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Indian Revolutionary Movement (Early 20th Century)
I. Revolutionary Organizations & Societies
| Organization | Founder(s) | Established | Location | Key Facts & Evolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitra Mela | Vinayak Damodar Savarkar | 1904 | Nasik, Maharashtra | A secret society; precursor to the Abhinav Bharat Society. |
| Abhinav Bharat Society | Vinayak Damodar Savarkar | 1904 (Evolved from Mitra Mela) | Nasik, Maharashtra | Also known as “Young India Society”; involved in the Nasik Conspiracy Case (1909). |
| Anushilan Samiti | Pramath Nath (P.) Mitra | 1902 | Calcutta (Primary Base) | A major revolutionary secret society. Key founders included Jatindranath Mukherjee and Barindra Nath Ghosh. |
| Dhaka Branch | Pulin Bihari Das | 1906 | Dhaka | Executed the Barrah Dacoity (1908). |
| Patna Branch | Sachindra Nath Sanyal | 1913 | Patna | Later associated with the Gadar Party and HRA. |
| Yugantar Party | N/A (Offshoot) | N/A | Bengal | Considered an offshoot of Anushilan Samiti; primarily led by Jatindranath Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin). |
| Gadar Party | Lala Hardayal | 1913 | San Francisco, USA | Founded by Indians living abroad to overthrow British rule. |
| Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) | Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee | 1924 | Kanpur | Responsible for the Kakori Train Robbery (1925). Key members: Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ashfaqullah Khan. |
| Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) | Chandra Shekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, others | 1928 (Reorganized from HRA) | Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi | Reorganized HRA with socialist ideals. Key members: Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Batukeshwar Dutt. |
| Naujawan Bharat Sabha | Bhagat Singh | 1926 | Punjab | Aimed to stimulate youth against British rule. Early members included Yashpal and Chhabil Das. |
| Indian Republican Army (IRA) / Revolt Group | Surya Sen (Masterda) | N/A | Chittagong | The armed group that executed the Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930). Key member: Ambika Chakravarti. |
| Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) | Keshav Baliram Hedgewar | September 27, 1925 | Nagpur | Stated aim was to organize and unify the Hindu community. |
II. Key Revolutionary Figures
| Name | Primary Association | Key Contributions & Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Vinayak Damodar Savarkar | Mitra Mela, Abhinav Bharat | Founded both groups. Authored *’The Indian War of Independence – 1857’* and a biography of Mazzini. Arrested in London, extradited, and famously attempted to escape custody by jumping into the sea. |
| Jatindranath Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin) | Anushilan Samiti, Yugantar Party | Key founder of Anushilan Samiti; main leader of the Yugantar Party. |
| Barindra Kumar Ghosh | Anushilan Samiti | Younger brother of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh; key figure in founding and promoting the Samiti and spreading revolutionary ideas in Bengal. |
| Pulin Bihari Das | Anushilan Samiti (Dhaka) | Established the Dhaka branch in 1906; organized the Barrah Dacoity (1908). |
| Sachindra Nath Sanyal | Anushilan Samiti (Patna), HRA | Established the Patna branch in 1913; later a founder of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). |
| Ram Prasad Bismil | HRA | Mastermind of the Kakori Conspiracy. Hanged in 1927. Refused milk before execution. Popularized the poem “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna…”. |
| Chandra Shekhar Azad | HRA, HSRA | Reorganized HRA into HSRA; became its supreme commander. Never arrested; died in a police encounter in Alfred Park, Allahabad (1931) after shooting himself. |
| Bhagat Singh | HSRA, Naujawan Bharat Sabha | Founding member of both. Threw bomb in Central Legislative Assembly (1929). Popularized slogan “Inquilab Zindabad” (coined by Hasrat Mohani). Executed in 1931. Believed “Criticism and independent thought are the two characteristics of a revolutionary.” |
| Ashfaqullah Khan | HRA | Key leader of the Kakori Conspiracy. First recorded Muslim to be hanged for the freedom struggle (1927). |
| Surya Sen (Masterda) | Indian Republican Army (Chittagong) | Mastermind and leader of the Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930). Hanged in 1934. |
| Bhagwati Charan Vohra | HSRA | Wrote ‘The Philosophy of the Bomb’. Died in 1930 while testing a bomb. Not involved in the Hardinge Bomb incident. |
| Khudiram Bose | Anushilan Samiti | Executed the Muzaffarpur Bombing (1908) with Prafulla Chaki. Hanged in 1908; youngest martyr (18 years, 8 months). |
| Prafulla Chaki | Anushilan Samiti | Executed the Muzaffarpur Bombing (1908) with Khudiram Bose. Committed suicide upon capture. |
| Madan Lal Dhingra | Independent Revolutionary | Assassinated Colonel Wyllie in London (1909). Hanged at Pentonville Prison. |
| Udham Singh | Independent Revolutionary | Avenged the Jallianwala Bagh massacre by assassinating Michael O’Dwyer in London (1940). |
| Jatin Das | HSRA | Arrested in the Lahore Conspiracy Case; died in 1929 after a 63-day hunger strike protesting jail conditions. |
| Bina Das | Independent Revolutionary | Female revolutionary who attempted to assassinate the English Governor at a convocation (1932). |
| Shanti Ghosh & Suniti Chaudhary | Independent Revolutionary | Teenage female revolutionaries who assassinated a district magistrate in Bengal (1931). |
| Gopinath Saha | Independent Revolutionary | Attempted to assassinate Police Commissioner Charles Tegart (1924); mistakenly killed Ernest Day. Executed. |
| Kalpana Dutt (Dutta) | Indian Republican Army | Key female participant in the Chittagong Armoury Raid; arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. |
III. Major Revolutionary Events, Actions, & Cases
| Event/Action | Date | Location | Key Figures | Outcome & Significance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrah Dacoity | 1908 | Dhaka, East Bengal | Pulin Bihari Das (Organizer) | First major venture of revolutionary terrorists in East Bengal; a raid to gather funds. |
| Muzaffarpur Bombing | 1908 | Muzaffarpur, Bihar | Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki | Attempt to assassinate Magistrate Kingsford. Bomb mistakenly killed two British women. Chaki committed suicide; Bose was hanged. |
| Alipore Conspiracy Case | 1908 | Calcutta | Aurobindo Ghosh, Barindra Ghosh | Case for possessing illegal arms and bombs. Aurobindo Ghosh was successfully defended and acquitted by Chittaranjan Das. |
| Murder of Col. Wyllie | 1909 | London | Madan Lal Dhingra | Dhingra assassinated Wyllie and was hanged. |
| Hardinge Bomb Incident | 1912 | Delhi | Master Amir Chand, Bhai Balmukund, Avadh Bihari, Basant Kumar Biswas | Bomb thrown at Viceroy Lord Hardinge; he was wounded but survived. Key figures were convicted. |
| Kakori Conspiracy | Aug 9, 1925 | Near Kakori | Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Rajendra Lahiri | HRA looted a British government treasury train to fund activities. A Defence Committee was formed (Chaired by Govind Ballabh Pant). |
| Kakori Conspiracy Case | 1925-27 | N/A | Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqullah Khan, Roshan Singh, Rajendra Lahiri | Trial for the train robbery. Bismil, Ashfaqullah, Roshan Singh, and Lahiri were hanged. Azad escaped arrest. |
| Central Legislative Assembly Bombing | Apr 8, 1929 | Delhi | Bhagat Singh, Batukeshwar Dutt | Symbolic bombing during discussion on repressive bills; no intention to cause injury. |
| Lahore Conspiracy Case (2nd) | 1930 | Lahore | Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru (for Saunders’ murder) | Trial for the killing of British Police Superintendent J.P. Saunders (1928) and the Assembly bombing. All three were executed on March 23, 1931 (Shaheed Diwas). Batukeshwar Dutt was sent to Cellular Jail. |
| Chittagong Armoury Raid | Apr 18, 1930 | Chittagong | Surya Sen, Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal, Kalpana Dutt | Raid on police and auxiliary force armories to declare independence. A major battle ensued. Surya Sen was later arrested (1933) and hanged (1934). |
| Meerut Conspiracy Case | 1929-33 | Meerut | Muzaffar Ahmed, S.A. Dange, Philip Spratt | Government crackdown on labor leaders for communist ideas. Lasted 3.5 years and attracted worldwide sympathy. |
Other Notable Cases:
- Nasik Conspiracy Case (1909): Linked to the murder of a magistrate by Anant Lakshman Karkare of Abhinav Bharat.
- Howrah Conspiracy Case (1910): Associated with Jatindranath Mukherjee (Bagha Jatin).
- Delhi Conspiracy Case: Associated with Amirchand and Ras Bihari Bose (planned Hardinge assassination).
- Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case (1924): Prosecuted leaders (Muzaffar Ahmed, S.A. Dange, etc.) for spreading communist ideas.
Chronological Order of Key Cases: Lahore Case (1916) -> Kanpur Case (1924) -> Kakori Case (1925) -> Meerut Case (1929).
IV. Ideologies, Legacy, and Other Groups
- Doctrine of Passive Resistance: Propounded by Aurobindo Ghosh in his journal “Vande Mataram”.
- Extremist Nationalism: The trio “Lal-Bal-Pal” (Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal) believed in the superiority of Indian culture.
- Lathi Club: Founded by Bal Gangadhar Tilak to organize the youth.
- Forward Bloc: Formed by Subhash Chandra Bose in 1939 after resigning from the Congress.
- Cultural Reference: The poem “Daro-deewar pe hasrat ki nazar karte hain…” (attributed to Wazid Ali Shah, last Nawab of Awadh) was sung by freedom fighters in jail and before execution.
- Memorial: The memorial for Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru is located in Ferozpur (their cremation site).
Non-Revolutionary Political Groups:
- New Nationalist Party: Formed by Surendranath Banerjee (1917); a moderate group.
- Indian Patriot Association: Formed by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1888); aimed to oppose the Indian National Congress.
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