Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Biography - Birth date, Achievements, Career, Family, Awards

Vallabhbhai Patel was born on 31 October 1875 in Nadid, a small village in Gujarat. His father's name was Jhaverbhai Patel and mother's name was Lad Bai. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is also known as 'Iron Man' or 'Bismarck of India'. He was the fourth child of his parents.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel died on 15 December 1950 (age 75) due to a second heart attack in Bombay State, India.

His education was mainly from Swadhyaya. Going to London, he studied barrister and came back and practiced in Ahmedabad. After which, inspired by the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi, he participated in the freedom movement of India.

Sardar Patel's first and greatest contribution to the freedom movement was in the Kheda struggle and it was Sardar Patel's first success. In spite of receiving the highest number of votes in the election of the post of Prime Minister after independence, respecting Gandhiji's wish, Patel kept himself away from the race for the post of Prime Minister and supported Jawaharlal Nehru. From 1917 to 1924, Sardar Patel served as the first Indian corporation commissioner of Ahmednagar. He was appointed as the 49th President of the Indian National Congress to organize the party in 1934 and 1937 while promoting the Quit India movement. During the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Sardar Patel was jailed for three months. In March 1931, he presided over the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress. At the time of independence, India had 562 indigenous states. Their area was 40 percent of India. Sardar Patel, along with VP Menon, started work to merge several indigenous states in India, just before independence (in transition). Patel and Menon explained a lot to the indigenous kings that it would not be possible to give them autonomy. As a result, the remaining Rajwads, except three, voluntarily accepted the proposal to merge with India. A referendum was held there in February 1948, which favored a merger with India. Hyderabad was the largest princely state of India, surrounded by Indian land from all sides. The Nizam there, with the encouragement of Pakistan, claimed an independent state and started increasing his army. Sardar Patel kept importing a lot of weapons.

Finally, the Indian Army entered Hyderabad on 13 September 1948. After three days the Nizam surrendered and in November 1948 accepted the proposal to merge with India. By 1947, except for only three princely states - Kashmir, Junagadh and Hyderabad, that Iron Man merged all the princely states into India. Junagadh was also annexed in these three princely states on 9 November 1947 and the Nawab of Junagadh fled to Pakistan. On 13 November, Sardar Patel pledged to rebuild the fractal temple of Somnath, which was built even after intense opposition from Pandit Nehru. In 1948, Hyderabad was also annexed by only 4 days of police action. There was no bomb, nor any revolution, as it was being intimidated. Sardar Patel was featured on the cover of Time magazine in the year 1947. Then in the year 1982 Saeed Jaffrey portrayed Patel.

The Central Government has instituted the highest civilian award in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for significant contribution to the unity and integrity of the country. The award will be given for national unity and integrity and a remarkable contribution towards a strong and organized India. All citizens and institutions and organizations of the country are eligible to apply for this award.

He was awarded the title of 'Sardar' due to the efficient leadership of the Bardoli Satyagraha. In 1991, posthumously Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was awarded the country's highest honor 'Bharat Ratna'. The Statue of Unity, dedicated to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is a memorial located in the state of Gujarat, India, near the Narmada Dam, 3.2 km from Sadhu Bet. Near Vadodara. It is the tallest statue in the world, 54 meters higher than the spring temple Buddha. These sculptural structures are spread over 20000 square meters and are surrounded by an artificial lake spread over 12 km and are estimated to cost 29.8 billion. . It was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 31 October 2018 on its 143rd anniversary. Ahmedabad airport is named Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. Sardar Patel University in Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat is named after him. In 1991, posthumously Sardar Vallabhbhai. Patel was honored with the country's highest honor 'Bharat Ratna'.