After the Battle of Plassey (1757), East India Company started to consolidate its power in India. From a simple trading company, East India Company had effectively become the master of the Indian subcontinent. The British company was deciding the social, economic, political, and religious fate of such a large population. Years of slavery had paralyzed the people’s confidence; their mind was completely enslaved and the future was looking uncertain.
In this situation, no one had the power or confidence to stand against the mighty British Army. Not only had they captured the vast geographical area, but they had also enslaved the mind of the people. However, when the pressure was exerted beyond a limit, the people started to lose patience and common consciousness to fight the foreign rule generated. Certain homogeneous groups like farmers, tribals, or zamindars were raising their voices against their respective grievances. Mass nationalism feelings were still amassing to fight the British rule. After the 1857 revolt, the common misconception of the invincible powers of the British was dismantled and people started to gather the courage to fight them.
As the British consolidation started in Bengal, it was obvious that Bengal would suffer the most from the colonial power. Its permanent settlement land revenue policy had sucked the people’s souls and they had nothing left for the British. In this scenario, they had nothing to lose in the fight against the oppressors. So, Bengal became the hotbed of nationalism and revolutionary activities. Youngsters from Bengal ignited the revolutionary movement in India and helped the nation to realise its swaraj power. Learning nationalism ideas from Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and other intellectuals, the Bengal Boys launched an unending strike against the British.
Bengal Partition: The Ignition Point of Revolution
Until the Partition of Bengal in 1905, the freedom movement was mostly peaceful. After the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885, Britishers had almost normalised the struggle. People were softly creating a common consciousness of nationalism and spreading the idea of Swaraj. So, to stop this inner movement, Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India announced the Partition of Bengal in 1905. The plan was to divide Muslim majority eastern Bengal with Hindu majority Bengal region in order to suppress the rising voice against the British. But, opposite to their thinking, the act proved to be the cornerstone of revolutionary activities in India.
Emboldened by the nationalism feelings, the young blood of Bengal started to organize themselves. The purpose was to coordinate with other revolutionaries and give a united fight to the British.
With the common idea to violently overthrow the British rule in India, by 1902, the Bengal Boys had created three secret societies in Calcutta. Under the leadership of Calcutta students Satish Chandra Basu, Sarla Devi, and Aurobindo Ghose, a secret revolutionary movement started to progress. In all three of them, the prominent organisation was the Anushilan Samiti under the leadership of Aurobindo Ghose.
Anushilan Samiti: The Binding Group of Bengali Revolutionaries
Anushilan Samiti, the bodybuilding society, was an underground grouping of revolutionaries. Aurobindo Ghose and his brother Barindra Kumar Ghose carved the revolutionary movement in India. They were both philosophical as well as physical executors of the Bengal revolutionary movement.
To spread the revolutionary idea and create support for the movement, two prominent publications, Bande Mataram and Jugantar Patrika, were created. The publication helped them spread their idea to the masses and generate sentiments in their favour. Bande Mataram was founded by Bipin Chandra Pal and edited by Aurobindo Ghose. On the other hand, Jugantar Patrika was founded by Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Abhinash Bhattacharya, and Bhupendranath Dutt to spread the revolutionary agenda of Anushilan Samiti. At that time, the paper had around 20,000 readers and had gained a lot of popularity among youngsters of Bengal.
The Bengal Boys – Whose guns use to talk to the British
Inspired by the nationalism idea and emboldened with the cause to free the country from the clutches of the British, Bengali Youngsters ignited a wave of freedom in India. The Bengal Boys cumulatively launch successive attacks on British officials and their assets. Under the banner of the secret Anushilan Samiti, they brought the mighty British powers to their knees. The Bengal Boys launched a series of political assassinations and dacoities to obtain the funds to advance the revolutionary movement.
Anushilan group’s first strike was against Bengal Lieutenant Governor Sir Andrew Fraser. He was the prominent opposition in the anti-partition agitation. In December 1907, a train carrying him was derailed in an attempt to assassinate him.
On 13 April 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki were sent to assassinate the Chief Presidency Magistrate D.H. Kingsford. Under the mistaken notion that the notorious officer D.H. Kingsford is in the car, they bombed two English women. In the aftermath of the attack, police launched successive search operations and arrested Bose at Waini Railway station. After the arrest, he took the entire responsibility for the attack on his shoulders. Following this he was sentenced to death by the Sessions Court and Khudiram Bose was hanged on 11 August 1908 in the Muzaffarpur Jail. Prafulla Chaki shot himself with his own revolver to escape his arrest at Mokama Railway Station. When these young sons died, they were just 18 or 19 years old. Their love for the motherland was immense. Overloaded with nationalism ideas, they laid their life to free us.
The Muzaffarpur bombing investigation turned into the Alipore Conspiracy Case. The investigation traced the wire of conspiracy to Anushilan members and with Aurobindo Ghosh, about 38 other Bengali nationalists of the Samiti were charged. After their arrest, they were held in the Presidency Jail in Alipore. In this case, Narendranath Goswami became the approver endangering the Aurobindo conviction. To save the leader of Anushilan Samiti, Kanailal Dutta and Satyandranath Bose shot dead Goswami in Jail itself. Although Aurobindo Ghose was released, his brother Barindra Nath Ghose was imprisoned for life.
Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy
Shamsul Alam was the police officer who was investigating Narendranath Goswami’s murder and had uncovered the Anushilan revolutionaries’ movements. It was very necessary to eliminate him to not only save the life of revolutionaries but also of India. Considering the situation, Biren Dutta Gupta, an associate of Jatin Da assassinated him and saved the movement.
Bose strikes on power centre of British
Rash Behari Bose was born on 25th May 1886 in the Subaldaha village of Bardhaman, West Bengal. His birth matches the origin of the Indian Freedom Movement. Spending early childhood in his own village, Rash Behari Bose moved to Kolkata. Later earning a Medical as well as Engineering degree from France and Germany, he moved to Kolkata. But, at that time Bengal had become the hotbed of revolutionary actions and the region was under the close watch of British authorities.
Rash Behari Bose’s first and one of the biggest strikes was an attempt to assassinate Lord Hardinge, the then Viceroy of India, in 1912 at the Chandni Chowk, Delhi. On the occasion of transferring the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi, Lord Hardinge sitting on the Elephant was a part of the celebration procession. When the procession reached Chandni Chowk of Delhi, Basanta Kumar Biswas threw the homemade bomb at Lord Hardinge. Although Lord Viceroy escaped death, he was seriously injured.
Bagha Jatin: The leader of the Indian Revolution
Jatindra Nath Mukherjee was born on 7 December 1879 in Kushtia village of Nadia district, Bengal (Now in Bangladesh). His upbringing collides with the rise of nationalism in India. Since childhood, Bagha Jatin was physically very brave and interested in religious plays.
Once in April 1908, Jatin Da got involved in a fight with English military officers, which led to legal proceedings. This news spread like fire and the press widely covered the news that a few Englishmen were thrashed single-handed by an Indian. Once an English official asked Jatin: “With how many can you fight all alone?” Jatin da replied, “Not a single one if it is a question of honest people; otherwise, as many as you can imagine!” Such was the courage he used to carry.
After the outbreak of World War 1, an International Pro-India Committee was formed in Zurich in 1914 to ignite the armed rebellion in India. Consequently, he got involved in the Ghadar Revolution. It was the international coordination of the Ghadar Party in the United States, the Berlin Committee in Germany, the Indian revolutionaries, and the German Foreign Officer through the consulate in San Francisco.
As the final plan was to be executed here in India, the Indian revolutionary’s action was prominent for success. Under the leadership of Bagha Jatin, a series of logistical and financial resources was collected to ensure the success of the Ghadar Revolution. Although the Ghadar revolution failed to execute, the confidence to fight the mighty British Army was commendable.
Also Read: Battle of Laswari: An untold chronicle of the Marathas
Sachindranath Sanyal and J.C. Chatterjee – The founder of Anushilan 2.0
After the failed Ghadar revolution, the British exerted huge pressure on revolutionaries. By the time, Gandhi had entered the freedom struggle and movement was transacted around his ‘non-violence’ policy. Further to crush the revolutionary movement, Britishers launched successive acts like Ingress into Indian Ordinance 1914 and Defense of India Act 1915.
In this scenario, Sachindranath Sanyal became the propounder of the revolutionary movement. He established the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA) with Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and revived the strike against the British. He was sentenced to life for his involvement in the Kakori Conspiracy which was done to raise funds for the HRA movement. Sachindranath Sanyal was the mentor to revolutionaries like Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.
Surya Sen and Chittagong armoury raid
Under the leadership of Surya Sen, the Chittagong armoury raid was executed to capture arms and demolish the Telegraph and telephone office. Demonstrating to challenge the ‘armed might’ of the British Empire, Surya Sen not only took control of the European club’s headquarters but took a military salute and hoisted a national flag of India. He also proclaimed to establish a Provisional Revolutionary Government in Chittagong.
By 1931, about 92 violent records of revolutionaries were recorded including the murders of the British magistrates of Tippera and Midnapore. After that most of the prominent revolutionary organizations either dissolved or assimilated with the Gandhian movement. The organised structure of Bengal Boys launched successive attacks on British power and strengthened nationalism in India.
They helped Indians to eliminate the myth of the invincible British Empire and gave them the confidence to fight them in every possible manner. Without thinking about their life, in their teens, the Bengal Boys carried the courage of a Tiger. They eliminated the fear of life and launched a parallel war against the British Empire. They were the daredevils of Bengal whose guns used to speak with the British Empire.
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