{"id":3489,"date":"2026-08-11T22:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T16:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/militant-and-revolutionary-movements\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T02:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:28:11","slug":"militant-and-revolutionary-movements","status":"publish","type":"psir_note","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/notes\/militant-and-revolutionary-movements\/","title":{"rendered":"Militant and Revolutionary Movements"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PSIR Notes<\/a>\u203a<\/span>I-B Indian Government and Politics<\/a>\u203a<\/span>Militant and Revolutionary Movements<\/span><\/div>\n
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Paper I \u00b7 Indian Government and Politics<\/div>\n

Militant and Revolutionary Movements<\/h1>\n
Syllabus \u00b7 Paper I-B \u00b7 1<\/b> \u2014 Indian Nationalism : (a) Political Strategies of India\u2019s Freedom Struggle : Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha, Non-cooperation, Civil Disobedience; Militant and Revolutionary Movements<\/span>, Peasant and Workers Movements. (b) Perspectives on Indian National Movement; Liberal, Socialist and Marxist; Radical Humanist and Dalit.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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Moderates \u2192 Extremists \u2192 Revolutionaries<\/h3>\n

The arc of strategy \u2014 petition \u2192 mass agitation \u2192 armed challenge \u2192 mass Satyagraha.<\/span> MODERATE 1885\u20131905 \u2192 EXTREMIST \/ SWADESHI 1905\u2013 \u2192 REVOLUTIONARY armed action \u2192 GANDHIAN mass phase \u2192 Independence, 1947.<\/p>\n

6.1 Moderate nationalism & constitutionalism (1885\u20131905)<\/h4>\n

Leaders: Dadabhai Naoroji<\/span>, Gopal Krishna Gokhale<\/span>, Surendranath Banerjea<\/span>, M.G. Ranade<\/span>, Pherozeshah Mehta<\/span>. Method: the 3 P’s<\/span> \u2014 petitions, prayers, memorials \u2014 plus speeches, resolutions, council work, appeals to British liberal opinion. Naoroji<\/span>: the British are justice-loving; demands must be shown reasonable. Ranade<\/span>: British rule as historical preparation. Gokhale<\/span>: conditions not yet ripe for direct action.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n
Defence<\/th>\nAchievement<\/th>\nContemporary criticism<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Bipan Chandra<\/span>: Moderates laid the constitutional foundation<\/span>; not mere submissiveness \u2014 they exposed colonial injustice. Shekhar Bandyopadhyay<\/span>: fused Western constitutionalism with indigenous democratic imagination.<\/td>\nBuilt a political language<\/span>; produced the drain theory<\/span>; decolonised educated minds; prepared the militant & Gandhian phases.<\/td>\nTilak<\/span>: constitutional method before an alien bureaucracy is “political suicide”. Sri Aurobindo<\/span>: it reflected “intellectual bankruptcy”. Nehru<\/span>: it cannot work where there is no constitutional government.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

6.2 Extremist \/ militant nationalism & Swadeshi<\/h4>\n

Triggers: failure of moderate methods, Curzon<\/span>‘s repression, economic distress, the Partition of Bengal<\/span> (announced 19 Jul 1905, implemented 16 Oct 1905 \u2014 ostensibly efficiency, actually to split the bhadralok and divide Hindus & Muslims). Leaders: Bal Gangadhar Tilak<\/span> (Maharashtra), Bipin Chandra Pal<\/span> (Bengal), Lala Lajpat Rai<\/span> (Punjab), Sri Aurobindo<\/span>. Programme: Swaraj, boycott, Swadeshi, national education, passive resistance<\/span>; Ganapati & Shivaji festivals as mobilisation.<\/p>\n

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“Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it.”<\/p>\n

Bal Gangadhar Tilak<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sri Aurobindo<\/span> in New Lamps for Old<\/em> dismissed moderate politics as “political mendicancy”<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Swadeshi \u2014 Sumit Sarkar’s four trends<\/h4>\n

Moderate \u00b7 Constructive Swadeshi \u00b7 Political extremism \u00b7 Revolutionary nationalism<\/p>\n

Institutions: Bengal Chemicals; Bengal National College, 1906; Satish Chandra Mukherjee<\/span>‘s Dawn Society; Tagore<\/span>‘s Shantiniketan. Idiom: Atma-Shakti<\/span> (Tagore, Swadeshi Samaj<\/em>, 1904), Sakta imagery, Vivekananda’s “alternative manliness”. Limits:<\/span> weak Muslim & lower-caste (Rajbanshi, Namasudra) participation; costlier Swadeshi goods; social coercion in boycott; the Surat Split, 1907<\/span>.<\/p>\n

UPSC 2017 \u00b7 10m<\/span>Differentiate Moderate from Extremist \/ Militant Nationalism \u2014 objectives & means.<\/span>Answer<\/a><\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Dimension<\/th>\nModerates<\/th>\nExtremists<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Goal<\/td>\nGradual reform, representation, later Home Rule.<\/td>\nSwaraj<\/span>, demanded more directly.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
View of British<\/td>\nTrusted British liberalism \/ goodwill.<\/td>\nRejected benevolence; rule shown as exploitative.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Means<\/td>\nPetitions, prayers, memorials, constitutional agitation.<\/td>\nBoycott, Swadeshi, national education, passive resistance, mass mobilisation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Signature<\/td>\nNaoroji<\/span> \u2014 communicate reasonable demands.<\/td>\nTilak<\/span> \u2014 “Swaraj is my birthright\u2026”.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Contribution<\/td>\nDrain theory, ideological critique.<\/td>\nEmotional, cultural & mass energy.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Bipan Chandra<\/span>: both phases were necessary predecessors of Gandhi’s struggle\u2013truce\u2013struggle<\/span> strategy.<\/p>\n

6.3 Revolutionary nationalism<\/h4>\n

Influences.<\/span> Internal: Bankim Chandra<\/span>‘s Anandamath<\/em> \/ “Vande Mataram”, Vivekananda<\/span>‘s Shakti, Tilak<\/span>‘s Gita, Aurobindo<\/span>. External: American, Irish & Italian struggles, Mazzini<\/span> & Garibaldi<\/span>, Japan’s 1905 win, the 1917 Russian Revolution.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Region<\/th>\nBodies & figures<\/th>\nEarly actions<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Maharashtra<\/td>\nChapekar Brothers; V.D. Savarkar<\/span>; Mitra Mela, 1900; Abhinav Bharat<\/span>, 1904 (Mazzini’s Young Italy).<\/td>\nAssassinations; ideological groundwork.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bengal<\/td>\nAnushilan Samiti<\/span>; Jugantar<\/span>; Pramathanath Mitra<\/span>; Barindra Kumar Ghosh<\/span>; Bhupendranath Datta<\/span>.<\/td>\nRangpur dacoity, 1906; Muzaffarpur attack (Khudiram Bose & Prafulla Chaki); Manicktala \/ Alipore case \u2014 C.R. Das<\/span> defended Aurobindo<\/span>, acquitted.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Tilak<\/span>: the bomb had changed Indian politics.<\/p>\n

Ghadar & international links<\/h4>\n

Ghadar Movement<\/span> (USA, 1913): Lala Hardayal<\/span>‘s paper Ghadar<\/em>; aim \u2014 overthrow British rule, a Panchayat-Raj \/ republican state; Barkatullah Khan<\/span> built Asian branches; Raja Mahendra Pratap<\/span>‘s Kabul provisional government. The Komagata Maru<\/span> incident & WWI sharpened revolutionary feeling.<\/p>\n

HRA \u2192 HSRA<\/h4>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Body<\/th>\nFigures & goal<\/th>\nLandmark<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
HRA<\/span>, 1924<\/td>\nSachindranath Sanyal<\/span>, Ram Prasad Bismil<\/span>, Ashfaqulla Khan<\/span>, Chandrashekhar Azad<\/span>. Goal: Federated Republic of the United States of India<\/em>; organise workers & peasants.<\/td>\nManifesto The Revolutionary<\/em>, 1 Jan 1925; Kakori, 1925<\/span> \u2014 four hanged.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HSRA<\/span>, 1928<\/td>\nBhagat Singh<\/span>, Sukhdev<\/span>, Shiv Verma<\/span>, Azad<\/span>. Ideology: socialism, secularism, anti-communalism, classless society<\/span>; Naujawan Bharat Sabha (Lahore).<\/td>\nSaunders, Dec 1928; Assembly bomb, 8 Apr 1929 (“make the deaf hear”, Inquilab Zindabad); Jatin Das’s 63-day fast; Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev hanged 23 Mar 1931.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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“Chaos is necessary to the birth of a new star.”<\/p>\n

HRA manifesto, The Revolutionary<\/em>, 1925<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chittagong & women revolutionaries<\/h4>\n

Chittagong Armoury Raid<\/span>, 18 Apr 1930 \u2014 Surya Sen<\/span> (“Master Da”) seized armouries, declared a provisional government; hanged 12 Jan 1934. Women: Pritilata Waddedar<\/span>, Kalpana Dutt<\/span>, Shanti Ghosh<\/span>, Suniti Chaudhury<\/span> \u2014 challenging gender roles, widening the movement’s moral appeal.<\/p>\n

Assessment.<\/span> Shattered the myth of British invincibility, inspired youth, kept complete independence alive in passive phases, linked nationalism with socialism & secularism<\/span>, internationalised the struggle, produced martyrdom as political memory<\/span>. Limits: secretive, urban middle-class, thin mass base; individual heroism could not replace mass movement.<\/p>\n

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“INA was to become a much more powerful enemy of the British empire in defeat than it had been during its \u2026 triumphal march on Delhi.”<\/p>\n

Christopher Alan Bayly<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UPSC 2020 \u00b7 15m<\/span>Trace the role of militant and revolutionary movements in the Indian national movement.<\/span>Answer<\/a><\/div>\n
Previous<\/em>Constitutionalism to mass Satyagraha<\/b><\/a>Next<\/em>Peasant and Workers Movements<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n

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