11 Facts About Chempakaraman Pillai

Chempakaraman Pillai was an Indian-born political activist and revolutionary.

Chempakaraman Pillai is credited with the coining of the salutation and slogan "Jai Hind" in the pre-independence days of India.

Chempakaraman Pillai was born into a Tamil Vellalar family in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore in the modern state of Kerala.

Chempakaraman Pillai attended ETH Zurich from October 1910 until 1914, pursuing a diploma in Engineering.

In October 1914, Chempakaraman Pillai moved to Berlin and joined the Berlin Committee, merging it with his International Pro-India Committee as the guiding and controlling institution for all pro-Indian revolutionary activities in Europe.

Chempakaraman Pillai's family stated that Pillai coordinated the German attack with his personal presence in the SMS Emden, though this is not the official view.

Chempakaraman Pillai later allied with Indian National Army chief Subhas Chandra Bose.

Chempakaraman Pillai was the foreign minister of the Provisional Government of India set up in Kabul, Afghanistan on 1 December 1915, with Raja Mahendra Pratap as President and Maulana Barkatullah as Prime Minister.

In 1907, Chempakaraman Pillai coined the term "Jai Hind", which was adopted as a slogan of the Indian National Army in the 1940s at the suggestion of Abid Hasan.

In 1931, Chempakaraman Pillai married Lakshmi Bai of Manipur, whom he had met in Berlin.

Unfortunately they had a short life together, as Chempakaraman Pillai soon fell ill.