The Swadeshi movement arose as a powerful phase of the Indian national movement in the early twentieth century due to a combination of political, economic, administrative, social, and cultural factors that had been steadily intensifying under British colonial rule. The immediate backdrop was the growing dissatisfaction among Indians with the nature of British governance, which was increasingly perceived as exploitative, racially discriminatory, and indifferent to Indian interests. By the beginning of the twentieth century, educated Indians, peasants, artisans, and emerging industrial groups had begun to recognize that colonial policies were systematically undermining India’s economic self-sufficiency, political rights, and cultural identity. The most immediate and visible reason for the rise of the Swadeshi movement was the partition of Bengal in 1905 by Lord Curzon. Officially justified on administrative grounds due to Bengal’s large size, the partition was widely understood by Indian nationalists as a deliberate attempt to weaken the growing nationalist movement in Bengal by dividing the province along communal lines. The creation of East Bengal and Assam with a Muslim majority, separate from the Hindu-majority western Bengal, was seen as an application of the colonial policy of divide and rule. This act generated widespread resentment and outrage, transforming a regional administrative decision into a national political issue. The emotional response to the partition galvanized people across social classes and made boycott and Swadeshi a mass response rather than a purely elite protest. Economic exploitation under colonial rule formed a deeper and more enduring cause behind the Swadeshi movement. Indian nationalists had long argued that British economic policies were responsible for India’s poverty and deindustrialization. The destruction of indigenous industries, particularly traditional handicrafts and textiles, due to the influx of cheap machine-made British goods had devastated artisans and small producers. High tariffs protected British manufacturers, while Indian industries faced discrimination and lack of state support. The drain of wealth theory, articulated by nationalist