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Chapekar brothers

Damodar, Balkrishna and Vasudeo Chapekar were associated with the assassination of W.C. Rand, the British plague commissioner in Pune, in 1897. Their action is an early landmark in revolutionary nationalism.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Associated with Mitra Mela and the revolutionary organisation Abhinav Bharat. He also wrote The Indian War of Independence, 1857, interpreting the uprising as a war of independence.

Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki

In 1908, they were involved in the attempt to target Magistrate Douglas Kingsford at Muzaffarpur. The bomb struck a carriage carrying two British women, who were killed. Khudiram was captured and executed; Prafulla Chaki died while evading arrest.

V.D. Savarkar and the 1857 uprising

Savarkar’s interpretation of 1857 helped popularise a nationalist reading of the revolt. Distinguish his historical interpretation from the varying regional causes and participants of the uprising.

Shyamji Krishna Varma

Established India House in London in 1905 and promoted Indian self-rule through political activity and publication of The Indian Sociologist.

Madan Lal Dhingra

Assassinated Curzon Wyllie in London in 1909. His execution made him a prominent figure in the history of revolutionary nationalism abroad.

Madam Bhikaji Cama

Worked from Europe to promote Indian independence and circulated revolutionary nationalist material. She is associated with the publication Bande Mataram abroad and the display of an Indian nationalist flag at Stuttgart in 1907.

Lala Hardayal and the Ghadar movement

The Ghadar movement developed among Indian migrants, especially in North America. The weekly Ghadar began in 1913. Leaders and associates included Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kartar Singh Sarabha and Barkatullah.

Rashbehari Bose and the wartime conspiracy

Rashbehari Bose was involved in plans for an uprising during the First World War. Revolutionary networks attempted to coordinate action in India with overseas support; the planned 1915 revolt failed.

Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)

Founded in 1924, the HRA sought to organise an armed revolution against colonial rule and proposed a federal republic. Important figures included Ram Prasad Bismil, Sachindranath Sanyal and Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee.

Kakori train action — 9 August 1925

HRA revolutionaries stopped the 8-Down train near Kakori and took government railway cash. The subsequent crackdown led to trials and severe sentences.

Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha

Founded in 1926, the Sabha promoted political work among young people and aimed to reach workers and peasants. Bhagat Singh’s political outlook developed beyond individual acts of heroism towards organised mass action and socialism.

Saunders case — December 1928

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad were involved in the killing of J.P. Saunders in Lahore. The action followed the death of Lala Lajpat Rai after a police lathi-charge during protests against the Simon Commission.

Central Legislative Assembly — 8 April 1929

Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw bombs in the Assembly to protest repressive legislation. They intended to use the trial as a platform to communicate revolutionary ideas. The bombs were deliberately designed to be relatively harmless.

Prison protest and Jatin Das

Revolutionaries protested against prison conditions and demanded treatment befitting political prisoners. Jatin Das died after a prolonged hunger strike in 1929.

Execution — 23 March 1931

Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were executed in Lahore. Bhagat Singh’s public image became closely associated with anti-imperialism, sacrifice and revolutionary socialist thought.

Surya Sen — “Masterda”

A teacher and revolutionary organiser in Bengal. On 18 April 1930, he led an operation against armouries and communications infrastructure in Chittagong under the banner of the Indian Republican Army, Chittagong Branch.

Objectives of the raid

• Seize arms from the armouries.
• Disrupt telephone and telegraph communications.
• Interrupt railway connections and challenge British authority.
• Demonstrate the possibility of organised revolutionary resistance.

Associates

Important associated figures included Anant Singh, Ganesh Ghosh, Lokenath Bal and a number of young activists, including women. The raid inspired further revolutionary activity even though the group could not sustain control of the area.

Surya Sen’s fate

He was arrested in February 1933 and executed on 12 January 1934.

Pritilata Waddedar

Associated with Surya Sen’s revolutionary group. She led an attack on the Pahartali European Club in 1932 and died during the operation.

Kalpana Datta (Kalpana Dutt)

Participated in the Chittagong revolutionary network. She was arrested, tried and sentenced to transportation for life; her sentence was later commuted.

Shanti Ghosh and Suniti Choudhury

Schoolgirls from Comilla who shot dead the district magistrate, C.G.B. Stevens, in December 1931.

Bina Das

Attempted to shoot Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson during a university convocation in February 1932.

Madam Bhikaji Cama

Worked internationally for Indian independence through political advocacy and publications. Her contribution illustrates that women’s revolutionary activity extended beyond armed actions inside India.

How revolutionary ideas evolved

Early revolutionary circles often emphasised secret societies, patriotism and direct attacks on colonial authority. In the 1920s, some revolutionaries increasingly articulated socialism, secularism, collective leadership and opposition to economic exploitation.