ABSTRACT
A son of Mahārāshtra, Tilak was born in the village of Chikalgaon in 1856 and as a Chitpavan Brahman was an officially recognized leader in the community. He inherited all his father’s property at the age of sixteen and consequently was relieved of all financial worries. He was educated at Deccan and Elphinstone Colleges concentrating on legal studies. In 1880 he founded a private school in Poona with Vishnu Chiplunkar, Mahadev Ballal Namjoshi and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. Later with Agarkar he began publishing two weekly newspapers, Mahratta in English and Kesari in Marāthī, both criticizing the government’s system of education and promoting nationalist ideals. A lawsuit filed against them by the diwan of Kolhapur State for defamation resulted in a four months’ jail sentence but at the same time won them the sympathy and support of their fellow-countrymen.
