Anushilan Samiti (bodybuilding society) was a Bengali Indian organisation in the first quarter of the 20th century that supported revolutionary violence as the means for ending British rule in India. In the year 1902, it was founded by Satish Chandra and the other three accomplices Pramatha Mitra, Aurobindo Ghose and Sarala Devi. ⁣
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The organisation arose from a conglomeration of local youth groups and gyms (akhara) in Bengal in 1902.⁣
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It had two prominent, somewhat independent, arms in East and West Bengal, Dhaka Anushilan Samiti (centred in Dhaka, modern day Bangladesh), and the Jugantar group (centred at Calcutta).⁣
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From its foundation to its dissolution during the 1930s, the Samiti challenged British rule in India by engaging in militant nationalism, including bombings, assassinations, and politically-motivated violence.⁣
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Nationalist writings and publications by Aurobindo and Barin, including Bande Mataram and Jugantar, had a widespread influence on Bengal youth and helped Anushilan Samiti to gain popularity in Bengal. ⁣
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In 1908, young recruits Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki were sent on a mission to Muzaffarpur to assassinate chief presidency magistrate D. H. Kingsford. They bombed a carriage they mistook for Kingsford’s, killing two Englishwomen. Bose was arrested while attempting to flee and Chaki committed suicide. It was also involved in the Kakori conspiracy, the Chittagong armoury raid, and other actions ⁣
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The people associated with this samiti were Sri Aurobindo , Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath Tagore, Jatindranath Banerjee, Bagha Jatin, Bhupendra Natha Datta, Barindra Ghosh etc.⁣
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After Aurobindo’s retirement, the western Anushilan Samiti found a more prominent leader in Bagha Jatin and emerged as the Jugantar.⁣
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Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the founder of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was an alumnus of the Anushilan Samiti. ⁣