Rani Gaidinliu

Our Revered

Rani Gaidinliu

Rani Gaidinliu, who was called the ‘Daughter of the Hills’, was a powerful Naga spiritual and political leader in Manipur who had made armed resistance, national integration, and constitutional determination her life. She became the head of the Heraka movement at a young age of 16 years after her cousin Haipou Jadonang was executed in 1931 and she proceeded to guide the Heraka movement in a guerrilla war against the British rule. She was soon after arrested and spent fourteen years in prison and only got free when India became free in 1947.

Her love to the country was more than just freedom. She went back to the underground in 1960, facing secessionist insurgency and threats of the Zeliangrong identity and to the integrity of the Indian Union, and an armed cadre, the Rani Party, was formed. In 1966, she shifted to constitutional agitation instead of armed opposition; a good number of her followers had become armed police of Nagaland. She was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1982 in commemoration of her lifetime of courage, sacrifice, and service to the national unity.

  Seema Sanghosh English: January 2026