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.
Anushilan Samiti
With war clouds gathering in Europe, Indian nationalists at home and abroad decided to use a war with Germany for the nationalist cause. Through Kishen Singh, the Bengal revolutionary cell was introduced to Har Dayal when Dayal visited India in 1908. Dayal was associated with India House, a revolutionary organisation in London then headed by V. D. Savarkar. By 1910, Dayal was working closely with Rash Behari Bose. Bose, a Jugantar member working at the Forest Institute at Dehra Dun, was engaged with the revolutionary movement in Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab since October 1910. After the decline of India House, Dayal moved to San Francisco after working briefly with the Paris Indian Society. In the United States, nationalism among Indian immigrants (particularly students and the working class) was gaining ground. Taraknath Das, who left Bengal for the United States in 1907, was among the Indian students who engaged in political work. In California, Dayal became a leading organiser of Indian nationalism amongst predominantly-Punjabi immigrant workers and was a key member of the Ghadar Party.