Policing ‘Bengali Terrorism’ in India and the World: Imperial Intelligence and Revolutionary Nationalism, 1905-1939

364 Pages·2019·3.576 MB·English

by  Michael Silvestri

BRITAIN AND THE WORLD
Policing ‘Bengali Terrorism’
in India and the World
Imperial Intelligence and
Revolutionary Nationalism, 1905–1939
Michael Silvestri
Britain and the World
Series Editors
Martin Farr
School of Historical Studies
Newcastle University
Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Michelle D. Brock
Department of History
Washington and Lee University
Lexington, VA, USA
Eric G. E. Zuelow
Department of History
University of New England
Biddeford, ME, USA
Britain and the World is a series of books on ‘British world’ history. The
editors invite book proposals from historians of all ranks on the ways in
which Britain has interacted with other societies since the seventeenth cen-
tury. The series is sponsored by the Britain and the World society.
Britain and the World is made up of people from around the world who
share a common interest in Britain, its history, and its impact on the wider
world. The society serves to link the various intellectual communities
around the world that study Britain and its international influence from
the seventeenth century to the present. It explores the impact of Britain
on the world through this book series, an annual conference, and the
Britain and the World journal with Edinburgh University Press.
Martin Farr ([email protected]) is the Chair of the British
Scholar Society and General Editor for the Britain and the World book
series. Michelle D. Brock ([email protected]) is Series Editor for titles
focusing on the pre-1800 period and Eric G. E. Zuelow (ezuelow@une.
edu) is Series Editor for titles covering the post-1800 period.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14795
Michael Silvestri
Policing ‘Bengali
Terrorism’ in India
and the World
Imperial Intelligence and Revolutionary
Nationalism, 1905–1939
Michael Silvestri
History Department
Clemson University
Clemson, SC, USA
Britain and the World
ISBN 978-3-030-18041-6 ISBN 978-3-030-18042-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18042-3
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval,
electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-
lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the
material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The
publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institu-
tional affiliations.
Cover illustration: The Print Collector / Alamy Stock Photo
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
For my parents
A
cknowledgments
This book has had a long and winding history, and in the process of
researching and writing it, I have piled up an extraordinary number of
debts. I first approached the topic of colonial policing in a PhD disserta-
tion at Columbia University, and although only traces of the original thesis
remain in the present study, the intellectual and financial support I received
at Columbia was critical to this book’s genesis. Sir David Cannadine was
an enthusiastic and supportive dissertation supervisor and I was fortunate
to benefit from the insights of a truly outstanding dissertation committee:
David Armitage, Sugata Bose, Leonard Gordon, and Ayesha Jalal. Ayesha’s
suggestion that I explore Sir John Anderson’s career in Bengal has led me
down many profitable avenues of historical research in subsequent years.
Needless to say, neither she nor any of the individuals mentioned in these
acknowledgments are responsible for any deficiencies of fact or interpreta-
tion in this book.
I owe an enormous debt as well to the archives and libraries in which I
have researched and written this book and in particular to the staff of the
Asia, Pacific, and Africa Collections of the British Library. Over the years,
they have been unfailingly helpful with my research questions and research
requests and have made the Asian and African Studies reading room quite
simply the best place in the world to think about, research, and write
about South Asian and British imperial history. At Clemson University, the
staff of the Resource Sharing Office of the Cooper Library have tolerated
my innumerable requests for books, articles, and other materials and have
done an outstanding job of providing them.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A number of institutions have generously supported the research in the
United States, the United Kingdom, and India on which this book is
based. I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Council for European
Studies, Columbia University; the American Institute for Indian Studies;
and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation for supporting the initial
research for this project. More recent research was funded by the American
Philosophical Society, which awarded me a Franklin Research Grant; and
by the History Department; the College of Architecture, Arts and
Humanities; the Humanities Advancement Board; and the University
Research Grants Committee of Clemson University.
Some material in this book appeared previously in my article “The
Bomb, Bhadralok, Bhagavad Gita and Dan Breen: Terrorism in Bengal
and Its Relation to the European Experience,” which appeared in Terrorism
and Political Violence in 2009.
I am also grateful to many individuals for inviting me to present my
research at workshops, conferences, and seminars and for sharpening my
fuzzy thoughts on imperial intelligence and “Bengali terrorism.” I thank
Andy Syk, John Horne, and Robert Gerwarth for inviting me to partici-
pate in the joint University College Dublin-Trinity College Dublin con-
ference on Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great War in 2010.
Thanks to Satoshi Mizutani for organizing an outstanding 2013 confer-
ence at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan, on the transnational trajec-
tories of the Indian nationalist struggle. Bill Meier invited me to take
part in a very productive workshop on terrorism and violence at the
2014 Midwest Victorian Studies Association conference, while Kim
Wagner organized and led a stimulating and collegial workshop on colo-
nial violence at Queen Mary College, University of London, in 2015.
Audiences at the British Scholar Conference and the Pacific Coast
Conference on British Studies in 2017 provided valuable feedback and
encouragement.
The late Sabyaschi Mukherjee was generous in sharing materials which
he had collected on Calcutta Police Commissioner Charles Tegart. Jeremy
Ingpen provided insights on his grandfather, police intelligence officer
R. E. A. Ray, and shared excerpts from his grandmother Marion Ray’s
diaries. Along with other historians of late colonial Bengal, I am indebted
to Dr. Amiya K. Samanta, former Director of the West Bengal Police
Intelligence Branch. Dr. Samanta facilitated the research process while I
was a graduate student in Kolkata, and his publication of documentary
collections on “Bengali terrorism” has provided a valuable resource for
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
historians at a time when access to colonial-era materials on this subject
can still be difficult.
A number of other individuals have provided important critical per-
spectives, assistance, and encouragement. I thank in particular Brian
Drohan, Richard Hill, Harald Fischer-Tiné, Durba Ghosh, Eunan
O’Halpin, Heather Streets-Salter, and Kim Wagner. Conversations with
Kate O’Malley have helped me to understand the mentalities of both
imperial intelligence officers and anticolonial activists, while my colleague
Mou Banerjee has not only provided warm encouragement but also shared
her deep knowledge of colonial India. My visits with Ed, Claire, and
William Moisson have been the highlight of my research trips to London.
A draft chapter benefitted from a critical reading by Heather Streets-
Salter, while an early version of the introduction benefitted from the com-
ments of my friends and colleagues Steve Marks and James Burns. The
students in my graduate seminar on empire in the Fall 2018 semester
buoyed my spirits and helped me refine my arguments as I completed the
final manuscript. Gail Nagel was a careful and critical reader and an enthu-
siastic supporter of this project.
At Palgrave Macmillan, I thank Molly Beck, Maeve Sinnott, and the
series editors for their enthusiasm about this book and for their help with
the publication process. The careful and critical reading of the anonymous
reader at Palgrave provided comments and suggestions that have immea-
surably improved the final manuscript.
Ellie, Lizzie, and Bear care little, as far as I can tell, about British his-
tory, but I am grateful for their daily reminders that there is more to life
than writing books.
As with past projects, my biggest thanks are reserved for my wife and
fellow British historian Stephanie Barczewski. Stephanie has been hearing
about imperial intelligence and revolutionary nationalism in various forms
for as long as she has known me; nonetheless, she has never complained
when I have inflicted my work upon her and her careful and critical com-
ments have helped me shape this book from its earliest unwieldly and
inchoate incarnations. Even more importantly, I value beyond words what
Stephanie has contributed to our life together.
This book is dedicated to my parents, John and Carol, who have offered
unstinting love, support, and encouragement over the years.
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Imperial Intelligence and a Forgotten
Insurgency 1
Part I Policing Revolutionary Terrorism in Bengal 23
2 The “Bomb Cult” and “Criminal Tribes”: Revolutionaries
and the Origins of Police Intelligence in Colonial Bengal 25
3 Surveillance, Analysis, and Violence: The Operations of the
Bengal Police Intelligence Branch 75
4 Intelligence Failures, Militarization, and Rehabilitation:
The Anti-Terrorist Campaign After the Chittagong
Armoury Raid 127
Part II The Wider World 185
5 Transnational Revolutionaries and Imperial Surveillance:
Bengal Revolutionary Networks Outside India 187
xi