Indian National Congress (1885–1919)

The Indian National Congress was the first all-India political organisation, founded to give educated Indians a constitutional voice.

• The first session was held at Bombay in 1885, organised at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College on 28 December 1885.
• The first president was W.C. Bonnerjee, an Indian Christian.
• The first session was attended by 72 delegates.
• Lord Dufferin was the Viceroy at the time of the INC's foundation.
• The word "Congress" was borrowed from American history, meaning an assembly / group of people.

• Hume's stated purpose was to provide a "safety valve" to channel the growing discontent among educated Indians and prevent a violent uprising.

The early Congress set out moderate, unifying goals rather than demanding immediate independence.

• To work for the eradication of race, creed and caste distinctions and to consolidate national unity.
• To record the opinions of educated Indians on important administrative and social questions.
• To decide the lines and methods of political work for the coming year, all in the public interest.

For its first twenty years the Congress was led by the Moderates, who believed in working within the British system.

• They had faith in British justice and fair play and sought reforms, not separation.
• They demanded a greater share for Indians in administration, expansion of legislative councils, and reduction of the economic drain.
• Their methods were later mocked as "Political Mendicancy" (political begging) by the younger leaders.

Dadabhai Naoroji's economic critique became the intellectual backbone of the moderate movement.

• He explained it in his famous book *Poverty and Un-British Rule in India*.
• He was honoured as the "Grand Old Man of India" and was the first Asian to be elected to the British House of Commons.

By 1905 a younger, more aggressive group lost patience with moderate methods and demanded Swaraj.

• They drew inspiration from India's past glory and aimed at mass involvement, not just the educated elite.
• The trio leading this phase was famously called Lal–Bal–Pal.

The Partition of Bengal was the spark that ignited the assertive, mass phase of the national movement.

• It triggered the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement, calling for the use of Indian goods and the boycott of British products.
• Rabindranath Tagore composed songs; people tied Rakhi as a symbol of unity and observed days of mourning.
• The movement promoted national education, Swadeshi enterprises and indigenous goods.
• The 1905 Benaras session expressed strong resentment against the Partition of Bengal.
• The Partition was finally annulled in 1911.

Tensions between Moderates and Extremists broke into the open at the Surat session.

• The clash was over the presidency and over the methods of Swadeshi, Boycott and national education.
• The two groups reunited only at the Lucknow session of 1916.

The contrast between the two wings is a high-yield exam table.

A separate Muslim political body emerged, encouraged by British "divide and rule" policy.

• It was founded by leaders such as Nawab Salimullah of Dhaka, Aga Khan and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk.
• Its aim was to protect the political rights of Muslims and it supported the demand for separate electorates.
• The British encouraged it as part of their policy to divide Hindus and Muslims.

The first major constitutional concession also planted the seed of communal politics.

• They enlarged the legislative councils and increased Indian participation in them.
• Lord Minto is called the "Father of Communal Electorate" for this measure.
• The reforms gave Indians limited, non-elective representation but deepened communal divisions.

The year 1916 brought a rare moment of Hindu–Muslim and Congress–League unity.

• The Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims in return for joint political demands.
• It was made possible largely through the efforts of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then called the "Ambassador of Hindu–Muslim Unity".
• Both bodies jointly demanded greater self-government and a larger Indian role in administration.

Inspired by the Irish movement, two leagues demanded self-government during World War I.

• Two leagues were started: Bal Gangadhar Tilak's league (April 1916, in Maharashtra) and Annie Besant's league (September 1916).
• Annie Besant was an Irish-origin theosophist who became the first woman President of the INC (Calcutta, 1917).
• The movement spread political awareness widely and prepared the ground for the Gandhian mass movements.

The growth of early nationalism can be traced as a clear sequence of milestones.

The two wings differed in both leadership and method, as this branch shows.

A compact table of the early sessions, presidents and their significance.