The Revolutionary Stream

5.1 Early Revolutionaries (1905–1920)

Khudiram Bose (1889–1908)

• Threw a bomb at the carriage of a British magistrate (Muzaffarpur, 30 April 1908)
• Executed 11 August 1908 aged 18 — the youngest executed revolutionary in India

V.D. Savarkar (1883–1966)

• Founded Abhinav Bharat (Young India Society) in London (1906)
• Wrote The Indian War of Independence 1857 (banned by British)
• Imprisoned in Andaman Cellular Jail (Kala Pani) 1910–24
• Later developed Hindutva ideology in his book of that name (1923)

Anushilan Samiti

• Bengali revolutionary organisation (founded Calcutta, 1902)
• Involved in bomb-making, revolutionary literature
• Connected to the Swadeshi movement militant wing

5.2 Bhagat Singh and His Generation (1920s–30s)

Bhagat Singh (1907–1931) — perhaps the most iconic revolutionary of Indian independence.

• Joined Hindustan Republican Association (founded 1924 by Sachindra Nath Sanyal)
• With Chandrashekhar Azad and others, reorganised it as Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) in 1928
• Saunders' assassination (17 December 1928): With Rajguru, shot J.P. Saunders (British police officer) in Lahore, avenging Lala Lajpat Rai's death
• Central Legislative Assembly bombing (8 April 1929): Threw two smoke bombs (non-lethal, intentionally) to "make the deaf hear" — surrendered to police; refused to escape
• Prison writings: Wrote extensively in Lahore Central Jail; became socialist — his essay "Why I Am an Atheist" (1930) is a classic of Indian rationalist literature
• Executed 23 March 1931 (with Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru), Lahore Central Jail

Chandrashekhar Azad (1906–1931)

• Led HSRA operations
• Organised Kakori Train Robbery (9 August 1925) (with Ram Prasad Bismil and others)
• Resolved never to be captured alive; confronted by police at Alfred Park (Allahabad), 27 February 1931
• Shot himself with his last bullet when surrounded

5.3 Indian National Army (INA/Azad Hind Fauj)

Subhas Chandra Bose's Journey:

• Escaped house arrest in Calcutta (January 1941); reached Germany via Afghanistan–USSR; met Hitler
• Attempted to organise an Indian Legion from Indian POWs in Germany
• Moved to Southeast Asia (submarine voyage 1943); took command of the INA
• Proclaimed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind) on 21 October 1943 in Singapore

INA Campaign (1944–45):

• INA marched with Japanese forces toward Imphal and Kohima (northeast India)
• Japanese suffered a decisive defeat at the Battle of Imphal-Kohima (June–July 1944), forcing retreat
• Bose died in a plane crash at Taihoku (Taipei), Taiwan, 18 August 1945

INA Trials (1945–46):

• British tried INA officers for treason — the accused became national heroes
• Lawyers defending them included Jawaharlal Nehru (returned to the bar for this case), Tej Bahadur Sapru, and Bhulabhai Desai
• Trials had to be abandoned in the face of public outrage — contributing to the British decision to leave India

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