Honorary titles of Indian leaders

The following is the list of honorary titles given to various Indian leaders during Indian independence struggle.

Honorary title Meaning Statesman Photos
Azad "Free" (Urdu)

Figuratively = "The Freed Soul"

Chandra Shekhar Tiwari[1][2]
• Babasaheb


• Mooknayak

"The Respected Father" (Marathi). "Baba" = "father" and "Saheb" = "sir"

"Captain of the Voiceless" (Marathi) (Hindi).
"Mook" = "Voiceless" and "Nayak" = "Captain".[3]

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar[4][5]
• Bacha Khan

• Badshah Khan

• Fakhr-e-Afghan

• Sarhadi Gandhi

"Bacha Khan" = "King of Chiefs"

"Badshah Khan" = Master King of Kings

"Pride of Afghans" (Urdu)

"Fakhr" = "Pride" and "Afghan" = "Afghan"

"Frontier Gandhi" (Hindi)

"Sarhad" = "Frontier" (North-West Frontier Province) and "Gandhi" = "Gandhi"

Abdul Ghaffar Khan[6]
Bihar Kesari "Lion of Bihar" (Hindi/Sanskrit)

"Bihar" = "Bihar" and "Kesari" = "Lion"

Shri Krishna Sinha[7][8]
Bihar Vibhuti "Sacred Ash of Bihar" (Hindi).
"Bihar" = "Bihar" and "Vibhuti" = "Sacred Ash" 		Anugrah Narayan Sinha[9]
Deenabandhu "Friend of the Poor" (Bengali).
"Deen" = "Poor" and "Bandhu" = "Friend". 		Charles Freer Andrews[10][11]
Deshabandhu "Friend of Country" (Bengali).
"Desh" = "Country" and "Bandhu" = "Friend". 		Chittaranjan Das[12]
• Deshanayak

• Netaji

"Captain of the Country"

(Bengali).
"Desh" = "Country" and "Nayak" = "Captain".[13]

"Respected Leader" (Hindi).
"Neta" = "Leader" and "Ji" = an honorary suffix.

Subhash Chandra Bose
Deshapriya "Beloved of the country" (Bengali).
"Desh" = "Country" and "Priya" = "Beloved". 		Jatindra Mohan Sengupta[14]
Desh Ratna "Jewel of the Country" (Hindi).
"Desh" = "country" and "Ratna" = "jewel" 		Rajendra Prasad[15][16]
• Gurudev

• Kobiguru

• Biswakobi

• The Bard of Bengal

"Divine Teacher" (Bengali) (Hindi).
"Guru" = "Teacher" and "Deva" = "divine". 		Rabindranath Tagore[17][18]
Lokmanya "Revered by the People" (Marathi).
"Lok" = "People" and "Manya" = "Revered". 		Bal Gangadhar Tilak[19]
Loknayak "Captain of the People" (Hindi).
"Lok" = "People" and "Nayak" = "Captain". 		Jayaprakash Narayan[20][21]
Mahamana "Great Heart" (Hindi).
"Mahan" = "great" and "Mana" = "thought/heart". 		Madan Mohan Malaviya[22]
Mahatma "Great Soul" (Sanskrit).
"Maha" = "Great" and "Atma" = "Soul". 		Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi[23]
Mahatma "Great Soul" (Sanskrit).
"Maha" = "Great" and "Atma" = "soul". 		Jyotirao Govindrao Phule[24][25]
Maulana "Guardian" (Arabic). Abul Kalam Azad[26]
• Pandit


• Chacha

"Scholar" (Hindi/Sanskrit)

"Uncle" (Hindi)

Jawaharlal Nehru[27][28]
Punjab Kesari "Lion of Punjab" (Hindi)

"Punjab" = "Punjab" and "Kesari" = "Lion"

Lala Lajpat Rai
Sardar "Commander" (Persian).
"Sar" = "Head" and "dar" = "Holder". 		Vallabhbhai Patel[29][30]
Shaheed-e-Azam "Greatest Martyr" (Urdu).
"Shaheed" = "Martyr" and "Azam" = "Greatest". 		Bhagat Singh[31][32]
  1. ^ "Champaran flower drive to honour Bapu". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  2. ^ "Bapu tower soon at Bihar Vidyapeeth - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  3. ^ https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=captain&dir=au [bare URL]
  4. ^ "Renaming Dr. Ambedkar in modern-day India stems from caste hatred". 30 March 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  5. ^ Gaikwad, Dr. Dnyanraj Kashinath (2016). Mahamanav Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (in Marathi). Riya Publication. p. 138.
  6. ^ Mathew, Shania (2023-01-20). "Abdul Ghaffar Khan was no Gandhi—he was the powerhouse Pathan who mobilised Indian Muslims". ThePrint. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  7. ^ "'बिहार केसरी' श्री बाबू की 134वीं जयंती पर मुंगेर ने किया उन्हें नमन, यादें की गईं ताजा". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  8. ^ "बिहार केसरी किसे कहा जाता है ?". www.gkexams.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  9. ^ "Congress a divided house in Anugrah babu's hometown - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  10. ^ "3 new bus sheds before summer". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  11. ^ "Martyr bust damaged". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  12. ^ "Thoughts of the 'chatur bania', at Sabarmati ashram". The Indian Express. 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  13. ^ https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=captain&dir=au [bare URL]
  14. ^ "JATINDRA & NELIE SENGUPTA". www.indianpost.com. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  15. ^ "Chronicle of Rajendra babu's life at home gallery". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  16. ^ "Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announces scholarship for toppers - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  17. ^ "'No film shoot with contrarian view on Tagore'". 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  18. ^ "Finding peace in Tagore land". 2018-03-03. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  19. ^ Vandana.Srivastawa (2017-08-25). "Ganesh Utsav Pandals Started By 'Lokmanya' Bal Gangadhar Tilak Turns 125 years: This Throwback Pic Is A Gem". India.com. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  20. ^ "PM bows to Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan, on his birth anniversary". www.narendramodi.in. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  21. ^ "The Pursuit Of Truth". The Indian Express. 2017-10-12. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  22. ^ "Madan Mohan Malviya's 156th Birthday: 5 Important Things To Know". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  23. ^ Vij, Shivam (2018-02-20). "Opinion | Why India is being really rude to Justin Trudeau". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  24. ^ "Manjhi's absence will be felt: Kushwaha". The Hindu. Press Trust of India. 2018-03-05. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  25. ^ "Who was Jyotirao Phule?". The Indian Express. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  26. ^ "Khan Ata Mohammad Khan- Mentor of Moulana Azad". www.kashmirmonitor.in. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  27. ^ Desk, India.com News (2017-11-14). "Children's Day 2017: How Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's Birthday Became Bal Diwas". India.com. Retrieved 2018-03-05. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  28. ^ "Remembering Nehru". Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism | Breaking News J&K. 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  29. ^ "Statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is twice taller than statue of liberty: PM Modi". 2018-02-27. Archived from the original on 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  30. ^ "'Statue of Unity' to be ready for inauguration on Oct 31: Govt - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  31. ^ "It's Punjab vs Haryana over naming of Chandigarh airport after Shaheed Bhagat Singh". Zee News. 2018-02-27. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  32. ^ ""Even Pak conferred title of Shaheed-e-Azam on Bhagat Singh, but India has not" - Govt to look into the matter". TimesNow. Retrieved 2018-03-05.