Rise of Indian National Congress (INC)

Aspect	Details
Date of Foundation	28 December 1885
Original Name	Indian National Union (later renamed Indian National Congress)
Founder	Allan Octavian Hume (Retired British Civil Servant)
First Session Venue	Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay (now Mumbai)
First President	Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (W.C. Banerjee)
First General Secretary	Allan Octavian Hume
Number of Delegates	72
Viceroy at the Time	Lord Dufferin

The establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 was not a sudden event. It was the result of nearly two decades of political awakening, middle-class organization, and growing national consciousness.

A. The Political Climate (1860s–1880s)

1️⃣ Rise of Regional Associations

By the 1870s and 1880s, several regional political organizations had emerged:

• Indian Association (1876) – Founded in Calcutta by Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose.
• Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1867) – Established in Pune to represent public opinion before the British government.
• Madras Mahajan Sabha (1884) – A major political association in South India.

2️⃣ Need for a Common Platform

• Regional bodies could not effectively address all-India issues.
• Need for a unified organization to represent Indian interests before the British government.
• Growing nationalism required national coordination.

Thus, the idea of an all-India political organization began to take shape.

B. The Madras Meeting (December 1884)

• Allan Octavian Hume presided over a private meeting of 17 men.
• The meeting occurred after a Theosophical Convention in Madras.
• The idea of forming the Indian National Congress was discussed and conceptually finalized.

📌 This meeting laid the groundwork for the first session in 1885.

C. Hume’s 1883 Letter to Calcutta Graduates

In 1883, Hume wrote an open letter to graduates of University of Calcutta.

Key Points:

• Urged educated Indians to organize politically.
• Called upon them to work for both self-upliftment and national progress.
• Emphasized political participation as a responsibility of the educated class.

Famous Quote:

"Every nation secures precisely as good a Government as it merits. If you, the picked men, the most highly educated of the nation... make a resolute struggle to secure greater freedom for yourselves and your country... then at present at any rate all hopes of progress are at an end."

A. Who Was A.O. Hume?

Allan Octavian Hume (1829–1912) was a retired member of the Indian Civil Service (then called the Covenanted Civil Service) who had served in India for 33 years. He was the son of the British Radical MP Joseph Hume, from whom he inherited liberal political beliefs.

Aspect	Details
Birth	6 June 1829, Montrose, Scotland
Arrival in India	1849 (East India Company service)
Retirement	1882
Key Belief	British rule had brought peace but not solved India's economic problems; officials were dangerously out of touch with the people.

B. Hume's Motivations

Several factors drove Hume to establish the Indian National Congress:

C. Steps Taken by Hume

Step	Action
Consultation in London	Visited England to consult John Bright, Lords Dalhousie and Ripon, and other authorities on India.
Securing Viceroy's Approval	In May 1885, obtained permission from Viceroy Lord Dufferin to create an "Indian National Union" affiliated with the government.
Changing the Venue	The first session was originally scheduled for Poona (Pune) but shifted to Bombay due to a cholera outbreak.
Organizing the Session	Brought together delegates from different parts of India and served as General Secretary in the first session.

A. Venue and Date

• Dates: 28–31 December 1885
• Venue: Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay (now Mumbai)
• Original Venue: Poona (Pune) – changed due to a cholera outbreak

B. The First President: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee

• Background: W.C. Bonnerjee (1844–1906), prominent lawyer from Calcutta
• Election: Unanimously elected as the first President
• Significance: Established tradition of selecting a President from a region different from the session venue

C. Delegates and Composition

• Total Delegates: 72
• Background: Mostly lawyers, journalists, teachers, and social reformers (educated middle class)
• Geographical Representation: Delegates from Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, and other regions; majority from Bombay and Madras Presidencies
• No Women Delegates attended the first session

D. Notable Attendees

• Dadabhai Naoroji (later second President in 1886)
• Pherozeshah Mehta
• Dinshaw Wacha
• Badruddin Tyabji (first Muslim President in 1887)
• William Wedderburn (British supporter of Congress)
• Justice John Jardine (British founding member)

E. Demands and Resolutions Passed

The first session passed nine resolutions presenting Indian grievances and demands:

Category	Key Demands
Constitutional	Expansion of legislative councils; inclusion of elected Indian representatives
Administrative	Commission to inquire into the working of Indian administration (1858–1885)
Civil Services	Simultaneous ICS examinations in India and England; raising age limit
Economic	Reduction of military expenditure; abolition of the India Council in London
Regional	Creation of legislative councils for NWFP, Sindh, and Awadh

F. British Response

• Initial Stance: Lord Dufferin showed "benevolent neutrality"
• Later Attitude: Dismissed Congress as a "microscopic minority" representing only educated elites; neutrality turned into hostility

Historians have proposed different theories to explain why the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885.

Theory	Proponent	Explanation
Safety Valve Theory	Lala Lajpat Rai	Hume established the INC as a "safety valve" to channel growing political discontent and prevent a violent revolution against British rule.
Conspiracy Theory	R.P. Dutt (Marxist historian)	The INC was allegedly a conspiracy by bourgeois leaders to suppress a potential uprising of the Indian masses.
Lightning Conductor Theory	G.K. Gokhale	Educated Indians wanted a national organization but feared official repression. They used Hume as a "lightning conductor" to shield the organization from government hostility.

Aspect	Significance
Birth of Organized Nationalism	Marked the beginning of organized, all-India political activity.
Nation-Building Effort	Promoted nation-building by bringing together diverse regions and communities.
Platform for Dialogue	Created a forum for civil and political dialogue between Indians and the British.
Representation of Aspirations	For the first time, Indian aspirations were articulated collectively before the British Government.
Training Ground	Became the training ground for future leaders of the freedom struggle.