Historical Figures

• 8. Vallabhbhai became an independent lawyer after passing the examination of Mukhtari

  After passing his matriculation, Vallabhbhai started working as an assistant to a lawyer from Nadiad. During this, whenever Vallabhbhai went to the court, he would try to understand the details of the case and study himself after taking books from that lawyer. After three years of hard work and self

• 7. Vallabhbhai wanted to go to England to see what is the specialty of that country?

  Vallabhbhai was still studying in the village school that in AD 1893, at the age of 18, he got married to the 13-year-old Jhaberba. Being young, Jhaberba remained in her own life and Vallabhbhai continued to study. As Vallabhbhai went on self-study, he was becoming aware of this That if they want

• 6. The two rioters drove everyone away

  In matriculation, students had to choose either Sanskrit or Gujarati as an optional subject along with other subjects. Vallabhbhai chose Gujarati language. The teachers of Gujarati language used to teach Gujarati but had great affection for Sanskrit language. He did not like that a meritorious stude

• 5. Vallabhbhai did not worry about conflict with anyone

  Vallabhbhai did his schooling in his village school. Being not satisfied with the school education, Patel started doing self-study by bringing books to his home. His self-study was of such a high order that the teachers were amazed to hear the questions asked by him. Soon Vallabhbhai came to be know

• 4. Vallabhbhai did not let any opportunity to laugh pass by

  Vallabhbhai got into the habit of laughing and joking since childhood. It was a surprise that he was considered to be the toughest man of his time, but this tough-tempered man would never let any opportunity of mirth go to his hand. This contradictory nature of his can be seen in his own two statem

• 23. Vallabhbhai got rid of Fox's sixes

  Vallabhbhai still used to fight criminal cases and before taking the case he used to see that his client was not really a criminal. The main aim of Vallabhbhais life was to bring justice to such innocent people who were implicated in false cases. He had no match in uncovering lies. False witnesses c

• 22. Instead of becoming a judge in the High Court, Vallabhbhai decided to practice in Ahmedabad.

  Vallabhbhai returned to India on 13 February 1913. He was full of self-confidence and wanted to explore all the possibilities before starting any work afresh. So he reached Bombay and met Sir Basil Scott, Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. When Scott saw them, he kept looking. An Indian barrister

• 21. Vallabhbhai learned all the tricks of business success

  The barristers examination was passed but there was still some time to get the degree. So Sardar decided to spend his stay in London in a new way. He went to the courts of London and studied their system and functioning closely. There was a difference of day and night between the functioning of the

• 20. The boy from Karamsad village created a ruckus in London

  Vallabhbhais extraordinary hard work in London yielded results. To become a barrister, 12 term examinations had to be given. He scored the highest marks in the first term itself, for which he got a prize of five pounds and got a discount of two terms. Thus six months of time and expenditure were sav

• 19. Vallabhbhai either walking or reading books all day

  Arriving in London, Vallabhbhai started his studies in the Middle Temple. He started living in a cheap boarding house and spent most of his time studying books. His college was about 19 kms from Vallabhbhais boarding house. They always reach there on foot to save money. For this he would leave the

• 18. Vallabhbhai memorized the Roman law during the journey itself.

  The journey from India to London was long, tiring and boring. Vallabhbhai prepared well in advance for this long, tedious and boring journey. He took many books of law with him from India. While other travelers resorted to various entertainment measures to eliminate the boredom of travel, Vallabhbha

• 17. Even the death of the wife could not redeem the resolve to become a barrister

  Of the seventeen years of married life, Jhaberba lived with Vallabhbhai for only six years. At the time of Jhaberbas death, Vallabhbhai was only thirty-three years old, but Vallabhbhai decided not to remarry. The family had not yet recovered from the shock that within a year, Vithalbhais wife also s

• 16. Vallabhbhai kept on arguing in court even after getting the telegram of his wife's death

  Vallabhbhai had to work day and night to send Vithalbhai to England from the accumulated capital till now and to run the expenses of two families. Sardar Patels wife Jhaberba took care of his every need but she fell ill. He probably had a cancerous lump in his stomach. Vallabhbhai could not pay mu

• 15. Vallabhbhai used to give his things to others

  Just as Vallabhbhai had given his ticket to travel to London to Vithalbhai, in the same way he gave his Godhra house to his cousin Kashibhai. He had got this practice from childhood, when sweets or new clothes came in the house, then he would be divided among other brothers and sisters and Vallabhbh

• 14. Vallabhbhai sent Vithalbhai to London to study barrister in his place.

  Vallabhbhai was practicing in the court of Borsad but he wished that he should come from England to study barrister. He started adding money to go to England. His wife Jhaberba also started supporting Vallabhbhai in this work. In AD 1904, Vallabhbhai got a ticket booked for England from Thomas Coo

• 33. Sardar Patel proved that the path of Satyagraha is effective

  The Kheda movement was going on that Gandhiji had to go to Champaran again. Due to this the entire responsibility of leadership fell on Vallabhbhai. Vallabhbhai fulfilled this responsibility diligently. He went from village to village to raise the morale of the farmers so that they should not be afr

• 32. Vallabhbhai gave up the English dress in the Kheda movement

  In the year 1917, due to excessive rain in the Kheda area, crops of most of the farmers were destroyed and one-fourth did not yield. On this, the British prepared false figures of production and started collecting revenue from the farmers by force. The farmers requested Vallabhbhai to ask the Britis

• 31. Begar stopped in Gujarat due to the efforts of Vallabhbhai

  It was a practice in Gujarat that when a government official used to visit a village, all the arrangements for his accommodation and food were made by the villagers and the people had to be given free service, Which was called begar. A resolution to abolish forced labor was passed in the Godhra ses

• 30. Vallabhbhai Patel and Mohandas Gandhi met for the first time in Godhra

  In 1917, the political council of the Gujarat Sabha was held in Godhra. National leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, his great allies Shaparde, Vithalbhai Patel, Mohandas Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah came to this council. It was in this council that the first meeting of Gandhi and Vallabhbhai took

• 29. After the Champaran movement, Patel's attention was drawn to Gandhi.

  Sardar Patel was a practical man. He did not like the talk of extreme idealism and extreme fantasy. Because of this he was disliked by Gandhis speeches. Vallabhbhai felt that the British should be spoken to in the language of the British. In 1917, Gandhiji reached Champaran on the call of the farme