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Patel, Vallabhbhai

(Encyclopedia)Patel, Vallabhbhai vŭlˌləb-bäˈē pətĕlˈ [key], 1875–1950, Indian political leader. He was admitted (1913) to the bar in England and set up a lucrative practice in India. In 1915 he met Mohan...

Naoroji, Dadabhai

(Encyclopedia)Naoroji, Dadabhai däˈdəbəhī närōˈjē [key], 1825–1917, Indian nationalist leader. The son of a Parsi priest, at 27 he became professor of mathematics at Elphinstone Institution, Bombay (now ...

Nehru, Jawaharlal

(Encyclopedia)Nehru, Jawaharlal jəwähərlälˈ nāˈro͞o, nĕˈ–, 1889–1964, Indian statesman, b. Allahabad (now Priyagraj); son of Motilal Nehru. A politician and statesman of great skill, Nehru was enormou...

Rustin, Bayard

(Encyclopedia)Rustin, Bayard, 1910–87, African-American civil-rights leader, b. West Chester, Pa. He attended three colleges but did not obtain a degree. A Quaker, he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector fo...

civil disobedience

(Encyclopedia)civil disobedience, refusal to obey a law or follow a policy believed to be unjust. Practitioners of civil disobedience usual base their actions on moral right and employ the nonviolent technique of p...

hunger strike

(Encyclopedia)hunger strike, refusal to eat as a protest against existing conditions. Although most often used by prisoners, others have also employed it. For example, Mohandas Gandhi in India and César Chávez in...

Bharatiya Janata party

(Encyclopedia)Bharatiya Janata party bärˈətēə jänˈətə [key] [Hindi,=Indian People's party] (BJP), Indian political party that espouses Hindu nationalism. The BJP draws its Hindu nationalist creed from the ...

Bhagavad-Gita

(Encyclopedia)Bhagavad-Gita bŭgˈəvəd-gēˈtə [key] [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called...

Rao, P. V. Narasimha

(Encyclopedia)Rao, P. V. Narasimha (Pamulaparti Venkata Narasimha Rao) päˌmo͝oləpärˈtē vĕnkätˈə näräsˈĭmhə rou [key], 1921–2004, Indian politician, prime minister of India (1991–96), b. Hyderaba...

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