Revolutionary Struggle and Indian National Army

Why Revolutionary Struggle Matters in CDS History

The freedom movement is not just Gandhi and Congress sessions. A determined minority chose armed action when constitutional methods seemed too slow. The UPSC CDS/OTA paper regularly tests this strand because it carries dramatic dates, named heroes, and famous slogans that are easy to frame as one-mark questions.

Examiners love pairing a revolutionary with his act (who threw the bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly?), a society with its founder, or the INA with its theatres of war. Knowing the chain of cause and effect lets you answer even unfamiliar questions by reasoning rather than blind recall.

It is also a strand that connects neatly with other syllabus topics — the partition of Bengal, the Swadeshi movement, World War I and II, and the path to 1947. A candidate who understands why revolutionaries acted can link these threads in essay-type and matching questions, which is exactly where many aspirants lose easy marks.

Roots of Revolutionary Nationalism

By the late 1890s, a section of educated youth grew impatient with the ‘prayer and petition’ politics of the early Congress moderates. The harsh handling of the 1896–97 famine and plague, the partition of Bengal (1905), and the repression of the Swadeshi movement convinced them that the British would yield only to force.

Key triggers

• Economic drain and growing unemployment among the educated.
• Partition of Bengal (1905) — seen as a deliberate attempt to divide Hindus and Muslims.
• Inspiration from Irish, Russian and Italian nationalist movements.
• Writings of Bankim Chandra (Anandamath, ‘Vande Mataram’) and Vivekananda’s call for strength.

These men felt that the moderate Congress had achieved little in two decades. They argued that a colonial power which ruled by force could only be removed by an equal show of courage and sacrifice. Their goal was not personal vengeance but to awaken the nation, expose British weakness, and inspire others through fearless example. Many were students or young teachers who voluntarily gave up promising careers.

Early Revolutionaries and Their Societies

The earliest organised act is usually traced to the Chapekar brothers, who assassinated Plague Commissioner W. C. Rand at Poona in 1897. Soon, secret societies sprang up to train youth in arms and produce bombs.

Bengal

• Anushilan Samiti — founded in 1902; trained recruits physically and ideologically.
• Jugantar group — a more militant offshoot.
• Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki threw a bomb at Muzaffarpur (1908) aimed at a hated judge, Kingsford; Khudiram was hanged at just 18.

Maharashtra

• V. D. Savarkar founded Abhinav Bharat.

Punjab

• Lala Hardayal and others, linked later to the Ghadr movement.

The Overseas Wing and the Ghadr Movement

Revolutionary work was not confined to India. Indians abroad raised funds, smuggled arms and ran propaganda presses beyond British reach.

Landmarks

• India House, London — run by Shyamji Krishna Varma; nurtured Savarkar and others.
• Madanlal Dhingra assassinated Curzon-Wyllie in London (1909).
• Ghadr Party (1913) — founded on the US west coast; key figures Lala Hardayal, Sohan Singh Bhakna; its paper Ghadr called for armed revolt.

During World War I, thousands of Ghadrites returned to India hoping to spark a mutiny in the Indian Army (the 1915 Ghadr conspiracy), believing Britain’s wartime difficulty was India’s opportunity. But the plans leaked, the rising was crushed, and many were hanged or transported under the Lahore Conspiracy trials. The Komagata Maru incident of 1914 — in which a shipload of Punjabi passengers was refused entry to Canada and fired upon on return near Calcutta — further inflamed Punjabi sentiment and swelled Ghadr ranks.

Second Phase: HSRA and Bhagat Singh

The 1920s revived revolutionary action after the withdrawal of Non-Cooperation. The Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) was formed in 1924; in 1928 it was reorganised as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) with an explicit socialist goal.

Major actions

• Kakori Train Robbery (1925) — to fund activities; Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan and others were tried and hanged.
• Saunders’ killing (1928) — Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Azad avenged Lala Lajpat Rai’s death.
• Central Assembly bomb (8 April 1929) — Bhagat Singh and B. K. Dutt threw a (non-lethal) bomb and courted arrest to ‘make the deaf hear’.
• Chandrashekhar Azad died fighting at Alfred Park, Allahabad (1931).

What set this generation apart was its ideology. Bhagat Singh read deeply, wrote essays such as ‘Why I Am an Atheist’, and shifted the movement’s aim from individual heroism to a wider socialist revolution for workers and peasants. During the Assembly trial he and his comrades undertook a long hunger strike demanding better treatment for political prisoners, drawing nationwide sympathy.

Chittagong Armoury Raid and Women Revolutionaries

Bengal’s revolutionaries struck again in 1930. Led by schoolteacher Surya Sen (Masterda), a band raided the Chittagong armoury (1930), seized weapons and briefly declared independence in the area.

Crucially, women joined the armed struggle:

• Pritilata Waddedar led an attack on a European club and died by taking poison.
• Kalpana Dutt was tried alongside Surya Sen.
• Earlier, Bina Das attempted to shoot the Bengal Governor (1932).

Subhas Chandra Bose and the Birth of the INA

The boldest expression of armed nationalism came from outside India. Subhas Chandra Bose, twice Congress President but at odds with the Gandhian leadership, escaped house arrest in 1941 and travelled via Afghanistan and the USSR to Germany, then to Japanese-held Southeast Asia.

How the INA arose

• The idea of an army of Indian prisoners-of-war was first developed by Mohan Singh after Japan captured large numbers of Indian soldiers in Singapore (1942).
• The Indian Independence League under Rash Behari Bose gave it political backing.
• In July 1943, Subhas Chandra Bose took command, energised the force, and was hailed as Netaji.

Azad Hind Fauj: Organisation and Campaign

The INA was remarkable for its inclusiveness. It drew Indians of every religion and region settled in Southeast Asia, and even raised an all-women combat unit — the Rani of Jhansi Regiment led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.

Slogans and symbols

• War cry: ‘Dilli Chalo’ (March to Delhi).
• Greeting: ‘Jai Hind’.
• Regiments named after Gandhi, Nehru and Azad.

The military push

Fighting alongside Japanese forces, the INA advanced into northeast India in 1944 and hoisted the tricolour at Moirang (Manipur) — the first patch of Indian soil under a free Indian government’s flag. But the campaigns at Imphal and Kohima failed amid heavy monsoon, broken supply lines, disease and Japan’s wider retreat. The soldiers fought bravely but were starved of food, medicine and ammunition. With Japan’s surrender in 1945, the INA collapsed; Bose reportedly died in a plane crash at Taihoku (Taipei) in August 1945, though the mystery around his death continues to stir debate.

Financing came partly from Indian merchants in Southeast Asia, and Bose even established an Azad Hind Bank and issued his own currency and stamps — a sign that this was a serious attempt at a parallel state, not a mere propaganda exercise.

The INA Trials and Their Impact

After the war, the British put captured INA officers on trial at the Red Fort, Delhi (1945–46). The first and most famous case tried three officers together — a Hindu, a Muslim and a Sikh: Prem Kumar Sahgal, Shah Nawaz Khan and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon.

Why it backfired on the British

• The trials turned the accused into national heroes; the Congress set up a defence committee with lawyers like Bhulabhai Desai and Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Massive public protests and the symbolic Hindu–Muslim–Sikh unity of the accused electrified the country.
• Discontent spread to the armed forces, culminating in the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Mutiny of February 1946.

Solved Illustration: Building a Timeline

Many CDS questions ask you to arrange events chronologically. Let’s practise with five revolutionary milestones.

Anchor a few ‘pillar’ dates — 1913, 1929, 1943 — and slot the rest around them. This converts memory questions into simple reasoning.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Confusing HRA with HSRA — the ‘Socialist’ (S) was added in 1928; HRA came first (1924).
• Crediting the INA’s founding idea to Bose — it was Mohan Singh who first organised it in 1942; Bose revitalised and led it from 1943.
• Mixing up Khudiram Bose (1908 Muzaffarpur bomb) with Subhas Chandra Bose (INA).
• Assuming the INA won battles — Imphal–Kohima failed; the lasting effect was through the trials.

Previous-Year Practice and Quick Revision