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Biography

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{{Use Indian English|date=December 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox person
|image =Sahajanand Saraswati 2000 stamp of India.jpg
|name = Sahajanand Saraswati
|birth_place = [[Ghazipur]], [[North-Western Provinces]], [[British India]]
|birth_date ={{birth date|df=yes|1889|2|22}}
|death_date ={{death date and age|df=yes|1950|6|26|1889|2|22}}
|death_place =[[Patna]], [[Bihar]], [[India]]
|occupation =[[Social reformer]], historian, philosopher, writer, [[ascetic]], [[revolutionary]], Farmer rights activist, politician
}}

'''Sahajanand Saraswati( real name Navrang Rai )''' {{audio|Sahajananda saraswati.ogg|pronunciation}} (22 February 1889 – 26 June 1950) was an [[ascetic]], a nationalist and a peasant leader of India.

Although born in North-Western Provinces (present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]]), his social and political activities focussed mostly on [[Bihar]] in the initial days, and gradually spread to the rest of India with the formation of the [[All India Kisan Sabha]]. He had set up an ashram at [[Bihta]], near Bihar carried out most of his work in the later part of his life from there. He was an intellectual, prolific writer, [[social reformer]] and revolutionary.

==Biography==
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was born in [[Deva Village]] near Dullahpur, Ghazipur district in eastern North-Western Provinces in 1889 to a family of [[Jujhautiya Brahmin]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Sharma |last=Raghav Sharan |title=Builders of Modern India: Swami Sahajanand Saraswati |publisher=Prakashan Vibhag, Suchna evam Prasaran Mantralaya, Bharat Sarkar |location=New Delhi |year=2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Robb |title=Peasants, Political Economy and Law (at p. 38, fn. 36) |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-19-568160-4}}</ref> He was the last of six sons and was then called Naurang Rai. His mother died when he was a child and he was raised by an aunt.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginia.edu/soasia/symsem/kisan/papers/swami.html|title=Swami And Friends – Arvind N. Das|work=virginia.edu}}</ref>

The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Saraswati who had formed in 1929 the [[Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha]] (BPKS) in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the [[zamindari]] attacks on their occupancy rights, and thus sparking the farmers' movements in India.<ref>{{cite book |first=Śekhara |last=Bandyopādhyāya |title=From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India |publisher=[[Orient Longman]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-250-2596-2 |page=406}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Peasant Struggles in India |first=Akshayakumar Ramanlal |last=Desai |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1979 |page=349}}</ref>

Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the [[All India Kisan Sabha]] (AIKS) at the [[Lucknow]] session of the [[Indian National Congress]] in April 1936 with Saraswati elected as its first President<ref>{{cite book |first=Śekhara |last=Bandyopādhyāya |title=From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India |publisher=[[Orient Longman]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-250-2596-2 |page=407}}</ref> and it involved prominent leaders such as [[N. G. Ranga]] and [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]]. The Kisan Manifesto, which was released in August 1936, demanded abolition of the zamindari system and cancellation of rural debts. In October 1937, the AIKS adopted the red flag as its banner.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mahatma Gandhi |first=Sankar |last=Ghose |publisher=Allied Publishers |year=1991 |isbn=81-7023-205-8 |page=262}}</ref> Soon, its leaders became increasingly distant with Congress, and repeatedly came in confrontation with Congress governments in Bihar and United Province.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Saraswati organised the Bakasht Movement in Bihar in 1937–1938. "Bakasht" means self-cultivated. The movement was against the eviction of tenants from Bakasht lands by [[zamindar]]s and led to the passing of the Bihar Tenancy Act and the Bakasht Land Tax.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23eYY4sR3KQC&pg=PA175|title=Rural Development And Social Change: Thoughts Of Swami Sahajanand|last=Kumar|first=Dalip|year=2007|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=9788184500004}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GL_yRdwbQP8C&pg=PA79|title=Agrarian Movements in India: Studies on 20th Century Bihar|last=Das|first=Arvind N.|year=1982|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=9780714632162}}</ref> He also led the successful struggle in the Dalmia Sugar Mill at [[Bihta]], where peasant-worker unity was the most important characteristic.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvYpVtBXw5kC&pg=PA24|title=Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite Movement in Punjab|last=Judge|first=Paramjit S.|date=1992|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=9788171545278}}</ref>

On hearing of Saraswati's arrest during the [[Quit India Movement]], [[Subhash Chandra Bose]] and [[All India Forward Bloc]] decided to observe 28 April as [[All-India Swami Sahajanand Day]] in protest of his incarceration by the [[British Raj]].<ref name="bose">{{cite book |first=S. K. |last=Bose |author-link=Subhash Chandra Bose |title=Subhas Chandra Bose: The Alternative Leadership – Speeches, Articles, Statements and Letters |publisher=[[Orient Longman]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-81-7824-104-3 |page=244}}</ref>

Saraswati died on 26 June 1950.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Subhash Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc, said: {{quote|Swami Sahajanand Saraswati is, in the land of ours, a name to conjure with. The undisputed leader of the peasant movement in India, he is today the idol of the masses and the hero of millions. It was indeed a rare fortune to get him as the chairman of the Reception Committee of the All India Anti-Compromise Conference at Ramgarh. For the Forward Block it was a privilege and an honour to get him as one of the foremost leaders of the Left movement and as a friend, philosopher and guide of the Forward Block itself. Following Swamiji's lead, a large number of front-rank leaders of the peasant movement have been intimately associated with the Forward Block.<ref name="bose" />}}

==Publication==

Saraswati's publications include:<ref name="Saraswati 2003 519 Volume 1">{{cite book |first=Sahajanand |last=Saraswati |title=Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Rachnawali in Six volumes |publisher=Prakashan Sansthan |location=Delhi |year=2003 |isbn=81-7714-097-3 }}</ref>

===Books===
# ''Bhumihar Brahmin Parichay'' (Introduction to Bhumihar Brahmins), in Hindi.
# ''Jhootha Bhay Mithya Abhiman'' (False Fear False Pride), in Hindi.
# ''Brahman Kaun?''
# ''Brahman Samaj ki Sthiti'' (Situation of the Brahmin Society) in Hindi.
# ''Brahmarshi Vansha Vistar'' in [[Sanskrit]], [[Hindi]] and English.
# ''Karmakalap'', in Sanskrit and Hindi.

===Autobiographical works===
# ''Mera Jeewan Sangharsha'' (My LIfe Struggle), in Hindi.
# ''Kisan Sabha ke Sansmaran'' (Recollections of the Kisan Sabha), in Hindi.
# ''Maharudra ka Mahatandav'', in Hindi.
# ''Jang aur Rashtriya Azadi''
# ''Ab Kya ho?''
# ''[[Gaya, India|Gaya]] jile mein sava maas''
# ''Samyukta Kisan Sabha, Samyukta Samajvadi Sabha ke Dastavez''.
# ''Kisanon ke Dave''
# ''Dhakaich ka bhashan''

===Ideological works===
# ''Kranti aur Samyukta Morcha''
# ''Gita Hridaya'' (Heart of the [[Gita]])
# ''Kisanon ke Dave''
# ''Maharudra ka Mahatandav''
# ''Kalyan mein chapein lekh''

===Works related to peasantry and Zamindars===
# ''Kisan kaise ladten hain?''
# ''Kisan kya karen?''
# ''Zamindaron ka khatma kaise ho?''
# ''Kisan ke dost aur dushman''
# ''Bihar prantiya kisansabha ka ghoshna patra''
# ''Kisanon ki phasane ki taiyariyan''
# ''On the other side''
# ''Rent reduction in Bihar, How it Works?''
# ''Zamindari kyon utha di jaye?''
# ''Khet Mazdoor'' (Agricultural Labourer), in Hindi, written in Hazaribagh Central Jail.
# ''Jharkhand ke kisan''
# ''Bhumi vyavastha kaisi ho?''
# ''Kisan andolan kyun aur kya?''
# ''Gaya ke Kisanon ki Karun Kahani''
# ''Ab kya ho?''
# ''Congress tab aur ab''
# ''Congress ne kisanon ke liye kya kiya?''
# ''Maharudra ka Mahatandav''
# ''Swamiji ki Diary''
# ''Kisan sabha ke dastavez''
# ''Swamiji ke patrachar''
# ''Lok sangraha mein chapen lekh''
# ''Hunkar mein chapein lekh''
# ''Vishal Bharat mein chapein lekh''
# ''Bagi mein chapein lekh''
# ''Bhumihar Brahmin mein chapein lekh''
# ''Swamiji ki Bhashan Mala''
# ''Krishak mein chapein lekh''
# ''Yogi mein chapein lekh''
# ''Kisan sevak''
# ''Anya lekh''
# ''Address of the chairman, Reception Committee, The All India Anti-Compromise Conference'', First Session, Kisan Nagar, Ramgarh, Hazaribagh, 19 & 20 March 1940, Ramgarh, 1940.
# ''Presidential Address, 8th Annual Session of the Kisan Sabha'', Bezwada, 1944.

==Translations into English==
*''Swami Sahajanand and the Peasants of Jharkhand: A View from 1941'' translated and edited by [[Walter Hauser]] along with the unedited [[Hindi]] original (Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005).
*''Sahajanand on Agricultural Labour and the Rural Poor'' translated and edited by [[Walter Hauser]] Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005.
*''Religion, Politics, and the Peasants: A Memoir of India's Freedom Movement'' translated and edited by [[Walter Hauser]] Manohar Publishers, hardbound, 2003.
*Walter Hauser, along with K.C. Jha, (editor and translator of Swami Sahajanand’s autobiography ''Mera Jivan Sangharsh'' – My Life Struggle) Culture, Vernacular Politics and the Peasants: India, 1889-1950, Delhi, Manohar, 2015.
*Ramchandra Pradhan (editor and translator), ''The Struggle of My Life: Autobiography of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati'', Delhi, [[Oxford University Press]], 2018.

==Biographies==
* Nilanshu Ranjan, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, [[National Book Trust]], New Delhi, {{ISBN|978-81-237-6486-3}}.
* Raghav Sharan Sharma, Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Publications Division, [[Government of India]], 2008.

==Official recognition==
The [[Government of India]] issued a commemorative stamp in commemoration of Saraswati on 26 June 2000 by [[Ram Vilas Paswan]], the then Minister of Communications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pib.nic.in/archieve/phtgalry/pgyr2000/pg062000/pg26june2000/260620001.html|title=Photo|work=pib.nic.in}}</ref><ref name="chadha">{{cite news |url=http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20000710/fpe09014.html |title= A dull June for philatelists |first=Sushma |last=Chadha |publisher=Financial Express |date=10 July 2000 |access-date=23 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226225351/http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20000710/fpe09014.html |archive-date=26 February 2009 }}</ref>

The [[Indian Council of Agricultural Research]] gives the [[Swamy Sahajanand Saraswati Extension Scientist/ Worker Award]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.icar.org.in/awards.htm |title=Indian Council of Agricultural Research Awards |publisher=[[Indian Council of Agricultural Research]] |date=3 September 2008 |access-date=3 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531202003/http://www.icar.org.in/awards.htm |archive-date=31 May 2008}}</ref>

In 2001, a two-day Kisan Mahapanchayat was organised on the occasion of the 112th birth anniversary of Saraswati.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/22346681.cms
|title=Cong erred by joining RJD govt, says Rama Pilot
|work=[[The Times of India]]
|date=23 February 2001
|access-date=23 February 2009
}}</ref>

Bihar Governor [[R. S. Gavai]] released a book on the life of Saraswati on his 57th death anniversary in Patna.<ref>{{cite news
|url = http://www.patnadaily.com/news2007/june/062607/tribute_to_sahajanand.html
|title = Governor Pays Rich Tribute to Swami Sahajanand
|publisher = PatnaDaily.com
|date = 26 June 2007
|access-date = 19 August 2008
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081001010517/http://www.patnadaily.com/news2007/june/062607/tribute_to_sahajanand.html
|archive-date = 1 October 2008
|df = dmy-all
}}</ref>

Swami Sahajanand Postgraduate College is established in his home district Ghazipur (U.P.) in the pious memory of Swami Sahajanand.

==See also==
* [[Agrarian struggle in Bihar]]
* [[Debt bondage in India]]
* [[All India United Kisan Sabha]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|2}}
*''Sahajanand on Agricultural Labour and the Rural Poor'', edited by [[Walter Hauser]], Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005, {{ISBN|81-7304-600-X}}
*Swami And Friends: Sahajanand Saraswati And Those Who Refuse To Let The Past of Bihar's Peasant Movements Become History By [[Arvind Narayan Das]], Paper for the Peasant Symposium, May 1997 [[University of Virginia]], [[Charlottesville]], [[Virginia]]
*Bagchi, A.K., 1976, 'Deindustrialisation in Gangetic Bihar, 1809– 1901' in Essays in Honour of Prof. S.C. Sarkar, New Delhi.
*Banaji, Jairus, 1976, "The Peasantry in the Feudal MOde of Production: Towards an Economic Model", Journal of Peasant Studies, April.
*Bandopadhyay, D., 1973, `Agrarian Relations in Two Bihar Districts', Mainstream, 2 June, New Delhi.
*Banerjee, N., 1978, `All the Backwards', Sunday, 9 April, Calcutta. Bihar, 1938, Board of Revenue, Average Prices of Staple Food Crops from 1888, Patna.
*[[Judith M. Brown]], 1972, Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics, 1915–1922, London.
*Datta, K.K., 1957, History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar, Patna.
*Devanand, Swami, 1958, Virat Kisan Samaroh (Massive Peasant Convention), in Hindi, Bihar Kisan Sangh, Bihta.
*[[R, R.Diwakar]], ed., 1957, Bihar Through the Ages, Patna.
*[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]], 1921, 'The Zamindar and the Ryots', Young India, Vol. III (New Series) No. 153, 18 May.
*[[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]], 1940, An Autobiography or The Story of My experiments in Truth, Ahmedabad.
*Maharaj, R.N., 1976, 'Freed Bonded Labour Camp at Palamau', National Labour Institute Bulletin, October, New Delhi.
*Mishra, G., 1968. 'The Socio-economic Background of Gandhi's Champaran Movement', Indian Economic and Social History Review, 5(3), New Delhi.
*Mishra, G., 1978, Agrarian Problems of Permanent Settlement: A Case Study of Champaran, New Delhi.
*Mitra, Manoshi, 1983, Agrarian Social Structure in Bihar: Continuity and Change, 1786–1820, Delhi : Manohar.
*Mitra, N., ed, 1938, Indian Annual Register, July–December 1937, Vol. II, Calcutta.
*[[Jawaharlal Nehru]], 1936, An Autobiography, London.
*Pouchepadass, J., 1974, 'Local Leaders and the Intelligentsia in the Champaran Satyagraha', Contributions to Indian Sociology, New Series, No.8, November, New Delhi.
*Prasad, P.H., 1979, 'Semi-Feudalism: Basic Constraint in Indian Agriculture' in Arvind N. Das & V. Nilakant, eds., Agrarian Relations in India, New Delhi.
*[[Rajendra Prasad]], 1949, Satyagraha in Champaran, Ahmedabad.
*[[Rajendra Prasad]], 1957, Autobiography, Bombay.
*[[N. G. Ranga]], 1949, Revolutionary Peasants, New Delhi.
*[[N. G. Ranga]], 1968, Fight For Freedom, New Delhi.
*Shanin, Teodor, 1978, "Defining Peasants: Conceptualisations and Deconceptualisations: Old and New in a Marxist Debate", Manchester University.
*[[Anugrah Narayan Sinha]], 1961, Mere Sansmaran (My Recollections), in Hindi Patna.
*[[Indradeep Sinha]], 1969, Sathi ke Kisanon ka Aitihasic Sangharsha (Historic Struggle of Sathi Peasants), in Hindi, Patna.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sahajanand Saraswati}}
* [http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/Misc/Sss/sahaj.html Swami Sahajanand Saraswati images]
* http://www.bihartimes.in/articles/Manish_Thakur/swami_sahjanand.html

{{Indian independence movement}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saraswati, Sahajanand}}
[[Category:1889 births]]
[[Category:1950 deaths]]
[[Category:Debt bondage in India]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century Hindu philosophers and theologians]]
[[Category:Indian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Indian memoirists]]
[[Category:Historians of India]]
[[Category:People from Ghazipur]]
[[Category:Writers from Patna]]
[[Category:People of British India]]
[[Category:Political philosophers]]
[[Category:Hindi-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian Marxists]]
[[Category:Marxist humanists]]
[[Category:Indian Marxist writers]]
[[Category:Sanskrit writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biographers]]
[[Category:Farmers' rights activists]]
[[Category:20th-century memoirists]]

Sahajanand Saraswati - Revision history

JurgenP55205038: updated details

2409:4053:2D12:CC23:0:0:170A:3503: /* Biography */