Women in the Swadeshi Movement

The anti-partition movement of 1905 marked the first major entry of women into the public political sphere in India. Prior to the Swadeshi Movement, political agitation remained confined to upper-class males through urban associations and elite forums. Lord Curzon’s decision to partition Bengal triggered widespread public anger, forcing women out of household seclusion (purdah) into public rallies, street processions, and boycott demonstrations. Female participation did not emerge spontaneously. It resulted from social reform efforts during the late 19th century that promoted female education and awareness. Women from prominent families led this mobilization, bridging the gap between domestic spaces and public politics.

Prominent Female Leaders and Their Contributions

Women acted as organizers, fundraisers, writers, and publishers. They organized women-only meetings, collected funds, and manufactured domestic goods.

Sarala Devi Chaudhurani

• Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, niece of Rabindranath Tagore, played a central role in organizing youth and women in Bengal.
• She founded the Lakshmir Bhandar in Calcutta in 1903 to sell indigenous clothes and handicrafts.
• She introduced physical culture and martial training for youth by founding the Brati Samiti.
• She started the Pratapaditya Utsav and Udayaditya Utsav on the lines of Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s Shivaji Festival to instil courage among young nationalists.
• She edited the Bengali journal Bharati to spread national consciousness.

Kumudini Mitra

• Kumudini Mitra, daughter of nationalist leader Krishna Kumar Mitra, actively organized female student groups.
• She edited Suprabhat, a Bengali journal that published patriotic literature and revolutionary ideals.
• She coordinated the network of women who provided shelter, financial aid, and intelligence to underground revolutionaries.

Swarna Kumari Devi and Hemantakumari Chaudhurani

• Swarna Kumari Devi, mother of Sarala Devi Chaudhurani, founded the Sakhi Samiti in 1896 to assist destitute women and orphans through Indian handicrafts.
• Hemantakumari Chaudhurani organized women’s associations in Sylhet and Mymensingh districts to support the boycott of foreign goods.

Regional Participation Beyond Bengal

• Maharashtra: Women organized Swadeshi exhibitions and burnt foreign glass bangles and clothes. Ramabai Ranade led female gatherings under the Bharat Mahila Parishad.
• Tamil Nadu: In Tuticorin and Tirunelveli, women offered gold ornaments to support V.O. Chidambaram Pillai’s Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company.
• Punjab: Women raised funds for national schools and supported the Pagal Kanti agrarian agitation led by Ajit Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai.

Key Women Organizations during Swadeshi Era

Modes of Mobilization and Domestic Resistance

Women used their traditional role within the household to make the Swadeshi boycott effective.

• Household Boycott: Women refused to use foreign salt, sugar, and utensils in kitchens. They rejected foreign cloth (Manchester cotton) and foreign bangles.
• Economic Support: Women saved small amounts of rice daily (Musthi Bhiksha) to donate to national funds and local Samitis.
• Religious Vows: Women transformed traditional rituals (vrata) into political pledges. Pledges to reject foreign goods were taken during traditional pujas and festival gatherings.
• Shelter to Revolutionaries: Women housed underground leaders, stored illegal arms, and served as messengers between revolutionary cells.

Impact and Limitations

The movement altered the traditional perception of Indian women. Politics was no longer an exclusively male domain. Women established an independent political identity, laying the foundation for their mass participation in Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements. The mobilization had structural limitations. The majority of female participants belonged to urban, upper-caste, and middle-class families. Rural peasant women participated in specific regions like Barisal and Mymensingh, but sustained rural female mobilization remained limited.

Essential Facts on Women in Swadeshi Movement

The first organized attempt to involve women in nationalist work began with the Sakhi Samiti in 1896. Sarala Devi Chaudhurani set up the Bharat Stree Mahamandal in Allahabad in 1910, which became the first permanent all-India organization for women founded by a woman. The ritual of Rakhi Bandhan, started by Rabindranath Tagore on October 16, 1905, saw heavy female participation where women tied indigenous threads on the wrists of male volunteers to pledge unity against partition. Sister Nivedita (Margaret Noble), an Irish disciple of Swami Vivekananda, supported the movement by promoting national education and art through the Indian Society of Oriental Art. Madam Bhikaji Cama operated from Europe during this era and unfurled an early version of the Indian national flag at the International Socialist Conference in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1907.