List of Personalities Associated with Swadeshi Movement of British India

The Swadeshi movement united the dispersed leadership of India, which awakened the entire section of society such as Women, students and a large section of the urban and rural population in the active politics for the first time. Here, we are giving the list of personalities associated with the Swadeshi Movement of British India for general awareness about the personalities who shape the true nature of India’s Freedom Struggle.

Lokmanya Tilak

He spread the message of swadeshi to Poona and Bombay, and organised Ganapati and Shivaji festivals to arouse patriotic feelings. He stressed that the aim of swadeshi, boycott and national education was attainment of swaraj. He opened cooperative stores and headed the Swadeshi Wastu Pracharini Sabha.

Lala Lajpat Rai

He took the movement to Punjab and of northern India. He was assisted in his venture by His articles, which were published in Kayastha amac ar, endorsed technical education and industrial self-sufficiency.

Syed Haider Raza

He popularised the Swadeshi Movement in Delhi.

Chidambaram Pillai

He spread the movement to Madras and organised the strike of the Tuticorin Coral Mill. He founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in Tuticorin on the east coastras Province.

Bipin Chandra Pal

He played a major role in popularising the movement; especially in the urban areas. He was the editor of New India.

Laikat Hossain

He took the movement to Patna and organised the East Indian Railway strike in 1906. He also wrote fiery articles in Urdu to rouse nationalist sentiments in Muslims. He was supported by other Muslim swadeshi agitators like Ghaznavi, Rasul, Din Mohammed, Dedar Bux, Moniruzzaman, Ismail Hussain, Siraji, Abdul Hussain and Abdul Gaffar.

Shyamsunder Chakrabarti

He helped the swadeshi political leader in organising strikes.

Ramendra Sunder Trivedi

He called for observance of arandhan (keeping the hearth unlit) as a mark of mourning and protest on the day the partition was put into effect.

Rabindranath Tagore

He composed several songs to inspire freedom struggle and revived Bengali folk music to rouse national pride. He also set up some swadeshi stores and called for the observance of raksha bandhan (tying of threads on each of er's wrists as a sign o nailierhood).

Aurobindo Ghosh

He was in favour of extending the movement to the rest of India. He was appointed as the principal of Bengal National College founded in 1906 to encourage patriotic thinking and an education system related to Indian conditions and culture. He was also the editor of Bande Mataram and through his editorials encouraged strikes, national education etc in the spirit of the Swadeshi Movement. He was assisted by Jatindranath Bannerjee and Barindrakumar Ghosh (who managed the Anushilan Samiti).

Surendranath Banerjee

He held moderate nationalist opinion launched powerful press campaigns through news-papers like 'The Bengali' and addressed mass meetings. He was assisted by Krishnakumar Mitra and Narendra Kumar Sen.

Ashwini Kumar Dutt

He was a school teacher who set up Swadesh Bandhab Samiti to propagate the Swadeshi Movement and led the Muslim peasants of Barisal in their protests.

Promotha Mitter, Barindrakumar Ghosh, Jatindranath Bannerjee

They founded the Anushilan Samiti in Calcutta.

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G.K Gokhale

He presided the Benaras session of the Indian National Congress, 1905 and supported the Swadeshi Movement.

Abdul Halim Guznavi

He was a zamindar and a lawyer who set up Swadeshi Industries and helped Aurobindo Ghosh to extend revolutionary activities outside Bengal. He was assisted by Abul Kalam Azad.

Dadabhai Naoroji

He declared that the goal of the Congress was to attain swaraj during 1906 session.

Acharya P.C. Roy

He set up the Bengal Chemicals Factory to promote swadeshi movement.

Mukunda Das, Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendralal Roy, Girindramohini Dosi, Sayed Abu Mohammed

They composed patriotic songs on swadeshi themes. Girishchandra Ghosh, Kshirodeprasad Vidyavinode and Amritlal Bose were play-wrights who contributed to the swadeshi spirit through their creative efforts.

Ashwini Coomar Bannerjee

He was a swadeshi activist who led the jute mill workers to form an Indian Millhands' Union at Budge-Budge in August 1906.

Satish Chandra Mukherjee

He promoted an education system under indigenous control through his Dawn Society.

Motilal Ghosh of the Amrit Bazar Patrika Group

He contributed several fiery articles in the paper to arouse patriotic sentiments and was in favour of Extremism.

Brahmabandhab Upadhyay

He popularised swaraj and the Swadeshi Movement through his newspaper Sandhya and Yugantar (brought out by a group associated with Barindrakumar Ghosh).

Jogendrachandra

He set up an association in March 1904 to raise funds to facilitate students to go abroad for technical and industrial training.

Manindra Nandi

He was a zamindar from Kasimbazar, patronised several indigenous industries.

Kalisankar Sukul

He brought out several pamphlets on Swadeshi Movement and argued that a new kind of business class should be built to promote national interests.

Kunwarji Mehta and Kalyanji Mehta

They began organisational work through the Patidar Yuvak Mandal.

Lala Harkishan Lal

He promoted Swadeshi Movement in Punjab through the Brahmo-leaning group which began The Tribune newspaper. He also founded the Punjab National Bank.

Muhammed Shafi and Fazal-i-Husain

They leads Muslim group in Punjab and involved in constructive swadeshi, rather than boycott.

V. Krishnaswami Iyer

He headed the 'Mylapore' group in the Madras Presidency.

Subramaniya Bharati

He was a member of Tamilian revolutionary group and an eminent poet, played a significant role in arousing nationalism in the Tamil areas.

Prabhatkusum Roy Chaudhuri, Athanasuis Apurba-kumar Ghosh

They were lawyers by profession who helped in organising labour; Premtosh Bose was another pioneer labour leader.

Hemachandra Kanungo

He was one of the first revolutionary leaders who got military training from Paris), a combined bomb factory and religious school was He set up a combined bomb factory and religious school in Calcutta.

Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki

They were the member’s revolutionary party who murdered Kennedy on April 30, 1908.

Pulin Das

He organised the Deccan Anushilan, with the Barrah dacoity as its first major venture.

Madan Mohan Malaviya and Motilal Nehru

They were in favour of cooperation with provincial governments and non-political Swadeshi Movement.

Sachindranath Sanyal

He emerged as a revolutionary leader in Benaras through contacts with Mokhodacharan Samadhyay (the editor of Sandhya after the death of Brahmabandhab).

Savarkar Brothers

They founded the Mitra Mela in 1899 and were directly involved in extremism in Maharashtra.

Dinshaw Wacha

He persuaded mill-owners in Maharashtra to sell dhotis at moderate prices.

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