Sri Aurobindo

Bande Mataram

Political Writings and Speeches. 1890–1908

Publisher’s Note on Part Six

Bande Mataram under the Editorship of Sri Aurobindo with Speeches Delivered during the Same Period 6 February – 3 May 1908

After returning from Maharashtra in February 1908, Sri Aurobindo resumed his duties as chief editorial writer of the Bande Mataram. He wrote regularly for the journal over the next three months; during the same period he was occasionally called on to deliver speeches in Calcutta and other places in Bengal. Some of these speeches were published in the Bande Mataram. They are reproduced here at the date of their delivery and not the date of publication.

On 2 May 1908 Sri Aurobindo was arrested in connection with the revolutionary activities of his brother Barindrakumar Ghose and others. He remained in Alipore jail from 5 May 1908 to 6 May 1909, when he was acquitted and released. The Bande Mataram, edited during his imprisonment by his colleagues, ceased publication in October 1908, when it was suppressed by the British government under the provisions of the Press Act of 1908.