Editing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (section)

==Founding==
[[File:Dr. Hedgevar.jpg|thumb|right|[[K. B. Hedgewar|Keshav Baliram Hedgewar]]]]
RSS was founded in 1925 by [[K. B. Hedgewar|Keshav Baliram Hedgewar]], a doctor in the city of [[Nagpur]], British India.<ref name="Curran1950">{{cite journal |first1=Jean A. |last1=Curran |jstor=3023941 |title=The RSS: Militant Hinduism |journal=Far Eastern Survey |volume=19 |pages=93–98 |number=10 |date= 17 May 1950 |doi=10.2307/3023941}}</ref>

Hedgewar was a political protege of [[B. S. Moonje]], a [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak|Tilakite]] [[Indian National Congress|Congressman]], [[Hindu Mahasabha]] politician and social activist from Nagpur.  Moonje had sent Hedgewar to Calcutta to pursue his medical studies and to learn combat techniques from the secret revolutionary societies of the Bengalis.  Hedgewar became a member of the [[Anushilan Samiti]], an anti-British revolutionary group, getting into its inner circle. The secretive methods of these societies were eventually used by him in organising the RSS.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1998|p=59}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=33–39}}{{sfn|Kelkar|2011|pp=2–3}} After reading [[V. D. Savarkar]]'s ''[[Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?|Hindutva]]'', published in Nagpur in 1923, and meeting Savarkar in the [[Ratnagiri]] prison in 1925, Hedgewar was extremely influenced by him, and he founded the RSS with the objective of strengthening Hindu society.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1998|p=59}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=33–39}}{{sfn|Kelkar|2011|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Kelkar|1950|p=138}}

Hedgewar believed that a handful of British were able to rule over the vast country of India because Hindus were disunited, lacked valour ({{transliteration|hi|pararkram}}) and lacked a civic character.  He recruited energetic Hindu youth with revolutionary fervour, gave them a uniform of a black forage cap, khaki shirt (later white shirt) and khaki shorts—emulating the uniform of the [[Indian Imperial Police]]—and taught them paramilitary techniques with {{transliteration|hi|lathi}} (bamboo staff), sword, javelin, and dagger. Hindu ceremonies and rituals played a large role in the organisation, not so much for religious observance, but to provide awareness of India's glorious past and to bind the members in a religious communion. Hedgewar also held weekly sessions of what he called {{transliteration|hi|baudhik}} (ideological education), consisting of simple questions to the novices concerning the Hindu nation and its history and heroes, especially warrior king [[Shivaji]]. The saffron flag of Shivaji, the [[Bhagwa Dhwaj]], was used as the emblem for the new organisation. Its public tasks involved protecting Hindu pilgrims at festivals and confronting Muslim resistance against Hindu processions near mosques.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1998|p=59}}{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=33–39}}{{sfn|Kelkar|2011|pp=2–3}}

Two years into the life of the organisation, in 1927, Hedgewar organised an "Officers' Training Camp" with the objective of forming a corps of key workers, whom he called {{transliteration|hi|pracharaks}} (full-time functionaries or "propagators"). He asked the volunteers to first become "[[sadhu|sadhus" (ascetics)]], renouncing professional and family lives and dedicating their lives to the cause of the RSS.  Hedgewar is believed to have embraced the doctrine of renunciation after it had been reinterpreted by nationalists such as [[Aurobindo]]. The tradition of renunciation gave the RSS the character of a 'Hindu sect'.{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=40–41}} Developing a network of {{transliteration|hi|shakhas}} (branches) was the main preoccupation for Hedgewar throughout his career as the RSS chief.  The first {{transliteration|hi|pracharaks}} were responsible for establishing as many {{transliteration|hi|shakhas}} as possible, first in Nagpur, then across Maharashtra, and eventually in the rest of India. [[Prabhakar Balwant Dani|P. B. Dani]] was sent to establish a {{transliteration|hi|shakha}} at the [[Benaras Hindu University]]; other universities were similarly targeted to recruit new followers among the student population.  Three {{transliteration|hi|pracharaks}} went to Punjab: Appaji Joshi to [[Sialkot]], Moreshwar Munje to the [[DAV College]] in [[Rawalpindi]] and Raja Bhau Paturkar to the [[DAV College]] in [[Lahore]]. In 1940, Madhavrao Muley was appointed as the {{transliteration|hi|prant pracharak}} (regional head) for Punjab in Lahore.{{sfn|Jaffrelot, Hindu Nationalist Movement|1996|pp=65–67}}