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'{{short description|Bengali Indian organisation supporting violence to end British rule in India}} {{use Indian English|date=July 2016}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox organization |name = Anushilan Samiti |image = Anushilan samiti symbol.jpg |image_size = 200px |alt = |caption = |motto = United India |formation = 1902 |extinction = 1930s |type = Secret Revolutionary Society |purpose = Indian Independence |key_people = |location = [[Bengal]] }} {{Anushilan Samiti}} '''Anushilan Samiti''' ({{lang-bn|Ônushīlôn sômiti||bodybuilding society}}) was an Indian organisation in the first quarter of the 20th century that appeared as a gymnasium for physical education and moral development of the members in order to promote the Indian values and to focus on Indian Sports like Lathi and Sword play. This Samiti was in reality a revolutionary organization aiming the liberation of India from British Rule founded by Sarala Devi and Promotho Nath Mitra, and the Samiti emerged as force with considerable potency throughout India, it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending [[British rule in India]]. The organisation arose [[History of the Anushilan Samiti|from a conglomeration]] of local youth groups and gyms (akhara) in [[Bengal]] in 1902. It had two prominent, somewhat independent, arms in [[East Bengal|East]] and [[West Bengal]], [[Dhaka Anushilan Samiti]] (centred in [[Dhaka]], modern day [[Bangladesh]]), and the [[Jugantar]] group (centred at [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]). From its foundation to its dissolution during the 1930s, the Samiti challenged British rule in India by engaging in militant nationalism, including bombings, assassinations, and politically-motivated violence. The Samiti collaborated with other [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|revolutionary organisations in India]] and abroad. It was led by the nationalists [[Aurobindo Ghosh]] and his brother [[Barindra Ghosh]], and influenced by philosophies as diverse as [[Hindu]] [[Shakti|Shakta philosophy]], as set forth by Bengali authors [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay|Bankim]] and [[Swami Vivekananda|Vivekananda]], [[Carbonari|Italian Nationalism]], and the [[Pan-Asianism]] of [[Kakuzo Okakura]]. The Samiti was involved in a number of noted incidents of revolutionary attacks against British interests and administration in India, including [[Alipore bomb case|early attempts]] to assassinate [[British Raj]] officials. These were followed by the [[Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy|1912 attempt]] on the life of the Viceroy of India, and the [[Hindu-German Conspiracy|Seditious conspiracy]] during World War I, led by [[Rash Behari Bose]] and [[Jatindranath Mukherjee]] respectively. The organisation moved away from its philosophy of violence in the 1920s due to the influence of the [[Indian National Congress]] and the [[Indian independence movement|Gandhian non-violent movement]]. A section of the group, notably those associated with [[Sachindranath Sanyal]], remained active in the revolutionary movement, founding the [[Hindustan Republican Association]] in north India. A number of Congress leaders from Bengal, especially [[Subhash Chandra Bose]], were accused by the British Government of having links with the organisation during this time. The Samiti's violent and radical philosophy revived in the 1930s, when it was involved in the [[Kakori conspiracy]], the [[Chittagong armoury raid]], and other actions against the administration in British-occupied India. Shortly after its inception, the organisation became the focus of an extensive police and intelligence operation which led to the founding of the [[Special Branch|Special branch]] of the [[Calcutta Police]]. Notable officers who led the police and intelligence operations against the ''Samiti'' at various times included [[Sir Robert Nathan]], [[Sir Harold Stuart]], [[Sir Charles Stevenson-Moore]] and [[Sir Charles Tegart]]. The threat posed by the activities of the ''Samiti'' in Bengal during [[World War I]], along with the threat of a [[Ghadar mutiny|Ghadarite uprising in Punjab]], led to the passage of [[Defence of India Act 1915]]. These measures enabled the arrest, internment, transportation and execution of a number of revolutionaries linked to the organisation, which crushed the East Bengal Branch. In the aftermath of the war, the [[Rowlatt committee]] recommended extending the Defence of India Act (as the [[Rowlatt Act]]) to thwart any possible revival of the ''Samiti'' in Bengal and the Ghadarite movement in Punjab. After the war, the activities of the party led to the implementation of the [[Bengal Criminal Law Amendment]] in the early 1920s, which reinstated the powers of incarceration and detention from the Defence of India Act. However, the ''Anushilan Samiti'' gradually disseminated into the Gandhian movement. Some of its members left for the Indian National Congress then led by [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], while others identified more closely with [[Communism]]. The ''Jugantar'' branch formally dissolved in 1938. In independent India, the party in West Bengal evolved into the [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]], while the Eastern Branch later evolved into the ''[[Shramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal]]'' (Workers and Peasants Socialist Party) in present-day [[Bangladesh]]. ==Background== The growth of the Indian middle class during the 19th century led to a growing sense of Indian identity<ref name=Mitra63>{{Harvnb|Mitra|2006|p=63}}</ref> that fed a rising tide of nationalism in India in the last decades of the 1800s.<ref name=Desai30>{{Harvnb|Desai|2005|p=30}}</ref> The creation of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1885 by [[A.O. Hume]] provided a major platform for the demands of political liberalisation, increased autonomy and social reform.<ref name=Yadav6>{{Harvnb|Yadav|1992|p=6}}</ref> The nationalist movement became particularly strong, radical and violent in [[Bengal]] and, later, in [[Punjab, India|Punjab]]. Notable, if smaller, movements also appeared in [[Maharashtra]], [[Presidency of Madras|Madras]] and other areas in the South.<ref name=Yadav6/> The movement in [[Maharashtra]], especially Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and Poona, preceded most revolutionary movements in the country. This movement was supported ideologically by [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]], who may also have offered covert active support.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} The Indian Association was founded in [[Kolkata]] (formerly Calcutta) in 1876 under the leadership of [[Surendranath Banerjea]]. The Association became the mouthpiece of an informal constituency of students and middle-class gentlemen. It sponsored the Indian National Conference in 1883 and 1885, which later merged with the Indian National Congress.<ref name=Heehs2>{{Harvnb|Heehs|1992|p=2}}</ref> Kolkata - formerly Calcutta was at the time the most prominent centre for organised politics, and some of the students who attended the political meetings began to organise "secret societies" that cultivated a culture of physical strength and nationalist feelings. ==Timeline== {{Main|History of the Anushilan Samiti}} {{See also|Jugantar|Dhaka Anushilan Samiti}} ===Origins=== By 1902, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) had three secret societies working toward the violent overthrow of British rule in India: one founded by Calcutta student Satish Chandra Basu with the patronage of Calcutta barrister [[Pramatha Mitra]], another led by [[Sarala Devi]], and the third founded by [[Aurobindo Ghose]]. Ghose and his brother [[Barin Ghosh|Barin]] were among the strongest proponents of militant Indian nationalism at the time.<ref name=Sen244>{{Harvnb|Sen|2010|p=244}} The militant nationalists thought of more direct and violent ways of ending British rule in India ... The chief apostle of militant nationalism in Bengal was Aurobindo Ghose. In 1902, there were three secret societies in Calcutta - Anushilan Samiti, founded by Pramatha Mitra, a barrister of the High Court of Calcutta; a society sponsored by Aurobindo Ghose and a society started by Sarala Devi ... the government found it difficult to suppress revolutionary activities in Bengal owing to ... leaders like Jatindranath Mukherjee, Rashbehari Bose and Jadugopal Mukherjee.</ref><ref name=Banglapedia>{{cite book |last=Mohanta |first=Sambaru Chandra |year=2012 |chapter=Mitra, Pramathanath |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mitra,_Pramathanath |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> Nationalist writings and publications by Aurobindo and Barin, including ''[[Bande Mataram (publication)|Bande Mataram]]'' and ''[[Jugantar Patrika|Jugantar]]'', had a widespread influence on Bengal youth and helped Anushilan Samiti to gain popularity in Bengal. The [[1905 partition of Bengal]] stimulated radical nationalist sentiments in Bengal's [[Bhadralok]] community, helping the Samiti to acquire the support of educated, politically-conscious and disaffected members of local youth societies. The Samiti's program emphasized physical training, training its recruits with daggers and lathis (bamboo staffs used as weapons). The [[Dhaka]] branch was led by [[Pulin Behari Das]], and branches spread throughout East Bengal and Assam.<ref name=Popplewell104>{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=104}}</ref> More than 500 branches were opened in [[eastern Bengal and Assam]], linked by "close and detailed organization" to Pulin's headquarters at Dhaka. This branch soon overshadowed its parent organisation in Calcutta. Branches of Dhaka Anushilan Samiti emerged in [[Jessore (city)|Jessore]], [[Khulna]], [[Faridpur District|Faridpur]], [[Rajnagar Upazila|Rajnagar]], Rajendrapur, Mohanpur, Barvali and Bakarganj, with an estimated membership of 15,000 to 20,000. Within two years, Dhaka Anushilan changed its aims from those of the [[Swadeshi movement]] to that of political terrorism.<ref name=Heehs6>{{Harvnb|Heehs|1992|p=6}}</ref><ref name=Gupta160>{{Harvnb|Gupta|2006|p=160}}</ref> The organisation's political views were expressed in the journal ''Jugantar'', founded in March 1906 by [[Abhinash Bhattacharya]], Barindra, [[Bhupendranath Dutt]] and [[Debabrata Basu]].<ref name=Sanyalp30>{{harvnb|Sanyal|2014|p=30}}</ref> It soon became an organ for the radical views of Aurobindo and other Anushilan leaders, and led to the Calcutta Samiti group being dubbed the "Jugantar party".{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Early leaders were [[Rash Behari Bose]], [[Bhavabhushan Mitra]], [[Jatindranath Mukherjee]] and [[Jadugopal Mukherjee]].<ref name="Sen244" /> Aurobindo published similar messages of violent nationalism in journals such as ''Sandhya'', ''[[Navashakti]]'' and ''[[Bande Mataram]]''. ===Nationalism and violence=== {{See also|Delhi conspiracy case|Alipore bomb case|Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case}} The Dhaka Anushilan Samiti broke with the Jugantar group in [[West Bengal]] due to disagreements with Aurobindo's approach of slowly building a mass base for revolution. The Dhaka group instead sought immediate action and results through political terrorism.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} The two branches of the Samiti engaged in [[dacoity]] to raise money, and performed a number of political assassinations.<ref name="Roy5">{{Harvnb|Roy|1997|pp=5–6}} The first such dacoity was committed by Naren ... Around this time, revolutionaries threw a bomb at the carriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy ... in Muzaffarpur, under the mistaken notion that the 'notorious' Magistrate Kingsford was in the carriage. This led to the arrest of Kshudiram Bose and the discovery of the underground conspiratorial centre at Manicktala in eastern Calcutta ... Nandalal Banerjee, an officer in the Intelligence Branch of the Bengal Police was shot dead by Naren ... This was followed by the arrest of Aurobindo, Barin and others.</ref> In December 1907, the Bengal branch derailed a train carrying Bengal Lieutenant Governor [[Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser]] in a plot led by the Ghosh brothers. In the same month, the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti assassinated former Dhaka district magistrate D.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Allen. The following year, the Samiti engineered eleven assassinations, seven attempted assassinations and explosions and eight dacoities in West Bengal. Their targets included British police officials and civil servants, Indian police officers, informants, public prosecutors of political crimes, and wealthy families.<ref name="Popplewell108">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=108}}</ref> Under Barin Ghosh's direction, the Samiti's members also attempted to assassinate French colonial officials in [[Chandernagore]] who were seen as complicit with the Raj. Anushilan Samiti established early links with foreign movements and Indian nationalists abroad. In 1907, Barin Ghosh sent [[Hem Chandra Kanungo]] (Hem Chandra Das) to [[Paris]] to learn bomb-making from Nicholas Safranski, a Russian revolutionary in exile.<ref name="Popplewell104"/> [[Madam Cama]], a leading figure of the [[Paris Indian Society]] and [[India House]], a revolutionary organisation in London, also lived in Paris and was associated with [[V.D. Savarkar]], who later published a bomb-making manual through India House. In 1908, young recruits [[Khudiram Bose]] and [[Prafulla Chaki]] were sent on a mission to [[Muzaffarpur]] to assassinate chief presidency magistrate D. H. Kingsford.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} They bombed a carriage they mistook for Kingsford's,<ref name="Roy5" /> killing two Englishwomen. Bose was arrested while attempting to flee and Chaki committed suicide. Police investigation of the killers connected them with Barin's country house in [[Manicktala]] (a suburb of Calcutta) and led to a number of arrests, including Aurobindo and Barin.<ref name="Roy5" /> The ensuing trial, held under tight security, led to a death sentence for Barin (later commuted to life imprisonment). The case against Aurobindo Ghosh collapsed after Naren Gosain, who had turned crown witness, was shot in [[Alipore jail]] by [[Satyendranath Basu]] and [[Kanailal Dutta]], who were also being tried.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Aurobindo retired from active politics after being acquitted.<ref name="Roy6" /> This was followed by a 1909 Dhaka conspiracy case, which brought 44 members of the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti to trial.<ref name="Popplewell111">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=111}}</ref><ref name="Roy105">{{Harvnb|Roy|2006|p=105}}</ref> Nandalal Bannerjee (the officer who arrested Khudiram) was shot and killed in 1908, followed by the assassinations of the prosecutor and informant for the Alipore case in 1909. After Aurobindo's retirement, the western Anushilan Samiti found a more prominent leader in [[Bagha Jatin]] and emerged as the [[Jugantar]]. Jatin revitalised links between the central organisation in Calcutta and its branches in [[Bengal]], [[Bihar]], [[Orissa, India|Orissa]] and [[Uttar Pradesh]], establishing hideouts in the [[Sunderbans]] for members who had gone underground.<ref>''M. N. Roy's Memoirs'' p3</ref> The group slowly reorganised, aided by [[Amarendra Chatterjee]], [[M. N. Roy|Naren Bhattacharya]] and other younger leaders. Some of its younger members, including [[Taraknath Das]], left India.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Over the next two years, the organisation operated under the cover of two apparently-separate groups: Sramajeebi Samabaya (the Labourer's Cooperative) and S.D. Harry and Sons.<ref name="Roy6">{{Harvnb|Roy|1997|p=6}} Aurobihdo's retirement from active politics after his acquittal ... Two centres were established, one was the Sramajibi Samabaya ... and the other in the name of S.D. Harry and Sons.</ref> Around this time Jatin attempted to establish contacts with the [[10th Jat Regiment]], garrisoned at [[Fort William (India)|Fort William]] in Calcutta, and Narendra Nath committed a number of robberies to raise money.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Shamsul Alam, a Bengal police officer preparing a conspiracy case against the group, was assassinated by Jatin associate Biren Dutta Gupta. His assassination led to the arrests which precipitated the [[Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Roy|1997|pp=6–7}} Shamsul Alam, an Intelligence officer who was then preparing to arrest all the revolutionaries ... was murdered by Biren Datta Gupta, one of Jatin Mukherjee's associates. This led to the arrests in the Howrah Conspiracy case.</ref> In 1911, Dhaka Anushilan members shot dead Sub-inspector Raj Kumar and Inspector Man Mohan Ghosh, two Bengali police officers investigating unrest linked to the group, in [[Mymensingh]] and [[Barisal]]. This was followed by the assassination of [[Crime Investigation Department (India)|CID]] head constable Shrish Chandra Dey in Calcutta. In February 1911, Jugantar bombed a car in Calcutta, mistaking an Englishman for police officer Godfrey Denham. [[Rash Behari Bose]] (described as "the most dangerous revolutionary in India")<ref name="Popplewell112">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=112}}</ref> extended the group's reach into [[north India]], where he found work in the Indian Forest Institute in [[Dehra Dun]]. Bose forged links with radical nationalists in [[Punjab]] and the [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]], including those later connected to [[Har Dayal]].<ref name="Popplewell167">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=167}}</ref> During the 1912 transfer of the imperial capital to New Delhi, Viceroy [[Charles Hardinge]]'s [[howdah]] was bombed; his [[mahout]] was killed, and Lady Hardinge was injured.<ref name="Popplewell114">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=114}}</ref> ===World War I=== {{see also|Hindu–German Conspiracy|Ghadar Mutiny|Christmas Day Plot|Rodda company arms heist}} [[File:BaghaJatin13.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=Photo of young, seated, injured man|[[Bagha Jatin]], wounded after his final battle on the banks of Burha Balang off [[Balasore]].]] As war between Germany and Britain began to seem likely, Indian nationalists at home and abroad decided to use the war for the nationalist cause. Through Kishen Singh, the Bengal Samiti cell was introduced to [[Har Dayal]] when Dayal visited India in 1908.<ref>{{Harvnb|Roy|1997|pp=7–8}} The group foresaw the possibility of a world war and planned to launch a guerrilla war at that time, expecting assistance from Germany. ... Lala Hardayal, on his return to India in 1908, also became interested in the programme of the Bengal revolutionaries through Kissen Singh.</ref> Dayal was associated with India House, then headed by V.&nbsp;D.&nbsp;Savarkar. By 1910, Dayal was working closely with Rash Behari Bose.<ref name="Desai320">{{Harvnb|Desai|2005|p=320}}</ref> After the decline of India House, Dayal moved to San Francisco after working briefly with the [[Paris Indian Society]]. Nationalism among Indian immigrants (particularly students and the working class) was gaining ground in the United States. Taraknath Das, who left Bengal for the United States in 1907, was among the Indian students who engaged in political work. In California, Dayal became a leading organiser of Indian nationalism amongst predominantly-Punjabi immigrant workers and was a key member of the [[Ghadar Party]]. With [[Naren Bhattacharya]], Jatin met the crown prince of Germany during the latter's 1912 visit to Calcutta and obtained an assurance that arms and ammunition would be supplied to them.<ref>{{Harvnb|Samanta|1995|p=625}}</ref> Jatin learned about Bose's work from [[Niralamba Swami]] on a pilgrimage to [[Brindavan]]. Returning to Bengal, he began reorganising the group. Bose went into hiding in [[Benares]] after the 1912 attempt on Hardinge but he met Jatin towards the end of 1913, outlining prospects for a pan-Indian revolution. In 1914 Bose, the Maharashtrian [[Vishnu Ganesh Pingle]] and Sikh militants planned simultaneous troop uprisings for February 1915. In Bengal, Anushilan and Jugantar launched what has been described by historians as "a reign of terror in both the cities and the countryside ... [which] ... came close to achieving their key goal of paralysing the administration". An atmosphere of fear severely affected morale in both the police and courts.<ref name="Popplewell201">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=201}}</ref> In August 1914, Jugantar seized a large amount of arms and ammunition from the [[Rodda company arms heist|Rodda company]], a Calcutta arms dealer, and used them in robberies in Calcutta for the next two years. In 1915, only six revolutionaries were successfully tried. Both the February 1915 plot and a December 1915 plot were thwarted by British intelligence. Jatin and a number of fellow revolutionaries were killed in a firefight with police at [[Balasore]], in present-day Orissa, which brought Jugantar to a temporary end. The [[Defence of India Act 1915]] led to widespread arrests, internments, deportations and executions of members of the revolutionary movement. By March 1916, widespread arrests helped Bengal police crush the [[Dacca Anushilan Samiti]] in Calcutta.<ref name="Popplewell210">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=210}}</ref> Regulation III and the Defence of India Act were enforced throughout Bengal in August 1916. By June 1917, 705 people were under house arrest under the Act and 99 were imprisoned under Regulation III.<ref name="Popplewell210" /> In Bengal, revolutionary violence fell to 10 incidents in 1917.<ref name="Bates118">{{Harvnb|Bates|2007|p=118}}</ref> According to official lists, 186 revolutionaries were killed or convicted by 1918.<ref name="Sarkar2014p107">{{Harvnb|Sarkar|2014|p=107}} "Hemchandra Kanungo, to cite the earliest example, came back from Paris as an atheist with some interest in Marxism ... a street-beggar's lament for Kshudiram, for instance, could still be heard in Bengal decades after his execution ... In a 1918 official list of 186 killed or convicted revolutionaries, no less than 165 came from the three upper castes, Brahman, Kayastha, and Vaidya".</ref> After the war, the Defence of India Act was extended by the [[Rowlatt Act]], the passage of which was a prime target of the protests of [[Mahatma Gandhi|M. K. Gandhi]]'s non-cooperation movement. Many revolutionaries released after the war escaped to Burma to avoid repeated incarceration.<ref>{{Harvnb|Morton|2013|p=80}} "Following ... the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Indian government's law enforcement officials had claimed that the detention of alleged Bengali terrorists was a success, a claim that served to justify the Rowlatt Report's recommendation of emergency measures in 1918. In response to this, many leaders of the revolutionary movement went underground in the 1920s and fled Bengal to other British territories, particularly Burma."</ref> ==={{anchor|Post World War I}}After the war=== {{See also|Kakori conspiracy|Hindustan Socialist Republican Association}} The first non-cooperation movement, the [[Rowlatt Satyagraha]]s led by Gandhi, was active from 1919 to 1922. It received widespread support from prominent members of the Indian independence movement. In Bengal, Jugantar agreed to a request by [[Chittaranjan Das]] (a respected leader of the Indian National Congress) to refrain from violence. Although Anushilan Samiti did not adhere to the agreement, it sponsored no major actions between 1920 and 1922. During the next few years, Jugantar and the Samiti became active again. The resurgence of radical nationalism linked to the Samiti during the 1920s led to the passage of the Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance in 1924. The act restored extraordinary powers of detention to the police; by 1927 more than 200 suspects were imprisoned under the act, including [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], curtailing the resurgence of nationalist violence in Bengal.<ref name="Hees2010p171-172" /> Branches of Jugantar formed in Chittagong and Dhaka, in present-day Bangladesh. The Chittagong branch, led by [[Surya Sen]], robbed the Chittagong office of the Assam-Bengal Railway in December 1923. In January 1924 a young Bengali, Gopi Mohan Saha, shot dead a European he mistook for Calcutta police commissioner [[Charles Tegart]]. The assassin was praised by the Bengali press and, to Gandhi's chagrin, proclaimed a martyr by the Bengal branch of the Congress. Around this time, Jugantar became closely associated with the [[Calcutta Corporation]], headed by Das and [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], and terrorists (and ex-terrorists) became significant factors in local Bengali government. In 1923 another group linked to Anushilan Samiti, the Hindustan Republican Association, was founded in Benares by [[Sachindranath Sanyal]] and [[Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee]], helping to radicalise north India. It soon had branches from Calcutta to [[Lahore]]. A series of successful dacoities in Uttar Pradesh were followed by a train robbery in Kakori, and subsequent investigations and two trials broke the organization. Several years later, it was reborn as the [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]] (HSRA). In 1927, the [[Indian National Congress]] came out in favour of independence from Britain. Bengal had quietened over a four-year period, and the government released most of those interned under the Act of 1925 despite an unsuccessful attempt to forge an alliance between Jugantar and Anushilan Samiti. Some younger radicals struck out in new directions, and many (young and old) took part in Congress activities such as the 1928 anti-[[Simon Commission]] protests. Congress leader [[Lala Lajpat Rai]] died of injuries received when police broke up a Lahore protest march in October, and [[Bhagat Singh]] and other members of the HSRA avenged his death in December; Singh also later bombed the legislative assembly. He and other HSRA members were arrested, and three went on a hunger strike in jail; Bengali bomb-maker [[Jatindra Nath Das]] persisted in his strike until his death in September 1929. The Calcutta Corporation passed a condolence resolution after his death, as did Congress when Bhagat Singh was executed. ==={{anchor|Last phase}}Final phase=== {{See also|Chittagong armoury raid|Benoy Basu|Dinesh Gupta|Badal Gupta}} [[File:Surya Sen before 1934.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|alt=Photo of a serious-looking man|[[Surya Sen]], Jugantar leader and mastermind of the [[Chittagong armoury raid|Chittagong raid]].]] As the Congress-led movement picked up its pace during the early 1930s, some former revolutionaries identified with the Gandhian political movement and became influential Congressmen (notably [[Surendra Mohan Ghose]]). Many Bengali Congressmen also maintained links with the Samiti. Simultaneously with the nonviolent protests of the Gandhi-led [[Salt March]], in April 1930, a group led by [[Surya Sen]] raided the Chittagong Armoury. In 1930 eleven British officials were killed, notably during the Writer's Building raid of December 1930 by [[Benoy Basu]], [[Dinesh Gupta]] and [[Badal Gupta]]. Three successive district magistrates in [[Midnapore]] were assassinated, and dozens of other actions were carried out during the first half of the decade. By 1931 a record 92 violent incidents were recorded, including the murders of the British magistrates of [[Tippera]] and Midnapore.<ref name="Chowdhry2000p138">{{Harvnb|Chowdhry|2000|p=138}}</ref> However, soon afterwards, in 1934, the revolutionary movement in Bengal ended. {{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=300|caption_align=center | image1 = Benoy Krishna Basu.jpg | image2 = Badal gupta.jpg | image3 = Dinesh Gupta 1.jpg | footer = <div style="text-align: center;">[[Benoy Basu]], [[Badal Gupta]], and [[Dinesh Gupta]] were noted for launching an attack on the Secretariat Building - the [[Writers' Building]] in the [[B.B.D. Bagh|Dalhousie square]] in [[Kolkata]].</div> }} A large portion of the Samiti movement was attracted to left-wing politics during the 1930s, and those who did not join left-wing parties identified with Congress and the [[Congress Socialist Party]]. During the mass detentions of the 1930s surrounding the civil-disobedience movement, many members joined Congress. Jugantar was formally dissolved in 1938; many former members continued to act together under Surendra Mohan Ghose, who was a liaison between other Congress politicians and Aurobindo Ghose in Pondicherry. During the late 1930s, Marxist-leaning members of the Samiti in the CSP announced the formation of the [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]] (RSP). ==Organisation== ===Structure=== Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were organised on different lines, reflecting their divergence. The Samiti was centrally organised, with a rigid discipline and vertical hierarchy. Jugantar was more loosely organised as an alliance of groups under local leaders that occasionally coordinated their actions. The prototype of Jugantar's organisation was Barin Ghosh's organisation set up in 1907, in the run-up to the Manicktala conspiracy. It sought to emulate the model of Russian revolutionaries described by Frost.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} The regulations of the central Dhaka organization of the Samiti were written down, and reproduced and summarised in government reports. According to one estimate, the Dacca Anushilan Samiti at one point had 500 branches, mostly in the eastern districts of Bengal, and 20,000 members. Branches were opened later in the western districts, [[Bihar]], and the [[United Provinces of British India|United Provinces]]. Shelters for absconders were established in Assam and in two farms in Tripura. Organisational documents show a primary division between the two active leaders, Barin Ghosh and Upendranath Bannerjee, and the rank-and-file. Higher leaders such as Aurobindo were supposed to be known only to the active leaders. Past members of the Samiti asserted that the groups were interconnected with a vast web of secret societies throughout British India. However, historian [[Peter Heehs]] concluded that the links between provinces were limited to contacts between a few individuals like Aurobindo who was familiar with leaders and movements in Western India, and that relationships among the different revolutionary groups were more often competitive than co-operative.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} An internal document of circa 1908 written by [[Pulin Behari Das]] describes the division of the organisation in Bengal, which largely followed British administrative divisions. ===Cadre=== Samiti membership was predominantly made up of Hindus, at least initially, which was ascribed to the religious oath of initiation being unacceptable to Muslims. Each member was assigned to one or more of three roles: collection of funds, implementation of planned actions and propaganda. In practice, however, the fundamental division was between "military’’ work and ‘‘civil’’ work. Dals (teams) consisting of five or ten members led by a ''dalpati'' (team leader) were grouped together in local Samiti led by ''adhyakshas'' (executive officers) and other officers. These reported to district officers appointed by and responsible to the central Dhaka organization, commanded by Pulin Das and those who deputised for him during his periods of imprisonment.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} Samitis were divided into four functional groups: violence, organisation, keepers of arms, and householders. Communications were carried by special couriers and written in secret code. These practices and others were inspired by literary sources and were partly a concession to the desire of young men to act out romantic drama. Less is known about the Jugantar network, which took the place of the Manicktala society after the [[Alipore bomb case]]. It faced divisions similar to the Samiti. Historian [[Leonard A. Gordon|Leonard Gordon]] notes that at least in the period between 1910 and 1915, the dals in the Jugantar network were separate units, led by a dada (lit: elder brother). The dada was also [[guru]], teaching those under his command practical skills, revolutionary ideology, and strategy. Gordon suggests that the dada system developed out of pre-existing social structures in rural Bengal. Dadas both co-operated and competed with each other for men, money, and material.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} Many members of the Samiti came from upper castes. By 1918, nearly 90% of the revolutionaries killed or convicted were [[Brahmin]]s, [[Kayastha]]s or [[Vaishya]]s.<ref name="Sarkar2014p107" /> As the Samiti spread its influence to other parts of the country, particularly north India, it began to draw in people of other religions and of varying religious commitments. For example, many who joined the Hindustan Republican Socialist Association were [[Marxist]]s and many were militant [[atheist]]s.<ref name="Chowdhry2000p138" /> By the late 1930s, members with a more secular outlook were beginning to participate. Some components of the Samiti also included prominent participation from women, including [[Pritilata Waddedar]] who led a Jugantar attack during the [[Chittagong Armoury raid]], and [[Kalpana Dutta]] who manufactured bombs at Chittagong.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/bollywood-revolutionary-bengal-revisiting-the-chittagong-uprising-1930-34/ |title=Bollywood & Revolutionary Bengal: Revisiting the Chittagong Uprising (1930-34) |website=[[History Workshop]]}}</ref> ==Ideologies== ===Indian philosophies=== The Samiti was influenced by the writings of the Bengali nationalist author [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]]. The name of the organisation, Anushilan, is derived from Bankim's works espousing hard work and spartan life. Bankim's cultural and martial nationalism, exemplified in [[Anandamath]],{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} along with his reinterpretation of the [[Bhagavat Gita]], were strong influences on the strain of nationalism that inspired the early societies that later became Anushilan Samiti.<ref name="Sisson1988p83">{{Harvnb|Ray|1988|p=83|ps=: "To explain the direct reason for the conversions to revolutionary terrorism, one must turn to the intellectual origins of the movement. Perhaps the single most efficient instrument of conversion was the ''Bhagavad Gita'' ... An entirely new ''Gita'' emerged from the reinterpretation of Bankim."}}</ref> A search of the Dacca Anushilan Samiti library in 1908 showed that Bankim's Bhagavat Gita was the most widely read book in the library.<ref name="Sisson1988p84">{{Harvnb|Ray|1988|p=84|ps=: "A sudden search of the Dacca Anushilan Samiti library in November 1908 by the police ... shows the books that were most read by revolutionaries ... the library issue book proved that the ''Gita'' was in great demand ... Among the books recommended in rule 7 of the "Rules of Membership" discovered in the library, the works of Vivekananda were given first place."}}</ref> The philosophies and teachings of [[Swami Vivekananda]] were later added to this philosophy. The "Rules of Membership" in the Dacca library strongly recommended reading his books.<ref name="Sisson1988p84" /> These books emphasised "Strong muscles and nerves of steel", which some historians consider to be strongly influenced by the Hindu [[Shakta Philosophy]].{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} This interest in physical improvement and proto-national spirit among young Bengalis was driven by an effort to break away from the stereotype of effeminacy that the British had imposed on the Bengalis. Physical fitness was symbolic of the recovery of masculinity, and part of a larger moral and spiritual training to cultivate control over the body, and develop national pride and a sense of social responsibility and service.<ref name="Bandyopadhyaya260">{{Harvnb|Bandyopadhyaya|2004|p=260}} The physical culture movement became a craze ... this was a psychological attempt to break away from the colonial stereotype of effeminacy imposed on the Bengalees. Their symbolic recovery of masculinity ... remained parts of a larger moral and spiritual training to achieve mastery over body, develop a national pride and a sense of social service.</ref><ref name="Heehs3">{{Harvnb|Heehs|1992|p=3}}</ref> Peter Heehs, writing in 2010, notes the Samiti had three pillars in their ideologies: "cultural independence", "political independence", and "economic independence".{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} In terms of economic independence, the Samiti diverged from the [[Swadeshi]] movement, which they decried as a "trader's movement".<ref>{{Harvnb|Heehs|2010|p=161}} "The ideology of revolutionary publicists such as Bipin Chandra Pal and Aurobindo Ghose ... had three major components: political independence or ''swaraj''; economic independence as promoted by the swadeshi-boycott movement; and the drive for cultural independence by means of national education ... A circular of the Anushilan Samiti states: "This ''Samiti'' has no open relationship with any kind of popular and outward ''Swadeshi'', that is (the boycott of) ''belati'' [foreign] articles ... To be mixed up in ... such affairs is entirely against the principles of the ''Samiti''" (Ghosh 1984: 94). Members of Barin Ghose's group likewise stigmatized the swadeshi-boycott movement as ''bania'' (shopkeeper) politics."</ref> ===European influences=== {{See also|Carbonari}} When the Samiti first came into prominence following the Muzaffarpur killings, its ideology was felt to be influenced by European [[anarchism]]. [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto|Lord Minto]] resisted the notion that its action might be the manifestation of political grievance by concluding that: {{quote|Murderous methods hitherto unknown in India ... have been imported from the West, ... which the imitative Bengali has childishly accepted.<ref name="Heehs2010p160paras1-2">{{Harvnb|Heehs|2010||loc=p. 160, paras 1–2}} "[Morley] wrote to Viceroy Lord Minto, 'that Indian antagonism to Government would run slowly into the usual grooves, including assassination' ... he considered Bengali terrorism to be an almost natural result of political discontent. Minto, on the other hand, considered it entirely imitative. Writing to Morley after the Muzaffarpur attempt, Minto declared that the conspirators aimed 'at the furtherance of murderous methods hitherto unknown in India which have been imported from the West, and which the imitative Bengali has childishly accepted' ... the terrorists were playing at being 'anarchists.'"</ref>|sign=|source=}} However others disagreed. [[John Morley]] was of the opinion that the political violence exemplified by the Samiti was a manifestation of Indian antagonism to the government,<ref name="Heehs2010p160paras1-2" /> although there were also influences of European nationalism and philosophies of liberalism.<ref name="Heehs2010p160para3" /> In the 1860s and 1870s, large numbers of akhras (gymnasiums) arose in Bengal that were consciously designed along the lines of the Italian [[Carbonari]].<ref name="HeehsMAS534">{{Harvnb|Heehs|1994|p=534}} "[Around 1881] a number of self-styled 'secret societies' were set up in Calcutta that were consciously modelled on the Carbonari and Mazzini's Young Italy Society ... They were in fact simply undergraduate clubs, long on nebulous ideals but short on action."</ref> These were influenced by the works of Italian nationalist [[Giuseppe Mazzini]] and his [[Young Italy (historical)|Young Italy movement]]. Aurobindo himself studied the revolutionary nationalism of Ireland, France and America.<ref name="Heehs2010p160para3">{{Harvnb|Heehs|2010|loc=p. 160 para 3}} "There were ... some foreign influences on Bengali Terrorism ... Aurobindo Ghose's study of the revolutionary movements of Ireland, France, and America. Members of the early 'secret societies' drew some of their inspiration from Mazzini ... The Japanese critic Kakuzo Okakura inspired Pramathanath Mitra and others with revolutionary and pan-Asiatic ideas just when the ''samiti'' movement was getting started. The Irishwoman Margaret Noble, known as Sister Nivedita after she became a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, had some contact with Aurobindo Ghose and with younger men like Satish Bose and ''Jugantar'' sub-editor Bhupendranath Bose. Nivedita was in correspondence with the non-terroristic anarchist Peter Kropotkin, and she is known to have had revolutionary beliefs. She gave the young men a collection of books that included titles on revolutionary history and spoke to them about their duty to the motherland ... undoubted connection of Hem Chandra Das with European revolutionaries in Paris in 1907."</ref> [[Hem Chandra Das]], during his stay in Paris, is also noted to have interacted with European radical nationalists in the city,<ref name="Heehs2010p160para3" /> returning to India an atheist with Marxist leanings.<ref name="Sarkar2014p107" /> ===Okakura and Nivedita=== {{See also|Sister Nivedita|Kakuzo Okakura|Pan-Asianism}} Foreign influences on the Samiti included the Japanese artist [[Kakuzo Okakura]] and Margaret Noble, an Irish woman known as [[Sister Nivedita]]. Okakura was a proponent of [[Pan-Asianism]]. He visited [[Swami Vivekananda]] in Calcutta in 1902, and inspired [[Pramathanath Mitra]] in the early days of the Samiti.<ref name="Heehs2010p160para3" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Samanta|1995|p=257}}</ref> However the extent of his involvement or influence is debated.<ref name="Heehs1993p260">{{Harvnb|Heehs|1993|p=260}}</ref> Nivedita was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She had contacts with Aurobindo, with Satish Bose and with Jugantar sub-editor Bhupendranath Bose. Nivedita is believed to have influenced members of the Samiti by talking about their duties to the motherland and providing literature on revolutionary nationalism. She was a correspondent of [[Peter Kropotkin]], a noted anarchist.<ref name="Heehs2010p160para3" /> ===Later influences=== {{See also|Communist Party of India|M.N. Roy}} A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1930s, many of them studying Marxist–Leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority broke away from the Samiti and joined the [[Communist Consolidation]], and later the [[Communist Party of India]] (CPI). The majority of the Anushilan Marxists were hesitant to join the Communist Party, however, since they distrusted the political lines formulated by the [[Communist International]].<ref name="Saha, Murari Mohan 2001. p. 20-21">Saha, Murari Mohan (ed.), ''Documents of the Revolutionary Socialist Party: Volume One 1938–1947''. Agartala: Lokayata Chetana Bikash Society, 2001. pp. 20–21</ref> They also did not embrace [[Trotskyism]], although they shared some Trotskyite critiques of the leadership of [[Joseph Stalin]]. ==Impact== ===Police reaction and reforms=== {{See also|Sir Harold Stuart|Charles Tegart}} Shortly after its inception, the Samiti became the focus of extensive police and intelligence operation. Notable officers who led the police and intelligence operations against them at various times included [[Sir Robert Nathan]], [[Sir Harold Stuart]], [[Sir Charles Stevenson-Moore]] and [[Sir Charles Tegart]]. The [[Criminal Investigations Department|CIDs]] of Bengal and the provinces of Eastern Bengal and Assam were founded in response to the revolutionary movement led by the Samiti.<ref name="Popplewell104" /> By 1908, political crime duties took the services of one deputy Superintendent of Police, 52 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, and nearly 720 constables. Foreseeing a rise in the strength of the revolutionary movement, [[Sir Harold Stuart]] (then [[Secretary of State for India]]) implemented plans for secret service to fight the menace posed by the Samiti.<ref name="Popplewell105">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=105}}</ref> A Political Crime branch of the C.I.D. (known as the "Special Department") was developed in September 1909, staffed by 23 officers and 45 men. The government of India allocated Rs 2,227,000 for the Bengal Police alone in the reforms of 1909-1910.<ref name="Popplewell105" /> By 1908 a Special Officer for Political Crime was appointed from the Bengal Police, with the Special Branch of Police working under him. This post was first occupied by C.W.C. Plowden and later by F.C. Daly.<ref name="Popplewell105" /> Godfrey Denham, then Assistant Superintendent of Police, served under the Special Officer.<ref name="Popplewell105" /> Denham was credited with uncovering the Manicktala safe house of the Samiti, raiding it in May 1908, which ultimately led to the Manicktala conspiracy case. This case led to further expansion of the Special Branch in Bengal. The CID in Eastern Bengal and Assam (EBA) were founded in 1906 and expanded from 1909 onwards. However, the EBA police's access to informers and secret agents remained difficult.<ref name="Popplewell105to107">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|pp=105–107}}</ref> In EBA, a civil servant, H.L. Salkeld, uncovered the eastern branch of Anushilan Samiti, producing a four-volume report and placing 68 suspects under surveillance.<ref name="Popplewell108" /> However the Samiti evaded detailed intrusion by adopting the model of Russian revolutionaries. Until 1909, the police were unclear whether they were dealing with a single organisation or with a conglomeration of independent groups.<ref name="Popplewell108" /> The [[visit of King George V to India]] in 1911 catalyzed improvements in police equipment and staffing in Bengal and EBA. In 1912, the political branch of the Bengal CID was renamed the Intelligence Branch, staffed with 50 officers and 127 men. The branch had separate sections dealing with explosives, assassinations, and robberies.<ref name="Popplewell114" /> It was headed by [[Charles Tegart]], who built up a network of agents and informers to infiltrate the Samiti.<ref name="Popplewell114" /> Tegart would meet his agents under cover of darkness, at times disguising himself as a [[pathan]] or [[Pashtun diaspora|kabuliwallah]].<ref name="Popplewell114" /> Assisting Denham and Petrie, Tegart led the investigation in the aftermath of the [[Dalhi-Lahore Conspiracy]] and identified [[Chandernagore]] as the main hub for the Samiti.<ref name="Popplewell114" /> Tegart remained in the Bengal police until at least the 1930s, earning notoriety amongst the Samiti for his work, and was subjected to a number of assassination attempts. In 1924, Ernest Day, an Englishman, was shot dead by [[Gopinath Saha]] at [[Chowringhee Road]] in Calcutta, due to being mistaken for Tegart. In 1930, a bomb was thrown into Tegart's car at [[Dalhousie Square]] but Tegart managed to shoot the revolutionary and escaped unhurt. His efficient curbing of the revolutionary movement earned praise from [[Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton|Lord Lytton]] and he was awarded the King's medal. In 1937 Tegart was sent to the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]], then in the throes of [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|the Arab Revolt]], to advise the Inspector General on security.<ref name="BritishSpies">{{cite web|title=Londonderry born imperial policeman remembered|url=http://sluggerotoole.com/2012/09/10/londonderry-born-imperial-policeman-remembered|accessdate=8 July 2014}}</ref> ===Criminal Law Amendment 1908=== In its fight against the Raj, the Samiti{{'}}s members who turned [[approver]]s (i.e. gave evidence against their colleagues) and the Bengal Police staff who were investigating the Samiti were consistently targeted. A number of assassinations were carried out of approvers who had agreed to act as crown witnesses. In 1909 Naren Gossain, crown witness for the prosecution in [[Alipore bomb case]], was shot dead within [[Alipore Jail]] by [[Satyendranath Bosu|Satyendranath Boseu]] and Kanai Lal Dutt. Ashutosh Biswas, an advocate of Calcutta High Court in charge of prosecution of Gossain murder case, was shot dead within Calcutta High Court in 1909. In 1910, Shamsul Alam, Deputy Superintendent of Bengal Police responsible for investigating the [[Alipore bomb case]], was shot dead on the steps of Calcutta High Court. The failures of a number of prosecutions of violence linked to the Samiti under the Criminal Procedures Act of 1898 led to a special act that provided for crimes of nationalist violence to be tried by a special tribunal composed of three high-court judges. In December 1908 the Criminal Law amendments were passed under the terms of Regulation III of 1818, with the goal of suppressing associations formed for seditious conspiracies.<ref name="Riddick93">{{Harvnb|Riddick|2006|p=93}}</ref> The act was first applied to deport nine Bengali revolutionaries to [[Mandalay prison]] in 1908.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} Despite these measures however, the high standards of evidence demanded by the [[Calcutta High Court]], insufficient investigations by police, and at times outright fabrication of evidence, led to persistent failures to tame nationalist violence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Horniman|1984|p=42}} [There are] records of cases during the years from 1908 to 1914 which were abortive ... due to the usual faults of police work in India—the hankering~after approvers and confessions, to be obtained by any means, good or bad; the concoction of a little evidence to make a bad case good- or a good case better; and the suppression of facts which fail to fit the theory.</ref> The police forces felt unable to deal with the operations of secretive nationalist organisations, leading to demands for special powers. The Indian press opposed these demands strenuously, arguing against any extension of the already wide powers enjoyed by the police forces in India, which they claimed were already being used to oppress the Indian people.<ref>{{Harvnb|Horniman|1984|p=43}} Police authorities took up the attitude that ... they were helpless in the face of a secret organisation ... Demands were put forward for special powers, the lowering of the standard of evidence, and other devices for the easy success of the police ... the whole Indian Press anticipated with the liveliest apprehension the prospect of any extension of those wide powers which already enabled the police to oppress the people.</ref> ===Defence of India Act=== {{see also|Defence of India Act 1915}} The threat posed by the activities of the Samiti in Bengal during [[World War I]], along with the threat of a [[Ghadar mutiny|Ghadarite uprising in Punjab]], led to the passage of [[Defence of India Act 1915]]. The act received universal support from Indian non-officiating members in the Governor General's council and from moderate leaders within the Indian political movement. The British war effort had received popular support within India and the act received support on the understanding that the measures enacted were necessary in the war situation. These measures enabled the arrest, internment, transportation, and execution of a number of revolutionaries linked to the organisation, which crushed the East Bengal branch of the Samiti. Its application led to 46 executions, as well as 64 life sentences given to revolutionaries in Bengal and Punjab in the Lahore Conspiracy Trial and Benares Conspiracy Trial, and in tribunals in Bengal,<ref name="Bates118" /> effectively crushing the revolutionary movement. By March 1916, widespread arrests had helped Bengal Police crush the [[Dhaka Anushilan Samiti]] in Calcutta.<ref name="Popplewell210" /> The power of preventive detention was used extensively in Bengal, and revolutionary violence in Bengal plummeted to 10 incidents in 1917.<ref name="Bates118" /> By the end of the war there were over 800 detainees under the act in Bengal under the act. However, indiscriminate application of the act made it increasingly unpopular with the Indian public. ===Rowlatt act=== The 1915 act was designed to expire in 1919, and the [[Rowlatt Committee]] was appointed to recommend measures to continue to suppress the revolutionary movement. The committee recommended an extension of the provisions of the Defence of India Act for a further three years with the removal of [[habeas corpus]] provisions. However this was met with universal opposition by the Indian members of the Viceroy's council, as well as the population in general, and Gandhi called the proposed act "The Black Bills". [[Mohammed Ali Jinnah]] left the Viceroy's council in protest, after having warned the council of the danger of enacting such an unpopular bill. Nevertheless, the recommendations were enacted in the [[Rowlatt Bills]]. Gandhi then led a protest, the [[Rowlatt Satyagraha]], one of the first civil disobedience movements that would become the [[Indian independence movement]]. The protests included [[hartal]]s in Delhi, public protests in Punjab, and other protest movements across India. In Punjab, the protests culminated in the [[Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre]] in April 1919. After nearly three years of agitation, the government finally repealed the Rowlatt act and its component sister acts. ===Bengal Criminal Law Amendment=== {{Main|Bengal Criminal Law Amendment}} A resurgence of radical nationalism linked to the Samiti after 1922 led to the implementation of the [[Bengal Criminal Law Amendment]] in 1924, which reinstated the powers of incarceration and detention from the Defence of India Act. The act re-introduced extraordinary powers of detention to the police, and by 1927 more than 200 suspects had been imprisoned, including [[Subhas Chandra Bose]]. The implementation of the act successfully curtailed a resurgence in nationalist violence in Bengal, at a time when the Hindustan Republican Association was rising in the United Provinces.<ref name="Hees2010p171-172">{{Harvnb|Heehs|2010|pp=171–172}} "The activity and influence of the Bengal terrorists led to the passage in 1924 of the Bengal Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, extended the next year as an Act. This again gave the police extraordinary powers, and between 1924 and 1927 almost 200 suspects were imprisoned, among them Subhas Bose. Acts of terrorism in Bengal dropped off, but an Anushilan-linked group in the United Provinces [the Hindustan Republican Association] grew to some importance."</ref> After the 1920s, the Anushilan Samiti gradually dissolved into the Gandhian movement. Some of its members left for the Indian National Congress, then led by [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], while others identified more closely with [[Communism]]. The Jugantar branch formally dissolved in 1938. In independent India, the party in West Bengal evolved into the [[Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)|Revolutionary Socialist Party]], while the Eastern Branch later evolved into the [[Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal]] (Workers and Peasants Socialist Party) in present-day [[Bangladesh]]. ==Influence== ===Revolutionary nationalism=== The nationalist publication ''[[Jugantar Patrika|Jugantar]]'', which served as the organ of the Samiti, inspired fanatical loyalty among its readers.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sanyal|2014|p=89}} "The ''Jugantar'' newspaper served as the propaganda vehicle for a loose congregation of revolutionaries led by individuals like Jain Banerjee and Barin Ghose who drew inspiration from ... Aurobindo Ghose."</ref><ref name=Sanyal2014p93>{{Harvnb|Sanyal|2014|p=93}} "This attitude cost the paper dearly. It suffered five more prosecutions that, by July 1908, brought about its financial ruin … The trials brought the paper a great deal of publicity and helped greatly in the dissemination of the revolutionary ideology ... testimony to the fanatical loyalty that the paper inspired in its readers and the deep impression that the ''Jugantar'' writings made on them ... revolutionary terrorism as an ideology began to win if not overt, then at least the tacit, support of Bengalis."</ref> By 1907 it was selling 7,000 copies, which later rose to 20,000. Its message was aimed at elite politically conscious readers and was essentially a critique of British rule in India and justification of political violence.<ref>{{Harvnb|Sanyal|2014|pp=90–91}} "[Sanyal translates from ''Jugantar'':] "In a country where the ruling power relies on brute force to oppress its subjects, it is impossible to bring about Revolution or a change in rulers through moral strength. In such a situation, subjects too must rely on brute force." ... The ''Jugantar'' challenged the legitimacy of British rule ... [its] position thus amounted to a fundamental ''critique'' of the British government ... By 1907 the paper was selling 7000 copies, a figure that went up to 20,000 soon after. The ''Jugantar'' ideology was basically addressed to an elite audience that was young, literate and politically radicalized."</ref> Several young men who joined the Samiti credited ''Jugantar'' with influencing their decisions.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} The editor of the paper, [[Bhupendranath Datta]], was arrested and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment in 1907.<ref name=Sanyal2014p91-92>{{Harvnb|Sanyal|2014|pp=91–92}} "Bhupendranath Dutt, the editor and proprietor of the ''Jugantar'' was arrested in July 1907 and charged under section 124 A ... Bhupendranath was sentenced to a year's rigorous imprisonment ... The Jugantar's stance was typically defiant ... The paper did nothing to tone down the rhetoric in its future editions."</ref> The Samiti responded by attempting to assassinate Douglas Kingsford, who presided over the trial,{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} and ''Jugantar'' responded with defiant editorials.<ref name=Sanyal2014p91-92/> ''Jugantar'' was repeatedly prosecuted, leaving it in financial ruins by 1908. However, the prosecutions brought the paper more publicity and helped disseminate the Samiti''<nowiki/>'''s ideology of revolutionary nationalism. Historian Shukla Sanyal has commented that revolutionary terrorism as an ideology began to win at least tacit support amongst a significant populace at this time.<ref name=Sanyal2014p93/> <!-- HRSA --> [[Keshav Baliram Hedgewar]], the founder of the Hindu nationalist organisation [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), was an alumnus of the Anushilan Samiti. He was sent to Calcutta by [[B. S. Moonje]] in 1910 to study medicine, and to learn techniques of violent nationalism from secret revolutionary organizations in Bengal.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jaffrelot|1996|p=33}}</ref> There he lived with independence activist [[Shyam Sundar Chakravarty]],<ref>M. L. Verma ''Swadhinta Sangram Ke Krantikari Sahitya Ka Itihas'' (Part-2) p.466</ref> and had contacts with revolutionaries like [[Ram Prasad Bismil]]. ===Indian independence movement=== James Popplewell, writing in 1995, noted that the Raj perceived the Samiti in its early days as a serious threat to its rule.<ref name="Popplewell109">{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=109}}</ref> However, historian Sumit Sarkar noted that the Samiti never mustered enough support to offer an urban rebellion or a guerrilla campaign. Both Peter Heehs and Sumit Sarkar have noted that the Samiti called for complete independence over 20 years before the Congress adopted this as its aim.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} A number of landmark events early in the Indian independence movement, including the [[Hindu–German Conspiracy|revolutionary conspiracies of World War I]], involved the Samiti, as noted in the [[Rowlatt report]]. Later the ascendant left-wing of the Congress, particularly [[Subhas Chandra Bose]], was suspected of having links with the Samiti.{{citation needed|date=April 2016}} Heehs argued that the actions of the revolutionary nationalists exemplified by the Samiti forced the government to parley more seriously with the leaders of the legitimate movement, and that Gandhi was always aware of this. "At the Round Table Conference of 1931, the apostle of non-violence declared that he held 'no brief for the terrorists', but added that if the government refused to work with him, it would have the terrorists to deal with. The only way to 'say good-bye to terrorism' was 'to work the Congress for all it is worth'".<ref>{{Harvnb|Heehs|2010|p=174}}</ref> ===Social influences=== {{See also|Raja Subodh Mallik|National Council of Education}} The founders of the Samiti were among the leading luminaries of Bengal at the time, advocating for social change in ways far removed from the violent nationalist works that identified the Samiti in later years. The young men of Bengal were among the most active in the [[Swadeshi movement]], prompting [[Robert Warrand Carlyle|R.W. Carlyle]] to prohibit the participation of students in political meetings on the threat of withdrawal of funding and grants.<ref name="Heehs2008p93">{{Harvnb|Heehs|2008|p=93}}</ref> Bengali intellectuals were already calling for indigenous schools and colleges to replace British institutions,<ref name="Heehs2008p93" /> and seeking to build indigenous institutions. [[Surendranath Tagore]], of the [[Tagore family|Tagore family of Calcutta]] financed the establishment of Indian-owned banks and insurance companies. The 1906 Congress session in Calcutta established the [[National Council of Education]] as a nationalist agency to promote Indian institutions with their own independent curriculum designed to provide skills in technical and technological education that its founders felt would be necessary for building indigenous industries. With the financial backing of [[Subodh Chandra Mallik]], the [[Bengal National College]] (which later grew to be [[Jadavpur University]]) was established with Aurobindo as Principal.<ref name="Heehs2008p93" /> Aurobindo participated in the Indian National Congress at the time. He used his platform in the Congress to present the Samiti as a conglomeration of youth clubs, even as the government raised fears that it was a revolutionary nationalist organisation. During his time as Principal, Aurobindo started the nationalist publications ''Jugantar'', ''Karmayogin'' and ''[[Bande Mataram]]''.<ref name="Heehs2008p93" /> The student's mess at the college was frequented by students of East Bengal who belonged to the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti, and was known to be a hotbed of revolutionary nationalism, which was uncontrolled or even encouraged by the college.<ref>{{Harvnb|Samanta|1995|p=303}}</ref> Students of the college who later rose to prominence in the Indian revolutionary movement include [[M. N. Roy]].{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} The Samiti{{'}}s ideologies further influenced patriotic nationalism. ===Communism in India=== {{Main|Socialism in India}} {{See also|M. N. Roy|Communist Party of India|Revolutionary Socialist Party (India)}} [[File:Mn_roy2.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[M. N. Roy]], one of the founding fathers of [[Communist Party of India|Indian Communism]] as well as the [[Mexican Communist Party]]. He was a member of the [[Comintern]].]] Through the 1920s and 1930s, many members of the Samiti began identifying with Communism and leftist ideologies. Many of them studied Marxist–Leninist literature while serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the [[Communist Consolidation]], and later the Communist Party of India. Former Jugantar leader Narendranath Bhattacharya, now known as [[M. N. Roy]], became an influential member of the [[Communist International]], helping to found the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilanite Marxists hesitated to join the Communist Party.<ref name="Saha, Murari Mohan 2001. p. 20-21" /> Instead, they joined the [[Congress Socialist Party]] (CSP), but kept a separate identity within the party as the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).<ref>Saha, Murari Mohan (ed.), ''Documents of the Revolutionary Socialist Party: Volume One 1938–1947''. Agartala: Lokayata Chetana Bikash Society, 2001. p. 35-37</ref> The RSP held a strong influence in parts of Bengal. The party sent two parliamentarians to the 1952 [[Lok Sabha]] elections, both previously Samiti members. In 1969, RSP sympathizers in [[East Pakistan]] formed the [[Shramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal]] (SKSD). RSP and SKSD have maintained close ties ever since. The RSP is currently a minor partner in the [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]], which ruled the Indian state of West Bengal for 34 uninterrupted years. It also holds influence in South India, notably in parts of [[Kerala]]. The [[SUCI]], another left-wing party with a presence in Bengal, was founded in 1948 by Anushilan members. ==In popular culture== The revolutionaries of the Samiti became household names in Bengal. Many of these educated and youthful men were widely admired and romanticised throughout India.<ref name="Chowdhry2000p138" /> ''[[Ekbar biday de Ma ghure ashi]]'' (Bid me farewell, mother), a 1908 song written by Bengali folk poet Pitambar Das that describes the execution of [[Khudiram Bose]],{{citation needed|date=October 2018}} was popular in Bengal decades after Bose's death.<ref name="Sarkar2014p107" /> The railway station where Bose was arrested is now named Khudiram Bose Pusa Railway Station in his honour. The 1926 nationalist novel ''Pather Dabi'' (Right of the way) by Bengali author [[Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay]] tells the story of a secret revolutionary nationalist organisation fighting the Raj. The protagonist of the novel, Sabyasachi, is believed to have been modelled after [[Rash Behari Bose]], while the revolutionary organisation is thought to have been influenced by the Bengali Samiti. The novel was banned by The Raj as "seditious", but acquired wild popularity. It formed the basis of a 1977 Bengali language film, ''Sabyasachi'', with [[Uttam Kumar]] playing the lead role of the protagonist. ''[[Do and Die]]'' is a historical account of the Chittagong armoury raid published in 2000 by Indian author Manini Chatterjee. It was awarded the [[Rabindra Puraskar]], the highest literary award in Bengal. The book formed the basis of ''[[Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey]]'' (We Play with Our Lives), a 2010 [[Bollywood]] film with [[Abhishek Bachchan]] playing the role of Surya Sen. <!--Jugantar pamphlets --> A marble plaque marks the building in Calcutta where the Samiti was founded. A plaque at the site of Barin Ghose's country house (in present-day [[Ultadanga]]) marks the site where Ghosh and his group was arrested in the [[Alipore bomb case]]. Many of the Samiti's members are known in India and abroad, and are commemorated in different forms. A number of Calcutta suburbs are today named after revolutionaries and nationalists of the Samiti. Grey Street, where Aurobindo Ghosh's press office stood, is today named Aurobido Sarani (Aurobindo Avenue). Dalhousie Square was renamed [[B.B.D Bag]], named after Benoy, Badal, and Dinesh who raided the [[Writer's Building]] in 1926. Mononga lane, the site of [[Rodda & Co. heist]], houses the busts of Anukul Mukherjee, Srish Chandra Mitra, Haridas Dutta, and Bipin Bihary Ganguly who participated in the heist. Chashakhand, a location 15&nbsp;km east of Balasore where [[Bagha Jatin]] and his group made their last stand against Tegart's forces, commemorates the battlefield in Jatin's honour. The locality of [[Baghajatin]] in [[Kolkata]] is named after Jatin. 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LTD |place= New Delhi |isbn= 9788174888655}}. {{Refend}} {{Ghadar Conspiracy}} {{Indian independence movement}} [[Category:Anushilan Samiti| ]] [[Category:1906 establishments in India]] [[Category:Hindu–German Conspiracy]] [[Category:History of Bengal]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1906]] [[Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]'