--- title: "Boycott Movement (1905): Bengal Partition Protest" description: "The Boycott Movement of 1905 was India's refusal to buy British goods after the Bengal partition. Learn how it differed from Swadeshi and shaped nationalism." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/boycott-movement-1905" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - The Boycott Movement of 1905 was the organized Indian refusal to purchase British goods, services, and institutions, launched in response to the partition of Bengal under Lord Curzon. - How did the Boycott Movement differ from the Swadeshi Movement? - Why was the partition of Bengal the trigger for the boycott? - Who were the principal leaders of the 1905 boycott? - What was the lasting significance of the Boycott Movement for later nationalism? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 Go beyond the definition ## Research Boycott Movement (1905) like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Timeline 1. 19 July 1905 The Boycott Movement of 1905 originated as a direct political response to the partition of Bengal, formally announced by the Viceroy Lord Curzon on and brou… 2. 16 October 1905 The Boycott Movement of 1905 originated as a direct political response to the partition of Bengal, formally announced by the Viceroy Lord Curzon on 19 July 1… 3. 7 August 1905 The formal call for boycott was adopted at a mass meeting held at the Calcutta Town Hall on , a date many historians treat as the movement's inaugural moment. 4. 11 March 1906 The National Council of Education was established on to provide an alternative to government-controlled instruction, and the Bengal National College was fou… ## Positions at a glance ### Indian National Congress The leadership and named participants spanned the spectrum of contemporary nationalism. In Bengal, Surendranath Banerjea, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Aurobindo Ghosh were prominent organizers, while the movement spread well beyond its Bengali heartland. Bal Gangadhar Tilak carried it to Maharashtra and the Deccan, Lala Lajpat Rai to Punjab, Chidambaram Pillai to the Madras Presidency, and Syed Haider Raza to Delhi. The Indian National Congress, at its Calcutta session of 1906 presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji, gave formal endorsement to the boycott and Swadeshi resolutions and articulated the goal of "swaraj." The agitation persisted until the partition was annulled in 1911, when King George V announced the reunification of Bengal at the Delhi Durbar and the simultaneous transfer of the imperial capital from Calcutta to Delhi. ### All-India Muslim League The movement's limitations and controversies were consequential. Its penetration into the Muslim peasantry of eastern Bengal was weak, and the Swadeshi emphasis on costlier indigenous cloth bore disproportionately on poorer consumers, while the involvement of revolutionary samitis drew the movement toward militant nationalism and the formation of secret societies such as Anushilan and Jugantar. The partition itself had a lasting communal legacy: the creation of a Muslim-majority province encouraged separate political organization, and the All-India Muslim League was founded at Dacca in December 1906. The colonial state responded with repressive ordinances restricting public meetings, the proscription of "Bande Mataram," and the deportation of leaders, hardening the divide between accommodation and confrontation within the nationalist camp. ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Boycott Movement (1905) Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Boycott Movement (1905)](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Boycott%20Movement%20\(1905\)%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example In Calcutta on 7 August 1905, nationalist leaders convened at the Town Hall to adopt the boycott resolution, after which crowds publicly burned imported Manchester cloth in protest against Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal. Keep learning ## Go deeper than the definition [Explore all Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams lessons](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services)[Test yourself with a quiz](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/quiz/civil-services) ## Take Boycott Movement (1905) beyond the glossary Ask the AI research engine built for diplomacy — get briefings, position papers, and speeches with sources you can cite in committee.