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Establishment of the Indian National Congress

The Indian National Congress began as an elite political forum for Britons and Indians seeking greater political participation of Indians in their own affairs. It would later became a populist anti-colonial party that used mass participation of Indian society in non-violent campaigns against colonial rule.

A number of changes occurred to Indian society which set the stage for the emergence of a class of English-educated Indians that sought greater say over Indian affairs within the structures of the British colonial state.

This was far removed from the violent contest for power that had been seen in the early to mid- 19th century. The various governing and administrative changes that were put into place by the British after the events of 1857 started to bear fruit towards the end of the 19th century. A new class of Indians took up roles within the Indian Civil Service and the judiciary as bureaucrats and lawyers.

Dadabhai Naoroji, one of the founders of the Indian National Congress
Source: R.M. Richardson & Co, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

It can be said that Thomas Babington Macaulay’s vision of creating a class of Indians that were English in manners and sensibilities had materialised by the late 19th century. But it was amongst this westernised class, and particularly those from Bengal, that came to demand greater political rights for Indians.

Another significant development during this period was advances in communication that were the result of the expansion of the railways, the telegraph network, and native printing presses that contributed to the emergence of a lively public discourse. It was from within this context that we see the emergence of the Indian National Congress.

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