HARSHAVARDHANA

The rule of Harshavardhana from (606-647AD) being the only consolidated rule after the Guptas is described in details through various sources like

The accounts of pilgrims

Official Chinese documents

Coins and inscriptions

Writings by well known personalities of that period

The predecessors of Harshavardhana was from Thaneshwar. Harshavardhana was the younger son of Prabhakara Vardhana, Raja of Thaneshwar. Prabhakaravardhana died in 605 AD. Prabhakaravardhana's daughter Rajyasri was married to the king Maukhari King Grahavarman. Sasanka the king of Gauda, with the help of the king of Malwa defeated and killed Grahavarman of Kannauj and imprisoned Rajyasri. Rajyavardhan who then ruled Kannauj advanced against Sasanka to avenge his sisters fate. But he was killed by Sasanka. Thus the throne of Kannauj became vacant and Harshavardhana had to ascend the throne. Harshavardhana pursued a policy of conquest to consolidate his authority over north India. Punjab, Kannauj, parts of Bihar and Bengal formed a part of his kingdom as a result of his conquests. By 612 Harshavardhana consolidated his kingdom in northern India. The problems caused by the small independent kingdoms who were engaged in conflicts among themselves was overcome after the subjection of these petty states extending from the east to west. In 620AD Harshavardhana invaded the Chalukya kingdom in the Deccan which was then ruled by Pulakesin II. But the Chalukya resistance proved tough for Harshavardhana and he was defeated. Thus his kingdom in the south was upto the limit of the Narmada. His alliance with king Bhaskaravarman the ruler of Kamrupa (Assam) also prove advantageous in establishing a strong rule.

Harshavardhana is well known for his religious toleration, able administration and diplomatic relations. This gives him a position among the other monarchs of the later period whose role in the construction of the Indian history is significant .

Harshavardhana maintained diplomatic relations with China and sent envoys who exchanged ideas of the Chinese rulers and developed their knowledge about each other.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Missionaries of Charity. In 1979 she was awarded the most prestigious prize in the world, the Nobel Peace Prize, for her humanitarian work. Her labor made her so worthy that, in reality, she gave honor to the prize, rather than the other way around!
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was born in 1910 to Albanian parents in Skopje, which at the time was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. (The city is now the capital of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.) When she was 18, she entered the Order of the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto in Ireland. She trained in Dublin and in Darjeeling, India, before taking her religious vows in 1937. She took the name Teresa from Saint Teresa of Lisieux, the patron saint of foreign missionaries. In September 1946, while riding in a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling to engage in 8 days of spiritual exercises, she received a divine calling from God "to serve Him amongst the poorest of the poor". She served as principal of a Roman Catholic high school in Calcutta, and was moved by the presence of the sick and dying on the city's streets. In 1948 she was granted permission to leave her post at the convent and begin a ministry among the sick. That same year she became an Indian citizen. In 1950 Mother Teresa and her associates were approved within the archdiocese of Calcutta as the Missionaries of Charity. The order was later recognized as a pontifical congregation under the jurisdiction of Rome. Members of the congregation take four vows on acceptance by the religious community. In addition to the three basic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, a fourth vow is required pledging service to the poor, whom Mother Teresa described as the embodiment of Christ. In 1952 Mother Teresa opened the Nirmal Hriday (Pure Heart) Home for Dying Destitutes in Calcutta. She and her fellow nuns took in dying Indians off the streets of Calcutta and brought them to this home to care for them during the days before they died, so that they might be able to die in peace and with dignity. In serving the people abandoned by society, Mother Teresa put love into action. Her spirit of giving inspired many to follow her, and her work eventually expanded to many other parts of the world. Today over 5000 sisters, brothers, and volunteers run approximately 500 centers worldwide, feeding 500,000 families and helping 90,000 lepers every year. In recognition of her efforts, Mother Teresa was bestowed many awards, including the Padma Shri award for distinguished service in 1962, The Pope John XXIII Peace Prize in 1971, the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Mother Teresa accepted all awards on behalf of the poor, using any money that accompanied them to fund her centers. Mother Teresa was forced to scale back her activities in 1990 because of declining health. On March 13 1997, she stepped down as head of the order and Sister Nirmala was chosen to succeed her as leader of the Missionaries of Charity. On September 5, 1997, at the age of 87, the best loved woman of the century passed away. Her funeral service was on September 13, 1997, the 51st anniversary of her receiving her divine mission from God.

Lokmanya Tilak

Bal Gandadhar Tilak (1856 - 1920) was born in Maharashtra. Tilak had many admirers and they named him Lokmanya (admired by the people) Tilak. He joined the Indian National Congress and was among its first militant leaders who attacked the British rule and demanded self-rule for India. He blamed the British that they were exploiting India for their economical gain while they completely neglected the basic needs of the Indians. He was the first Indian leader who moved the Indian independence cause from the closed rooms of the intellectuals to the ordinary people of India. Some of the main nationalist slogans used by Indians during their struggle for independence were slogans coined by him. One of his famous sentences was "Swaraj (self rule) is my birthright and I shall have it". Other of his important concepts utilized later on by Mahatma Gandhi were boycott of foreign goods and use of the term 'Swadeshi', meaning 'of our country' or 'self reliance'.

Tilak supported and introduced social and religious reforms in Indian society, but at the same time he was also a Hindu nationalist and proud about India's past. He tried different ways to gather the different Indian communities together and start unifying them. He started two festivals, which even today exist in India. In these festival patriotic songs were sung and a platform was establish for exhibition of Indian arts and cultures. One festival is of Lord Ganesh – the God with the elephant head - in which the idol of Ganesh is immersed in the sea. The other festival is Shivaji festival - Shiv Jayanti. Shivaji was a Hindu king who rebelled against Moghuls- Muslims who arrived to India from outside India (see India in the past). Tilak also established newspapers and schools. He succeeded in arousing major uprisings against the British and was titled by the western press in 1907 as the ‘father of Indian uprising’.

Tilak and his associates were considered by the British as dangerous and as the main cause for the violence against them and therefore they arrested and deported them. Tilak was deported to Burma in 1907. In Burma he wrote a new commentary on the holy Bhagwad Gita. He claimed that the main message of the Gita was action. With this commentary he tried to convince Indians to rise and fight for their rights. Tilak returned from his deportation in 1915 and became the leader of the Indian nationalism. He managed to bridge between the extremes and liberals in the Congress and also succeeded in signing a cooperation agreement with another nationalist organization in British India, Muslim League.

Lokmanya Tilak died in 1920 and was replaced by Mahatma Gandhi as the leader of India's freedom struggle.

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