Indian National Congress

The foundation of the Indian National Congress (INC) in late 1885 was not an isolated historical event, but the culmination of an evolving political consciousness across British India. The preceding three decades witnessed the growth of western education, the expansion of the vernacular press, and the formation of regional political associations like the British Indian Association (1851), the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1870), the Indian Association of Calcutta (1876), and the Madras Mahajan Sabha (1884). The immediate catalysts that necessitated a pan-Indian political organization included the reactionary administrative policies of Viceroy Lord Lytton (1876–1880)—specifically the Vernacular Press Act and the Arms Act—and the Ilbert Bill Controversy (1883) under Lord Ripon. The latter exposed deep-seated European racial arrogance and demonstrated to Indian elites that regional associations lacked the political leverage to challenge the colonial state. The need for a unified, national platform led directly to the birth of the INC.

Foundation and the First Session (1885)

The Indian National Congress was formally established in December 1885. A retired British civil servant, Allan Octavian (A.O.) Hume, played a pivotal role in organizing the initial conclave, mobilizing leaders from various presidencies.

Key Foundational Details

• Date: December 28 to December 31, 1885.
• Venue: Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay (originally planned for Poona but shifted due to a cholera outbreak).
• First President: Womesh Chandra (W.C.) Bonnerjee, a prominent barrister from Calcutta.
• Attendance: 72 delegates from across India, representing the educated middle-class intelligentsia, lawyers, journalists, and merchants.

Prominent Foundational Leaders

• Dadabhai Naoroji (The “Grand Old Man of India”)
• Dinshaw Wacha
• Pherozeshah Mehta
• K.T. Telang
• G. Subramania Iyer
• Badruddin Tyabji

The “Safety Valve” Theory vs. Lightning Conductor Theory

The involvement of A.O. Hume, a British insider, in the creation of the Congress gave rise to conflicting historical interpretations regarding its true origin.

The Safety Valve Theory

Propounded initially by extremist leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and later adopted by Marxist historians, this theory suggests that the INC was engineered by Viceroy Lord Dufferin and A.O. Hume. The objective was to create an official “safety valve” to release mounting popular discontent against British rule, thereby preventing a second rebellion similar to the 1857 Uprising.

The Lightning Conductor Theory

Modern historians, notably Bipan Chandra, reject the safety valve theory. They argue that early Indian nationalists used A.O. Hume as a “lightning conductor.” By placing a retired British official at the forefront of the movement, the early organizers minimized the risk of immediate official suppression or hostilitiy from the colonial administration, allowing the nascent political movement time to grow.

Era of the Moderates (1885–1905) and Constitutional Methods

The first twenty years of the INC are designated as the Moderate Phase. The movement was dominated by English-educated professionals who were deeply influenced by Western liberal thought, British parliamentary traditions, and the rule of law.

Core Ideology and Beliefs

• Faith in British Justice: The Moderates believed that the British public and parliament were inherently fair and well-intentioned, but were simply unaware of the ground realities and misrule by Anglo-Indian bureaucrats in India.
• Constitutional Agitation: They completely eschewed violence, mass agitation, or extra-legal methods, preferring to work within the existing legal and administrative frameworks.
• Gradualism: They did not initially demand complete independence (Poorna Swaraj); instead, they sought self-government within the British Empire (Dominion Status or Home Rule).

The “3Ps” Methodology

• Prayer: Writing formal requests and appeals to the government.
• Petition: Submitting detailed, evidence-based memorandums to the authorities and the British Parliament.
• Protest: Holding peaceful public meetings, passing formal resolutions, and publishing critiques in newspapers.

Key Contributions and Demands of the Moderates

Despite their cautious approach, the Moderates laid the intellectual foundations of the Indian national movement by systematically exposing the exploitative nature of colonial rule.

1. Economic Critique of Colonialism

The greatest contribution of the Moderates was the development of the Economic Drain Theory.

• Key Architects: Dadabhai Naoroji (through his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India), Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Romesh Chunder (R.C.) Dutt (through Economic History of India).
• The Core Argument: They proved that Britain was systematically draining India’s wealth through home charges, unilateral transfers, military expenditures, and lopsided trade policies, resulting in widespread poverty and recurring famines.
• Demands: Abolition of salt tax, reduction of land revenue assessments, termination of transit duties, and state protection for indigenous Indian industries.

2. Constitutional and Legislative Reforms

• Expansion of Councils: Their continuous agitation led directly to the enactment of the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which increased the number of non-official members in the Central and Provincial Legislative Councils and allowed them the right to discuss the budget.
• Swaraj: In 1906, at the Calcutta session, Dadabhai Naoroji explicitly declared “Swaraj” (self-government) as the ultimate political goal of the Congress.

3. Administrative and Civil Reforms

• Indianization of Services: The Moderates demanded that the Indian Civil Services (ICS) examinations be held simultaneously in India and England to allow qualified Indians to enter upper-tier administration.
• Separation of Powers: They pushed for the complete separation of the judiciary from the executive to ensure fair trial and prevent executive overreach.
• Civil Liberties: They defended freedom of speech and expression, vehemently opposing the arrest of leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the imposition of sedition laws.

Important Annual Sessions of the INC (Moderate Phase)

Critical Evaluation: Successes and Limitations

Limitations of the Moderates

• Narrow Social Base: The early Congress lacked mass participation. It was largely an elite club of lawyers, doctors, journalists, and landlords. It did not incorporate the peasantry, industrial working class, or the illiterate masses.
• Alienation from the Masses: Leaders like Pherozeshah Mehta believed that the masses were not yet politically mature enough to participate in national agitations.
• Naivety regarding Colonial Interests: Their foundational assumption that British rule could be reformed from within was flawed, as colonial rule was fundamentally based on the subordination of Indian economic interests to British imperial needs.

Major Successes

• Political Modernization: They introduced modern political concepts to India—such as democracy, civil liberties, secularism, representative governance, and nationalism.
• Intellectual Demystification: By utilizing economic statistics, they shattered the moral myth of the “White Man’s Burden,” proving that British rule was a source of systematic exploitation rather than benevolence.
• Creation of a National Identity: They successfully bridged regional, linguistic, and communal divides to build a common organizational framework that served as the base for the mass movements led by Mahatma Gandhi in the subsequent era.

Historical Facts and Trivia for UPSC Prelims

• The First Resolution: G. Subramania Iyer, the editor of The Hindu, had the historic distinction of moving the very first resolution at the inaugural session of the INC in 1885, which called for a Royal Commission to inquire into the working of the Indian administration.
• The Official Boycott: Initially indifferent, the colonial administration turned hostile as the Congress grew. Viceroy Lord Dufferin famously mocked the INC as representing only a “microscopic minority” of the Indian population. In 1890, the government issued an order banning government officials from attending Congress sessions.
• Kadambini Ganguly: In 1890, Kadambini Ganguly—the first female physician of Bengal and one of the earliest woman graduates of Calcutta University—addressed the INC session, symbolizing the early integration of women into the formal political landscape.
• The British Committee of the INC: Founded in London in 1889, its purpose was to lobby the British public and parliamentarians. It published a weekly journal called India, which was edited by William Digby to systematically present the Indian viewpoint to the British electorate.