The Life and Times of Raja Mahendra Pratap

Editorial Note

The saga of struggle for India’s Independence is long one, Historians of the freedom movement have extensively dealt with the role of persons and parties. Memorials and monuments have been raised to commemorate the prominent individuals. With the growing regional identities we find newer personalities being brought to centre stage year after year for according a place of honour in the annals of the freedom movement. However, there is one character in the saga, who has not received attention commensurate with his role in the struggle for India’s independence. It was Raja Mahendra Pratap who established the first Provisional Government of India in Afghanistan in 1915-much before the declaration in 1929 by the Congress of the goal of complete freedom for India. The yearlong government sponsored celebrations in 1997 of the Golden Jubilee of India’s Independence also failed to notice the glaring omission.

It was therefore, in the fitness of things that the Surajmal Memorial Education Society under the guidance of its President, Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha organized a two-day National Seminar on The Life and Times of Raja Mahendra Pratap on 25th and 26th April 1998 in which more than twenty five scholars from different universities and institutions participated and presented their papers highlighting various aspects of the life and activities of Raja Mahendra Pratap. The present volume is largely the outcome of the above seminar. Some papers on Raja Mahendra Pratap presented in other seminars on Jat history have been incorporated here. A few of the articles already published in the Raja Mahendra Pratap Abhinandan Grantha (1976), Raja Mahendra Pratap Smriti Anka of Premabharati (1979) and Raja Mahendra Pratap Janma-Satabdismarika (1986) have been included for their value as personal reminiscences of contemporaries of Raja Sahib.

Anticipating the proceedings of the Seminar, Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha, in his welcome address stresses on the need for evaluating the role of Indian freedom fighters based abroad. Deliberations on such aspects, he hopes, would throw up suggestions, which could serve as beacon lights for future researchers. Shri Manzoor Ahmed in his inaugural address underlining the secular credentials of Raja Sahib describes him as visionary, philosopher and activist rolled into one. In his opinion Raja Sahib was born ahead of the times in which he lived. In his spirited key. note address Professor Suhas Chakravarti traces the perambulatory course of Raja Mahendra Pratap’s activities across several countries and places him in the context of the part played by contemporary revolutionaries working abroad. He reminds us how important it was to conduct research on the life of activities of Raja Sahib, especially in view of the neglect shown by eminent historians of Modern India like Sumit Sarkar. Citing the case of Raja Mahendra Pratap, Professor Chakravarti points out the significance of maintaining individuality and retaining nationalism, retaining your commitment to the nation and at the same time becoming non-communal and secular. He also highlights the contribution of Raja Sahib to technical education and scientific outlook not forgetting to mention his important legacies.

Prof. Ashok Kumar Patnaik puts together the pieces of material available in the National Archives of India, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and documents and books from Soviet Russia on the formation of the Provisional Government of India in Afghanistan in 1915. He narrates the background of the formation of the Government and the difficulties negotiated by Raja Mahendra Pratap and his comrades in this mission, Prof. Patnaik has shown how Raja Mahendra Pratap was able to maintain a critical balance while dealing with the Afghans, the Russians and the Germans for their support of the cause of India’s freedom.

Dr. Rajpal Singh has described the role played by Indian revolutionaries abroad devoted to the cause of liberating India from foreign rule with special reference to the efforts made by Raja Mahendra Pratap during the period of the first world war and latter. He elaborates the activities of Provisional Government of India at Kabul with the help of Indo-Turco-German mission. We are told how the fond hope of Raja Sahib for receiving full support from the Russians after the revolution proved to be dupe. Dr. Rajpal also recounts how with the radical change in the political scenario in 1918 in favour of the Entente powers no foreign government was prepared to directly espouse the cause of the Provisional Government, which became defunct in course of time.

Prof. A.C. Bose describes the forays of Raja Mahendra Pratap in foreign lands, travelling without an Indian passport for enlisting support from all possible quarters for the cause of liberating India from the British yoke ensuring at the same time that the support if forthcoming did not result in swapping of the masters. A brief account of the Raja’s activities or the lack of these has been given by Prof Bose.

Mrs. Yuthika Mishra has traced the activities of Raja Mahendra Pratap from 1919 to 1946 in a chronological way. Covering the period 1919 to 1924 the first phase deals with the efforts of the Raja in seeking support of the left bloc in his struggle against the British. The period 1925 to 1930 was the period of his involvement with the Ghadar Party. The post 1930 period has been shown as the reflective clearly under the influence of Gandhian thought.

Dr. Vir Singh depicts in some details the activities of Raja Mahendra Pratap during the Second World War. The efforts of Raja Sahib to utilize the war situation again to free India have been dealt with elaborately. The formation of the Executive Board of India in Japan by Raja Mahendra Pratap and the attitude of the Japanese towards him have been dealt with in detail. Dr. Singh has also demonstrated how Subhash Chandra Bose was indebted to Raja Mahendra Pratap. The arrest and lodging of the Raja by the American army in the Sugamo prison in Japan in 1945 as war criminal and his subsequent release through the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress party have been described.

Shri Shiv Dhyan Singh and Shri Hari Singh narrate personal reminiscences of their contacts with Raja Sahib.

Among the contributors in Hindi Shri Anand Mohan Sahay shares his personal experiences with Raja Mahendra Pratap as a colleague in the Executive Board of India in Japan. Shri Ramesh Verma gives an interpretation of Raja Sahib’s philosophy of life. Shri Verma finds enough meeting ground between the Ahimsa of Gandhi Ji and Prema Dharma of Raja Mahendra Pratap. He pleads for a closer examination of the Raja’s belief in a World Federation without giving up caste identities, his concept of the originality of Aryan country and religiosity combined with modernity. Shri Akbar Ali Khan, personal assistant to Raja Sahib for over twenty six years recounts his personal experiences with the latter and gives us a peep into some aspects of the life of the Raja. Reproducing the life and activities of Raja Mahendra Pratap Shri Shiv Kumar seeks to establish a similarity of his thoughts with those of Buddha. The Prema Dharma, the World Federation and the New Science of Thought propounded by Raja Sahib, according to Shiv Kumar find a parallel in the threefold Pitakas of Buddha. Sadhvi Mahanandamayi delves on the various aspects of Prema Dharma propounded by Raja Sahib. Swami. Mahanand Maharaj explains the concept of World Federation as conceived by Raja Mahendra Pratap. Shri Braj Bihari Lal Sharma introduces us to the process of Raja Sahib’s evolving the Prema Dharma and the spirituality he experienced. Shri Jyoti Swaroop Singh, Shri Braj Bihari Lal Sharma and Shri Prabhu Dayal Massey record the reminiscences of their personal interaction with Raja Sahib. Dr. Anoop Sharma gives his estimate of the contribution of Raja Mahendra Pratap to society and mankind as a whole. In the end we have a small piece from the thoughts of Raja Mahendra Pratap giving us a peep into his ultimate persona.

I wish to acknowledge with deep appreciation the co-operation of all the scholars for their participation in the seminar and presenting papers.

We express our gratitude to Sh. Om Prakash Chautala, Chief Minister of Haryana, for providing financial help to the Research Centre of the Society. The Society looks forward to his constant encouragement in future also.

I am deeply indebted to Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha for his continuous guidance and encouragement in completing academic projects.

My special thanks are due to Dr. S. S. Rana, the Vice-President of the Society for helping me at every stage in bringing out this publication. But for his help this volume would not have attained the present form.

I also extend my sincere thanks to Shri S. P. Singh, Secretary of the Society for his unstinted help and co-operation.

The Publication of ‘The Life and Times of Raja Mahendra Pratap’ by Maharaja Suraj Mal Centre for Research and Publication, would be a befitting tribute to him on his Birth Anniversary.