The Revolutionary movement for Indian Independence was the part of the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
comprising the actions of violent underground revolutionary factions. Groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into this category, as opposed to the generally peaceful
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
movement spearheaded by
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...
. The revolutionary groups were mainly concentrated in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
,
Maharashtra
Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, the
United Provinces and
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. More groups were scattered across
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Beginnings
Apart from a few stray incidents, the armed rebellion against the British rulers was not organised before the beginning of the 20th century. The revolutionary philosophies and movement made its presence felt during 1905
partition of Bengal. Arguably, the initial steps to organise the revolutionaries were taken by
Aurobindo Ghosh
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
, his brother
Barin Ghosh
Barindra Kumar Ghosh or Barindra Ghosh, or, popularly, Barin Ghosh (5 January 1880 – 18 April 1959) was an Indian revolutionary and journalist. He was one of the founding members of Jugantar Bengali weekly, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. ...
,
Bhupendranath Datta
Bhupendranath Datta (4 September 1880 – 25 December 1961) was an Indian revolutionary and later a noted sociologist and anthropologist. He associated Rishi Aurobindo in his political works. In his youth, he was closely associated with the ...
,
Lal Bal Pal
Lal Bal Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal) were a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918. They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of a ...
and
Subodh Chandra Mullick
Subodh Chandra Basu Mallik (9 February 1879 – 14 November 1920), commonly known as ''Raja'' Subodh Mallik, was a Bengali Indian industrialist, philanthropist and nationalist. Mallik is noted as a nationalist intellectual who was one of the c ...
, when they formed the
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
party in April 1906.
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
was created as an inner circle of the
Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti ( bn, অনুশীলন সমিতি, , bodybuilding society) was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it su ...
, which was already present in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, mainly as a fitness club.
Lal Bal Pal.jpg, Lala Lajpat Rai
Lala Lajpat Rai (28 January 1865 - 17 November 1928) was an Indian author, freedom fighter, and politician. He played a vital role in the Indian Independence movement. He was popularly known as Punjab Kesari. He was one of the three members of ...
of Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, Bal Gangadhar Tilak
Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...
of Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, and Bipin Chandra Pal
Bipin Chandra Pal ( bn, বিপিন চন্দ্র পাল ; 7 November 1858 – 20 May 1932) was an Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement freedom fighter. He was one third of the “L ...
of Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, the triumvirate were popularly known as Lal Bal Pal
Lal Bal Pal (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Bipin Chandra Pal) were a triumvirate of assertive nationalists in British India in the early 20th century, from 1906 to 1918. They advocated the Swadeshi movement involving the boycott of a ...
, changed the political discourse of the Indian independence movement.
Sri aurobindo.jpg, Aurobindo Ghosh
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
was one of the founding member of Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
, as well as being involved with nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti.
Barindra Kumar Ghosh 01.jpg, Barindra Kumar Ghosh
Barindra Kumar Ghosh or Barindra Ghosh, or, popularly, Barin Ghosh (5 January 1880 – 18 April 1959) was an Indian revolutionary and journalist. He was one of the founding members of Jugantar Bengali weekly, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. ...
, was one of the founding members of Jugantar and younger brother of Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...
.
Bhupendranath Datta (brother of Swami Vivekananda).png, Bhupendranath Datta
Bhupendranath Datta (4 September 1880 – 25 December 1961) was an Indian revolutionary and later a noted sociologist and anthropologist. He associated Rishi Aurobindo in his political works. In his youth, he was closely associated with the ...
, was an Indian revolutionary who was privy to the Indo-German Conspiracy German-Indian, Indian-German or Indo-German may refer to:
*Indo-German languages, alternative name for the Indo-European languages
*As an adjective, anything pertaining to Germany–India relations
* Indians in Germany
*Germans in India
There is ...
.
Andaman Island
Communist Consolidation
Communist Consolidation was an organization formed in
Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...
and was founded by
Hare Krishna Konar
Hare Krishna Konar ( bn, হরেকৃষ্ণ কোঙার, Harēkr̥ṣṇa kōṅāra, ; 5 August 1915 – 23 July 1974) was an Indian Marxist revolutionary, radical activist and Communist politician. Konar was a founding ...
with other 39 intimate in the jail this organization was formed after the freedom fighters started studying about
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
,
Socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
and in 1937 the political prisoners and the members of the
Communist Consolidation
Communist Consolidation (19351938) was an Indian revolutionary and communist organization, founded by Hare Krishna Konar among with other prisoners of the Cellular Jail with the ideology of Marx and Lenin's theory Marxism–Leninism. It was t ...
of Cellular Jail started feeling that the atmosphere for a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and they though before the war starts they should get back to mainland country to be with their people and take active part in the upheaval that was imminent, so the prisoners started hunger strike against the British government and this hunger strike was led by the founder of Communist Consolidation Hare Krishna Konar, some notable strikers were
Batukeshwar Dutt
Batukeshwar Dutt (18 November 1910 – 20 July 1965) was an Indian socialist revolutionary and independence fighter in the early 1900s. He is best known for having exploded two bombs, along with Bhagat Singh, in the Central Legislative Assemb ...
(associated with
Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary*
* who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer
*
* in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...
),
Sachindra Nath Sanyal
Sachindra Nath Sanyal (3 April 1890 — 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out ...
(founder of
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), previously known as the Hindustan Republican Army and Hindustan Republican Association (HRA), was an Indian revolutionary organisation founded by Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Sachindra ...
),
Ganesh Ghosh
Ganesh Ghosh (22 June 1900 – 16 October 1994)Sangshad Bangali Charitabhidhan, Editor: Anjali Basu, 2nd part, 4th Edition, Sahitya Sangshad, 2019, Kolkata was an Indian independence activist, revolutionary and politician.
Biography
Ganesh Gh ...
(member of
Chittagong armoury raid
The Chittagong armoury raid, also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Bangladesh) b ...
) and many others.
Andhra Pradesh
Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy
Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy was an Indian freedom fighter leader. The son of a former Telugu Palegaadu Mallareddy and Seethamma, Narasimha Reddy was born in Rupanagudi village, on 24 November 1806. He belonged to the Motati Clan of Reddy's. He ...
(died 22 February 1847) was the son of a former Indian
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
polygar
Palaiyakkarars, or Poligar, (as the British referred to them) in Tamil Nadu refers to the holder of a small kingdom as a feudatory to a greater sovereign. Under this system, ''palayam'' was given for valuable military services rendered by any in ...
who was at the heart of a rebellion in 1846, when 5000 peasants rose up against the British
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
(EIC) in
Kurnool
Kurnool is a city in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It formerly served as the capital of Andhra State (1953–1956). The city is often referred to as "The Gateway of Rayalaseema".Kurnool is also known as The City of Gem Stones. It also se ...
district,
Rayalaseema
Rayalaseema () is a geographic region in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It comprises eight south western districts of the State namely, Kurnool, Nandyal, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, YSR, Annamayya, Tirupati and Chittoor districts ...
Region of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
. They were protesting changes to the traditional
agrarian system
An agrarian system is the dynamic set of economic and technological factors that affect agricultural practices. It is premised on the idea that different systems have developed depending on the natural and social conditions specific to a particula ...
the British introduced in the first half of the nineteenth century to the traditional agrarian system. Those changes, which included the introduction of the ''
ryotwari
The ryotwari system was a land revenue system in British India introduced by Thomas Munro, which allowed the government to deal directly with the cultivator ('ryot') for revenue collection and gave the peasant freedom to cede or acquire new land f ...
'' system and other attempts to maximize revenue, impacted lower-status cultivators by depleting their crops and leaving them impoverished.
Bengal
Anushilan Samiti
Established by
Pramathanath Mitra
Pramathanath Mitra ( bn, প্রমথনাথ মিত্র; 30 October 1853 – 1910), known widely as P. Mitra, was a Bengali Indian barrister and Indian nationalist who was among the earliest founding members of the Indian revolutiona ...
, it became one of the most organised revolutionary associations, especially in eastern
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, where the
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
Anushilan Samiti had several branches and carried out major activities. Jugantar was initially formed by an inner circle of the Kolkata
Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti ( bn, অনুশীলন সমিতি, , bodybuilding society) was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it su ...
, like the
Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...
of
Haganah
Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...
. In the 1920s, the Kolkata faction supported
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
in the
Non-Cooperation Movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance. and many of the leaders held high posts in
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
. The Anushilan Samati had over five hundred branches. Indians living in America and Canada had established the
Gadar Party
The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...
.
Jugantar
Khudiram Bose 1905 cropped.jpg, Khudiram Bose
Khudiram Bose (also spelled ''Khudiram Basu'') (3 December 1889 – 11 August 1908) was an Indian revolutionary from Bengal Presidency who opposed British rule of India. For his role in the Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case, along with Prafulla ...
was one of the youngest Indian revolutionaries tried and executed by the British.
Prafulla Chaki.jpg, Prafulla Chaki
Prafulla Chandra Chaki ( bn, প্রফুল্ল চাকী, ''Prafulla Chaki'' alias Dinesh Chandra Roy) (10 December 1888 – 1 May 1908) was an Indian revolutionary associated with the Jugantar group of revolutionaries who carried o ...
, was associated with the Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
. He carried out assassinations against British colonial
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
officials in an attempt to secure Indian independence.
BaghaJatin14.jpg, Jatindranath Mukherjee
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
(Bagha Jatin) in 1910; was the principal leader of the Jugantar Party
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
that was the central association of revolutionary Indian freedom fighters in Bengal.
Barin Ghosh
Barindra Kumar Ghosh or Barindra Ghosh, or, popularly, Barin Ghosh (5 January 1880 – 18 April 1959) was an Indian revolutionary and journalist. He was one of the founding members of Jugantar Bengali weekly, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. ...
was the main leader. Along with 21 revolutionaries including
Bagha Jatin
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
, he started to collect arms and explosives and manufactured bombs. The headquarters of Jugantar was located at 93/a
Bowbazar
Bowbazar ( bn, বৌবাজার, also spelt ''Boubazar''; formerly known as Bahubazar) is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
History
On Lt. Col. Mark Wood's map of 1784, the portion o ...
Street,
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
.
Some senior members of the group were sent abroad for political and military training. One of them,
Hemchandra Kanungo
Hemchandra Das Kanungo (4 August 1871 – 8 April 1951) was an Indian nationalist and a member of the Anushilan Samiti. Kanungo travelled to Paris in 1907, where he learnt the technique of assembling picric acid bombs from exiled Russian revol ...
, obtained his training in Paris. After returning to Kolkata he set up a combined religious school and bomb factory at a garden house in the
Maniktala
Maniktala is a residential area of North Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India.
Etymology
The tomb of Manik Pir is located in lane near Maniktala crossing. Some people say, the neighbourhood is named after Manik Pir.
Others say, M ...
suburb of
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
. However, the attempted murder of district Judge Kingsford of
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth m ...
by
Khudiram Bose
Khudiram Bose (also spelled ''Khudiram Basu'') (3 December 1889 – 11 August 1908) was an Indian revolutionary from Bengal Presidency who opposed British rule of India. For his role in the Muzaffarpur Conspiracy Case, along with Prafulla ...
and
Prafulla Chaki
Prafulla Chandra Chaki ( bn, প্রফুল্ল চাকী, ''Prafulla Chaki'' alias Dinesh Chandra Roy) (10 December 1888 – 1 May 1908) was an Indian revolutionary associated with the Jugantar group of revolutionaries who carried o ...
on 30 April 1908 initiated a police investigation that led to the arrest of many of the revolutionaries.
Bagha Jatin
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
was one of the top leaders in Jugantar. He was arrested, along with several other leaders, in connection with the
Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case
The Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case refers to the arrest and trials of 47 Bengalis, Bengali Indian nationalists of the ''Anushilan Samiti'' that followed in the wake of the murder of Inspector Shamsul Alam on 24 January 1910 in Calcutta. Alam was ...
. They were tried for treason, the charge being that they had incited various regiments of the army against the ruler.
Jugantar, along with other revolutionary groups, and aided by Indians abroad, planned an armed revolt against the British rulers during the First World War. This plan largely depended on the clandestine landing of German arms and ammunitions in the Indian coast. This plan came to be known as the ''Indo-German Plot.'' However, the planned revolt did not materialise.
After the First World War Jugantar supported Gandhi in the
Non-Cooperation Movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance. and many of their leaders were in the
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
. Still, the group continued its revolutionary activities, a notable event being the
Chittagong armoury raid
The Chittagong armoury raid, also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Bangladesh) b ...
.
Benoy Basu
Benoy Krishna Basu ( bn, বিনয় কৃষ্ণ বসু ''Binôe Boshu'') or Benoy Basu or Benoy Bose (11 September 1908 – 13 December 1930) was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who launched an attack on th ...
,
Badal Gupta
Badal Gupta ( bn, বাদল গুপ্ত ''Badol Gupto''), real name Sudhir Gupta (1912 – 8 December 1930), was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - t ...
and
Dinesh Gupta
Dinesh Chandra Gupta ( bn, দিনেশ চন্দ্র গুপ্ত ''Dinesh Chôndro Gupto'') or Dinesh Gupta (6 December 1911 – 7 July 1931) was an Indian revolutionary against British rule in India, who is noted for launching an ...
, who are noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building – the
Writers' Building
The Writers' Buildings, often shortened to just Writers, is the official secretariat building of the state government of West Bengal in Kolkata, India. The 150-meter long building covers the entire northern stretch of the iconic Lal Dighi pond a ...
in the
Dalhousie Square
B. B. D. Bagh, formerly called Tank Square and then Dalhousie Square (1847 to 1856), is the shortened version for Benoy-Badal-Dinesh Bagh. It is the seat of power of the state government, as well as the central business district of Kolkata in ...
in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, were Jugantar members.
Uttar Pradesh
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was established in October 1924 in
Kanpur
Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...
,
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
by revolutionaries like
Ramprasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil ( Hindi: राम प्रसाद "बिस्मिल") (11 June 1897 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, revolutionary and an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, ...
,
Jogesh Chatterjee,
Chandrashekhar Azad
Chandra Shekhar Tiwari ( (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Chandra Shekhar Azad, was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican ...
,
Yogendra Shukla
Yogendra Shukla (1896 – 19 November 1960) was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter from Bihar. He served in the Cellular Jail (''Kalapani''), and he was among the founders of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Along with ...
and
Sachindranath Sanyal
Sachindra Nath Sanyal (3 April 1890 — 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out ...
. The aim of the party was to organise armed revolution to end the colonial rule and establish a ''Federal Republic of the United States of India''. The
Kakori train robbery
The Kakori Train robbery (''prapt'' of Kakori Conspiracy) was a train robbery that took place at Kakori, a village near Lucknow, on 9 August 1925, during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. It was organised by Hindustan R ...
was a notable act of this group. The
Kakori
Kakori is a town and a nagar panchayat in Lucknow district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 14 km north of Lucknow. Kakori was a centre Urdu poetry, literature and the Qadiriya Qalandari Sufi order. On 9 August 1925 Indian revolutionar ...
case led to the hanging of
Ashfaqullah Khan
Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian independence activist in the Indian independence movement and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Association.
Early life
Khan was born in the Shahjahanpur district of th ...
,
Ramprasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil ( Hindi: राम प्रसाद "बिस्मिल") (11 June 1897 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, revolutionary and an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, ...
,
Roshan Singh
Thakur Roshan Singh (22 January 1892 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian revolutionary, born in the village of Nabada in Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh in A kshatriya Rajput family, who was sentenced in the Bareilly shooting case during ...
,
Rajendra Lahiri
Rajendra Nath Lahiri (29 June 1901 — 17 December 1927), known simply as Rajendra Lahiri, was an Indian revolutionary, who was a mastermind behind the Kakori conspiracy and Dakshineshwar bombing. He was active member of Hindustan Republican A ...
. The Kakori case was a major setback for the group. However, the group was soon reorganised under the leadership of
Chandrashekhar Azad
Chandra Shekhar Tiwari ( (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Chandra Shekhar Azad, was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican ...
and with members like
Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary*
* who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer
*
* in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...
,
Bhagwati Charan Vohra
Bhagwati Charan Vohra (15 November 1903 – 28 May 1930) was an Indian revolutionary, associated with Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. He was an ideologue, organiser, orator and a campaigner.
Early life
Bhagwati was born in 1903 in ...
and
Sukhdev
Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary who worked to make India independent from the British Raj along with his best friends and partners Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru. A senior member of the Hindustan S ...
on 8 and 9 September 1928– and the group was now christened Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).
In
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
on 17 December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Azad and
Rajguru Rajguru, also spelled as Rajyaguru, is an ancient title and surname of the Indian subcontinent which means ''royal priest''.
Notable people
*Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera, Bangladeshi Buddhist
*Rajguru Priyo Ratana Mahathera, Buddhist guru
*Basava ...
assassinated Saunders, a police official involved in deadly lathi-charge on Lala Lajpat Rai. Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb inside the
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometime ...
. The Assembly Bomb Case trial followed. Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru were hanged on 23 March 1931.
Maharashtra
Abhinav Bharat Secret Society
The
Abhinav Bharat Society
Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society) was an Indian Independence secret society founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar
in 1904. Initially founded at Nasik as "Mitra Mela" when Vinayak Savarkar was still ...
(Young India Society) was a
secret society
A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
founded by
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer.
Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalis ...
and his brother
Ganesh Damodar Savarkar
Ganesh Dāmodar Sāvarkar (13 June 1879 – 16 March 1945), also called Babarao Savarkar, was an Indian politician, activist, nationalist, and founder of the Abhinav Bharat Society.
Ganesh was the eldest of the Savarkar brothers, Ganesh, ...
in 1904. Initially founded at
Nasik
Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...
as "Mitra Mela" when Vinayak Savarkar was still a student of
Fergusson College
Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...
at
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
, the society grew to include several hundred revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India, extending to London after Savarkar went to study law. It carried out a few assassinations of British officials, after which the Savarkar brothers were convicted and imprisoned. The society was formally disbanded in 1952.
Savarkar's revolutionary propaganda led to the assassination of Lt. Col.
William Curzon-Wyllie
Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie (5 October 1848 – 1 July 1909) was a British Indian army officer, and later an official of the British Indian Government. Over a career spanning three decades, Curzon Wyllie rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel in t ...
, the political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India, by Madanlal Dhingra on the evening of 1 July 1909, at a meeting of Indian students in the Imperial Institute in London. Dhingra was arrested and later tried and executed.
A. M. T. Jackson
Arthur Mason Tippetts Jackson (1866 – 1909) was a British officer in Indian Civil Services. He was a learned Indologist and a historian. He contributed many papers on Indian history, books on folklore and culture and was popularly known as ...
, the district magistrate of Nasik, was assassinated in India by Anant Laxman Kanhare in 1909 in the historic "Nasik Conspiracy Case".
The investigation into the Jackson assassination revealed the existence of the Abhinav Bharat Society and the role of the Savarkar brothers in leading it. Vinayak Savarkar was found to have dispatched twenty
Browning pistols to India, one of which was used in the Jackson assassination. He was charged in the Jackson murder and sentenced to "transportation" for life. Savarkar was imprisoned in the
Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...
in the
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...
in 1910.
Kotwal Dasta
Veer Bhai Kotwal
Vithal Laxman Kotwal (alias Bhai) was a social reformer and revolutionary from Neral, Maharashtra, India. He laid down his life in the freedom struggle of the country. He was killed in an encounter with the British police officer DSP R. Hall wh ...
alias Veer Bhai Kotwal during
Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
formed group of underground mercenaries called "Kotwal Dasta", a parallel government in the Karjat taluka of Thane district. They were about 50 in numbers including farmers and voluntary school teachers. They decided to cut down the electric pylons supplying electricity to Mumbai city. From September 1942 through November 1942 they felled 11 pylons, paralyzing the industries and railways.
South India
The uprising against the British was evidenced at Halagali (Mudhol taluk of Bagalkot district). The prince of Mudhol, Ghorpade, had accepted British overlordship. But the Bedas (hunters), a martial community, were seething with dissatisfaction under the new dispensation. The British proclaimed the Disarming Act of 1857 whereby men possessing firearms had to register them and secure a license before 10 November 1857. Babaji Nimbalkar, a soldier thrown out of job from Satara Court, had advised these people not to lose their hereditary right to own arms.
One of the leaders of the Bedas, Jadgia, was invited by the administrator at Mudhol and was persuaded to secure a license on 11 November, though Jadgia had not asked for it. The administrator's expectation that others would follow Jadgia was belied. So he sent his agents to Halagali on 15 and 20 November and again on 21. But the entreaties of the agents did not succeed, and the agents sent on 21 November were attacked by Jadgia and Baalya, another leader, and they were forced to return. Another agent sent on 25 November was not allowed to enter the village.
Meanwhile, the Bedas and other armed men from the neighbouring villages of Mantur, Boodni, and Alagundi assembled at Halagali. The administrator reported the matter to Major Malcolm, the Commander at the nearby army headquarters, who sent Col. Seton Karr to Halagali on 29 November.
The insurgents, numbering 500, did not allow the British to enter Halagali. There was a fight during the night. On 30 November, Major Malcolm came with 29th Regiment from Bagalkot. They set fire to the village and many insurgents died, including Babaji Nimbalkar. The British, who had a bigger army and better arms, arrested 290 insurgents; and of those 29 were tried and 11 were hanged at Mudhol on 11 December, and six others, including Jadagia and Baalya, were hanged at Halagali on 14 December 1857. No prince or ''
jagir
A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, start ...
dar'' was involved in this uprising, but it was the common soldiers.
Violent revolutionary activities never took firm root in South India. The only violent act attributed to the revolutionaries was the assassination of the Collector of Tirunelveli (Tinnevelly). On 17 June 1911, the Collector of Tirunelveli, Robert Ashe, was killed by
Vanchinathan
Vanchinatha Iyer (1886 – 17 June 1911), popularly known as Vanchinathan or Vanchi, was an Indian independence activist.
He is best remembered for assassinating Robert Ashe, the Tax Collector of Thirunelveli who was instrumental in closing ...
, who subsequently committed suicide, which was the only instance of political assassination by a revolutionary in South India.
Outside India
India House
The India House was an informal
Indian nationalist
Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, b ...
organization that existed in London between 1905 and 1910. Initially begun by
Shyamji Krishna Varma
Shyamji Krishna Varma (4 October 1857 – 30 March 1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, an Indian patriot, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and ''The Indian Sociologist'' in London. A graduate of ...
as a residence in Highgate,
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire.
The term ''nort ...
, for Indian students to promote nationalist views and work, the house became a centre for intellectual political activities, and rapidly developed into a meeting ground for radical nationalists among Indian students in Britain at the time, and of the most prominent centers for revolutionary Indian nationalism outside India. ''
The Indian Sociologist
''The Indian Sociologist'' was an Indian nationalist journal in the early 20th century. Its subtitle was ''An Organ of Freedom, and Political, Social, and Religious Reform''.
The journal was edited by Shyamji Krishnavarma from 1905 to 1914, ...
'', published by the house, was a noted platform for anti-colonial work and was banned in India as "seditious literature".
The
India House
India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britai ...
was the beginning of a number of noted Indian revolutionaries and nationalists, most famously
V. D. Savarkar
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (), Marathi pronunciation: inaːjək saːʋəɾkəɾ also commonly known as Veer Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), was an Indian politician, activist, and writer.
Savarkar developed the Hindu nationali ...
, as well as others of the like of
V.N. Chatterjee,
Lala Har Dayal
Lala Har Dayal Mathur ( Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simp ...
,
V. V. S. Iyer, The house came to the attention of
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
's work against Indian seditionists, as well as the focus of work for the nascent
Indian Political Intelligence Office
The Indian Political Intelligence Office (IPIO) was an intelligence organisation initially established in England in 1909 in response to the dissemination of anarchist and revolutionary elements of Indian nationalism to different countries in Eu ...
. India House ceased to be a potent organisation after its liquidation in the wake of the assassination of
William Hutt Curzon Wyllie
Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie (5 October 1848 – 1 July 1909) was a British Indian army officer, and later an official of the British Indian Government. Over a career spanning three decades, Curzon Wyllie rose to be a Lieutenant Colonel in t ...
by an India House member named
Madan Lal Dhingra
Madan Lal Dhingra (18 September 1883 — 17 August 1909) was an Indian revolutionary, pro-independence activist. While studying in England, he assassinated William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, a British official.
Early life
Madan Lal Dhingra was bo ...
. This event marked the beginnings of the London Police's crackdown on the activities of the house and a number of its activists and patrons, including
Shyamji Krishna Varma
Shyamji Krishna Varma (4 October 1857 – 30 March 1930) was an Indian revolutionary fighter, an Indian patriot, lawyer and journalist who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House and ''The Indian Sociologist'' in London. A graduate of ...
and
Bhikaiji Cama
Bhikaiji Rustom CamaBhi''ai''- (with aspirated ''-kh-'') is the name as it appears in the biographies. Another common form is Bhi''ai''- (with unaspirated ''-k-''), as it appears on the postage stamp. The name is also frequently misspelled 'Bhi ...
moved to Europe to carry on works in support of Indian nationalism. Some Indian students, including
Har Dayal
Lala Har Dayal Mathur ( Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...
, moved to the United States. The network that the House founded was key in the
nationalist revolutionary conspiracy in India during World War I.
Gadar Party
Gadar party was a predominantly
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
organization that started operating abroad in 1913 "with the view to do-away with the British rule in India". The party collaborated with revolutionaries inside India and helped them get arms and ammunition.
Lala Hardayal
Lala Har Dayal Mathur ( Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...
was a prominent leader of the party and promoter of the Gadar newspaper. The
''Komagata Maru'' incident in 1914 inspired several thousand Indians residing in the USA to sell their businesses and rush home to participate in the anti-
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
activities in India. The party had active members in India, Mexico, Japan, China, Singapore,
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
Malaya
Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia:
Political entities
* British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
,
Indo-China
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...
and Eastern and Southern Africa. During World War I, it was among the chief participants of the
Hindu–German Conspiracy
The Indo–German Conspiracy (Note on the name) was a series of attempts between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalist groups to create a Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Empire during World War I. This rebellion was formulated betwee ...
.
Berlin Committee
The Berlin Committee, later known as the Indian Independence Committee (german: Indisches Unabhängigkeitskomitee) after 1915, was an organisation formed in Germany in 1914 during World War I by Indian students and political activists residing in ...
The "Berlin committee for Indian independence" was established in 1915 by Virendra Nath Chattopadhya, including Bhupendra Nath Dutt & Lala Hardayal under "Zimmerman plan" with the full backing of German foreign office.
Their goal was mainly to achieve the following four objectives:
#Mobilize Indian revolutionaries abroad.
#Incite rebellion among Indian troops stationed. abroad.
#Send volunteers and arms to India.
#Even to Organized an armed invasion of British India to gain India's independence.
Chronology
Pre World War I
Alipore bomb conspiracy case and Action and Arms finding
Several leaders of the
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
party including
Hare Krishna Konar
Hare Krishna Konar ( bn, হরেকৃষ্ণ কোঙার, Harēkr̥ṣṇa kōṅāra, ; 5 August 1915 – 23 July 1974) was an Indian Marxist revolutionary, radical activist and Communist politician. Konar was a founding ...
were arested for connection with
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
party in 1932 and depoted to Cellular Jail for 6 years and there he founded
Communist Consolidation
Communist Consolidation (19351938) was an Indian revolutionary and communist organization, founded by Hare Krishna Konar among with other prisoners of the Cellular Jail with the ideology of Marx and Lenin's theory Marxism–Leninism. It was t ...
one of the revolutionary group of
India Independence
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal. ...
.
Several others were also depoted to the
Andaman Andaman may refer to:
* Andaman Islands
* Andaman Sea
* ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film
See also
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
...
Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...
for doing Indian independence movement.
File:Alipore Bomb Case 1908-09 Trial Room - Alipore Sessions Court - Calcutta 1997 1.jpg, The trial room, Alipore Sessions Court, Calcutta, depiction from 1997.
File:Muraripukur garden house.png, Muraripukur garden house, in the Manicktolla suburbs of Calcutta. This served as the headquarters of Barindra Kumar Ghosh
Barindra Kumar Ghosh or Barindra Ghosh, or, popularly, Barin Ghosh (5 January 1880 – 18 April 1959) was an Indian revolutionary and journalist. He was one of the founding members of Jugantar Bengali weekly, a revolutionary outfit in Bengal. ...
and his associates.
File:Cellular Jail 2.JPG, A wing of the Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...
, Port Blair
Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...
; showing the central tower where many revolutionaries for Indian independence were held imprisoned.
Howrah gang case
Most of the eminent
Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
leaders including
Bagha Jatin
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
alias
Jatindra Nath Mukherjee
Bagha Jatin (; ) or Baghajatin, born Jatindranath Mukherjee (); 7 December 1879 – 10 September 1915) was an Indian independence activist.
He was the principal leader of the Jugantar party that was the central association of revolutionary i ...
who were not arrested earlier, were arrested in 1910, in connection with the murder of Shamsul Alam. Thanks to Bagha Jatin's new policy of a decentralised federated action, most of the accused were released in 1911.
Delhi-Lahore conspiracy case
The Delhi Conspiracy case, also known as the Delhi–Lahore Conspiracy, hatched in 1912, planned to assassinate the then
Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
,
Lord Hardinge, on the occasion of transferring the capital of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
from
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
to New Delhi. Involving revolutionary underground in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and headed by
Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose (; 25 May 1886 – 21 January 1945) was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the First Indian National Army during World War 2. The Indian N ...
along with
Sachin Sanyal
Sachindra Nath Sanyal (3 April 1890 — 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out ...
, the conspiracy culminated on the attempted assassination on 23 December 1912 when a home-made bomb was thrown into the Viceroys's
Howdah
A howdah, or houdah (Hindi: हौदा ''haudā''), derived from the Arabic (hawdaj), which means "bed carried by a camel", also known as ''hathi howdah'' (''hāthī haudā'', हाथी हौदा), is a carriage which is positioned o ...
when the ceremonial procession moved through the
Chandni Chowk
The Chandni Chowk, also known as Moonlight Square is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, India. It is located close to the Old Delhi Railway Station. The Red Fort monument is located at the eastern end of Chandni Chowk. It was bu ...
suburb of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
. The Viceroy escaped with his injuries, along with Lady Hardinge, although the
Mahout
A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retaining h ...
was killed.
In the aftermath of the event, efforts were made to destroy the Bengali and Punjabi revolutionary underground, which came under intense pressure for sometime. Rash Behari successfully evaded capture for nearly three years, becoming actively involved in the
Ghadar conspiracy
The Ghadar Mutiny ( Hindustani: ग़दर राज्य-क्रान्ति (غدر بغاوت), ''Ġadar Rājya-krānti'', ''Ġadar Baġāvat''), also known as the Ghadar Conspiracy, was a plan to initiate a pan-India mutiny in the Br ...
before it was uncovered, and fleeing to
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in 1916.
The investigations in the aftermath of the assassination attempt led to the
Delhi Conspiracy Trial. Although
Basanta Kumar Biswas
Basanta Kumar Biswas (6 February 1895 – 11 May 1915) was an Indian pro-independence activist involved in the Jugantar group who, in December 1912, played a role in the bombing of the Viceroy's parade in what came to be known as the Delhi-Lah ...
was convicted of having thrown the bomb and executed, along with
Amir Chand Major General Amir Chand (1889–1970) was a physician and teacher of medicine in India. In 1936, while India was still under British rule, Dr. Amir Chand became the first Indian to occupy the Chair of Medicine at King Edward Medical College, Lahore ...
and
Avadh Behari
Awadh (), known in British historical texts as Avadh or Oudh, is a region in the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It is synonymous with the Kośāla region of ...
for their roles in the conspiracy, the true identity of the person who threw the bomb is not known to this day.
Rash Behari Bose 02.jpg, Rash Behari Bose
Rash Behari Bose (; 25 May 1886 – 21 January 1945) was an Indian revolutionary leader against the British Raj. He was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny and founded the First Indian National Army during World War 2. The Indian N ...
, was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar Mutiny
The Ghadar Mutiny (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ग़दर राज्य-क्रान्ति (غدر بغاوت), ''Ġadar Rājya-krānti'', ''Ġadar Baġāvat''), also known as the Ghadar Conspiracy, was a plan to initiate a pan-In ...
and later the Indian National Army
The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...
.
Basanta biswas.JPG, Basanta Kumar Biswas
Basanta Kumar Biswas (6 February 1895 – 11 May 1915) was an Indian pro-independence activist involved in the Jugantar group who, in December 1912, played a role in the bombing of the Viceroy's parade in what came to be known as the Delhi-Lah ...
, is believed to have bombed the Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
's Parade in what came to be known as the Delhi–Lahore Conspiracy.
AMARENDRA CHATTERJEE.JPG, Amarendranath Chatterjee
Amarendranath Chatterjee ( bn, অমরেন্দ্রনাথ চট্টোপাধ্যায়) (01July 1880 – 4 September 1957) was an Indian independence movement activist. In charge of raising funds for the Jugantar movement, ...
was in charge of raising funds for the Jugantar
Jugantar or Yugantar ( bn, যুগান্তর ''Jugantor''; lit. ''New Era'' or ''Transition of an Epoch'') was one of the two main secret revolutionary trends operating in Bengal for Indian independence. This association, like Anushi ...
movement, his activities largely covered revolutionary centres in Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
and the United Provinces.
World War I
Indo-German Joint Movement
The Indo-German movement, also referred to as the Hindu–German Conspiracy or the Ghadar movement (or Ghadr conspiracy), was formulated during World War I between
Indian Nationalists
Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, b ...
in India, the United States and Germany, the
Irish Republicans
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate.
The developm ...
, and the German Foreign office to initiate a Pan-Indian rebellion against
The Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
with German support between 1914 and 1917, during World War I.
The most famous amongst a number of plots planned to foment unrest and trigger a
Pan-Indian mutiny in February 1915, in the
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...
from
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
to Singapore, to overthrow
The Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
in the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
. This conspiracy was ultimately thwarted at the last moment as British intelligence successfully infiltrated the Ghadarite movement and arrested key figures. The failed
Singapore mutiny
The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny or the Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, was a mutiny involving up to half of a regiment of 850 Indian Muslim sepoys against the British in Singapore during the First World War. Th ...
remains a famous part of this plot while mutinies in other smaller units and garrisons within India were also crushed.
World War I began with an unprecedented outpouring of loyalty and goodwill towards the United Kingdom from within the mainstream political leadership, contrary to initial British fears of an Indian revolt. India contributed massively to the British war effort by providing men and resources. About 1.3 million Indian soldiers and labourers served in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, while both the Indian government and the princes sent large supplies of food, money, and ammunition. However,
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
and Punjab remained hotbeds of anti-colonial activities. Terrorism in Bengal, increasingly closely linked with the unrest in Punjab, was significant enough to nearly paralyse the regional administration. With outlines of German links with the Indian revolutionary movement already in place as early as 1912, the main conspiracy was formulated between the
Ghadar Party
The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...
in the United States, the
Berlin Committee
The Berlin Committee, later known as the Indian Independence Committee (german: Indisches Unabhängigkeitskomitee) after 1915, was an organisation formed in Germany in 1914 during World War I by Indian students and political activists residing in ...
in Germany,
Indian revolutionary underground
The Revolutionary movement for Indian Independence was the part of the Indian independence movement comprising the actions of violent underground revolutionary factions. Groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into t ...
in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
and the
German Foreign Office
, logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg
, logo_width = 260 px
, image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg
, picture_width = 300px
, image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building
, headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...
through the consulate in San Francisco at the beginning of World War I. A number of failed attempts were made at mutiny, among them the
February mutiny plan and the
Singapore Mutiny
The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny or the Mutiny of the 5th Light Infantry, was a mutiny involving up to half of a regiment of 850 Indian Muslim sepoys against the British in Singapore during the First World War. Th ...
. This movement was suppressed by means of a massive international counter-intelligence operation and draconian political acts (including the
Defence of India Act 1915
The Defence of India Act 1915, also referred to as the Defence of India Regulations Act, was an emergency criminal law enacted by the Governor-General of India in 1915 with the intention of curtailing the nationalist and revolutionary activities ...
) that lasted nearly ten years. Other notable events that formed a part of the conspiracy include the
Annie Larsen arms plot, the
Mission to Kabul that also attempted to rally Afghanistan against British India. The Mutiny of the
Connaught Rangers
The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Foot (which ...
in India, as well as by some accounts, the
Black Tom explosion
The Black Tom explosion was an act of sabotage by agents of the German Empire, to destroy U.S.-made munitions that were to be supplied to the Allies of World War I, Allies in World War I. The explosions, which occurred on July 30, 1916, in New Y ...
in 1916 are also considered minor events linked to the conspiracy.
The Indo-Irish-German alliance and the conspiracy were the target of a worldwide intelligence effort by the British intelligence agencies which was ultimately successful in preventing further attempts and plans, and in the aftermath of the
Annie Larsen affair The Annie Larsen affair was a gun-running plot in the United States during World War I. The plot, involving India's Ghadar Party, the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the German Foreign office, was a part of the larger so-called "Hindu–German Con ...
, successfully directed the American intelligence agencies to arrest key figures at the time she entered
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1917. The conspiracy led to the
Lahore conspiracy case in India and the
Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial The Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial commenced in the District Court in San Francisco on November 12, 1917, following the uncovering of the :Hindu–German Conspiracy (also known as the Indo German plot) for initiating a revolt in India. It was pa ...
in the USA, of which the latter at the time was one of the longest and most expensive trials in that country.
[
Largely subdued and suppressed by the end of the war, the movement posed a significant threat to British India during World War I and its aftermath, and was a major factor guiding ]The Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
's India policy.
Tehrek e Reshmi Rumal
During the war, the Pan-Islamist movement also attempted to overthrow the Raj, and came to form a close liaison with the Indo-German Conspiracy. Out of the Deobandi
Deobandi is a revivalist movement within Sunni Islam, adhering to the Hanafi school of law,
formed in the late 19th century around the Darul Uloom Madrassa in Deoband, India, from which the name derives,
by Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi, R ...
movement arose the Tehrek-e-Reshmi Rumal. The Deoband
Deoband is a town and a municipality in Saharanpur district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, about 150 km from Delhi. Darul Uloom Deoband, an Islamic seminary and one of the largest Islamic Institution of India is located there.
Etymo ...
i leaders attempted to begin a pan-Islamic insurrection in British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
during World War I by seeking support from Ottoman Turkey
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, Imperial Germany
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
, Afghanistan. The plot was uncovered by Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
CID
CID may refer to:
Film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film
* ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film
* ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film
Television
* ''CID'' ( ...
with the capture of letters from Ubaidullah Sindhi
Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (10 March 1872 – 21 August 1944) was a political activist of the Indian independence movement and one of its vigorous leaders. According to ''Dawn'', Karachi, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi struggled for the independence ...
, one of the Deobandi leaders then in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, to Mahmud al Hasan
Mahmud Hasan Deobandi (also known as Shaykh al-Hind; 1851–1920) was an Indian Muslim scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia university and launched the Silk Letter Movement for ...
another leader then in Persia. The letters were written in Silk cloth, hence the name of the Silk Letter Conspiracy
The Silk Letter Movement ('Tehreek-e-Reshmi Rumal') refers to a movement organised by Deobandi leaders between 1913 and 1920, aimed at gaining Indian independence from British rule by forming an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, the Emirate of Af ...
.[''Pan-Islam in British Indian Politics: A Study of the Khilafat Movement, 1918–1924''. (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia). M. Naeem Qureshi. pp. 79, 80, 81, 82.]
Between the wars
Chittagong armoury raid
Surya Sen
Surya Sen, also called Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary who was influential in the Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury ...
led Indian revolutionaries to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces and to cut all communication lines in Chittagong
Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...
on 18 April 1930. After successfully completing the raid, revolutionaries establish Provincial National Government of India, after this in deadly clash with Government troops in Jalalabad Hill, revolutionaries scattered themselves in small groups. and Some revolutionaries were soon killed or arrested in a gun-fight with the police. Scores of Government officials, policeman were also killed. Pritilata Waddedar
Pritilata Waddedar (5 May 1911 – 24 September 1932) was an Indian revolutionary nationalist from the Indian subcontinent who was influential in the Indian independence movement. After completing her education in Chittagong and Dhaka, she att ...
led the attack on European club in Chittagong in 1932. Surya Sen
Surya Sen, also called Surya Kumar Sen (22 March 189412 January 1934), was an Indian revolutionary who was influential in the Indian independence movement against British rule in India and is best known for leading the 1930 Chittagong armoury ...
was arrested in 1933 and was hanged on 12 January 1934.
Central Assembly Bomb Case (1929)
Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary*
* who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer
*
* in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...
and Batukeshwar Dutt
Batukeshwar Dutt (18 November 1910 – 20 July 1965) was an Indian socialist revolutionary and independence fighter in the early 1900s. He is best known for having exploded two bombs, along with Bhagat Singh, in the Central Legislative Assemb ...
threw a bomb in the assembly house along with leaflets stating their revolutionary philosophy – 'to make the deaf hear'. Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary*
* who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer
*
* in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...
, Sukhdev
Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary who worked to make India independent from the British Raj along with his best friends and partners Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru. A senior member of the Hindustan S ...
and Rajguru Rajguru, also spelled as Rajyaguru, is an ancient title and surname of the Indian subcontinent which means ''royal priest''.
Notable people
*Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera, Bangladeshi Buddhist
*Rajguru Priyo Ratana Mahathera, Buddhist guru
*Basava ...
were hanged and several others faced the verdict of imprisonment. Batukeshwar Dutt outlived all his comrades and died in July 1965 in Delhi. All of them cremated in Ferozpur (Punjab, India).
Baikuntha Shukla
Baikuntha Shukla (15 May 1907 – 14 May 1934) was an Indian nationalist and revolutionary. He was the nephew of Yogendra Shukla, one of the founders of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). He was hanged for murdering Phanindra Nath ...
, the great nationalist was hanged for murdering Phanindrananth Ghosh who had become a government approver which led to the hanging of Bhagat Singh
Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary*
* who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer
*
* in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...
, Sukhdev
Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian revolutionary who worked to make India independent from the British Raj along with his best friends and partners Bhagat Singh and Shivaram Rajguru. A senior member of the Hindustan S ...
and Rajguru Rajguru, also spelled as Rajyaguru, is an ancient title and surname of the Indian subcontinent which means ''royal priest''.
Notable people
*Rajguru Aggavamsa Mahathera, Bangladeshi Buddhist
*Rajguru Priyo Ratana Mahathera, Buddhist guru
*Basava ...
. He was a nephew of Yogendra Shukla
Yogendra Shukla (1896 – 19 November 1960) was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter from Bihar. He served in the Cellular Jail (''Kalapani''), and he was among the founders of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). Along with ...
. Baikunth Shukla was also initiated into the independence struggle at a young age taking an active part in the 'Salt Satyagraha' of 1930. He was associated with revolutionary organisations like the Hindustan Seva Dal and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. The execution of the great Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev in 1931 as a result of their trial in the 'Lahore conspiracy case' was an event that shook the entire country. Phanindra Nath Ghosh, hitherto a key member of the Revolutionary Party had treacherously betrayed the cause by turning an approver, giving evidence, which led to the execution. Baikunth was commissioned to plan the execution of Ghosh as an act of ideological vendetta which he carried out successfully on 9 November 1932. He was arrested and tried for the killing. Baikunth was convicted and hanged in Gaya Central Jail on 14 May 1934. He was only 28 years old.
On 27 February 1931, Chandrasekar Azad died in a shootout when cornered by the police.
It is unclear of the eventual fate of the Association, but the common understanding is that it disbanded with the death of Chandrashekar Azad and the hanging of its popular activists: Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Dalhousie Square Bomb Case
A bomb was thrown on the Calcutta Police Commissioner, Charles Tegart on 25 August 1930.
Kakori train robbery
Chandrasekhar Azad
Chandra Shekhar Tiwari ( (23 July 1906 – 27 February 1931), popularly known as Chandra Shekhar Azad, was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican ...
, Ramprasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil ( Hindi: राम प्रसाद "बिस्मिल") (11 June 1897 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, revolutionary and an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, ...
, Jogesh Chatterjee, Ashfaqullah Khan
Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian independence activist in the Indian independence movement and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Association.
Early life
Khan was born in the Shahjahanpur district of th ...
, Banwari Lal and their accomplices participated in the robbery of treasury money that was being transported by train. The looting took place between Kakori station and Alamnagar, within of Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
on 9 August 1925. Police started an intense man-hunt and arrested a large number of revolutionaries and tried them in the Kakori case. Ashfaqullah Khan
Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian independence activist in the Indian independence movement and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Association.
Early life
Khan was born in the Shahjahanpur district of th ...
, Ramprasad Bismil
Ram Prasad Bismil ( Hindi: राम प्रसाद "बिस्मिल") (11 June 1897 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, revolutionary and an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, ...
, Roshan Singh
Thakur Roshan Singh (22 January 1892 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian revolutionary, born in the village of Nabada in Shahjahanpur district, Uttar Pradesh in A kshatriya Rajput family, who was sentenced in the Bareilly shooting case during ...
, Rajendra Lahiri
Rajendra Nath Lahiri (29 June 1901 — 17 December 1927), known simply as Rajendra Lahiri, was an Indian revolutionary, who was a mastermind behind the Kakori conspiracy and Dakshineshwar bombing. He was active member of Hindustan Republican A ...
were hanged, four others were sent to the Cellular Jail
The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the British Raj, colonial government of India for the purpose of Penal transportation, exiling crimina ...
in Port Blair
Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (''tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...
, Andaman Andaman may refer to:
* Andaman Islands
* Andaman Sea
* ''Andaman'' (1998 film), a Kannada-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2016 film), a Tamil-language film
* ''Andaman'' (2021 film), a Hindi-language film
See also
* Andaman and Nicobar Islands
...
for life and seventeen others were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
World War II
The scenario changed with the years. The British were thinking to quit India and religious politics came into play. The basic political background of revolutionary ideas seemed to evolve in a new direction. The organised revolutionary movements can be said to have nearly ceased by 1936, apart from some stray sparks, like the killing of Sir Michael O'Dwyer
Michael Francis O'Dwyer (28 April 1864 – 13 March 1940) was an Irish Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer and later the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, British India, between 1913 and 1919.
During O'Dwyer's tenure as Punjab's Lieutenant Gove ...
, generally held responsible for the Amritsar Massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, British India, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arre ...
, on 13 March 1940, by Udham Singh
Udham Singh (born Sher Singh; 26 December 1899 — 31 July 1940) was an Indian revolutionary belonging to Ghadar Party and HSRA, best known for assassinating Michael O'Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of the Punjab in India, on 13 Mar ...
in London.
During the Quit India Movement
The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...
of 1942, several other activities took place in different parts of India. However, those were discrete occurrences and hardly any large scale planned terrorism took place that could shake the British administration. Meanwhile, Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
was organising an Indian National Army
The Indian National Army (INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a collaborationist armed force formed by Indian collaborators and Imperial Japan on 1 September 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II. Its aim was to secure In ...
outside India and leading the army towards India, while at the same time the Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
was negotiating with the British. Finally, India was independent on 15 August 1947, by violence against the British with much of bloodshed over many years of struggle and sadly, also rioting and violence among the countrymen (and near-future neighbours) during the partition
Partition may refer to:
Computing Hardware
* Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive
* Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job
Software
* Partition (database), the division of a ...
, which was quite shocking to the past revolutionaries and also to Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
. The simmering rebellions in the British Indian Army over the trials of the Indian National Army officers on trumped up charges of treason in late 1945 and the naval revolt in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) in February 1946 inspired by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's feats, convinced the British that the instrument of British power – the Indian military was no longer going to help them support the Raj.[BOSE or GANDHI : Who Got India Her Freedom? by (Retd) Maj Gen (Dr) GD Bakshi, VSM, SM]
Many revolutionaries participated in mainstream politics and joined political parties like the Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
and, especially, the communist parties and took part in the parliamentary democracy that was India. On the other hand, many past revolutionaries, being released from captivity, led the lives of common men.
Notable revolutionaries
See also
* Provisional Government of India
The Provisional Government of India was a provisional government-in-exile established in Kabul, Afghanistan on December 1, 1915 by the Indian Independence Committee during World War I with support from the Central Powers. Its purpose was to enr ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
* Ghosh, Durba. ''Gentlemanly Terrorists: Political Violence and the Colonial State in India, 1919-1947'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017.)
* Maclean, Kama. '' A Revolutionary History of Interwar India: Violence, Image, Voice and Text'' (Oxford University Press, 2015.)
External links
Revolutionaries in Cellular Jail, Andaman
{{West Bengal
Resistance to the British Empire