Mokshadacharan Samadhyayi
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Pandit Mokshada Charan Samadhyayi (Mokshada or Mokhoda Charan Bhattacharji or Khasnabis)[1] (1874–?) was a leading figure of the Jugantar movement.
Student life
Born about 1874, Mokshada Charan was son of Shyama Charan Khasnabis of Paikpara, Bikrampur
Several amongst the Bengalis in Benares were connected with the revolutionary movement in Kolkata, principally through a certain Suranath Bhaduri, son of Somnath Bhaduri: a curious character, who was ultimately concerned in the conspiracy in Kolkata and afterwards seems to have attempted to sell the information to the authorities.
Anushilan Samiti |
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Influence |
Anushilan Samiti |
Notable events |
Related topics |
Somnath was "one of the pioneers of nationalism" in Benares and, in the Bengali year 1309 (1902–03) he published a book called Gangajal, found with Mokhoda at the time of his first arrest at Benares. It conveyed revolutionary lessons under the guise of religion. The writer, addressing the god
Shortly before the publication of the Yugantar from Kolkata, early March 1906, Mokhada's friend Preonath Karar of
Revolutionary contacts
Already in September 1905, inspired by
Under Mokhoda's leadership, the
Admitting that Mokhoda studied Sanskrit for many years at Benares and earned the Pandit title of Samadhyayi, Denham informed that he was posted at the
Political outrages
Mokhoda was naturally in close touch with all that was advanced in Indian politics and at the 'Academy and Art Club', which was financed by Subodh Mullick, he met all the leaders of the new movement. He took a post of Sanskrit at the
Earlier, in 1907, Indra Nandi sent members of
Raja Sasisekhareswar of Tahirpur, the principal man in the 'Bharat Dharma Mahamandal', had been fully converted to Suranath's and Mokhada's creed. Through his father, Somanath Bhaduri, Private Secretary to Maharaja of Darbhanga, the General president of the 'Mahamandal', Suranath was trying to influence the Prince. He tried it also through
Shortly before the
In June 1908, less than two months after the arrest of the Maniktola conspirators, a "new gang" – symbol of a new spirit – commenced operations on the Eastern Bengal State Railway. The series of outrages began with a bomb thrown into a train. The Police experts held that the bombs used in these occasions were inferior to those prepared by Barin Ghosh's party; instead of dynamite or
When Nikhileswar was arrested on 23 June 1908, it was Kartik's turn to assume control of the party in charge of the Jugantar, with the printing press at 28 Shampukur Street. There was a house in Chetla for their secret meetings. Kartik was joined by
The Yugantar Split
On the breakup of the Yugantar, Mokhoda had joined Kartik, and had helped in giving advice and shelter to revolutionaries, as well as in obtaining arms and disposing of stolen property. In spite of several charges, they were unanimously acquitted. Resulting from the
1) Kolkata : led by Indra Nandi; 2) 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly: Nanigopal Sengupta; 3) Rajshahi, Nadia, Jessore, Hooghly: Jatindra Mukherjee; 4) Natore, Dighapatiya, Amalpur: Satish Sarkar; 5) Mymensingh, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Cooch Behar: Amaresh Kanjilal; 6) Berhampur, Murshidabad : Suren Chakravarti.
Nanigopal and Jatindra had originally been members of the Kolkata Anushilan Samiti and acted directly under Sri Aurobindo's guidance, maintaining a constant collaboration. After quarrelling with Satish Basu, Nanigopal absorbed most of the members of Mokhoda-cum-Kartik's dispersed group, since the latter's arrest. Amaresh and Satish Sarkar worked under Jatindranath Mukherjee. Belonging to Indra's group (Atmonnati), Bepin Ganguli, Noren Bose and Noren Chatterji, too remained close to Jatindra's policy. These revolutionaries committed sixteen outrages between March 1908 and October 1909. Denham noted in 1909 on the 'Sarathi Jubak Mandali': "perhaps second only in importance to the Anushilan Samiti for the number of persons included in its ranks who actually took part in crimes of violence".
Their spiritual guide was Tarakshepa alias Tarapado Banerji, a "mysterious Sadhu, who wandered about Bengal, being most frequently heard of in the districts of Birbhum, Nadia or in Kolkata". He was disciple of Bamakhepa of Tarapur in Birbhum, "having possessed hypnotic power"; Nanigopal Sengupta was his disciple. He frequented Jogendranath Tagore, "an undesirable member of the Tagore family": his "influence with the revolutionary party is still considerable"; he was a link "between the parties who work in Bengal proper and the Eastern Bengal and Assam dacoity gangs." Denham knew that Kartik's arrest was rather a shock to the members of this group.
Kartik was acquitted, to be charged again with harbouring four of the revolutionary 'bandits', but acquitted by a
On 30 March 1910, Benga confessed that even before the
On 24 January 1910, the assassination of Shamsul Alam led the Viceroy Minto to admit the efficient spirit of the new 'Yugantar' under the over-all leadership of
In the meantime, Mokhoda had gone back to Dhaka in February 1910. In March 1910 an attempt was made to assassinate G.C. Denham of the Criminal Investigation Department and a very prominent figure of the
Amarendra's paper was almost a Bengali version of Sri Aurobindo's Karmayogin in English; it had also a Hindi edition published from Benares. It was Amarendra who sent
- "It is a singular coincidence, if it is only a coincidence, that this murder took place on the evening of the day on which Jatindranath Mukherjee (…) was set free from the dock at the High Court (…) It is likely that Jatin's release put fresh heart into the people who had been contemplating further outrages but hesitating to act".[15]
Mokhoda was strongly suspected in this connection. Descendant of Mokhoda's Bhatpara group, the Baranagar group reunited a series of small samitis (e.g. the 'Jubak Samiti' with its clubs and poor fund) in the north of Kolkata and in Howrah on the other side of the river Hooghly and operated since 1907; they had contacts with Jogen Tagore, Mokhoda and the Ramakrishna Mission.
Again, in December 1911, Mokhoda was seen in Benares and, in the same month, an Inspector of Police was shot dead: the man was "in possession of information regarding a dangerous organiser of political dacoities named Pandit Mokhoda Charan Samadhyaya." E.H. Corbet, Superintendent of Police, noted that Mokhoda:
- "was a bosom friend of the police Bengali informer. The matter was referred to Government and I was sent to Benares to interview the Commissioner and Magistrate, with the result that he was arrested (…) A strong and elaborate case under Section 110(f), Criminal Procedure Code".
Mokhoda was to have a conviction for three years; but it was decided after the Durbar (Coronation ceremony) to drop the proceeding. Mokhada was warned not to come back to Benares again.
Jatindra Mukherjee and Rash Behari Bose, however, visited Benares in May 1912 and associated with Sachin Sanyal, Mokhoda and Suranath. Soon, Sachin became the sole leader there. Vinayak Rao Kaple was one of its members. Sarada Maitra of Rangpur and Satish Mukherjee of Barisal frequently visited Benares; the latter associated with Mokhoda the members of the Sevak Samiti.
During 1913, Jogen Tagore led a series of dacoities; in 1915 he got contact with Bipin Ganguli's followers including Probhas De and Harish Sikdar, and came to know members of other groups including Atulkrishna Ghosh and Ananta Haldar, (all of them acting under Jatindra Mukherjee). Bipin was sentenced to five years Rigorous Imprisonment on 2 August 1915 in the Agarpara Dacoity Case.
Epilogue
Two years later, Mokhoda was prosecuted at Benares in a so-called Insurance fraud case; he was convicted in February 1914, and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
No subsequent information about this firebrand scholar is available.
Notes
The following are notes about Mokhoda Samadhyayi: [1]
- ^ a b Mokshada's name has been variously spelt in the Police notes; for the present article, we have kept "Mokhoda", as the closest phonetical transcription. However, other spellings include: Mokshada Charan or Mokhoda Charan Bhattacharji or Khasnabis, and Mokshadacharan Samadhyayi.
- ^ Terrorism, Vol.V, p.137.
- ^ Ker, p.25.
- ^ Terrorism, p.155.
- ^ F.C. Daly, in Terrorism, Vol. I, p.18.
- ^ Prithwindra Mukherjee, Sâdhak-biplabî jatîndranâth, p479
- ^ Terrorism, Vol. V, p.152.
- ^ Terrorism, Vol. I, p.34.
- ^ Terrorism, vol.II, p.531.
- ^ Prithwindra Mukherjee, Sâdhak-biplabi jatindranath,[abbrev. jatindranath], p.196, p.222.
- ^ MTP, M.1092, in M.N.Das, p.122.
- ^ Hardinge Papers, in Prithwindra Mukherjee/1977, p.249.
- ^ Terrorism, Vol. V, p.193
- ^ "Strictly Confidential" Documents in Terrorism, Vol. V, p.184.
- ^ Terrorism, V/p184
References
- Political trouble in India: A Confidential Report, by James Campbell Ker, 1917, repr. 1973.
- "Notes on the Growth of the Revolutionary Movement in Bengal (1905–1911)" by F.C. Daly, D.I.G. Special Branch, Bengal, in Terrorism in Bengal, Ed. Amiya K. Samanta, Director, Intelligence Branch, Government of West Bengal, Kolkata, 1995, Vol. I [abbrev. Terrorism, Vol. I].
- "An Account of the Revolutionary Organisations in Bengal, other than the Dacca Anushilan Samiti" by J.C. Nixon, Home Department, in Terrorism, Vol. II.
- "Notes on Revolutionary Activity in Benares" by G.C. Denham, followed by a "Strictly Confidential" note by E.H. Corbet and "a few details added" by C.W.E. Sands in Terrorism, Vol. V.
- "Connections with the Revolutionary Organization in Bihar and Orissa, 1906–1916" by W. Sealy in Terrorism, Vol. V.
- Sadhak biplabi jatindranath, by Prithwindra Mukherjee, West Bengal State Book Board, Kolkata, 1990.
- "Jatin Mukherjee (1879–1915): Indo-German Conspiracy (1914–1918)" by Prithwindra Mukherjee, in Indian Historical Records Commission, Proceedings of the Forty-Fifth Session, Vol. XLV, Mysore, 1977 [abbrev. Mukherjee/1977].
- India Under Morley and Minto, by M.N. Das, George Allen and Unwin Ltd, London, 1964 [abbrev. Das].
- First Spark of Revolution, by Arun Chandra Guha, Orient Longman's, 1971 [abbrev. Guha].