Bharuch - Renowned Persons From Bharuch

Renowned Persons From Bharuch

Renowned mythological personalities of Bharuch include Bhrigu rishi, Shukra, Chyavana, Chandra, Dattatreya, Durvasa, Vamana, Mahabali, Jamadagni, Parshurama, etc.

Notable historical figures include King Nahapana, King Bharumala, King Dadda Chalukya, Princess Shobha (Refer: Shobha Somnath Ki), Lallubhai Desai, etc.

Notable personalities from recent times include K. M. Munshi, Omkarnath Thakur, Ganpatram Himmatram Desai (Headmaster), Chhotubhai Purani, Kirat Antani, Ambubhai Purani, Feroze Gandhi, Sundaram, Burjorji Sorabji Godrej (father of Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Godrej, founders Godrej company), Roychand Deepchand, Premchand Roychand, Ahmed Patel, Munaf Patel, etc.

• Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (Gujarati: કનૈયાલાલ માણેકલાલ મુનશી) or Kulapati Dr. K. M. Munshi (December 30, 1887 - February 8, 1971) was born in Bharuch. He was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to literature and politics. He is a well known name in Gujarati Literature. He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust, in 1938. He also founded Institute of Agriculture at Anand, Gujarat. Munshi was an active participant in the Indian Independence Movement. After the independence of India, Munshi was appointed diplomatic envoy and trade agent (Agent-General) to the princely state of Hyderabad. He was on the ad hoc Flag Committee that selected the Flag of India in August 1947, and on the committee which drafted the Constitution of India under the chairmanship of B. R. Ambedkar. He was also the main driving force behind the renovation of the historically important Somnath Temple. He was the first Union Minister of Food and Agriculture of independent India. During this tenure, he initiated the Vanmahotsav in 1950, to increase area under forest cover. Since then Van Mahotsav a week long festival of tree plantation is organised every year in the month of July.

• Omkarnath Thakur (1897–1967) from Bharuch was an Indian educator, musicologist, and Hindustani classical singer. During the 1920s he worked for the non-cooperation movement on a local level and in 1933 became one of the first Indian musicians to perform in Europe, which also included a private concert for Benito Mussolini. He performed in Europe until 1954 and received the Padma Shri in 1955 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1963.

• Purani Brothers known as Purani Bandhu in Gujarat. Two brothers named Chhotubhai Purani and Ambubhai Purani born in Bharuch were the propagators of Indian gymnastics (Vyayam in Gujarati) in Gujarat. When Chhotubhai Purani took an oath of propagating gymnastics he was just 22. In 1908, Chhotubhai founded the first gymnasium (vyayam mandir) in Vadodara. It is known as Shri Laxminath Vyayam Mandir. He also started Shri Batuknath Vyayam Shala in Bharuch in 1913. His brother Shri Ambubhai Purani helped him in this works. Later other gynasiums were opened all over Gujarat. They envisioned that this will help people get physical strength and help them to fight with the British rule even before Gandhiji came bake to India. Their envision became true when Gandhiji started non-violent movement for independence. Due the physical strength attained by people in these gymnasiums, they were capable to combat the lathi charge of the British. Mahatma Gandhi (Father of India) used to address the Purani brothers as Guruji as a mark of respect towards them for their great envision.

• Premchand Roychand (born 1831) was the son of Roychand Dipchand, a merchant from Bharuch/Surat. He was a 19th-century Indian businessman known as the "Cotton King" and "Bullion King". The Roychand family moved to Bombay when Premchand was a young boy. Recorded as the first Indian broker to speak, read and write English, he entered the lists as a stock broker in 1849. Apart from the capital markets, Premchand Roychand had significant business interests in the cotton and bullion markets along with stock market. He was the founding member of The Bombay Stock Exchange. He reaped enormous profits from the cotton boom that changed Bombay's economy for all times to come. He was also the founder of the Bank of Bombay. The Rajabai Clock Tower in the University of Bombay, named after his mother, was built from a donation of Indian Rupees 2,00,000 by him, as was the library. He once made a single pay-in of Rs 11.5 crore, which would equal Rs 1,000 crore today (as of 2008)! Such single-day transactions by a lone broker are unheard of even in stock markets today. He is also well known for his contribution to society and his donations to causes and institutions that are still very much a part of India today. Nobody knows the extent of Premchand Roychand's gifts to education, particularly education of the girl child.

• Ganpatram Himmatram Desai grandson of Vajeram Khushaldas Desai of Bhruch was the first person to write the "History of Bharuch City" (Bharuch Sheher No Itihas). He later on went on to write another book "India during the times of Alexander the Great" (Alexander Na Samay Nu Hind). Both the books are excellent reference material. Ganpatram was of the Bhargav Brahmin Community and was highly respected in the city during his times. His grandson Chunilal Harvachram Desai who a Civil engineer Overseer from College of Engineering Pune use to work for the Bharuch Zilla Parishad and had constructed a number of school buildings in the district in the early part of the twentieth century which exits till date.

• Feroze Gandhi (Hindi: फिरोज गांधी; 12 September 1912 – 8 September 1960), belonged to a Parsi family of Bharuch. He was an Indian politician and journalist. He married Indira Nehru (later known as Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India). They had two sons, Rajiv Gandhi (also later a Prime Minister) and Sanjay Gandhi. Their ancestral home, which belonged to his grandfather, still exists in Kotparsiwad area in Bharuch. Thus the biggest political family of India, the Nehru-Gandhi Family has their ancestral origins in Bharuch.

• Ahmed Patel (born 21 August 1949) is a senior leader of Indian National Congress (INC) party. He was born in the village Piraman near the industrial city of Ankleshwar, near Bharuch. He is the present political secretary and advisor to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. He is among the core think tank of the INC today. He is one of the crucial leaders in the decision making process of the party at national level. He has also worked alongside Sonia Gandhi and was a key player in getting the Congress Party re-elected in the 15th Lok Sabha. He is also the Treasurer of All India Congress Committee since October, 1996.