RAS question
Which song, composed by Rabindranath Tagore, became an anthem of the Swadeshi Movement?
Correct answer: (C) Amar Sonar Bangla.
Amar Sonar Bangla, composed by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905 during the movement against the partition of Bengal, became an anthem of the Swadeshi Movement.
Explanation
Amar Sonar Bangla is the answer because it links Tagore directly with the Swadeshi moment in Bengal. Tagore composed it during the Swadeshi Movement as an expression of love for undivided Bengal, and Britannica supports this setting: the song was penned in 1905 during the movement opposing the partition of Bengal in British-ruled India. Britannica also notes that it was one of Tagore's well-known works from his participation in the Swadeshi Movement and that it evoked a unified Bengali motherland. That is why it fits better than other patriotic songs: the examiner is testing the Bengal partition-Swadeshi-Tagore connection. The song later became the national anthem of Bangladesh.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Vande Mataram is a major nationalist song, but it was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, not Rabindranath Tagore.
- (B) Sare Jahan Se Achha does not answer the Tagore-Swadeshi link because it was written by Muhammad Iqbal, not Tagore.
- (D) Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna is associated with the revolutionary movement and is credited to Bismil, so it is not Tagore's Swadeshi anthem.
Concept
This tests the cultural side of the Swadeshi Movement, especially how songs and symbols carried anti-partition politics in Bengal. It recurs in RAS because modern Indian history questions often connect political movements with writers, slogans and nationalist cultural forms.