Revolutionary Activities Abroad
Modern History › Revolutionary Activities and the First World War · Topic 15.4
Indian revolutionaries went abroad for shelter, uncensored literature and arms: India House in London under Shyamji Krishnavarma, Madame Cama's Paris and Geneva group, the Berlin Committee for Indian Independence and, most important, the Ghadr Party of North America (1913), whose planned revolt of 21 February 1915 was foiled, while the Singapore mutiny of 15 February 1915 was crushed.
8 min read · UPSC Prelims · History · Revolutionary Activities and the First World War
At a Glance
- London India House (1905) under Shyamji Krishnavarma; Dhingra killed Curzon-Wyllie in 1909
- Continent Paris and Geneva (Madame Cama); Berlin (Chattopadhyaya)
- North America Ghadr Party, 1913; Komagata Maru 1914; failed revolt of 21 February 1915
- Repression Defence of India Act, March 1915
- Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Revolutionary Activities and the First World War
Where Does It Fit?
This is the fourth topic of the category on revolutionary activities and the First World War. The previous topic surveyed Maharashtra and Punjab. This topic follows the revolutionaries abroad. The next topic assesses the decline of the first phase. Previous topic: Revolutionary Activities in Maharashtra and Punjab.
Why Did Revolutionaries Go Abroad?
The need for shelter, the possibility of bringing out revolutionary literature immune from the Press Acts, and the quest for arms took Indian revolutionaries abroad.
What Was India House in London?
Shyamji Krishnavarma started the Indian Home Rule Society, called India House, in London in 1905 as a centre for Indian students, with a scholarship scheme to bring radical youth from India and a journal, The Indian Sociologist. Revolutionaries such as Savarkar and Hardayal became its members. Madanlal Dhingra, from this circle, assassinated the India Office bureaucrat Curzon-Wyllie in 1909. London soon became too dangerous for the revolutionaries, particularly after Savarkar was extradited in 1910 and transported for life in the Nasik conspiracy case, as told in Revolutionary Activities in Maharashtra and Punjab.
New centres emerged on the continent: Paris and Geneva, from where Madame Bhikaji Cama, a Parsi revolutionary with contacts among French socialists who brought out the journal Bande Mataram, and Ajit Singh operated. After 1909, when Anglo-German relations deteriorated, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya chose Berlin as his base. The Parsi reform movement in which Cama’s community took part is in Parsi Reform Movements.
What Was the Ghadr Party?
The Ghadr Party was a revolutionary group organised around a weekly newspaper, The Ghadr, with its headquarters at San Francisco and branches along the US coast and in the Far East. Its members were mainly ex-soldiers and peasants who had migrated from Punjab to the USA and Canada for better employment. They were based in cities on the western Pacific coast. Pre-Ghadr activity had been carried on by Ramdas Puri, G.D. Kumar, Taraknath Das, Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal, who reached there in 1911. The earlier activists set up a Swadesh Sevak Home at Vancouver and a United India House at Seattle. Finally, in 1913, the Ghadr was established.
The Ghadr programme was to organise assassinations of officials, publish revolutionary and anti-imperialist literature, work among Indian troops stationed abroad, procure arms and bring about a simultaneous revolt in all British colonies. Its moving spirits were Lala Hardayal, Ramchandra, Bhagwan Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Barkatullah and Bhai Parmanand. Their plans were encouraged by two events in 1914: the Komagata Maru incident and the outbreak of the First World War.
What Was the Komagata Maru Incident?
Komagata Maru was a ship carrying 370 passengers, mainly Sikh and Punjabi Muslim would-be immigrants, from Singapore to Vancouver. Canadian authorities, generally believed to have been influenced by the British government, turned them back after two months of privation and uncertainty. The ship finally anchored at Calcutta in September 1914. The passengers refused to board the Punjab-bound train, and in the ensuing conflict with the police at Budge Budge near Calcutta, 22 persons died. The importance of the event is that it created an explosive situation in Punjab.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1911 | Hardayal reaches North America; earlier centres at Vancouver and Seattle |
| 1913 | Ghadr Party established |
| September 1914 | Komagata Maru reaches Calcutta; Budge Budge clash, 22 dead |
| 1914 | Outbreak of the First World War |
| January-February 1915 | Political dacoities in Punjab; in three of five main cases the raiders targeted moneylenders and debt records |
| 21 February 1915 | Planned armed revolt in the Ferozepur, Lahore and Rawalpindi garrisons; foiled by treachery |
| March 1915 | Defence of India Act passed |
How Was the Ghadr Revolt Foiled?
Inflamed by Komagata Maru and the outbreak of the war, the Ghadr leaders decided on a violent attack to oust British rule. They urged fighters to go to India; Kartar Singh Saraba and Raghubar Dayal Gupta left for India, Bengal revolutionaries were contacted, and Rashbehari Bose and Sachin Sanyal were asked to lead. Political dacoities raised funds, and the Punjab dacoities of January-February 1915 had a somewhat new social content: in at least three of the five main cases the raiders targeted moneylenders and their debt records before decamping with cash. The Ghadrites fixed 21 February 1915 for an armed revolt in the Ferozepur, Lahore and Rawalpindi garrisons, but the plan was foiled at the last moment by treachery.
The authorities took immediate action, aided by the Defence of India Rules of 1915. Rebellious regiments were disbanded and leaders arrested and deported, and 45 were hanged. Rashbehari Bose fled to Japan, from where he and Abani Mukherji made many efforts to send arms, while Sachin Sanyal was transported for life. The British met the wartime threat with a formidable battery of repressive measures, the most intensive since 1857, above all the Defence of India Act passed in March 1915 primarily to smash the Ghadr movement. There were large-scale detentions without trial, special courts with severe sentences and numerous court-martials of army men. Apart from the Bengal revolutionaries and the Punjab Ghadrites, radical pan-Islamists, the Ali brothers, Maulana Azad and Hasrat Mohani, were interned for years.
What Did the Revolutionaries in Europe and Singapore Do?
The Berlin Committee for Indian Independence was established in 1915 by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta, Lala Hardayal and others, with the help of the German foreign office under the Zimmerman Plan. They aimed to mobilise Indian settlers abroad to send volunteers and arms to India to incite rebellion among Indian troops, and even to organise an armed invasion of British India. They sent missions to Baghdad, Persia, Turkey and Kabul to work among Indian troops and prisoners of war and to incite anti-British feeling. One mission, under Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh, Barkatullah and Obaidullah Sindhi, went to Kabul to organise a provisional Indian government with the help of Crown Prince Amanullah.
Among the scattered mutinies of the time, the most notable was at Singapore on 15 February 1915, by the Punjabi Muslim 5th Light Infantry and the 36th Sikh battalion under Jamadar Chisti Khan, Jamadar Abdul Gani and Subedar Daud Khan. It was crushed after a fierce battle in which many were killed. Later 37 persons were executed and 41 transported for life.
How Should the Ghadr Be Evaluated?
The achievement of the Ghadr lay in the realm of ideology: it preached militant nationalism with a completely secular approach. But politically and militarily it failed to achieve much, because it lacked an organised and sustained leadership, underestimated the preparation required at every level (organisational, ideological, financial and tactical), and perhaps because Lala Hardayal was unsuited to the job of an organiser. As an analytical point, the Ghadr and the Singapore mutiny show that the revolutionaries understood the key weakness of British rule in wartime, a drained army, but could not turn it into a coordinated rising, which is the pattern assessed in Decline of the First Phase of Revolutionary Activity.
Why Is This Topic Important?
- Names and events India House, Ghadr and Komagata Maru are Prelims favourites
- Wartime plot The Berlin Committee and the Kabul mission connect with the First World War
- Secular ideology The Ghadr’s secular approach is a notable point
What Came Next?
The next topic assesses the decline of the first phase of revolutionary activity. Next topic: Decline of the First Phase of Revolutionary Activity.
Key People and Terms
- India House Krishnavarma’s London centre for Indian students from 1905
- Ghadr The revolutionary party and weekly newspaper of North America
- Komagata Maru The ship turned back from Vancouver in 1914
- Berlin Committee The 1915 body for Indian independence set up with German help
- Defence of India Act The March 1915 law passed to smash the Ghadr movement
- Provisional Indian government The body Mahendra Pratap and others tried to set up at Kabul
Exam Corner
Points to Remember
- India House 1905: Shyamji Krishnavarma; journal The Indian Sociologist.
- Dhingra killed Curzon-Wyllie, 1909.
- Ghadr established 1913; HQ San Francisco; Hardayal.
- Komagata Maru: 370 passengers; Budge Budge, 22 dead.
- Planned revolt 21 February 1915; Defence of India Act March 1915.
Do Not Confuse With
- Ghadr and Berlin Committee Ghadr: North America, 1913; Berlin Committee: Europe, 1915
- Singapore mutiny and Ghadr revolt Singapore: 15 February 1915; Ghadr plan: 21 February 1915
- India House and Ghadr London students versus Punjabi migrants in North America
Memory Hook
London students, Paris pamphlets, Pacific Ghadr, Berlin plans: all failed.
Mains Angle
Questions ask about the Ghadr and revolutionaries abroad. These points add depth.
- Foreign bases Shelter and freedom from the Press Acts
- Wartime opportunity A drained army and German help
- Weak organisation Treachery and lack of preparation
A Question You May Face
An original practice question, not a past paper question.
“Describe the activities of Indian revolutionaries abroad before and during the First World War.”
How to Answer
- London and Paris India House and Madame Cama.
- Ghadr Origins, programme and failure.
- Europe Berlin Committee, missions, Singapore.
- Conclude Repression and evaluation.
GS Relevance
Frequently Asked Questions
What was India House?
India House was the Indian Home Rule Society started by Shyamji Krishnavarma in London in 1905 as a centre for Indian students, with scholarships for radical youth and the journal The Indian Sociologist. Savarkar and Hardayal were members, and Dhingra came from this circle.
What was the Ghadr Party?
The Ghadr Party was a revolutionary group of Punjabi migrants in North America, organised in 1913 around the weekly The Ghadr at San Francisco. Its programme was to assassinate officials, spread anti-imperialist literature, work among Indian troops abroad, get arms and start a revolt in all British colonies.
What was the Komagata Maru incident?
The ship Komagata Maru carried 370 mainly Sikh and Punjabi Muslim would-be immigrants from Singapore to Vancouver, but Canadian authorities turned them back. It reached Calcutta in September 1914, and a clash with police at Budge Budge killed 22, creating an explosive situation in Punjab.
Why did the Ghadr revolt of 1915 fail?
The Ghadrites fixed 21 February 1915 for armed revolt in Ferozepur, Lahore and Rawalpindi, but the plan was betrayed. Authorities acted at once under the Defence of India Rules, disbanding regiments, arresting leaders and hanging 45, as the Ghadr lacked sustained leadership and preparation.
What was the Berlin Committee for Indian Independence?
It was set up in 1915 by Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendranath Dutta, Lala Hardayal and others with German help. It aimed to send volunteers and arms to India, incite Indian troops to rebel, and sent missions to Baghdad, Persia, Turkey and Kabul.
What was the Singapore mutiny of 1915?
On 15 February 1915 the Punjabi Muslim 5th Light Infantry and the 36th Sikh battalion mutinied at Singapore. It was crushed after fierce fighting, and later 37 persons were executed and 41 transported for life.
PYQ Practice — Statement Analysis
1 India House in London was started by Shyamji Krishnavarma in 1905.
Savarkar and Hardayal were members.
2 Madanlal Dhingra assassinated Curzon-Wyllie in 1909.
He came from the India House circle.
3 The Ghadr Party was headquartered in Berlin.
Its headquarters were at San Francisco; the Berlin Committee was a separate body.
4 The Komagata Maru passengers were allowed to settle in Vancouver.
They were turned back by Canadian authorities.
5 The Defence of India Act of 1915 was passed mainly to deal with the Ghadrites.
It allowed detentions without trial.
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