that went very disastrous that led Tilak to resign from that society.
But every bitter end can be a start of a new journey. Tilak’s reputation as a journalist boomed with the Crawford corruption case. The author described this case like no other biographer of Tilak before.
Tilak is often be considered as a narrow-minded ritualistic conservative, as indicated by the Rukhmabai case and the Pandita Ramabai case. But that is not true. He expected social reform to come with social progress, not by the intervention by court and a foreign power, The author powerfully proved this.
The author gave descriptions about the Shahu Maharaj and Tai Maharaj court cases and how the Britishers, the Moderate Congressmen and Tilak’s enemies tried their best to put him in court and behind the bar in every excuses. But they failed to exhaust the man of iron-will Tilak. The Moderate Congressmen like Gokhale also co-operated the Britishers just to make Tilak lose the elections.
In current days, Tilak is shown as a supporter of the Aryan Invasion Theory. But the author cleared the concept that the British Indologist Maxmuller, who is infamous for distorting the Hindu scriptures to spread coloniality among Indians, sent Tilak his books and after reading them, Tilak had grown such interpretations.
Many famous and prominent people like Veer Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Lala Lajpat Roy, B.C. Pal, V.O.C. Chidambaram Pillai came across this journey of Tilak. Finally, the Britishers sent him to the Mandalay jail by a cooked-up sedition case. Returning from Mandalay, Tilak demanded home rule under England, that depressed many of his followers like B.S. Munje. But from Tilak’s own explanations, the author cleared that he (Tilak) was taking one step at a time as a clever strategy. These events were followed by joining hands with Annie Besant for the Homerule movement, Lucknow pact, split with Besant and many more. But some events like Tilak’s interactions with Swami Vivekananda are missing in this book.
This book is a must read for every nationalists. When all of the Anti-Bharat powers are starting to collaborate, and the anti-national forces of India are joining them, Tilak’s nationalism will guide all of the today’s nationalists like us to fight them. The book also describes how Tilak defined “Hindutva”, which will guide us in current times when the Anti-Hindu forces are openly declaring their fight to annihilate Hindu Dharma. Tilak also explained how the Britishers divided Hindus among Brahmins and non-Brahmins. This deeds of Britishers are guiding today’s casteist forces. To fight them, we need a guide like Tilak. So this book is very important in contemporary times and I am requesting all of you to read it.
Lokamanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an educationist, a social reformer, a Barrister, a freedom fighter and a great nationalist. The book starts with tracing Tilak’s early life. He met his friend and companion Gopal Ganesh Agarkar at his college life, whose every characteristic was the opposite of Tilak’s. After completing their education, Tilak and Agarkar joined their teacher to a new English school, which would teach about the cultural heritage of Bharat along with modern English education. The school achieved great success that led to the formation of the Deccan Education Society. This was very tragic that Tilak and Agarkar then started to collapsing their friendship with bitter quarrels that went very disastrous that led Tilak to resign from that society.
But every bitter end can be a start of a new journey. Tilak’s reputation as a journalist boomed with the Crawford corruption case. The author described this case like no other biographer of Tilak before.
Tilak is often be considered as a narrow-minded ritualistic conservative, as indicated by the Rukhmabai case and the Pandita Ramabai case. But that is not true. He expected social reform to come with social progress, not by the intervention by court and a foreign power, The author powerfully proved this.
The author gave descriptions about the Shahu Maharaj and Tai Maharaj court cases and how the Britishers, the Moderate Congressmen and Tilak’s enemies tried their best to put him in court and behind the bar in every excuses. But they failed to exhaust the man of iron-will Tilak. The Moderate Congressmen like Gokhale also co-operated the Britishers just to make Tilak lose the elections.
In current days, Tilak is shown as a supporter of the Aryan Invasion Theory. But the author cleared the concept that the British Indologist Maxmuller, who is infamous for distorting the Hindu scriptures to spread coloniality among Indians, sent Tilak his books and after reading them, Tilak had grown such interpretations.
Many famous and prominent people like Veer Savarkar, Aurobindo Ghosh, Lala Lajpat Roy, B.C. Pal, V.O.C. Chidambaram Pillai came across this journey of Tilak. Finally, the Britishers sent him to the Mandalay jail by a cooked-up sedition case. Returning from Mandalay, Tilak demanded home rule under England, that depressed many of his followers like B.S. Munje. But from Tilak’s own explanations, the author cleared that he (Tilak) was taking one step at a time as a clever strategy. These events were followed by joining hands with Annie Besant for the Homerule movement, Lucknow pact, split with Besant and many more. But some events like Tilak’s interactions with Swami Vivekananda are missing in this book.
This book is a must read for every nationalists. When all of the Anti-Bharat powers are starting to collaborate, and the anti-national forces of India are joining them, Tilak’s nationalism will guide all of the today’s nationalists like us to fight them. The book also describes how Tilak defined “Hindutva”, which will guide us in current times when the Anti-Hindu forces are openly declaring their fight to annihilate Hindu Dharma. Tilak also explained how the Britishers divided Hindus among Brahmins and non-Brahmins. This deeds of Britishers are guiding today’s casteist forces. To fight them, we need a guide like Tilak. So this book is very important in contemporary times and I am requesting all of you to read it.
July 3, 2025
I have always loved to read biographies of leaders of our freedom movement. Especially those that have been hidden from our history by marxist historians. Tilak offers glimpse into Lokmanya's life and freedom struggle and how he became a thorn in British flesh so much that they jailed him for 6 years for reasons as silly as seditious writing. British did whatever they could to get rid of Tilak and prevent him from becoming a mass leader and despite all odds he continued to fight for our freedom. His contribution towards education, media and his knowledge on vedas and his books were eye opening.
December 21, 2025
This is a well-researched book, but extremely and unabashedly biased. Tilak, known popularly as Lokmanya, is presented in a series of vignettes related to the independence struggle in India. He was unquestionably one of the tallest figures in the movement while alive—some would say Gandhi picked up where he left off, even though they had their differences.
However, the author makes no attempt at objectivity, using words like “wisely” (to describe Tilak’s actions) or “foolishly” (to describe an adversary’s actions). This may (arguably) be appropriate when describing particularly cruel or discriminatory actions by the British Raj, but it isn’t appropriate otherwise.
It’s also wildly inappropriate to defend Tilak’s more controversial actions—one of the first issues he became famous for was opposing a law AGAINST child marriage because it was “anti-Hindu”. He was also Islamophobic and casteist, once doing public penance for the “crime” of eating at a Muslim’s house instead of using it as a springboard for Hindu-Muslim unity. His political voting record is also obviously brahmannical. The book not only defends these actions, but frames them as “devoutness” or “long-term thinking”.
Overall I think this is an excellent book to read with a very critical eye. I don’t recommend starting with it when you’re first learning about South Asian history, but it can be useful to understand the basic facts of Tilak’s life and as a metacommentary on current Hindu revisionism.
However, the author makes no attempt at objectivity, using words like “wisely” (to describe Tilak’s actions) or “foolishly” (to describe an adversary’s actions). This may (arguably) be appropriate when describing particularly cruel or discriminatory actions by the British Raj, but it isn’t appropriate otherwise.
It’s also wildly inappropriate to defend Tilak’s more controversial actions—one of the first issues he became famous for was opposing a law AGAINST child marriage because it was “anti-Hindu”. He was also Islamophobic and casteist, once doing public penance for the “crime” of eating at a Muslim’s house instead of using it as a springboard for Hindu-Muslim unity. His political voting record is also obviously brahmannical. The book not only defends these actions, but frames them as “devoutness” or “long-term thinking”.
Overall I think this is an excellent book to read with a very critical eye. I don’t recommend starting with it when you’re first learning about South Asian history, but it can be useful to understand the basic facts of Tilak’s life and as a metacommentary on current Hindu revisionism.
September 27, 2024
I remember being very curious about Tilak's life in my childhood because history books covered so little of it. Tilak, before M.K. Gandhi came back to India, and even afterwards, remained the strongest and the tallest leader of the Indian Freedom Struggle. He built the crowds from the Indian masses that the Congress and other freedom fighters later used for the purpose of gaining Swaraj. But other than the cliche 'Freedom is my birthright', who was the Lokmanya? Recently, at one of his talks, Vaibhav put up all these questions, and more, to us to ponder upon. His book goes much beyond providing the answers for just these questions.
Vaibhav, being a serial-biographer, knows exactly how to give an unbiased view into the life of visionaries like Tilak. The book, without a doubt, is a perfect window not just into Tilak's life but also acts as a source of knowledge for many other events and persons involved with the freedom struggle. (I think I used more than 2 bundles of transparent stickies to highlight important sections from the book) From the Raj to the Lal-Bal-Pal trio to becoming the Lokmanya to the Gandhian Age, this covers every part of his life.
Vaibhav, being a serial-biographer, knows exactly how to give an unbiased view into the life of visionaries like Tilak. The book, without a doubt, is a perfect window not just into Tilak's life but also acts as a source of knowledge for many other events and persons involved with the freedom struggle. (I think I used more than 2 bundles of transparent stickies to highlight important sections from the book) From the Raj to the Lal-Bal-Pal trio to becoming the Lokmanya to the Gandhian Age, this covers every part of his life.
February 2, 2025
This book provides an exhaustive and detailed account of Lokmanya Tilak's life. While many people are familiar with the pivotal role he played in India's freedom struggle, this book delves deeper into his personal life, education, habits, family, friends. Through various well-narrated incidents, the author brings to light Tilak's eccentricities, brilliant qualities, pragmatism, love for his family, resilience, and clarity of purpose. The narrative flows beautifully, offering readers a comprehensive understanding of the person behind the iconic figure.
I am deeply grateful to the author for crafting this work, which not only chronicles the life of a man who influenced so many of us but also offers insights into his personal world.
On a personal note, my grandfather, as a child, had the honor of receiving Tilak's blessings upon his release from Mandalay and arrival in Pune. In the middle of the night, among the thousands who gathered to greet him, my grandfather was blessed by this great man. This touching moment, where Tilak lovingly placed his hand on my grandfather's back as he prostrated before him, adds a special, personal connection to this remarkable biography.
I am deeply grateful to the author for crafting this work, which not only chronicles the life of a man who influenced so many of us but also offers insights into his personal world.
On a personal note, my grandfather, as a child, had the honor of receiving Tilak's blessings upon his release from Mandalay and arrival in Pune. In the middle of the night, among the thousands who gathered to greet him, my grandfather was blessed by this great man. This touching moment, where Tilak lovingly placed his hand on my grandfather's back as he prostrated before him, adds a special, personal connection to this remarkable biography.
February 14, 2025
A very detailed book on the life of Lokmanya Tilak. The author is unbiased and has covered all the aspects of Lokmanya's life; starting from his emphasis on education for Indians, his idea of fighting the Britishers by boycotting their goods, and educating themselves. The book shows he was the first mass leader of India and developed unity amongst Indians for the cause of national freedom.
A must-read for everyone who wants to understand the life of Lokmanya: The Empire's Biggest Enemy!
A must-read for everyone who wants to understand the life of Lokmanya: The Empire's Biggest Enemy!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews