This is a listing of people who campaigned against or are considered to have campaigned against foreign domination and cultural imposition on the Indian sub-continent. In India and the rest of South Asia such individuals are often referred to as freedom fighters.
Soon after the Europeans reached the Indian shores, with the arrival of Vasco da Gama in 1498 at Kappad shore at the port of Kozhikode in Kerala, segments of the indigenous population began intermittent rebellions against foreign powers and their cultural values.
Initially these revolts were by Arabs, Jews, Chinese traders, and local merchants as a rebellion against Portuguese traders to protect their own profits. Later many of the revolts had aspects of being over religious beliefs, taxation, administrative power, etc. These revolts occurred against various Europeans powers, but mainly against Britain, the primary occupier.
[edit] 18th Century
| Name | Place | Deeds |
| Dheeran Chinnamalai | Erode, Tamilnadu, India | Commanded a vast army during Second Polygar War |
| Kanhoji Angre | Alibag, Maharashtra, India | first notable naval chief of the Maratha Empire |
| Tipu Sultan | Mysore | |
| Pazhassi Raja |
| RANI VELU NACHIYAR | SIVAGANGAI, TAMILNADU, INDIA | Queen of Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, Circa 1760-1799 | |
| MAVEERAN SUNDARALINGA KUDUMBANAR WORLD FIRST HUMAN SUICIDE BOMBER |
| TYAGI MOHANAVALLI VADVU WORLD FIRST WOMEN SUICIDE BOMBER TAMILNADU |
| THALAPATHY VENNI KALADY BRAVE WARRIOR TAMILNADU |
| Veerapandiya Kattabomman | Panchalankurichi, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu | |
| Puli Devan | Nerlkaattum Seval , Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu | |
| Maruthu Pandiyar | Kalaiyar Kovil, Tamil Nadu | |
| Polygar War | West Tamil Nadu and South Tamil Nadu | |
| Raja Venkatappa Nayaka | Surapura, Karnataka | |
| Velu Thampi | Dalavai | Chief Minister of Travancore |
[edit] Pre-1857
[edit] Freedom Fighters of 1857
| Name | Place | Deeds |
| Bakhat Nasar | | |
| Mangal Pandey | | |
| Tatya Tope | | |
| Rani of Jhansi | | |
| Azimullah Khan | | |
| Rae Ahmed Nawaz Khan Kharal | | |
Nana Sahib [edit] Indian Renaissance [edit] Political organizations Communist India Trade Union [edit] Leaders from Bengal and Northeastern India [edit] Leaders from North, United Provinces, Bihar and Central India [edit] Leaders from Punjab and Northwest India [edit] Leaders from South India - PASUMPON MUTHURAMALINGANAR THEVARThevar became the leader of the All India Forward Bloc in Tamil Nadu, and was national deputy chairman of the party from 1952 onwards. He was elected thrice to parliament.
- Maveeran Sundaralinga Kudumbanar WORLD FIRST HUMAN SUICIDE BOMBER
- Tyagi Mohanavalli Vadvu WORLD FIRST WOMEN SUICIDE BOMBER TAMILNADU
- Thalapathy Venni Kalady BRAVE WARRIOR TAMILNADU
- Alluri Sita Rama Raju
- Amarajeevi Potti Sreeramulu
- Chakravarti Rajgopalachari
- Sardar Vedaratnam
- Kayyara Kinyanna Rai
- Krishna Menon
- Mathai Manjooran
- P. J. Sebastian
- Pattabhi Sitarammiaya
- Kandukuri Veeresalingam
- Sarojini Naidu
- Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan
- S. K. Amin
- Kalvakuntla Chandrasena Gupta
- Pinnamaneni Sreeramachandra Rao
- Pulapa Posayya
- Geda Raghunayakulu
- Krovvidi Lingaraju
- Thiruppur Kumaran
- K. Kunhambu
- Tanguturi Prakasham Panthulu
- Dheeran Chinnamalai (1756-1805), Polygar chieftain and feudatory of Tipu Sultan who fought the British in the Second Polygar War.
- V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936), independence fighter, who launched the first Indian ship on Indian waters under British Rule.
- Subramanya Bharathy (1882-1921), Indian freedom fighter, Tamil poet and social reformer. Often regarded as the national poet of Tamil Nadu.
- Vanchinathan (1886-1911), Patriot who killed General Ash and committed suicide at Maniyachi.
- Quaaid-E-Milath Mohamed Ismail, independence fighter, Member of Parliament and was the President of Indian Muslim League.
- Lakshmi Sehgal (1914-), Head of Rani Jhansi Brigade, women's wing of the INA and a close associate of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Presidential candidate in 2002 President's election.
- A. Vaidyanatha Iyer
- Thyagaraja Sivam
- Chidambara Bharathi
- Subramanya Siva
- N. Somayajulu
- Krishna Kundu
- Munagala Pattabhiramaiah
- Mattapparai Venkatrama Iyer
- Dr. Rukmini Lakshmipathy
- K.S. Subramaniam
- N.S. Varadachari
- K. Santhanam
- Mannargudi K. Bhashyam
- George Gheverghese Joseph
- Salem C. Vijayaraghavachariar
- Sangu Subramaniam
- 'Va.Ra.' V. Ramaswami
- Valangaiman S. Srinivasa Sastri
- N.M.R. Subburaman
- Krishnaswami Bharathi
- 'Vastaad' Sundaram Pillai
- Dr. Pichamuthu Ammaal
- Bharathamuthu Thevar
- Maulana Sahib
- Srinivasavaradhan
- Dindigul T.R. Mahadeva Iyer
- Nityananda Adigal
- Dr. Varadarajulu Naidu
- G.A. Natesan
- Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy
- Pandit Muthaiya Das
- Yagneswara Sarma
- Vignesh Sridharan
[edit] Prominent European activists [edit] Prominent Japanese activists [edit] References |
