Abani Mukherji
Encyclopedia
Abaninath Mukherji was an India
n revolutionary and co-founder of the Communist Party of India
. His name was often spelt Abani Mukherjee.
state). Abani Mukherji's father was Trailokyanath Mukherji. After leaving school, he moved to Ahmedabad
, where he trained as a weaver, and in 1910 he was employed as an assistant weaving master at the Bangla Laxmi Cotton Mills. In 1912, he was sent to Japan
and Germany
to study weaving. In Germany, he encountered socialism
. After returning to Calcutta in December of the same year, he was employed at another cotton mill, Andrew Yule Mill.
and joined the revolutionary movement. In 1915, he was sent to Japan to acquire weapons for the revolutionaries. According to British intelligence reports, he was active in the Hindu-German conspiracy. In September 1915, while on his return journey to India, he was arrested in Singapore
and incarcerated at the Fort Canning
prison there, where he remained until he escaped in the autumn of 1917. The exact details of his escape are unclear. Mukherji managed to reach Java
in the Dutch East Indies
, where he stayed until the end of 1919, living under the name of Dar Shaheer. In Java, he was in contact with Indonesian and Dutch revolutionaries and became a communist
. He also travelled to Amsterdam
and back. In Amsterdam, he met S.J. Rutgers, who recommended him as a delegate to the Second Congress of the Communist International.
member during his early political life.
Mukherji took part as a delegate in the Second Congress of the Communist International, held in Petrograd between July 19 and August 7, 1920. In the Russian language
notes of the Congress, he is listed as a 'left-socialist', without a party affiliation being stated. At the Congress, Mukherji met Vladimir Lenin
for the first time. Directly after the Congress, Mukherji travelled to Baku
in Soviet Azerbaijan
to represent India at the Congress of the Peoples of the East
.
The Communist Party of India
was founded in Tashkent
on October 17, 1920, two months after the end of the Second Congress of the Communist International. The principal movers in the founding of the party were Roy and Mukherji. After the founding of CPI, Roy returned to Moscow whilst Mukherji was put in charge of the Indian Military School, with the task of training armed forces to fight British colonialism. The same year, Mukherji became a member of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
.
The following year, 1921, Mukherji went to Moscow to attend the Third Congress of the Communist International as a delegate with a consultative vote. There he also took part in a meeting of Indian revolutionaries.
Also in 1921 Mukherji drafted a document on the Malabar uprising, which he sent to Lenin. In 1922, Roy and Mukherji together wrote the book India in Transition, a Marxist analysis of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
which the Communist International published in four languages in 1922. The book argued that the 1857 rebellion had failed to rid India of feudalism
. Roy had assigned to Mukherji the task of gathering statistical data for the book.
. He privately met local communist leaders on his way. Once in India, he was sheltered by the Anushilan Samiti
in Dacca. After meeting S.A. Dange at the Gaya
session of the Indian National Congress
in December 1922, and after meeting Bengal
communist groups, Mukherji moved to Madras, where he met Singaravelu Chettiar
. Mukherji helped Chettiar with his efforts to form the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan
and to draw up its manifesto. Mukherji later returned to the Soviet Union.
Mukherji took an uncompromising attitude towards cooperation with nationalist
sectors. In 1928, he described the Workers and Peasants Party
as 'the party that is accumulating by itself the elements of future Indian Fascism.'
at the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and became president of the All Union Association of Orientalists. He also worked at the Communist Academy.
in the late 1930s, but his death was only acknowledged by the Soviet Union after 1955.
Mukherji was arrested on June 2, 1937. He was assigned for the first category of repression (execution by firearms) in the list "Moscow-Center" and executed on October 28, 1937.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n revolutionary and co-founder of the Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
. His name was often spelt Abani Mukherjee.
Early life
Abani Mukherji was born in Jabalpur (in the present-day Madhya PradeshMadhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
state). Abani Mukherji's father was Trailokyanath Mukherji. After leaving school, he moved to Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad
Ahmedabad also known as Karnavati is the largest city in Gujarat, India. It is the former capital of Gujarat and is also the judicial capital of Gujarat as the Gujarat High Court has its seat in Ahmedabad...
, where he trained as a weaver, and in 1910 he was employed as an assistant weaving master at the Bangla Laxmi Cotton Mills. In 1912, he was sent to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
to study weaving. In Germany, he encountered socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. After returning to Calcutta in December of the same year, he was employed at another cotton mill, Andrew Yule Mill.
Revolutionary
In 1914, Mukherji met Rash Behari BoseRash Behari Bose
Rashbehari Bose was a revolutionary leader against the British Raj in India and was one of the key organisers of the Ghadar conspiracy and later, the Indian National Army.-Early life:...
and joined the revolutionary movement. In 1915, he was sent to Japan to acquire weapons for the revolutionaries. According to British intelligence reports, he was active in the Hindu-German conspiracy. In September 1915, while on his return journey to India, he was arrested in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and incarcerated at the Fort Canning
Fort Canning
Fort Canning is a small hill slightly more than 60 metres high in the southeast portion of the island city-state of Singapore, within the Central Area that forms Singapore's central business district...
prison there, where he remained until he escaped in the autumn of 1917. The exact details of his escape are unclear. Mukherji managed to reach Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
in the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
, where he stayed until the end of 1919, living under the name of Dar Shaheer. In Java, he was in contact with Indonesian and Dutch revolutionaries and became a communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. He also travelled to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and back. In Amsterdam, he met S.J. Rutgers, who recommended him as a delegate to the Second Congress of the Communist International.
In the Communist International
In 1920, Mukherji travelled to Russia to take part in the Second Congress of the Communist International. There he met M.N. Roy, and with Roy and Roy's wife Evelyn he drafted a document which was published in Glasgow Socialist on June 24, 1920, under the title The Indian Communist Manifesto. Like Mukherji, Roy had been an AnushilanAnushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti was an armed anti-British organisation in Bengal and the principal secret revolutionary organisation operating in the region in the opening years of the 20th century. This association, like its offshoot the Jugantar, operated under the guise of suburban fitness club...
member during his early political life.
Mukherji took part as a delegate in the Second Congress of the Communist International, held in Petrograd between July 19 and August 7, 1920. In the Russian language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
notes of the Congress, he is listed as a 'left-socialist', without a party affiliation being stated. At the Congress, Mukherji met Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
for the first time. Directly after the Congress, Mukherji travelled to Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
in Soviet Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
to represent India at the Congress of the Peoples of the East
Congress of the Peoples of the East
The Congress of the Peoples of the East was held in Baku in September 1920. The congress was first planned by Mirsäyet Soltanğäliev and the National Communists. However Stalin prevented Soltanğäliev from attending the congress, fearing that he would help consolidate his wing of the communist...
.
The Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India
The Communist Party of India is a national political party in India. In the Indian communist movement, there are different views on exactly when the Indian communist party was founded. The date maintained as the foundation day by CPI is 26 December 1925...
was founded in Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
on October 17, 1920, two months after the end of the Second Congress of the Communist International. The principal movers in the founding of the party were Roy and Mukherji. After the founding of CPI, Roy returned to Moscow whilst Mukherji was put in charge of the Indian Military School, with the task of training armed forces to fight British colonialism. The same year, Mukherji became a member of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
.
The following year, 1921, Mukherji went to Moscow to attend the Third Congress of the Communist International as a delegate with a consultative vote. There he also took part in a meeting of Indian revolutionaries.
Also in 1921 Mukherji drafted a document on the Malabar uprising, which he sent to Lenin. In 1922, Roy and Mukherji together wrote the book India in Transition, a Marxist analysis of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
which the Communist International published in four languages in 1922. The book argued that the 1857 rebellion had failed to rid India of feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
. Roy had assigned to Mukherji the task of gathering statistical data for the book.
Return to India
In December 1922 Mukherji returned from Moscow to India clandestinely, via BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. He privately met local communist leaders on his way. Once in India, he was sheltered by the Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti
Anushilan Samiti was an armed anti-British organisation in Bengal and the principal secret revolutionary organisation operating in the region in the opening years of the 20th century. This association, like its offshoot the Jugantar, operated under the guise of suburban fitness club...
in Dacca. After meeting S.A. Dange at the Gaya
Gaya, India
Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...
session of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
in December 1922, and after meeting Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
communist groups, Mukherji moved to Madras, where he met Singaravelu Chettiar
Singaravelu Chettiar
-Ma.Singaravelar :He was one of the early leftist thinkers of India in 20th century. He was an advocate by profession and spent his earlier days for the propagation of Buddhism. Being contemporary of freedom fighters, VOC and Balagangadhar Thilak. He was actively participated in railway workers...
. Mukherji helped Chettiar with his efforts to form the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan
Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan
Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan was a political party in India. The party was founded by Singaravelu Chettiar on May 1, 1923 in Madras. This was the first May Day celebration in India. This was also the first time the red flag was used in India....
and to draw up its manifesto. Mukherji later returned to the Soviet Union.
Split with Roy
Roy and Mukherji did however part ways and became bitter enemies. Mukherji learnt that during his travel to India, Roy had sent a circular to the Indian communist groups denouncing him and claiming that he did not represent the Communist International. By the mid 1920s the break between them was complete.Mukherji took an uncompromising attitude towards cooperation with nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
sectors. In 1928, he described the Workers and Peasants Party
Workers and Peasants Party
The Workers and Peasants Party was a political party in India, which worked inside the Indian National Congress 1925-1929. It became an important front organisation for the Communist Party of India and an influential force in the Bombay labour movement...
as 'the party that is accumulating by itself the elements of future Indian Fascism.'
1930s
During the 1930s, most of Mukherji's work was academic. He was an indologistIndology
Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent , and as such is a subset of Asian studies....
at the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and became president of the All Union Association of Orientalists. He also worked at the Communist Academy.
Death
Mukherji fell victim to the Great PurgeGreat Purge
The Great Purge was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin from 1936 to 1938...
in the late 1930s, but his death was only acknowledged by the Soviet Union after 1955.
Mukherji was arrested on June 2, 1937. He was assigned for the first category of repression (execution by firearms) in the list "Moscow-Center" and executed on October 28, 1937.
Family life
In 1920, while in Russia, Mukherji met Rosa Fitingov, who was then an assistant to Lenin's private secretary, Lydia Fotieva. Of Russian-Jewish origins, Rosa Fitingov had joined the Communist Party in 1918. They married and had a son called Goga. Rosa was later one of the founding members of the CPI and acted as M.N. Roy's interpreter.Articles by Abani Mukherji
- Indian Labour Movement: A Review of the Situation, published in Communist Review, May 1922