SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL-The IRON-MAN of INDIA

VALLABHBHAI JHAVERBHAI PATEL occupies a prominent place
among those heroic personalities who worked for India's freedom and
helped not only to win it but also to consolidate it.During thirty three
years of his work for the cause of the nation he dominated the politics
of the nation during the crucial period from 1920 to 1950 along with
Gandhiji,Jawaharlal Nehru and other great leaders. Apart from being
a leader of masses he was a statesman with broad vision of what future
of India should be and an able administrator who handled the complex
problems of the new government with consummate mastery and finesse.
In the words of Jawaharlal Nehru:"History will record many things about
him in its pages and call him the builder and consolidator of new India."
The following is a list of important events of Sardar's life in chronological
order:

1) 1875-Born on October 31, at Nadiad town of Kheda district.Native
... Karamsad village, Fourth son of Father Jhaverbhai and Mother Ladbai.
...Primary schooling up to English. Standard III at his home village
...Karamsad.

2) 1893-Married to Zaverba at Gana village near Karamsad.

3) 1897-Passed the Matriculation Examination from English School, Nadiad.

4) 1900-Passed the District Pleaders' Examination,started legal practice at
...Godhra,the headquarter of Panchmahals district.

5) 1902-Shifted legal practice to Borsad from Godhra.Won Laurels as an
... accomplished criminal lawyer.

6) 1903-Birth of daughter Maniben in April.

7) 1905-Birth of son Dahyabhai in November.

8) 1909-Death of wife Zaverba in Bombay on January 11.

9) 1910-Went to England for qualifying at the Bar At Law in August and
...got admission to the famous Middle Temple Law College.

10) 1912-Passed the Final Bar At Law Examination with first class.
...Awarded a prize of 50 pounds. Left for India.

11) 1913-Started practice as criminal lawyer at Ahmedabad in February.

12) 1914-Death of his father Jhaverbhai at Karamsad.

13) 1915-Started his public career by becoming a member of Gujarat
...Sabha at Ahmedabad.

14) 1916-Met first time with Gandhiji.Patriotic feelings for freedom of
...the nation became strong. Participated in the Lucknow session of
...Congress as a representative of Gujarat Sabha.

15) 1917-Became a member of Ahmedabad Municipality for the first
...time.Got elected as the Chairman of the Sanitary Committee.Succeeded
... in cancelling the appointment of an English officer as the Municipal
...Commissioner.Presided over the first meet of the Gujarat Regional
...Executive Committee at Godhra.Started agitation against bonded
...labour.

16) 1918-The Gujarat Sabha was given financial assistance at his
... instance for fighting the menace of influenza and constructed a
...temporary hospital.Successfully led "No-Tax" agitation against Land
...Revenue recovered by the Government from farmers of the drought-hit
... Kheda district.

17) 1919-Chaired the Managing Committee of the Ahmedabad
...Municipality. Fought against the Rowlatt Bill imposed by the government
... to curb Freedom Movement.Started publishing "Satyagraha Patrika" in
... Gujarati from April 7.

18) 1920-Won all the seats during the elections of Ahmedabad
...Municipality for Congress. Adopted Khadi and boycotted western clothes.
...Passed the resolution in support of Civil Disobedience Movement.
... Collected a fund of Rs.10 lakh and made 3 lakh Congress members from
...Gujarat for the Tilak Swaraj Fund in pursuance of the Nagpur Congress
...Resolution.Decided to establish Gujarat Vidyapith with Gandhiji.

19) 1921-Became the first Chairman of the Gujarat Regional Congress
...Committee. Chairman of the Reception Committee of the XXXVI th
...Congress Session held at Ahmedabad in December.

20) 1922-Collected a fund of Rs.10 lakh from Rangoon(Burma) for the
...establishment of Gandhiji's dream Gujarat Vidyapith.

21) 1923-Masterminded the National Flag Satyagraha at Nagpur against
... the British Government. Got cancelled the punitive "Haidiya Tax"
... imposed by the government on the people of Borsad Taluka in
...December. Became the 'Suba' of Borsad.

22) 1924-Got elected as the President of Revived Ahmedabad Municipality.

23) 1927-Obtained a huge Flood-relief Fund amounting to Rs. 1 crore from
... the government for Gujarat which faced an unprecedented flood calamity.

24) 1928-Resigned as the President of Ahmedabad Municipality. Started
...Bardoli Satyagraha against an arbitrary increase in revenue on the
... farmers. Received the title of "SARDAR" for the freedom movement at
...the Calcutta Congress Session.Made a special place in the hearts of
... farmers as SARDAR-the leader of farmers.

25) 1929-Presided over the Maharashtra Political Conference held at
... Poona and the Kathiyawad Political Conference held at Morbi.

26) 1930-Arrested on March 7,from the public meeting at Ras village while
... canvassing for the Salt Satyagrahaand jailed.Freed on June 26. Elected
...as Congress President on June 30.Arrested again on August 1 and sent
... to Yeravada Jail.

27) 1931-Released from the jail in March on Gandhi-Irwin Pact.Presided
...over XLVI Congress Session held at Karachi.

28) 1932-Enjoyed the company of Gandhiji for 16 months in the Yeravada
... Central Prison.Both had been jailed for taking leadership of agitations
... against the govt. Mother Ladbai expired at Karamsad in November.

29) 1933-Transferred to Nasik jail.Death of elder brother Vitthalbhai in
... Switzerland on October 22.

30) 1938-Leadership of the Regional Congress to obey the discipline of the
... Central Congress Party.Presided over the Kathiyawad Provincial
... Conference.

31) 1940- Sent to Sabarmati Jail on November 18 for taking the leadership
... of the Freedom Movement led by Gandhiji. Later on shifted to Yeravada
... jail at Poona.

32) 1941-Released from the jail following an ailment of intestines.

33) 1942-Passed the "QUIT INDIA" resolution in the All India Congress
...Committee Meet at Bombay on August 8. Arrested on August 9 and sent
... to Ahmadnagar Fort in Maharashtra along with other members of the
... Committee.Imprisoned there till 1944.

34) 1945-Shifted to Yeravada prison near Poona.Released on June 15.

35) 1946-Participated for the first time in the session of the Indian Constitution.

36) 1947-Inaugurated the Vitthalbhai Patel Mahavidyalaya at Vallabh
...Vidyanagar on April 4. Constitution of a "New Riyasati" Department in
... Centre under his chairmanship on July 5 to solve the problems of
...Princely States.Persuaded the Princely States to work unitedly in the
...interest of country's freedom and integrity. He was sworn in as the first
...Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of Independent India on
...August 15. Visited the Somnath Patan on November 13 in Gujarat and
... decided to renovate the Somnath Mahadev Temple.

37) 1948-Constitution of Saurashtra Rajya Sangh at Bhavnagar on
...February 15.Inauguration of the Rajasthan Sangh on April 7 constituted
... with the States of Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer,Udaipur,
...Bharatpur. Signed the agreement to constitute the Sangh of the United
...Gwalior,Indore and 23 Princely States of Central India on April 22.
...Awarded the "Doctor of Law" degree by the Nagpur, Banaras and
...Allahabad Universities on November 3, 25 and 27 respectively.

38) 1949-Awarded the "Doctor of Law" degree by Osmania University
...on February 26.Worked as the Acting Prime Minister of India between
... October 7 to November 15 during the visit of the Prime Minister
...Jawaharlal Nehru to USA, Canada and Britain.

39) 1950-Attended the Congress Session held at Nasik from September
... 20 to 22. Died in Bombay on December 15 after a short illness.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was conferred "BHARAT RATNA" posthumously
on July 12 1991 by the then President Shri R. Venkata Raman at Delhi.
The award was received by his grand-son Shri Vipinbhai Patel.