History of the Anushilan Samiti
Around 1902, Aurobindo Ghosh arranged for Bannerjee to return to Calcutta to begin organisational work, where he began a gymnasium and a youth society. It was at this time that Bannerjee came in touch with Vibhuti Bhushan Bhattacharya, Sarala Devi Ghoshal and Pramathanath Mitra. In Calcutta, a few clubs and societies were still active at the time. Most notable was a gymnasium in Ballygunge Circular Road run by Sarala Devi herself, a second was an organisation named "Anushilan Samiti" founded by Satish Chandra Basu with the patronage of Pramathanath Mitra. A third one was a youth club called "Attōnnōti Samiti" (Self-improvement society) in central Calcutta.
Anushilan Samiti
The organisation moved away from its philosophy of violence in the 1920s, when a number of its members identified closely with the Congress and Gandhian non-violent movement, but a section of the group, notably under Sachindranath Sanyal, remained active in revolutionary movement, founding the Hindustan Republican Association in north India. A number of Congress leaders from Bengal, especially Subhash Chandra Bose, were accused by the British Government of having links with, and allowing patronage to, the organisation during this time.