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{{Use Indian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
'''Heramba Lal Gupta'''( C.1884-1950) was an Indian nationalist linked to the [[Berlin Committee]] and the [[Ghadar Party]] extensively involved in the [[Hindu–German Conspiracy]], who later became a [[British Intelligence]] [[mole (espionage)|mole]] inside [[Mahendra Pratap]]'s [[Provisional Government of India]]. He was the son of Umesh Chandradasgupta of Kolkata. He left in 1911 to London for studies, and became involved in revolutionary activities. Janice Mc Kinnon and Stephen Mc Kinnon in their book, ''Agnes Smedley:The Life and Times of An American Radical,'' accused Gupta of raping the American journalist and revolutionary, [[Agnes Smedley]]. The rape is described in her autobiographical novel, ''Daughter of Earth.''

At the outbreak of World War I, Gupta was in Germany as member of the [[Berlin Committee]], which within a short time established contacts with the [[Ghadar Party]] in the United States in what came to be called the [[Hindu–German Conspiracy]]. Efforts had begun as early as 1911 to procure arms and smuggle them into India.<ref name=Plowman87>{{Harvnb|Plowman|2003|p=87}}</ref> When a clear idea of the conspiracy emerged, more earnest and elaborate plans were made to obtain arms and to enlist international support. After the failure of the SS ''Korea'' mission, Herambalal Gupta took over the leadership of American wing of the Ghadar Party and began efforts to obtain both men and arms. While the former resource was in plentiful supply with more and more Indians coming forward to join the Ghadarite cause, obtaining arms for the uprising proved to be more difficult.<ref name="GBrown301">{{Harvnb|Brown|1948|p=301}}</ref>

The revolutionaries started negotiations with the Chinese government through James Dietrich, who held [[Sun Yat-sen]]'s power of attorney, to buy a million rifles. However, the deal fell through when it was realised that the weapons offered were obsolete [[flintlock]]s and [[muzzle loader]]s. From China, Gupta went to Japan to try to procure arms and to enlist Japanese support for the Indian independence movement. However, he was forced into hiding within 48 hours when he discovered that the Japanese had planned to hand him over to the British.<ref name="GBrown301"/> Later reports indicated he was protected at this time by [[Tōyama Mitsuru]].<ref name=Popplewell276>{{Harvnb|Popplewell|1995|p=276}}</ref>

The ascent of [[Li Yuanhong]] to the Chinese Presidency in 1916 led to the negotiations reopening through his former private secretary who resided in the United States at the time. In exchange for allowing arms shipments to India via China's borders, China was offered German military assistance and the rights to 10% of any material shipped to India via China. The negotiations were ultimately unsuccessful due to Sun Yat Sen's opposition to an alliance with Germany.<ref name=GBrown307>{{Harvnb|Brown|1948|p=307}}</ref>

Gupta is believed{{By whom|date=September 2022}} to have later met with Mahendra Pratap's [[Provisional Government of India]] in [[Kabul]], but he defected in 1918 and turned over his intelligence to British Indian police. He was arrested in the US and imprisoned for 18 months. He jumped bail and escaped to Mexico, where he became a teacher at Universidad Autonoma. He translated Tagore's ''Chitra'' into Spanish in 1919. He died on April 28, 1950 in Mexico.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

==Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* Celebrated Spies and Famous Mysteries of the Great War By George Barton.1919. Page company.
* Political Thinkers of Modern India. By Verinder Grover. 1992. Deep & Deep Publications.
*Indian Revolutionaries Abroad, 1905-1922. By Arun Bose . 1971. Bharati Bhawan
* {{Citation
| last1 = Brown
| first1 = Giles
| title = The Hindu Conspiracy, 1914–1917.
| journal = The Pacific Historical Review
| volume = 17
| issue = 3
| date = Aug 1948
| pages = 299–310
| publisher = University of California Press
| issn = 0030-8684
| doi=10.2307/3634258
|jstor = 3634258
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Gupta
| given1 = Amit K
| year = 1997
| title = Defying Death: Nationalist Revolutionism in India, 1897-1938.Social Scientist, Vol. 25, No. 9/10. (Sep. - Oct., 1997), pp. 3-27
| url =
| journal = Social Scientist
| doi = 10.2307/3517678
| jstor = 3517678
| issn = 0970-0293
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Strachan
| given1 = Hew
| year = 2001
| title = The First World War. Volume I: To Arms
| url =
| publisher = Oxford University Press. USA
| isbn= 0-19-926191-1
}}.
* {{Citation
| last1 = Plowman
| first1 = Matthew
| year = 2003
| title = Irish Republicans and the Indo-German Conspiracy of World War I
| journal = New Hibernia Review
| pages=81–105
| publisher = Center for Irish Studies at the University of St. Thomas
| issn = 1092-3977
}}.
*{{Citation
| surname1 = Popplewell
| given1 = Richard J
| year = 1995
| title = Intelligence and Imperial Defence: British Intelligence and the Defence of the Indian Empire 1904-1924.
| url = http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=071464580X&parent_id=&pc=
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn = 0-7146-4580-X
| access-date = 21 January 2008
| archive-date = 26 March 2009
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326193437/http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=071464580X&parent_id=&pc=
| url-status = dead
}}.
* {{Citation
| surname1 = Dignan
| given1 = Don
| year = 1983
| title = The Indian revolutionary problem in British Diplomacy,1914-1919
| url =
| publisher = New Delhi, Allied Publishers
| isbn =
}}.
{{Ghadar Conspiracy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Herambalal}}
[[Category:Double agents]]
[[Category:Hindu–German Conspiracy]]
[[Category:Revolutionary movement for Indian independence]]
[[Category:Indian people of World War I]]
[[Category:World War I spies for the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I spies for Germany]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from West Bengal]]

Herambalal Gupta - Revision history

Bot at 23:17, 14 August 2022