10 Powerful and Greatest Women in Indian History

In this guide, we have discovered the extraordinary legacy of Indian women who left an unforgettable mark on history. From Rani Lakshmibai’s valour to Sarojini Naidu’s poetic prowess, these remarkable figures, including Indira Gandhi and Kiran Bedi, reshaped India’s narrative. Their achievements, spanning politics, literature, aviation, and more, continue to inspire generations globally.

Introduction

Here, we see that women have played a key role in shaping the rich tapestry of Indian history. From rulers and freedom fighters to modern-day influencers, their contributions have left an unforgettable mark on the nation’s identity. This exploration delves into the lives of ten remarkable women who have significantly impacted India’s historical narrative.

Historical Figures in Indian History

Ahilyabai Holkar

Ahilyabai Holkar

Major achievements: Queen of Malwa; philosopher queen; ideal ruler

Ahilyabai Holkar, born on 31st May 1725 Chondi to 13 August 1795 Indore a major 18th-century queen in Malwa, was renowned for her creative rule and dedication to public welfare. Her power marked the creation of impressive architectural wonders such as temples and forts, leaving an indelible mark on India’s history. Ahilyabai’s administrative skills and commitment to her people continue to be celebrated, making her a revered figure in the nation’s legacy.

Rani Lakshmibai

Rani Lakshmibai

Rani Lakshmibai, born on 19th November 1828 Varanasi to 18th June 1858 Gwalior. The valiant queen of Jhansi played a key role during the First War of Indian Independence in 1857. Known for her indomitable spirit, she bravely led her troops against British forces, leaving a lasting legacy of courage and patriotism. Rani Lakshmibai’s unwavering commitment to the fight against colonialism has made her a symbol of inspiration and strength in Indian history. Her bravery in the face of adversity continues to be celebrated, describing her as a great leader who stood defiantly against oppression.

Freedom Fighters

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, born on 13th February 1879 in Hyderabad to 2nd March 1949 Lucknow a major figure in the Indian independence movement, played an important role in securing freedom. As the first Indian woman to be the President of the Indian National Congress in 1925, she fearlessly led the charge for national independence. Her eloquence and charm made her a compelling speaker, inspiring many to join the cause. Beyond politics, Naidu was a gifted poet, earning the title of the “Nightingale of India.” Her literary contributions, with works like “The Golden Threshold,” showcased her talent and passion. Sarojini Naidu’s multifaceted legacy encompasses not only political leadership but also the poetic expression that fueled the spirit of freedom during a crucial period in India’s history.

Sucheta Kriplani

Sucheta Kriplani

Sucheta Kriplani, born from 25 June 1908 Ambala to 1 December 1974 New Delhi a major figure in India’s struggle for independence, played a crucial role in shaping the nation’s destiny. She was actively involved in the freedom movement, she fought for India’s liberation alongside leaders like Mahatma Gandhi. However, her legacy faced scrutiny due to allegations regarding her role in the partition riots. Despite controversies, Kriplani’s dedication to public service endured, leading her to become the first woman Chief Minister of an Indian state, Uttar Pradesh. Her historic appointment marked a milestone for gender equality in Indian politics, showcasing her strength and commitment to nation-building beyond the rough times of separation.

Modern-era influencers and leaders

Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi was born on 19 November 1917, Prayagraj to 31 October 1984, New Delhi, This India’s first female Prime Minister held office from 1966 to 1977 and later from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. Known for her strong leadership, she implemented the “Green Revolution” to boost agricultural productivity, transforming India into a self-sufficient food nation. However, her declaration of a state of emergency in 1975, limiting civil liberties, was controversial. Gandhi’s political prowess and focus on socio-economic reforms left a lasting impact on Indian politics. Her legacy is marked by a complex mix of admiration and criticism, reflecting her significant role in shaping the nation’s modern era.

Kiran Bedi

Kiran Bedi

Kiran Bedi, born on 9 June 1949 a trailblazer in the Indian Police Service, made history as the first woman to join the Officer ranks. Her remarkable achievements include pioneering reforms in the police service and spearheading impactful changes in prison reform. Bedi’s assignment witnessed a transformation in policing, marked by increased efficiency and accountability. As a woman breaking barriers in a male-dominated field, she became an inspiration for many. Her dedication to social causes extended beyond law enforcement, showcasing her leadership in diverse domains. Kiran Bedi’s unconquerable spirit and commitment to public service continue to leave a lasting legacy, making her a modern-era influencer and leader in India.

Social Reformers

Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Phule

Savitribai Phule was born on 3 January 1831, Naigaon to 10 March 1897 (age 66 years), Pune was a pioneering social reformer in India, particularly known for her significant role in women’s education during the 19th century. In 1848, she and her spouse, Jyotirao Phule, broke social conventions by founding Pune’s first girls’ school. Savitribai dedicated her life to promoting education for women, advocating for their rights, and challenging discrimination. Her tireless efforts played a key role in empowering women through education, fostering social reform, and challenging oppressive traditions. Savitribai Phule remains an inspirational figure, symbolizing the struggle for gender equality and social justice in India.

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa, was born on 26th August 1910 to 5th September 1997 Kolkata a beacon of compassion, dedicated her life to humanitarian work. In 1950, she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a global organisation providing care for the needy. Her selfless efforts focused on the sick, poor, and dying, offering them solace and dignity. Mother Teresa’s legacy extends beyond her lifetime, inspiring countless individuals to embrace generosity. Her tireless commitment earned her numerous accolades, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Today, the Missionaries of Charity continues her mission, operating homes and services worldwide. Mother Teresa’s profound impact on social reform endures as a testament to the transformative power of empathy and charity.

Contemporary Figures

In the domain of contemporary India, remarkable women have left unforgettable marks across diverse fields. P. V. Sindhu, an iconic badminton player, is determined Olympic glory, showcasing prowess in sports. Arundhati Roy, a celebrated author, illuminated the literary world with her impactful works. Kiran Bedi, a trailblazing policewoman and politician, has been a force in Indian politics. In science, Tessy Thomas, known as the “Missile Woman,” has contributed significantly to defence research. Social activism finds a champion in Medha Patkar, who tirelessly works for environmental and human rights causes. Hence, these inspiring figures embody the strength and stability of modern Indian women, influencing and shaping the nation’s narrative.

Conclusion

These ten women, spanning different eras and fields, collectively define the hard contributions of Indian women to history and society. Their legacies serve as beacons of inspiration, reminding us of the limitless potential of women in shaping the destiny of a nation. Therefore, as India marches forward, these powerful women continue to influence and inspire generations to come.

or more educational resources and insights into child development, visit Chrysalis High.

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Chrysalis School is a hidden gem that is absolutely amazing. The experience started when we were driving through in search of school for our kids and saw this attractive newly built school.

Our interaction with school alumni assured us that our child will be in the best hands with the teachers and staff. The faculty and staff truly care about the students and are available around the clock to help with student needs.

Cheers!
Yaduveer Singh & Tanu Chaudhary

I started my journey at Chrysalis High in the third grade, and have been studying in the same till now and from all these years, I can say that Chrysalis High has the best staff and curriculum.

PUPA (Prior Understanding of Pupil Attributes) is a unique method used in Chrysalis High to understand a student’s learning ability, skills and emotions. They gain this knowledge from the parents and us in an effort to understand us better. The extracurricular activities, inter-school competitions, sports and cultural days organised help incorporate fun and games along with academics.

The student council and the elections for its positions familiarise a student with a sense of responsibility and teamwork. Studying at Chrysalis High has helped me grow to my full potential and has indeed trained me for the exam called life.

I would like to thank all the teachers and staff at Chrysalis High for making my learning experience the best.

Indrani-Singh

Ms. Indrani Singh

Chief Vision Officer, Principal, Chrysalis High Marq & Head - Chrysalis Kids

Ms. Indrani Singh possesses a MSc and B.Ed degree to her credit. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of education and has climbed the rungs of leadership with her sheer dedication, hard work and love for her profession. She joined as the Head of Chrysalis Kids in 2013, which is a pre primary school of Chrysalis. Her out of box thinking and her ideology of doing the right thing for the children have helped her to pioneer new processes to make learning an enriching experience for the children. Across a period of seven years, Ms. Indrani Singh has become a flag bearer of Chrysalis vision, especially the PUPA (Prior Understanding of Pupil Attributes) Program. Indrani brought in the idea of Pre-CHAMPS to all Chrysalis schools. Known for her ideation & focus on quality, Indrani leaves no stone unturned to ensure children have a wonderful learning experience at Chrysalis. In 2017, she was made Associate Academic Director – Pre Primary & again promoted to Academic Director – Pre Primary, a role she handles along with the responsibilities of Chrysalis High, Marq. Under her supervision and guidance, many initiatives like Pre-CHAMPS, AwSTEM, Festival of learning were initiated and appreciated by all. Today she handles multitude of responsibilities from heading two schools to overseeing the Pre-Primary Curriculum Team of Chrysalis as the Academic Director. In addition to these profiles, she was recently promoted as Chief Vision Officer to propel PUPA, an initiative of Chrysalis, to greater heights. To this day, her ideas and her sheer determination to always try something different and new makes her a formidable and integral part of Chrysalis. With an unending pandemic looming over us, the future for education looked uncertain. But Ms. Indrani with her belief that learning should not stop for the children, ideated on the perfect balance of online and live class model to suit the learning styles of the children. The plan started with what best would suit the children and also help the working parents who were facing their own challenges and obstacles. The online model started with curriculum videos which the Chrysalis teachers recorded with the right guidance and methodology which was well defined by her. The live classes began with once a week class to slowly introduce the children to digital learning. With children adapting to live class, the sessions increased to add more to their knowledge. Teachers were sensitized about the challenges of live class and how to ensure that they do the right thing for the children and be an integral part in their learning given the circumstances. Providing the right support to parents and the challenges they faced, were also key elements of the whole digital teaching process. Providing individual support to the children was one way to ensure we partnered with parents to provide the right support to the children and ensure that the learning did not stop.

Transport

We provide a fleet of well-maintained buses with trained drivers and lady attendants. Special care is taken while appointing the drivers, to ensure that only the experienced and qualified drivers are appointed after undergoing a driving test. The buses are equipped with safety equipment and a first-aid kit in case of an emergency.

Being GPS enabled, the school can locate the position of a bus at any time during commute and in case of a breakdown, can send a replacement bus instantly. To avoid rash driving and speeding, speed governors are installed in all the buses.

Salient Features

  • Well-networked fleet of buses connecting the school to various parts of the city.
  • Trained drivers in each bus.
  • Trained lady attendants to take care of your child in each bus.
  • Mandatory First-Aid kits in all buses.
  • Regular checking by school administration staff to ensure safety of your child.
  • All buses are GPS enabled and for better monitoring, we have in-bus CCTV system complete with camera and recorder.

Nutrition

The School serves balanced and nutritious vegetarian snacks and lunch to students who have opted for the facility.

To supervise students during lunchtime, a teacher is appointed for monitoring each table. Children are trained to keep themselves clean and display correct dining manners.

Reverse Osmosis systems for purifying drinking water are available across the campus throughout the day.

Student Safety and School Security

safety-and-security

Safety Always a step ahead!

Chrysalis is inarguably the only school where at no point of time, any child is left without supervision of a female teacher!

CCTV Cameras- Entire premises

  • All classrooms
  • Corridors
  • Outdoor areas

Precautionary measures

  • Presence of a female teacher for all CHAMPS activities
  • Presence of a female teacher in all the classes handled by male teachers

Working at Chrysalis High has been a wholesome experience for me. What stands out for me is the support I receive from the school management in standing by my vision and passion as a teacher.

It would not be an exaggeration in the slightest, if I said that I feel always supported by the principal, coordinator and staff in performing my duties to the best of my abilities. This makes me confident that I would be given room to grow as an educator. It feels great to be part of a group that takes meaningful steps towards turning our philosophy and values into action!”

The values we would love to instill in our students at Chrysalis High are strongly rooted in our hearts by our compassionate and efficient school heads and mentors and model them to our students.

The induction programme has been nothing short of immense learning and much-needed guidance to face all our challenges head-on and it has helped prepare ourselves for the year ahead.

At Chrysalis High, I find myself doing what I love to do, staying true to what I strongly believe in and above all I can see myself as a passionate learner with new opportunities to learn each and every day. To top it all, the love and support my students shower on me is an additional perk without which I cannot be the happy teacher that I am today.

Suhasini. S
Secondary Teacher

Chrysalis High team integrates compassion into their teaching standards, emphasizes the importance of values and builds leaders through each of their classes and lessons. It allows for a lower student to teacher ratio. Online teaching during difficult times of Covid – 19 was indeed a huge challenge for all schools but the support provided by the school to transcend the challenge of teaching students by providing apt and timely training to teachers in online teaching methodology is commendable. This has been very useful to students as well as their parents. The teachers had worked hard in coming up with innovative methods of teaching to keep the students up breast with subjects with their enthusiasm intact.  It’s been a wonderful journey for me at Chrysalis High so far.  The entire team works in unison with one thought in mind – the betterment of the children.

My sincere thanks to Principal ma’am, Coordinators and last but not least my colleagues for the constant support and love.

Upasana Banerjee –
Primary Teacher

I am very happy studying at Chrysalis High Bannerghatta Road. I got admission during the lockdown period. The online classes were well organized and very interactive.

I gained a lot of knowledge during online classes, and the teachers understood us quickly and were there for us at all times. Even though we didn’t meet personally, the atmosphere at Chrysalis was always very warm and supportive. Even though online classes were new to everyone, our teachers were able to identify where we were lagging, and they provided Individual Support Classes (ISP).

The teachers are very interactive, friendly with us, and support us to come up with our own ideas. Practical explanation of the subject through STEaM is also one of the most exciting sessions in our school. The teachers also covered extracurricular activities and enrichment activities during the online classes. The warm welcome by the teachers to the offline classes made us more excited to attend school and a day at Chrysalis High with my friends and teachers is something that I eagerly look forward to every day.

Chrysalis High, is a great school which develops a good foundation for kids both academically and also in character building. Both the pre primary and now the primary school years for Samay, have been socially nurturing and academically challenging. Our son loves his school, he has come a long way from his nursery days till today, the 3rd grade.

Everyone at school, be it the Principal, Coordinators, teachers or the administrative staff, all have been really cooperative and supportive. Chrysalis also has one of the best parent – teacher relationship!

Overall, Chrysalis High, has been a wonderful experience for both Samay and us till date. We appreciate the great work and looking forward for more!

Regard,
Kavita

I have been in Chrysalis High BG Road since 2018. The teachers have laid a strong foundation, helped me improve on my basics in all subjects and played a major role in me evolving into the best version of myself. My school has given me many opportunities to develop my leadership skills and I will always feel grateful about that. I have made many friends in the last couple of years, thanks to the warm atmosphere at Chrysalis High. During online classes our school left no stone unturned and even though our classes were online, they ensured we learnt with the same enthusiasm.

My Voyage at Chrysalis High Marq has been spectacular and overwhelming. The school has positive vibes that makes it a beautiful shelter for not only students but also for the teachers. Here at Chrysalis we are motivated to nurture the young minds in the best possible way.

I learnt number of years of work experience is not that counts, what is more important is the quality one possesses through their learning experience. I thoroughly enjoy teaching and unfaltering curiosity.

Chrysalis High is an impressive organization that makes educators feel supported and equipped. I ’am proud to be a part of this institution that strive to take eloquent steps to transform our care philosophy and values into effective action.

I feel privileged to be an integral part of such a proficient and progressive workforce. Chrysalis oozes integrity and excellence that is t=refreshing and essential in our daily duties.

Chrysalis exemplifies what it means to be an organization that is “To help our children excel by understanding them, guiding them on the right path and strengthening their self belief.”

I enjoy working at Chrysalis High because this is a place where high energy meets absolute dedication.As a teacher, each day is a new day for me and I fully value the myriad opportunities that enhance my experience.

I also appreciate the unique working atmosphere and  the collaborative culture  that allows me to grow not only as a professional, but also as a person.

The school provides me with a lot of scope to interact with children and their parents, and this gives me an opportunity  to gain deeper insights into ways to help each of them achieve their academic goals.

The school’s vision for children is a guiding principle for all of us. It is indeed a pleasure to work with my immediate superiors who are both-understanding and supportive in all aspects. Together, I am certain that we will have a mutually enriching and exciting academic year ahead.

Anuradha Shankar Venkataraman,
Employee, Chrysalis High Marq

Chrysalis High Marq has paved new roads of possibilities of learning and fruitful experiences for both teachers such as myself and the students.

The things that are most satisfying for me are the never ending opportunities to learn, perform out of the comfort zone and most importantly the endless love that I receive from the children. Life is a continuous learning process and Chrysalis High Marq has made it possible by giving me many opportunities to be creative in the way I work. The whole team works as a family by supporting and helping each other at any given point of time .

The motivation, appreciation, support and positivity received by us is in turn passed on to our students. The school believes in the holistic development of all its children and takes all the necessary measures to nurture the young minds in a fruitful way. I am extremely proud to be a part of the Chrysalis High Marq family.

Shivani
Educator, Chrysalis High Marq

In the field of Construction, they say- “ A well-designed and strong foundation keeps the building standing while the forces of nature wreak havoc.” The same purpose that a foundation serves for a building, schooling does for our children- ensures they are wholly prepared for the journey called Life!

Having worked for a few schools in the past, I was aware of the paramount role a school plays in the initial nurturing of a child. While joining Chrysalis, I expected a similar school environment as in my past, but to my astonishment, things were incredibly better. While the academics here are indeed exceptional, even better is the focus on the character development of each child. Teachers know their Children really well, beyond just recalling the child’s name; all thanks to initiatives like PUPA. The teachers nurture children in a way that is not just caring and loving but also instills in them qualities like compassion, collaboration, empathy and many more from an early age. Children are also encouraged in a way that they constantly thrive to develop confidence in their own unique abilities.

Well, what we reap is what we sow; and not just the teachers but the whole team in Chrysalis believes in this fact. We work together tirelessly because we know we are nurturing kids to form a responsible and noble generation for the future!

Anjali E
Faculty, Chrysalis High Marq

I have been a student at Chrysalis High Marq for two school years and from what I have experienced, I can tell you it is a great school. The staff is excellent and the rules help keep the school safe and in order.

There is an equal balance of learning and reviewing the information. There are enrichment activity classes as well to where we have life skill and ink well sessions that help in the refinement and polishing of the mind. Chrysalis has initiated many activities for students. We have engrossing and fun-filled Indoor Champs, Performing Arts classes, Buddy interaction time etc. The teachers in Chrysalis are hardworking and determined . I am so proud and lucky to go to Chrysalis!

Sean Lennon
Grade VIII