Born: 26 January 1915
Died: 17 February 1993
Shrimati Gaidinliu was born to Lothonang Pamei and Kachaklenliuon, on 26 January 1915 in Nungkao village, Manipur. She belonged to the Rongmei Naga tribe (Kabui). She did not have a formal education due to the lack of schools in the area.
She was a Naga spiritual and political leader who led a revolution against British rule in India. At the age of 13, Gaidinliu joined the Heraka Movement under the mentorship of her cousin Haipou Jadonang, which aimed to establish self-rule by the Nagas and to resist the conversion of Nagas to Christianity, which later turned into a political movement against the British seeking to drive out the British from Manipur and the surrounding Naga areas. Enclosed by Heraka faith, she came to be considered a personification of the Goddess Cherachamdinliu.
Convinced by Jadonang’s ideology and principles, Gaidinliu became one of his apostles and a part of his movement against the British and convinced Zeliangrong people not to pay taxes and not to cooperate with the British. By the age of 16, she became a leader of guerrilla forces fighting against the British rulers and became a target for the British forces.
In 1932, Gaidinliu and her followers were arrested and she was taken to Kohima on foot and later to Imphal where she was convicted on charges of murder by the Political Agent’s Court for abetment of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Most of her close associates were either executed or jailed. Jawaharlal Nehru on his tour to Manipur in 1937 met her at the Shillong Jail and he promised to pursue her release. A statement was published in the newspaper (Hindustan Times), describing Gaidinliu as “The daughter of the Hills”, and he gave her the title ‘Rani’ or Queen of her people. Nehru wrote to the British MP Lady Astor for the release of Rani Gaidinliu but his request was rejected stating if Rani was released she may be troublesome for the raj, again.
After 14 years in prison, Rani Gaidinliu was released in 1947 after India’s independence and continued to work for the upliftment of her people. An advocate of the ancestral Naga religious practices, she staunchly resisted the conversion of Nagas to Christianity. She was honoured as a freedom fighter and was awarded, “Tamrapatra Freedom Fighter Award”, a Padma Bhushan (1982), the Vivekananda Seva Award (1983), and the Birsa Munda Award posthumously by the Government of India. The Government of India also issued a postal stamp in her honour in 1996, and a commemorative coin in her honour in 2015.
