Ghadar Party and Revolutionary Nationalism

The Ghadar Party was an international revolutionary organization formed in 1913 by Indian immigrants in North America to overthrow British colonial rule in India through an armed rebellion. Operating from its headquarters in San Francisco, California, the party mobilized Punjabi laborers, farmers, and students across the United States and Canada. The outbreak of World War I gave the organization a clear opening to trigger a military mutiny within the British Indian Army, marking a distinct phase of Indian revolutionary nationalism organized from abroad.

Origins and Foundation in North America

During the early twentieth century, thousands of Indians, mostly from the Punjab region, migrated to the Pacific Coast of North America to work in lumber mills, railways, and agriculture. These immigrants faced severe racial discrimination, exclusionary immigration laws, and violent attacks from local labor groups.

Formation of the Organization

• Pacific Coast Hindustan Association: In May 1913, Indian immigrants gathered in Astoria, Oregon, to form the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association.
• Key Founders: Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected as the founding President, while Lala Hardayal served as the General Secretary. Other prominent founding members included Pandit Kanshi Ram, Harnam Singh Tundilat, and Bhai Parmanand.
• Adoption of the Name: The organization came to be known as the Ghadar Party after the name of its weekly newspaper, The Ghadar.
• Yugantar Ashram: The party set up its headquarters in San Francisco, naming the premises Yugantar Ashram.

Publication of The Ghadar Newspaper

The first issue of The Ghadar was published in Urdu on November 1, 1913, followed by a Gurmukhi edition in December 1913. It was later printed in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Pashto, and English.

Content and Ideology

• Front Page Slogan: The masthead carried the bold slogan Angrezi Raj ka Dushman (Enemy of the British Rule).
• Angrezi Raj ka Chittha: Every issue featured a fourteen-point column listing the economic drain of wealth, high land revenue, military expenditure, and the destruction of Indian industries under British rule.
• Secular Character: The paper appealed to all Indians regardless of religion, actively discouraging caste discrimination and religious sectarianism among its readers.

The Komagata Maru Incident (1914)

The Canadian government enforced a continuous journey regulation, which banned the entry of immigrants who did not travel on a direct, uninterrupted ticket from their country of origin. This law aimed to prevent Indian immigration, as no direct ship route existed between India and Canada at the time.

Sequence of Events

• Chartering the Ship: Baba Gurdit Singh chartered a Japanese steamship, the Komagata Maru, in March 1914 to challenge the continuous journey rule.
• The Voyage: The ship carried 376 passengers (340 Sikhs, 24 Muslims, and 12 Hindus) from Hong Kong to Vancouver.
• Denial of Entry: Upon arrival in Vancouver in May 1914, Canadian authorities blocked the ship from docking and forced it to remain anchored in the harbor for two months without adequate provisions.
• Return to India: The ship was turned back and arrived at Budge Budge near Calcutta in September 1914. British authorities attempted to arrest the passengers, suspecting them of revolutionary ties.
• Budge Budge Firing: Clashes broke out, leading to police firing that killed 22 passengers. This event created widespread outrage among Indian emigrants across North America and accelerated the Ghadar Party’s timeline for an armed revolt.

World War I and the Ghadar Mutiny

When World War I began in August 1914, British troops were transferred from India to European battlefronts. The Ghadar leadership viewed this military deployment as an ideal moment to strike.

The Plan for Armed Rebellion

• Call to Return: The Ghadar published special issues calling on Indian immigrants to return to India, infiltrate the army, and start a coordinated insurrection. Thousands of revolutionaries sailed back to India in late 1914.
• Domestic Leadership: Rash Behari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal took charge of organizing the underground military network inside India, establishing contact with native regiments in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
• Date of Revolt: The date for a general uprising across army cantonments was fixed for February 21, 1915, with main centers at Lahore, Ferozepur, and Meerut.
• Betrayal and Failure: A police informant named Kirpal Singh infiltrated the high command and leaked the plan to the British authorities. The government carried out preemptive raids, arresting key leaders and disarming suspect military units.

International Strategy and the Hindu-German Conspiracy

The Ghadar Party collaborated with other anti-colonial networks and foreign powers opposed to Britain during World War I.

Key International Alliances

• Berlin Committee: Indian revolutionaries in Europe established the Indian Independence Committee in Berlin, led by Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Bhupendranath Datta, and Lala Hardayal.
• German Assistance: The German Foreign Office provided financial aid and arranged weapons shipments to support the Ghadar insurgents in India.
• Arms Transport Attempts: Secret operations to ship arms aboard vessels like the SS Annie Larsen and SS Maverick failed due to British intelligence monitoring and logistical breakdowns.
• Singapore Mutiny (1915): On February 15, 1915, inspired by Ghadar propaganda, the 5th Light Infantry regiment mutinied in Singapore under Jamadar Chisa Khan, Subedar Dunde Khan, and Naik Munsha Singh. British forces suppressed the mutiny after three days of intense fighting.

Overview of Revolutionary Bases Abroad

Prominent Ghadar Leaders and Their Roles

• Sohan Singh Bhakna: Founding President of the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association; arrested upon his return to India in 1914 and spent sixteen years in prison.
• Lala Hardayal: General Secretary of the party; key strategist and editor of The Ghadar; arrested by US authorities in March 1914 before escaping to Switzerland and Germany.
• Rash Behari Bose: Brain behind the 1912 Delhi Conspiracy Case against Lord Hardinge; coordinated the 1915 Ghadar rebellion inside India before escaping to Japan.
• Kartar Singh Sarabha: Youngest core organizer of The Ghadar press; returned to India to lead army infiltrations; executed in the Lahore Conspiracy Case at age 19.
• Vishnu Ganesh Pingley: A Maharashtra-born revolutionary who worked as the primary link between Rash Behari Bose and military units in North India; arrested with live bombs in Meerut and executed.
• Maulavi Barkatullah: Co-founder of the party; later served as the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of Free India established in Kabul in 1915 alongside Raja Mahendra Pratap.

Key Exam Facts

• The Pacific Coast Hindustan Association was founded in May 1913 in Astoria, Oregon.
• Sohan Singh Bhakna was the first President, and Lala Hardayal was the General Secretary.
• The headquarters of the Ghadar Party was the Yugantar Ashram in San Francisco.
• The Ghadar newspaper was first published in Urdu on November 1, 1913.
• The Komagata Maru was a Japanese steamship chartered by Baba Gurdit Singh in March 1914.
• The firing on Komagata Maru passengers occurred at Budge Budge port near Calcutta in September 1914.
• The date initially set for the all-India armed revolt was February 21, 1915.
• Kirpal Singh was the British informant who leaked the plans of the Ghadar insurrection.
• Kartar Singh Sarabha and Vishnu Ganesh Pingley were executed following the First Lahore Conspiracy Case trials.
• The Singapore Mutiny of February 1915 was led by troops of the 5th Light Infantry.
• Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulavi Barkatullah established the Provisional Government of India in Kabul in 1915.