Anushilan Samiti (
Bengali:
অনুশীলন সমিতি "Self-Culture Association", meaning to follow the teachings of
Bankim Chandra Chatterjee) was an armed anti-British organisation in
Bengal and the principal secret revolutionary organisation operating in the region in the opening years of the 21st century. This association, like its offshoot the
Jugantar, operated under the guise of suburban fitness club. The members were committed towards the path of armed revolution for independence of
India from
British rule.
Kolkata and, later,
Dhaka were the two major strongholds of the association. However, the group succeeded in penetrating rural
Bengal and
Political activities began taking an organised form in Bengal at the beginning of the 20th century. By 1902, Calcutta had three societies working under the umbrella of
Anushilan Samity, a society earlier founded by a Calcutta barrister by the name of
Pramatha Mitra. These included Mitra's own group, another led by a Bengalee lady by the name of
Sarala Devi, and a third one led by
Aurobindo Ghosh- one of the strongest proponents of militant nationalism of the time. The Anushilan Samiti had
Sri Aurobindo and
Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das as the vice-presidents,
Suren Tagore the treasurer.
Jatindra Nath Banerjee (
Niralamba Swami),
Jatindra Nath Mukherjee (
Bagha Jatin),
Bhupendra Nath Datta (
Swami Vivekananda's brother),
Barindra Ghosh younger brother of Aurobindo Ghose, were among other initial leaders. By 1906, the works of Aurobindo and his brother
Barindra Ghosh allowed
Anushilan Samity to spread through Bengal. The controversial
1905 partition of Bengal had a widespread political impact: it stimulated radical nationalist sentiments in the
Bhadralok community in Bengal, and helped
Anushilan acquire a support base amongst of educated, politically conscious and disaffected young in local youth societies of Bengal. The
Dhaka branch of the Anushilan Samiti was formed by
Pulin Behari Das, who was once a teacher in the Dhaka Government College and, later, a founding headmaster of 'National School' (Dhaka), along with his followers, in 1906. He, like
Barindra Ghosh, believed in a highly centralised one-leader organisation. Under their leadership, respectively in Dhaka and elsewhere, in a spirit of a boastful showdown, Anushilan Samiti slowly adopted untimely terrorism programmes during the first decade of 20th century, with 1905
Partition of Bengal acting as a major catalyst. The
Dhaka branch of
Anushilan was led by
Pulin Behari Das and spread branches through East Bengal and Assam.
[9] Aurobindo and
Bipin Chandra Pal, a Bengali politician, began in 1907 the radical Bengali nationalist publication of
Jugantar (Lit:Change), and its English counterpart
Bande Mataram. Among the early recruits who emerged noted leaders where
Rash Behari Bose,
Jatindranath Mukherjee, and
Jadugopal Mukherjeehad branches all over Bengal and also other parts of
India.
Satish Chandra Basu was a student of General Assembly Institution ( At present Scottish Church College). Gourhari Mukherjee established an Excercise Club for the students. Satish Chandra was one of the members of the club. He selected a place for excercise in the college compound. As a result he secured strong hold amongst the students. That was in the year 1901. Which was ultimately converted to Anushilan Samity. The word " Anushilan" had been coined from the novel of Bankim Chandra.
In 1902, 24th March Anushilan Samity was formally inaugurated in Calcutta at a meeting presided over by Pramatha Nath Mitra. He became the first president of the organisation.'
In 21 Madan Mitra Lane, there was an Excercise Club of the Samity and its office was in a house near its excercise club. In 1905, office was shifted to 49 Cornwllis Street, Calcutta.
