Political history of Sri Aurobindo
Anushilan Samiti was founded as an attempt to organize Bengali youth through a program of physical fitness and spiritual training for a nationalist program. By 1902, Calcutta had three societies working under the umbrella of Anushilan Samity, a society earlier founded by a Calcutta barrister by the name of Pramatha Mitra. These included Mitra's own group, another led by a Bengali lady by the name of Sarala Devi, and a third one led by Aurobindo Ghosh. The Anushilan Samiti had Aurobindo and Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das as the vice-presidents, Suren Tagore the treasurer. Jatindra Nath Banerjee (Niralamba Swami), Bagha Jatin, Bhupendra Nath Datta (Swami Vivekananda's brother), Barindra Ghosh were among other initial leaders.
By 1905, the work of Aurobindo and his brother Barin Ghosh allowed Anushilan Samity to spread through Bengal.
Robert Nathan (intelligence officer)
Nathan was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge, before joining the Indian Civil Service in 1888. He was appointed secretary of the Indian Universities Commission in 1902, and Private Secretary to the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, in 1905. In 1907 Nathan was made Chief Secretary to the Government of Eastern Bengal and Assam, and Commissioner of Dhaka Police. In 1908, Nathan, then the Police Commissioner of Dhaka, was responsible along with the district collector H.L. Salkeld for uncovering the revolutionary organisation of the "Anushilan Samiti", and for instituting the measures to suppress the organisation.