185-779: The Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case refers to the arrest and trials of 47 Indian nationalists of the Anushilan Samiti that followed in the wake of the murder of Inspector Shamsul Alam on 24 January 1910 in Calcutta . Alam was Deputy superintendent and intelligence officer in Bengal Police investigating the murder of Naren Gosain , crown-witness in the Alipore bomb case , and other murders including those of Ashutosh Biswas, advocate of Calcutta High Court in charge of prosecution of Gossain murder case, and of Naren Bannerjee,
370-699: A better effect than the prosecution of 46 misguided youths." On 28 May 1911, Hardinge recognised : "The 10th Jats case was part and parcel of the Howrah Gang Case; and with the failure in the latter, the Government of Bengal realised the futility of proceeding with the former... In fact, nothing could be worse, in my opinion, than the condition of Bengal and Eastern Bengal. There is practically no Government in either province ..." Anushilan Samiti Anushilan Samiti ( Bengali : অনুশীলন সমিতি , lit. 'Practice Association')
555-661: 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 Lord Lytton and he was awarded the King's medal. In 1937 Tegart was sent to the British Mandate of Palestine , then in the throes of the Arab Revolt , to advise the Inspector General on security. In its fight against
740-627: A civil servant, H.L. Salkeld, uncovered the eastern branch of Anushilan Samiti, producing a four-volume report and placing 68 suspects under surveillance. 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. The visit of King George V to India in 1911 catalyzed improvements in police equipment and staffing in Bengal and EBA. In 1912,
925-526: 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 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
1110-535: A condolence resolution after his death, as did Congress when Bhagat Singh was executed. 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
1295-401: 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. Aurobindo retired from active politics after being acquitted. This was followed by a 1909 Dhaka conspiracy case, which brought 44 members of
1480-735: 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. 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
1665-769: A former prime minister of the Bengal Sultanate. By the 17th century, the Mughals were able to fully absorb the region to their empire. Mughal Bengal had the richest elite and was the wealthiest region in the subcontinent. Bengal's trade and wealth impressed the Mughals so much that it was described as the Paradise of the Nations by the Mughal Emperors . A new provincial capital was built in Dhaka . Members of
1850-531: A mission to Muzaffarpur to assassinate chief presidency magistrate D. H. Kingsford. They bombed a carriage they mistook for Kingsford's, 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. The ensuing trial, held under tight security, led to
2035-921: A part of it. There are four World Heritage Sites in the region, including the Sundarbans , the Somapura Mahavihara , the Mosque City of Bagerhat and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway . Other prominent places include the Bishnupur, Bankura temple city, the Adina Mosque , the Caravanserai Mosque , numerous zamindar palaces (like Ahsan Manzil and Cooch Behar Palace ), the Lalbagh Fort ,
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#17327733573742220-680: A plot led by the Ghosh brothers. In the same month, the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti assassinated former Dhaka district magistrate D. C. 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. Under Barin Ghosh's direction,
2405-476: A presence in Bengal, was founded in 1948 by Anushilan members. The revolutionaries of the Samiti became household names in Bengal. Many of these educated and youthful men were widely admired and romanticised throughout India. Ekbar biday de Ma ghure ashi (Bid me farewell, mother), a 1908 lament written by Bengali folk poet Pitambar Das that mourns the execution of Khudiram Bose , was popular in Bengal decades after Bose's death. The railway station where Bose
2590-659: A prosperous part of the Mughal Empire . The last independent Nawab of Bengal was defeated in 1757 at the Battle of Plassey by the East India Company . The company's Bengal Presidency grew into the largest administrative unit of British India with Calcutta as the capital of both Bengal and India until 1911. As a result of the first partition of Bengal , a short-lived province called Eastern Bengal and Assam existed between 1905 and 1911 with its capital in
2775-521: A region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal . The region of Bengal proper is divided between the modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal . The ancient Vanga Kingdom is widely regarded as the namesake of the Bengal region. The Bengali calendar dates back to the reign of Shashanka in the 7th century CE. The Pala Empire
2960-663: A significant populace at this time. 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. There he lived with independence activist Shyam Sundar Chakravarty , and had contacts with revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil . James Popplewell, writing in 1995, noted that
3145-465: 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. The act was first applied to deport nine Bengali revolutionaries to Mandalay prison in 1908. Despite these measures however, the high standards of evidence demanded by
3330-603: A tributary state. The ruler of the Jaunpur Sultanate also sought refuge in Bengal. The vassal states of Bengal included Arakan, Tripura, Chandradwip and Pratapgarh . At its peak, the Bengal Sultanate's territory included parts of Arakan, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, and Tripura. The Bengal Sultanate experienced its greatest military success under Alauddin Hussain Shah , who was proclaimed as the conqueror of Assam after his forces led by Shah Ismail Ghazi overthrew
3515-493: 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. A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1920s and 1930s, many of them studying Marxist–Leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A majority broke away from
3700-596: Is divided into Terai and Dooars regions. North Bengal is also noted for its rich cultural heritage, including two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Aside from the Bengali majority, North Bengal is home to many other communities including Nepalis, Santhal people , Lepchas and Rajbongshis. Northeast Bengal refers to the Sylhet region, which today comprises the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and Karimganj district in
3885-605: Is estimated to have caused the deaths of between 1 million and 10 million people. In 1862, the Bengal Legislative Council was set up as the first modern legislature in India . Elected representation was gradually introduced during the early 20th century, including with the Morley-Minto reforms and the system of dyarchy . In 1937, the council became the upper chamber of the Bengali legislature while
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#17327733573744070-473: Is home to the longest natural sea beach in the world with an unbroken length of 120 km (75 mi). It is also a growing surfing destination. St. Martin's Island , off the coast of Chittagong Division, is home to the sole coral reef in Bengal. Bengal was a regional power of the Indian subcontinent. The administrative jurisdiction of Bengal historically extended beyond the territory of Bengal proper. In
4255-549: Is important in having brought Jatindranath Mukherjee 's work and Samiti network under the scrutiny of the Raj. Jatindranath Mukherjee 's policy of a loose decentralised organisation generated scores of regional units, as observed by F.C. Daly more than once: "The gang is a heterogeneous one, with several advisers and petty chiefs... From information we have on record we may divide the gang into four parts: (1) Gurus, (2) Influential supporters, (3) Leaders, (4) Members." J.C. Nixon's report
4440-645: Is more explicit : "Although a separate name and a separate individuality have been given to these various parties in this account of them, and although such a distinction was probably observed amongst the minor members, it is very clear that the bigger figures were in close communication with one another and were frequently accepted members of two or more of these samitis . It may be taken that at some time these various parties were engaged in anarchical crime independently, although in their revolutionary aims and usually in their origins they were all very closely related." Several observers pinpointed Jatin so accurately that
4625-610: Is noted for its thalassocratic and seafaring heritage. The area was dominated by the Bengali Harikela and Samatata kingdoms in antiquity. It was known to Arab traders as Samandar in the 9th century. During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the Chandra dynasty , the sultanate of Bengal , the kingdom of Tripura , the kingdom of Mrauk U , the Portuguese Empire and the Mughal Empire , prior to
4810-718: Is on the extreme south, while the Sundarbans mangrove forests form a remarkable geographical landmark at the Ganges delta. At least nine districts in West Bengal and 42 districts in Bangladesh have arsenic levels in groundwater above the World Health Organization maximum permissible limit of 50 μg/L or 50 parts per billion and the untreated water is unfit for human consumption. The water causes arsenicosis, skin cancer and various other complications in
4995-681: Is present in an inscription in the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur , which is one of the oldest references to Bengal. The term Vangaladesa is used to describe the region in 11th-century South Indian records. The modern term Bangla is prominent from the 14th century, which saw the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal , whose first ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was known as the Shah of Bangala . The Portuguese referred to
5180-488: 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. Bengal Bengal ( / b ɛ n ˈ ɡ ɔː l / ben- GAWL ) is a historical geographical , ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to
5365-602: The 10th Jat Regiment , garrisoned at Fort William in Calcutta, and Narendra Nath committed a number of robberies to raise money. 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 . In 1911, Dhaka Anushilan members shot dead Sub-inspector Raj Kumar and Inspector Man Mohan Ghosh, two Bengali police officers investigating unrest linked to
5550-705: The 1912 attempt on the life of the Viceroy of India, led by Rash Behari Bose and Basanta Kumar Biswas , and the Seditious conspiracy during World War I, led by Jatindranath Mukherjee . The organisation moved away from its philosophy of violence in the 1920s due to the influence of the Indian National Congress and the Gandhian non-violent movement . A section of the group, notably those associated with Sachindranath Sanyal , remained active in
5735-1076: The Austrian East India Company , the Ostend Company , and the Dutch East India Company . The Nawabs were also suspicious of the growing influence of these companies. Under Mughal rule, Bengal was a centre of the worldwide muslin and silk trades. During the Mughal era, the most important centre of cotton production was Bengal, particularly around its capital city of Dhaka, leading to muslin being called "daka" in distant markets such as Central Asia. Domestically, much of India depended on Bengali products such as rice, silks and cotton textiles. Overseas, Europeans depended on Bengali products such as cotton textiles, silks and opium; Bengal accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia, for example, including more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks. From Bengal, saltpetre
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5920-555: The Bay of Bengal allowed for maritime trade with distant lands in Southeast Asia and elsewhere. The ancient geopolitical divisions of Bengal included Varendra , Suhma , Anga , Vanga , Samatata and Harikela . These regions were often independent or under the rule of larger empires. The Mahasthan Brahmi Inscription indicates that Bengal was ruled by the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century BCE. The inscription
6105-686: The Bengal Legislative Assembly was created. Between 1937 and 1947, the chief executive of the government was the Prime Minister of Bengal . The Bengal Presidency was the largest administrative unit in the British Empire . At its height, it covered large parts of present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. In 1830, the British Straits Settlements on the coast of
6290-539: The Bhagavat Gita , were strong influences on the strain of nationalism that inspired the early societies that later became Anushilan Samiti. 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. The philosophies and teachings of Swami Vivekananda were later added to this philosophy. The "Rules of Membership" in
6475-497: The Calcutta High Court , insufficient investigations by police, and at times outright fabrication of evidence, led to persistent failures to tame nationalist violence. 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
6660-773: The Communist International , helping to found the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilanite Marxists hesitated to join the Communist Party. Instead, they joined the Congress Socialist Party (CSP), but kept a separate identity within the party as the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The RSP held a strong influence in parts of Bengal. The party sent two parliamentarians to
6845-486: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . At a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal , it was decided (58 votes to 21) that the province should be partitioned and West Bengal should join the Constituent Assembly of India . At another meeting of legislators from East Bengal , it was decided (106 votes to 35) that the province should not be partitioned and (107 votes to 34) that East Bengal should join
7030-597: The Great Backerganj Cyclone of 1876 in the Barisal region. About 50 million were killed in Bengal due to massive plague outbreaks and famines which happened in 1895 to 1920, mostly in western Bengal. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was initiated on the outskirts of Calcutta, and spread to Dhaka, Chittagong, Jalpaiguri, Sylhet and Agartala, in solidarity with revolts in North India. The failure of
7215-1079: The Great Caravanserai ruins , the Shaista Khan Caravanserai ruins , the Kolkata Victoria Memorial , the Dhaka Parliament Building, archaeologically excavated ancient fort cities in Mahasthangarh , Mainamati , Chandraketugarh and Wari-Bateshwar , the Jaldapara National Park , the Lawachara National Park , the Teknaf Game Reserve and the Chittagong Hill Tracts . Cox's Bazar in southeastern Bangladesh
7400-408: 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
7585-493: 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. The nationalist movement became particularly strong, radical and violent in Bengal and, later, in Punjab . Notable, if smaller, movements also appeared in Maharashtra , Madras and other areas in the South. The movement in Maharashtra, especially Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and Poona, preceded most revolutionary movements in
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7770-485: The Jugantar group (centred in 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 organisations in India and abroad. It was led by the nationalists Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother Barindra Ghosh , influenced by philosophies like Italian Nationalism , and
7955-400: The Karrani dynasty . The Battle of Raj Mahal and the capture of Daud Khan Karrani marked the end of the Bengal Sultanate during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar . In the late 16th-century, a confederation called the Baro-Bhuyan resisted Mughal invasions in eastern Bengal. The Baro-Bhuyan included twelve Muslim and Hindu leaders of the Zamindars of Bengal . They were led by Isa Khan ,
8140-539: The Khen dynasty and annexed large parts of Assam. In maritime trade, the Bengal Sultanate benefited from Indian Ocean trade networks and emerged as a hub of re-exports . A giraffe was brought by African envoys from Malindi to Bengal's court and was later gifted to Imperial China . Ship-owing merchants acted as envoys of the Sultan while travelling to different regions in Asia and Africa. Many rich Bengali merchants lived in Malacca. Bengali ships transported embassies from Brunei , Aceh and Malacca to China. Bengal and
8325-401: The Kingdom of Mrauk U was heavily influenced by Bengal. Bengali Muslims served in the royal court as ministers and military commanders. Bengali Hindus and Bengali Buddhists served as priests. Some of the most important poets of medieval Bengali literature lived in Arakan, including Alaol and Daulat Qazi . In 1660, Prince Shah Shuja , the governor of Mughal Bengal and a pretender of
8510-551: The Malacca Straits was made a residency of Bengal. The area included the erstwhile Prince of Wales Island , Province Wellesley , Malacca and Singapore . In 1867, Penang , Singapore and Malacca were separated from Bengal into the Straits Settlements . British Burma became a province of India and a later a Crown colony in itself. Western areas, including the Ceded and Conquered Provinces and The Punjab , were further reorganised. Northeastern areas became Colonial Assam . In 1876, about 200,000 people were killed in Bengal by
8695-402: The Maldives had a vast trade in shell currency . The Sultan of Bengal donated funds to build schools in the Hejaz region of Arabia. The five dynastic periods of the Bengal Sultanate spanned from the Ilyas Shahi dynasty , to a period of rule by Bengali converts, to the Hussain Shahi dynasty , to a period of rule by Abyssinian usurpers; an interruption by the Suri dynasty ; and ended with
8880-425: The Meghna River . Bengal was probably used as a transit route to China by the earliest Muslims. Abbasid coins have been discovered in the archaeological ruins of Paharpur and Mainamati . A collection of Sasanian, Umayyad and Abbasid coins are preserved in the Bangladesh National Museum . In 1204, the Ghurid general Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji began the Islamic conquest of Bengal. The fall of Lakhnauti
9065-444: The Nawab of Bengal from 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, thus signalling the start of British influence in India. British control of Bengal increased between 1757 and 1793 while the Nawab was reduced to a puppet figure. with the Presidency of Fort William asserting greater control over the entire province of Bengal and neighbouring territories. Calcutta was named the capital of British territories in India in 1772. The presidency
9250-517: The Pala Empire . The first Pala emperor Gopala I was chosen by an assembly of chieftains in Gauda. The Pala kingdom grew into one of the largest empires in the Indian subcontinent. The Pala period saw advances in linguistics, sculpture, painting, and education. The empire achieved its greatest territorial extent under Dharmapala and Devapala . The Palas vied for control of Kannauj with the rival Gurjara-Pratihara and Rashtrakuta dynasties. Pala influence also extended to Tibet and Sumatra due to
9435-435: The Pan-Asianism of Kakuzo Okakura . Ullaskar Dutta used to be the Jugantor group's principal bomb maker until Hemchandra Quanungo returned from Paris having learned bomb making and explosive chemistry. The Samiti was involved in a number of noted incidents of revolutionary attacks against British interests and administration in India, including early attempts to assassinate British Raj officials. These were followed by
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#17327733573749620-523: The Peacock Throne of India, was forced to seek asylum in Arakan. Bengali influence in the Arakanese royal court persisted until Burmese annexation in the 18th-century. The modern-day Rohingya population is a legacy of Bengal's influence on Arakan. The Rohingya genocide resulted in the displacement of over a million people between 2016 and 2017, with many being uprooted from their homes in Rakhine State. The Indian state of Assam shares many cultural similarities with Bengal. The Assamese language uses
9805-439: The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). 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
9990-472: The Sunderbans for members who had gone underground. The group slowly reorganised, aided by Amarendra Chatterjee , Naren Bhattacharya and other younger leaders. Some of its younger members, including Taraknath Das , left India. 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. Around this time Jatin attempted to establish contacts with
10175-683: The Swadeshi movement to that of political terrorism. The organisation's political views were expressed in the journal Jugantar , founded in March 1906 by Abhinash Bhattacharya , Barindra, Bhupendranath Dutt and Debabrata Basu . 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". Early leaders were Rash Behari Bose , Bhavabhushan Mitra , Jatindranath Mukherjee and Jadugopal Mukherjee . Aurobindo published similar messages of violent nationalism in journals such as Sandhya , Navashakti and Bande Mataram . The Dhaka Anushilan Samiti broke with
10360-435: The 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
10545-418: The United Provinces , including those later connected to Har Dayal . During the 1912 transfer of the imperial capital to New Delhi, Viceroy Charles Hardinge 's howdah was bombed; his mahout was killed, and Hardinge was seriously injured. 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,
10730-436: The deindustrialisation of its pre-colonial economy. Company policies led to the deindustrialisation of Bengal's textile industry. The capital amassed by the East India Company in Bengal was invested in the emerging Industrial Revolution in Great Britain , in industries such as textile manufacturing . Economic mismanagement, alongside drought and a smallpox epidemic, directly led to the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which
10915-439: The mountains in Bangladesh . Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres (33 feet) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 10% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 metre (3.3 feet). Because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres (3,451 feet). A major part of
11100-436: 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
11285-502: 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
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#173277335737411470-452: 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 , 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
11655-408: The 9th century, the Pala Empire of Bengal ruled large parts of northern India. The Bengal Sultanate controlled Bengal, Assam, Arakan, Bihar and Orissa at different periods in history. In Mughal Bengal, the Nawab of Bengal had a jurisdiction covering Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Bengal's administrative jurisdiction reached its greatest extent under the British Empire, when the Bengal Presidency extended from
11840-415: The Act and 99 were imprisoned under Regulation III. In Bengal, revolutionary violence fell to 10 incidents in 1917. According to official lists, 186 revolutionaries were killed or convicted by 1918. 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 M. K. Gandhi 's non-cooperation movement. Many revolutionaries released after
12025-454: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands; as well as in Myanmar's Rakhine State. Arakan (now Rakhine State , Myanmar ) has historically been under strong Bengali influence. Since antiquity, Bengal has influenced the culture of Arakan. The ancient Bengali script was used in Arakan. An Arakanese inscription recorded the reign of the Bengali Candra dynasty . Paul Wheatley described the "Indianization" of Arakan. According to Pamela Gutman , "Arakan
12210-437: The Anushilan Samiti and joined the Communist Consolidation the Marxist group in Cellular Jail , and they later the Communist Party of India (CPI). Some of the Anushilan Marxists were hesitant to join the Communist Party, few joined the RSP however, since they distrusted the political lines formulated by the Communist International . They also did not embrace Trotskyism , although they shared some Trotskyist critiques of
12395-407: The Bengal Samiti cell was introduced to Har Dayal when Dayal visited India in 1908. Dayal was associated with India House, then headed by V. D. Savarkar. By 1910, Dayal was working closely with Rash Behari Bose. 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
12580-443: 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. Peter Heehs, writing in 2010, notes the Samiti had three pillars in their ideologies: "cultural independence", "political independence", and "economic independence". In terms of economic independence,
12765-433: The British Raj began with the rebellion of Titumir , and reached a climax when Subhas Chandra Bose led the Indian National Army against the British. Bengal was also central in the rising political awareness of the Muslim population—the All-India Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1906. The Muslim homeland movement pushed for a sovereign state in eastern India with the Lahore Resolution in 1943. Hindu nationalism
12950-500: 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. 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. Godfrey Denham, then Assistant Superintendent of Police, served under
13135-460: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan if Bengal was partitioned. On 6 July, the Sylhet district of Assam voted in a referendum to join East Bengal . The English barrister Cyril Radcliffe was instructed to draw the borders of Pakistan and India. The Radcliffe Line created the boundary between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan , which later became the Bangladesh-India border . The Radcliffe Line awarded two-thirds of Bengal as
13320-583: The Dacca library strongly recommended reading his books. These books emphasised "Strong muscles and nerves of steel", which some historians consider to be strongly influenced by the Hindu Shakta Philosophy . 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
13505-790: 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
13690-442: 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,
13875-738: The Dhaka Anushilan Samiti to trial. 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 and Uttar Pradesh , establishing hideouts in
14060-702: 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
14245-502: 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. The growth of the Indian middle class during the 19th century led to a growing sense of Indian identity that fed a rising tide of nationalism in India in the last decades of the 1800s. The creation of
14430-589: The Great was deterred by the accounts of Gangaridai's power in 325 BCE, including a cavalry of war elephants . Later Roman accounts noted maritime trade routes with Bengal. 1st century Roman coins with images of Hercules were found in the region and point to trade links with Roman Egypt through the Red Sea . The Wari-Bateshwar ruins are believed to be the emporium (trading centre) of Sounagoura mentioned by Roman geographer Claudius Ptolemy . A Roman amphora
14615-533: The Indian National Congress. 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. 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
14800-530: The Indian independence movement, including the 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. Heehs argued that the actions of the revolutionary nationalists exemplified by the Samiti forced the government to parley more seriously with
14985-572: 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
15170-411: The Indian state of Assam . The region is famous for its fertile land terrain, many rivers, extensive tea plantations, rainforests and wetlands. The Brahmaputra and Barak river are the geographic markers of the area. The city of Sylhet is its largest urban centre, and the region is known for its unique regional Sylheti language . The ancient name of the region is Srihatta and Nasratshahi. The region
15355-523: 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. The two branches of the Samiti engaged in dacoity to raise money, and performed a number of political assassinations. In December 1907, the Bengal branch derailed a train carrying Bengal Lieutenant Governor Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser in
15540-548: The Lahore Conspiracy Trial and Benares Conspiracy Trial, and in tribunals in Bengal, effectively crushing the revolutionary movement. By March 1916, widespread arrests had helped Bengal Police crush the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta. The power of preventive detention was used extensively in Bengal, and revolutionary violence in Bengal plummeted to 10 incidents in 1917. By the end of
15725-493: 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
15910-593: The Mauryans and the Gupta Empire . The region was a centre of artistic, political, social, spiritual and scientific thinking, including the invention of chess , Indian numerals , and the concept of zero . The region was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Gangaridai . The Greek ambassador Megasthenes chronicled its military strength and dominance of the Ganges delta . The invasion army of Alexander
16095-478: The Mughal emperor. The wealth of Bengal was vital for the Mughal court because Delhi received its biggest share of revenue from the Nawab's court. The Nawabs presided over a period of unprecedented economic growth and prosperity, including an era of growing organisation in textiles, banking, a military-industrial complex, the production of fine quality handicrafts , and other trades. A process of proto-industrialisation
16280-529: The Mughals in 1666. In the 18th-century, the Mughal Court rapidly disintegrated due to Nader Shah's invasion and internal rebellions, allowing European colonial powers to set up trading posts across the territory. The British East India Company eventually emerged as the foremost military power in the region; and defeated the last independent Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The British East India Company began influencing and controlling
16465-409: The Raj perceived the Samiti in its early days as a serious threat to its rule. 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. A number of landmark events early in
16650-679: The Raj, the Samiti ' s members who turned approvers (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 Boseu and Kanai Lal Dutt. Ashutosh Biswas, an advocate of Calcutta High Court in charge of prosecution of Gossain murder case,
16835-668: 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. 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 , along with his reinterpretation of
17020-550: The Samiti diverged from the Swadeshi movement, which they decried as a "trader's movement". When the Samiti first came into prominence following the Muzaffarpur killings, its ideology was felt to be influenced by European anarchism . Lord Minto resisted the notion that its action might be the manifestation of political grievance by concluding that: Murderous methods hitherto unknown in India ... have been imported from
17205-557: 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. However the extent of his involvement or influence is debated. Nivedita was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She had contacts with Aurobindo, with Satish Bose and with Jugantar sub-editor Bhupendranath Bose. Nivedita
17390-507: 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 Marxists and many were militant atheists . By the late 1930s, members with a more secular outlook were beginning to participate. Some components of
17575-929: 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. 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 , Khulna , Faridpur , 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
17760-599: 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 R.W. Carlyle to prohibit the participation of students in political meetings on the threat of withdrawal of funding and grants. Bengali intellectuals were already calling for indigenous schools and colleges to replace British institutions, and seeking to build indigenous institutions. Surendranath Tagore , of
17945-542: 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 Hem Chandra Kanungo (Hem Chandra Das) went to Paris by selling his land property to learn bomb-making from Nicholas Safranski, a Russian revolutionary in exile. In 1908, young recruits Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki were sent on
18130-725: The Special Officer. 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. In EBA,
18315-544: The Straits of Malacca in the east to the Khyber Pass in the west. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, administrative reorganisation drastically reduced the territory of Bengal. Several regions bordering Bengal proper continue to have high levels of Bengali influence. The Indian state of Tripura has a Bengali majority population. Bengali influence is also prevalent in the Indian regions of Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and
18500-500: The West, ... which the imitative Bengali has childishly accepted. 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, although there were also influences of European nationalism and philosophies of liberalism. In the 1860s and 1870s, large numbers of akhras (gymnasiums) arose in Bengal that were consciously designed along
18685-578: The accused commenced on 4 March 1910 with a second hearing in the Calcutta High Court in July 1910. However, the de-centralised structure of the Samiti meant the prosecution's attempts to demonstrate the crimes as linked and the Samiti as a unifying organisation failed. 33 of the accused were subsequently acquitted. Of the accused, Jatin Mukherjee and Narendranath Bhattacharjee were among those convicted and sentenced to one-years imprisonment. The case
18870-627: 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. 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,
19055-634: The act, including Subhas Chandra Bose , curtailing the resurgence of nationalist violence in Bengal. 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
19240-489: The activities of the Samiti in Bengal during World War I , along with the threat of a 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
19425-464: The advent of British rule. The Chittagonian language , a sister of Bengali is prevalent in coastal areas of southeast Bengal. Along with its Bengali population, it is also home to Tibeto-Burman ethnic groups, including the Chakma , Marma , Tanchangya and Bawm peoples. Southeast Bengal is considered a bridge to Southeast Asia and the northern parts of Arakan are also historically considered to be
19610-702: The advent of the Iron Age , people in Bengal adopted iron-based weapons, tools and irrigation equipment. From 600 BCE, the second wave of urbanisation engulfed the north Indian subcontinent as part of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. Ancient archaeological sites and cities in Dihar , Pandu Rajar Dhibi , Mahasthangarh , Chandraketugarh and Wari-Bateshwar emerged. The Ganges , Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers were natural arteries for communication and transportation. Estuaries on
19795-506: 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
19980-526: The annual output of Bengal at 223,250 tons, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771. Since the 16th century, European traders traversed the sea routes to Bengal, following the Portuguese conquests of Malacca and Goa. The Portuguese established a settlement in Chittagong with permission from the Bengal Sultanate in 1528 but were later expelled by
20165-712: The body. North Bengal is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladeshi part comprises Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division . Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River , and includes the Barind Tract . Politically, West Bengal's part comprises Jalpaiguri Division and most of Malda division (except Murshidabad district ) together and Bihar's parts include Kishanganj district . Darjeeling Hilly are also part of North Bengal. The people of Jaipaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar usually identify themselves as North Bengali. North Bengal
20350-608: The city with the highest per capita income level in British India, the region is today a leader in South Asia in terms of gender parity , the gender pay gap and other indices of human development . The name of Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga (pronounced Bôngô), the earliest records of which date back to the Mahabharata epic in the first millennium BCE . The reference to 'Vangalam'
20535-578: The coastline comprises a marshy jungle , the Sundarbans , the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger . In 1997, this region was declared endangered. West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The state has a total area of 88,752 km (34,267 sq mi). The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in
20720-583: The colonial administration of British 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 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
20905-581: The country. This movement was supported ideologically by Bal Gangadhar Tilak , who may also have offered covert active support. The Indian Association was founded in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) in 1876 under the leadership of Surendranath Banerjee . 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
21090-429: The decade. By 1931 a record 92 violent incidents were recorded, including the murders of the British magistrates of Tippera and Midnapore. However, soon afterwards, in 1934, the revolutionary movement in Bengal ended. 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
21275-412: The division of the organisation in Bengal, which largely followed British administrative divisions. 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,
21460-468: The eastern wing of Pakistan, although the historic Bengali capitals of Gaur , Pandua , Murshidabad and Calcutta fell on the Indian side close to the border with Pakistan. Dhaka's status as a capital was also restored. Most of the Bengal region lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta , but there are highlands in its north, northeast and southeast. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of
21645-410: The elevated Madhupur tract with a large Sal tree forest . The Padma River cuts through the southern part of the region, separating the greater Faridpur region. In the north lies the greater Mymensingh and Tangail regions. South Bengal covers the southwestern Bangladesh and the southern part of the Indian state of West Bengal.The Bangladeshi part includes Khulna Division , Barisal Division and
21830-501: The financial backing of Subodh Chandra Mallik , the Bengal National College was established with Aurobindo as Principal. 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
22015-511: The first Muslim army enter Nepal and stretched from Varanasi in the west to Orissa in the south to Assam in the east. The Delhi army continued to fend off the new Bengali army. The Bengal-Delhi War ended in 1359 when Delhi recognised the independence of Bengal. Ilyas Shah's son Sikandar Shah defeated Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq during the Siege of Ekdala Fort. A subsequent peace treaty recognised Bengal's independence and Sikandar Shah
22200-529: The forest with his followers. The overthrow of the Sena king has been described as a coup d'état, which "inaugurated an era, lasting over five centuries, during which most of Bengal was dominated by rulers professing the Islamic faith. In itself this was not exceptional, since from about this time until the eighteenth century, Muslim sovereigns ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent. What was exceptional, however,
22385-503: The former Mughal capital Dhaka . Following the Sylhet referendum and votes by the Bengal Legislative Council and Bengal Legislative Assembly , the region was again divided along religious lines in 1947 . Bengali culture, particularly its literature , music , art and cinema, are well known in South Asia and beyond. The region is also notable for its economic and social scientists, which includes several Nobel laureates . Once home to
22570-529: The fullest height of their stature, a land that will truly be plentiful. It will be rich in agriculture, rich in industry and commerce and in course of time it will be one of the powerful and progressive states of the world. If Bengal remains united this will be no dream, no fantasy". On 2 June 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee told the US Ambassador to the United Kingdom that there
22755-753: 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. 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
22940-549: The government finally repealed the Rowlatt act and its component sister acts. 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
23125-743: The group, in Mymensingh and Barisal . This was followed by the assassination of 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") 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
23310-547: 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. An internal document of circa 1908 written by Pulin Behari Das describes
23495-477: The imperial family were appointed to positions in Mughal Bengal, including the position of governor ( subedar ). Dhaka became a centre of palace intrigue and politics. Some of the most prominent governors included Rajput general Man Singh I , Emperor Shah Jahan 's son Prince Shah Shuja , Emperor Aurangzeb 's son and later Mughal emperor Azam Shah , and the influential aristocrat Shaista Khan . During
23680-524: The investigation in the aftermath of the Dalhi-Lahore Conspiracy and identified Chandernagore as the main hub for the Samiti. 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,
23865-493: The last Prime Minister of Bengal Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy held a press conference in New Delhi where he outlined his vision for an independent Bengal. Suhrawardy said "Let us pause for a moment to consider what Bengal can be if it remains united. It will be a great country, indeed the richest and the most prosperous in India capable of giving to its people a high standard of living, where a great people will be able to rise to
24050-484: The latter's 1912 visit to Calcutta and obtained an assurance that arms and ammunition would be supplied to them. 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,
24235-491: 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'". The founders of
24420-439: The leadership of Joseph Stalin . 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 CIDs of Bengal and the provinces of Eastern Bengal and Assam were founded in response to
24605-561: The lines of the Italian Carbonari . These were influenced by the works of Italian nationalist Giuseppe Mazzini and his Young Italy movement . Aurobindo himself studied the revolutionary nationalism of Ireland, France and America. Hem Chandra Das , during his stay in Paris, is also noted to have interacted with European radical nationalists in the city, returning to India an atheist with Marxist leanings. Foreign influences on
24790-493: The main successor of the Palas by the 11th century. The Senas were a resurgent Hindu dynasty which ruled much of Bengal. The smaller Deva dynasty also ruled parts of the region. Ancient Chinese visitors like Xuanzang provided elaborate accounts of Bengal's cities and monastic institutions. Muslim trade with Bengal flourished after the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the Arab takeover of Persian trade routes. Much of this trade occurred with southeastern Bengal in areas east of
24975-410: 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
25160-569: The nationalist publications Jugantar , Karmayogin and Bande Mataram . 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. Students of the college who later rose to prominence in the Indian revolutionary movement include M. N. Roy . The Samiti ' s ideologies further influenced patriotic nationalism. Post-independence and Cold War Contemporary history Through
25345-420: The newly appointed Viceroy Lord Hardinge wrote more explicitly to Earl Crewe (H.M.'s Secretary of State for India): "As regards prosecution, I (...) deprecate the net being thrown so wide; as for example in the Howrah Gang Case, where 47 persons are being prosecuted, of whom only one is , I believe, the real criminal . If a concentrated effort had been made to convict this one criminal , I think it would have had
25530-425: The northern extreme of the state belongs to the eastern Himalaya. This region contains Sandakfu (3,636 m (11,929 ft))—the highest peak of the state. The narrow Terai region separates this region from the plains, which in turn transitions into the Ganges delta towards the south. The Rarh region intervenes between the Ganges delta in the east and the western plateau and high lands . A small coastal region
25715-431: The party in West Bengal evolved into the Revolutionary Socialist Party , while the Eastern Branch later evolved into the Sramik Krishak Samajbadi Dal (Workers and Peasants Socialist Party) in present-day Bangladesh . The nationalist publication Jugantar , which served as the organ of the Samiti, inspired fanatical loyalty among its readers. By 1907 it was selling 7,000 copies, which later rose to 20,000. Its message
25900-582: The patronage of Calcutta barrister Pramatha Mitra , another led by Sarala Devi , and the third founded by Aurobindo Ghose . Ghose and his brother Barin were among the strongest proponents of militant Indian nationalism at the time. Nationalist writings and publications by Aurobindo and Barin, including Bande Mataram and Jugantar Patrika (Yugantar) , 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
26085-419: The police and courts. In August 1914, Jugantar seized a large amount of arms and ammunition from the 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
26270-433: The police forces in India, which they claimed were already being used to oppress the Indian people. The threat posed by the activities of the Samiti in Bengal during World War I , along with the threat of a 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
26455-421: The police officer who arrested Khudiram Bose . Alam had uncovered the underlying Bengali revolutionary network of the Anushilan Samiti that linked the murders and other robberies in this time, and at the time of his own murder in the hands of Biren Dutta Gupta , Alam was preparing to consolidate the charges to bring them all to trial in a single case. 47 of the accused were arrested by 29 Jan 1910. The trial of
26640-468: 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. It was headed by Charles Tegart , who built up a network of agents and informers to infiltrate the Samiti. Tegart would meet his agents under cover of darkness, at times disguising himself as a pathan or kabuliwallah . Assisting Denham and Petrie, Tegart led
26825-471: The proposed Faridpur Division The part of South Bengal of West Bengal includes Presidency division , Burdwan division and Medinipur division . The Sundarbans , a major biodiversity hotspot , is located in South Bengal. Bangladesh hosts 60% of the forest, with the remainder in India. Southeast Bengal refers to the hilly-coastal Chittagonian -speaking and coastal Bengali-speaking areas of Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh. The region
27010-401: The rebellion led to the abolition of the Company Rule in India and establishment of direct rule over India by the British, commonly referred to as the British Raj . The late 19th and early 20th century Bengal Renaissance had a great impact on the cultural and economic life of Bengal and started a great advance in the literature and science of Bengal. Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt
27195-445: 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 hartals 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,
27380-411: The region as Bengala in the Age of Discovery . Neolithic sites have been found in several parts of the region. In the second millennium BCE, rice-cultivating communities dotted the region. By the eleventh century BCE, people in Bengal lived in systematically aligned homes, produced copper objects, and crafted black and red pottery. Remnants of Copper Age settlements are located in the region. At
27565-427: The revolutionary movement led by the Samiti. 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. A Political Crime branch of
27750-437: 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
27935-432: The rivers Ganges , Brahmaputra , and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The total area of Bengal is 237,212 square kilometres (91,588 sq mi)—West Bengal is 88,752 km (34,267 sq mi) and Bangladesh 148,460 km (57,321 sq mi). The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh . The Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet region are home to most of
28120-404: The ruler of Satgaon, Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah , unified the region into an independent state. Ilyas Shah established his capital in Pandua . The new breakaway state emerged as the Bengal Sultanate , which developed into a territorial, mercantile and maritime empire. At the time, the Islamic world stretched from Muslim Spain in the west to Bengal in the east. The initial raids of Ilyas Shah saw
28305-436: The run-up to the Manicktala conspiracy. It sought to emulate the model of Russian revolutionaries described by Frost. 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
28490-426: The same script as the Bengali language. The Barak Valley has a Bengali-speaking majority population. During the Partition of India , Assam was also partitioned along with Bengal. The Sylhet Division joined East Bengal in Pakistan, with the exception of Karimganj which joined Indian Assam. Previously, East Bengal and Assam were part of a single province called Eastern Bengal and Assam between 1905 and 1912 under
28675-447: The tenure of Shaista Khan, the Portuguese and Arakanese were expelled from the port of Chittagong in 1666. Bengal became the eastern frontier of the Mughal administration. By the 18th century, Bengal became home to a semi-independent aristocracy led by the Nawabs of Bengal . Bengal premier Murshid Quli Khan managed to curtail the influence of the governor due to his rivalry with Prince Azam Shah. Khan controlled Bengal's finances since he
28860-412: The travels and preachings of Atisa . The university of Nalanda was established by the Palas. They also built the Somapura Mahavihara , which was the largest monastic institution in the subcontinent. The rule of the Palas eventually disintegrated. The Chandra dynasty ruled southeastern Bengal and Arakan . The Varman dynasty ruled parts of northeastern Bengal and Assam . The Sena dynasty emerged as
29045-401: The trial, and Jugantar responded with defiant editorials. Jugantar was repeatedly prosecuted, leaving it in financial ruins by 1908. However, the prosecutions brought the paper more publicity and helped disseminate the Samiti ' s ideology of revolutionary nationalism. Historian Shukla Sanyal has commented that revolutionary terrorism as an ideology began to win at least tacit support amongst
29230-443: The war escaped to Burma to avoid repeated incarceration. The first non-cooperation movement, the Rowlatt Satyagrahas 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
29415-401: 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. 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
29600-409: The western districts, Bihar , and the 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
29785-418: 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
29970-407: Was a "distinct possibility Bengal might decide against partition and against joining either Hindustan or Pakistan". On 3 June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan outlined the partition of British India . On 20 June, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to decide on the partition of Bengal. At the preliminary joint meeting, it was decided (126 votes to 90) that if the province remained united, it should join
30155-449: Was aimed at elite politically conscious readers and was essentially a critique of British rule in India and justification of political violence. Several young men who joined the Samiti credited Jugantar with influencing their decisions. The editor of the paper, Bhupendranath Datta , was arrested and sentenced to one year's rigorous imprisonment in 1907. The Samiti responded by attempting to assassinate Douglas Kingsford, who presided over
30340-528: 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. Many members of the Samiti came from upper castes. By 1918, nearly 90% of the revolutionaries killed or convicted were Brahmins , Kayasthas or Vaidyas ; rests are from agricultural or pastoral castes like Mahishya or Yadav . As
30525-419: Was also mounted by Bakhtiyar. Bengal was under the formal rule of the Delhi Sultanate for approximately 150 years. Delhi struggled to consolidate control over Bengal. Rebel governors often sought to assert autonomy or independence. Sultan Iltutmish re-established control over Bengal in 1225 after suppressing the rebels. Due to the considerable overland distance, Delhi's authority in Bengal was relatively weak. It
30710-404: Was also shipped to Europe, opium was sold in Indonesia , raw silk was exported to Japan and the Netherlands, cotton and silk textiles were exported to Europe, Indonesia, and Japan, cotton cloth was exported to the Americas and the Indian Ocean. Bengal also had a large shipbuilding industry. In terms of shipbuilding tonnage during the 16th–18th centuries, economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates
30895-599: Was also strong in Bengal, which was home to groups like the Hindu Mahasabha . In spite of a last-ditch effort by politicians Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , Sarat Chandra Bose to form a United Bengal , when India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western joined India (and was named West Bengal) while the eastern part joined Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan , giving rise to Bangladesh in 1971). The circumstances of partition were bloody, with widespread religious riots in Bengal. On 27 April 1947,
31080-478: Was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India . The organisation arose from a conglomeration of local youth groups and gyms (akhara) in Bengal in 1902. It had two prominent, somewhat independent, arms in East and West Bengal , Dhaka Anushilan Samiti (centred in Dhaka ), and
31265-454: Was an administrative order instructing relief for a distressed segment of the population. Punch-marked coins found in the region indicate that coins were used as currency during the Iron Age. The namesake of Bengal is the ancient Vanga Kingdom which was reputed as a naval power with overseas colonies. A prince from Bengal named Vijaya founded the first kingdom in Sri Lanka . The two most prominent pan-Indian empires of this period included
31450-409: 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
31635-471: Was found in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal which was made in Aelana (present-day Aqaba, Jordan ) between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. The first unified Bengali polity can be traced to the reign of Shashanka . The origins of the Bengali calendar can be traced to his reign. Shashanka founded the Gauda Kingdom . After Shashanka's death, Bengal experienced a period of civil war known as Matsyanyayam. The ancient city of Gauda later gave birth to
31820-433: 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,
32005-458: Was founded in Bengal during the 8th century. The Sena dynasty and Deva dynasty ruled between the 11th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century, Bengal was absorbed by Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent . An independent Bengal Sultanate was formed and became the eastern frontier of the Islamic world . During this period, Bengal's rule and influence spread to Assam, Arakan , Tripura, Bihar, and Orissa. Bengal Subah later emerged as
32190-452: Was gifted a golden crown by the Sultan of Delhi. The ruler of Arakan sought refuge in Bengal during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah . Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah later helped the Arakanese king to regain control of his throne in exchange for becoming a tributary state of the Bengal Sultanate. Bengali influence in Arakan persisted for 300 years. Bengal also helped the king of Tripura to regain control of his throne in exchange for becoming
32375-427: Was in charge of the treasury. He shifted the provincial capital from Dhaka to Murshidabad . In 1717, the Mughal court in Delhi recognised the hereditary monarchy of the Nawab of Bengal. The ruler was officially titled as the "Nawab of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa ", as the Nawab ruled over the three regions in the eastern subcontinent. The Nawabs began issuing their own coins but continued to pledge nominal allegiance to
32560-413: Was left to local governors to expand territory and bring new areas under Muslim rule, such as through the Conquest of Sylhet in 1303. In 1338, new rebellions sprung up in Bengal's three main towns. Governors in Lakhnauti, Satgaon and Sonargaon declared independence from Delhi. This allowed the ruler of Sonargaon, Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah , to annexe Chittagong to the Islamic administration. By 1352,
32745-460: Was made to divide the province of Bengal into two: Bengal proper and the short-lived province of Eastern Bengal and Assam where the All India Muslim League was founded. In 1911, the Bengali poet and polymath Rabindranath Tagore became Asia's first Nobel laureate when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature . Bengal played a major role in the Indian independence movement , in which revolutionary groups were dominant. Armed attempts to overthrow
32930-422: 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,
33115-419: Was recounted by historians circa 1243. Lakhnauti was the capital of the Sena dynasty. According to historical accounts, Ghurid cavalry swept across the Gangetic plains towards Bengal. They entered the Bengali capital disguised as horse traders. Once inside the royal compound, Bakhtiyar and his horsemen swiftly overpowered the guards of the Sena king who had just sat down to eat a meal. The king then hastily fled to
33300-485: Was ruled by kings who adopted Indian titles and traditions to suit their own environment. Indian Brahmins conducted royal ceremonies, Buddhist monks spread their teachings, traders came and went and artists and architects used Indian models for inspiration. In the later period, there was also influence from the Islamic courts of Bengal and Delhi". Arakan emerged as a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate . It later became an independent kingdom. The royal court and culture of
33485-408: Was ruled by the Kamarupa and Harikela kingdoms as well as the Bengal Sultanate . It later became a district of the Mughal Empire . Alongside the predominant Bengali population resides a small Garo , Bishnupriya Manipuri , Khasia and other tribal minorities. The region is the crossroads of Bengal and northeast India . Central Bengal refers to the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. It includes
33670-416: Was run by a military-civil administration, including the Bengal Army , and had the world's sixth earliest railway network. Between 1833 and 1854, the Governor of Bengal was concurrently the Governor-General of India for many years. Great Bengal famines struck several times during colonial rule (notably the Great Bengal famine of 1770 and Bengal famine of 1943 ). Under British rule, Bengal experienced
33855-416: 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
34040-431: Was that among India's interior provinces only in Bengal—a region approximately the size of England and Scotland combined—did a majority of the indigenous population adopt the religion of the ruling class, Islam". Bengal became a province of the Delhi Sultanate . A coin featuring a horseman was issued to celebrate the Muslim conquest of Lakhnauti with inscriptions in Sanskrit and Arabic. An abortive Islamic invasion of Tibet
34225-420: Was underway. Under the Nawabs, the streets of Bengali cities were filled with brokers, workers, peons, naibs, wakils, and ordinary traders. The Nawab's state was a major exporter of Bengal muslin , silk, gunpowder and saltpetre . The Nawabs also permitted European trading companies to operate in Bengal, including the British East India Company , the French East India Company , the Danish East India Company ,
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