The Swadeshi Movement was much more than just boycotting British goods. It created a powerful wave that deeply affected the education system of Bengal. As the movement gained strong support among students, the Chief Secretary of Bengal, R.W. Carlyle, issued a circular on 10 October 1905, warning students not to participate in Swadeshi activities.
Students reacted sharply against this order. They staged walkouts from their classes in protest. Under the leadership of Rabindranath Tagore, a massive student rally was held at Pataldanga Mallikbari on 4 November 1905, where an “Anti-Circular Society” was formed to openly oppose the government’s directive.
Leading nationalists like Bipin Chandra Pal, Rabindranath Tagore, and Abdul Rasul urged students to quit government-run institutions. Around the same time, Satish Chandra Mukherjee, editor of The Dawn, described the University of Calcutta as a “house of slaves” (Golam-Khan). He strongly appealed to students to abandon such institutions and embrace national education.
Satish Chandra Mukherjee then founded the Dawn Society, with full support from Rabindranath Tagore and Charu Das Banerjee. The Society worked actively to promote patriotism and spread the idea of national education among students.
The Dawn Society opposed Curzon’s University Act of 1904 and Carlyle’s circular of 1905, starting a dedicated movement to promote indigenous education. On 5 August 1905, Rabindranath Tagore delivered a notable speech in Calcutta highlighting the importance of national education. The very next day, he established the Banga Jatiya Vidyalay, which received strong public support.
Soon after, on 8 November 1905, the second Jatiya Vidyalay was opened in Rangpur. As more students withdrew from government schools, national schools began to emerge in different parts of Bengal.
Under the guidance of Rashbehari Bose, the National Education Council (Jatiya Siksha Parisad) was formed on 11 March 1906 at the Calcutta Town Hall. Later, on 15 August 1906, the Bengal National College was founded with Aurobindo Ghosh as its first principal. Within the same year, on 12 December, it grew into the National University.
During the Swadeshi period, Bengal saw the establishment of 62 national secondary schools and nearly 3,000 national primary schools. With generous financial support from the renowned barrister Taraknath Palit—a close friend of Assam’s first ICS officer, Ananda Ram Boruah—the Bengal Technical Institute was set up. This institute later evolved into Jadavpur University. Inspired by this model, institutions like Bihar Vidyapeeth (Patna), Samarth Vidyalay (Maharashtra) and Gujarat Vidyalay (Gujarat) were also established following the National University concept.