This GSEB Class 8 Social Science Notes Chapter 5 Revolutionaries of India covers all the important topics and concepts as mentioned in the chapter.
Revolutionaries of India Class 8 GSEB Notes
→ Many known and unknown martyrs fought and gave up their during India’s freedom struggle. The brave men and women who revolted against the British Government are known as ‘Revolutionaries of India’.
→ Vasudev Balwant Fadke was the pioneer of revolutionary movements in India.
→ He worked in Pune but he left his job because the unjust and partial approach of the British Government irritated him very much.
→ He took a vow of not applying ‘tllak ’ on his forehead and not cutting his hair until he had freed India from the clutches of the British.
→ Vasudev Fadke formed a secret group of armed revolutionaries called ‘Ramoshi’ to fight against the British.
→ He trained young men to attack British camps and rob the government treasury and use guns and other weapons. The British Government was desperate to arrest him at any cost.
→ Vinayak Damodar Sawarkar (Vir Sawarkar) was born on 28th May, 1883, in Bhagur village of Nasik district in Maharashtra.
→ He had revolutionary ideas since childhood. He established an organisation known as ‘MitraMela’ which was later known as ‘Abhinav Bharat’. The main objective of this organisation was to free India from the British rule with the help of armed revolt.
→ Vir Sawarkar was the first one to set fire to foreign clothes.
→ He wrote a book titled ‘1857: India’s First Freedom Struggle’. It was banned even before it was published.
→ He was arrested in 1910 for his association with the revolutionary group ‘India House’. Sawarkar was sentenced to two life terms (50 years) and was sent to the Cellular Jail on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This was also known as ‘Kalapani’. Later, due to poor health, he was kept under house arrest in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Sawarkar died on 26th February, 1966.
→ Khudiram Bose was born on 3rd December, 1889 in Habibpur village of Midnapur district in Bengal.
→ He was raised by a teacher named Satyen Babu who inspired him to be a revolutionary.
→ Khudiram Bose used to dive in the Ganga River and topple boats carrying salt. In this way he used to break the unjust salt laws.
→ On 30th April, 1908, Khudiram Bose and Praful Chaki threw a bomb on Judge Kingsford’s horse carriage in an attempt to kill him. However, the judge survived the attack but his wife and Lawyer Kennedy’s daughter died in the attack.
→ Khudiram Bose was arrested and hanged for this crime. Praful Chaki shot himself before the British could arrest him.
→ Ramprasad Bismil was born in Shahjahanpur in the United Province (Uttar Pradesh) in 1897 C.E. He was the kingpin in the Kakori Train Conspiracy in which the revolutionaries hatched a plan to rob a train carrying treasure. He was sentenced to death for this crime.
→ ‘Bismil’ was his penname. He translated English and Bengali books. His poems inspired patriotic fervour among Indians.
→ Ashfaq Ullah Khan and Ramprasad Bismil set an example of Hindu-Muslim unity.
→ Ashfaq Ullah Khan was an expert horse rider and shooting. He prevented an attack on the Arya Samaj Temple in Shahjahahpur. He was involved in the Manipuri train Conspiracy as well as the Kakori Train Conspiracy. He too was hanged in prison on the same day as his bosom friend Ramprasad Bismil.
→ Chandra Shekhar Azad’s real name was Chandra Shekhar Sitaram Tiwari. He was born on 23rd July, 1906 in Bhavra village of Alirapur district in Madhya Pradesh.
→ He was arrested and presented before the court for participating in Gandhiji’s non-cooperative movement. In court, when he was asked his name, he gave it as Azad’. He said his father’s name was Azad’ (Freedom) and his residence was ‘Prison’. From then on he became popular as ‘Azad’.
→ Chandra Shekhar participated in the train robbery at Kakori Station. Though 40 revolutionaries were arrested Azad managed to escape.
→ Chandra Shekhar had taken a vow not to be caught alive by the British government.
→ On 27th February, 1931, as Azad sat in Alfred Park at Allahabad, he was suddenly surrounded by British police. He fought the police team singlehandedly. Finally, when he did not get a chance to flee from the park, he shot himself with his own pistol and became a martyr. It is said that the police were so scared of Azad that they shot 2-3 bullets into his body to confirm his death before they stepped close to him.
→ Bhagat Singh was born on 28th September, 1907 in Banga village of Lyalpur district in Punjab.
→ Bhagat Singh studied European revolutionary movements and Marxist ideologies. He quickly became one of the main leaders of the Hindustan Republican Association.
→ While studying at Lahore National College he came in contact with Sukhdev, Bhagwat Charan and Yashpal.
→ Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb in the Legislative Assembly at Delhi on 8th April, 1928. Their main objective was to draw the attention of the British government. Though they could have escaped, they stood there and shouted slogans and surrendered themselves peacefully.
→ The three revolutionaries and fast friends, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru killed British officer Saunders to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. The trio was hanged on the same day (23rd March, 1931).
→ Shyamji Krushna Verma was born on 4th- October, 1857 in Mandvi village of Kutch district in Gujarat. He was the pioneer of revolutionary activities abroad.
→ He played a vital role in establishing the ‘Indian Home Rule Society’ on 18th February, 1905 in London. The office of this society was in his house which was named ‘India House’.
→ To propagate this society he started a daily named ‘Indian Sociologist’.
→ Shyamji Krushna was associated with leaders like Vinayak Sawarkar, Lala Hardayal, Madanlal Dhingra, Sardar Singh Rana and Madam Cama in carrying out revolutionary activities.
→ He arranged scholarships to help Indians living in England.
→ In 1909, Madanlal Dhingra shot dead William Wylie near Trafalgar Square in London. He was hanged for this crime. However, Shyamji Krushna Verma felt unsafe in London due to this and shifted to Paris. He then shifted to Switzerland. He died in 1930 C.E.
→ Madam Cama was born on 24th September, 1861, in Mumbai. She lived in London from 1902 to 1907. She was an associate of Shyamji Krushna Verma in 1905 in establishing the ‘Indian Home Rule Society’.
→ In 1907, Madam Cama was present at the 2nd International Socialist Conference held at Stuttgart in Germany where she unfurled the Indian Tricolour with the slogan ‘Vande Mataram’.