Ram Prasad Bismil (

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: राम प्रसाद "बिस्मिल") (11 June 1897 — 19 December 1927) was an Indian poet, writer, revolutionary and an Indian freedom fighter who participated in the

Mainpuri Mainpuri is a city in Mainpuri district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Mainpuri district and is situated to the north-east of Agra and is 270 km from New Delhi. Mainpuri forms part of the an ...

Conspiracy of 1918, and the

Kakori Conspiracy The Kakori Train robbery (''prapt'' of Kakori Conspiracy) was a train robbery that took place at Kakori, a village near Lucknow, on 9 August 1925, during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. It was organised by Hindustan R ...

of 1925, and fought against

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. He also had a good command over

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

languages and was an accomplished poet, composing in these languages using the pen names Ram, Agyat and Bismil, the latter through which he became famously known by. He was also a multilingual translator and his Hindi poem "Manipuri ki Pratigya" became very famous. Bismil was hanged on 19 December 1927 by the British for his revolutionary activities. He was associated with Arya Samaj where he got inspiration from ''

Satyarth Prakash ''Satyarth Prakash'' ( hi, सत्यार्थ प्रकाश, ' – "The Light of Meaning of the Truth" or ''The Light of Truth'') is an 1875 book written originally in Hindi by Dayanand Saraswati (Swami Dayanand), an influential religi ...

'', a book written by

Swami Dayanand Saraswati Dayanand Saraswati () (born Mool Shankar Tiwari; 2 February 1824 – 30 October 1883) also known as Maharshi Dayanand is an Indian philosopher, social leader and founder of the Arya Samaj, a Hindu reform movement. His Magnum Opus is the book ...

. He also had a confidential connection with Lala Har Dayal through his guru Swami Somdev, a preacher of Arya Samaj. Bismil was one of the founding members of the revolutionary organization Hindustan Republican Association.

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian national ...

praised him as a great poet-writer of Urdu and Hindi, who had also translated the books ''Catherine'' from English and ''Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot'' from

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Early life

Ram Prasad Bismil was born on 11 June 1897 to Muralidhar Tomar and Moolmati in a Tomar Rajput family, who traced their roots to Barwai in

Morena Morena is the headquarter city of Morena district, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is governed by a municipality corporation. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Chambal division. It is from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. G ...

district of Madhya Pradesh, of

Shahjahanpur district Shahjahanpur district is a districts of Uttar Pradesh India. It is a part of Bareilly division. It was established in 1813 by the British Government. Previously it was a part of district Bareilly. Geographically the main town is Shahjahanpur w ...

in erstwhile

North-Western Provinces The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India. The North-Western Provinces were established in 1836, through merging the administrative divisions of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces. In 1858, the nawab-ruled kingdo ...

. He learned

from his father at home and was sent to learn

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' moulvi. He was admitted to an English-language school, despite his father's disapproval, and also joined the Arya Samaj in

Shahjahanpur Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Uttar Pradesh, India. The city is between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. History Shahjahanpur was established by Di ...

. Bismil showed a talent for writing patriotic poetry.

Contact with Somdev

As an 18-year-old student, Bismil read of the death sentence passed on

Bhai Parmanand Bhai Parmanand (4 November 1876 – 8 December 1947) was an Indian nationalist and a prominent leader of the Hindu Mahasabha. Early life Parmanand was born into a prominent family of the Punjab, Mohyal Brahmins. His father, Tara Chand Mohyal, ...

, a scholar and companion of

Har Dayal Lala Har Dayal Mathur (Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...

. At that time he was regularly attending the Arya Samaj Temple at Shahjahanpur daily, where Swami Somdev, a friend of Paramanand, was staying. Angered by the sentence, Bismil composed a poem in Hindi titled ''Mera Janm'' (en: My Birth), which he showed to Somdev. This poem demonstrated a commitment to remove the British control over India.

Lucknow Congress

Bismil left school in the following year and travelled to

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

with some friends. The ''Naram Dal'' ("moderate faction" of the Indian National Congress) was not prepared to allow the Garam Dal to stage a grand welcome of Tilak in the city. They organised a group of youths and decided to publish a book in Hindi on the history of American independence, ''America Ki Swatantrata Ka Itihas'', with the consent of Somdev. This book was published under the authorship of the fictitious Babu Harivans Sahai and its publisher's name was given as Somdev Siddhgopal Shukla. As soon as the book was published, the government of Uttar Pradesh proscribed its circulation within the state.

Mainpuri conspiracy

Bismil formed a revolutionary organisation called ''Matrivedi'' (''Altar of Motherland'') and contacted

Genda Lal Dixit Genda Lal Dixit (30 November 1888 – 21 December 1920) was an Indian revolutionary who worked as a schoolteacher at Auraiya in the district of Etawah, United Province, British India. He led a group of Indian freedom fighters (revolutionaries), ...

, a school teacher at

Auraiya Auraiya is a city and a municipal board in Auraiya district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. NH 19 passes through the center of the town. Phaphund railway station is nearest Railway Station. Saifai Airstrip is the nearest aviation fac ...

. Somdev arranged this, knowing that Bismil could be more effective in his mission if he had experienced people to support him. Dixit had contacts with some powerful dacoits of the state. Dixit wanted to utilise their power in the armed struggle against the British rulers. Like Bismil, Dixit had also formed an armed organisation of youths called ''Shivaji Samiti'' (named after

Shivaji Maharaj Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adils ...

). The pair organised youths from the Etawah, Mainpuri, Agra and Shahjahanpur districts of

United Province United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(now Uttar Pradesh) to strengthen their organisations. On 28 January 1918, Bismil published a pamphlet titled ''Deshvasiyon Ke Nam Sandesh'' (''A Message to Countrymen''), which he distributed along with his poem ''Mainpuri Ki Pratigya'' (''Vow of Mainpuri''). To collect funds for the party looting was undertaken on three occasions in 1918. Police searched for them in and around Mainpuri while they were selling books proscribed by the U.P. Government in the Delhi Congress of 1918. When police found them, Bismil absconded with the books unsold. When he was planning another looting between Delhi and Agra, a police team arrived and firing started from both the sides. Bismil jumped into the

Yamuna The Yamuna ( Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of B ...

and swam underwater. The police and his companions thought that he had died in the encounter. Dixit was arrested along with his other companions and was kept in

Agra fort The Agra Fort is a historical fort in the city of Agra in India also known as the Red Fort. Rebuilt by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1565 and completed in 1573, it served as the main residence of the rulers of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638, when ...

. From here, he fled to Delhi and lived in hiding. A criminal case was filed against them. The incident is known as the "Mainpuri Conspiracy". On 1 November 1919 the Judiciary Magistrate of Mainpuri B. S. Chris announced the judgement against all accused and declared Dixit and Bismil as absconders.

Underground activities by Bismil

From 1919 to 1920 Bismil remained inconspicuous, moving around various villages in Uttar Pradesh and producing several books. Among these was a collection of poems written by him and others, entitled ''Man Ki Lahar'', while he also translated two works from

(''Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot'' and ''Yogik Sadhan'') and fabricated ''Catherine or Swadhinta Ki Devi'' from an English text. He got all these books published through his own resources under ''Sushilmala'' – a series of publications except one ''Yogik Sadhan'' which was given to a publisher who absconded and could not be traced. These books have since been found. Another of Bismil's books, ''Kranti Geetanjali'', was published in 1929 after his death and was proscribed by

in 1931.

Formation of Hindustan Republican Association

In February 1920, when all the prisoners in the Manipuri conspiracy case were freed, Bismil returned home to Shahjahanpur, where he agreed with the official authorities that he would not participate in revolutionary activities. This statement of Ram Prasad was also recorded in vernacular before the court. In 1921, Bismil was among the many people from Shahjahanpur who attended the Ahmedabad Congress. He had a seat on the dias, along with the senior congressman

Prem Krishna Khanna Prem Kishan Khanna (2 January 1894 – 3 August 1993) was an active member of the Hindustan Republican Association from Shahjahanpur U.P. Khanna was a contractorKakori Shaheed Smriti page 89 for Indian Railways. He was a close associate of ...

, and the revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan. Bismil played an active role in the Congress with Maulana Hasrat Mohani and got the most debated proposal of ''Poorna Swaraj'' passed in the General Body meeting of Congress. Mohandas K. Gandhi, who was not in the favour of this proposal became quite helpless before the overwhelming demand of youths. He returned to Shahjahanpur and mobilised the youths of United Province for non-co-operation with the Government. The people of U.P. were so much influenced by the furious speeches and verses of Bismil that they became hostile against British Raj. As per statement of Banarsi Lal (approver) made in the court – "Ram Prasad used to say that independence would not be achieved by means of non-violence." In February 1922 some agitating farmers were killed in Chauri Chaura by the police. The police station of Chauri Chaura was attacked by the people and 22 policemen were burnt alive. Gandhi declared an immediate stop to the non-co-operation movement without consulting any executive committee member of the Congress. Bismil and his group of youths strongly opposed Gandhi in the Gaya session of Indian National Congress (1922). When Gandhi refused to rescind his decision, its then-president Chittranjan Das resigned. In January 1923, the rich group of party formed a new Swaraj Party under the joint leadership of

Moti Lal Nehru Motilal Nehru (6 May 1861 – 6 February 1931) was an Indian lawyer, activist and politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He also served as the Congress President twice, 1919–1920 and 1928–1929. He was a patriarch of the Nehr ...

and Chittranjan Das, and the youth group formed a revolutionary party under the leadership of Bismil.

Yellow Paper constitution

With the consent of Lala Har Dayal, Bismil went to Allahabad where he drafted the constitution of the party in 1923 with the help of

Sachindra Nath Sanyal Sachindra Nath Sanyal (3 April 1890 — 7 February 1942) was an Indian revolutionary and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) that was created to carry out ...

and another revolutionary of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

, Dr.

Jadugopal Mukherjee Jadu Gopal Mukherjee (18 September 1886 – 30 August 1976) was a Bengali Indian revolutionary who, as the successor of Jatindranath Mukherjee or Bagha Jatin, led the Jugantar members to recognise and accept Gandhi's movement as the culminati ...

. The basic name and aims of the organisation were typed on a ''Yellow Paper'' and later on a subsequent Constitutional Committee Meeting was conducted on 3 October 1924 at

Cawnpore Kanpur or Cawnpore (Help:IPA/English, /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (Wikipedia:Media help, help·:File:Kanpur.ogg, info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one ...

in U.P. under the Chairmanship of Sachindra Nath Sanyal. This meeting decided the name of the party would be the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA). After a long discussion from others Bismil was declared there the District Organiser of Shahjahanpur and Chief of Arms Division. An additional responsibility of Provincial Organiser of United Province (Agra and Oudh) was also entrusted to him. Sachindra Nath Sanyal, was unanimously nominated as National Organiser and another senior member

Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee (1895 – 2 April 1960) was an Indian freedom fighter, revolutionary and member of Rajya Sabha. Short biography Jogesh Chandra became a member of the Anushilan Samiti. He was one of the founder members of Hindustan Rep ...

, was given the responsibility of Coordinator,

Anushilan Samiti Anushilan Samiti ( bn, অনুশীলন সমিতি, , bodybuilding society) was an Indian fitness club, which was actually used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. In the first quarter of the 20th century it su ...

. After attending the meeting in Kanpur, both Sanyal and Chatterjee left the U.P. and proceeded to Bengal for further extension of the organisation.

Manifesto of H.R.A.

A pamphlet entitled as ''The Revolutionary'' was distributed throughout the United Province in India in the beginning of January 1925. Copies of this leaflet, referred to in the evidence as the "White Leaflet", were also found with some other alleged conspirators of Kakori Conspiracy as per judgement of the Chief Court of Oudh. A typed copy of this manifesto was found with Manmath Nath Gupta. It was nothing but the Manifesto of H.R.A. in the form of a four paged printed pamphlet on white paper which was circulated secretly by post and by hands in most of the districts of United Province and other parts of India. This pamphlet bore no name of the printing press. The heading of the pamphlet was: "The Revolutionary" (An Organ of the Revolutionary Party of India). It was given first number and first issue of the publication. The date of its publication was given as 1 January 1925.

Kakori train robbery

Bismil executed a meticulous plan for looting the government treasury carried in a train at

Kakori Kakori is a town and a nagar panchayat in Lucknow district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 14 km north of Lucknow. Kakori was a centre Urdu poetry, literature and the Qadiriya Qalandari Sufi order. On 9 August 1925 Indian revolution ...

, near Lucknow in U.P. This historical event happened on 9 August 1925 and is known as the

Kakori train robbery The Kakori Train robbery (''prapt'' of Kakori Conspiracy) was a train robbery that took place at Kakori, a village near Lucknow, on 9 August 1925, during the Indian Independence Movement against the British Raj. It was organised by Hindustan R ...

. Ten revolutionaries stopped the 8 Down Saharanpur-Lucknow passenger train at Kakori – a station just before the Lucknow Railway Junction. German-made Mauser C96 semi-automatic pistols were used in this action. Ashfaqulla Khan, the lieutenant of the HRA Chief Ram Prasad Bismil gave away his Mauser to Manmath Nath Gupta and engaged himself to break open the cash chest. Eagerly watching a new weapon in his hand, Manmath Nath Gupta fired the pistol and accidentally shot and killed passenger Ahmed Ali, who had gotten down from the train to see his wife in the ladies compartment. More than 40 revolutionaries were arrested whereas only 10 persons had taken part in the decoity. Persons completely unrelated to the incident were also captured. However some of them were let off. The government-appointed Jagat Narain Mulla as public prosecutor at an incredible fee. Dr. Harkaran Nath Mishra (Barrister M.L.A.) and Dr. Mohan Lal Saxena (M.L.C.) were appointed as defence counsel. The defence committee was also formed to defend the accused.

Govind Ballabh Pant Govind Ballabh Pant (10 September 1887 – 7 March 1961) was an Indian freedom fighter and the first chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel, Vallabh Bhai Patel, Pant was a key figure i ...

Chandra Bhanu Gupta Chandra Bhanu Gupta (14 July 1902 – 11 March 1980) served three terms as chief minister of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1970s he was a member of Congress (O) and Janata Party. Early life He was born in Atrauli, Aligarh district in 190 ...

and Kripa Shankar Hajela defended their case. The men were found guilty and subsequent appeals failed. On 16 September 1927, a final appeal for clemency was forwarded to the Privy Council in London but that also failed. Following 18 months of legal process, Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh and

Rajendra Nath Lahiri Rajendra Nath Lahiri (29 June 1901 — 17 December 1927), known simply as Rajendra Lahiri, was an Indian revolutionary, who was a mastermind behind the Kakori conspiracy and Dakshineshwar bombing. He was active member of Hindustan Republican A ...

were sentenced to death. Bismil was hanged on 19 December 1927 at

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the Rapti river in the Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometers east of the state capital Lucknow. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur dis ...

Jail, Ashfaqulla Khan at the

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpo ...

Jail and Thakur Roshan Singh at Naini Allahabad Jail. Lahiri had been hanged two days earlier at Gonda Jail. Bismil's body was taken to the Rapti river for a Hindu cremation, and the site became known as ''Rajghat.''

Literary works

Bismil published a pamphlet titled ''Deshvasiyon ke nam sandesh'' (en: A message to my countrymen). While living underground, he translated some of Bengali books viz. ''Bolshevikon Ki Kartoot'' (en: The Bolshevik's programme) and ''Yogik Sadhan'' (of Arvind Ghosh). Beside these a collection of poems ''Man Ki Lahar'' (en: A sally of mind) and ''Swadeshi Rang'' was also written by him. Another ''Swadhinta ki devi: Catherine'' was fabricated from an English book into Hindi. All of these were published by him in ''Sushil Mala'' series. Bismil wrote his autobiography while he was kept as

condemned prisoner Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the State (polity), state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to ...

in Gorakhpur jail. The autobiography of Ram Prasad Bismil was published under the cover title of ''Kakori ke shaheed'' by

Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (26 October 1890 – 25 March 1931) was an Indian journalist, a leader of the Indian National Congress and an independence movement activist. He was an important figure in the non-cooperation movement and the freedom mo ...

in 1928 from Pratap Press,

. A rough translation of this book was prepared by the Criminal Investigation Department of United Province in British India. Translated book was circulated as confidential document for official and police use throughout the country. He immortalised the poem Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna, Man Ki Lahar and Swadeshi Rang as a war cry during the

period in India. It was first published in journal "Sabah", published from Delhi.

Memorials

Shaheed Smarak Samiti of

established a memorial at Khirni Bagh mohalla of Shahjahanpur city where Bismil was born in 1897 and named it "Amar Shaheed Ram Prasad Bismil Smarak". A statue made of white marble was inaugurated by the then

Governor of Uttar Pradesh The following is the list of governors of Uttar Pradesh. The list also includes governors of the United Provinces of pre-independent India as well as Independent India from 15 August 1947 to 25 January 1950. The province was renamed Uttar Prade ...

Motilal Vora Motilal Vora (20 December 1928 – 21 December 2020) was an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress (INC). He served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1985–1988; 1989). He was born in Nimbi Jodha, Jodhpur State, British ...

on 18 December 1994 on the eve of the martyr's 69th death anniversary. The Northern railway zone of

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tota ...

built the Pt Ram Prasad Bismil railway station, from Shahajahanpur. There is a memorial to the

conspiracists at Kakori itself. It was inaugurated by the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of India, Indira Gandhi, on 19 December 1983. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

issued a multicoloured commemorative

postal stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

on 19 December 1997 in Bismil's birth centenary year. The government of Uttar Pradesh had named a park after him: Amar Shaheed Pt. Ram Prasad Bismil Udyan is near Rampur Jagir village, where Bismil lived underground after the Mainpuri conspiracy case in 1919.

References

External links

* Constitution of Hindustan Republican Association
Books of Ram Prasad Bismil in worldcat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bismil, Ram Prasad Indian revolutionaries Hindi-language poets Hindi-language writers Urdu-language poets from India Indian male poets 1897 births 1927 deaths Revolutionary movement for Indian independence Executed revolutionaries People from Shahjahanpur People from Gorakhpur 20th-century executions by British India Hindustan Socialist Republican Association Executed Indian people People executed by British India by hanging 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Manipur