Political Associations before the Indian National Congress : History Notes

Political Associations before the Indian National Congress

Political Associations began to take shape in the first half of the nineteenth century. Initially, they were dominated by the rich and educated intelligentsia. They were not at the pan-India level but regional in their operations. They had general demands like increasing the representation of Indians in administration; to bring out educational and military reforms; to work for the development of modern industries in India; etc. They used to send long petitions to the government in this regard.

Pre-Congress Political organizations in Bengal

Name of Organization	Year of formation	Founder/associates	Objectives/ Remarks
Bangabhasaha Prakasika Sabha	1836	Associates of Raja Ram Mohan Roy	Promotion of Bengali education and build public opinion Demanded for freedom of press; entry of Indians to higher offices; etc.
Zamindari Association/ Landholders’ Society	1838	Dwarkanath Tagore	To safeguard the interests of landlords. Only legal machinery was used to raise their demands.
British India Society*	1839 (England)	William Adam, Friend of Raja Ram Mohan Roy	To make general public of England familiar with the condition of Indians. Also used legal machinery to raise their demands.
The Bengal British India Society	1843	George Thomson. Members included ‘Young Bengal’ group	To present the actual condition of people of British India.
British Indian Association	1851		It is the merger of Zamindari Association and the Bengal British India Society. raised many demands like separate legislative council, abolition of stamp duties, etc.
The East India Association*	1866 (London)	Dada Bhai Naoroji	Welfare of Indians. To make general public of England familiar with the condition of Indians. It had branches in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
The Indian League	1875	Sisir Kumar Ghosh	Instigate the feelings of nationalism.
The Indian Association of Calcutta (Indian National Association)	1876	Surrendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose	To unify public opinion on key political issues. Voice was raised for civil services reform. It was later merged with Indian National Congress.

*It was established in England (not in Bengal).

Pre-Congress Political organizations in Bombay and Madras

Organizations	Year of formation	Founder/Associates	Remarks
Bombay Association (Bombay Native Association)	1852	Jagannath Shankersheth, Sir Jamshedji Bhai, Naoroji Fardonji, Dadabhai Naoroji	They used to take up public grievances through constitutional means.
The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha at Pune	1867	Mahadeva Govind Ranade	They fought for legal rights of peasants and farmers. Connected common people with the British Government. B. G. Tilak was also a member of this Sabha.
The Bombay Presidency Association	1885	Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozshah Mehta and K. T. Telang	It was aimed at opposing Lord Lytton’s policies and the controversial Ilbert Bill.
Madras Native Association	1849	Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty	It was first of such type in Madras.
The Madras Mahajan Sabha	1884	M. Viraraghavachari, B. Subramaniya Aiyer and P. Ananda Charlu	It was formed to oppose government policies through peaceful ways.