Tilak was born on the 8th of January, 1856, in the Ratnagiri District, of a family of Chitpavan Brahmins that led the Marathas against Moghul invaders, and which provided the Peshwas or prime ministers to Maratha rulers. His father, who was Assistant Deputy Educational Inspector for the districts of Poona and Thana, in the Bombay presidency, died when Bal Gangadhar was only sixteen, and was about to matriculate from school. This tragic event, instead of depressing the spirits of the little boy, spurred him on to complete his educa tion. He was fortunate in winning scholarships, without which the slender means of the family would be hardly enough to bear his maintenance. In 1876, at the early age of twenty, we find him take first class honours in the B.A. degree examination, which he passed as a student of the Deccan College. Three years later, he took the LL.B. degree with distinction.
From the first, Tilak had a natural aversion to being in the trammels of Government service. He loved the freedom which would provide wider oppor tunities for serving his country. Having a fertile imagination and great capacity for work, he soon dis covered that the most effective way of helping his country on to a higher stage of evolution would be through the establishment of English primary and secondary schools that might serve as feeders for English Colleges, manned and financed by Indians.
In all his plans and resolutions he had an able and distinguished sympathiser and supporter in Agarkar, who later became principal of the Fergusson College, Poona. It might be mentioned here, in passing, that it was Messrs. Tilak, Chiplunker, Agarkar and perhaps V. S. Apte (who joined Tilak a little later than the others) that founded the Deccan Education Society in 188o, in furtherance of whose policy the Fergusson College at Poona came into being. These were all highly-educated men, with keen social enthusiasm and fired with a zeal for service, 'Tilak being the chief personality in all their deliberations. Mr. V. S. Apte, M.A., was a brilliant Sanskrit scholar —his book on Sanskrit composition being still considered a useful book—and a dis tinguished graduate in arts and law besides. The Sarvajanik Sabha was founded in 1888, mainly through Tilak's efforts, the object being to promote social reform and to keep the Government informed in regard to the requirements of the people.
Unfortunately, some minor differences in regard to the general policy to be pursued in College work, became sharp and acute, and led to Agarkar's desert tion of his colleague, for whom he had unbounded respect. Differences affecting details of social reform came, likewise, to a head, and created further divisions in the friendly camp, resulting in the with drawal of Messrs. Chiplunkar and V. S. Apte from
co-operation with Tilak. Chiplunkar was a most valuable helper in Tilak's journalistic propaganda, in the interests of which he had established the Maratha and the Kesari. It is said that Tilak's attitude towards social reform in general led to this wholesale alienation of valuable lieutenants and colleagues. Tilak's friends tell us that he is not, by any means, a reactionary in social matters, that he never gave his daughters in marriage till. they had exceeded the limits prescribed by the Hindu Shastras, and that he is a radical thinker all round. His antagonism to social legislation to be initiated by Government, however, arises owing to his conviction that coercion in social matters is as demoralising as repression in the political sphere, and that, while approving of the main principle of reform, he would rely, almost exclusively, on prevailing common sense and on the building up of public opinion. His critics , however, tell us that he is fond of tub-thump ing and producing a sensational, theatrical effect on the populace, by bandying popular catchwords.
In case of a less powerful personality, this wholesale estrangement from fellow-workers, with whom Tilak had discussed the dreams of his life, and with whose assistance he had materialised his plans, would have meant the complete shattering of his life-work. Not so with Tilak. His courage rose with danger. And right till the end, he stuck to his guns. He soon found himself in charge of both the papers, Kesari and the Maratha. It was for him to dictate their policy and conduct their management. We are not, by any means, blind followers of Tilak, nor have we the slightest desire to extenuate his occasional lack of discretion or to hold him up as an ideal of political sagacity. We certainly view with astonishment his attitude towards social reform, especially as we realise that he always has been an advanced thinker, not only politically, but also in the domain of religion and social development. But no one, unless party bias, has completely wrecked his judgment, can help admiring his courage. And the spirit of courage is his bequest to political life in India. There are abler politicians in India, as also men gifted with better constructive statesmanship, but no politician or publicist comes up to him in point of tenacity of purpose and a " bull-dog " deter mination. And none will more loyally stand by his colleages in the hour of danger or contumely or persecution.