Indian History
General Knowledge

Important Organisations Before Congress



Important Organisations Before Congress

Organisations Place Year Founder
Landholders Society Calcutta 1837 Dwarka Nath Tagore
British India Society London 1839 William Adam
British India Association (Result of the merger of 1 and 2) Calcutta 1851 Devendra Nath Tagore
Madras Native Association Madras 1852 C.Y. Mudaliar
Bombay Association Bombay 1852 Jagarmath Shanker Sheth
East India Association London 1866 Dadabhai Naoroji
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha Poona 1870 S.H. Chiplunkar, G.V, Joshi, M.G. Ranade
Indian Society London 1872 Anand Mohan Bose
Indian League Calcutta 1875 Shishir Kumar Ghosh
Indian Association Calcutta 1876 Surendra Nath Bannerji and Anand Mohan Bose
India National Conference Calcutta 1883 Surendra Nath Bannerji and Anand Mohan Bose
Madras Mahajan Sabha Madras 1884 P.Rangia Naydu, V. Raghava-chari, Anand Charlu, G.S. Aiyer
Bombay Presidency Association Bombay 1885 Ferozshah Mehta, K.T. Tailang, Badruddin Tyebji
Indian National Congress (I.N.C.): Bombay, 1885, A.O. Hume

» The Indian National Union was formed in 1884 by A.O. Hume, an Englishman and a retired civil servant, in association with various national leaders who called for a conference in Pune in December 1885.
» The conference received the unanimous support of all Indian leaders, but the venue was shifted to Bombay for various reasons (esp. outbreak of cholera in Pune).
» Further, the leaders decided to rename the Indian National Union as Indian National Congress.
» The first session of the Indian National Congress was held at Cokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit Collegein Bombay under the presidentship of W.C. Bannerjit a veteran lawyer of Calcutta.
» It was attended by 72 delegates from all over India.
» From 1885 onwards the INC met every year and its cause spread rapidly among middle class Indians.
» With the foundation of INC in 1885, the struggle for India's independence was launched in a small, hesitant and mild but organized manner.
» The first two decade of INC are described in history as those of moderate demands and a sense of confidence in British justice and generosity. Their aim was not to be aggressive for attaining independence lest the British should suppress this. This resulted in Indian Council Actin 1892 which allowed some members to be indirectly elected by Indians but keeping the official majority intact.