Locating Manmathanath Ghosh in Japan during the High Tide of Indian Nationalism

Abstract

The Partition of Bengal in 1905 ushered in a new current of national mobilization which found expression in a nascent yearning among Indians to be self-sufficient in terms of infrastructure, industries, and education. Manmathanath Ghosh, a lesser-known figure in the Swadeshi struggle visited Japan during this nationalist effervescence. This essay aims to resurrect him and reevaluate his importance in terms of his contemporary age, the historical relationship between India and Japan, his observation of Japanese society, and the inherent patriotism that had already germinated in the psyche of the ordinary Bengali. In terms of mass movements, history remembers the leaders but more often than not, it fails to remember the same revolutionary fervor among the followers. Ghosh's account not only provides testimony to foreign journeys for the purpose of freedom but also gives voice to the very sentiment of Swadeshi present in the ordinary Indian.