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{{short description|Indian revolutionary (1906–1931)}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Chandra Shekhar Azad
| image = Chandrasekhar Azad.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Azad in 1926
| birth_name = Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari
| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|07|23|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bhavra|Bhabhra]], [[Alirajpur State]], [[British Raj|British India]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asoulwindow.com/revealing-the-truth-behind-the-real-birth-place-and-date-of-azad/|title = REVEALING THE TRUTH BEHIND THE REAL BIRTH PLACE AND DATE OF AZAD! – A Soul Window|date = 28 January 2017}}</ref>
| death_date = {{death date and age|1931|02|27|1906|07|23|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Allahabad]], [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], [[British Raj|British India]]
| death_cause = [[Suicide by gunshot]]
| occupation = [[Revolutionary]]
| movement = [[Indian Independence Movement]]
| organization = [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]]
| other_names = {{ubl|Azad|Balraj}}
}}

'''Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari''' (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as '''Chandra Shekhar Azad''', was an Indian [[Indian independence movement|revolutionary]] who reorganised the [[Hindustan Republican Association]] (HRA) under its new name of [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] (HSRA) after the death of its founder, [[Ram Prasad Bismil]], and three other prominent party leaders, [[Roshan Singh]], [[Rajendra Nath Lahiri]] and [[Ashfaqulla Khan]]. He hailed from [[Badarka|Bardarka village]] in [[Unnao district]] of [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] and his parents were Sitaram Tiwari and Jagrani Devi. He often used the pseudonym "Balraj" while signing pamphlets issued as the commander-in-chief of the HSRA.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mahatma Gandhi tried his best to save Bhagat Singh |url=https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/mahatma-gandhi-tried-his-best-to-save-bhagat-singhs-life |access-date=4 September 2018}}</ref>[[Bhagat Singh]], [[Sukhdev Thapar]] and [[Shivaram Rajguru]] worked closely with him as his pupil.

==Early life==
Chandra Shekhar Azad was born on 23 July 1906 in [[Bhavra|Bhabhra village]] as Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, in a [[Kanyakubja Brahmin]] family, in the princely state of [[Alirajpur State|Alirajpur]]. His forefathers were from [[Badarka|Badarka village]], of the [[Unnao district]] of Uttar Pradesh.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pratappur Bhaunti इस the ancestral village of Chandrashekhar Aazad|date=2024 |publisher=inext live|url=https://www.inextlive.com/uttar-pradesh/kanpur/pratappur-bhaunti-is-the-ancestral-village-of-chandrashekhar-azad-1708963363}}</ref> His mother, Jagrani Devi, was the third wife of Sitaram Tiwari, whose previous wives had died young. After the birth of their first son, Sukhdev, in Badarka, the family moved to the [[Alirajpur State]].<ref name="CalcuttaEnglish1958">{{cite book | publisher = University of Calcutta. Dept. of English | title=The Calcutta review | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4BAxAQAAMAAJ | access-date=11 September 2012 | year=1958 | page=44}}</ref><ref name="CatherineAsher1994">{{cite book | editor=Catherine B. Asher | title=India 2001: reference encyclopedia | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_BtAAAAMAAJ | access-date=11 September 2012 | date=June 1994 | publisher=South Asia Publications | isbn=978-0-945921-42-4 | page = 131 }}</ref>

His mother wanted her son to be a great [[Sanskrit]] scholar and persuaded his father to send him to Kashi Vidyapeeth at [[Varanasi|Banaras]] to study. In 1921, when the [[Non-Cooperation Movement]] was at its height, Chandra Shekhar, then a 15-year-old student, joined. As a result, he was arrested on 24 December. On being presented before the Parsi district magistrate Justice M. P. Khareghat two weeks later, he gave his name as "Azad" (''The Free''), his father's name as "Swatantrata" (''Independence'') and his residence as "Jail". The angered magistrate punished him with 15 blows.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chandra Shekhar Azad (An Immortal Revolutionary of India) |first=Bhawan Singh |last=Rana |publisher=Diamond Pocket Books |year=2005 |isbn=9788128808166 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sudu7qABntcC |pages=22–24}}</ref>

==Revolutionary life==
After the suspension of the [[Non-cooperation movement (1909–22)|non-cooperation movement]] in 1922 by [[Mahatma Gandhi]], Azad became disappointed. He met a young revolutionary, [[Manmath Nath Gupta]], who introduced him to [[Ram Prasad Bismil]] who had formed the [[Hindustan Republican Association]] (HRA), a revolutionary organisation. He then became an active member of the HRA and started to collect funds for HRA. Most of the fund collection was through robberies of government property. He was involved in the [[Kakori Train Robbery]] of 1925, the shooting of [[John P. Saunders]] at [[Lahore]] in 1928 to avenge the killing of [[Lala Lajpat Rai]], and at last, in the attempt to blow up the [[Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax|Viceroy of India's]] train in 1929.

Azad got to read [[Karl Marx]]'s [[The Communist Manifesto|Manifesto of the Communist Party]] from his comrade Shiv Verma. When Azad was the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary party, he often used to borrow a book called ABC of Communism from writer Satyabhakta to teach socialism to his cadres.
Despite being a member of [[Indian National Congress]], [[Motilal Nehru]] regularly gave money in support of Azad.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Congress and the Revolutionaries in the 1920s |first1=S. K. |last1=Mittal |first2=Irfan |last2=Habib |journal=Social Scientist |volume=10 |issue=6 |date=June 1982 |pages=20–37 |doi=10.2307/3517065 |jstor=3517065| issn = 0970-0293 }}</ref>

==Activities in Jhansi==
Azad made [[Jhansi]] his organisation's hub for some time. He used the forest of [[Orchha]], situated {{convert|15|km|mi}} from Jhansi, as a site for shooting practice and, being an expert marksman, he trained other members of his group. He built a hut near to a [[Hanuman temple]] on the banks of the [[Betwa River|Satar River]] and lived there under the alias of Pandit Harishankar Bramhachari for a long period. He taught children from the nearby village of [[Tikamgarh|Dhimarpura]] and thus managed to establish a good rapport with the local residents.

While living in Jhansi, he also learned to drive a car at the Bundelkhand Motor Garage in [[Sadar Bazar Jhansi|Sadar Bazar]]. Sadashivrao Malkapurkar, [[Vishwanath Vaishampayan]] and Bhagwan Das Mahaur came in close contact with him and became an integral part of his revolutionary group. The then congress leaders, [[Raghunath Vinayak Dhulekar]] and [[Sitaram Bhaskar Bhagwat]] were also close to Azad. He also stayed for some time in the house of Rudra Narayan Singh at Nai Basti, as well as Bhagwat's house in [[Nagra Jhansi|Nagra]].
[[File:Chandrasekhar Azad in Jhansi, in Rudranarayan's house.jpg|thumb|Chandrasekhar Azad in Jhansi, in Rudranarayan's house]]

==With Bhagat Singh==
[[File: Pamphlet by HSRA after Saunders murder.jpg|thumb|HSRA pamphlet after Saunders' murder, signed by Balraj, a pseudonym of Azad]]
The [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association|Hindustan Republican Association]] (HRA) was formed by [[Ram Prasad Bismil]], [[Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee]], [[Sachindra Nath Sanyal]] and Sachindra Nath Bakshi in 1923. In the aftermath of the [[Kakori train robbery]] in 1925, the British suppressed revolutionary activities. Prasad, [[Ashfaqulla Khan]], [[Thakur Roshan Singh]] and [[Rajendra Nath Lahiri]] were sentenced to death for their participation. Azad, [[Keshab Chakravarthy]] and [[Murari Sharma|Murari Lal Gupta]] evaded capture. Azad later reorganised the HRA with the help of fellow revolutionaries like [[Shiv Verma]] and [[Mahavir Singh (revolutionary)|Mahabir Singh]].

In 1928, along with [[Bhagat Singh]] and other revolutionaries he secretly reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), renaming it as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) on 8—9 September,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Civil Disobedience 1930–31 |first=Irfan |last=Habib |author-link=Irfan Habib |journal=Social Scientist |volume=25 |issue=9/10 |date=September 1997 |pages=43–66 |doi=10.2307/3517680 |jstor=3517680 }}</ref> so as to achieve their primary aim of an independent socialist [[India]]. Azad then conspired with revolutionaries like [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Sukhdev Thapar]] and [[Shivaram Rajguru]] to assassinate the Superintendent of police, [[James Alexander Scott|James A. Scott]] in order to avenge [[Lala Lajpat Rai|Lala Rajpat Rai's]] death.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gupta |first=Amit Kumar |date=September 1997 |title=Defying Death: Nationalist Revolutionism in India, 1897-1938 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517678 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=25 |issue=9/10 |pages=3–27 |doi=10.2307/3517678|jstor=3517678 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, in a case of mistaken identity, the plotters assassinated [[John P. Saunders]], an Assistant Superintendent of Police, instead of Scott. Azad also shot dead an Indian police head constable Channan Singh who attempted to chase Singh and Azad, as he was leaving the District Police Headquarters in Lahore on 17 December 1928.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kuldip |title=The martyr : Bhagat Singh experiments in revolution |date=2000 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=81-241-0700-9 |location=New Delhi |pages=39 |oclc=46929363}}</ref> An insight into his revolutionary activities is provided by [[Manmath Nath Gupta]], a fellow member of HSRA in his numerous writings. Gupta has also written his biography titled "Chandrashekhar Azad" in his book ''History of the Indian Revolutionary Movement'' (English version of above: 1972) which provides further insights on Azad's activities, his ideologies, and the HSRA.

==Death==
[[File: The tree at whose platform Azad shot himself.jpg|thumb|left|The tree in [[Chandrashekhar Azad Park]], Prayagraj where Azad died]]
On 27 February 1931, the [[Criminal Investigation Department (India)|CID]] head of the police at [[Allahabad]], [[John Nott-Bower|J. R. H. Nott-Bower]] was tipped off that Azad was at [[Chandrashekhar Azad Park|Alfred Park]] and was having a talk with his companion and aide Sukhdev Raj. On receiving it, Bower called on the [[Indian Imperial Police|Allahabad Police]] to accompany him to the park to arrest him. The police arrived at the park and surrounded it from all four sides. Some constables along with [[Deputy superintendent of police#India|DSP]] Thakur Vishweshwar Singh entered the park armed with rifles and the shootout began. Azad killed three policemen but was badly wounded in the process of defending himself and helping his colleague Raj. Azad told him to move out in order to continue the freedom struggle and gave him cover fire for Raj to safely escape from the park. Azad hid behind a [[Syzygium cumini|jamun tree]] to save himself and began to fire from behind it. That tree no longer survives because it was cut down by the British on the same day, now Azad's statue stands at the place of tree. One of the shot from Azad hit Bower's wrist who was hiding behind a [[Morus (plant)|Moolashree tree]], tree survived for a long time but no longer survives. The police fired back. After a long shootout, holding true to his pledge to always remain ''Azad'' (Free) and never be captured alive, he shot himself in the head with his gun's last bullet. In the shootout, Bower and DSP Singh were injured in the right hand and jaws respectively. The police recovered Azad's body after the other officers arrived at the site. They were hesitant to come close to Azad after finding him dead.

The body was sent to Rasulabad Ghat for cremation without informing the general public. As it came to light, people surrounded the park where the incident had taken place. They chanted slogans against the [[British Raj|British government]] and praised Azad.<ref name="Khatri 1983 138–139">{{Cite book|title=Shaheedon Ki Chhaya Mein|last=Khatri|first=Ram Krishna|year=1983|publisher=Vishwabharati Prakashan|location=Nagpur|pages=138–139}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File: Chandrashekar azad.jpg|thumb|Statue of Azad at [[Chandrashekhar Azad Park|Alfred Park]] in Prayagraj |left]]
[[Jawaharlal Nehru]] in his [[An Autobiography (Nehru)|autobiography]] wrote that Azad met him a few weeks before his death, inquiring about the possibility of not being considered an outlaw as a result of [[Gandhi-Irwin pact]]. Nehru wrote that Azad also saw the 'futility' of his methods and so did many of his associates, though was not completely convinced that 'peaceful methods' would work either.<ref>{{Cite book|title=An Autobiography|publisher=Nehru, Jawaharlal|year=1936|isbn=9780143031048|pages=262}}</ref>

Several schools, colleges, roads, and other public institutions across [[India]] are also named after Azad.

Starting from Jagdish Gautam's 1963 film ''Chandrasekhar Azad'' and [[Manoj Kumar]]'s 1965 film ''[[Shaheed (1965 film)|Shaheed]]'', many films have featured the character of Azad. [[Manmohan (actor)|Manmohan]] played Azad in the 1965 film, [[Sunny Deol]] portrayed Azad in the movie ''[[23rd March 1931: Shaheed]]'' (2002), Azad was portrayed by [[Akhilendra Mishra]] in ''[[The Legend of Bhagat Singh]]'' (2002) and [[Raj Zutshi]] portrayed Azad in ''[[Shaheed-E-Azam]]'' (2002). In the 2006 film, ''[[Rang De Basanti]]'', produced and directed by [[Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra]], Azad was portrayed by [[Aamir Khan]], which was about the lives of Azad, [[Bhagat Singh]], [[Shivaram Rajguru]], [[Ram Prasad Bismil]], and [[Ashfaqulla Khan]]; the film drew parallels between the lives of young revolutionaries such as Azad and Singh, and today's youth, and dwelt upon the lack of appreciation among Indian youth today for the sacrifices made by these men.<ref>{{Cite AV media|via=YouTube|publisher=Film Writers Association|title=Is The Indian Script Unique|date=13 April 2012|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BFSpBoX9uM&t=23m34s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/8BFSpBoX9uM |archive-date=13 December 2021 |url-status=live|time=23:34|access-date=1 August 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The 2018 television series ''[[Chandrashekhar (TV series)|Chandrashekhar]]'' chronicled the life of Azad from his childhood to his being a revolutionary leader. In the series, young Azad was portrayed by Ayaan Zubair, Azad in his teens by [[Dev Joshi]] and the adult Azad by Karan Sharma.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/this-peace-is-the-result-of-the-sacrifice-of-freedom-fighters-like-azad-ayaan-zubair/articleshow/63545605.cms|title=This peace is the result of the sacrifice of freedom fighters like Azad: Ayaan Zubair |work=[[The Times of India]]|date=31 March 2018 }}</ref>

In 2023 [[DD National]] serial [[Swaraj (TV series)|''Swaraj'']] included a full episode (epi:65) on Chandra Shekar Azad. The title role of Chandra Shekar Azad was played by actor [[Manish Naggdev]].

== See also ==
* [[Bhagat Singh]]
* [[Ashfaqulla Khan]]
* [[Kakori Train Robbery]]
* [[History of India]]
* [[Partition of India]]
* [[Partition of Bengal (1905)]]
* [[Independence Day (India)]]
* [[Indian independence movement]]
* [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]
* [[Women of the Indian independence movement]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==

* Brahmdutt, Chandramani. ''Kranti Ki Laptain''. {{ISBN|81-88167-30-4}} {{in lang|hi}}
* Krishnamurthy, Babu. ''Ajeya'' ("Unconquered"). Biography of Azad {{in lang|kn}}
* Amar Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad by Vaishampayan (in Hindi)
* Waiting for Swaraj: Inner Lives of Indian Revolutionaries by Aparna Vaidik

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Chandra Shekhar Azad}}

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Indian Revolutionary Movement}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azad, Chandra Shekhar}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1931 deaths]]
[[Category:Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian nationalists]]
[[Category:Indian socialists]]
[[Category:People from Alirajpur district]]
[[Category:People from Jhansi]]
[[Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in India]]
[[Category:Indian independence armed struggle activists]]
[[Category:1931 suicides]]

Chandra Shekhar Azad - Revision history

Info at 05:15, 28 February 2026