Ram Nath Puri
Ram Nath Puri | |
---|---|
Born | India | 21 September 1881
Died | 1974 Los Angeles |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Editor of Indian revolutionary magazine Circular-i-Azadi |
Ram Nath Puri (or Ramnath Puri) was an
Early life
Puri was born to a Punjabi[2] family on 21 September 1881.[3][4][5] His father was Jawala Mul Puri from the village of Khem Karan, in what was then the Lahore District of British India.[1]
He started his career as a bank clerk in Lahore,[1] when he published two anti-colonial pamphlets and a political cartoon of an emaciated "Father India" bound in chains.[6] He attracted the attention of British authorities for having published what they termed "objectionable pamphlets" and a "seditious cartoon."[7] The British confiscated Puri's pamphlets, arrested his agent, and harassed him directly. He decided to leave India.[6]
In late 1906,[2][8] he migrated to the United States, as a political exile, according to historian Bipan Chandra.[9]
Activism in the United States
In 1907, he founded the Hindustan Association. According to his own description in Circular-i-Azadi, the association was based in San Francisco, California, and had branches in Astoria, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia.[7] Lalkar describes "the principal condition for membership of the HA was that the members would rid themselves of prejudice based on caste, colour and creed."[2]
Between 1907 and 1908, he launched and published three issues of Circular-i-Azadi (also transliterated as Circular-e-Azadi), an Urdu language paper critical of British rule in India and focused on political education, published out of San Francisco and Oakland, California.[1][8][10] The first issue was printed using lithography.[11]
Historian Maia Ramnath described Circular-i-Azadi as "one of the first significant pieces of anticolonial propaganda circulated on the West Coast."
Circular-i-Azadi came to the attention of the British
Life in the United States
In the United States, Ramnath Puri worked as a hospital watchman, interpreter, mining college student, fruit picker, waiter, entrepreneur, and postal worker.[7][12]
According to Karen Leonard, Puri "returned for his wife in 1906 and brought her to San Francisco, where he had become a U.S. citizen…the three Puri children were born in the first two decades of the century."[13]
In 1908, the Overland Monthly described Puri as a student of English.[14]
In 1910, he acquired land in Oakland, California.[7]
As of 1917, he was described as a naturalized United States citizen, an alumnus of the University of California, a well-known author, and a San Francisco area resident of ten years.[15]
In 1917, he launched a new publication called Rafiq-i-Hind (or "Friend of India") from Stockton, California, with news of interest to the "Hindu" (Indian) community.[15]
In 1947, he published How to Conquer Poverty & Famine in India by American Methods. In it, he describes his choice to leave the United States, and his Californian family, including a son "who is engaged in a business of his own, and a daughter "who is in the Civil Service of the California State Government."[16]
He died in Los Angeles, California in 1974.[5]
References
- ^ ISBN 9788177700565.
- ^ a b c "100th Anniversary of the Ghadar movement – a salute to the forerunners of the Indian liberation struggle". Lalkar. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ^ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZKQ-ZTV : accessed 28 February 2016), Ram Nath Puri, 1917-1918; citing San Joaquin County, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,544,322.
- ^ "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V48D-LVY : accessed 28 February 2016), Ram Nath Puri, 1942; citing NARA microfilm publication M1936, M1937, M1939, M1951, M1962, M1964, M1986, M2090, and M2097 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
- ^ a b "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPHG-MHJ : accessed 28 February 2016), Ram N Puri, 21 Sep 1974; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
- ^ a b Ganguly, Anil Baran (1 January 1980). Ghadar Revolution in America. Metropolitan. pp. 31–32.
- ^ ISBN 9780520950399.
- ^ ISBN 9780199376254.
- ^ ISBN 9788184751833.
- ^ Singh, Inder (2013). "Gadar Centennial Commemoration 2013" (PDF). Global Organization of People of Indian Origin.
- ISBN 9780836411133.
- ^ "Hindu Resigns From Service". The Union Postal Employee. Washington, DC. February 1918.
- ISBN 9781439903643.
- ^ Puri, Ram Nath (July 1908). "A New Light in India". Overland Monthly.
- ^ a b "Rafiq-i-Hind". The Hindustanee Student: 15. March 1917.
- ^ Puri, Ram Nath (1 January 1947). How to conquer poverty & famine in India by American methods. Padmaja Publications.