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Quick recap: Revolutionary movements on one page

मराठीत स्पष्टीकरण

Revolutionary movements · Quick recap · Fact-checked on 8 November 2026 · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

Both parts of the chapter condensed for quick revision: why revolutionary nationalism grew, the societies of Maharashtra and Bengal, Muzaffarpur, Alipore and the Delhi bomb, the revolutionaries abroad and the Ghadar Party, the wartime plots, the HRA and Kakori, the HSRA and Bhagat Singh, the Chittagong raid, the women revolutionaries, the movement's decline and Udham Singh.

Each idea is explained first in Marathi (मराठी), ending with the English and Hindi exam terms, followed by the same point in exam English. UPSC Prelims is in English or Hindi, so understand it in Marathi and revise it in English.

या अध्यायाने क्रांतिकारकांचा अभ्यास केला — काँग्रेसच्या उघड राजकारणासोबतच गुप्त संघटना आणि शस्त्रांचा मार्ग निवडणारे तरुण राष्ट्रवादी. भाग 1 — 1897 च्या चापेकर बंधूंपासून पहिल्या महायुद्धाच्या अखेरीपर्यंत, महाराष्ट्र, बंगाल आणि परदेशातील भारतीय. भाग 2 — 1922 नंतरच्या पुनरुत्थानापासून चितगाव उठाव आणि 1930 च्या दशकाच्या मध्यापर्यंत; प्रमुख गट समाजवादाकडे वळले. दोन्ही टप्पे दडपशाहीवरील संताप आणि संथ अर्ज-विनंत्यांच्या राजकारणाबद्दलच्या अधीरतेतून जन्मले — कितीही ठोठावले तरी दार न उघडल्याने खिडकी फोडावी, तसे. (→ English: revolutionaries · हिन्दी: क्रांतिकारी)

In exam EnglishThis chapter followed the revolutionaries, the young nationalists who chose secret organisation and arms alongside the open politics of the Congress. Part 1 covered the first phase, from the Chapekar brothers in 1897 to the end of the First World War, in Maharashtra, Bengal and among Indians abroad. Part 2 covered the second phase, from the revival after 1922 to the Chittagong rising and the mid-1930s, when the leading groups turned to socialism. Both phases grew out of anger at repression and impatience with slow, petition-based politics.

Revolutionary movements at a glance
Year	Event	Remember
1897	Rand shot at Poona	Chapekar brothers
1902 / 1906	Anushilan Samiti; Jugantar	Calcutta, Dacca (Pulin Behari Das); Barindra Kumar Ghosh
1908	Muzaffarpur bomb; Alipore case	Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki; Aurobindo acquitted
1909	Curzon Wyllie killed in London; Jackson killed at Nasik	Madan Lal Dhingra; Abhinav Bharat
1912	Bomb at Viceroy Hardinge, Delhi	Rash Behari Bose
1913–1915	Ghadar Party; Komagata Maru; failed rising; Kabul government	San Francisco; Sohan Singh Bhakna, Har Dayal; Mahendra Pratap
1924 / 1925	HRA founded; Kakori train action	Kanpur; Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan
1928	HSRA formed; Saunders shot	Feroz Shah Kotla; Azad, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru
1929	Assembly bombs; Jatin Das dies	Bhagat Singh and B. K. Dutt; 63-day fast
1930	Chittagong armoury raid; Writers' Building	Surya Sen; Benoy, Badal, Dinesh
1931	Azad killed; Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru hanged	Allahabad, 27 February; Lahore, 23 March
1940	O'Dwyer shot in London	Udham Singh

पहिल्या टप्प्यात महाराष्ट्राने सर्वप्रथम संकेत दिले: 1897 मध्ये चापेकरांनी रँडला गोळी घातली; वि. दा. सावरकरांचा मित्र मेळा (1899) अभिनव भारत (1904) झाला. अनुशीलन समिती (कलकत्ता 1902; ढाका 1906, पुलिनबिहारी दास) आणि युगांतर गट (1906) यांच्यामुळे बंगाल मुख्य केंद्र बनला. 30 एप्रिल 1908 रोजी मुझफ्फरपूरला खुदीराम बोस आणि प्रफुल्ल चाकी यांनी किंग्जफोर्डसाठी बॉम्ब टाकला; अलीपूर खटल्यात अरविंद निर्दोष सुटले, धाकटे भाऊ बारींद्र यांना शिक्षा झाली. 23 डिसेंबर 1912 रोजी रासबिहारी बोस यांच्या गटाने दिल्लीत व्हाइसरॉय हार्डिंग्ज यांच्यावर बॉम्ब फेकला. थोरला सुटला, धाकट्याला शिक्षा — ही जोडी लक्षात ठेवा. (→ English: Alipore bomb case · हिन्दी: अलीपुर बम मामला)

In exam EnglishIn the first phase, Maharashtra gave the earliest signs: the Chapekars shot Rand in 1897, and V. D. Savarkar's Mitra Mela (1899) became Abhinav Bharat (1904). Bengal became the main centre with the Anushilan Samiti (Calcutta 1902; Dacca 1906, under Pulin Behari Das) and the Jugantar group (1906). At Muzaffarpur on 30 April 1908 Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb meant for Kingsford; in the Alipore case that followed, Aurobindo was acquitted while his brother Barindra was sentenced. On 23 December 1912 Rash Behari Bose's group threw a bomb at Viceroy Hardinge in Delhi.

परदेशातील भारतीयांनी दुसरी आघाडी उघडली. श्यामजी कृष्ण वर्मा यांनी लंडनमध्ये इंडिया हाउस (1905) स्थापन केले; 1909 मध्ये मदनलाल धिंग्रा यांनी तेथे कर्झन वायली यांना ठार केले; 1907 मध्ये मादाम भिकाजी कामा यांनी स्टुटगार्ट येथे स्वातंत्र्याचा ध्वज फडकवला. पॅसिफिक किनाऱ्यावरील पंजाबी कामगारांनी 1913 मध्ये सॅन फ्रान्सिस्को येथे सोहनसिंग भकना आणि लाला हरदयाळ यांच्यासह गदर पार्टी स्थापली. कोमागाटा मारू (1914) ने संताप भडकवला; फेब्रुवारी 1915 च्या उठावाची योजना फसली. युद्धकाळात बर्लिन समिती, काबूलचे हंगामी सरकार (1915), बालासोर येथे बाघा जतीन यांचा अखेरचा लढा (1915), भारत संरक्षण कायदा (1915) आणि रौलट समिती (1918). घरच्या लढ्याला दूरदेशीच्या नातलगांनीही आवाज दिला, तसे. (→ English: Ghadar Party · हिन्दी: ग़दर पार्टी)

In exam EnglishIndians abroad opened a second front. Shyamji Krishna Varma founded India House in London (1905); Madan Lal Dhingra killed Curzon Wyllie there in 1909, and Madame Bhikaji Cama raised a flag of independence at Stuttgart in 1907. Punjabi workers on the Pacific coast founded the Ghadar Party at San Francisco in 1913, with Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Har Dayal. The Komagata Maru (1914) inflamed feeling, and the planned rising of February 1915 failed. During the war came the Berlin committee, the Provisional Government at Kabul (1915), Bagha Jatin's last fight at Balasore (1915), the Defence of India Act (1915) and the Rowlatt Committee (1918).

दुसरा टप्पा 1922 मध्ये असहकार चळवळ थांबल्याच्या निराशेतून सुरू झाला; रशियन क्रांती आणि समाजवादी विचारांनी प्रेरणा दिली. हिंदुस्थान रिपब्लिकन असोसिएशनने (कानपूर, ऑक्टोबर 1924) 9 ऑगस्ट 1925 रोजी काकोरी रेल्वे कारवाई केली; डिसेंबर 1927 मध्ये बिस्मिल, अशफाकउल्ला खान, राजेंद्र लाहिरी आणि रोशनसिंग यांना फाशी झाली. सप्टेंबर 1928 मध्ये दिल्लीच्या फिरोजशाह कोटला येथे चंद्रशेखर आझाद यांच्या नेतृत्वाखाली ती हिंदुस्थान सोशलिस्ट रिपब्लिकन असोसिएशन झाली. लाहोरच्या लाठीमारानंतर लजपतरायांचे निधन झाल्यावर भगतसिंग आणि राजगुरू यांनी सँडर्सला गोळ्या घातल्या (17 डिसेंबर 1928). जुन्या घरालाच नवे नाव आणि नवे ध्येय दिले, तसे. (→ English: Non-Cooperation Movement · हिन्दी: असहयोग आंदोलन)

In exam EnglishThe second phase began with disappointment at the end of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922, and drew on the Russian Revolution and socialist ideas. The Hindustan Republican Association (Kanpur, October 1924) carried out the Kakori train action on 9 August 1925; Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Roshan Singh were hanged in December 1927. In September 1928, at Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, it became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association under Chandrashekhar Azad. After Lajpat Rai died following the Lahore lathi charge, Bhagat Singh and Rajguru shot Saunders (17 December 1928).

8 एप्रिल 1929 रोजी भगतसिंग आणि बटुकेश्वर दत्त यांनी पब्लिक सेफ्टी व ट्रेड डिस्प्यूट्स बिलांविरुद्ध केंद्रीय विधानसभेत निरुपद्रवी बॉम्ब टाकले, ‘इन्किलाब जिंदाबाद’ घोषणा दिली आणि अटक करवून घेतली. 63 दिवसांच्या उपोषणानंतर जतीन दास मरण पावले (13 सप्टेंबर 1929). लाहोर कट खटल्यात 23 मार्च 1931 रोजी भगतसिंग, सुखदेव आणि राजगुरू यांना फाशी दिली; 27 फेब्रुवारी 1931 रोजी अलाहाबादला पोलिसांशी लढताना आझाद धारातीर्थी पडले. बंगालमध्ये सूर्य सेन यांच्या इंडियन रिपब्लिकन आर्मीने 18 एप्रिल 1930 रोजी चितगावच्या शस्त्रागारांवर छापा घातला; 1934 मध्ये त्यांना फाशी झाली. प्रीतिलता वड्डेदार, कल्पना दत्त, शांती घोष, सुनीती चौधरी आणि बीना दास — स्त्रियांच्या सहभागाचे साक्षीदार. (→ English: Central Legislative Assembly · हिन्दी: केंद्रीय विधान सभा)

In exam EnglishOn 8 April 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw harmless bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills, shouted ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ and courted arrest. Jatin Das died after a 63-day hunger strike (13 September 1929). Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged in the Lahore conspiracy case on 23 March 1931; Azad died fighting the police at Allahabad on 27 February 1931. In Bengal, Surya Sen's Indian Republican Army raided the Chittagong armouries on 18 April 1930; he was hanged in 1934. Pritilata Waddedar, Kalpana Dutt, Santi Ghosh, Suniti Chaudhuri and Bina Das showed the part women played.

1930 च्या दशकाच्या मध्यापर्यंत दडपशाही आणि नेत्यांच्या हानीमुळे संघटित चळवळ संपली; उरलेल्यांपैकी अनेक जण कम्युनिझम किंवा काँग्रेस सोशलिस्ट पक्षाकडे (1934) वळले. गांधींनी हिंसेचा निषेध केला (‘द कल्ट ऑफ द बॉम्ब’; HSRA चे उत्तर ‘द फिलॉसॉफी ऑफ द बॉम्ब’), तरीही 1931 च्या कराची काँग्रेसने भगतसिंग व साथीदारांच्या धैर्याची प्रशंसा केली. 1940 मध्ये जालियनवाला बागेचा सूड म्हणून उधमसिंगांनी लंडनमध्ये मायकेल ओ'डायर यांना गोळी घातली. क्रांतिकारकांना जनआंदोलनांइतका विस्तार मिळाला नाही; पण स्वातंत्र्य म्हणजे सामाजिक बदलही, ही कल्पना त्यांनी रुंदावली — लहान दिवा असला तरी नवी खोली उजळवावी, तसे. (→ English: Udham Singh · हिन्दी: ऊधम सिंह)

In exam EnglishBy the mid-1930s repression and the loss of leaders had ended the organised movement, and many survivors turned to communism or the Congress Socialist Party (1934). Gandhi condemned the violence (‘The Cult of the Bomb’, answered by the HSRA's ‘The Philosophy of the Bomb’), yet the Karachi Congress of 1931 praised the courage of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. In 1940 Udham Singh shot Michael O'Dwyer in London to avenge Jallianwala Bagh. The revolutionaries never matched the reach of the mass movements, but they widened the idea of freedom to include social change.

Exam traps

Aurobindo was acquitted in the Alipore case; his brother Barindra Kumar Ghosh was sentenced.
Madan Lal Dhingra killed Curzon Wyllie in London (1909); Jackson was killed at Nasik (1909) by Anant Kanhere.
The Ghadar Party was founded at San Francisco (1913), not in Berlin or Kabul.
The HRA (Kanpur, 1924) became the HSRA (Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, 1928); ‘Socialist’ was added in 1928.
Saunders, not Scott, was shot in December 1928; Scott ordered the lathi charge on Lajpat Rai.
Bhagat Singh was hanged for the Saunders killing (Lahore conspiracy case), not for the Assembly bombs.
Azad was not hanged; he died fighting the police at Allahabad (27 February 1931).
Udham Singh killed Michael O'Dwyer in 1940, not General Dyer.

Recap

Causes: repression of Swadeshi, impatience of the young; later, disappointment after 1922 and socialist ideas.
Maharashtra: Chapekars (1897), Mitra Mela (1899) and Abhinav Bharat (1904), Nasik (1909).
Bengal: Anushilan Samiti (1902), Jugantar (1906), Muzaffarpur and Alipore (1908), Delhi bomb (1912).
Abroad: India House (1905), Madame Cama at Stuttgart (1907), Dhingra (1909), Ghadar Party (1913), Komagata Maru (1914), Kabul (1915).
HRA (1924) and Kakori (1925); HSRA (1928) under Azad; Saunders (1928); Assembly bombs (1929).
Jatin Das (1929); Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru hanged 23 March 1931; Azad died 27 February 1931.
Chittagong raid (18 April 1930, Surya Sen); women revolutionaries; Writers' Building (1930).
Decline by the mid-1930s; Karachi 1931 praised their courage; Udham Singh killed O'Dwyer (1940).

Practice questions

Q1. Consider the following statements:
1. In the Alipore bomb case, Aurobindo Ghose was acquitted.
2. The Muzaffarpur bomb of 1908 was meant for Kingsford.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

(c) is correct: Aurobindo was acquitted in 1909, and the Muzaffarpur bomb was aimed at Kingsford; both statements are right. (a) is wrong because statement 2 is also true. (b) is wrong because statement 1 is also true. (d) is wrong because both statements are true.

Q2. The Ghadar Party was founded in 1913 at:

Berlin
London
San Francisco
Kabul

Show answer

Answer: C. San Francisco

(c) is correct: Punjabi workers on the Pacific coast founded it at San Francisco. (a) is wrong: Berlin was the seat of the wartime Indian committee. (b) is wrong: London had India House (1905). (d) is wrong: Kabul saw the Provisional Government of 1915.

Q3. Match List I (person) with List II (place linked to the person's best-known action):
List I
A. Madame Bhikaji Cama
B. Rash Behari Bose
C. Surya Sen
D. Udham Singh
List II
1. Stuttgart
2. Delhi
3. Chittagong
4. London
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4
A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
A-2, B-1, C-3, D-4

Show answer

Answer: A. A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4

(a) is correct: Cama raised the flag at Stuttgart (1907), Rash Behari Bose's group bombed Hardinge in Delhi (1912), Surya Sen led the Chittagong raid (1930), and Udham Singh shot O'Dwyer in London (1940). (b) is wrong because it swaps Stuttgart and London. (c) is wrong because it swaps Delhi and Chittagong. (d) is wrong because it swaps Stuttgart and Delhi.

Q4. The Sedition Committee, whose report of 1918 led to the Rowlatt Act, was headed by:

Sidney Rowlatt
Lord Hunter
John Simon
Edwin Montagu

Show answer

Answer: A. Sidney Rowlatt

(a) is correct: Justice Sidney Rowlatt headed the Sedition Committee of 1918. (b) is wrong: Lord Hunter headed the inquiry into the Punjab disorders of 1919. (c) is wrong: John Simon headed the Statutory Commission of 1927–28. (d) is wrong: Montagu was the Secretary of State who made the declaration of 1917.

Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. The word ‘Socialist’ was added to the name of the Hindustan Republican Association in 1928.
2. Chandrashekhar Azad was hanged in Lahore jail in 1931.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2

Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

(a) is correct: the HSRA was formed at Feroz Shah Kotla in September 1928, so statement 1 is right; statement 2 is wrong because Azad died fighting the police at Allahabad, while Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged at Lahore. (b) is wrong because statement 2 is false. (c) is wrong because only statement 1 is true. (d) is wrong because statement 1 is true.

Q6. Arrange the following in chronological order:
1. The bomb thrown at Viceroy Hardinge in Delhi
2. The Kakori train action
3. The attack at Muzaffarpur
4. The bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

3-1-2-4
1-3-2-4
3-2-1-4
3-1-4-2

Show answer

Answer: A. 3-1-2-4

(a) is correct: Muzaffarpur (1908), Delhi (1912), Kakori (1925), Assembly (1929). (b) is wrong because Muzaffarpur came before the Delhi bomb. (c) is wrong because the Delhi bomb came before Kakori. (d) is wrong because Kakori came before the Assembly bombs.

Q7. The Chittagong armoury raid of April 1930 was led by:

Jatindranath Mukherjee
Surya Sen
Barindra Kumar Ghosh
Sachindranath Sanyal

Show answer

Answer: B. Surya Sen

(b) is correct: Surya Sen's Indian Republican Army carried out the raid. (a) is wrong: Bagha Jatin died after the fight at Balasore in 1915. (c) is wrong: Barindra led the Jugantar group and was sentenced in the Alipore case. (d) is wrong: Sanyal was a founder of the HRA at Kanpur.

Q8. Which one of the following statements about the Karachi session of the Congress (March 1931) is correct?

It approved the methods of the HSRA.
While disapproving of political violence, it praised the bravery of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.
It made no reference to the executions.
It expelled members who admired the revolutionaries.

Show answer

Answer: B. While disapproving of political violence, it praised the bravery of Bhagat Singh and his comrades.

(b) is correct: the Karachi resolution disapproved of violence but recorded admiration for the bravery and sacrifice of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. (a) is wrong because the Congress never endorsed violent methods. (c) is wrong because the session met days after the executions and addressed them. (d) is wrong because no such expulsion took place.

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Sources

The Explosive Substances Act, 1908; the Defence of India Act, 1915; the Trade Disputes Act, 1929; the judgments in the Alipore bomb case (1909), the Lahore conspiracy cases (1915 and 1930), the Kakori conspiracy case (1927) and the Assembly bomb case (1929) — https://www.indiacode.nic.in
Records of the Home Department (Political) on revolutionary activity in India and abroad, 1897–1934; National Archives of India, Abhilekh Patal — https://www.abhilekh-patal.in
Report of the Sedition Committee (Rowlatt Committee), Government of India, 1918 — https://www.abhilekh-patal.in