
Khudiram Bose

An illustration of Khudiram Bose
'Khudiram Bose' () (
1889-
1908) was a
Bengali Indian freedom fighter, one of the youngest revolutionaries early in the
Indian independence movement.
Early life
Bose was born on
3rd December 1889 in the village mohobony in
Medinipur district of
Bengal. His father Trailokyanath Basu was the Tahsildar of the town of the Nadazol prince. His mother Lakshmipriya Devi was a pious lady, who was well known for her virtuous life and generosity.
Revolutionary activities
Bose was inspired by his readings of the
Bhagavad Gita, which helped him embrace revolutionary activities aimed at ending the
British Raj. He was especially disillusioned with the British following the
partition of Bengal conflagration in
1905. He joined
Jugantar - the party of revolutionary activists.
At the nascent age of sixteen, Bose was defying police after planting bombs near police stations and targeting government officials. He was arrested three years later on charges of conducting a series of bomb attacks.The specific bombing for which he was sentenced to death resulted in the deaths of 3 persons: Mrs Kennedy, her daughter and a servant.
The Muzaffarpur killing
Khudiram and
Prafulla Chaki were sent to
Muzaffarpur,
Bihar to assassinate Kingsford, the Calcutta Presidency Magistrate, and later, magistrate of
Muzaffarpur,
Bihar.
Khudiram and Prafulla watched the usual movements of Kingsford and prepared a plan to kill him. On the evening of April 30, 1908, the duo waited in front of the gate of European Club for the carriage of Kingsford to come. When a vehicle came out of the gate, they threw bombs and blew up the carriage. However, the vehicle was not carrying Kingsford and instead two
British ladies - Mrs and Miss Kennedy (the wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy ) were killed. The revolutionary duo fled. Prafulla committed suicide when cornered by police at the
Samastipur Railway station. Khudiram was later arrested.
Death
On this Muzaffarpur bombing and other charges of bombings carried out by him, a pretence of trial was carried out for two months. Although the leading Calcutta advocate Narendra Kumar Basu mounted a stout defense of Khudiram's actions in defense of his motherland (without charging any fees), Khudiram was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out, and he was hanged on
11 August 1908.
But the one thing that surprised everyone was that as he was hanged he was still smiling. And to this the Bengali poet Kaji Najrul Islam wrote a poem to honor him.
See also
★
Indian Independence Movement
★
Indian nationalism
★
Revolutionary movement for Indian independence
External links
★
Biography of Khudiram Bose