Bal Gangadhar Tilak was a key nationalist leader whose ideas shaped India’s freedom struggle. His death in 1920 preceded the launch of the Non-Cooperation Movement, a mass protest against British rule. His political thought, activism, and call for swaraj deeply influenced the movement’s direction across India.

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•  Bal Gangadhar Tilak born in 1856 in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
•  Known as Lokmanya, meaning leader accepted by the people
• Lawyer, journalist, scholar, and prominent nationalist voice
•  Joined Indian National Congress in 1890, pushed assertive nationalism
•  Popularised slogan “Swaraj is my birthright”
•  Used newspapers Kesari and Mahratta to mobilise public opinion
•  Introduced Ganesh and Shivaji festivals for political unity
•  Faced imprisonment for sedition multiple times
•  Died on August 1, 1920, amid rising anti-colonial sentiment
•  His ideas influenced Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement launched in 1920