Revolutionary Nationalism

Key Pointers

Reasons for emergence: Disillusionment with moderate politics and the failure of non-violent methods after repression of Swadeshi; inspiration from Irish and Russian revolutionary movements; British repression (partition, Tilak's arrest).
Phase I (Early Revolutionaries):
- Maharashtra: Chapekar brothers (Damodar and Balkrishna) killed Rand (Poona, 1897); Mitra Mela (1899) and Abhinav Bharat (1904) by V.D. Savarkar.
- Bengal: Anushilan Samiti (1902) (Pramathanath Mitra, Barindra Ghosh); Jugantar group (Barindra Kumar Ghosh, Bhupendranath Datta); Muzaffarpur bomb case (1908) by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki (target: Kingsford); Alipore Conspiracy Case (1908–9) (Aurobindo acquitted).
- Delhi Conspiracy Case (1912): Bomb thrown at Viceroy Hardinge (Rash Behari Bose, Basanta Biswas).
Abroad: India House, London (Shyamji Krishna Varma, 1905; Indian Sociologist); Madan Lal Dhingra assassinated Curzon Wyllie (1909); Madame Bhikaji Cama unfurled a national flag at Stuttgart (1907); Ghadar Party (San Francisco, 1913) led by Lala Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna; Komagata Maru incident (1914); Berlin Committee (Virendranath Chattopadhyaya); Provisional Government of India, Kabul (1915) under Raja Mahendra Pratap with Barkatullah; Singapore Mutiny (1915).
Phase II (post-1920s, after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation):
- Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, 1924) (Sachindranath Sanyal, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan); Kakori Train Robbery (9 August 1925).
- Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA, 1928, Delhi) led by Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh; murder of Saunders (Lahore, 1928) after Lala Lajpat Rai's death; Central Assembly bomb (8 April 1929) by Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt; Lahore Conspiracy Case; Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru executed (23 March 1931); Jatin Das died after a hunger strike (1929); Azad died at Alfred Park, Allahabad (1931).
- Chittagong Armoury Raid (18 April 1930) led by Surya Sen ('Masterda') with Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutta.
Ideological shift: From individual terror to socialist thought and mass mobilisation ('Inquilab Zindabad', 'Why I am an Atheist').
Significance: Instilled courage and sacrifice; contributed to the nationalist spirit even though they could not mount a mass revolution.

MCQs

Q1. 'Abhinav Bharat' was founded by: (a) Aurobindo Ghose (b) V.D. Savarkar (c) Rash Behari Bose (d) Barindra Ghosh Answer: (b).

Q2. The Chittagong Armoury Raid (1930) was led by: (a) Bhagat Singh (b) Chandrashekhar Azad (c) Surya Sen (d) Ram Prasad Bismil Answer: (c).

Q3. The Ghadar Party was founded in 1913 at: (a) London (b) Berlin (c) San Francisco (d) Singapore Answer: (c).