Bombay Strike of 1908

the first major political action by the Indian proletariat. The Bombay strike began in response to the judicial mistreatment by the colonial authorities of the leader of the national democratic-revolutionary movement, Tilak, who was sentenced on July 22 to six years at hard labor. On July 23 the workers of Bombay declared a general political strike, and the city’s population declared a hartal, both of which lasted until July 29, in accordance with the decision to reply to each year of Tilak’s sentence with a one-day strike. More than 100,000 people went on strike. The Bombay strike was a highly important step in the upsurge of the Indian national liberation movement in 1905–08.