Lesson 3/45 min
The armed revolutionary movement
On 30 April 1908 Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at Muzaffarpur to kill the English magistrate Kingsford. On 11 August of that year Khudiram, aged eighteen, was hanged.
The failure of boycott and Swadeshi pushed patriotic young people towards armed struggle. One of its aims was to kill the magistrate Kingsford.
Main organisations
- The ‘Anushilan Samiti’ of Dhaka and the ‘Jugantar Samiti’ of Calcutta
- Pulin Behari Das was the chief organiser of the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti
Main revolutionaries
| Name | Who and what |
|---|---|
| Khudiram Bose (1889–1908) | From Midnapore; joined Swadeshi as an eighth-grade student; a member of the Jugantar Samiti; on 30 April 1908 he mistakenly bombed barrister Pringle Kennedy's carriage outside the European Club, killing Kennedy's wife and daughter; hanged in Muzaffarpur jail on 11 August 1908 |
| Prafulla Chaki | Khudiram's companion; killed himself when about to be caught (Khudiram was caught while fleeing) |
| Bagha Jatin | From Kushtia; met the German crown prince during the First World War; the ‘German Plot’ aimed to bring arms from Germany for a war on the British |
| Surya Kumar Sen (Masterda) (1894–1934) | Formed the Chittagong Republican Army; looted two government armouries in Chittagong on 18 April 1930; caught by the police in 1933; hanged in Chittagong Central Jail on 12 January 1934 |
| Pritilata Waddedar | A student and disciple of Masterda; attacked the ‘Pahartali European Club’ in September 1932; shot and, before capture, took potassium cyanide; known as the first woman linked with the anti-British movement (a Jahangirnagar University question) |
Watch out: A question in Zubair's book prints Aurobindo Ghosh as the leader of the terrorist movement of the partition era; Khandokar's book names Pulin Behari Das as chief organiser of the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti. This lesson follows the second.
Memory trick: Masterda = Surya Sen. Armoury raid 1930 (18 April), hanged 1934 (12 January), Pritilata's attack 1932.
Check yourself
When did Masterda Surya Sen raid the Chittagong armouries?
At a glance
- 1
Main armed groups: the Anushilan Samiti of Dhaka and the Jugantar Samiti of Calcutta; Anushilan's chief organiser was Pulin Behari Das.
- 2
Khudiram Bose threw the bomb at Kingsford's supposed carriage on 30 April 1908; hanged on 11 August 1908, aged 18.
- 3
Bagha Jatin (of Kushtia) built the ‘German Plot’ during the First World War.
- 4
Masterda Surya Sen raided the Chittagong armouries on 18 April 1930; hanged on 12 January 1934.
- 5
Pritilata Waddedar attacked the Pahartali European Club in 1932; she was Masterda's disciple.