Swadeshi Movement (1905–1911)

Key Pointers

Trigger: Partition of Bengal announced by Lord Curzon (July 1905) and implemented on 16 October 1905; Bengal divided into East Bengal & Assam (Dhaka as capital) and the rest of Bengal. The British aimed to weaken Bengali nationalism by creating a Muslim-majority eastern province ('divide and rule').
Launch: 7 August 1905 – meeting at Calcutta Town Hall passed the boycott resolution, marking the beginning of the Swadeshi and Boycott movement.
16 October 1905: Observed as a day of mourning; Rakhi Bandhan ceremonies (Rabindranath Tagore) to promote unity; Amar Sonar Bangla composed; Vande Mataram became the slogan.
Leaders: Surendranath Banerjea, Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghose, Tilak, Lajpat Rai; Ashwini Kumar Datta (Swadesh Bandhab Samiti, Barisal); Krishna Kumar Mitra; Tagore; V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (Swadeshi Steam Navigation Co., Tuticorin, 1906).
Forms of protest: Boycott of foreign cloth and goods; promotion of Swadeshi industries (Bengal Chemicals, Tata Iron and Steel, 1907, indigenous banks and insurance, swadeshi mills); national education (National Council of Education, 1906; Bengal National College with Aurobindo as principal); samitis and volunteer corps; mass mobilisation via melas, processions, and the press.
Spread: Beyond Bengal to Poona, Bombay, Madras, Punjab (Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh), and Delhi (Syed Haider Raza).
Cultural impact: Rabindra Sangeet, nationalist art (Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose), science (J.C. Bose, P.C. Ray's Bengal Chemicals).
Muslim response: Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka supported the partition; All India Muslim League formed in Dhaka (1906).
Repression: Risley and Carlyle circulars to curb students; Tilak jailed (1908); Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh deported (1907).
Weaknesses: Limited peasant participation; communal divide; Surat split (1907); repression and lack of organisation.
Outcome: Annulment of the Partition of Bengal (1911) at the Delhi Durbar of George V, along with the announcement of shifting the capital from Calcutta to Delhi. It paved the way for later mass movements.

MCQs

Q1. The Partition of Bengal came into effect on: (a) 7 August 1905 (b) 16 October 1905 (c) 1 January 1906 (d) 30 December 1906 Answer: (b).

Q2. The Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company at Tuticorin was founded by: (a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b) V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (c) Ashwini Kumar Datta (d) Aurobindo Ghose Answer: (b).

Q3. The Partition of Bengal was annulled in 1911 during the Viceroyalty of: (a) Lord Curzon (b) Lord Minto (c) Lord Hardinge (d) Lord Chelmsford Answer: (c).