Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: Who started the Anushilan Samiti?
By 1902, Calcutta had three secret societies working toward the violent overthrow of British rule in India. One was founded by Calcutta student Satish Chandra Basu with the patronage of Calcutta barrister Pramatha Mitra, another was led by Bengali woman Sarala Devi and the third was founded by Aurobindo Ghosh. Ghosh was one of the strongest proponents of militant Indian nationalism at the time.[5][6] By 1905 the work of Aurobindo and his brother, Barin, enabled Anushilan Samity to spread throughout Bengal. Nationalist writings and publications by Aurobindo and Barin, including Bande Mataram and Jugantar, had a widespread influence on Bengal youth. The 1905 partition of Bengal stimulated radical nationalist sentiments in Bengal's Bhadralok community, helping Anushilan acquire a support base of educated, politically-conscious and disaffected members of local youth societies. Its program emphasized physical training, training its recruits with daggers and lathis (bamboo staffs used as weapons). The Dhaka branch of Anushilan was led by Pulin Behari Das, and branches spread throughout East Bengal and Assam.[7] More than 500 branches were opened in eastern Bengal and Assam, linked by "close and detailed organization" to Pulin's headquarters at Dhaka. It absorbed smaller groups in the province, soon overshadowing its parent organisation in Calcutta. Branches of Dhaka Anushilan emerged in Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur, Rajnagar, Rajendrapur, Mohanpur, Barvali and Bakarganj. Estimates of Dhaka Anushilan Samiti's reach indicate a membership of 15,000 to 20,000. Within two years, Dhaka Anushilan devolved its aims from the Swadeshi to that of political terrorism.[8][9]
Soon after the Tripuri session, Bose resigned as Congress president and formed the Forward Bloc. The Forward Bloc was intended to function as a unifying force for all leftwing elements. The Forward Bloc held its first conference on 22–23 June 1939, and at the same time a Left Consolidation Committee consisting of the Forward Bloc, CPI, CSP, the Kisan Sabha, League of Radical Congressmen, Labour Party and the Anushilan Marxists. Bose wanted the Anushilan Marxists to join his Forward Bloc. But the Anushilan Marxists, although supporting Bose's anti-imperialist militancy, considered that Bose's movement was nationalistic and too eccletic. The Anushilan Marxists shared Bose's view that the relative weakness of the British empire during the war should have been utilised by independence movement. At this moment, in October 1939, J.P. Narayan tried to stretch out an olive branch to the Anushilan Marxists. He proposed the formation of a 'War Council' consisting of himself, Pratul Ganguly, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and Acharya Narendra Deva. But few days later, at a session of the All India Congress Committee, J.P. Narayan and the other CSP leaders pledged not to start any other movements parallel to those initiated by Gandhi.
During the summer of 1938 a meeting took place between Jayaprakash Narayan (leader of CSP), Jogesh Chandra Chatterji, Tridib Chaudhuri and Keshav Prasad Sharma. The Anushilan Marxists then discussed the issue with Acharya Narendra Deva. The Anushilan Marxists decided to join CSP, but keeping a separate identity within the party.
In the end of 1938 Anushilan Marxists began publishing "The Socialist" from Calcutta. The editor of the journal was Satish Sarkar. Although the editorial board included several senior CSP leaders like Acharya Narendra Deva, it was essentially an organ of the Anushilan Marxist tendency. Only a handful issues were published.
According to Nixon’s Report, probably in about 1913, or perhaps a little before, certain of the old members of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti who, in the meantime, had been members of various athletic clubs, formed themselves into a branch of the "Seva Samiti" under Atulkrishna Ghosh: "The ostensible object of this "samiti" was a benevolent one. The first centre was at the house of Atul Ghosh. During the Burdwan floods, in 1913, many members of this "samiti" went there for the purpose of affording relief to the afflicted people.". Atul’s efficiency and generosity as a leader became evident during this relief.
Anushilan and Jugantar each were organised on different lines, reflecting their divergence. Anushilan Samiti was centrally organised, with a rigid discipline and vertical hierarchy. Jugantar, was more loosely organised as an alliance of groups, acting under local leaders that occasionally coordinated their actions together. The prototype of Jugantar's organisation was Barin Ghosh's organisation set up in 1907, in the run-up to the Manicktolla conspiracy. It sought to emulate the model of Russian revolutionaries that was described by Frost. The regulations of the central Dhaka organization of the Anushilan Samiti were written down, and reproduced and summarised in government reports. According to one estimate, the Dacca Anushilan Samiti had at one point 500 branches, mostly in the eastern districts of Bengal, with 20,000 members. Branches were opened later in the western districts, Bihar, and the United Provinces. Shelters for absconders were established in Assam and in two farms in Tripura. Organisational documents shows a primary division between, on the one hand the two active leadersBarin Ghosh and Upendranath Bannerjee, and the rank-and-file on the other. Higher leaders including Aurobindo were supposed to be known only to the active leaders. Erstwhile members of Anushilan, particularly those of the Maniktala group, had suggested that the each group were interconnected with a vast web of secret societies throughout British India. However historian Peter Heehs concludes the links between provinces were limited to contacts between a few individuals like Aurobindo who was familiar with leaders and movements in Western India. He concludes the Maniktala society had links between the other groups and the Manicktalla society, such as the Anushilan and Atmannati Samitis, were more often competitive than co-operative. An internal circular of circa 1908 written by Pulin Behari Das, describes the division of the organisation in Bengal, which largely followed British administrative divisions, with central Samitis linked with a few small Samitis.
The nationalist publication Jugantar, which served as the organ of the Samiti, inspired fanatical loyalty among its readers and made a deep impression on this group.[50][51] By 1907 it was selling 7,000 copies which later rose to 20,000. Its message, aimed at elite politically conscious readers was essentially critique and defiance of British rule in India, and justification of political violence.[52] The publication inspired a proportion of the young men who joined Anushilan Samiti cited the influence of Jugantar in their decisions. The editor of the paper, Bhupendranath Datta was arrested and sentenced to one-year's rigorous imprisonment in 1907.[53] The Samiti responded with the attempt on the life of Douglas Kingsford who presided over the trial. Jugantar itself responded with defiant editorials.[53] The defiance of Jugantar saw it face five more prosecutions that left it in financial ruins by 1908. These prosecutions brought the paper more publicity, and helped disseminate the Samiti's ideology of revolutionary nationalism. Shukla Sanyal notes in 2014 that revolutionary terrorism as an ideology began to win support amongst a significant populace in Bengal, tacitly even if not overt.[51]
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), learned from 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.[54] There he lived with independence activist Shyam Sundar Chakravarthy,[55] and had contacts with revolutionaries like Ram Prasad Bismil.
Around 1902, Aurobindo Ghosh arranged for Bannerjee to return to Calcutta to begin organisational work, where he began a gymnasium and a youth society. It was at this time that Bannerjee came in touch with Vibhuti Bhushan Bhattacharya, Sarala Devi Ghoshal and Pramathanath Mitra. In Calcutta, a few clubs and societies were still active at the time. Most notable was a gymnasium in Ballygunge Circular Road run by Sarala Devi herself, a second was an organisation named "Anushilan Samiti" founded by Satish Chandra Basu with the patronage of Pramathanath Mitra. A third one was a youth club called "Attōnnōti Samiti" (Self-improvement society) in central Calcutta.
Among other notable personalities who are felt to have influenced the Samiti were the Japanese artist Kakuzo Okakura and Irish woman Margaret Noble, known widely as Sister Nivedita. Okakura was a proponent of Pan-Asianism. He visited Swami Vivekananda in Calcutta in 1902, and is noted to have inspired Pramathanath Mitra considerably in the early days of the Samiti.[38][41] However the extent of his involvement or influence is debated.[42] Nivedita was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda who moved from Ireland to live in Calcutta. She was noted to have contacts with Aurobindo, with Satish Bose and with Jugantar sub-editor Bhupendranath Bose. Nivedita is believed to have discussed and influenced people of the Samiti talking about their duties to motherland, and also providing the men of the Samiti with literature on revolutionary nationalism. She was at this time in correspondence with Peter Kropotkin, a noted anarchist.[38]
By the close of 1936 the Anushilan Marxists at the Deoli Detention Jail in Rajputana drafted a document formulating their political line. This document was then distributed amongst the Anushilan Marxists at other jails throughout the country. When they were collectively released in 1938 the Anushilan Marxists adopted this document, "The Thesis and Platform of Action of the Revolutionary Socialist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist): What Revolutionary Socialism Stands for", as their political programme in September that year.
Dhaka Anushilan Samiti was a branch of the Anushilan Samiti founded in the city of Dhaka in November 1905. Initially a group of eighty under the leadership of Pulin Behari Das, it "spread like wildfire" throughout the province of East Bengal. More than 500 branches were opened, linked by a "close and detailed organization" to Pulin’s headquarters at Dhaka. It absorbed smaller groups in the province and soon overshadowed its parent organisation in Calcutta. Branches of Dhaka Anushilan emerged in the towns of Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur, Rajnagar, Rajendrapur, Mohanpur, Barvali, Bakarganj and other places. Estimates of Dhaka Anushilan Samiti's reach show a membership of between 15,000 and 20,000 members. Within another two years, Dhaka Anushilan would devolve its aims from the Swadeshi to the dedicated aim of political terrorism. The "Dhaka Anushilan Samiti" embarked on a radical program of political terrorism. It broke with the "Jugantar group" due to differences with Aurobindo's approach of slowly building a base for a revolution with a mass base. The Dhaka group saw this as slow and insufficient, and sought immediate action and result. It was responsible for a number of political assassinations, most notably the murder of D.C. Allen. However, it reached a temporary halt after the arrest and deportation of Pulin Das and the Barisal Conspiracy Case in 1913. Dhaka Anushilan decided not to participate in the German plot of World War I. After the war, it continued in its violent movement, and some of its members went on to form the Neo-violence group.
Basu himself was a student of the General Assembly's Institution, and was influenced by Swami Vivekandan's works and teachings of Shakta philosophy. Basu kept in touch with Sister Nivedita and Swami Saradananda, both disciples of Vivekandanda. A further influence was the Japanese scholar Kakuzo Okakura who was closely associated with Nivedita and advocated Pan-Asiatic unity and nationalist sentiments in his many visits to Bengal. Basu was a member of the gymnasium at General Assembly, and practiced lathi-play, engaged in social work in destitute areas of Calcutta, and supported the "Swadeshi" industries. Encouraged by Nivedita and Saradananda, Basu founded the "Anushilan Samiti" in early 1902. It initially as a club for lathi practice. The name itself was inspired by one of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's works entitled "Anushilan-Tattva" (Theory of discipline), which expounded the concept of allround development of physical, mental, moral and spiritual capabilities. In Pramathanath Mitra, Basu found a patron and through Mitra and Sarala Devi, Jatindranath Bannerjee was introduced to Basu. In March 1902, Bannerjee's group was amalgamated to that of Basu's, retaining the name chosen by the latter.
The Dhaka Anushilan Samiti embarked on a radical program of political terrorism. It broke with the Jugantar group in West Bengal due to differences with Aurobindo's approach of slowly building a mass base for revolution. The Dhaka group saw this as slow and inadequate, and sought immediate action and results. The two branches of Anushilan engaged in dacoity to raise money, and performed a number of political assassinations at this time.[11] In December 1907, the Bengal revolutionary cell derailed a train carrying Bengal Lieutenant Governor Andrew Henderson Leith Fraser in a plot led by the Ghosh brothers. That month, the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti assassinated former Dhaka district magistrate D.C.Allen. The following year, Anushilan engineered eleven assassinations, seven attempted assassinations and explosions and eight dacoities in West Bengal. The targets of these actions included British police officials and civil servants, Indian police officers, informants, public prosecutors of political crimes and wealthy families.[12] Under Barin Ghosh's direction, Anushilan members also attempted to assassinate French colonial officials in Chandernagore who were seen as complicit with the Raj.
During the summer of 1938 a meeting took place between the Marxist sector of the Anushilan movement and the CSP. Present in the meeting were Jai Prakash Narayan (leader of CSP),Jogesh Chandra Chatterji, Tridib Kumar Chaudhuri and Keshav Prasad Sharma. The Anushilan marxists then held talks with Acharya Narendra Deva, a former Anushilan militant. The Anushilan marxists decided to join CSP, but keeping a separate identity within the party. With them came the Anushilan Samiti, not only the Marxist sector. The non-Marxists (who constituted about a half of the membership of the Samiti), although not ideologically attracted to the CSP, felt loyalty towards the Marxist sector. Moreover, around 25% of the membership of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association joined the CSP. This group was led by Jogesh Chandra Chatterji. The Anushilan marxists were however soon to be disappointed by developments inside the CSP. The party, at that the time Anushilan marxists had joined it, was not a homogeneous entity. There was the Marxist trend led by J.P. Narayan and Narendra Deva, the Fabian socialist trend led by Minoo Masani and Asoka Mehta and a Gandhian socialist trend led by Ram Manohar Lohia, and Achyut Patwardan. To the Anushilan marxists differences emerged between the ideological stands of the party and its politics in practice. These differences surfaced at the 1939 annual session of the Indian National Congress at Tripuri. At Tripuri, in the eyes of the Anushlian marxists, the CSP had failed to consistently defend Subhas Chandra Bose. Jogesh Chandra Chatterji renounced his CSP membership in protest against the action by the party leadership.
Established by Pramathanath Mitra it became one of the most organised revolutionary associations, especially in the Eastern Bengal where the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti had several branches and carried out major activities. Jugantar was initially formed by an inner circle of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti, like the Palmach of Haganah. In the 1920s, the Kolkata faction supported Gandhi in the Non-Cooperation Movement and many of the leaders held high posts in Congress. The Anushilan Samati had over five hundred branches.Indians living in America and Canada had established the Gadar organization
A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1930s, many of them studying Marxist–Leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the Communist Consolidation, and later the Communist Party of India (CPI). The majority of the Anushilan Marxists did however, whilst having adopted Marxist–Leninist thinking, feel hesitant over joining the Communist Party.[43] The Anushilanites distrusted the political lines formulated by the Communist International.They shared some critiques against the leadership of Joseph Stalin and the Comintern, but the Anushilan Marxists did not embrace Trotskyism.
Anushilan Samiti was one of the prominent revolutionary movements in India in the early part of twentieth century. It was started as a cultural society in 1902, by Aurobindo and the followers of Bankim Chandra to propagate the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. But soon the Samiti had its goal to overthrow the British rule in India. Various branches of the Samiti sprung across India in the guise of suburban fitness clubs but secretly imparted arms training to its members with the implicit aim of using them against the British administration.
Banerjee became involved in political struggles during the 1921 Non-Cooperation Movement. He studied at Rajshahi College, where he befriended members of the Anushilan Samiti. He became an active member of the Anushilan Samiti resistance movement in the struggle for Indian independence.
Through the 1920s and 1930s, many Anushilan members began identifying with Communism and leftist ideologies. Many of them studying Marxist–Leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the Communist Consolidation, and later the Communist Party of India. Former Jugantar leader Narendranath Bhattacharya, now known as M. N. Roy, became an influential member of the Communist International, helping to find the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilanite Marxists, whilst having adopted Marxist–Leninist thinking, felt hesitant over joining the Communist Party.[43] Holding sharp differences with the CPI and Royist ideologies, the Anushilan marxists decided to join Congress Socialist Party (CSP), but keeping a separate identity within the party.[60] The RSP, which derived from the Samiti, held a strong influence in parts of Bengal. The psrty sent two parliamentarians in 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 since. The RSP is 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 a presence in Bengal, was founded in 1948 by Anushilan members.
Narendra joined the revolutionary outfit that was known as Anushilan Samiti. He played a major role in unifying Jugantar and Anushilan Samiti in the 1920s, after both parties suffered major setback because most of their senior leaders were arrested. Jugantar and Anushilan groups wereokii]].
The Samiti was influenced by the writings of the Bengalee nationalist author Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. The name of the organisation, Anushilan, itself is derived from Bankim's works espousing hardwork and spartan life. Bankim's cultural and martial nationalism exemplified in Anandamath, along with his interpretations of the Bhagavat Gita, are noted to be strong influences on the strain of nationalism that guided the early societies that merged into Anushilan Samiti.[32] To this was later added the philosophies and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. A search of the Dacca Anushilan Samiti library in 1908 showed that the<i data-parsoid='{"dsr":[34854,34862,2,2]}'>Gita was the most widely read book in the library. Among the "rules of membership" books by Vivekananda were strongly recommended for reading,[33] A recurring theme in these were emphasis on "Strong muscles and nerves of steel", which some historian identify as strongly influenced by Shakta Philosophy of Hinduism. The writings of the group's own leader Aurobindo Ghosh popularised Shakti, specifically the concept of Adya Shakti that is exemplified in his work Bhawani Mandir.[33] This marked the beginnings of interest in physical improvement and proto-national spirit among young Bengalees, and was driven by an effort to break away from the colonial stereotype of effeminacy imposed on the Bengalee. 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.[34][35] Peter Heehs, writing in 2010, notes the Samiti had three pillars in their ideologies: "cultural independence", "political independence", and "economic independence". In the latter, the Samiti differed from those engaging in the Swadeshi movement, which they decried solely as a "trader's movement".[36]
In November 1905, Bipin Chandra Pal along with Pramathanath Mitra, visited Dhaka where, at a political meeting, Pal called for volunteers ready to sacrifice their all for Motherland. Among the eighty who stepped forward was Pulin Behari Das, a resident of Wari who was soon appointed the head of the East Bengal branch of "Anushilan Samity". Under Das's able leadership, "Anushilan" "spread like wildfire" throughout the province. More than 500 branches were opened, linked by a "close and detailed organization" to Pulin’s headquarters at Dhaka. It absorbed smaller groups in the province, and soon overshadowed its parent organisation in Calcutta. Branches of Dhaka Anushilan emerged in the towns of Jessore, Khulna, Faridpur, Rajnagar, Rajendrapur, Mohanpur, Barvali, Bakarganj and other places. Estimates of Dhaka Anushilan Samiti's reach show a membership of between 15,000 and 20,000 members. Within another two years, Dhaka Anushilan would devolve its aims from the Swadeshi to the dedicated aim of political terrorism.
A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1930s, many of them studying Marxist–Leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the Communist Consolidation, and later the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilan Marxists did however, whilst having adopted Marxist–Leninist thinking, feel hesitant over joining the Communist Party.
The founders of the Samiti were among the leading luminaries of Bengal at the time, who drove social changes far removed from the violent nationalist works that identified the Samiti in later years. The young men of Bengal were amongst the most active in the Swadeshi movement, and the participation of university students drew the ire of the Raj. R.W. Carlyle prohibited the participation of students in political meetings on the threat of withdrawal of funding and grants.[58] The decade preceding these decrees had seen Bengali intellectuals increasingly calling for indigenous schools and colleges to replace British institutions,[58] and sought to build indigenous institutions. Surendranath Tagore, of 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 meet skills in technical and technological education that its founders felt necessary for building indigenous industries. With financial backing of Subodh Chandra Mallik, the Bengal National College (which later grew to be Jadavpur University) was established with Aurobindo as Principal.[58] Aurobindo participated in the Indian National Congress at the time. He used his platform in the Congress to present the Samiti as conglomeration of youth clubs, even as the Raj raised fears that it was a revolutionary nationalist organisation. It was during his time as Principal that Aurobindo started his nationalist publications Jugantar, Karmayogin and Bande Mataram.[58] The Student's mess at the College was frequented by students of East Benal who belonged to the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti, and was known to be hotbed of revolutionary nationalism, which was uncontrolled or even encouraged by the college.[59] 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. Sumit Sarkar notes that revolutionary terrorism resulted in "a wealth of patriotic songs" and "a new interest in regional and local history and folk traditions, the scientific works of J. C. Bose and P. C. Ray, and the Calcutta school of painting founded by Abanindranath Tagore".[40]