Table of Contents
Born: December 3, 1889, Habibpur, Midnapore District, Bengal,
Died: August 11, 1908, Muzaffarpur,
Task: Indian Revolutionaries,
Cause of Death: Hanged,
Nationality: Indian,
Occupation: Freedom Fighter,
Reason for Fame: Role in Freedom Struggle,
Khudiram Bose was an Indian young revolutionary whose martyrdom created a wave of revolution in the whole country. Khudiram Bose hanged himself at the age of 19 for the country’s independence. The martyrdom of this brave man caused a wave of patriotism in the entire country. Songs were written to immortalize their valor and their sacrifice was articulated in the form of folk songs. In honor of Khudiram Bose, soulful songs were composed which became popular as folk songs in Bengal.
Birth and Early life
Khudiram Bose was born on 3 December 1889 in Habibpur village of Midnapore district in Bengal. His father’s name was Trailokya Nath Bose and mother’s name was Lakshmipriya Devi. The shadow of the parents had fallen very soon from the head of the child Khudiram, so he was brought up by his elder sister.Child Khudiram felt such a passion to liberate the country that he left his studies only after the ninth grade and jumped into the Swadeshi movement.The feeling of patriotism was so strong in his mind that he started participating in political activities right from his school days. During 1902 and 1903, Aurobindo Ghosh and sister Nivedita held several public meetings in Medinipur and also held secret meetings with revolutionary groups. Khudiram was also among the youth of his city who wanted to join the movement to overthrow the British rule.Khudiram often used to take part in the processions against the British imperialism and used to raise slogans. From his student life, this young man showed superhuman patience in his determination to destroy the British Empire which was running the tyrannical power over India. Throwing the first bomb and giving In just 19th year, with Bhagavad Gita in hand, he created history by climbing the noose laughing and laughing.
In the field of revolution
After leaving school, Khudiram became a member of the Revolutionary Party and played an important role in distributing Vande Mataram pamphlets. In 1905, he also actively participated in the movement against the partition of Bengal.
Seeing the progress of the independence movement in the beginning of the twentieth century, the British started the move of partition of Bengal, which was strongly opposed. In the meantime, after the partition of Bengal in 1905, Khudiram Bose jumped into the independence movement. He started his revolutionary life under the leadership of Satyen Bose. At the age of 16, he planted bombs near police stations and targeted government employees.He joined the Revolutionary Party and was also instrumental in distributing ‘Vande Mataram’ pamphlets. In 1906, the police caught Bose twice – on February 28, 1906, Bose was caught while distributing an advertisement called Sonar Bangla, but managed to escape by dodging the police. In this case he was accused of sedition and prosecuted, but Khudiram was acquitted due to lack of testimony. For the second time, the police arrested him on 16 May, but he was released with a warning due to his young age.
On 6 December 1907, Khudiram Bose attacked the special train of the Governor of Bengal at Narayangarh railway station, but the governor managed to escape. In the year 1908, he bombed two British officers named Watson and Pamphylet Fuller, but luck favored them and they survived.
Plan to kill Judge Kingsford
Lakhs of people took to the streets to protest the partition of Bengal and many of them Indians were brutally punished by the then Calcutta magistrate Kingsford. He especially punished the revolutionaries a lot. The British government, being pleased with the work of Kingsford, promoted him and made him a sessions judge in Muzaffarpur district. The revolutionaries decided to kill Kingsford and were selected for this task.Khudiram Bose and Prafullakumar Chaki. After reaching Muzaffarpur, both of them supervised Kingsford’s bungalow and office. On 30 April 1908 Chaki and Bose went out and waited for him, standing outside Kingsford’s bungalow. Khudiram threw a bomb on the front bogie in the dark, but there were two European women in that buggy, not Kingsford, who died. Amidst the chaos, both ran barefoot from there. Tired of running away, Khudiram reached the Vaini railway station and asked for water from a tea seller, but the policemen present there got suspicious and after a lot of effort, both of them arrested Khudiram. On May 1, he was brought from the station to Muzaffarpur.
On the other hand, Praful Chaki was also suffering from hunger and thirst by running away. On May 1, a man working in the British government named Trigunacharan helped him and sat in the train at night, but during the train journey, a sub-inspector working in the British police got suspicious and informed the Muzaffarpur police. When Chaki got down at Mokamaghat station to change train for Howrah, the police was already there. Instead of dying at the hands of the British, Chaki shot himself and became a martyr.
First bomb on British tyrants
On 30 April 1908, both of them went out for the planned work and started looking for his arrival in a horse carriage outside the bungalow in Kingsford. The police detectives present there to monitor the bungalow also wanted to remove them, but both of them stayed there after giving proper answers to them.At around 8.30 pm, Khudiram started running after seeing a car similar to Kingsford’s wagon coming from the club. It was very dark on the way. As soon as the car came in front of Kingsford’s bungalow, Khudiram threw a loud bomb aiming at the oncoming wagon in the dark. The sound of this first bomb explosion in India was heard that night for three miles and a few days later its voice was heard in England and Europe also when the news of this incident created panic there.Although Khudiram had thrown a bomb assuming Kingsford’s car, but that day Kingsford survived due to coming out of the club after a while. Ordinarily, two European women lost their lives because the vehicles were identical. Both Khudiram and Prafullakumar ran barefoot overnight and rested at Vaini railway station, 24 miles away.
Popularity
The magistrate who ordered his execution in Muzaffarpur Jail later told that Khudiram Bose, fearlessly like a lion’s child, proceeded towards the gallows. When Khudiram was martyred, he was 18 years old. After his martyrdom, Khudiram became so popular that the weavers of Bengal started weaving a special type of dhoti named after him.
His martyrdom created a wave of patriotism in the whole country. Songs were composed to immortalize his courageous contribution and his sacrifice was articulated in the form of folk songs. In his honor, soulful songs were composed which are still sung by the folk singers of Bengal.
arrest and execution
Khudiram Bose was arrested and tried and then sentenced to death. He was hanged on 11 August 1908. At that time his age was only 18 years and few months. Khudiram Bose was so fearless that he happily hanged himself with the Gita in his hand.
His fearlessness, valor and martyrdom made him so popular that the weavers of Bengal started weaving a special kind of dhoti and became an example for the nationalists and revolutionaries of Bengal. After his execution, students and others mourned and schools and colleges remained closed for several days. These days, such a dhoti had become prevalent among the youth, on the edge of which Khudiram was written.
If you liked this article then don’t forget to share it.
