On this day, the Swadeshi movement was proclaimed from Town Hall, Calcutta, calling for the boycott of foreign goods and encouragement of domestic production.
The movement started in response to the decision of the British administration to partition Bengal. The British had intended to divide Bengal along religious identities and weaken the nationalist movement. But the decision made the movement stronger and revitalised the Indian National Congress.
Town Hall became one of the main centres from where the protests continued to be staged. Satyendranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Abdur Rasul, Ramendrasundar Trivedi and Abdul Halim Ghaznavi were some of the leaders who addressed meetings at Town Hall on Swadeshi.
The movement led to Indians starting several kinds of production of goods and textiles, even if these cost more than those that were made available in the market by the British. The nationalist impulse shaped art, literature and music. Abanindranath Tagore made his painting of Bharat Mata in 1905.
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