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139-572: The Jugantar party was established in April 1906 by leaders like Aurobindo Ghosh , his brother Barin Ghosh , Hemchandra Kanungo , and Upen Banerjee. Along with 21 revolutionaries, they started to collect arms, explosives and manufactured bombs. The headquarters of Jugantar were located at 27 Kanai Dhar Lane then 41 Champatola 1st Lane in Kolkata . Some senior members of the group were sent abroad. One of

278-443: A French colony . The warrant against Aurobindo was withdrawn. In Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo dedicated himself to his spiritual and philosophical pursuits. In 1914, after four years of secluded yoga, he started a monthly philosophical magazine called Arya . This ceased publication in 1921. Many years later, he revised some of these works before they were published in book form. Some of the book series derived out of this publication

417-829: A market capitalisation of US$ 32 billion in June 2015. The city is home to many of the country's oldest and largest corporations. The Port of Chittagong handled US$ 60 billion in annual trade in 2011, ranking 3rd in South Asia after the Port of Mumbai and the Port of Colombo . The port is part of the Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean and on to

556-582: A $ 640 million steel plant, a $ 2.6 billion power plant and a $ 3 billion renewable energy plant. It is investing 580 billion BDT in two industrial zones in Chittagong. S Alam also has substantial offshore assets, including a billion dollars worth of real estate in Singapore . Its portfolio in Singapore includes the city-state's Hilton Garden Inn Serangoon hotel. The S Alam Group enjoys close ties with

695-516: A bid to re-establish links with his parents' families and other Bengali relatives, including his sister Sarojini and brother Barin, and later increased to establish resistance groups across the Presidency. He formally moved to Calcutta in 1906 after the announcement of the Partition of Bengal . In 1901, on a visit to Calcutta, he married 14-year-old Mrinalini, the daughter of Bhupal Chandra Bose,

834-587: A consulate general of Russia. The city also has honorary consulates of Turkey, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Malaysia, Italy, and the Philippines. A substantial share of Bangladesh's national GDP is attributed to Chittagong. As of the early 2000s, the port city contributed 12% of the nation's economy. Chittagong generates for 40% of Bangladesh's industrial output , 80% of its international trade and 50% of its governmental revenue . The Chittagong Stock Exchange has more than 700 listed companies, with

973-659: A frontline city in the Southeast Asian Theater . It was a critical air, naval and military base for Allied Forces during the Burma Campaign against Japan. The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force carried out air raids on Chittagong in April and May 1942, in the run-up to the aborted Japanese invasion of Bengal. After the Battle of Imphal , the tide turned in favor of the Allied Forces. Units of

1112-551: A group of armed revolutionaries under the leadership of Narendra Bhattacharya under the direct supervision of Jatindranath Mukherjee. Similar dacoities were organized on different occasions and in various parts of Calcutta. Dacoities were accompanied by political murders in which the victims were mostly zealous police officers investigating into the cases, or approvers who helped the police. On receiving instructions from Berlin, Jatindra Nath Mukherjee selected Naren Bhattacharya (alias M. N. Roy ) and Phani Chakravarti (alias Pyne) to meet

1251-705: A narrow strip of land along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal which was under strong Bengali influence for 350 years. During the 16th century, the port became a Portuguese trading post and João de Barros described it as "the most famous and wealthy city of the Kingdom of Bengal". The Mughal Empire expelled the Portuguese and Arakanese in 1666. The Nawab of Bengal ceded the port to the British East India Company in 1793. The Port of Chittagong

1390-467: A new world with new species, far above the human species just as human species have evolved after the animal species. As such he argued that the end goal of spiritual practice could not merely be a liberation from the world into Samadhi but would also be that of descent of the Divine into the world in order to transform it into a Divine existence. Thus, this constituted the purpose of Integral Yoga. Regarding

1529-578: A part of Sultanate of Bengal. It was the principal maritime gateway to the kingdom, which was reputed as one of the wealthiest states in the Indian subcontinent . Medieval Chittagong was a hub for maritime trade with China, Sumatra , the Maldives , Sri Lanka , the Middle East, and East Africa. It was notable for its medieval trades in pearls, silk, muslin, rice, bullion, horses, and gunpowder. The port

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1668-459: A part-time French teacher at Baroda College (now Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda). He was later promoted to the post of vice-principal. At Baroda, Aurobindo self-studied Sanskrit and Bengali . During his stay at Baroda, he had contributed to many articles to Indu Prakash and had spoken as a chairman of the Baroda college board. He started taking an active interest in the politics of

1807-578: A public trial where he faced charges of treason for Alipore Conspiracy . However, Sri Aurobindo could only be convicted and imprisoned for writing articles against British colonial rule in India. He was released when no evidence could be provided, following the murder of a prosecution witness, Narendranath Goswami, during the trial. During his stay in the jail, he had mystical and spiritual experiences, after which he moved to Pondicherry , leaving politics for spiritual work. At Pondicherry, Sri Aurobindo developed

1946-416: A remarkable closeness to the evolutionary thought of Teilhard de Chardin , whom he did not know, whereas the latter came to know of Sri Aurobindo at a late stage. After reading some chapters of The Life Divine , he is reported to have said that Sri Aurobindo's vision of evolution was basically the same as his own, though stated for Asian readers. Several scholars have discovered significant similarities in

2085-661: A senior official in government service. Aurobindo was 28 at that time. Mrinalini died seventeen years later in December 1918 during the influenza pandemic . In 1906, Aurobindo was appointed the first principal of the National College in Calcutta, started to impart national education to Indian youth. He resigned from this position in August 1907, due to his increased political activity. The National College continues to

2224-692: A series of youth clubs, including the Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta in 1902. Aurobindo attended the 1906 Congress meeting headed by Dadabhai Naoroji and participated as a councilor in forming the fourfold objectives of "Swaraj, Swadesh, Boycott, and national education". In 1907 at the Surat session of Congress where moderates and extremists had a major showdown, he led along with extremists along with Bal Gangadhar Tilak . The Congress split after this session. In 1907–1908 Aurobindo travelled extensively to Pune , Bombay and Baroda to firm up support for

2363-427: A spiritual practice he called Integral Yoga . The central theme of his vision was the evolution of human life into a divine life in a divine body. He believed in a spiritual realisation that not only liberated but transformed human nature, enabling a divine life on earth. In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (referred to as "The Mother"), Sri Aurobindo Ashram was founded. Sri Aurobindo

2502-521: A teacher, except for some rules that he learned from Mr. Devadhar, a friend who was a disciple of Swami Brahmananda of Ganga Math, Chandod. In 1907, Barin introduced Aurobindo to Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, a Maharashtrian yogi. Aurobindo was influenced by the guidance he got from the yogi, who had instructed Aurobindo to depend on an inner guide and any kind of external guru or guidance would not be required. In 1910 Aurobindo withdrew himself from all political activities and went into hiding at Chandannagar in

2641-651: A very large Buddhist population before Islam. The city was renamed Islamabad (City of Islam) during the Mughal era. The name continues to be used in the old city. In April 2018, the Cabinet Division of the Government of Bangladesh decided to change the city's name to Chattogram, based on its Bengali spelling and pronunciation; the move was criticized in the Bangladeshi media. One explanation credits

2780-589: Is an ancient port city, with a recorded history dating back to the 4th century BC. Its harbour was mentioned in Ptolemy's world map in the 2nd century as one of the most impressive ports in the East . The region was part of the ancient Bengali Samatata and Harikela kingdoms. The Chandra dynasty once dominated the area and was followed by the Varman dynasty and Deva dynasty . Chinese traveller Xuanzang described

2919-852: Is based in Chittagong Cantonment , and the Bangladesh Air Force maintains the BAF Zahurul Haq Air Base in Chittagong. The city is also home to the Bangladesh Military Academy , the premier training institute for the country's armed forces . In the 1860s, the American consulate-general in the Bengal Presidency included a consular agency in Chittagong. Today, Chittagong hosts an assistant high commission of India and

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3058-545: Is both the Stable and the Moving. "We must see it in eternal and immutable Spirit and in all the changing manifestations of universe and relativity." Sri Aurobindo's biographer K.R.S. Iyengar quotes R.S. Mugali as stating that Sri Aurobindo might have obtained in this Upanishad the thought-seed which later grew into The Life Divine . Sisir Kumar Maitra , who was a leading exponent of Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy, has referred to

3197-844: Is home to many of the oldest and largest companies in the country. The Port of Chittagong is one of the busiest ports in South Asia . The largest base of the Bangladesh Navy is located in Chittagong, along with an air base of the Bangladesh Air Force , garrisons of the Bangladesh Army and the main base of the Bangladesh Coast Guard . The eastern zone of the Bangladesh Railway is based in Chittagong. The Chittagong Stock Exchange

3336-594: Is in reality identical with the former and contains it as a potentiality within itself. Sri Aurobindo does not portray supermind as an original invention of his own but believes it can be found in the Vedas and that the Vedic Gods represent powers of the supermind. In The Integral Yoga he declares that "By the supermind is meant the full Truth-Consciousness of the Divine Nature in which there can be no place for

3475-414: Is located in Chittagong. The city is the hometown of prominent economists, a Nobel laureate, scientists, freedom fighters and entrepreneurs. Chittagong has a high degree of religious and ethnic diversity among Bangladeshi cities, despite having a great Muslim majority. Minorities include Hindus , Christians , Buddhists , Chakmas , Marmas , Tripuris , Garos and others. The etymology of Chittagong

3614-512: Is located in the colonial-era Chittagong Court Building. Chittagong is a strategically important military port on the Bay of Bengal. The Chittagong Naval Area is the principal base of the Bangladesh Navy and the home port of most Bangladeshi warships . The Bangladesh Naval Academy and the navy's elite special force- Special Warfare Diving and Salvage (SWADS) are also based in the city. The Bangladesh Army 's 24th Infantry Division

3753-647: Is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission . Allied soldiers constitute the bulk of burials in the cemetery. A few Japanese soldiers are also buried. Remembrance Day services are held each year at the cemetery, with diplomats from Commonwealth countries like the UK, Bangladesh, Australia, India and Pakistan, as well as the United States and Japan, usually in attendance. The Partition of British India in 1947 made Chittagong

3892-604: Is often called Bangladesh's commercial capital due to its diversified industrial base and seaport. The port city has ambitions to develop as a global financial center and regional transshipment hub, given its proximity to North East India , Burma , Nepal , Bhutan and Southwest China. By 2024, the Chittagong-based S Alam Group emerged as one of Bangladesh's most powerful conglomerates, with interests in energy, commodities , infrastructure, economic zones, healthcare, textiles and fintech . S Alam's projects include

4031-441: Is one of the twin stock markets of Bangladesh with over 700 listed companies. The Chittagong Tea Auction is a commodity exchange dealing with Bangladeshi tea . The CEPZ and KEPZ are key industrial zones with foreign direct investments. The city is served by Shah Amanat International Airport for domestic and external flights. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel , the first and only underwater road tunnel of South Asia,

4170-732: Is responsible for governing municipal areas in the Chittagong Metropolitan Area. It is headed by the mayor of Chittagong. The mayor and ward councillors are elected every five years. The mayor is Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, as of August 2023. The city corporation's mandate is limited to basic civic services, however, the CCC is credited for keeping Chittagong one of the cleaner and most eco-friendly cities in Bangladesh. Its principal sources of revenue are municipal taxes and conservancy charges. The Chittagong Development Authority

4309-733: Is responsible for implementing the city's urban planning. The deputy commissioner and district magistrate are the chiefs of local administration as part of the Government of Bangladesh. Law enforcement is provided by the Chittagong Metropolitan Police and the Rapid Action Battalion -7. The district and sessions judges are the heads of the local judiciary on behalf of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh . The Divisional Special Judge's Court

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4448-457: Is supported by U. C. Dubey in his paper titled Integralism: The Distinctive Feature of Sri Aurobindo’s Philosophy. He points out that Sri Aurobindo's system presents an integral view of Reality where there is no opposition between the Absolute and its creative force, as they are actually one. Furthermore, he refers to Sri Aurobindo's conception of the supermind as the mediatory principle between

4587-521: Is uncertain. The port city has been known by various names in history, including Chatigaon , Chatigam , Chattagrama , Islamabad , Chattala , Chaityabhumi and Porto Grande De Bengala . The Bengali word for Chittagong, Chattogram (চট্টগ্রাম) , has the suffix "-gram" (গ্রাম) meaning village in Standard Bengali . The earliest records, before Islam reached the region, state that it was a place of chaitya or Buddhist monasteries. The city had

4726-698: The Assam Bengal Railway and Pakistan Eastern Railway . During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Chittagong was the site of the Bangladeshi declaration of independence . The port city has benefited from the growth of heavy industry , logistics, and manufacturing in Bangladesh. Trade unionism was strong during the 1990s. Chittagong accounts for 12% of Bangladesh's GDP, including 40% of industrial output, 80% of international trade , and 50% of tax revenue. The port city

4865-870: The Bangladesh Air Force and the Indian Air Force carried out the heavy bombing of facilities occupied by the Pakistani military. A naval blockade was also enforced. After the war, the Soviet Union offer to clear mines in Chittagong Port at free of cost, while Sweden offered to clear mines in Mongla port. 22 vessels of the Soviet Pacific Fleet sailed from Vladivostok to Chittagong in May 1972. The process of clearing mines in

5004-641: The Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, which was waged under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , Chittagong witnessed heavy fighting between rebel Bengali military regiments and the Pakistan Army. It covered Sector 1 in the Mukti Bahini chain of command. Major Ziaur Rahman was the sector commander. The Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence was broadcast from Kalurghat Radio Station and transmitted internationally through foreign ships in Chittagong Port. Ziaur Rahman and M A Hannan announced

5143-593: The Bhagavadgita at the beginning of the chapters in The Life Divine , showing the connection of his own thought to Veda and Vedanta . The Isha Upanishad is considered to be one of the most important and more accessible writings of Sri Aurobindo. Before he published his final translation and analysis, he wrote ten incomplete commentaries. In a key passage he points out that the Brahman or Absolute

5282-717: The Eastern Refinery was started in 1963; and was partly funded by the last Shah of Iran . The Agrabad Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1963. It later became the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh. The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) was created by the government to promote urban planning; while wealthy families like the Ispahanis contributed to social welfare by setting up schools and hospitals. The lawyer and industrialist A K Khan , who set up A K Khan & Company in

5421-752: The Howrah-Sibpur Conspiracy case that tried the prisoners for treason, waging war against the Crown and tampering with the loyalty of Indian soldiers, such as those belonging to the Jat Regiment posted in Fort William , and soldiers in Upper Indian Cantonments. Nixon's Report corroborates that Jugantar under Jatindra Nath Mukherjee counted a good deal on the ensuing World War to organise an armed uprising with

5560-758: The Indian Civil Service at King's College , in Cambridge, England. After returning to India he took up various civil service works under the Maharaja of the princely state of Baroda and became increasingly involved in nationalist politics in the Indian National Congress and the nascent revolutionary movement in Bengal with the Anushilan Samiti . He was arrested in the aftermath of a number of bombings linked to his organization in

5699-427: The Port of Chittagong , it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal . The city is also known as business capital of Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of an eponymous division and district . The city is located on the banks of the Karnaphuli River between the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Bay of Bengal. The Greater Chittagong Area had a population of more than 8.2 million in 2022. In 2020,

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5838-710: The T. K. Group of Industries . Major state-owned firms headquartered there include Pragati Industries, the Jamuna Oil Company, the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation , and the Padma Oil Company. The Chittagong Export Processing Zone was ranked by the UK-based magazine, Foreign Direct Investment , as one of the leading special economic zones in the world, in 2010. Other SEZs include the Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone and Korean EPZ. The city's key industrial sectors include petroleum , steel , shipbuilding , chemicals, pharmaceuticals , textiles , jute , leather goods , vegetable oil refineries, glass manufacturing, electronics and motor vehicles . The Chittagong Tea Auction sets

5977-403: The nature of reality arduous and difficult to justify by immediate tangible results. At the centre of Sri Aurobindo's metaphysical system is the supermind, an intermediary power between the unmanifested Brahman and the manifested world. Sri Aurobindo claims that the supermind is not completely alien to us and can be realized within ourselves as it is always present within mind since the latter

6116-457: The tea and jute producing regions of Assam and Bengal, as well as Assam's oil industry . Chittagong was also linked to the crucial oil and gas industry in Burma . Chittagong was a major center of trade with British Burma . It hosted many prominent companies of the British Empire. The Chittagong armoury raid by Bengali revolutionaries in 1930 was a major event in British India's anti-colonial history. During World War II, Chittagong became

6255-523: The 17th century Portuguese presence is Darul Adalat in the premises of Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College, Chittagong . The Kadam Mubarak Mosque in Jamal Khan was built in 1723 by a faujdar during the reign of the Nawabs of Bengal . During British rule , colonial officials lived in hilltop bungalows, which would feature a spacious balcony or verandah , chimneys, fireplaces and big gardens. The Firingi Bazaar has many colonial houses which belonged to rich local residents. The well-known buildings from

6394-418: The 9th century, merchants from the Abbasid Caliphate established a trading post in Chittagong. The port fell to the Muslim conquest of Bengal during the 14th century. It was the site of a royal mint under the Delhi Sultanate , Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Empire . Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Chittagong was also a center of administrative, literary, commercial and maritime activities in Arakan ,

6533-406: The Absolute and the finite world and quotes S.K. Maitra stating that this conception "is the pivot round which the whole of Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy moves." Dubey proceeds to analyse the approach of the Shankarites and believes that they follow an inadequate kind of logic that does not do justice to the challenge of tackling the problem of the Absolute, which cannot be known by finite reason. With

6672-404: The Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In free market reforms launched by President Ziaur Rahman in the late 1970s, the city became home to the first export processing zones in Bangladesh. Zia was assassinated during an attempted military coup in Chittagong in 1981. The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone inflicted heavy damage on the city. The Japanese government financed

6811-402: The British colonial period include the Battali Railway Station, Central Railway Building , Chittagong Circuit House and Chittagong Court Building . The old Circuit House was originally built in the style of Tudor revival architecture . The Chittagong Court Building exhibits influence of neoclassical architecture from the late 19th century. JM Sen Hall was a town hall built in 1920. One of

6950-420: The British, leading to civil unrest and a nationalist campaign by groups of revolutionaries that included Aurobindo. In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki attempted to kill Magistrate Kingsford, a judge known for handing down particularly severe sentences against nationalists. However, the bomb thrown at his horse carriage missed its target and instead landed in another carriage and killed two British women,

7089-449: The Chittagong Division, is the only coral island in the country. The fishing port of Cox's Bazar is home to one of the world's longest natural beaches. In the east, there are the three hill districts of Bandarban , Rangamati , and Khagrachari , home to the highest mountains in Bangladesh . The region has numerous protected areas, including the Teknaf Game Reserve and the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park . Patenga beach in

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7228-479: The Chittagonian language and writing scripts. It has been affirmed that much of the Muslim population in Chittagong are descendants of the Arab and Persian settlers. Two decades after Vasco Da Gama 's landing in Calicut , the Bengal Sultanate permitted the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong to be established in 1528. It became the first European colonial enclave in Bengal. The Bengal Sultanate lost control of Chittagong in 1531 after Arakan declared independence and

7367-470: The German legation at Batavia. The Berlin committee had decided that the German arms were to be delivered at two or three places like Hatia on Chittagong coast, Raimangal in the Sunderbans and Balasore in Orissa . The plan was to organize a guerrilla force to start an uprising in the country, backed by a mutiny among the Indian Armed Force. The whole plot leaked out locally owing to a native traitor and, internationally, through Czech revolutionaries in

7506-440: The Indian and Western traditions." "He integrates in a unique fashion the great social, political and scientific achievements of the modern West with the ancient and profound spiritual insights of Hinduism . The vision that powers the life divine of Aurobindo is none other than the Upanishadic vision of the unity of all existence." Puligandla also discusses Sri Aurobindo's critical position vis-à-vis Shankara and his thesis that

7645-429: The Indian independence movement against British colonial rule, working behind the scenes as his position in the Baroda state administration barred him from an overt political activity. He linked up with resistance groups in Bengal and Madhya Pradesh , while travelling to these states. Aurobindo established contact with Lokmanya Tilak and Sister Nivedita . Aurobindo often travelled between Baroda and Bengal, at first in

7784-511: The Indian soldiers in various regiments. During World War I the Jugantar Party arranged importation of German arms and ammunitions (notably the 32 bore German automatic pistols) via Virendranath Chattopadhyay alias Chatto and other revolutionaries residing in Germany. They had contacted Indian revolutionaries active in the United States, as well as Jugantar leaders in Kolkata. Jatindra Nath Mukherjee informed Rash Behari Bose to take charge of Upper India, aiming at an All-Indian Insurrection with

7923-438: The Indo-German Conspiracy were searched. The police learned that Bagha Jatin was in Balasore awaiting a German arms delivery. Police went on to find out the hiding places of Bagha Jatin and associates and after a gun-fight, the revolutionaries were either killed or arrested. The German plot thus failed. Following these major setbacks, and in the new circumstances of the colonial powers practising their divide and rule policy, there

8062-415: The Integral Yoga system is described in his books, The Synthesis of Yoga and The Life Divine . The Life Divine is a compilation of essays published serially in Arya. Sri Aurobindo argues that divine Brahman manifests as empirical reality through līlā , or divine play. Instead of positing that the world we experience is an illusion ( māyā ) , Aurobindo argues that world can evolve and become

8201-423: The Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad III , was travelling in England. Cotton secured for him a place in Baroda State Service and arranged for him to meet the prince. He left England for India, arriving there in February 1893. In India, Krishna Dhun Ghose, who was waiting to receive his son, was misinformed by his agents from Bombay (now Mumbai) that the ship on which Aurobindo had been travelling had sunk off

8340-468: The Mughal rule. In 1924, an engineering team of the Assam Bengal Railway established the Foy's Lake . Major sediment outflows from the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers form tidal flats around the city. The Chittagong Division is known for its rich biodiversity . Over 2000 of Bangladesh's 6000 flowering plants grow in the region. Its hills and jungles are laden with waterfalls , fast flowing river streams and elephant reserves. St. Martin's Island , within

8479-704: The President Rajendra Prasad praised him for his contribution to Yogic philosophy and the independence movement. National and international newspapers commemorated his death. Sri Aurobindo's close spiritual collaborator, Mirra Alfassa (born Alfassa), came to be known as The Mother . She was a French national , born in Paris on 21 February 1878. In her 20s she studied occultism with Max Theon . Along with her husband, Paul Richard, she went to Pondicherry on 29 March 1914, and finally settled there in 1920. Sri Aurobindo considered her his spiritual equal and collaborator. After 24 November 1926, when Sri Aurobindo retired into seclusion, he left it to her to plan, build and run

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8618-433: The United States Army Air Forces' 4th Combat Cargo Group were stationed in Chittagong Airfield in 1945 . Commonwealth forces included troops from Britain, India, Australia, and New Zealand. The war had major negative impacts on the city, including the growth of refugees and the Great Famine of 1943 . Many wealthy Chittagonians profited from wartime commerce. 715 soldiers are buried at the Chittagong War Cemetery , which

8757-439: The United States. As soon as the information reached the British authorities, they alerted the police, particularly in the delta region of the Ganges , and sealed all the sea approaches on the eastern coast from Noakhali - Chittagong side to Orissa. Sramajibi Samabaya and Harry & Sons of Calcutta, the two business concerns run respectively by Amarendra Chatterjee and Harikumar Chakrabarti which were taking an active part in

8896-445: The Upper Adriatic region of Trieste with rail connections to Central and Eastern Europe . The Agrabad area is the main central business district of the city. Major Bangladeshi conglomerates headquartered in Chittagong include M. M. Ispahani Limited , BSRM , A K Khan & Company , PHP Group, James Finlay Bangladesh , the Habib Group , the S. Alam Group of Industries , Seamark Group , KDS Group , Abul Khair Group and

9035-417: The aftermath of World War II, represented Chittagong in the federal cabinet of East and West Pakistan. However, East Pakistanis complained of a lack of investment in Chittagong in comparison to Karachi in West Pakistan , even though East Pakistan generated more exports and had a larger population. The Awami League demanded that the country's naval headquarters be shifted from Karachi to Chittagong. During

9174-439: The ahistorical world-vision of traditional Hinduism and presented a concept which allows for a genuine advance and novelty. Although Sri Aurobindo was familiar with the most important lines of thought in Western philosophy, he did not acknowledge their influence on his own writings. He wrote that his philosophy "was formed first by the study of the Upanishads and the Gita … They were the basis of my first practice of Yoga." With

9313-435: The architecture of the area, including the building of Fort Ander and many mosques. Chittagong was integrated into the prosperous Bengali economy, which also included Orissa and Bihar . Shipbuilding increased dramatically under the Mughal rule, and the Ottoman Sultans had many Ottoman warships built in Chittagong during this period. In 1685, the British East India Company sent out an expedition under Admiral Nicholson with

9452-484: The area as "a sleeping beauty rising from mist and water" in the 7th century. Arab Muslim traders frequented Chittagong from the 9th century. In 1154, Al-Idrisi wrote of a busy shipping route between Basra and Chittagong, connecting it with the Abbasid capital of Baghdad . Many Sufi missionaries settled in Chittagong and played an instrumental role in the spread of Islam . Sultan Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah of Sonargaon conquered Chittagong in 1340, making it

9591-403: The ashram, the community of disciples which had gathered around them. Sometime later, when families with children joined the ashram, she established and supervised the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education with its experiments in the field of education. When he died in 1950, she continued their spiritual work, directed the ashram, and guided their disciples. Sri Aurobindo's concept of

9730-418: The birth of her first child. Darjeeling was a centre of Anglo-Indians in India and the school was run by Irish nuns, through which the boys would have been exposed to Christian religious teachings and symbolism. Krishna Dhun Ghose wanted his sons to enter the Indian Civil Service (ICS), an elite organisation comprising around 1000 people. To achieve this it was necessary that they study in England and so it

9869-490: The chief port of East Pakistan . By March 1948, the Chittagong harbour became a bustling port for international shipping. The Chittagong Tea Auction was set up in 1949. The port city had branches of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China , Burmah Oil (known locally as Burmah Eastern ), and the James Finlay shipping business . Wealthy Muslim families from British India and British Burma shifted their corporate headquarters to Chittagong. The Ispahani family shifted

10008-458: The city area had a population of more than 5.2 million. The city is home to many large local businesses and plays an important role in the Bangladeshi economy . One of the world's oldest ports with a functional natural harbor for centuries, Chittagong appeared on ancient Greek and Roman maps, including on Ptolemy's world map . It was located on the southern branch of the Silk Road . In

10147-525: The city's jail. In a backlash, the rebels were suppressed by the Sylhet Light Infantry . Arakan was annexed in 1829 and incorporated into the Bengal Presidency . Agriculturalists from Chittagong played a key role in the development of the rice economy in Arakan. The economy of northern Arakan was integrated with the Chittagong economy. During this period, Arakan Division became one of

10286-493: The city. Many British -owned businesses in East Pakistan were based in Chittagong. Britain's former flag carrier BOAC operated flights to the city. The Agrabad area emerged as the central business district in the 1950s and 1960s, with many corporate offices. The Ispahani Building and Jamuna Bhaban are some of the corporate buildings from this period. The Karnaphuli Paper Mills were built in 1959. The project to build

10425-606: The coast of Portugal. His father died upon hearing this news. In Baroda , Aurobindo joined the state service in 1893, working first in the Survey and Settlements department, later moving to the Department of Revenue and then to the Secretariat, and much miscellaneous work like teaching grammar and assisting in writing speeches for the Maharaja of Gaekwad until 1897. In 1897 during his work in Baroda, he started working as

10564-706: The collaboration of native soldiers in different cantonments. History refers to it as the Hindu German Conspiracy. To raise fund, the Jugantar party organized a series of dacoities which came to be known as Taxicab dacoities and Boat dacoities , in order to procure funds to prepare the ground for working out the Indo-German Conspiracy . The first of the Taxicab dacoities took place at Garden Reach , Kolkata on 12 February 1915, by

10703-457: The combined school of 'self-culture' ( anushilan ) and bomb factory run by Barin Ghosh at a garden house in Maniktala , a suburb of Calcutta. However, the attempted murder of Kingsford, the-then district Judge of Muzaffarpur by Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki (30 April 1908) initiated a police investigation that led to the arrest of many of the revolutionaries. The prisoners were tried in

10842-460: The competitive examination, as well as to study at an English university for two years under probation. Aurobindo secured a scholarship at King's College, Cambridge, under recommendation of Oscar Browning . He passed the written ICS examination after a few months, being ranked 11th out of 250 competitors. He spent the next two years at King's College. Aurobindo had no interest in the ICS and came late to

10981-533: The construction of several heavy industries and an international airport in the 1980s and 1990s. Bangladeshi private sector investments increased since 1991, especially with the formation of the Chittagong Stock Exchange in 1995. A new airport opened in 2000. The port city has been the pivot of Bangladesh's emerging economy in recent years, with the country's rising GDP growth rate. Chittagong has seen several infrastructure projects taken up by

11120-464: The dense water harbor took nearly a year and claimed the life of Soviet marine Yuri V Redkin. Chittagong soon regained its status as a major port, with cargo tonnage surpassing pre-war levels in 1973. In the immediate aftermath of 1971, many industries were nationalized. But in Chittagong, factories and business properties were given back to their private owners. The Ispahani family had to write only one letter in order to get back all their properties from

11259-473: The elder two siblings were enrolled at Manchester Grammar School . Aurobindo was considered too young for enrollment, and he continued his studies with the Drewetts, learning history, Latin, French , geography and arithmetic. Although the Drewetts were told not to teach religion, the boys inevitably were exposed to Christian teachings and events, which generally bored Aurobindo and sometimes repulsed him. There

11398-450: The established Kingdom of Mrauk U. This altered geopolitical landscape allowed the Portuguese unhindered control of Chittagong for over a century. Portuguese ships from Goa and Malacca began frequenting the port city in the 16th century. The cartaz system was introduced and required all ships in the area to purchase naval trading licenses from the Portuguese settlement. Slave trade and piracy flourished. The nearby island of Sandwip

11537-712: The evangelical structures of Drewett's mother developed in him a distaste for religion, and he considered himself at one point to be an atheist but later determined that he was agnostic . A blue plaque unveiled in 2007 commemorates Aurobindo's residence at 49 St Stephen's Avenue in Shepherd's Bush , London, from 1884 to 1887. The three brothers began living in spartan circumstances at the Liberal Club in South Kensington during 1887, their father having experienced some financial difficulties. The club's secretary

11676-616: The famous Alipore bomb conspiracy case in which several activists were deported for life to the Cellular Jail in Andaman. In 1908, as a next step, Jugantar chose to censure persons connected with the arrest and trial of revolutionaries involved in the Alipore Bomb Case. On 10 February 1909, Ashutosh Biswas, who conducted the prosecution of Kanai and Satyen for the murder of Naren Gosain (a revolutionary turned approver),

11815-534: The first Arab traders for shatt ghangh ( Arabic : شط غنغ ) where shatt means "delta" and ghangh stood for the Ganges. The Arakanese chronicle that a king named Tsu-la-taing Tsandaya (Sula Taing Chandra), after conquering Bengal, set up a stone pillar as a trophy/memorial at the place since called Tst-ta-gaung as the limit of conquest. Stone Age fossils and tools unearthed in the region indicate that Chittagong has been inhabited since Neolithic times. It

11954-618: The first batches included Surendra Mohan Bose , Tarak Nath Das and Guran Ditt Kumar , who, since 1907, were extremely active among the Hindu and Sikh immigrants on the Western coast of North America. These units were to compose the future Ghadar Party . In Paris Hemchandra Kanungo alias Hem Das , along with Pandurang M. Bapat , obtained training in explosives from the Russian anarchist Nicholas Safranski. After returning to Kolkata, he joined

12093-769: The formation of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1926. From 1926 he started to sign himself as Sri Aurobindo , Sri being commonly used as an honorific . For some time afterwards, his main literary output was his voluminous correspondence with his disciples. His letters, most of which were written in the 1930s, numbered in the several thousand. Many were brief comments made in the margins of his disciple's notebooks in answer to their questions and reports of their spiritual practice—others extended to several pages of carefully composed explanations of practical aspects of his teachings. These were later collected and published in book form in three volumes of Letters on Yoga. In

12232-629: The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina , including the Chittagong Elevated Expressway, the first underwater tunnel in South Asia, the expansion of its port, and new parks, power plants and flyovers. Chittagong lies at 22°20′06″N 91°49′57″E  /  22.33500°N 91.83250°E  / 22.33500; 91.83250 . It straddles the coastal foothills of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh. The Karnaphuli River runs along

12371-630: The grand old mansions of Chittagong is the PK Sen Bhaban. The First Karnaphuli Bridge, which was a steel bridge, was built in 1930. The Kalurghat Bridge was completed in 1931. Stripped Classicism and elements of art deco can be seen in Agrabad . M. M. Ispahani Limited relocated its head office to Chittagong from Calcutta after the partition of India ; the Ispahani building in Agrabad

12510-801: The head office of M. M. Ispahani Limited from Calcutta to Chittagong. The Ispahanis also relocated the Eastern Federal Insurance Company from Calcutta to Chittagong. The Ispahanis set up the Victory Jute Mills, the Chittagong Jute Manufacturing Company, and the Pahartali Textile Mills. The Africawala brothers set up the first steel re-rolling mills in Chittagong in 1952, which eventually became BSRM . Banks, shipping companies and insurance firms proliferated

12649-615: The help of his readings he tried to move on to actual experience, "and it was on this experience that later on I founded my philosophy, not on ideas themselves." He assumes that the seers of the Upanishads had basically the same approach and gives some details of his vision of the past in a long passage in The Renaissance of India . "The Upanishads have been the acknowledged source of numerous profound philosophies and religions", he writes. Even Buddhism with all its developments

12788-414: The help of the finite reason, he says, "we are bound to determine the nature of reality as one or many, being or becoming. But Sri Aurobindo's Integral Advaitism reconciles all apparently different aspects of Existence in an all-embracing unity of the Absolute." Next, Dubey explains that for Sri Aurobindo there is a higher reason, the "logic of the infinite" in which his integralism is rooted. Sri Aurobindo

12927-406: The horse-riding practical exam purposefully to get himself disqualified for the service. In 1891 Sri Aurobindo also felt that a period of great upheaval for his motherland was coming in which he was destined to play an important role. He began to learn Bengali and joined a secret society, romantically named 'Lotus and Dagger', where the members took an oath to work for India's freedom. At this time,

13066-587: The house of Motilal Roy , while the British colonial government were attempting to prosecute him for sedition on the basis of a signed article titled 'To My Countrymen', published in Karmayogin . As Aurobindo disappeared from view, the warrant was held back and the prosecution postponed. Aurobindo manoeuvred the police into open action and a warrant was issued on 4 April 1910, but the warrant could not be executed because on that date he had reached Pondicherry, then

13205-661: The independence declaration from Chittagong. A K Khan drafted the English version of Zia's broadcast. These radio broadcasts began the journey of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra , which contributed heavily towards the Liberation. The Pakistani military, and supporting Razakar militias, carried out widespread atrocities against civilians in the city. Mukti Bahini naval commandos drowned several Pakistani warships during Operation Jackpot in August 1971. In December 1971,

13344-507: The instructions to seize and fortify Chittagong on behalf of the English; however, the expedition proved abortive. Two years later, the company's Court of Directors decided to make Chittagong the headquarters of their Bengal trade and sent out a fleet of ten or eleven ships to seize it under Captain Heath. However, after reaching Chittagong in early 1689, the fleet found the city too strongly held and abandoned their attempt at capturing it. The city

13483-518: The involution of consciousness in matter, he wrote that: "This descent, this sacrifice of the Purusha, the Divine Soul submitting itself to Force and Matter so that it may inform and illuminate them is the seed of redemption of this world of Inconscience and Ignorance." Sri Aurobindo believed that Darwinism merely describes a phenomenon of the evolution of matter into life, but does not explain

13622-501: The issue of external influences and written that Sri Aurobindo does not mention names, but "as one reads his books one cannot fail to notice how thorough is his grasp of the great Western philosophers of the present age..." Although he is Indian one should not "underrate the influence of Western thought upon him. This influence is there, very clearly visible, but Sri Aurobindo... has not allowed himself to be dominated by it. He has made full use of Western thought, but he has made use of it for

13761-528: The last three years reading literature and English poetry, while he also acquired some familiarity with the German and Italian languages; Peter Heehs resumes his linguistic abilities by stating that at "the turn of the century he knew at least twelve languages: English, French, and Bengali to speak, read, and write; Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit to read and write; Gujarati, Marathi, and Hindi to speak and read; and Italian, German, and Spanish to read." Being exposed to

13900-454: The late 1930s, he resumed work on a poem he had started earlier—he continued to expand and revise this poem for the rest of his life. It became perhaps his greatest literary achievement, Savitri , an epic spiritual poem in blank verse of approximately 24,000 lines. On 15 August 1947, Sri Aurobindo strongly opposed the partition of India , stating that he hoped "the Nation will not accept

14039-424: The latter's Vedanta is a world-negating philosophy, as it teaches that the world is unreal and illusory. From Puligandla's standpoint this is a misrepresentation of Shankara's position, which may have been caused by Sri Aurobindo's endeavour to synthesize Hindu and Western modes of thought, identifying Shankara's Mayavada with the subjective idealism of George Berkeley . However, Sri Aurobindo's critique of Shankara

14178-508: The main seafront of Chittagong, located 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of the city. Under the Köppen climate classification , Chittagong has a tropical monsoon climate (Am). Chittagong is vulnerable to North Indian Ocean tropical cyclones . The deadliest tropical cyclone to strike Chittagong was the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone , which killed 138,000 people and left as many as 10 million homeless. The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC)

14317-482: The nationalist cause, giving speeches and meeting with groups. He was arrested again in May 1908 in connection with the Alipore Bomb Case . He was acquitted in the ensuing trial, following the murder of chief prosecution witness Naren Goswami within jail premises, which subsequently led to the case against him collapsing. Aurobindo was subsequently released after a year of isolated incarceration. Once out of

14456-676: The present as Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Aurobindo was influenced by studies on rebellion and revolutions against England in medieval France and the revolts in America and Italy. In his public activities, he favored Non cooperation and Passive resistance ; in private he took up secret revolutionary activity as a preparation for open revolt, in case that the passive revolt failed. In Bengal, with Barin's help, he established contacts and inspired revolutionaries such as Bagha Jatin or Jatin Mukherjee and Surendranath Tagore. He helped establish

14595-526: The price of Bangladesh Tea. The Eastern Refinery is Bangladesh's largest oil refinery . GlaxoSmithKline has had operations in Chittagong since 1967. Western Marine Shipyard is a leading Bangladeshi shipbuilder and exporter of medium-sized ocean-going vessels. In 2011–12, Chittagong exported approximately US$ 4.5  billion in ready-made garments . The Karnaphuli Paper Mills were established in 1953. International banks operating in Chittagong include HSBC , Standard Chartered and Citibank NA . Chittagong

14734-539: The principle of division and ignorance; it is always a full light and knowledge superior to all mental substance or mental movement." Supermind is a bridge between Sachchidananda and the lower manifestation and it is only through the supramental that mind, life and body can be spiritually transformed as opposed to through Sachchidananda The descent of supermind will mean the creation of a supramental race In his writings, talks, and letters Sri Aurobindo has referred to several European philosophers with whose basic concepts he

14873-615: The prison he started two new publications, Karmayogin in English and Dharma in Bengali. He also delivered the, Uttarpara Speech hinting at the transformation of his focus to spiritual matters. Repression from the British colonial government against him continued because of his writings in his new journals and in April 1910 Aurobindo moved to Pondicherry, where the British colonial secret police monitored his activities. In July 1905 then Viceroy of India , Lord Curzon , partitioned Bengal . This sparked an outburst of public anger against

15012-446: The progressive self-manifestation and evolutionary ascent of a universal consciousness in its journey toward Self-realization." He points out that in contrast to the deterministic and continuous dialectal unfolding of Absolute Reason by the mechanism of thesis-antithesis-synthesis or affirmation-negation-integration, "Sri Aurobindo argues for a creative, emergent mode of evolution." In his résumé Odin states that Sri Aurobindo has overcome

15151-412: The purpose of building up his own system..." Thus Maitra, like Steve Odin, sees Sri Aurobindo not only in the tradition and context of Indian, but also Western philosophy and assumes he may have adopted some elements from the latter for his synthesis. R. Puligandla supports this viewpoint in his book Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy . He describes Sri Aurobindo's philosophy as "an original synthesis of

15290-414: The reason behind it, while he finds life to be already present in matter, because all of existence is a manifestation of Brahman . He argues that nature (which he interpreted as divine) has evolved life out of matter and the mind out of life. All of existence, he argues, is attempting to manifest to the level of the supermind – that evolution had a purpose . He stated that he found the task of understanding

15429-468: The ruling Awami League party in Bangladesh. The group has been subjected to intense media scrutiny. The Anderkilla Shahi Jame Mosque is a well-known Mughal property in Chittagong. Anderkilla means "inner fort". The mosque was built in 1667 by Umed Khan, the son of Shaista Khan , after the Mughal conquest of Chittagong . The mosque is the only surviving part of a hilltop Mughal fort. A surviving remnant of

15568-623: The service and liberation of the country. Aurobindo said he was "visited" by Vivekananda in the Alipore Jail: "It is a fact that I was hearing constantly the voice of Vivekananda speaking to me for a fortnight in the jail in my solitary meditation and felt his presence." In his autobiographical notes, Aurobindo said he felt a vast sense of calmness when he first came back to India. He could not explain this and continued to have various such experiences from time to time. He knew nothing of yoga at that time and started his practice of it without

15707-584: The settled fact as for ever settled, or as anything more than a temporary expedient." Sri Aurobindo was nominated twice for the Nobel prize without it being awarded, in 1943 for the Nobel award in Literature and in 1950 for the Nobel award in Peace. Sri Aurobindo died on 5 December 1950, of uremia . Around 60,000 people attended to see his body resting peacefully. Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru , and

15846-505: The southern banks of the city, including its central business district. The river enters the Bay of Bengal in an estuary located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of downtown Chittagong. Mount Sitakunda is the highest peak in Chittagong District, with an elevation of 351 metres (1,152 ft). Within the city itself, the highest peak is Batali Hill at 85.3 metres (280 ft). Chittagong has many lakes that were created under

15985-663: The territories lost. But the following year Dhaniya Manikya again conquered Chittagong. Chittagong featured prominently in the military history of the Bengal Sultanate, including during the Reconquest of Arakan and the Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516 . During the 13th and 16th centuries, Arabs and Persians heavily colonized the port city of Chittagong, initially arriving for trade and to spread Islam . Most Arab settlers arrived from

16124-551: The then-new idea of evolution while pursuing medical studies in Edinburgh . His mother Swarnalata Devi's father Shri Rajnarayan Bose was a leading figure in the Samaj. She had been sent to the more salubrious surroundings of Calcutta for Aurobindo's birth. Aurobindo had two elder siblings, Benoybhusan and Manmohan , a younger sister, Sarojini, and a younger brother, Barindra Kumar (also referred to as Barin). Young Aurobindo

16263-442: The thought of Sri Aurobindo and Hegel. Steve Odin has discussed this subject comprehensively in a comparative study. Odin writes that Sri Aurobindo "has appropriated Hegel’s notion of an Absolute Spirit and employed it to radically restructure the architectonic framework of the ancient Hindu Vedanta system in contemporary terms." In his analysis Odin arrives at the conclusion that "both philosophers similarly envision world creation as

16402-500: The top rice exporters in the world. Bengalis from Chittagong were vital to the success of Arakan's rice industry. Railways were introduced in 1865, beginning with the Eastern Bengal Railway connecting Chittagong to Dacca and Calcutta . Chittagong became the main gateway to Eastern Bengal and Assam . In the 1890s, Chittagong became the terminus of Assam Bengal Railway . The hinterland of Chittagong Port covered

16541-488: The trade route between Iraq and Chittagong and were perhaps the prime reason for the spread of Islam to Bangladesh . The first Persian settlers also arrived for trade and religious purposes, with the possible goal of Persianisation as well. Persians and other Iranic peoples have deeply affected the history of the Bengal Sultanate, with Persian being one of the main languages of the Muslim state, as well as also influencing

16680-604: The wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy . Aurobindo was also arrested on charges of planning and overseeing the attack and imprisoned in solitary confinement in Alipore Jail . The trial of the Alipore Bomb Case lasted for a year, but eventually, he was acquitted on 6 May 1909. His defense counsel was Chittaranjan Das . During this period in the Jail, his view of life was radically changed due to spiritual experiences and realizations. Consequently, his aim went far beyond

16819-485: Was The Life Divine , The Synthesis of Yoga , Essays on The Gita , The Secret of The Veda , Hymns to the Mystic Fire , The Upanishads , The Renaissance in India , War and Self-determination , The Human Cycle , The Ideal of Human Unity and The Future Poetry were published in this magazine. At the beginning of his stay at Pondicherry, there were few followers, but with time their numbers grew, resulting in

16958-516: Was James Cotton, brother of their father's friend in the Bengal ICS, Henry Cotton . By 1889, Manmohan had determined to pursue a literary career and Benoybhusan had proved himself unequal to the standards necessary for ICS entrance. This meant that only Aurobindo might fulfill his father's aspirations but to do so when his father lacked money required that he studied hard for a scholarship. To become an ICS official, students were required to pass

17097-539: Was also a major shipbuilding hub. Ibn Battuta visited the port city in 1345. Niccolò de' Conti , from Venice, also visited around the same time as Battuta. Chinese admiral Zheng He 's treasure fleet anchored in Chittagong during imperial missions to the Sultanate of Bengal. Dhaniya Manikya conquered Chittagong in 1513. Hossain Shah sent his noble commander Gorai Mallik to attack Tripura. Gorai Mallik recaptured

17236-489: Was an Indian nationalist but is best known for his philosophy on human evolution and Integral Yoga. Chittagong Chittagong ( / ˈ tʃ ɪ t ə ɡ ɒ ŋ / CHIT -ə-gong ), officially Chattogram ( Bengali : চট্টগ্রাম , romanized :  Côṭṭôgrām [ˈtʃɔʈːoɡram] , Chittagonian: চাটগাঁও/চিটাং romanized: Sāṭgão/Siṭāṅ ), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh . Home to

17375-432: Was an Indian philosopher , yogi , maharishi , poet , Educationalist and Indian nationalist . He was also a journalist , editing newspapers such as Bande Mataram . He joined the Indian movement for independence from British colonial rule , until 1910 was one of its influential leaders, and then became a spiritual reformer, introducing his visions on human progress and spiritual evolution . Aurobindo studied for

17514-529: Was an attempt to unify the revolutionary factions in Bengal. Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar were brought close by the joint leadership of Narendra Mohan Sen of Anushilan, and Jadugopal Mukherjee of Jugantar. However, this merger failed to revive the revolutionary activities up to the expected level. Aurobindo Ghosh Matter shall reveal the Spirit's face / All Life is Yoga. Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose ; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950)

17653-583: Was asked by a disciple whether Plato got some of his ideas from Indian books, he responded that though something of the philosophy of India got through "by means of Pythagoras and others", he assumed that Plato got most of his ideas from intuition. Sri Aurobindo's indebtedness to the Indian tradition also becomes obvious through his placing a large number of quotations from the Rig Veda , the Upanishads and

17792-606: Was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), Bengal Presidency , India on 15 August 1872 in a Bengali Kayastha family that was associated with the town of Konnagar in the Hooghly district of present-day West Bengal . His father, Krishna Dhun Ghose, was then assistant surgeon of Rangpur in Bengal and later civil surgeon of Khulna , and a former member of the Brahmo Samaj religious reform movement who had become enamoured with

17931-563: Was brought up speaking English, but used Hindustani to communicate with servants. Although his family were Bengali , his father believed British culture to be superior. He and his two elder siblings were sent to the English-speaking Loreto House boarding school in Darjeeling , in part to improve their language skills and in part to distance them from their mother, who had developed a mental illness soon after

18070-537: Was conquered in 1602. In 1615, the Portuguese Navy defeated a joint Dutch East India Company and Arakanese fleet near the coast of Chittagong. In 1666, the Mughal government of Bengal led by viceroy Shaista Khan moved to retake Chittagong from Portuguese and Arakanese control by launching the Mughal conquest of Chittagong. The Mughals attacked the Arakanese from the jungle with a 6,500-strong army, which

18209-494: Was familiar, commenting on their ideas and discussing the question of affinity to his own line of thought. Thus, he wrote a long essay on the Greek philosopher Heraclitus and mentioned especially Plato , Plotinus , Nietzsche and Bergson as thinkers in whom he was interested because of their more intuitive approach. On the other hand, he felt little attraction for the philosophy of Kant or Hegel . Several studies have shown

18348-562: Was further supported by 288 Mughal naval ships blockading the Chittagong harbor. After three days of battle, the Arakanese surrendered. The Mughals expelled the Portuguese from Chittagong. Mughal rule ushered a new era in the history of Chittagong territory to the southern bank of Kashyapnadi (Kaladan River). The port city was renamed Islamabad. The Grand Trunk Road connected it with North India and Central Asia. Economic growth increased due to an efficient system of land grants for clearing hinterlands for cultivation. The Mughals also contributed to

18487-647: Was little contact with his father, who wrote only a few letters to his sons while they were in England, but what communication there was indicated that he was becoming less endeared to the British in India than he had been, on one occasion describing the British colonial government as "heartless". Drewett emigrated to Australia in 1884, causing the boys to be uprooted as they went to live with Drewett's mother in London. In September of that year, Aurobindo and Manmohan joined St Paul's School there. He learned Greek and spent

18626-417: Was nominated twice for the Nobel prize without it being awarded, in 1943 for the Nobel award in Literature and in 1950 for the Nobel award in Peace. His main literary works are The Life Divine , which deals with the philosophical aspect of Integral Yoga; Synthesis of Yoga , which deals with the principles and methods of Integral Yoga; and Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol , an epic poem . Aurobindo Ghose

18765-443: Was only a "restatement" from a new standpoint and with fresh terms. And, furthermore, the ideas of the Upanishads "can be rediscovered in much of the thought of Pythagoras and Plato and form the profound part of Neo-platonism and Gnosticism ..." Finally, the larger part of German metaphysics "is little more in substance than an intellectual development of great realities more spiritually seen in this ancient teaching." When once he

18904-487: Was possessed by the Nawab of Bengal until 1793 when East India Company took complete control of the former Mughal province of Bengal. The First Anglo-Burmese War in 1823 threatened the British hold on Chittagong. There were several rebellions against British rule, notably during the Indian rebellion of 1857 , when the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th companies of the 34th Bengal Infantry Regiment revolted and released all prisoners from

19043-405: Was re-organized in 1887 and its busiest shipping links were with British Burma . In 1928, Chittagong was declared a "Major Port" of British India . During World War II , Chittagong was a base for Allied Forces engaged in the Burma Campaign . The port city began to expand and industrialize during the 1940s, particularly after the Partition of British India . The city was the historic terminus of

19182-620: Was shot dead by Charu Basu in the Calcutta High Court premises. Samsul Alam, Deputy Superintendent of Police, who conducted the Alipore Case was shot and killed by Biren Dutta Gupta on the stairs of Calcutta High Court building on 24 January 1910. Charu Basu and Biren Dutta Gupta were later hanged. Several including Jatindra Nath Mukherjee were arrested in connection with the murder of Police inspector Samsul Alam on 24 January 1910 in Calcutta and other charges. Thus started

19321-600: Was there that the entire family moved in 1879. The three brothers were placed in the care of the Reverend W. H. Drewett in Manchester . Drewett was a minister of the Congregational Church whom Krishna Dhun Ghose knew through his British friends at Rangpur. The boys were taught Latin by Drewett and his wife. This was a prerequisite for admission to good English schools and, after two years, in 1881,

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