{"id":3642,"date":"2026-03-02T22:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/?p=3642"},"modified":"2026-03-11T17:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:04:18","slug":"political-organization-before-indian-national-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/political-organization-before-indian-national-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Organisations Before Indian National Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Political Organisations Before Indian National Congress:<\/strong>\u00a0As the British expanded their control over India, a gloomy sense of resentment grew among the people. However, unlike the peasants, tribals, and workers who protested through uprisings and revolts, the middle class took a different approach. They began writing books, articles, and newspapers in order to critically analyse British policies and raise public awareness, and their second method was to form organizations, associations, and societies for joint programs and activities. Their main goal was to use petitions and resolutions to protest British policies. They attempted to awaken the masses through public meetings and statements.<\/p>\r\n

Bengal, Bombay, and Madras<\/strong>\u00a0presidencies were the three centres of British rule in India and hence were also the centres of education, growth of middle-class intelligentsia and political activities. Therefore, it was natural to have early political organizations in these centres.<\/p>\r\n

Political organisations in Bengal<\/h2>\r\n

Bengal was the pioneer in political awakening and activities against colonial rule in India. The rise of intellectual class, socio-religious movements, and Calcutta being the capital city paved the way for the establishment of early organizations. For example, the establishment of the\u00a0landholders' society<\/strong>\u00a0in 1837 is regarded as the beginning of organised political activity in India. Following are the examples of a few such organizations in Bengal.<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Organization<\/strong><\/td>\r\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Landholders\u2019 Society<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Year:\u00a0<\/strong>1837<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Founder:\u00a0<\/strong>Dwarkanath Tagore<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Kolkata<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Other members:<\/strong>\u00a0Radhakant Deb, Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Rajkamal Sen and Bhabani Charan Mitra<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Objectives:\u00a0<\/strong>It was an association of landholders of\u00a0Bengal, Bihar and Orissa,<\/strong>\u00a0and its principal objective was to\u00a0guard its class interests.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Membership:<\/strong>\u00a0Also extended to non-official Britishers engaged in trade and commerce in Bengal.<\/p>\r\n

- It was the first to adopt the path of\u00a0constitutional demonstration\u00a0<\/strong>for the fulfilment of its objectives.<\/p>\r\n

- Spread:<\/strong>\u00a0It failed to take root in areas outside the\u00a0Bengal Presidency,<\/strong>\u00a0where the\u00a0Permanent Settlement<\/strong>\u00a0was not in vogue.<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Suppression<\/strong>: It became inactive around 1842, although it maintained a precarious existence till 1850. The Bengal British India Society took its place.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

Bengal British India Society<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded in<\/strong>\u00a01843<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Calcutta<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Aims\/objectives:\u00a0<\/strong>To promote good citizenship qualities in the\u00a0Indian people<\/strong>, raise public awareness about the state of\u00a0governance<\/strong>, and work toward their realisation through peaceful and legal means consistent with loyalty to the person and government of the reigning\u00a0sovereign\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0England<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

British Indian Association<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded\u00a0<\/strong>in October 1851<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Calcutta<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Its President and Secretary\u00a0<\/strong>are Raja Radhakant Deb and Debendranath Tagore, respectively.<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Other members of the Association:<\/strong>\u00a0Ramgopal Ghosh, Peary Chand Mitra and Krishnadas Pal.<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Its membership was kept exclusive to Indians.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Objective:<\/strong>\u00a0To secure improvements in the local administration of the country and in the system of government laid down by\u00a0Parliament<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

Bengal Association<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded in\u00a0<\/strong>1852<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Calcutta<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Aims\/objectives:<\/strong>It petitioned the British Parliament to form an\u00a0Indian legislative council\u00a0<\/strong>entirely composed of Indians only.<\/p>\r\n

- It also condemned the policy of excluding Indians from all higher-level positions, as well as the lavish spending on European postings.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

National Indian Association (NIA)\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded<\/strong>\u00a0in 1870<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Founder:<\/strong>\u00a0Mary Carpenter in Bristol, with the assistance of Keshub Chunder Sen.<\/p>\r\n

- The organization's full name was originally\u00a0\u2018National Indian Association in Aid of Social Progress in India\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

- The\u00a0initial goal\u00a0<\/strong>of this organizationwas to promote\u00a0female education in India.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  • They also attempted to educate and inform the British on\u00a0Indian issues<\/strong>.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

    - As the number of Indians in\u00a0Britain\u00a0<\/strong>grew, it became more important to facilitate\u00a0social interaction<\/strong>\u00a0between\u00a0Indian visitors<\/strong>\u00a0and British residents.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

Indian League<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded in\u00a0<\/strong>1875<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Founded by<\/strong>\u00a0Sisir Kumar Ghose.<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Aims:<\/strong>\u00a0The League aspired to represent not only the middle class but the masses as well and to stimulate a sense of nationalism among the people.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

Indian National Association<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

-\u00a0Founded\u00a0<\/strong>in 1876<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Founder:<\/strong>\u00a0Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose.<\/p>\r\n

-\u00a0Background:<\/strong>\u00a0In 1875,\u00a0Sisir Kumar Ghosh<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Sambhu Charan Mukherjee<\/strong>\u00a0founded 'The India League to represent the middle class and foster a sense of nationalism among the people.<\/p>\r\n

- The Indian National Association was founded as the\u00a0Bharat Sabha<\/strong>, and its first annual conference was held in\u00a0Calcutta<\/strong>. In 1886, this organization merged with the Indian National Congress.<\/p>\r\n

- Its\u00a0main objectives were:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  • establish a powerful public opinion on political issues;<\/li>\r\n\t
  • bring Indians together behind a common political agenda.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

    - It opposed the removal of the age limit for\u00a0Indian Civil Service\u00a0<\/strong>candidates in 1877.<\/p>\r\n

    - The organization advocated for concurrent civil service examinations in both England and India, as well as the Indianization of higher administrative positions.<\/p>\r\n

    - The\u00a0Indian National Association<\/strong>\u00a0spearheaded an effort to repeal the repressive\u00a0Arms Act<\/strong>\u00a0and the\u00a0Vernacular Press Act.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

    Political organisations in Maharashtra<\/h2>\r\n

    The indulgence of the educated middle class of Maharashtra in political activities gave rise to a number of political organizations in Maharashtra as well as outside India. Some of those organizations are being mentioned here.<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    Organization<\/strong><\/td>\r\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    London Indian Society<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded in<\/strong>\u00a01865<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0London<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded under the guidance of Dadabhai Naoroji<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

    - Of the founding group of students included\u00a0W. C. Bannerjea, Manmohan Ghose, Pherozeshah Mehta and Badruddin Tyabji.by Dadabhai<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    - It was founded by Indian students as a forum for airing\u00a0political grievances<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

    - Honorary membership was allowed for\u00a0Europeans<\/strong>, but they could not vote or hold office.<\/p>\r\n

    - The London Indian Society was taken over by the\u00a0East India Association in 1866,<\/strong>\u00a0though it continued to exist in some form for a few more years.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    East India Association\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Year:<\/strong>\u00a01866<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded by Dadabhai Naoroji<\/strong>\u00a0in collaboration with Indians and retired British officials.<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0London<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0First President:<\/strong>\u00a0Lord Lyveden<\/p>\r\n

    - It superseded the\u00a0London Indian Society.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0It was a platform for<\/strong>\u00a0discussing matters and ideas about India and to provide representation for Indians to the Government.<\/p>\r\n

    - From its inception, the\u00a0East India Association<\/strong>\u00a0published a journal (Journal of the East India Association).<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Udham Singh<\/strong>\u00a0assassinated the former Governor of Punjab at the time of the\u00a0Amritsar Massacre<\/strong>\u00a0in March 1940, following a lecture delivered by\u00a0Michael O'Dwyer at Caxton Hall.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Merger:<\/strong>\u00a0In 1949, the\u00a0East India Association<\/strong>\u00a0merged with the National Indian Association to form the\u00a0Britain<\/strong>,\u00a0India<\/strong>, and\u00a0Pakistan Association<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    • It merged with the former\u00a0India Society<\/strong>, now known as the\u00a0Royal India, Pakistan, and Ceylon Society<\/strong>, in 1966 to form the Royal Society for India, Pakistan, and Ceylon.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Poona Sarvajanik Sabha<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded in<\/strong>\u00a0April 1870.<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Place:\u00a0<\/strong>Pune, Maharashtra<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founders:<\/strong>\u00a0It resulted from the labour of many great men like\u00a0G.V. Joshi, S.H. Sathe, S.H. Chiplonkar and Mahadev Govind Ranade<\/strong>\u00a0(Joined in 1871).<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Aims\/objectives:<\/strong>\u00a0The Sabha was created to act as an intermediary between the government and the Indians.<\/p>\r\n

    - In 1872, the\u00a0Sabha\u00a0<\/strong>established a sub-committee to investigate the state's peasant and agricultural conditions and protect them from exploitation.<\/p>\r\n

    - In 1876, the Sabha organised famine relief in the\u00a0Deccan region.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    - It set up\u00a0arbitration courts<\/strong>\u00a0(nyayn sabhas) for the private settlement of civil disputes in order to save people from the high costs of litigation.<\/p>\r\n

    - In 1875, the Sabha petitioned the\u00a0House of Commons<\/strong>\u00a0for Indian representation in the\u00a0British Parliament.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    Bombay Presidency Association<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded in<\/strong>\u00a01885<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded by\u00a0<\/strong>Pherozshah Mehta, K.T Telang, and Badruddin Tyabji.<\/p>\r\n

    - It was founded in response to Lytton's reactionary policies and the Ilbert Bill controversy.<\/p>\r\n

    - The association has always had cordial relations with the\u00a0Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    - In September 1885, the\u00a0Bombay Presidency Association,<\/strong>\u00a0Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, Madras Mahajana Sabha, and Indian Association of Calcutta sent a joint deputation to\u00a0England\u00a0<\/strong>to present India's case to the British electorate.<\/p>\r\n

    - The delegation was led by N. Chandavarkar of Bombay, Ramaswami Mudaliar of Madras, and\u00a0Manmohan Ghosh<\/strong>\u00a0of Calcutta.<\/p>\r\n

    - The\u00a0Triumvirate' or 'The Three Stars' of Bombay's public life<\/strong>\u00a0were Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Kashinath Telang.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n

    Political organisations in Madras<\/h2>\r\n

    On the lines of Bengal and Bombay presidencies, the middle-class intelligentsia of the Madras presidency also showed interest in political activities. They, too, needed political organizations to protest against British policies and to awaken the masses. Some of those significant organizations are being described here.<\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    organization<\/strong><\/td>\r\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
    Madras Native Organization (MNA)<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Established in<\/strong>\u00a01852<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Chennai<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded by<\/strong>\u00a0Gajula Lakshminarasu Chetty.<\/p>\r\n

    - It was the first Indian political association to be formed in the\u00a0Madras presidency.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0<\/strong>It was the political centre of the presidency's landed gentry, who had grievances against Company rule.<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Factors that led to the establishment of the organization:<\/strong>\u00a0The impending discussion in the\u00a0British<\/strong>\u00a0Parliament regarding Company rule in India provided the impetus for\u00a0MNA's formation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0<\/strong>Dissatisfied with the Company administration, the MNA petitioned the\u00a0British Parliament<\/strong>\u00a0to end the Company regime following the passage of the\u00a0Charter Act of 1853.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    • The association presented the\u00a0ryots' grievances\u00a0<\/strong>under the land settlement systems in its first petition to\u00a0Parliament\u00a0<\/strong>in 1852, urging immediate action.<\/li>\r\n\t
    • This was followed by a visit from\u00a0H.D. Seymour,<\/strong>\u00a0Chairman of the Indian Reform Society, leading to the formation of the\u00a0Torture Commission in 1854.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

      -\u00a0Dissolution of the organization:<\/strong>\u00a0The MNA was dissolved in 1867. Despite the efforts to revive it in the 1870s, it ceased to exist by 1881.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

    Madras Mahajan Sabha<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded in<\/strong>\u00a0May 1884.<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Place:<\/strong>\u00a0Madras<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Founded by<\/strong>\u00a0M Veeraraghavachariar, G Subramania Iyer, and P Ananda Charlu.<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0First president:<\/strong>\u00a0P Rangaiah Naidu<\/p>\r\n

    -\u00a0Aim:<\/strong>\u00a0As stated at the\u00a0Adayar Theosophical Society<\/strong>\u00a0conference, the goal is to free the country from British rule and to resolve national issues.<\/p>\r\n

    - The\u00a0Sabha has advocated for a variety of measures<\/strong>\u00a0while remaining moderate, including<\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    • tax reduction,<\/li>\r\n\t
    • cuts in government and military spending,<\/li>\r\n\t
    • abolition of the\u00a0Council of India in London,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t
    • concurrent Civil Service exams in\u00a0England and India,<\/strong><\/li>\r\n\t
    • fundamental rights for its fellow citizens, such as national freedom.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

      - The Madras Mahajana Sabha launched the\u00a0Salt Satyagraha\u00a0<\/strong>in\u00a0George Town<\/strong>\u00a0in April 1930.<\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      There were many political associations before Indian National Congress like Landholders\u2019 Society, Bengal British India Society, East India Association, Madras Mahajan Sabha, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[657,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-3642","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-quest-level-3","8":"tag-political-organisations-before-indian-national-congress","9":"tag-quest"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3642"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20277,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3642\/revisions\/20277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}