Famous Women in History for Kids

-by Sampritee Roy

–Reading Time – 9 min Approx

–Edited by – Srishti Bhattacharyya

The revolutionary movement of India saw the uprising of the national spirit within the Indians. Not only men but also women fought with great enthusiasm and bravery. The patriotism that they ignited within us still influences the unity of the country. The women who are remembered through history participated in the fight for independence and showed their involvement in social matters. Here are some famous women in history for kids who will be shining forever as a mark of pride of our nation.

1. Matangini Hazra:

Popularly known as Gandhi Buri, she is one of the famous women in history for kids who participated in the Indian revolutionary movement. She hailed from a low-income family in Hogla, Tamluk, and was widowed at a young age. She got engaged in social causes under the influence of Gandhi. Her protests and strong revolts made her go through rigorous tortures from the British.

Her anti-British activism made her malnourished and weak, yet she did not give up her involvement in social causes. Medinipur saw meaningful participation of women in the freedom movement, making the district stand out among the various parts of the subcontinent. She participated in the civil disobedience movement and the Dandi March led by Gandhi for which she was even arrested.

Subsequently, she became an active member of the Indian national movement. In 1942, Gandhi’s Quit India Movement saw the contribution of Matangini Hazra as an active revolutionist. She has been subjected to brutality by the British but never gave up her fight for freedom. Her involvement made her one of the inspirational women for kids.

2. Indira Gandhi: 

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was the first female Prime Minister of India and served for three continuous terms. She was assassinated in her fourth term in 1984. The only daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi is regarded as a female heroine in history. She is a very crucial figure in the history of the Indian freedom movement.

She is also known as the first Prime Minister of independent India. Initially, she served as a member of the Rajya Sabha. She was the minister of information and broadcasting under the government of Lal Bahadur Shastri.  She is regarded as one of the famous women in history for kids.

Her support for East Pakistan or Bangladesh during the conflict between Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1971 made a huge difference. She declared a state of emergency where several unpopular laws were formulated.

3. Rani Rashmoni: 

Rani Rashmoni was another revolutionary woman on the list of famous women in history for kids. She was married off at a very young age to a ‘zamindar’. She took advantage of her status to eradicate the wrongdoings and initiated the upliftment of society. She left a mark on Calcutta in the early 19^th century as one of the women heroes.

She handled business with the British with tact and wit. She raised her voice against the tax imposed by the British on the poor fishermen by blocking the path of the shipping trade and constructed several ‘ghats’ along the Ganges. She also donated for the upliftment of the Hindu College and the imperial library.

She even helped the people to earn a sustainable living by engaging in certain activities. There was a rigid cast system prevalent in society then. No Brahmin was ready to become a priest in her temple before she appointed Ramakrishna Paramhansa as the priest. She was a middle-class Shudra and born to a chasi-kaibartla family. She is even known as the founder of the holy Dakshineshwar temple. Her contributions made her one of the female role models in history.

4. Jhansi ki rani: 

Lakshmi Bai was the queen of Jhansi and the leader of the Indian mutiny. She was an expert in sword fighting and was married to Gangadhar Rao, the maharaja of Jhansi. They had adopted a boy.

Lord Dalhousie did not recognize him as an heir. They annexed Jhansi according to the Doctrine of Lapse.  Lakshmi Bai raised her voice against giving Jhansi to the British and created her troop of soldiers to suppress the growing East India Company.

A vigorous battle raged between the troop and the British around the fort of Jhansi. The Queen did not give up, which made her go down in history as one of the women heroes. Tantia Tope proved as massive support to Lakshmi Bai in raging the battle against the British.

5. Kalpana Chawla:

She was the first Indian woman to go into space. The space shuttle Columbia carried seven astronauts, one of them was. She gained a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Punjab. She was also a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado in 1988. However, unfortunately, the shuttle had shattered just some minutes from landing.

Initially, she worked in the Ames research center of NASA on power lift computational fluid dynamics. In 1997, she got the opportunity to fly in space. In 2000, she was selected for the second voyage in space as a mission specialist on STS- 107. The University of Texas dedicated a memorial in the name of Kalpana Chawla.

The accident has been thoroughly investigated to prevent any further such incidents due to specific errors. She is one of the inspirational women for kids in society.

6. Aruna Asaf Ali:

She was a notable freedom fighter who gave fire to the Quit India Movement alongside Mahatma Gandhi. Having a shiny background and married to Asaf Ali, Aruna Asaf Ali became an active member of the congress and proceeded with the Indian freedom struggle.

She was sentenced to Tihar jail where she held a hunger strike to raise a voice against the brutal treatment of the other political prisoners. She took the responsibility of editing Inquilab, the monthly magazine of the congress, alongside Ram Manohar Lohia. She went underground after her property was seized in 1942 and remained inactive until the Quit India Movement.

She was a fierce freedom fighter who refused to surrender even when Gandhi asked her to do so. She is one of the women heroes who is best known for defending Bhagat Singh.

7. Chand Bibi:

She is remembered as the Deccan warrior queen. She ruled the two states of Bijapur and Ahmednagar despite the continuous conflict between the generals. She also started a Deccan confederation and fought against the Mughal army twice. Her name has not been glorified as it deserves to be in Indian history.

She fought battles with other states to keep her kingdom safe. However, she was overthrown and killed by her own people eventually. The court of Ahmednagar did not accept her after her marriage. In 1595 even after she saved the kingdom from the Mughal troops.

She always stood by the people of her kingdom no matter how much the civilians detested her. The Mughals respected her by giving her the name “Chand sultan”. They also avenged the death of Chand Bibi by hanging the one who killed her.

8. Cornelia Sorabji:

The lady is the first Indian woman to become a female advocate in India. She is also the first Indian woman to study law at Oxford University. Her family had led her and her siblings to the path of education and social work. 

She broke many barriers being one of the female heroines in history.  She fulfilled her dreams against the society of that time and had a long-term friendship with Florence Nightingale. She is also the first Indian national to study in a British university.

Returning to India, she helped near about 600 women with legal and social issues. She did not charge any fees from them. She worked on behalf of the Purdanashins, which is a group of women who were veiled and not allowed to communicate with the outside world.

Her active involvement in social causes included the tortures of the women of Assam, Bihar, and Bengal. The Government of India awarded her the Kaiser-I-Hind gold medal in 1907. She is one of the female role models in history, the first to graduate from Bombay University

9. Rakhmabai:

She became the first Indian lady to practice medicine in India. She fought for women’s rights and child marriage in the 19^th Century. She gained her degree from the London School of Medicine in 1891 and returned to India to practice medicine. Despite getting married at the age of 11, she continued to study and prepare herself academically under the tutelage of her stepfather.

She is a famous woman who changed the world by drafting the Age of Consent Act of 1891. It was initiated when Rakhmabai’s husband, Dadaji, asked her to stay with him, but she refused. He filed a case against her which lasted for four years. She wrote under the pseudonym “a Hindu lady”. 

She started writing letters to the Times of India, raising questions about the position of Hindu women in Indian society. Her letters triggered society, making her one of the female heroines in history. She worked as an eye-opener for women who were widespread both in India and abroad. Subsequently, she became the first woman to become a doctor.

She went on to become the chief medical officer at Rajkot’s Zenana state hospital. She stood against all the odds. The prevailing societal norms restricted the development of women, and she made way for herself to fulfill her dreams.

10. Durga Bhabhi 

Durgavati Devi was a revolutionary freedom fighter. She is known to have successfully fled with Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru after killing J. P. Saunder. She is one of the few women to participate in the armed revolution against the British.

She actively participated in the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and observed a 63-day jail hunger strike. She also carried the funeral procession of Jatindra Nath Das from Lahore to Calcutta.

Several people joined the procession on the way. Devi helped Vimal Prasad Jain in running a bomb factory known as the Himalayan Toilets. She actively engaged herself in every call of revolutionary activities. She spent three years in jail when she attempted to assassinate lord Hailey after Bhagat Singh surrendered himself in the bomb-throwing incident.

Her unconditional assistance to Bhagat Singh made her one of the female role models in history. Devi continued to survive peacefully after the Indian freedom movements. She opened a school in Lucknow for the education of poor children.

Conclusion 

Several other Indian women are regarded as famous women in history for kids. The women who gave birth and raised the notable men of the society who changed and influenced Indian history should also be honored. They made us believe that everything can be achieved by bravery and determination. They paved a path towards better days for Indians. Their contribution to Indian history made them famous women who changed the world.

-by Sampritee Roy

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