Why NYC?
To understand why such an influx of South Asian revolutionaries came to New York City, we must understand why they fled India in the first place. After the First War of Indian Independence in 1857, the British grew hypervigilant of the organizing efforts of Indian freedom fighters. In 1907, the passage of the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act sought to crack down on public meetings and assemblies, particularly focusing on nationalist movement gatherings. The new law permitted the British to deport anyone stirring revolutionary sentiments — and, by design, created an atmosphere of fear.
Many members of South Asian nationalist movements had already been wary of British political surveillance and fled to Europe, specifically Paris and London. There, they established new institutions, like Shyamaji Krishnavarma’s London-based India House: a short-lived but highly influential hub for student revolutionaries from then-British India to live, create community, and exchange ideas in the heart of the British empire. Founded in 1905, India House had the appearance of a placid student residence hall. But its peaceful brick exterior was not reflective of the revolutionary activity within its walls. Under Krishnavarma’s direction, India House became the meeting space of the Indian Home Rule Society, as well as the publishing home of The Indian Sociologist. The space was explicitly tailored toward young South Asian students and activists, who debated, wrote, and organized for Indian self-rule and the end of British colonial rule. It was an intensely influential space for many who would emerge as key thinkers and political figures in the decades to follow.
However, political surveillance was inescapable. Even purely intellectual activities — reading groups, publishing journals, distributing pamphlets — were seen as an immediate threat that must be crushed. India House also had many members who believed in the potential of revolutionary violence, including bomb-making and armed resistance. In 1909, a member of the revolutionary movement and a frequent attendee of India House’s programs, Madan Lal Dhingra, assassinated the political aide-de-camp of the Secretary of State of India. This would ultimately prove to be the end of India House in London, as Lal Dhingra’s act spurred an intense police crackdown on the space. Many, like Krishnavarma himself, had already moved on from London to other cities, like Paris. Others took this moment as a chance to move even further afield: to New York City.
Establishing a Base
At the turn of the 20th century, New York City developed a reputation for anti-imperialist political activism, spread both through on-the-ground organizing and through print. Alongside the growing American Anti-Imperialist League, many immigrant and minority groups within the city had already established small enclaves and print outlets with common goals of progressing their decolonial causes. Once resettled in New York, Indians similarly needed hubs to collaborate and communicate their individual ideas for liberation. Recalling their experiences abroad, they decided to emulate the model that Krishnavarma’s India House had pioneered in London. Along with a center akin to India House, three organizations were established to further the broader movement’s objectives: the Pan-Aryan Association, Indo-American National Association in New York, and Society for the Advancement of India.
The Indian Freedom movement on the East Coast primarily tasked itself with garnering sympathy for the Indian cause from the American people. Many individuals within this movement determined that the most effective way they could do this was through writing and mass publication, some which were born out of particular instances of cross-racial solidarity. These key figures and publications, discussed further in the next sections, are important examples of anti-colonial organizing and political thought in the 20th century.