https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Mahatma_HansrajMahatma Hansraj - Revision history2026-07-31T11:39:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Mahatma_Hansraj&diff=206981&oldid=prev>Lamperdamper at 13:47, 6 September 20212021-09-06T13:47:56Z<p></p>
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[[File:Lala Hansraj.jpg|thumb|Lala Hansraj {{circa}} 1915]]<br />
'''Lala Hansraj''' (19 April 1864 – 14 November 1938) also known as '''Mahatama Hansraj''', was an [[India]]n educationist and a follower of [[Arya Samaj]] movement founder, [[Swami Dayanand]]. He founded, with Gurudatta Vidhyarthi, the [[Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System]] (D.A.V.) in [[Lahore]] in 1886, where the first D.A.V. school was set up in memory of Dayanand who had died three years earlier.<br />
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He was also a compatriot of freedom fighter [[Lala Lajpat Rai]]. Hansraj served as the principal of D.A.V. College for 25 years, and committed the rest of his life in [[social service]]. Today D.A.V. runs over 669 colleges, schools, professional and technical institutions.<ref name=ar>[http://www.aryasamajhouston.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=69 Mahatma Hansraj] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929083416/http://www.aryasamajhouston.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=69 |date=29 September 2008 }}</ref><br />
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==Early life and education==<br />
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Hansraj was born in [[Bajwara]], [[Hoshiarpur district]], [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]] in a [[Khatri]] family on 19 April 1864.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cush|first=Denise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3N4mGlbutbgC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA283&dq=born+in+a+khatri+family&hl=en|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last2=Robinson|first2=Catherine|last3=York|first3=Michael|date=2012-08-21|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-18978-5|pages=283|language=en}}</ref> His father died before Hansraj was 19 and thereafter he was looked after and educated by his elder brother named as Mulkhraja. Subsequently his family moved to Lahore where he joined a missionary school. Meanwhile, he heard the lecture of Swami Dayanand and this changed his life course forever. He went on to complete his [[Bachelor of Arts]] (B.A.) degree with excellent marks.<br />
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==Career==<br />
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Upon completing his B.A., instead of taking up a job, Hansraj decided to start up a school, the first D.A.V.(Dayanand Anglo Vedic) school, along with a fellow [[Arya Samaj]]i, Gurudatta Vidyarthi. Later he became the Principal of the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Lahore, and president of the provincial Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, the D.A.V. section of Arya Samaj in [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]].<ref>G. R. Thursby (1975) [https://books.google.com/books?id=abcfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141&dq=Lala+Hansraj&lr=&as_brr=0#PPA141,M1 ''Hindu-Muslim relations in British India: a study of controversy, conflict, and communal movements in northern India 1923-1928]'', Published by BRILL, {{ISBN|90-04-04380-2}}. ''pp 141''.</ref> In 1893, the Arya Samaj split into two in Punjab, one section led by Lala Hans Raj and [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] retained the control over D.A.V. College, Lahore. The radical section was under the leadership of Pandit Lekh Ram and Lala Munshi Ram ([[Swami Shraddhanand]]), who formed Punjab Arya Samaj and led Arya Pratinidhi Sabha.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=abcfAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA14&vq=Lala+Hans+Raj&dq=Lala+Hansraj&lr=&as_brr=0&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0 Split] Hindu Muslim: Page 14.</ref> He served as the principal of D.A.V. College, Lahore for the next 25 years, and after his retirement committed the rest of his life in social service.<br />
He is credited of proposing Ashok Dharma Chakra in the middle of the Indian National Flag.<ref>{{ cite news | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/a-salute-to-the-man-who-designed-the-tricolour-pingali-venkaya-285987-2015-08-02 | title=A salute to the man who designed the Tricolour: Pingali Venkayya | first=K.C. | last=Archana | date=2 August 2015 | publisher=India Today | accessdate=6 April 2018 }}</ref><br />
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He died on 14 November 1938 in [[Lahore]].<br />
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==Legacy==<br />
Today, many educational institutions are named after him, including Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, Punjab [[Hans Raj College]], [[Delhi University]], where Mahatma Hans Raj College Road, is situated at the heart of the University's North campus.<br />
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==See also==<br />
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* [[Arya Samaj|Arya Samajis]]<br />
* [[Hindu reform movements|Hindu reformists]]<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* ''Mahatma Hansraj, Maker of the Modern Punjab: Maker of the Modern Punjab'', by Sri Ram Sharma. Published by Institute of Public Administration, 1965.<br />
* An article on Mahatma Hansraj in "The Legacy of The Punjab" by R M Chopra, 1997, Punjabee Bradree, Calcutta.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100413163628/http://www.aryasamaj.org/eng_art/mahatma.htm Hansraj: A motivating Mahatma]<br />
* [http://vedicphilosophy.tripod.com/Mahatma_Hans_Raj.htm Mahatma Hansraj]<br />
{{Arya Samaj by country}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansraj, Mahatama}}<br />
[[Category:1864 births]]<br />
[[Category:1938 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:People from Hoshiarpur]]<br />
[[Category:Arya Samajis]]<br />
[[Category:19th-century Indian educational theorists]]<br />
[[Category:Punjabi people]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian educational theorists]]<br />
[[Category:Scholars from Punjab, India]]</div>>Lamperdamper