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    Swadeshi Movement

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    bhagyalakshmipranjan
    The Swadeshi Movement began in 1905 in response to the British partition of Bengal. It involved boycotting British goods and promoting indigenous Indian goods. This strategy aimed to hurt the British economically and force them to repeal the partition. Key aspects included self-reliance, boycotting British goods and services, and using traditional festivals to spread messages. Prominent leaders included Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Rabindranath Tagore. The movement politicized many Indians and saw repression from British authorities, but it established important foundations for later nationalist movements.

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    Swadeshi Movement

    Uploaded by

    bhagyalakshmipranjan
    96 views3 pages
    The Swadeshi Movement began in 1905 in response to the British partition of Bengal. It involved boycotting British goods and promoting indigenous Indian goods. This strategy aimed to hurt the British economically and force them to repeal the partition. Key aspects included self-reliance, boycotting British goods and services, and using traditional festivals to spread messages. Prominent leaders included Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Rabindranath Tagore. The movement politicized many Indians and saw repression from British authorities, but it established important foundations for later nationalist movements.

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    The Swadeshi Movement began in 1905 in response to the British partition of Bengal. It involved boycotting British goods and promoting indigenous Indian goods. This strategy aimed to hurt the British economically and force them to repeal the partition. Key aspects included self-reliance, boycotting British goods and services, and using traditional festivals to spread messages. Prominent leaders included Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Rabindranath Tagore. The movement politicized many Indians and saw repression from British authorities, but it established important foundations for later nationalist movements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    96 views3 pages

    Swadeshi Movement

    Uploaded by

    bhagyalakshmipranjan
    The Swadeshi Movement began in 1905 in response to the British partition of Bengal. It involved boycotting British goods and promoting indigenous Indian goods. This strategy aimed to hurt the British economically and force them to repeal the partition. Key aspects included self-reliance, boycotting British goods and services, and using traditional festivals to spread messages. Prominent leaders included Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Rabindranath Tagore. The movement politicized many Indians and saw repression from British authorities, but it established important foundations for later nationalist movements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Swadeshi Movement –

    Meaning of Swadeshi:

    The word swadeshi is derived from Sanskrit and is a conjunction of two Sanskrit words ‘Swa’ means ‘self
    or own’ and ‘desh’ means country So swadesh means ‘own country’ Swadeshi, the adjectival form,
    means ‘of one’s own country’ What is Swadeshi Movement in context of Indian National Movement?
    The Swadeshi Movement had its origin in the anti-partition movement which was started to oppose the
    British decision to Partition Bengal Swadeshi Movement was primarily a mass resolution to use only
    Indian made goods rather than British made goods This strategy was meant to hurt the British on
    economic front, and thereby force them to concede to popular demand i.e. annulment of Partition of
    Bengal An important aspect of the Swadeshi Movement was the emphasis placed on ‘Self-Reliance’ or
    ‘Atmasakti’ Swadeshi Movement was interlinked to/complimented by a parallel ‘Boycott Movement’,
    wherein British Goods, Services like schools and courts as well as English speech were boycotted
    Swadeshi movement was also known as Vande Mataram Movement in deltaic Andhra Pradesh

    Why & When did Swadeshi Movement Start?

    In December 1903, the proposal of Bengal partition became publicly known. The reaction of nationalist
    leaders in Bengal against this proposal was moderate in nature. They resorted to petitions, memoranda,
    speeches, public meetings and press campaigns to express their opinion against partition. However
    British Govt. did not pay heed and decision to partition Bengal was announced on 19th July 1905. Thus it
    was obvious that moderate techniques were not working and a different kind of strategy offering more
    active resistance to British authority was required. The formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement
    was made on 7th August 1905 in a meeting held at the Calcutta Town Hall. The Indian National Congress
    took up the Swadeshi Call and the Banaras Session in 1905, presided by Gopal Krishna Gokhale
    supported the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement for Bengal.

    How was the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement executed?

    Boycott and public burning of foreign cloth, picketing of shops selling foreign goods, became common in
    all parts of Bengal as well as in many important towns and cities throughout the country. A prominent
    part in Swadeshi Movement was played by students of Bengal. They not only practised and propagated
    Swadeshi, but also took a lead in organising picketing of shops selling foreign cloth. Women refused to
    wear foreign bangles and use foreign utensils, washer men refused to wash foreign clothes and even
    priests declined offerings which contained foreign sugar. People using, buying and selling foreign goods
    were subjected to social boycott. Numerous public meetings and processions were organised in cities as
    well as villages to promote the use of Swadeshi goods and boycott foreign goods. Corps of volunteers
    (or ‘samitis’ as they were called) were another major form of mass mobilisation widely used during
    Swadeshi Movement. Traditional popular festivals, folk theatre forms and ‘melas’ (fairs) were creatively
    used as means of reaching out to masses. As ‘self-reliance’ was an important aspect of Swadeshi
    movement, serious attempts were made to become ‘self-reliant’ in various fields especially in education
    and business enterprises catering to day to day needs. ‘Charkha’ (spinning wheel) came to typify the
    popular concern for country’s economic self sufficiency.

    Prominent Personalities associated with Swadeshi Movement:

    Boycott of British goods was first suggested by Krishna Kumar Mitra in 1905 through his journal
    ‘Sanjivni’. Lokmanya Tilak took the Swadeshi Movement to different parts of India, especially to Pune
    and Bombay. Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai spread the Swadeshi message in Punjab and other parts of
    Northern India. Syed Haidar Raza led the Swadeshi Movement in Delhi. Chidambaram Pillai took the
    Swadeshi Movement to Madras presidency, which was also galvanised by Bipin Chandra Pal’s extensive
    lecture tour. The ‘Swadeshi Bandhab Samiti’ set up by Ashwini Kumar Dutt, a school teacher in Barisal,
    was the most active volunteer organisation spreading the Swadeshi message in villages. Acharya P. C.
    Ray organised his famous Bengal Chemical Swadeshi Stores. Even the Great Rabindranath Tagore helped
    to open a Swadeshi Store. Reaction of British Empire to Swadeshi Movement: In Bengal, the British
    crackdown came soon enough, particularly on the students. Disciplinary actions were taken against the
    students with many of them being fined, expelled, arrested, or beaten up by the police. Most repressive
    was the ‘Carlyle Circular’ which threatened withdrawal of grants and scholarships including disaffiliation
    of such institutions which failed to prevent students' participation in politics. Among other measures of
    repression, shouting of ‘Vande Matram and holding public meetings in certain areas was banned. Press
    was controlled through the Newspaper Act which enabled their seizure. Swadeshi workers were
    arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. Police ‘lathi charge’ on mass gatherings was quite frequent. Most
    of the leaders were arrested or deported by 1908

    Effects of Swadeshi Movement:

    Women, Students and the large section of urban and rural population of Bengal and other parts of India
    became actively involved in politics for the first time. Although peasants were not actively involved in
    this movement, owing to intensive Swadeshi propaganda, they were exposed to the nationalist ideas
    and politics for the first time. Bengal National College, inspired by Tagore’s Shantiniketan was set up
    with Aurobindo Ghosh as its Principal. Scores of National Schools sprung up all over the country within a
    short period. In August 1906 National Council of Education was established. This period saw a
    mushrooming of Swadeshi textile mills, soap and match factories, tanneries, banks, insurance
    companies etc. Swadeshi Movement also brought a cultural revival and fostered the emergence of
    nationalist art, literature, music and science. More importantly, conscience of people at large was
    awakened and they were prepared to take bold political steps to challenge the British Supremacy in all
    spheres. Drawbacks of Swadeshi Movement: Except from few prominent Muslims like Abdul Rasul – the
    barrister, Liaquat Hussain – the popular agitator and Guznavi – the businessman, Swadeshi Movement
    was not able to garner support from middle and upper class Muslims. This was mainly due to policy of
    communal divide practiced by British. All India Muslim League which was formed during Swadeshi
    Movement was the direct outcome of these divisionary policies of British. In spite of being a popular
    movement, there was no active participation from the peasantry. The movement was largely confined
    to upper and middle classes. Use of traditional festivals, customs and institutions for mobilising the
    masses was misinterpreted and falsely portrayed by Govt. supporters as a measure to promote religious
    communalism. The Swadeshi Movement did not create an efficient party structure or organisation,
    which was necessary to sustain the movement. Moreover it also brought to front, the differences in
    methodologies of Extremists and Moderates within the Indian National Congress (INC), which eventually
    resulted in splitting of INC in 1907.

    Conclusion

    Swadeshi Movement was the most successful of the pre-Gandhian movement. It became a stepping
    stone of Nationalist movement, which led to the beginning of organised political movement in India.
    Swadeshi Movement occupies a unique place in the history of Indian Freedom Movement as all the
    trends and patterns of Indian political scene thereafter, whether conservative or radical, owed their
    genesis to this movement.

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