Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society) was an Indian Independence secret society founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1904. [1] Initially founded at Nasik 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. [2] [3]
Vinayak Savarkar and Ganesh Savarkar 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 through armed rebellion. [4] In 1904, in a meeting attended by 200 members from various towns in Maharashtra, Vinayak Savarkar renamed it Abhinav Bharat, taking after Giuseppe Mazzini's Young Italy.[ citation needed ]
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's writings with a 25-page introduction added. [5] 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.[ citation needed ] 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. [6]
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, the district magistrate of Nasik, was assassinated in India by Anant Laxman Kanhare in 1909 in the historic "Nasik Conspiracy Case". [6] [7]
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 in the Andaman Islands in 1910. [6]
Hindutva is a political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the current ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other organisations, collectively called the Sangh Parivar.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. He was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha. The prefix "Veer" has been applied to his name by his followers.
Nashik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of the river Godavari. The population of Nashik city is around 2.2 million and is emerging as one of the fastest-growing cities in India. Nashik is located about 165 km (103 mi) northeast of the state capital Mumbai, and about 210 km (130 mi) north of Pune. The Mumbai-Pune-Nashik region is called the "Golden Triangle of Maharashtra". With its high agricultural production, Nashik is dubbed the Napa Valley of India and the "Wine Capital of India" as more than half of India's vineyards and wineries are located here. Around 90% of all Indian wine comes from the Nashik Valley. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sites of the Kumbh Mela, which is held every 12 years.
Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha is a Hindu nationalist political party in India.
The Chitpavan Brahmin or the Kokanastha Brahmin is a Hindu Maharashtrian Brahmin community inhabiting Konkan, the coastal region of the state of Maharashtra. Initially working as messengers and spies in the late seventeenth century, the community came into prominence during the 18th century when the heirs of Peshwa from the Bhat family of Balaji Vishwanath became the de facto rulers of the Maratha empire. Until the 18th century, the Chitpavans were held in low esteem by the Deshastha, the older established Brahmin community of Karnataka-Maharashtra region.
Madan Lal Dhingra was an Indian student at University College London who in 1909 assassinated Sir William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, the political aide-de-camp to the Secretary of State for India, in London.
The Revolutionary movement for Indian Independence was part of the Indian independence movement comprising the actions of violent underground revolutionary factions. Groups believing in armed revolution against the ruling British fall into this category, as opposed to the generally peaceful civil disobedience movement spearheaded by Mahatma Gandhi.
India House was a student residence that existed between 1905 and 1910 at Cromwell Avenue in Highgate, North London. With the patronage of lawyer Shyamji Krishna Varma, it was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in Britain. This institute used to grant scholarships to Indian youths for higher studies in England. The building rapidly became a hub for political activism, one of the most prominent for overseas revolutionary Indian nationalism. "India House" came to informally refer to the nationalist organisations that used the building at various times.
Essentials of Hindutva is an ideological epigraph written by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922. The book was published in 1923 while Savarkar was still in jail. It was retitled Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu? when reprinted in 1928. Savarkar's epigraph forms part of the canon of works published during British rule that later influenced post-independence contemporary Hindu nationalism.
Balakrishna Shivram Moonje was a leader of the Hindu Mahasabha in India.
The Indian War of Independence is an Indian nationalist history of the 1857 revolt by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar that was first published in 1909.
Abhinav Bharat is a Hindutva organization founded by retired Indian Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay in 2006 in Pune, India. It has a large base in Madhya Pradesh. The organization is believed to be the revived form of the pre-Independence era Abhinav Bharat Society. The activities of the organisations received widespread attention after Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested its member for the 2006 Malegaon bombings case. It has no relationship to the Mumbai-based charitable trust of the same name.
Hindu Revolution is a term in Hindu nationalism referring to a sociopolitical movement aiming to overthrow untouchability and casteism to unified social and political community to create the foundations of a modern nation.
Arthur Mason Tippetts Jackson 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 popularly known as Pandit Jackson. He was the Magistrate of Nasik when he was murdered by Anant Kanhere and the trial in the case led to the arrest and deportation of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of Hindū Rāṣṭravāda. It is better described as "Hindu polity".
Ganesh Dāmodar Sāvarkar, also called Babarao Savarkar, was an Indian revolutionary, activist and founder of the Abhinav Bharat Society.
North Maharashtra is a geographical region of Maharashtra State, India. The region is composed of Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, and Jalgaon districts. It borders the state of Gujarat to the northwest, Paschim Maharashtra to the south, Konkan to the west, and the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions of Maharashtra to the east.
Swatantrya Veer Savarkar is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language film on the life of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It is directed, co-written, and co-produced by Randeep Hooda, who also plays the titular role of Savarkar. It was released in theatres on 22 March 2024.
Vaman Narayan Joshi also known as Daji was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary from Maharashtra. He is known for his involvement in the assassination of Nashik's district collector, A. M. T. Jackson, as Joshi trained Anant Laxman Kanhere, who carried out the killing of Jackson. Following Jackson's assassination, Joshi was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. He became a prominent figure in the revolutionary movements of his time.
Himani Ashok Savarkar was an Indian politician and Hindutva Activist. She was daughter of Gopal Godse, niece of Nathuram Godse. She was a leader of Abhinav Bharat and Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha. She was married to Ashok Narayan Savarkar nephew of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.