Reminiscences of a Revolutionary

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Mahendra Pratap was born on December 1, 1886, as the third son of Raja Bahadur Ghanshiam Singh of Mursan in Aligarh District of U.P. At the age of three he was adopted as heir-son by Raja Harnarain Singh of Hathras. In 1902, Mahendra Pratap was married at Sangrur to the Princess Balvir Kaur, the younger sister of H. H. Maharaja Ranvir Singh, the Sikh Raja of End State in Punjab.

Born, brought up and married in the feudal families, Mahendra Pratap broke all shackles of conservations in social life. To bring India at par with European Countries, he established a free technical institute, `Prem Mahavidyalya' in his Palace at Vrindavan on May 24, 1909. He donated his most part of his estate to the educational institutions in Aligarh and Mathura districts.

Mahendra Pratap was a patriot who turned Swadeshi and tried sincerely to liberate India. On 20th of December, 1914, at the age of 28 he left India for European countries to liberate India from the clutches of the British colonial rule with outside support. He had become a big menace there for the foreign rule in India. The British Government of India declared a reward on his read, attached his entire estate and declared him a fugitive This historic document gives a vivid account of Raja Mahendra Pratap's important revolutionary activities in various countries during First and Second World Wars.

The introduction of this book gives readers a glimpse of his activities in chronological order to make it easier for them to understand the ideas of the great revolutionary abroad. This is an added advantage of this edition.

Under the presidentship of Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha, the Executive Committee of Surajmal Memorial Education Society, decided to highlight Raja Mahendra Pratap's role in the overall freedom movement. On the occasion of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of India's Independence, the society organised a two-day's National Seminar on the "Life and Times of Raja Mahendra Pratap" on 25th and 26th April, 1998 in which 25 scholars from different Universities presented their papers which are now being published. We are collecting source material on his life and works from all quarters. We have recently procured the books written by him and most of the copies of World Federation, Sansar Sangh and Etihade Duniya published by him in India and abroad between 1929 and 1979. In short, the Institute of Society has become a Centre for studies on Raja Mahendra Pratap.

The Society has been conducting seminars, conferences and workshops on different topics relevant to the education and life of the rural people. Some of the topics of the seminars conferences are given below :

(i) Education in the Rural Institutions-29th May, 1982.

(ii) Science, Technology and Rural Development-21-23, December, 1987.

(iii) Impact of Urbanisation and Industrialisation on Society 19-21, December, 1990.

(iv) School Education in Rural India -23rd August, 1992.

(v) Three days National Seminar on 'The Life and History of Jats'-8th, 9th and 10th December, 1995.

(vi) Sant Gangadas Ki Hindi Sahitya Ko Den -17th August, 1996.

(vii) Two days Principals Conference on 'Rural Education and Role of Suraj Mal Memorial Education Society -16-17, August, 1997.

(viii) Two days National Seminar on 'The Life and Times of Raja Mahendra Pratap' -25th and 26th April, 1998.

The Research and Publication Wing of the Society has been undertaking the collection, preservation and publication of material on rural heritage with special reference to the life and history of Jats. It also renders financial assistance to scholars in different Universities who wish to pursue research on any aspect of Jat History.

This publication of Raja Mahendra Pratap's historical document by the society would be a befitting tribute to him on his death anniversary and I shall feel really rewarded if this introduction proves to be of some use to the readers in general and the researchers in particular. I have tried my best in removing many printing mistakes and other errors from the old publication with the help of the writer's autobiography-My life story of 55 years. I must express my gratitude to Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha and Dr. S.S. Rana for their continuous guidance and encouragement on completing this academic project. I am thankful to my friend Dr. Bharat Kumar for his valuable suggestions and keen interest in this work. I am also thankful to Shri Surender Malik, M/s. Books India International, Daryaganj for publishing this book in time.

**Contents and Sample Pages**