17.4 Formation of Indian National Congress (1885) and A.O. Hume

1. Context & Foundation

The birth of the Indian National Congress in December 1885 was the culmination of a silent but powerful intellectual and political revolution on the Indian subcontinent. For decades following the brutal suppression of the Revolt of 1857, a new social class had been quietly growing in the presidency towns of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. This was the Western-educated middle-class intelligentsia—lawyers, journalists, teachers, and doctors. Armed with the liberal philosophies of European thinkers, they looked at the administrative and economic machinery of the British Raj and saw a deep contradiction. The British preached the values of liberty and justice at home, but in India, they practiced absolute economic exploitation and racial exclusion.

By the early 1880s, the political atmosphere in India had reached a tinderbox state. The reactionary viceroyalty of Lord Lytton had deeply insulted Indian self-respect, while the Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883 made it clear that the white ruling minority would never willingly grant legal equality to Indians. Sporadic, regional political associations like the Indian Association in Calcutta, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, and the Madras Mahajan Sabha had successfully mobilized local public opinion. However, these organizations lacked a unified, pan-Indian platform. The Indian national movement was like a collection of scattered rivers searching for a single ocean.

The human drama behind the founding of the Congress lies in a sophisticated, high-stakes political game played between the emerging Indian nationalist elite and the colonial authorities, centered around a retired Scottish civil servant named Allan Octavian Hume. Hume was a political liberal who grew deeply anxious about the rising tide of popular discontent. He feared that if this anger were not given a peaceful, constitutional outlet, India would witness another sudden, violent rebellion on the scale of 1857.

Indian leaders, on the other hand, faced a dangerous dilemma. They desperately wanted to establish an all-India political organization, but they knew that any such attempt by native Indians would immediately be viewed as seditious by the paranoid Raj and crushed with brutal military force. The compromise they reached was brilliant: they utilized Hume as a political shield. By placing a retired British official at the forefront of the new organization, the Indian leaders made the colonial state hesitant to suppress it. This fascinating political chess match—where the British sought to build a safety valve to preserve their empire, and Indian nationalists sought to construct a lightning conductor to channel their struggle for self-rule—set the stage for the historic gathering in Bombay.

2. Detailed Study Notes

A. The Inaugural Session of December 1885

• The Transition of Name: The organization was originally conceived in 1884 as the Indian National Union by A.O. Hume. However, during the historic first meeting, the leaders decided to rename it the Indian National Congress.

• The Venue Shift: The first national conference was originally scheduled to take place in Pune. However, a sudden, devastating outbreak of cholera in Pune forced the organizers to shift the venue at the last minute to Bombay.

• The Date and Location: The inaugural session was formally held on December 28, 1885, at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay.

• The First President: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (W.C. Bonnerjee), a prominent Bengali lawyer, was unanimously elected as the first President of the Congress.

• The Attendance: The session was attended by 72 delegates representing various regions of India. The composition was heavily dominated by the educated professional elite, particularly lawyers, journalists, and teachers. Crucially, the traditional landed aristocracy, zamindars, and princely rulers did not participate in this initial phase, and there was no attempt to mobilize the illiterate peasant masses.

• The Contemporary Viceroy: Lord Dufferin (1884–1888) was serving as the Viceroy of India when the Congress was founded.

• Surendranath Banerjee's Historic Absence: It is a high-frequency exam fact that Surendranath Banerjee was not present at the founding session of the Congress in Bombay. This was because he was concurrently hosting the second session of his own organization, the Indian National Conference, in Calcutta. The Indian National Conference subsequently merged with the Indian National Congress in 1886, forging a unified nationalist front.

B. Core Aims and Objectives of the Early Congress

At its inception, the early Congress adopted a strictly moderate, constitutional approach. Its primary objectives were:

• To promote a strong feeling of national unity and consolidate Indian nationhood across linguistic, regional, and religious divides.

• To establish a permanent all-India leadership group and foster friendly relations among active political workers from different provinces.

• To educate the public on political matters, raise national consciousness, and train people in the art of modern, parliamentary political work.

• To formulate and present popular demands before the colonial government through peaceful and legal methods.

• The Early Demands: The initial demands were highly moderate and did not ask for complete independence. They focused on:

  • The expansion of the Central and Provincial Legislative Councils with elected Indian representation.

  • The holding of simultaneous civil service examinations in India and England, and raising the age limit for candidates.

  • The reduction of heavy civil and military expenditure, which consumed nearly half of the Raj’s annual revenues.

  • The defense of basic civil liberties, including the freedom of the press and the right to form associations.

C. Structural Theories of the Congress's Formation

                       ┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
                       │     THEORIES OF CONGRESS FORMATION     │
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         ┌─────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┐
         ▼                                                                   ▼
   THE SAFETY VALVE THEORY                                             THE LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR THEORY
• Proposed by Lala Lajpat Rai (1916).                               • Proposed by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
• Endorsed by Marxist R.P. Dutt.                                    • Supported by modern historians (Bipan Chandra).
• Conspiracy to prevent popular revolt.                             • Hume used as a shield to avoid suppression.
• Biased on Wedderburn's biography of Hume.                         • Indian leaders consolidated the national voice.

The historical origin of the Congress is analyzed through two contrasting, highly tested theories:

D. Regional Telangana & Hyderabad State Connections

The political awakening that led to the formation of the Indian National Congress in British India had direct, matching intellectual echoes within the Hyderabad State under Nizam VI, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan:

                         ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
                         │   DECCAN CONSTITUTIONAL AWAKENING    │
                         └──────────────────┬───────────────────┘
                                            │
                                            ▼
                        [ Modernization under Salar Jung I ]
                     Reorganized state administration, creating demand
                     for English-educated officials.
                                            │
                                            ▼
                        [ Nizam College Educational Hub (1887) ]
                     Established under Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay,
                     producing Hyderabad's earliest progressive elite.
                                            │
                                            ▼
                        [ The Mulki vs. Non-Mulki Cleavage ]
                     Resentment over northern elites sparked the Deccan's
                     first formal political employment struggles.

• Salar Jung's Bureaucratic Reforms: Similar to the administrative unification that fostered national consciousness in British India, the modernization programs of Hyderabad's Prime Minister, Sir Salar Jung I (1853–1883), centralized the state's governance. He divided the dominions into standardized districts (Zillas) and divisions (Subas) under the Zilabandi System of 1864, replacing the chaotic revenue-farming (Sarbastah) system with salaried state officials. This created a modern bureaucracy that required English-educated personnel.

• The Influx of Northern Elites and the Mulki Rift: To run these new, modern departments, Salar Jung recruited highly qualified, English-educated administrators from Northern India and Madras (known as Non-Mulkis). This massive import of outsiders created deep resentment among the local, traditional Hyderabadi subjects (Mulkis), who found themselves excluded from state civil employment. This cleavage sparked Hyderabad's first formal political consciousness, matching the "Indianisation of Civil Services" campaigns happening in British India.

• The Nizam College Intellectual Cradle: Higher Western education came to Hyderabad during the exact era of the Congress's foundation. Chaderghat High School was upgraded to Chaderghat College in 1881 and affiliated with Madras University. In 1887, it merged with the School of English to establish the prestigious Nizam College under its first principal, the renowned scientist and educationist Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay (father of Sarojini Naidu). Nizam College became the intellectual cradle of Hyderabad's earliest progressive reformist class, where local youths discussed the economic critiques of Dadabhai Naoroji and integrated Deccan political life with the broader national mainstream.

3. Quick Revision Cheat Sheet

• 1884: A.O. Hume forms the Indian National Union, which served as the direct institutional precursor to the Congress.

• December 28, 1885: The Indian National Congress (INC) is formally established at Bombay.

• Cholera Outbreak: Forced the last-minute shift of the inaugural venue from Pune to Bombay.

• Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College: The exact, historic building in Bombay where the first session was convened.

• 72 Delegates: The exact number of representative delegates who attended the first session in December 1885.

• W.C. Bonnerjee: Elected as the first President of the Indian National Congress.

• Lord Dufferin: The Viceroy of India when the Congress was founded; he later dismissed it as representing a "microscopic minority".

• William Wedderburn: A close friend and retired British official who wrote the famous biography of A.O. Hume in 1913, which served as the primary basis for the Safety Valve theory.

• 1886 Calcutta Session: Presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji; saw the formal merger of Surendranath Banerjee’s Indian National Conference with the INC.

• Kadambini Ganguly (1890): The first female graduate of Calcutta University to address an INC session, symbolizing the Congress's early commitment to social progress.

• 1887 Nizam College Establishment: Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay is appointed as its first principal, initiating the modern intellectual and political awakening of Hyderabad.

4. Exam Strategy & PYQ Focus

High-Yield Focus Areas

• The Venue Shift Details (Extremely High Priority): state civil service exams consistently target the details of the first session. Always remember that the first session was shifted from Pune to Bombay due to a cholera outbreak, and was held at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College.

• Surendranath Banerjee's Absence Trap: Examiners frequently create statement-based questions claiming that Surendranath Banerjee was present at the 1885 session or was its first president. This is FALSE. Banerjee was in Calcutta attending his own Indian National Conference and only joined the Congress in 1886.

• Safety Valve vs. Lightning Conductor Attributions: Ensure you can correctly match the proponents of the two theories:

  • Safety Valve Theory $\rightarrow$ Lala Lajpat Rai (and later Marxist historian R.P. Dutt).

  • Lightning Conductor Theory $\rightarrow$ Gopal Krishna Gokhale (and later Bipan Chandra Pal).

• Lord Dufferin's Famous Quote: SPSC papers frequently ask who described the early Congress as representing only a "microscopic minority". Always attribute this quote to Lord Dufferin, who used it to downplay the representative character of the early nationalist intelligentsia.

• The First Foreign Presidents List: Note the chronological sequence of the earliest non-Indian presidents:

  • George Yule $\rightarrow$ 1888 Allahabad Session (First English President).

  • William Wedderburn $\rightarrow$ 1889 Bombay Session.

• Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay's Regional Context: For regional Deccan integration, remember that Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay was the first principal of Nizam College (1887). SPSC papers often connect his progressive circle with the early dissemination of Congress-led nationalist ideas in Hyderabad.

What to Skip / Low-Yield

• The minor, non-political lists of personal foods served to individual delegates at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College dormitory in December 1885.

• The micro-expenditure schedules of individual provincial post offices built during Lord Dufferin’s administration.

How to Study This Topic

1. Construct a "First Four Sessions" Matrix: Create a simple 4-row table on a single study card:

   • 1885, Bombay $\rightarrow$ W.C. Bonnerjee (Inaugural session, 72 delegates).

   • 1886, Calcutta $\rightarrow$ Dadabhai Naoroji (First Parsi President, merger of National Conference).

   • 1887, Madras $\rightarrow$ Badruddin Tyabji (First Muslim President, appeal to Muslims).

   • 1888, Allahabad $\rightarrow$ George Yule (First English President, symbol of early British liberal support).

   • This sequence is a highly frequent target for match-the-following and chronological sorting questions.

2. Flowchart the Indian Association to INC Evolution: Draw a visual flowchart tracing: $$\text{Indian Association of Calcutta (1876)} \rightarrow \text{National Conference sponsored by Banerjee (1883)} \rightarrow \text{INC formed in Bombay (1885)} \rightarrow \text{Merger of National Conference with INC (1886)}$$ This sequence clarifies the administrative evolution of early nationalist organizations.

5. Chronology & Broader Context (Past – Present – Future)

The East India Company consolidates absolute administrative control over Bengal (1757-1765)
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The Great Revolt of 1857 erupts, ending Company Rule and initiating direct Crown governance
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Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose found the Indian Association of Calcutta (1876)
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Lord Lytton reduces the ICS age limit, holds the Delhi Durbar, and gags the press (1876-1878)
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The Ilbert Bill controversy exposes deep-seated British racial prejudice (1883)
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The Indian Association sponsors the first All-India National Conference in Calcutta (December 1883)
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Chaderghat College and the School of English are established to spread education in Hyderabad (1881)
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THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS IS FORMALLY ESTABLISHED AT BOMBAY (DECEMBER 28, 1885)
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Surendranath Banerjee's National Conference formally merges with the Congress (1886)
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Dr. Aghornath Chattopadhyay is appointed first principal of the newly formed Nizam College (1887)
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The British Parliament passes the Indian Councils Act of 1892, introducing indirect elections
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Lord Curzon aggressively partitions Bengal on communal and linguistic lines (1905)
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The Swadeshi Movement begins, marking the transition from Moderate to Extremist politics

• Pre-Context:

  • Pre-1880s: For nearly two decades following the transition of governance to the British Crown under the GOI Act of 1858, political activity in India was fragmented and localized, dominated by regional organizations representing class-specific or provincial interests. However, the aggressive, imperialist administrative measures of the late 1870s—such as Lord Lytton's Vernacular Press Act of 1878 and the bitter racial fallout of the Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883—convinced Indian leaders that regional agitations were no longer sufficient, paving the direct path for a unified, pan-Indian national organization.

• Concurrent Events:

  • The Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885–1886): Occurring simultaneously, Lord Dufferin’s aggressive military campaign to annex Upper Burma drew fierce criticism from early Congress leaders. They condemned the military action as a waste of Indian revenues and resource extraction, using their platform to demand an end to imperialist expansion.

  • The Expansion of the British local Government Reforms (1882–1885): Proclaimed by Lord Ripon (the "Father of Local Self-Government"), these local administrative reforms allowed early Indian politicians to participate in local municipal boards and district councils, giving them vital administrative experience that directly helped them build and organize the early Congress.

• Post-Context:

  • Post-1885: The institutionalization of the Congress transformed the national movement. Under the leadership of the Moderates, the Congress utilized constitutional methods to construct a brilliant economic critique of British rule, culminating in the passage of the Indian Councils Act of 1892. Ultimately, the slow progress of these constitutional agitations, combined with the aggressive policies of Lord Curzon, directly led to the rise of militant nationalism (Extremism) in 1905, transforming the Congress from a middle-class pressure group into a massive, popular national movement that eventually secured India's independence in 1947.