Revolutionary Movement
Revolutionary Movement in India
Alongside the constitutional and Gandhian streams, a revolutionary movement emerged that believed in armed struggle against British rule. From the Anushilan and Jugantar samitis of Bengal to the Ghadar Party in North America, from Bhagat Singh's HSRA to Subhas Chandra Bose's INA, revolutionaries inspired generations with their courage and sacrifice, even though their methods were often at odds with the mainstream Congress approach.
Key Dates
Chapekar brothers assassinated W.C. Rand (Plague Commissioner of Pune) and Lt. Ayerst — among the earliest revolutionary acts against British officials
Anushilan Samiti founded in Calcutta by Pramathanath Mitra — the first major revolutionary organization in Bengal, promoting physical culture and revolutionary ideology
V.D. Savarkar founded the Abhinav Bharat Society in Nashik; Shyamji Krishna Varma established India House in London as a center for revolutionary Indians abroad
Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki attempted to assassinate Magistrate Kingsford at Muzaffarpur (killed two British women instead); Khudiram hanged at age 18; Alipore Bomb Case follows
Madan Lal Dhingra assassinated Curzon Wyllie in London; V.D. Savarkar published 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' (banned by British)
Delhi Conspiracy Case — failed attempt to assassinate Viceroy Lord Hardinge with a bomb thrown at his elephant during the Delhi Durbar procession; Rash Behari Bose planned the attack
Ghadar Party founded by Lala Har Dayal and Sohan Singh Bhakna in San Francisco; newspaper 'Ghadar' launched in multiple languages
Komagata Maru incident — 376 Indian passengers turned away from Vancouver; when ship returned to Budge Budge, British fired on passengers; Berlin Committee formed by Indian revolutionaries in Germany
Kakori Conspiracy — Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and HRA members robbed government treasury train near Kakori (Lucknow); four hanged in December 1927
HSRA formed (HRA reorganized as Hindustan Socialist Republican Association); Lala Lajpat Rai fatally lathi-charged during Simon Commission protests (17 November); J.P. Saunders killed in revenge (17 December)
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly to 'make the deaf hear' — protesting the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill
Chittagong Armoury Raid — Surya Sen ('Masterda') led 65 followers in a raid on the British armoury in Chittagong; Pritilata Waddedar participated
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Rajguru hanged at Lahore Jail — 23 March observed as Shaheed Divas (Martyr's Day)
Subhas Chandra Bose revived the Indian National Army (INA/Azad Hind Fauj) in Singapore; established Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind, 21 October 1943)
INA Trials at Red Fort — trials of Shah Nawaz Khan, P.K. Sahgal, and G.S. Dhillon united Indian public opinion; triggered RIN Mutiny (February 1946)
Early Revolutionary Activities — Bengal Phase (1897-1910)
Bengal was the birthplace of revolutionary terrorism in India. The partition of Bengal (1905) by Lord Curzon catalyzed the movement. The Anushilan Samiti (founded 1902, Calcutta, by Pramathanath Mitra) and Jugantar group (a breakaway, 1906, led by Aurobindo Ghosh and Barindra Kumar Ghosh) were the two main revolutionary organizations. Key events: Chapekar brothers assassinated W.C. Rand in Pune (1897) — Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar were hanged; Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki attempted to kill Magistrate Kingsford at Muzaffarpur (1908) — the bomb killed two British women instead (Mrs. and Miss Kennedy); Khudiram was hanged (youngest martyr at 18 years, 8 months, 8 days). The Alipore Bomb Case (1908) — Aurobindo Ghosh was arrested as the alleged conspiracy leader but acquitted (his lawyer C.R. Das delivered a masterful defence); Barindra Kumar Ghosh (Aurobindo's brother) was convicted and sentenced to death (later commuted to life). Aurobindo later withdrew from politics and settled in Pondicherry as a spiritual philosopher. The bomb-making manual used by the revolutionaries was allegedly obtained from Russian nihilist sources. The discovery of a bomb factory at Manicktolla Garden (Calcutta) led to the major crackdown. Newspapers like Yugantar (Barindra's), Sandhya (Brahmabandhab Upadhyay), and Kal (Shivaji) propagated revolutionary ideas.
Revolutionary Activities Abroad — London and Europe
The London India House, run by Shyamji Krishna Varma (a wealthy Sanskrit scholar from Gujarat), served as a hub for Indian revolutionaries in Britain from 1905. Varma published 'The Indian Sociologist' and offered scholarships to bring Indian students to London. V.D. Savarkar (Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, 1883-1966) was the most prominent figure — he founded the Abhinav Bharat Society (1904) in Nashik, studied law in London, organized the India House circle, wrote 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' (published 1909 — the first major nationalist interpretation of 1857, banned by the British before publication; copies were smuggled into India). Madan Lal Dhingra, a student from Punjab and member of the India House circle, assassinated Sir William Curzon Wyllie (political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India) at a public event in London on 1 July 1909 — he was hanged on 17 August 1909. Dhingra's statement at his trial is considered one of the most powerful statements of Indian nationalism. The Berlin Committee (also called the Indian Independence Committee) was formed during World War I by Indian revolutionaries including Har Dayal, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (brother of Sarojini Naidu), and Chempakaraman Pillai, who sought German support for an Indian uprising against British rule. The Silk Letters Conspiracy (1916) involved the Deoband-linked scholar Mahmud-ul-Hasan's plan to coordinate an Afghan-Turkish-German attack on British India.
Ghadar Party — The Overseas Revolution
The Ghadar (Mutiny/Revolution) Party was founded in 1913 in San Francisco by Lala Har Dayal (a former Oxford scholar and anarchist), with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president. It was primarily composed of Punjabi immigrants (mostly Sikh farm workers and laborers) in North America — concentrated in California, Oregon, and British Columbia. The party published a newspaper called 'Ghadar' in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, and other languages, calling for armed revolution against British rule. The newspaper was smuggled into India and distributed among Indian soldiers and emigrant communities worldwide. When World War I broke out (1914), thousands of Ghadarites sailed back to India to launch an armed uprising. The plan was to infiltrate the Indian army, coordinate with German and Turkish support, and launch a simultaneous revolt on 21 February 1915. But the plan was betrayed by informers — the 'Ghadar Conspiracy' was foiled by British intelligence. The Lahore Conspiracy Case (1915) followed — many Ghadarites were hanged or imprisoned. Key leaders: Kartar Singh Sarabha (hanged at 19 — Bhagat Singh kept his photograph), Vishnu Ganesh Pingle (hanged), Baba Gurdit Singh (led the Komagata Maru). The Komagata Maru incident (1914) — a Japanese ship carrying 376 Sikh, Muslim, and Hindu passengers was turned away from Vancouver under the 'continuous journey' regulation; when the ship returned to Budge Budge near Calcutta, British police fired on the disembarking passengers, killing 20.
Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and the Kakori Conspiracy
The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was founded in October 1924 at Kanpur by Sachindranath Sanyal, inspired by the Irish Republican Army and its Sinn Fein tactics. The organization's manifesto, 'The Revolutionary,' outlined its goal of establishing a Federal Republic of the United States of India through armed revolution. The most famous HRA action was the Kakori Conspiracy (9 August 1925) — Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajendra Lahiri, and others robbed a train carrying government treasury near Kakori (close to Lucknow). The robbery was meant to fund revolutionary activities. The subsequent trial (1925-27) drew national attention. Four were hanged: Ram Prasad Bismil (19 December 1927 at Gorakhpur — his last words were 'Vande Mataram'), Ashfaqulla Khan (19 December 1927 at Faizabad — notable as a Hindu-Muslim revolutionary partnership), Roshan Singh (19 December 1927 at Allahabad), and Rajendra Lahiri (17 December 1927 at Gonda). Chandrashekhar Azad escaped and went on to reorganize the party as the HSRA. The Kakori Case highlighted the willingness of revolutionaries to sacrifice their lives and the Hindu-Muslim unity within the revolutionary movement — Bismil and Ashfaqulla's friendship became a powerful nationalist symbol.
Bhagat Singh and HSRA — Ideology and Actions
The HRA was reorganized as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) in September 1928 at a meeting in Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, by Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, and others — adding 'Socialist' reflected their ideological evolution from nationalism to socialist revolution, influenced by the Russian Revolution and Marxist thought. Bhagat Singh (1907-1931, born in Banga, Punjab) was deeply influenced by Marxism, Bakunin's anarchism, and the writings of Lenin and Trotsky. Key HSRA actions: (1) Saunders Murder (17 December 1928) — Bhagat Singh, Azad, and Rajguru killed Assistant Superintendent J.P. Saunders in Lahore, mistaking him for Superintendent J.A. Scott, to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai who had been fatally lathi-charged during the Simon Commission protests on 30 October 1928 (Rai died 17 November). (2) Central Assembly Bomb Case (8 April 1929) — Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs (designed not to kill — filled with stink bombs and leaflets) in the Central Legislative Assembly to protest the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill; they shouted 'Inquilab Zindabad' (Long Live Revolution) and deliberately did not try to escape — their purpose was 'to make the deaf hear' and to use the trial as a platform for revolutionary propaganda. Bhagat Singh's court statement and his essay 'Why I Am an Atheist' (written in jail) reveal a thoughtful Marxist intellectual, not merely a hot-headed terrorist.
Trial, Execution, and Legacy of Bhagat Singh
The Lahore Conspiracy Case (1930-31) tried Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Hari Rajguru for the murder of Saunders. The trial became a major political event — the accused used the court as a political platform, making statements that electrified the nation. Bhagat Singh went on a 63-day hunger strike in jail (demanding political prisoner status) that drew widespread public sympathy. Jatin Das, another HSRA member, died on the 63rd day of his hunger strike (13 September 1929) — his funeral procession in Calcutta was two miles long. Despite massive public appeals for clemency, including from Congress leaders, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, and Rajguru were hanged at Lahore Jail on 23 March 1931 at 7:33 PM — the execution was advanced by 11 hours and the bodies were secretly cremated on the banks of the Sutlej at Hussainiwala to prevent public demonstrations. The date is observed as Shaheed Divas (Martyr's Day). Gandhi was criticized for not doing enough to save them — he was signing the Gandhi-Irwin Pact on 5 March 1931 but did not make commutation of their sentences a condition. Chandrashekhar Azad shot himself at Alfred Park, Allahabad (27 February 1931) when surrounded by police — he had vowed never to be captured alive. The park was renamed Azad Park. Bhagat Singh's legacy has been claimed by multiple political groups — communists, nationalists, and revolutionaries — testament to the breadth of his appeal.
Chittagong Armoury Raid and Bengali Revolutionaries (1930s)
The Chittagong Armoury Raid (18 April 1930) was led by Surya Sen ('Masterda' — a school teacher) with 65 followers who raided the two British armouries in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh), cut telephone and telegraph lines, disrupted rail communications, and hoisted the Indian flag. The plan was inspired by the Irish Easter Rising (1916). After the initial success, the rebels retreated to the Jalalabad hills where they fought the British army. Several were killed, including Nirmal Sen. Surya Sen eluded capture for three years, continuing underground activities, before being betrayed, captured (February 1933), tortured, and hanged (12 January 1934). Key women participants included Pritilata Waddedar (who led an attack on the Pahartali European Club and took cyanide when about to be captured — one of the earliest women revolutionary martyrs, age 21), Kalpana Datta (arrested and sentenced to life — later married Communist leader P.C. Joshi), and Bina Das (who attempted to assassinate Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson at a Calcutta University convocation in 1932). Other notable Bengal revolutionary actions: Gopinath Saha was hanged for killing an Englishman mistaken for the Calcutta Police Commissioner (1924). The Yugantar Party carried out multiple assassinations and arms robberies. The Bengal revolutionary movement produced both individual heroic actions and organized group operations.
Subhas Chandra Bose — From Congress to INA
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945) represented the transition from domestic revolutionary activity to internationalist armed struggle. Born in Cuttack (Odisha), educated at Cambridge (ICS qualified but resigned), he was drawn to revolutionary politics early. He was twice elected Congress President (Haripura 1938, Tripuri 1939) but resigned after differences with Gandhi over the approach to the coming World War — Bose wanted to exploit Britain's wartime vulnerability while Gandhi advocated moral persuasion. He founded the Forward Bloc (1939) within the Congress to rally left-wing nationalists. Placed under house arrest in Calcutta, he made a dramatic escape (January 1941) disguised as a Pathan (Muhammad Ziauddin), traveled via Kabul and Moscow to Berlin (reaching April 1941). In Germany, he established the Free India Centre, broadcast anti-British propaganda on Azad Hind Radio, raised an Indian Legion from Indian POWs, and met Hitler (May 1942) — but found German support inadequate. He then traveled by submarine to Southeast Asia (1943), arriving in Singapore where Japan offered more substantial support for an Indian liberation army.
Indian National Army (INA) — Formation and Campaigns
The Indian National Army was originally organized by Captain Mohan Singh in 1942 with Japanese support, using Indian prisoners of war captured in Malaya and Singapore after the British surrender. However, disagreements with the Japanese over the INA's status led to Mohan Singh's arrest. Bose revived the INA in 1943, transforming it from a Japanese-controlled unit into a genuine nationalist army. He gave famous slogans: 'Delhi Chalo' (March to Delhi), 'Tum mujhe khoon do, main tumhe azadi doonga' (Give me blood, I shall give you freedom), and 'Jai Hind' (Victory to India — the national greeting he popularized). He established the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) in Singapore (21 October 1943) — recognized by Japan, Germany, Italy, and other Axis powers. The government declared war on Britain and the USA. The INA fought alongside the Japanese in the Imphal-Kohima campaign (March-July 1944) — the INA planted the Indian tricolor at Moirang in Manipur. The Rani of Jhansi Regiment (women's regiment) was led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal (nee Swaminathan). The INA had about 40,000 soldiers at its peak. The campaign failed due to Japanese military setbacks, supply problems, tropical diseases, and British air superiority. Bose reportedly died in a plane crash in Taipei, Taiwan, on 18 August 1945 — his death remains shrouded in mystery and controversy.
INA Trials and Their Impact on British Decision to Leave India
After the war, the British put INA officers on trial at the Red Fort, Delhi (November 1945). The first trial involved three officers — Shah Nawaz Khan (Muslim), P.K. Sahgal (Hindu), and G.S. Dhillon (Sikh), deliberately chosen from different communities to prevent communal unity. However, the trial backfired spectacularly — it united Indian public opinion across communities as nothing had done since the Non-Cooperation Movement. The Congress defended the officers (Jawaharlal Nehru, who donned his barrister's robes for the first time in decades, Bhulabhai Desai, Tej Bahadur Sapru, K.N. Katju, and Asaf Ali appeared as defence lawyers). Massive demonstrations erupted across India — in Calcutta (November 1945), mobs attacked government buildings and police stations. The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (18-23 February 1946), triggered partly by INA trial sentiments and poor conditions, saw Indian sailors revolt in Bombay (on HMIS Talwar), Karachi, Madras, and other ports — it involved 78 ships, 20 shore establishments, and 20,000 sailors. The Royal Indian Air Force also saw strikes. The INA trials, combined with the RIN Mutiny, post-war discontent, the Labour government's anti-imperial stance, and Indian elections showing Congress and Muslim League dominance, convinced the British that Indian loyalty — even of the armed forces — could no longer be taken for granted. Clement Attlee later acknowledged that the INA and RIN Mutiny were the most important factors in the British decision to transfer power.
Meerut Conspiracy Case and the Communist Connection
The Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929-33) was a landmark trial that linked the Indian revolutionary movement to international communism. In March 1929, the British arrested 33 trade union leaders and communists, charging them with conspiring to establish a communist government in India through violent revolution and industrial strikes. The accused included Muzaffar Ahmad (founder of the Communist Party of India), S.A. Dange (first Indian Marxist scholar, author of 'Gandhi vs. Lenin'), P.C. Joshi, Shaukat Usmani (who had traveled to the Soviet Union), and three British communists (Philip Spratt, Ben Bradley, and Lester Hutchinson). The trial lasted over four years — the longest political trial in Indian history — and drew international attention. The accused used the trial as a platform to articulate their ideology. Though most were convicted, the sentences were later reduced. The case highlighted the growing influence of socialist and communist ideology on Indian revolutionary movements — a trend already visible in Bhagat Singh's HSRA and its explicit embrace of socialism. The Communist Party of India (founded 1920 in Tashkent by M.N. Roy, or 1925 in Kanpur, depending on interpretation) operated both within and alongside the Congress, influencing the radical wing through figures like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose.
Delhi Conspiracy Case and the Hardinge Bomb (1912)
The Delhi Conspiracy Case (1912) involved one of the most audacious revolutionary acts — an attempt to assassinate the Viceroy, Lord Hardinge. On 23 December 1912, during the state entry procession to mark the transfer of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi, a bomb was thrown at Lord Hardinge's elephant-borne howdah (ceremonial seat) from the rooftop of the Chandni Chowk market. Hardinge was seriously wounded (shrapnel injuries to his back and shoulder) but survived. His attendant William Hailey was also injured, and the mahout was killed. The bomb was made by Rash Behari Bose (not to be confused with Subhas Chandra Bose), who was the mastermind of the plot. Basant Kumar Biswas threw the bomb. The British never caught the actual conspirators initially — Rash Behari Bose escaped to Japan (1915) where he became a key figure in organizing the Indian independence movement abroad and later helped organize the Indian National Army. Basant Kumar Biswas was eventually arrested and hanged. Amir Chand and Avadh Behari were also executed. The case demonstrated that the revolutionary movement could strike at the highest levels of British authority in India.
Women in the Revolutionary Movement
Women played significant though often underrecognized roles in the revolutionary movement. In Bengal, Pritilata Waddedar (1911-1932) led the attack on the Pahartali European Club during the Chittagong Armoury Raid — she took cyanide to avoid capture, becoming one of India's first women revolutionary martyrs. Kalpana Datta (1913-1995) was a close associate of Surya Sen in the Chittagong group, arrested while attempting to smuggle arms, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Bina Das (1911-1986) attempted to assassinate Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson at a convocation ceremony of Calcutta University (6 February 1932) — she was sentenced to nine years. Santi Ghosh and Suniti Chowdhury (both teenagers, aged 14 and 15) assassinated District Magistrate Charles Stevens at Comilla (14 December 1931). Durga Devi (Durgawati Devi, 'Durga Bhabhi') helped Bhagat Singh escape from Lahore after the Saunders killing by disguising as his wife on the train; she also attempted to assassinate a British police officer in Bombay. In the INA, Captain Lakshmi Sahgal (1914-2012) commanded the Rani of Jhansi Regiment — the first all-women military unit in modern Indian history. Janaki Thevar, the leader of the INA's Indian field hospital, and Noor Inayat Khan (who served as a British SOE agent in occupied France — daughter of Indian Sufi musician Hazrat Inayat Khan) represent different dimensions of Indian women's wartime contributions.
Revolutionary Literature and Ideology
The intellectual output of Indian revolutionaries was remarkable and went far beyond simple nationalist sloganeering. V.D. Savarkar's 'The Indian War of Independence 1857' (1909) reinterpreted the 1857 revolt as a planned national uprising — the book was banned before publication but had an enormous underground influence. Bhagat Singh was an avid reader and thinker — his jail notebook reveals reading lists including Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Bertrand Russell, Upton Sinclair, and Thomas Paine. His essay 'Why I Am an Atheist' (1930, written in Lahore Jail) is a philosophical tract arguing against God from a materialist perspective — remarkable for a 22-year-old facing execution. His last petition to the tribunal asked to be treated as a prisoner of war and shot rather than hanged. Ram Prasad Bismil was both a revolutionary and a poet — his Urdu poem 'Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna' (Desire for Sacrifice) became the anthem of Indian revolutionaries. Sachindranath Sanyal's 'Bandi Jivan' (A Life of Captivity) described prison conditions. The HSRA's manifesto ('The Philosophy of the Bomb,' 1930, probably written by Bhagwati Charan Vohra) explicitly critiqued Gandhian non-violence and argued that revolutionary violence was a legitimate response to state violence. The Ghadar newspaper, published in San Francisco from 1913, circulated radical anti-colonial literature in multiple Indian languages to Indian diaspora communities worldwide.
Assessment — Impact and Significance of the Revolutionary Movement
The revolutionary movement, while never achieving its stated goal of overthrowing British rule through armed struggle, had a profound impact on the independence movement and Indian political consciousness. Its significance includes: (1) Psychological impact — revolutionaries demonstrated that Indians were willing to die for freedom, countering the British stereotype of Indians as passive and submissive; the willingness of young men (Khudiram was 18, Sarabha was 19, Bhagat Singh was 23) to face death inspired millions. (2) Pressure on the British — revolutionary violence, combined with mass movements, convinced the British that the cost of holding India was escalating. (3) Broadening nationalism — the revolutionaries brought working-class and socialist perspectives into the independence movement, moving it beyond elite liberal politics. (4) Hindu-Muslim unity — partnerships like Bismil-Ashfaqulla, the composition of the INA (Hindu, Muslim, Sikh officers), and the RIN Mutiny demonstrated cross-communal solidarity. (5) Post-independence influence — the legacy of revolutionary sacrifice shaped India's political culture; 23 March (Shaheed Divas), 28 September (Bhagat Singh's birthday), and 23 January (Bose's birthday, now Parakram Divas) are commemorated nationally. However, the movement also had limitations: it remained predominantly upper-caste and educated, its isolated acts of violence did not mobilize mass movements (unlike Gandhi's campaigns), and it sometimes descended into factional violence and mutual suspicion. Gandhi and the revolutionaries disagreed profoundly on means but shared the goal of Indian freedom.
Relevant Exams
Revolutionary movements are tested extensively in all government exams. UPSC Prelims asks about the Ghadar Party, INA trials, and conspiracy cases. SSC and RRB exams focus on matching revolutionaries with their actions and organizations — 'Who founded the HSRA?', 'What was the Kakori Conspiracy?', 'When was the Chittagong Armoury Raid?' CDS exams particularly focus on the military aspects of the INA and Bose's activities. Questions on Bhagat Singh's ideology and the impact of the INA trials are increasingly common.