Predecessors of the Indian National Congress

Predecessors of the Indian National Congress

As a result of the growth of national consciousness, many political organizations came into existence during the second half of the 19th century

By the 1870’s it was evident that Indian nationalism had gathered enough strength to appear as a major force on the Indian political scene. The Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 was the first organized expression of the Indian national movement on an all- India scale. It had however many predecessors.

Raja Rammohun Roy was the first Indian leader to start an agitation for political reform in India. After 1836 many public associations started in different parts of India. . The Landholders Society, formed in 1837, was the earliest association formed in India. All these associations were dominated by wealrhy and aristocratic elements and were local in character.

The period after 1858 witnessed a gradual widening of the gulf between educated Indians and the British Indian administration. As the educated Indians studied the character of British rule and its consequences for India, they became more and more critical of British policies in India. The existing associations no longer satisfied the politically conscious Indians.

In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji organized the East London Association to discuss the Indian question and to influence British public men to promote Indian welfare.Later he organized branches of the Associations in prominent Indian cities. Born in 1825, Dadabhai devoted his entire life to the national movement and soon came to be known as the Grand Old Man of India. He was also India’s first economic thinker. He wrote Poverty and Un British Rule in India and evolved the 'Drain Theory'. In his writings on economics he showed that the basic cause of India’s poverty lay in the British exploitation of India and the drain of its wealth. Dadabhai was honoured by being thrice elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.

The most important of the pre-Congress organizations was the Indian Association of Calcutta. The younger nationalists of Bengal found a leader in Surendranath Banerjea who was a brilliant writer and orator. Led by Surendranath and Anana Mohan Bose, the younger nationalists of Bengal founded the Indian Association of Calcutta in 1876. In order to attract large numbers of people in to its banner, it fixed a low membership fee for the poorer classes. Many branches of the Association were opened in the towns and villages of Bengal and also in many towns outside Bengal. A regulation of 1876 reduced the maximum age for appearing in the Indian Civil Service examination from 21 to 19 years. The Indian association took up this question and organized an all India agitation against it, popularly known as the Civil Service Agitation.

Justice Ranade and others organized the Poona Sarvajanik Sbha in the 1870’s. M.Viraraghavachari, G.Subrahmanya Iyer [founder of The Hindu and the Swadesamitran papers] , Ananda Charlu and others formed the Madras Mahajan Sabha in 1884. Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T.Telang, Badruddin Tyabji and others formed the Bombay Presidency Association in 1885.

The time was now ripe for the formation of an all India organization of the nationalists who felt the need to unite politically against the foreign rule and exploitation. The existing organizations had served a useful purpose but they were narrow in their cause and functioning. They dealt mostly with local questions and their membership and leadership were confined to a few people belonging to a single city or province.