Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society) was an Indian Independence

secret society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...

founded by

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966 ), was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. The prefix "Veer" (mea ...

and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1904. Initially founded at

Nasik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari River, Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sit ...

as "Mitra Mela", the society grew to include several hundred revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India, extending to London after Savarkar went to study law. It carried out a few assassinations of British officials, after which the Savarkar brothers were convicted and imprisoned. The society was formally disbanded in 1952.

History

Vinayak Savarkar and

Ganesh Savarkar Ganesh Dāmodar Sāvarkar (13 June 1879 – 16 March 1945), also called Babarao Savarkar, was an Indian revolutionary, activist and co-founder of the Abhinav Bharat Society. Early life Ganesh was the eldest of the Savarkar brothers, Gan ...

started ''Mitra Mela'', a revolutionary secret society in Nasik in 1899. It was one among several such ''melas'' (revolutionary societies) functioning in Maharashtra at that time, which believed in the overthrow of

British rule The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or dire ...

through armed rebellion. In 1904, in a meeting attended by 200 members from various towns in Maharashtra, Vinayak Savarkar renamed it ''Abhinav Bharat'', taking after

Giuseppe Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...

Young Italy Young Italy (, ) was an Italian political movement founded in 1831 by Giuseppe Mazzini. A few months after leaving Italy, in June 1831, Mazzini wrote a letter to King Charles Albert of Sardinia, in which he asked him to unite Italy and lead th ...

. In 1906, Vinayak Savarkar left to London to study law. In the same year, he compiled a volume called ''Mazzini Charitra'', a translation of the Italian revolutionary

Mazzini Giuseppe Mazzini (, ; ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the ...

's writings with a 25-page introduction added. The book was published in Maharashtra in June 1907 and the first edition of 2,000 copies is said to have sold out within a month. Mazzini's techniques of secret societies and guerrilla warfare were fully embraced by Savarkar. He wrote regular newsletters to his compatriots in India as well as carrying out revolutionary propaganda in London.

Activities

The assassination of Lt. Col. William Curzon-Wyllie, the political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India, was carried out by Madanlal Dhingra on the evening of 1 July 1909, at a meeting of Indian students in the Imperial Institute in London. Dhingra was arrested and later tried and executed.

A. M. T. Jackson Arthur Mason Tippetts Jackson (1866 – 21 December 1909) was a British officer in Indian Civil Services. He was a learned Indologist and a historian. He contributed many papers on Indian history, books on folklore and culture and was popu ...

, the district magistrate of Nasik, was assassinated in India by Anant Laxman Kanhare in 1909 in the historic " Nasik Conspiracy Case". The investigation into the Jackson assassination revealed the existence of the Abhinav Bharat Society and the role of the Savarkar brothers in leading it. Vinayak Savarkar was found to have dispatched twenty Browning pistols to India, one of which was used in the Jackson assassination. He was charged in the Jackson murder and sentenced to "transportation" for life. Savarkar was imprisoned in the

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the colonial government of India for the purpose of exiling criminals and political prisoners. Many ...

in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

in 1910.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{India House India House 1904 establishments in India Indian independence movement in Maharashtra