S. R. Rana
Encyclopedia
Paris Indian Society
The Paris Indian Society was an Indian nationalist organisation founded in 1905 at Paris under the patronage of Madam Bhikaji Rustom Cama, B.H. Godrej and S. R. Rana...
and the vice-president of the Indian Home Rule Society
Indian Home Rule Society
The Indian Home Rule Society was an Indian organisation founded in London in 1905 that sought to promote the cause of self-rule in British India. The organisation was founded by Shyamji Krishna Varma, with support from a number of prominent Indian nationalists in Britain at the time, including...
.
Singh Rewabhai Rana was born to a high-caste Rajput family in the Kathiawar
Kathiawar
Kathiawar or Kathiawad is a peninsula in western India, which is part of the Saurashtra region on the Arabian Sea coast of Gujarat state. It is bounded on the north by the great wetland of the Rann of Kutch, on the northwest by the Gulf of Kutch, on the west and south by the Arabian Sea, and on...
district, and was a claimant to the throne of the princely state of Limbdi
Limbdi
Limbdi is a city and a municipality in Surendranagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat.Limbdi has a proud place in women's education. It is home to Lady Wellingdon Girls School, now Municipal school number 3. This school was established in Limbdi on 1 March 1859 when India had hardly any...
, hence also Rana's title of 'Sardar'. Rana was educated at Elphinstone College
Elphinstone College
Elphinstone College is an institution of higher education affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Established in 1856, it is one of the oldest colleges of the University of Mumbai. It was exalted as a prestigious seat of learning during the British Raj and is generally observed for its vibrant alumni...
, graduating with a baccalaureate from Bombay University in 1898.
In 1899, Rana left for Paris, where he began a jewellery business trading in pearls. He is known to have lived with a German woman who – although she was not married to him – came to be known as Mrs. Rana. It was at this time that Rana came to associate with Indian nationalist politicians, including Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai was an Indian author, freedom fighter and politician who is chiefly remembered as a leader in the Indian fight for freedom from the British Raj. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari or Sher-e-Punjab meaning the samem and was part of the Lal Bal Pal trio...
who is known to have visited Paris and stayed with the Ranas. In 1905, Rana became one of the founding-members of the Indian Home Rule Society
Indian Home Rule Society
The Indian Home Rule Society was an Indian organisation founded in London in 1905 that sought to promote the cause of self-rule in British India. The organisation was founded by Shyamji Krishna Varma, with support from a number of prominent Indian nationalists in Britain at the time, including...
, of which he was the vice president. Together with Munchershah Burjorji Godrej and Bhikaji Cama he founded the Paris Indian Society
Paris Indian Society
The Paris Indian Society was an Indian nationalist organisation founded in 1905 at Paris under the patronage of Madam Bhikaji Rustom Cama, B.H. Godrej and S. R. Rana...
that same year as an extension of the Indian Home Rule Society on the European continent. As Shyamji Krishna Varma
Shyamji Krishna Varma
Shyamji Krishna Varma was an Indian revolutionary, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and The Indian Sociologist in London. A graduate of Balliol College, Krishna Varma was a noted scholar in Sanskrit and other Indian languages...
did also, Rana announced three scholarships in memory of Rana Pratap Singh for Indian students, each worth Rs 2,000.
Together with Cama he came to develop close links with the French and Russian Socialist movements. and with her attended the second Socialist Congress at Stuttgart in 1907. From then on, he was a regular contributor to Bande Mataram
Bande Mataram (Paris publication)
For other uses of the term Bande Mataram, see Bande Mataram .The Bande Mataram was a nationalist publication from Paris begun in September 1909 by the Paris Indian Society...
(published by Cama from Paris) and The Talvar
Talvar
Madan's Talwar, later known as The Talvar, was an early-20th century Indian Nationalist periodical published from Berlin.Originally named after Madan Lal Dhingra, one of the heroes of the Indian independence movement who had been executed for the political assassination of William Hutt Curzon...
(from Berlin), which were then smuggled into India.
The years immediately prior to World War I were however the turning point for Rana's personal and political life. Along with his dying son Ranjit and his German Wife, he was expelled by the French Government to Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
in 1911. The activities of the Paris Indian Society were curtailed under pressure from the French Sûreté
Sûreté
Sûreté is a term used in French speaking countries or regions in the organizational title of a civil police force, especially the detective branch thereof.-France:...
, and finally suspended in 1914. His wife was also refused permission to enter France for a cancer operation.