Rise of Political Associations and the Indian National Congress
Pre-Congress associations, Congress foundation and the Moderate phase
Factors Leading to the Rise of Indian Nationalism
The Basics
By the 1870s, British rule covered almost the whole subcontinent, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin and from Assam to the Khyber Pass. This was a bigger single state than even the Mauryas or the Mughals had built. Indian provinces were under direct British rule, while princely states were under indirect British control, but everywhere the same professional civil service, the same unified judiciary and the same codified civil and criminal laws applied. This administrative unification, achieved by British power for British convenience, meant that for the first time people across regions were tied together by one government, one legal system and increasingly by railways, roads, telegraph and a common postal network built from the 1850s onward.
Before the educated middle class took charge, Bengal's landlords formed India's earliest political body. In 1837 they founded the Landholders' Society, also called the Zamindari Association. It aimed to protect landlord interests against the government. This marked the start of organised constitutional agitation in India. In 1843 a wider body, the Bengal British India Society, was formed. It collected and spread information on the condition of the people of British India. In 1851 these two merged into the British Indian Association. Radhakanta Deb was its first president. It petitioned the British Parliament for several reforms. These included a separate legislature, separation of executive and judicial functions, lower official salaries, and abolition of salt and other duties. The Charter Act of 1853 partially met these demands. It added six members to the governor-general's council for legislative work.
By the 1870s, Indian nationalism had gathered strength through provincial associations, but Indians still faced constant racial humiliation. They were barred from European clubs and train compartments. A racial myth of white superiority ran through official policy. Lord Lytton became Viceroy in 1876. He introduced several reactionary measures. He lowered the maximum age for the Indian Civil Service examination from 21 to 19 years in 1876. He held a grand Delhi Durbar in 1877 during a severe famine. He passed the Vernacular Press Act and Arms Act in 1878. These acts had already provoked widespread anger.
By the early 1880s, educated Indians were scattered across the provinces. The Ilbert Bill agitation and earlier associations had taught them that local bodies alone could not challenge colonial rule. What was missing was one permanent all-India platform. There, political workers from different regions could meet, know each other, and speak in one voice.
From 1885 the Congress was led by leaders later called Moderates. These included Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjea, Pherozeshah Mehta, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Ananda Mohan Bose and Mahadeo Govind Ranade. They wanted a larger Indian share in government. They did not demand immediate self-rule. Between 1885 and 1892 their main demand was expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils, with elected Indian members and greater powers. This pressure led to the Indian Councils Act of 1892. The Act increased council membership and allowed limited indirect election. It kept an official majority and gave councils no power to vote on budgets.
- Achievements: The Moderates created the first genuinely all-India political body. They trained a generation in parliamentary methods and public argument. They built a lasting economic critique showing how British rule drained India's wealth through trade and investment. They established the political principle that India must be governed in the interest of Indians. This idea became the moral foundation for later nationalist demands.