NEW DELHI, October 4 — The nation paid tributes to illustrious freedom fighter, Sanskrit scholar, and revolutionary ideologue Shyamji Krishna Varma on his 169th birth anniversary on October 4, 2026. Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to his stellar role in pioneering India's anti-colonial resistance on foreign soil.
Born on October 4, 1857 in Mandvi in Kutch, Gujarat, Varma graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, and was inspired by Arya Samaj founder Swami Dayanand Saraswati. In February 1905, he founded the Indian Home Rule Society and established "India House" in Highgate, London, which quickly transformed into the nerve centre for young Indian revolutionaries including Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Har Dayal, and Madan Lal Dhingra.
Varma also published the influential journal The Indian Sociologist, utilizing print journalism to expose colonial exploitation. Facing imminent arrest by British authorities, he relocated his operations to Paris and subsequently to Geneva, Switzerland, where he passed away in 1930. In 2003, his ashes were repatriated to India from Switzerland and interred at the 'Kranti Teerth' memorial in Mandvi.
Revolutionary movements abroad, socio-religious reform leaders, and colonial-era nationalist journals are frequent subjects in UPSC Prelims and Mains (GS Paper I). Aspirants should note that Shyamji Krishna Varma established the Indian Home Rule Society in February 1905 and founded India House as a residential and intellectual sanctuary for overseas Indian students.