Women In Indian Independence movement

1.) Swadeshi movement :- After the partition of bengal

Sarojini naidu :-

Sarojini Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of a state in India.(Uttar Pradesh)

She travelled all over India and carried India`s message to the USA and other countries. She was a participant in the Second Round Table Conference as a representative of Indian women, along with Gandhiji

S. Ambujammal  -

Ambujammal worked towards making women self-supportive. She organised welfare schemes for destitute women, provided food and basic education for orphans. This she did by starting a printing press to provide vocational training. She studied Hindi and taught it as Gandhi emphasised that the knowledge of Hindi was important to bring the people of India together. Ambujammal was awarded the Padma Sri in 1964.

A.V. Kuttimalu Amma :-

A.V. Kuttimalu Amma actively participated in all movements of the Congress in Kerala. She was an advocate of khadi who led batches of women picketing foreign cloth shops during the Swadeshi movement. During the Quit India movement, the government had banned the Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi for publishing a feature on European soldiers' misbehaving with women in Kochi. Amma led a procession of women, holding her 2-month-old baby in her arms, breaking the ban order in Calicut. When she was arrested, she demanded and gained permission to carry her baby to the Presidency jail. Public outcry against the decision forced the government to cancel the order. Amma served as KPCC President, MLA and Director of Mathrubhumi.


2.) Non cooperation movement :-

Basanti devi :-

Basanti Devi was the first Indian woman to be arrested during the non-cooperation movement for selling khadi

Subhash Chandra Bose addressed her as `Ma` (mother).

She called upon the people of Bengal to make politics an integral part of their life.

She founded the Chittaranjan SevaSadan for thewelfare of the needy mothers at the site of their historic house on Russa Road.

Raj kmari amrit kaur

She was the Princess of Kapurthala. She was a living legend who fought for the political freedom of the country and for the emancipation of multitude of people in Punjab. She was an important woman activist who travelled throughout the country to spread the message of propagating freedom. She believed that all religions preached love for fellow beings.

when Jawaharlal formed the Interim Government, Amrit Kaur became the first Union Minister of Health. She was also the Minister of Sports and the Chairman of Indian Indian Red Cross. She established the Tuberculosis Association of India and became its first President. She also initiated the construction of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Amrit Kaur continued as Health Minister after the first general election. After the elections, she was dropped as she was away at WHO Assembly in Geneva and thus the Health portfolio passed into the hands of a lawyer from Karnataka

Muthulakshmi Reddy :-

the first woman legislator, was appointed to the Chennai Legislative Council in 1927.

Muthulakshmi Reddy was the President of the All-India Women`s Conference. She passed the Bill for the suppression of brothels and immoral trafficking in women and children.

3.)Civil disobedient movement :- After the ignorance of 11 points by lord Irwin (salt satyagrah )

Kamala Nehru :-

She was the wife of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and the mother of Indira Gandhi. Kamala was known as "the Delhi beauty".

By the end of 1931, Kamala`s health worsened. Still, she was active in politics. She participated in the Civil Disobedience movement. In July 1934, she suffered a severe attack of pleurisy. During that time Jawaharlal was in jail.

Durgabai Deshmukh

She was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, social worker and politician. She was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and the Planning Commission of India.

She was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi in India's struggle for freedom from the British Raj, and a prominent social reformer who participated in Gandhi-led Satyagraha activities. This led to British Raj authorities imprisoning her three different times.


Rukmini Lakshmipathi – Salt satyagrah

Born in Madras, she joined the Congress in 1923 and gave all her jewellery to the Harijan Welfare Fund. She was imprisoned for taking part in the salt sathyagraha. She was a great social reformer and worked for the upliftment of women in society. 

Kothainayaki Ammal – Write poem for independence

In addition to being a Magazine editor, author, singer and a playwright, Kothai wore one more cap also, that of a Freedom Fighter. Through Anne Besant, Kothai befriended social worker Ambujam Ammal. She also could meet Mahatma Gandhi in 1925.

 This meeting produced a great impact in the mind of Kothai. Impressed by the simplicity of the Mahatma, and his powerful oration, Kothai renounced her interest in luxurious living and started wearing only Khadhi Sarees, discarding silk dresses and gold and diamond jewelleries. She plunged into social service activities, along with Ambujam Ammal, Rukmany Lakshmipathy and Vasumathi Ramaswamy.

Responding to the Mahatma’s call in 1931, she participated in the satyagraha agitation against Toddy and Liquor shops and was arrested by the Police and received a prison sentence for 6 months which was increased to 8 months when she refused to pay the fine that was imposed on her by the court.



4.)Quit India movement :- Final call for Independence

Aruna asaf ali

Aruna Ali was a freedom fighter and is widely remembered for hoisting the Congress flag at Bombay during the Quit India Movement. She is known as the `Grand Old Lady` of the Independence Movement.

To organize the resistance movement Aruna came to Delhi from Bombay. The police was desperately looking for her and she went underground to escape capture. The police had announced an award of Rs.5, 000/ - for her capture. But the police failed to capture her. Calcutta was the first city to honor Aruna after her emergence from underground. Her return to Delhi was an occasion rejoiced by her family and friends. After years of struggle and action, the rebel in Aruna had emerged stronger than ever before. She openly differed with leaders like Gandhiji, Nehru and Maulana Azad, but mutual respect and affection did not allow a serious break.

Usha Mehta:-

Usha Mehta is remembered for broad casting the Congress Radio, and called her the Secret Congress Radio, an underground radio station, which was functioned for few months during the Quit India Movement of 1942.

She is also known as child leader as in 1928, eight-year-old Usha participated in a protest march against the Simon Commission and shouted her first words of protest against the British Raj: “Simon Go Back.” As a child, she did not comprehend the significance of her actions except that she was participating in a movement to free her country under the leadership of Gandhi. She and many other children participated in morning protests against the British Raj and picketing in front of liquor shops.

During the Quit India Movement, Usha quickly became a leader. She moved from New Delhi to Mumbai, where she hoisted the tricolor on August 9, 1942 at Gawalia Tank Ground.

Padmaja Naidu –

Daughter of Sarojini Naidu, Padmaja Naidu devoted herself to the cause of the nation like her mother. She was the joint founder of the Indian National Congress of Hyderabad. She spread the message of Khadi and inspired people to boycott foreign goods. She was imprisoned for taking part in the Quit India movement.

Padmavalli Bharti -

In 1944, the call came for volunteers to serve the country. Gandhiji proposed to hold meetings in the Hindi Prachar Sabha, Madras. Many enthusiastic students, including Padmavalli, became Freedom movement.

Maya Thomas – Satyagrah

She joined the Satyagraha movement in 1941 as a research student in the politics department of the Madras University. She would sneak out of the hostel at dawn with Shakuntala Reddy, and distribute newspapers on the freedom movement. The actual printing was done by the men but the printing machine was kept under her cot because women were seldom suspected of taking part in such activities. She and Diraviam finalised the modus operandi for the picketing at the secretariat. Along with Shakunthala, Mahalakshmi and Anasuya, she was taken to the Magistrate’s Court in Egmore, sentenced to six months simple imprisonment and taken to the Vellore women’s jail.

K. B. Sundarambal – Actress

She was a renowned stage artist and singer from Erode, Tamil Nadu. She was popularly referred to as the "Queen of the Indian stage."[2] She was noted both for her resonant, vibrant voice and for the dignity of her performances. A political activist during the Indian independence movement, K.B. Sundarambal was the first film personality to enter a state legislature in India

Sister Subbalakshmi  - All India women conference , Vidhya mandir

Sister Subbalakshmi was a great crusader for women’s rights in general and widows’ rights in particular in the Madras Presidency. She was associated with organizations like the All-India Women's Conference and Women’s Indian Association. Sister Subbalakshmi began her pioneering work for destitute women way back in 1915. Widowed at a very young age, she strived to improve the condition of child widows through proper education.13 She started a social welfare centre for women and children near Tambaram, a school for women called Srividya Kalanilayam in Vidya Colony and an elementary school at Maduranthakam. As the founder of the Mylapore Ladies Club, she started the Vidya Mandir School at Mylapore in 1956. She received the Padma Shri in 1960.

Shakuntala Krishna Reddy – Harijan fund

Seven-year-old Shakuntala removed her two pairs of bangles, went up to the dais and gave them to Gandhi as contribution to the Harijan fund. Inspired by her parents, she joined the movement and participated in the picketing at the secretariat and went to jail.

subbamma duvvuri :-

Subbamma Duvvuri was a freedom fighter.

 Then nationalism inspired her and she became a She was the first woman leader in Andhra to be sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for political activities. She attended every session of the Congress, and started a women’s wing of the Andhra Congress in 1921.

She campaigned to separate Andhra from Madras. In 1924 she started a school for women, the Sanatana Stree Vidyalaya, at Rajamundry, where places were reserved for widows.


Manjubhashini  -

Manjubhashini fell in love with Gandhiji’s principles as a young girl. She shook off the comforts of a wealthy life to join his fight for freedom. She burned foreign goods on Thambu Chetty Street in the city with Durgabai Deshmukh, rehabilitated Indians forced out of Burma in a camp in Madras in the early 1940s…Courting arrest for the country was nothing new for her. N. Gandhimathi, who knew her from the time she was eight, recalls how ‘Manjuma’ was like Gandhiji to her.

“She was responsible for all the arrangements for Gandhiji’s prayer meeting held at Hindi Prachar Sabha during 1942-43,” she says. Manjubhashini worked meticulously to create a home for abandoned children in the city. Called Bala Mandir, she got it registered with the encouragement of K. Kamaraj in 1949. Even today, the home runs successfully in T. Nagar. The bust of Manjubashini can be seen on the premises of Bala Mandir.


Hemlata Shenolikar and Gulwadi, together hoisted the National flag (the latter making a second attempt as well) in the judge’s chamber in Dharwad, and were fined and imprisoned.

5.) In Indian revolutionaries Activity :-

Nonibala Devi :-


She joined the Jugantar Party, one of the most  powerful revolutionary groups, She supported the network's activities and, like the most revolutionaries, came to be convinced that the British could be ousted only through force. She was arrested in Peshawar for possessing arms and ammunition and deported to Calcutta jail. Nanibala was the first and only woman to be tortured by the police under the Regulation III of 1818. She also became the Calcutta jail's first woman prisoner.

Kalpna dutt :-

She was an Indian independence movement activist and a member of the armed resistance movement led by Surya Sen, which carried out the Chittagong armoury raid in 1930

The Chittagong armoury raid was carried out on 18 April 1930. Kalpana joined the "Indian Republican Army, Cattagram branch", the armed resistance group led by Surya Sen in May 1931. In September, 1931 Surya Sen entrusted her along with Pritilata Waddedar to attack the European Club in Chittagong. But a week before the attack, she was arrested while carrying out reconnaissance of the area.

Pritilata waddedar :-

he was a Bengali revolutionary nationalist.[ She led a 15 man team of revolutionaries[4] in a 1932 attack on the Pahartali European Club,[5][6] which had a sign board that read "Dogs and Indians not allowed".[2] The revolutionaries torched the club and were later caught by the British police. To avoid getting arrested, Pritilata consumed cyanide and died

Bina das:-

Bina Das was a member of Chhatri Sangha, a semi-revolutionary organisation for women in Kolkata. On 6 February 1932, she attempted to assassinate the Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson, a former England cricket captain, in the Convocation Hall of the University of Calcutta. She fired five shots but failed[1] and was sentenced to nine years of rigorous imprisonment.[2]

Sunity chaudhry and shanty gosh :-

They were member of Jugantar group ,At the age of 14 year they killed the distict magistare of comila,Bengal – Mr.stevens at first bullet shot.

6.) Indian National army :-

Laxmi shahegal :-

She was a revolutionist of the Indian independence movement, an officer of the Indian National Army, and the Minister of Women's Affairs in the Azad Hind government. Sahgal is commonly referred to in India as Captain Lakshmi