Sarojini Naidu (née Chattopadhyay, 1879–1949), also known by the sobriquet Nightingale of India,^[1] was a poet and politician. Naidu served as the first governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh from 1947 to 1949. She was the first woman to become the governor of an Indian state.^[2] She was the second woman to become the president of the Indian National Congress in 1925 and the first Indian woman to do so.^[3]

Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad to Aghore Nath Chattopadhyay and Barada Sundari Devi on 13 February 1879. Her parental home was at Brahmangaon in Bikrampur (in present-day Bangladesh).^[4] Her father, Aghor Nath Chattopadhyaya, with a doctorate of Science from Edinburgh University, settled in Hyderabad, where he founded and administered Hyderabad College, which later became the Nizam's College in Hyderabad. Her mother, Barada Sundari Devi, was a poet and used to write poetry in Bengali.

She was the eldest among the eight siblings. Her brother Virendranath Chattopadhyaya was a revolutionary and her other brother, Harindranath was a poet, a dramatist, and an actor.^[5]

Naidu, having passed her matriculation examination from the University of Madras, took a four-year break from her studies. In 1895, the Nizam Scholarship Trust founded by the 6th Nizam, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, gave her the chance to study in England, first at King's College London and later at Girton College, Cambridge.

Naidu met Govindarajulu Naidu, a physician, and at the age of 19, after finishing her studies, she married him. At that time, Inter-caste marriages were not allowed, but her father approved the marriage.^[5]

The couple had five children. Their daughter, Padmaja also joined the freedom struggle, and was part of the Quit India Movement. She was appointed the Governor of the state of West Bengal soon after Indian independence.

Naidu joined the Indian national movement in the wake of partition of Bengal in 1905. She came into contact with Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Rabindranath Tagore, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, C. P. Ramaswami Iyer, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.^{[citation needed]}

During 1915–1918, she travelled to different regions in India delivering lectures on social welfare, women's empowerment and nationalism. She also helped to establish the Women's Indian Association (WIA) in 1917.^[6] She was sent to London along with Annie Besant, President of home rule league and Women's Indian Association, to present the case for the women's vote to the Joint Select Committee.

In 1925, Naidu presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress at Cawnpore (now Kanpur).^{[citation needed]}

In 1929, she presided over East African Indian Congress in South Africa. She was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal by the British government for her work during the plague epidemic in India.^[7]

In 1930 during the salt satyagraha, she was one of the women protesters at the Dharsana salt works, Gujarat. Hundreds of satyagrahis were beaten by soldiers under British command at Dharasana. The ensuing publicity attracted world attention to the Indian independence movement and brought into question the legitimacy of British rule in India.^{[citation needed]}

In 1931, she participated in the Round table conference with Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya.^[5]

She played a leading role during the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi and other leaders. In 1942, she was arrested during the "Quit India" movement.

Sarojini Naidu began writing at the age of twelve. Her Persian play, Maher Muneer, impressed the Nawab of Hyderabad.

In 1905, her first collection of poems, named The Golden Threshold was published.^[8] Her poems were admired by many prominent Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Her collection of poems entitled "The Feather of The Dawn" was edited and published posthumously in 1961 by her daughter Padmaja.^[9]

Sarojini Naidu died of a heart attack while working in her office in Lucknow on 2 March (Wednesday), 1949.^[10]

She is commemorated through the naming of several institutions including the Sarojini Naidu College for Women, Sarojini Naidu Medical College, Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad.

Aldous Huxley wrote "It has been our good fortune, while in Bombay, to meet Mrs. Sarojini Naidu, the newly elected President of the All-India Congress and a woman who combines in the most remarkable way great intellectual power with charm, sweetness with courageous energy, a wide culture with originality, and earnestness with humor. If all Indian politicians are like Mrs. Naidu, then the country is fortunate indeed."^[11]

Her 135th birth anniversary (in 2014) was marked by a doodle on Google India's homepage.^[12]

The Golden Threshold is an off-campus annexe of University of Hyderabad. The building was the residence of Naidu's father Aghornath Chattopadhyay, the first Principal of Hyderabad College. It was named after Naidu's collection of poetry. Golden Threshold now houses Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication of University of Hyderabad.^[13]

During the Chattopadhyay family's residence, it was the centre of many reformist ideas in Hyderabad, in areas ranging from marriage, education, women's empowerment, literature and nationalism.^[14]

Each year links to its corresponding "year in poetry" article:

• 1905: The Golden Threshold, published in the United Kingdom^[15] (text available online)
• 1912: The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring, published in London^[16]
• 1917: The Broken Wing: Songs of Love, Death and the Spring, including "The Gift of India" (first read in public in 1915)^[16][17]
• 1916: Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity^[18]
• 1943: The Sceptred Flute: Songs of India, Allahabad: Kitabistan, posthumously published^[16]
• 1961: The Feather of the Dawn, posthumously published, edited by her daughter, Padmaja Naidu^[19]
• 1971:The Indian Weavers^[20]

• Nala and Damayanti
• Ecstasy
• The Indian Fantasy
• Indian
• In The Bazaars of Hyderabad
• Indian Dancers
• Indian Love-Song
• Indian Weavers
• In Salutation to the Eternal Peace
• In the Forest
• Ramamuratham
• Nightfall in the City of Hyderabad
• Palanquin Bearers
• The Pardah Nashin
• Past and Future
• The Queen's Rival
• The Royal Tombs of Golconda
• The Snake-Charmer
• Song of a Dream
• Song of Radha, The Milkmaid
• The Soul's Prayer
• Suttee
• To a Buddha Seated on a Lotus
• To the God of Pain
• Wandering Singers
• To India
• Street Cries
• Alabaster
• Autumn Song

• Indian poetry in English
• Indian English literature
• Indian literature
• List of Indian poets
• List of Indian writers
• Indian poetry

• Padmini Sengupta (1997). Sarojini Naidu. Sahitya Akademi.

• The poetry of Sarojini Naidu: A fusion of English language and Indian culture
• Works by Sarojini Naidu at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Sarojini Naidu at the Internet Archive
• Works by Sarojini Naidu at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Biography and Poems of Sarojini Naidu
• Letter written by Sarojini Naidu
• Sarojini Naidu: An introduction to her life, work and poetry By Vishwanath S. Naravane
• Sarojini Naidu materials at the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)