Political Associations Before the Indian National Congress
Long before the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885, a series of political associations across Bengal, Bombay, and Madras laid the institutional groundwork for organised nationalist politics in India — evolving from narrow, aristocrat-led bodies into genuinely middle-class organisations with an all-India outlook.
From Aristocratic Petitioners to a Middle-Class Political Movement
- Political associations in the early half of the nineteenth century were dominated by wealthy and aristocratic elements, largely local or regional in character. Through long petitions to the British Parliament, they typically demanded administrative reforms, the association of Indians with the administration, and the spread of education.
- The second half of the nineteenth century, by contrast, witnessed the growth of a genuinely national political consciousness and the foundation of an organised national movement.
- The modern Indian intelligentsia now created political associations to spread political education and initiate political work grounded in new political ideas, a new intellectual perception of reality, new social, economic, and political objectives, new forms of struggle and resistance, and new techniques of political organisation.
- This was a genuinely difficult task, since Indians were largely unfamiliar with modern political work — even the basic notion that people could organise politically in opposition to their own rulers was a novel one. Consequently, the work of these early associations proceeded slowly, taking more than half a century to bring the common people within the fold of modern politics.
- Over time, these associations came to be increasingly dominated by the educated middle class — lawyers, journalists, doctors, teachers — bringing with them a wider perspective and a far larger agenda than their predecessors.
- This shift had two main causes:
- The failure of the 1857 Revolt made clear that traditional resistance under the leadership of the landed upper classes could no longer succeed, and that resistance to colonial rule would need to flow through a different channel altogether.
- At the same time, British rule and policy grew markedly more reactionary after 1858, prompting Indian intellectuals to become increasingly critical of British policy and to grasp its underlying exploitative character — an understanding that took time to mature, but which, once rooted in modern thought, probed ever deeper into the real nature of imperialism and was eventually transformed into modern political activity.
- Politically conscious Indians also came to realise that existing associations were too narrowly conceived for the changed circumstances — the British Indian Association, for instance, had increasingly identified itself with the interests of the Zamindars, and by extension with the ruling power itself.
- The openly reactionary and anti-Indian measures introduced under Lord Lytton’s viceroyalty (1876–80) further quickened the pace of Indian nationalist activity.
Political Associations in Bengal
Raja Rammohan Roy’s Early Political Agitation
- Raja Rammohan Roy was among the first Indian leaders to campaign for political reform, agitating for the freedom of the press, trial by jury, separation of the executive from the judiciary, the appointment of Indians to higher office, protection of ryots from Zamindari oppression, and the development of Indian trade and industry.
- He also took a keen interest in international affairs and was an outspoken supporter of liberty, democracy, and nationalism as ideals.
- The Bangabhasha Prakasika Sabha was formed in 1836 by his associates, carrying forward this early tradition of political agitation.
British Indian Association (Landholders’ Society + British India Society)
- The Zamindari Association, more popularly known as the Bengal Landholders’ Society, was founded in 1836 by Dwarkanath Tagore, Prasanna Kumar Tagore, and Radhakanta Deb to safeguard the interests of landlords.
- Though limited in its objectives, the Landholders’ Society marked the beginning of organised political activity in India and the use of constitutional methods of agitation for the redressal of grievances.
- The British India Society was set up in 1843 in England, largely through the efforts of William Adam, who had travelled to India and befriended Raja Rammohan Roy before returning to England to take up India’s cause. Its stated objective was:
“The collection and dissemination of information relating to the actual condition of the people of British India and to employ such other means of peaceful and lawful character as may appear calculated to secure the welfare, extend the just rights and advance the interests of all classes of our fellow subjects.”
- In 1851, the Landholders’ Society and the British India Society merged to form the British Indian Association, which petitioned the British Parliament for the inclusion of several demands in the renewed Company Charter:
- The establishment of a separate legislature of a popular character.
- Separation of executive from judicial functions.
- A reduction in the salaries of higher officers.
- Abolition of the salt duty, abkari, and stamp duties.
- These demands were only partially accepted — the Charter Act of 1853 provided for the addition of six members to the Governor-General’s Council for legislative purposes.
- In its early years, the Association’s activities consisted mainly of submitting petitions to the government and to the British Parliament, reflecting an inherent trust in the good intentions of the rulers.
- Though it nominally sought to represent all sections of society, it made conscious efforts, on occasion, to protect the specific rights of the landed aristocracy.
- It had, however, no real constructive policy and rarely laid down any programme of systematic political action; it also failed to build a nationwide network of branches.
- In 1857, the Association sided with the East India Company during the Sepoy Mutiny, calling for stern punishment of the rebels — a stance that would later contribute to its declining relevance among the new generation of nationalists.
East India Association
- The East India Association was organised by Dadabhai Naoroji — later known as the “Grand Old Man of India” — in 1867 in London, to discuss the “Indian question” and influence English public figures to promote Indian welfare; branches were later opened in prominent Indian cities.
- It is regarded as one of the predecessor organisations of the Indian National Congress, with the aim of presenting accurate information about India to the British public and voicing Indian grievances.
- The Association played an important role in counter-acting the propaganda of the Ethnological Society of London, which had, at its 1866 session, attempted to argue for the racial inferiority of Asians to Europeans.
- It soon won the backing of eminent Englishmen and was able to exercise considerable influence within the British Parliament.
- In 1869, it opened branches in Bombay, Kolkata, and Madras, though the organisation eventually became defunct in the 1880s.
Indian League and the Indian Association of Calcutta (Indian National Association)
- The Indian League was founded in 1875 by Sisir Kumar Ghosh, with the object of “stimulating the sense of nationalism amongst the people” and encouraging political education.
- Sisir Kumar Ghosh (1840–1911) was a noted journalist and the founder of the Bengali newspaper Amrita Bazar Patrika in 1868.
- The Indian Association of Calcutta (also known as the Indian National Association) superseded the Indian League, founded in 1876 by younger Bengal nationalists led by Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose, both increasingly disillusioned with the conservative, pro-landlord politics of the British Indian Association.
- Ananda Mohan Bose was a member of the Brahmo Dharma; along with other younger Brahmo Samaj members, he had come into conflict with Keshab Chandra Sen over issues including child marriage and the running of the organisation. As a result, on 15 May 1878, he joined Shibnath Shastri, Sib Chandra Deb, Umesh Chandra Dutta, and others to found the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj, becoming its first president.
- The Indian Association of Calcutta is regarded as the most important of the pre-Congress associations, with aims that included:
- Reform of the Civil Services Examinations — the Association sent Surendranath Banerjee as a special delegate to other parts of the country to build support for this cause, making him the first Indian to achieve genuinely all-India popularity.
- Building strong public opinion on political questions.
- Unifying the Indian people around a common political programme.
- Promoting, through every legitimate means, the political, intellectual, and material advancement of the people.
- Branches of the Association were opened across Bengal and beyond, with membership fees deliberately kept low to draw in the poorer sections of society.
- The Indian Association of Calcutta is considered the first avowedly nationalist organisation founded in British India, drawing educated Indians and civic leaders from across the country before eventually merging into the Indian National Congress.
Political Associations in Bombay
- The Bombay Native Association, founded in 1852 by Jagannath Shankar Seth, is regarded as the first political body of its kind in the Bombay Presidency.
- The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, founded in 1870 by Mahadev Govind Ranade, G.V. Joshi, and others, aimed to serve as a bridge between the government and the people, and carried on active political education for the following three decades.
- The Bombay Presidency Association was started in 1885 by Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, and K.T. Telang.
Political Associations in Madras
- The Madras Native Association, formed in 1852, was the first political body of its kind in the Madras Presidency.
- The Madras Mahajana Sabha was founded in 1884 by M. Viraraghavachariar, B. Subramaniya Aiyer, and P. Anandacharlu.
