Swadeshi Movement (1905–1911)

Introduction
• The Swadeshi Movement emerged as a powerful response to the 1905 Partition of Bengal.
• It combined economic nationalism, mass mobilization, social reform, and assertive political action.
• It is remembered as the first all-India mass movement that went beyond petitions and constitutional methods.

Core Features of Swadeshi Movement
• Boycott of British goods.
• Promotion of indigenous industries.
• National education to replace government-controlled education.
• Self-reliance and self-strengthening of Indian society.
• Cultural revival through festivals, folk forms, and religious symbolism.

Launch of the Movement
• Mass meetings were held across Bengal to pledge Swadeshi and boycott foreign goods.
• Demonstrations included:
  – Picketing shops selling foreign goods.
  – Public bonfires of foreign cloth.
• Result: A huge boost to Indian industries such as textile mills, match factories, soap units, handloom weaving, banks, and insurance firms.
• On 15 August 1906: National Council of Education formed; National College started with Aurobindo Ghose as principal.

Methods of Struggle

1. Formation of Volunteer Organizations
• These acted as disciplined units for mass mobilization.
• Key examples:
  – Swadesh Bandhab Samiti (Ashwini Kumar Dutta, Barisal)
  – Swadeshi Sangam (V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Tirunelveli)

2. Social Works and Festivals
• Tools of mass outreach:
  – Swadeshi songs and street plays.
  – Lantern lectures.
  – Relief work during famines and epidemics.
  – Political messages through festivals.
• Festivals used:
  – Ganesh festival and Shivaji festival (popularized by Tilak) as platforms for patriotic propaganda.

3. Promotion of Swadeshi Industries
• Indigenous ventures encouraged:
  – Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (V.O.C. Pillai, Tuticorin) challenged the British India Steam Navigation Company.

4. Social Reform and National Education
• Swadeshi meant “self-reform + self-reliance.”
• Campaigns against:
  – Caste oppression
  – Dowry
  – Early marriage
  – Alcohol consumption
• Educational measures:
  – Bengal National College established.
  – National Council of Education created in 1906 for education “on national lines and under national control.”

Extent of Mass Participation

Women
• Active participation in rallies, picketing, processions.
• Middle-class urban women stepped into public life for the first time.

Students
• Backbone of the movement.
• Organized picketing of foreign cloth shops.
• Established national schools and colleges.

Muslims
• Some leaders joined the movement: Abdul Rasul, Liaqat Hussain, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
• However, upper and middle-class Muslims largely supported partition, expecting benefits from Muslim-majority East Bengal.
• Nawab Salimullah led pro-partition camp and founded the All India Muslim League in 1906.

Labour Participation
• Strikes in foreign-owned mills led by:
  – Subramania Siva
  – Chidambaram Pillai
• Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh organized railway worker strikes in Punjab.

Growth of Revolutionary Terrorism
• Severe government repression and frustration over political failures led to the rise of militant nationalism.
• Revolutionary nationalism drew inspiration from Irish and Russian movements.
• Key incidents:
  – 1897: Chapekar brothers assassinated two British officials in Poona.
  – 1904: V.D. Savarkar created Abhinava Bharat (secret revolutionary society).
  – Radical newspapers: Sandhya, Yugantar (Bengal); Kal (Maharashtra).
  – 1908: Khudiram Bose & Prafulla Chaki attempted assassination of Judge Kingsford at Muzaffarpur.
    * Khudiram executed, Prafulla committed suicide.
• Anushilan Samiti became the most influential revolutionary group with hundreds of branches.
• Indian revolutionaries abroad:
  – London: Savarkar, Shyamji Krishnavarma, Har Dayal
  – Europe: Madam Cama, Ajit Singh

Repressive Measures by British
• Harsh laws passed:
  – Seditious Meetings Act (1907)
  – Indian Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act (1908)
  – Criminal Law Amendment Act (1908)
  – Indian Press Act (1910)
• Tilak imprisoned for six years for “seditious writing” in Kesari.
• Lajpat Rai exiled abroad.
• Aurobindo Ghosh and Bipin Chandra Pal withdrew from active politics.
• Extremists lacked organization; Moderates lacked mass support, creating division in national movement.

Annulment of Partition (1911)
• Due to rising revolutionary activity and administrative inconvenience.
• King George V announced:
  – Bengal reunited.
  – Bihar, Orissa & Assam separated into new provinces.
  – Capital shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi.

Evaluation of the Swadeshi Movement

Strengths
• First mass-based nationalist uprising touching students, women, workers, and intelligentsia.
• Economic nationalism strengthened — growth of swadeshi industries.
• Cultural renewal through literature, songs, festivals.
• Gave birth to revolutionary nationalism and extremist wing of Congress.
• Created a new self-confident political consciousness.

Weaknesses
• Faded by 1908 due to:
  – Harsh state repression.
  – Lack of central coordination/organization.
  – Internal conflict (Surat Split 1907).
• Failed to reach most peasants; non-cooperation and passive resistance not systematically developed.

Impact on British Policy
• Due to widespread unrest, Britain adopted “Carrot and Stick Policy” under John Morley:
  – Repression of extremists.
  – Conciliation of moderates.
  – Attempts to isolate radical nationalists.
• This policy shaped future constitutional reforms (e.g., Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909).

Conclusion
• Swadeshi Movement was a turning point in India’s freedom struggle.
• It replaced passive politics with assertive nationalism.
• It stimulated indigenous enterprise, national education, and mass mobilization.
• It laid the groundwork for later Gandhian mass movements and transformed the political landscape permanently.
 

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Subject: Modern History

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