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Pulina Behari Das
पुलिन बिहारी दास
The founder of the first revolutionary group of Bengal
Years
1877 – 1949
Known as
Pulina Behari Das — the founder of Anushilan Samiti
Birthplace
Faridpur, Bengal
Field
Freedom Fighters
“Organise the youth, train the body, and fill the mind with the love of the motherland.”
— Pulina Behari Das
The Story
Born in Faridpur in 1877, Pulina Behari Das grew up in the years when the idea of swaraj, self-rule, was taking fire in Bengal. A man of physical strength and fierce patriotism, he founded the Anushilan Samiti — an organisation of young men trained in lathi-play, wrestling, and drill, whose real purpose was the preparation of revolutionaries.
The Samiti spread across Bengal, opening branches and gymnasiums where hundreds of young men were schooled in courage, discipline, and the love of the motherland. From its ranks came the revolutionaries who attacked British officials, planned risings, and kept the flame of armed resistance burning through the first decades of the twentieth century.
Betrayed by informers, Pulina Behari was arrested in 1910 in the famous trial that followed the bombing of the Viceroy's procession, and sentenced to transportation. He spent years in the Andamans and in jails, and after his release remained a patriot to the end, dying in 1949 — having given Bengal its first organised revolutionary movement.
Core Ideas
Anushilan Samiti
The first great revolutionary organisation of Bengal.
Physical Culture
Gymnasiums and training that built a generation of fighters.
The Secret Society
Discipline and secrecy in the service of the motherland.
The Arrest of 1910
Betrayed, tried, and transported to the Andamans.
The Teacher of Revolution
His trainees led the armed struggle for decades.
Why it matters today
Pulina Behari Das is remembered as the founder of Bengal's organised revolutionary movement — the man whose gymnasiums and societies trained the youth who carried the armed struggle forward. His Anushilan Samiti became the model for revolutionary organisation across Bhārat, and his name remains honoured in the history of the freedom movement.