Study Guide · Chapter 5
Revolutionary Movements in Punjab
Free study material · concepts, shortcuts & solved questions
- Ghadar Party (1913): Founded in San Francisco, USA, by Lala Har Dayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna (its first president), and other Punjabi (largely Sikh) immigrants; published the newspaper Ghadar ("Mutiny/Revolt") advocating armed overthrow of British rule; planned a coordinated uprising to coincide with the outbreak of World War I, encouraging Indian soldiers to mutiny — this plan was betrayed and largely crushed by British intelligence (the "Lahore Conspiracy Case," with several members executed or imprisoned).
- Komagata Maru incident (1914): A ship carrying mostly Punjabi (Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim) migrants was denied entry into Canada due to discriminatory immigration laws and forced to return to India, where its passengers were fired upon by police at Budge Budge (near Calcutta) on suspicion of harbouring Ghadar sympathisers — the incident became a major grievance fuelling revolutionary sentiment, especially within the Ghadar movement.
- Bhagat Singh and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA): The HSRA (originally founded as the Hindustan Republican Association, HRA, in 1924 by figures including Ram Prasad Bismil, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, and Chandrashekhar Azad; renamed and reorganised with an explicitly socialist orientation in 1928, with Bhagat Singh as a key leader) is the most iconic revolutionary organisation of the later 1920s.
- Kakori Conspiracy (9 August 1925): HRA members looted a train carrying government funds near Kakori (near Lucknow) to finance revolutionary activities; Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh, and Rajendra Nath Lahiri were executed following the case; the Hindu-Muslim unity of Bismil (Hindu) and Ashfaqulla Khan (Muslim) working together is often highlighted in this episode.
- Assassination of J.P. Saunders (1928, Lahore): Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Chandrashekhar Azad killed British police officer J.P. Saunders in a case of mistaken retaliation for the death of Lala Lajpat Rai (who had died from injuries sustained during a lathi charge while protesting the Simon Commission; the original target had been the officer responsible, Superintendent Scott, but Saunders was killed instead).
- Central Legislative Assembly Bombing (8 April 1929, Delhi): Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a (deliberately non-lethal) bomb and leaflets into the Central Legislative Assembly to protest the Public Safety Bill and Trade Disputes Bill, shouting "Inquilab Zindabad" ("Long Live the Revolution") — they deliberately courted arrest rather than fleeing, intending the act as a political statement/trial rather than an act of violence for its own sake.
- Lahore Conspiracy Case Trial and Execution: Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were tried and executed on 23 March 1931 (a date now observed in India as "Shaheed Diwas," Martyrs' Day) — Bhagat Singh, in particular, became (and remains) one of the most iconic and widely revered figures of the entire freedom struggle, known for his intellectual engagement with socialism (he read extensively in prison and wrote "Why I Am an Atheist") as much as for his revolutionary action.
- Chandrashekhar Azad: Took a personal vow never to be captured alive by the British; died in a shootout with police at Alfred Park, Allahabad (1931), after being surrounded — he shot himself with his last bullet rather than be taken alive.
Page 1 of 1