Swadeshi movement
2004Q8- Analyse the main trends the Swadeshi Mov. Do you agree with the view that it
ended in an anti climax?
2006- Q8- Analyze the basic trends in the Swadeshi Mov. Do you agree with the statement
that it ended in a sense of richness and promise but also a feeling of disappointment?
INTRODUCTION :
• The Swadeshi Movement (1905-1908) which was highly significant in the Indian national
struggle had its roots in the anti-partition movement (1903-1905). It began in Bengal in
opposition to the proposals regarding the Partition of Bengal in 1903 which was finally
carried out on 16th October 1905.
• Bengal was no doubt an administratively unwieldy province extending from the Sutlej to
Burma. Assam had been separated in 1874, yet the 1901 census that recorded Bengal’s
population at 78.5 million, which caused urgency for Partition.
• Historians say that till 1903- administrative concerns governed proposals behind Partition.
• Sumit Sarkar shows that secret official minutes and public speeches of Lord Curzon reveal
that post 1903 the Partition was guided by the sole aim of crushing the rising nationalist
tide amongst the politically active Bengalis as Bengal was a Congress stronghold.
Partition of Bengal –
• The Partition plan announced on 16th July, 1905 made this amply clear as Curzon
rejected the linguistic division of Bengal in favour of dividing it on communal lines and
linguistic lines – by creating a province of East Bengal and Assam- containing 31 million
people-18 million Muslims and 12 million Hindus and Bengal containing 54 million people-
42 million Hindus and 9 million Muslims.
• Bengal was also divided on linguistic lines with majority Oriya and Hindi speaking
population. Curzon’s Home Secretary HH Risley clearly spelt it-“Bengal united is a power.
Bengal divided will pull in different ways.”
Anti Partition Agitation:
• The announcement of the plan in 1903 sparked off a huge antipartition movement carried
out by the Moderates till 1905, as the Government had expected.
• Bipan Chandra says Moderates aimed to turn public opinion abroad and in India
against the Partition using their traditional methods like – holding protest meetings,
petitions, publishing a detailed critique of Partition through a press campaign in The
Bengalee, Hitabandi and large protest meetings at the Calcutta Town Hall twice (1904
and 1905) calling for Boycott of British goods and Institutions.
• However the government remained unnerved.
Swadeshi: (1905-1908):
• In July 1905 when the date for partition was announced as 16th October, the Moderate anti
partition movement changed character and now emerged as the Swadeshi movement- led
by the new leaders the “Extremists” with novel methods.
• This surprised the British and now spread beyond Bengal to Punjab, Maharashtra and
Madras.
Other Factors –
Sumit Sarkar and S. Bandhopadhyay trace the origins of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal to
factors apart from the initial spark-Partition of Bengal. They say –
• There was escalating Bengali unity –fostered by new cultural developments- like
emergence of modern Bengali literature under Rabindranath Tagore etc., Calcutta was
now a metropolis and united students/professionals from all districts, early English
education and Hindu revivalism fostered self confidence.
• Secondly political disappointment with Moderate methods and achievements spurred
Swadeshi in order to try new methods.
• Economic grievances like overcrowding in liberal professions, famines, epidemics
(1890s) and rising prices.
• International events like British defeats in Boer War and Russo Japanese War1904-5
boosted the movement.
MAIN TRENDS:
Sumit Sarkar identified four main trends in Bengal Swadeshi-(1) the Moderate
Trend,(2)Constructive Swadeshi, (3)Political Extremism and (4)Revolutionary Terrorism. All
trends more or less overlapped between 1905-08, yet one does see a movement from one to the
other.
(1)The Moderate trend –
• It began in 1903 with the announcement of Partition proposals.
• Moderates initially employed their usual methods of opposition-prayers, petitions and
public meetings but failed to change the Government’s proposals.
• With Partition announcement in July 1905, Moderates methods changed for first time,
marking the start of a wider Swadeshi movement. Moderate, Surendranath Banerjea gave
a first time call for Boycott of British goods and institutions at the Calcutta Town Hall
on 7th August 1905.
• British crackdown on student picketers with the Carlyle Circular (October 22, 1905) led to
Boycott of educational institutions and organization of national schools.
• For the first time Moderates tried to mobilise non-literate population and thus helped in
labour strikes and national education.
• However Moderates aims remained limited-to the annulment of Partition and they only
saw Boycott a step in that direction.
• Moderates reverted to limited policies and called off the educational boycott by Nov
1905, in hope for British reforms as liberal Morely(Sec of State) came to power.
• Yet Boycott and frustration with Moderates led to the growth of-(a) Non-political
Constructive Swadeshi and (b) Political Extremism alongside continuation of Moderate
politics.
(2)Constructive Swadeshi•
It rejected the self demeaning Moderate politics, in favour of self reliance or atmashaktithrough
the setting up of Swadeshi industries, National schools and village level
constructive programmes.
• Initially Bengal Extremists propounded non-political constructive Swadeshi, thus Swadeshi
industries like- The Bengal Chemical factory were set up by Prafullachandra Roy(1893),
soap factories, textile mills etc.
• Within National education Satishchandra Mukherji’s journal Dawn and Dawn Society
(1902) played a seminal role and so did Rabindranath Tagore’s Shantiniketan Ashram.
• In terms of village programmes, Rabindranath Tagore the main ideologue of constructive
Swadeshi (1904) planned for constructive work in villages through the revival of the
traditional Hindu ‘samaj’ or community. In 1907 a 1000 village Samitis or national
volunteer organizations were reported in Bengal. Such non-political Constructive
programmes often used Hindu revivalism as a tool of unity- as seen in Rabindranath
Tagore’s Hindu Samaj proposal, though Tagore rejected Hindu revivalism after 1906.
However Hindu revivalism was used in a bigger way under political Extremism by some
leader.
(3)Political Extremism
• Emerged around 1906 as young political extremists like Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin
Chandra Pal and Brahmobandhab Upadhyay were unhappy with the slow peaceful
unostentatious development advocated by Constructive Swadeshi.
• They argued that freedom was essential to national regeneration and thus called for a
struggle for Swaraj, in their journals like Bande Materam, Yugantar and Sandhya.
• The main difference was in new political methods they advocated like- organised
boycott that extended beyond British goods to British education, justice and executive
administration and ultimately civil disobedience of unjust laws, social boycott of
loyalists and recourse to armed struggle if British repression escalated.
• Older methods like modern industries, national school etc were meant to continue also.
• Thus Sarkar says that they anticipated future political programme of Gandhianism
minus the dogma of non violence. One of their main aims was mass political mobilization.
In their efforts they set up a huge chain of Samitis and gave novel political leadership to
labour unrest. Sarkar says one notes another trend in the Swadeshi movement that cut
across all differences in political methods- that is Hindu Revivalism. While some leaders
embraced this in a major way as a short cut to political mass mobilization others rejected it
out right recognizing its divisive nature. Moderate proponents included Surendranath
Banerjea advocating Swadeshi vows in temples, national education plan with revivalist
content etc, Extremists like Aurodhindo Ghosh, Bipin Pal etc insisted on Shivaji Utsav
taking the cue from Tilak in Maharashtra. Yet others like Brahmo edited journals like
Sanjivani, post 1907 Radindranath Tagore and Krishnakumar Mitra’s Anti Circular
Society etc denounced such religious patriotism as devisive.
(4) Revolutionary Terrorism
• Sarkar says by 1907 the mass movement aim of the Political Extremists was being
challenged from within their ranks, by men who called for elite action terrorism or
Revolutionary Terrorism.
• He says that by 1908 the methods of Political extremists – Gandhian constructive work
and mass Satyagraha proved very short lived. One saw a return to Moderate politics and
the growth of Revolutionary Terrorism.
• A common explanation for this decline in the Swadeshi movement post 1908 has been
British repression. However the total number of people tried during Swadeshi movement
till 1909 were a minute-115, with short sentences of 6months-2yrs and two cases of firing
on non Swadeshi demonstrators.
• Thus he analyses the achievements main methods/trends of the movement and each
one’s internal limitation that resulted in its decline/ anticlimax.
• These methods were not exclusive to one group-Moderates, constructive Swadeshi men or
political extremists though revolutionary terrorism was used mainly by radical political
extremists.
MAIN COMPONENTS OF THE MOVEMENT + INTERNAL LIMITATIONS –
Boycott and Swadeshi –
• The movement saw great success initially as the Calcutta Customs Collector in September
1905 reported a 22% fall in imported cotton goods, 44% in cotton yarn, 55% in cigarettes,
68% in shoes as compared to August 1905, due to a boycott of such goods. The sharpest
decline interestingly was in ‘cigarettes and shoes’ – middle class Indian gentlemanly
products reflecting the social base of this movement.
• Sarkar says that this decline in imports was not just due to boycott but more due to a
disagreement on trade terms between Calcutta Marwari dealers and British Merchants
and imports picked up once this dispute was settled. Bombay Mill owners despite Bengali
pleas still hiked up their prices in this period.
• Swadeshi was successful as indigenous industries like Handloom, silk weaving etc were
revived. Modern Indian industries were promoted- e.g. Banga Lakshmi Cotton mills
(1906) Calcutta Pottery Works (1906) along with matches, cigarettes and soap factories
etc. Patrons included few big zamindars but mainly professional intelligentsia.
• The main limitation of Swadeshi enterprise was the lack of capital and role of the
Indian business community which found it easier to make money from trade than
investment in industry. It was an intelligentsia movement with bourgeoisie aspirations but
no bourgeois support.
• Thus in the long term, Swadeshi never seriously threatened British economic interests
in Bengal.
National Education
• National education was promoted during the Swadeshi movement to foster self reliance and
saw varied educational institutions being set up.
• These included the Bengal Technical Institute for technical education, the Bengal
National College, with Aurobindo Ghosh as principal and scores of national schools
across the country.
• In 1906 the National Council of Education was established to organize education on
“national lines” with the advocacy of vernacular education in most institutions.
• According to Sarkar the main limitations of national education were – 1) its negligible
job prospects which failed to attract students 2) little focus on village level education.
• Ultimately what survived were the Bengal National College, Bengal Technical Institute and
a dozen national schools in West Bengal. The largest number of national schools was in
East Bengal which aimed to extend education to villages although in later years they
became centres for Revolutionary activity.
Samitis –
• Samitis or National Volunteer organizations were one of Swadeshi’s biggest
achievements.
• Till 1908 Samitis were engaged in varied activities like-physical and moral training,
social work during famines, preaching the Swadeshi message by organizing craft
manufacture, schools, arbitration courts. Bipan Chandra says that Samitis were used for
mass mobilization.
• The most prominent Samiti was Ashwini Kumar Dutt’s Swadesh Bhandav Samiti in
Barisal(East Bengal). It had 175 branches in the district and unparalleled mass following
amongst mainly Muslim peasants. The Samiti movement was strongest in East Bengal.
• Samitis were varied in their social base and activities- 1) the Calcutta Anushilan Samiti
had a secular social base 2) The Barisal Swadesh Bhandav had a mass base through
humanitarian work, 3) the Dacca Anushilan samiti emphasised physical training of cadres
and used Hindu revivalism.
• Post the summer of 1908 in the face of repression many Samitis disappeared while some
turned into revolutionary outfits-eg Dacca Anushilam Samiti. Another reason for their
decline was that many village samitis didn’t develop peasant membership but consisted
mostly village bhadralok.
Labour Unrest –
• This was due to rising prices during the Swadeshi period, especially in white collar
enterprises, which found the support of Swadeshi leaders.
• Extremist newspapers supported these strikes and some financial aid was also given.
• In Sept 1905, 247 Bengali Clerks of Burn Company-Howrah went on strike and were
lauded by the public.
• The main achievement was that the first Labour Union was founded- the Printers
Union (1905).
• In 1906 with a strike of Eastern Railways clerks the Railwaymen’s Union was founded
and Swadeshi leaders Bipin Chandrapal, Liakat Hussain etc, addressed coolies to draw them in.
• Jute strikes peaked between 1905-8 and in 1906 the labour movement was formidable.
• Yet the main limitation of labour movement Sarkar says was that there were no real
political strikes as plantation and mine labourers didn’t participate and Swadeshi
contacts were mainly with white collar clerks or at best jute workers.
Revolutionary groups
• Sumit Sarkar says that revolutionary groups began developing as early as 1902 in
Midnapur(Midnapur Society) and Calcutta(e.g.Anushilan Samiti founded Satishchandra Basu,
Sarla Ghoshal founded a gymnasium and the Atmonnoti Samiti were founded).
• Initially their activities were confined to physical and moral training and were
insignificant till 1907-08.
• In early years 1905-6 Aurobindo Ghosh’s brother started the newspaper Yugantar which
expressed revolutionary ideas and planned a few attacks – like an attack on East Bengal Lt.
Gov Fuller which failed.
• Henchandra Kaunungo went abroad to get revolutionary training from Russian émigré
in Paris and returned in 1908 to set up a religious school and bomb factory in Maniktala,
Calcutta.
• With the decline of the Swadeshi movement by mid 1908, Sarkar says revolutionary
terrorism emerged as a new trend and was to constitute the main legacy of the Swadeshi
movement as it continued even in other parts of India.
• Revolutionary activities took two shapes-
• Swadeshi dacoitites to raise funds for the movement (e.g.Pulin Das’s Dacca Anushilan
Samiti organized the Barrah dacoity-1908)
• Later attempts to assassinate oppressive Government Officials – 1) in 1908 Khudiram
Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb on the carriage of the Magistrate Kingsford, yet
failed to kill him and led to the arrest of the Maniktala revolutionaries including Aurobindo
Ghosh and his brother Barindranath. Chakki shot himself and Khudiram was tried and
hung-with thousands mourning this. 2) Rash Behari Ghosh and Sachin Sanyal also tried
to kill Viceroy Hardinge only managing to wound him. 3) Even abroad officials were
targeted by Revolutionary centres set up by Swadeshi leaders like VD Savakar, Ajit
Singh, Madam Cama.
• Sarkar and Chandra say Revolutionary Terrorist activity outlived the period of Swadeshi,
contributing greatly to the nationalist struggle as it frightened British officials and led to
worldwide arms and ideological training contacts.
• However Sarkar cites its main limitations as follows- 1) British administration never saw
it as a major danger and the emphasis on religious doctrines like Gita doctrine of Nishkama to
justify terrorist activities, stimulated a cult of martyrdom rather than a effective planned
struggle making these actions spontaneous and futile . 2) Elite terrorist action postponed
efforts at a mass political struggle that was sustainable. 3) Social limitations of
Revolutionary terrorism were clear as very few men joined such terrorist activity.
Development of Swadeshi Movement across the Country –
One also saw Swadeshi movement develop in other parts of India especially amongst educated
Indians as Curzon’s repressive measures aroused anger. The shape of the movement differed in
various regions-
• Punjab- Swadeshi took the form of Constructive Swadeshi- in banking, education, insurance
and some effort at boycott of foreign cloth led by The college Faction of the Arya Samaj and
Brahmo Samaj. Among Aryas Swadeshi got mixed with hindu revivalism Between 1904-7
Political Extremism developed under the likes of Lala lajpat Rai, but this was shortlived and
milder than Bengal. Ajit singh was another political extremist who later became a
revolutionary terrorist. Yet by 1907 May in the face of govt repression and some political
concessions Swadeshi died down in Punjab.
• In Maharashtra- Political Extremism with a dominant Hindu revivalist streak was led by
BG Tilak he preached Swaraj, boycott and passive resistance. Two main initiatives of Tilak
were mass picketing of liquor shops and development of contacts with Marathi working
class-thus one saw huge militant labour strikes especially when Tilak was put on triale.
g.Mujli Jatha Market hartal. Police and army fried on labour strikes. Post Tilak’s
imprisonment Extremism changed to revolutionary terrorism with Abhinav Bharat Society,
Nav Bharat Society etc coming up yet terrorism was never as formidable as in Bengal.
• Madras Presidency- Political Extremism emerged for a short period in the Andhra delta-
M Krisna Rao invited Bipin Chandra Pal, which excited students and led to start of national
schools and one saw cultural developments-new intrest in telagu lang and history. In
Tirunelveli dist- Chidambram Pillai was the main leader and one saw capitalist funding
Swadeshi ventures which were unique. S Siva preached swaraj and botcott. But after the
imprisonment of these leaders Swadeshi declined.
REASONS FOR DECLINE/ANTI CLIMAX AND ACHIEVEMENTSThe
Swadeshi Movement peaked around 1906 yet by 1908 most historians agree that it petered
out especially in its mass mobilization, Boycott and Swadeshi aspects. Sumit Sarkar holds the
various internal limitations of the primary aspects of Swadeshi mentioned above as responsible
for the anti climax of Swadeshi not being able to develop into a larger mass movement post 1908.
The Gandhian methods it anticipated failed to convert into a sustained mass political struggle. The
internal limitations of each aspect explored above ensured this, coupled with ineffective centralized
leadership.
General Reasons – Nationalist historian Bipan Chandra gives other general reasons for this
anti climax –
1. Firstly government repression began by 1907as the government feared the revolutionary
potential of the movements. Repression included bans on public meeting, Swadeshi
students being expelled from government institutions, police beatings.
2. Due to internal squabbles and especially the Surat Split-1907 the movement’s political
leadership was weakened.
3. Because Swadeshi had spread outside Bengal to other areas like Punjab, Maharashtra,
Madras yet these regions were not prepared to adopt new style/stage of politics.
4. Between 1907-08 the Split in Congress and the inability of Swadeshi to take deep roots
elsewhere strengthened the Government and nine prominent Swadeshi leaders from
across India were arrested-Bengal-Ashwinikumar Dutt and KK Mitra, Maharashtra-Tilak,
Punjab- Ajit Singh and Lajpat Rai, Madras- Chidambram Pillai. Bepin Chandra Pal and
Aurobindo Ghosh retired from active politics.
5. Swadeshi movement lacked organized leadership despite having most features of
Gandhian struggle later to come.
6. The Movement was unable to garner the support of mass of Muslims especially the
peasantry- while government policy was responsible for this so was the use of Hindu
revivalism as a method of mass mobilization by certain Extremists.
7. The movement declined due to the very logic of mass movements-i.e. that they can’t be
sustained at the same pitch of militancy/self sacrifice for long.
Legacy- Despite the movement ending in a political anti climax Sumit Sarkar and Bipan
Chandra say it made some important contributions –
1. It led to various cultural achievements- numerous songs in vernacular were composed by
Rabindranath Tagore, Rajat Kanta Sen etc which inspired later nationalists-e.g. Amar Sonar
Bangla. New interest in local history and folk traditions with Bengali folk music being
popularized. In art Abindranath Tagore founded the Bengal school of Painting shedding off
Victorian art.
2. the scientific work of PC Ray etc was laudable
3. Revolutionary terrorism was the most substantial legacy of Swadeshi in Bengal which
inspired the youth for a generation after Swadeshi and contributed to the annulment of
Partition in 1911. For Chandra
4. The movement made a major contribution to the idea of nationalism.
5. Social base of the movement was broadened-extending to zamindars, lower middle class
in cities/small towns and students. Chandra says even though Sarkar says peasant
participation was negligible, in areas like Barisal, Samitis did reached the peasants and
exposed them to new ideas, even if peasant demands weren’t championed by leaders or
peasant participation wasn’t high
6. It also led to several new techniques of political mass mobilization to be put into use
later and thus he saw it as ‘the first round of the nationalist popular struggle’.