UPPSC 2023 Prelims Q34: Which among the following organisations was responsible for

Q: What is the answer to UPPSC 2023 Prelims Q34?

D. Correct — D, Anushilan Samiti. On 23 December 1912, during Viceroy Lord Hardinge's ceremonial procession into the new capital of Delhi, a bomb was hurled at his elephant-borne howdah, wounding him and killing an attendant. This 'Delhi Conspiracy Case' (Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy) was organised by Rash Behari Bose with Sachindra Nath Sanyal; the bomb was thrown by the young revolutionary Basanta Kumar Biswas, who belonged to the Anushilan Samiti revolutionary network of Bengal. Biswas was later hanged (1915).

UPPSC 2023 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 34 of 150

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official UPPSC answer key.

Which among the following organisations was responsible for throwing a bomb at Viceroy Lord Hardinge in Delhi?

(a)United Patriotic Association
(b)All India Labour Association
(c)Yugantar
(d)Anushilan Samiti

Answer

Why

Correct — D, Anushilan Samiti. On 23 December 1912, during Viceroy Lord Hardinge's ceremonial procession into the new capital of Delhi, a bomb was hurled at his elephant-borne howdah, wounding him and killing an attendant. This 'Delhi Conspiracy Case' (Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy) was organised by Rash Behari Bose with Sachindra Nath Sanyal; the bomb was thrown by the young revolutionary Basanta Kumar Biswas, who belonged to the Anushilan Samiti revolutionary network of Bengal. Biswas was later hanged (1915).

Why the others are wrong

(a)United Patriotic Association — This was a loyalist body founded by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (1888) to oppose the Indian National Congress — not a revolutionary organisation, and unconnected with the Hardinge bomb.
(b)All India Labour Association — A trade-union-sounding name with no link to the 1912 Delhi conspiracy; it was not a revolutionary bomb-throwing society.
(c)Yugantar — Yugantar (Jugantar) was a genuine Bengal revolutionary society, but the Hardinge bomb plot is attributed to Rash Behari Bose's Anushilan Samiti-linked network, not to Yugantar — this is the intended trap, as both are Bengal revolutionary outfits.

Concept

Early-twentieth-century revolutionary nationalism in Bengal produced two major secret societies — the Anushilan Samiti (with a strong Dhaka wing) and Yugantar (Jugantar). The Anushilan network's reach extended beyond Bengal; Rash Behari Bose carried it into Punjab and Delhi and organised the 1912 attempt on Viceroy Hardinge. The Delhi Conspiracy Case trial followed, and revolutionaries including Basanta Kumar Biswas, Amir Chand, Avadh Behari and Balmukund were executed.

Both Yugantar and the Anushilan Samiti are Bengal revolutionary societies, so the deliberate trap is to choose Yugantar. Anchor the Hardinge bomb (23 December 1912) to Rash Behari Bose and the Anushilan Samiti. The other two options — a loyalist association and a labour body — are not revolutionary organisations at all and can be struck out at once.

Key facts

23 December 1912: a bomb was thrown at Viceroy Lord Hardinge during his state entry into Delhi.
The Delhi Conspiracy Case was led by Rash Behari Bose, with Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
Basanta Kumar Biswas threw the bomb; he was linked to the Anushilan Samiti and executed in 1915.
Hardinge survived with injuries; his attendant (mahout) was killed.

Black-and-white studio portrait of Indian revolutionary Rash Behari Bose, wearing round spectacles and a suit — He organised the 1912 Delhi bomb attack on Viceroy Hardinge, carried out by Anushilan Samiti-linked revolutionaries.Image: Unknown author / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Study next

The revolutionary movement in Bengal: Anushilan Samiti and YugantarRash Behari Bose — Delhi Conspiracy, later the Indian Independence League and INA in JapanThe Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy and the Lahore Conspiracy casesAlipore Bomb Case and the Muzaffarpur bomb (Khudiram Bose, Prafulla Chaki)The HSRA and the later revolutionary phase (Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad)

Common traps

Choosing Yugantar (Jugantar) — both it and the Anushilan Samiti are Bengal revolutionary societies.
Confusing the 1912 Hardinge bomb with the 1908 Muzaffarpur bomb (Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki).

Match the revolutionary act (Barrah dacoity, Alipore bomb, Hardinge bomb) to the exact society (Anushilan Samiti / Yugantar) or the leader (Rash Behari Bose).

Related PYQs

UPSC_1995_GS1_Q901995Open & attempt →

The Barrah dacoity was the first major venture of the revolutionary terrorist of the freedom movement in

(a) Bombay Karnataka
(b) Punjab
(c) East Bengal
(d) The Madras Presidency

Answer(c) East Bengal

Both centre on the Anushilan Samiti — the Barrah dacoity (1908) was the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti's venture, the same society behind the 1912 Hardinge bomb.

UPSC_2022_GS1_Q532022Open & attempt →

Consider the following freedom fighters: 1. Barindra Kumar Ghosh 2. Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee 3. Rash Behari Bose. Who of the above was/were actively associated with the Ghadar Party?

(a) 1 and 2
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3
(d) 3 only

Answer(d) 3 only

Rash Behari Bose — the organiser of the 1912 Hardinge bomb attack in this question — is the same revolutionary tested here for his later Ghadar Party links.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
The revolutionary who organised the 1912 bomb attack on Viceroy Lord Hardinge and later founded the Indian Independence League in Japan was:
- (a)Sachindra Nath Sanyal
- (b)Rash Behari Bose
- (c)Barindra Kumar Ghosh
- (d)Jatindra Nath Das
Answer(b) Rash Behari Bose — mastermind of the Delhi conspiracy who later led the Indian Independence League in Japan.
practice — not a real PYQ
The Barrah dacoity (1908), an early revolutionary fund-raising raid, was the work of the:
- (a)Yugantar
- (b)Dhaka Anushilan Samiti
- (c)Ghadar Party
- (d)Abhinav Bharat
Answer(b) Dhaka Anushilan Samiti — the first major 'swadeshi dacoity' in East Bengal.