Congress Is Born: From Loyal Petitioners to Assertive Nationalists

INC: Foundation, Moderate Phase, and Era of Militant Nationalism (1885–1909)

By the early 1880s, the ground for a pan-Indian political organisation had been prepared through decades of press campaigns, pre-Congress associations, and a shared educated middle class. The founding of the INC in 1885 was thus not an accident but a culmination — and the beginning of a new chapter in which Indians would progressively escalate their demands from constitutional reform to swaraj.

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The final shape to the idea of an all-India nationalist body was given by A.O. Hume, a retired British civil servant, who mobilised leading intellectuals of the time. The first session of the Indian National Congress was held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay, in December 1885.

Key facts about the first session:

• Attended by 72 delegates
• Presided over by Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee
• Congress thereafter met every year in December, in a different part of the country

Prelude: Two sessions of the Indian National Conference had been held in 1883 and 1885, with representatives drawn from all major towns. Surendranath Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose were the main architects of the Indian National Conference.

Prominent early presidents: Dadabhai Naoroji (thrice president), Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozshah Mehta, P. Anandacharlu, Surendranath Banerjea, Romesh Chandra Dutt, Ananda Mohan Bose, Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

Notable milestone: In 1890, Kadambini Ganguly, the first woman graduate of Calcutta University, addressed the Congress session — symbolising the freedom struggle's commitment to women's status in national life.

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A significant historiographical debate surrounds the INC's founding:

• Safety Valve Theory: Hume formed the Congress to channel and release the growing discontent of Indians, preventing a popular uprising. Hume convinced Lord Dufferin not to obstruct its formation. Lala Lajpat Rai believed in this theory.
• Conspiracy Theory: Marxist historian R.P. Dutt argued the INC was born out of a conspiracy to abort a popular uprising, with bourgeois leaders complicit.
• Lightning Conductor Theory (Bipan Chandra): Modern historians dispute the 'safety valve' idea. In their view, the INC represented the urge of politically conscious Indians to set up a national body. If Indians had convened such a body themselves, official opposition would have been unsurmountable. The early Congress leaders, as Bipan Chandra observes, used Hume as a 'lightning conductor' — a catalyst to bring together nationalist forces even if under the guise of a safety valve. This theory is attributed to G.K. Gokhale in Spectrum's summary.

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The main aims of the Congress in its initial stage were to:

1. Found a democratic, nationalist movement
2. Politicise and politically educate the people
3. Establish a headquarters for a national movement
4. Promote friendly relations among nationalist workers from different regions
5. Develop and propagate an anti-colonial nationalist ideology
6. Formulate and present popular demands before the government to unify people around a common programme
7. Develop and consolidate national unity irrespective of religion, caste or province
8. Carefully promote and nurture Indian nationhood

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Key Leaders

Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozshah Mehta, D.E. Wacha, W.C. Bonnerjea, S.N. Banerjea — staunch believers in liberalism and moderate politics.

The Moderate Approach

Moderate political activity involved constitutional agitation within the confines of law. Their core belief: the British basically wanted to be just to the Indians but were unaware of real conditions. Therefore, creating public opinion and presenting demands through resolutions, petitions, and meetings would lead the government to concede gradually.

Two-pronged methodology:

1. Create strong public opinion — arouse national consciousness, educate and unite people on common political questions.
2. Persuade the British government and British public opinion to introduce reforms.

Method: 'Prayer and petition' — escalating to constitutional agitation only if that failed.

A British Committee of the INC was established in London in 1889 with India as its organ. Dadabhai Naoroji spent a substantial portion of his life and income campaigning for India's cause abroad.

Contributions of Moderate Nationalists

1. Economic Critique of British Imperialism Led by Dadabhai Naoroji, R.C. Dutt, and Dinshaw Wacha, the Moderates systematically analysed British rule's political economy and put forward the Drain Theory — that British exploitation was the primary cause of India's poverty and economic backwardness. They exposed the transformation of a self-sufficient Indian economy into a colonial one: supplier of raw materials, importer of finished goods, field of British investment. Key demands: reduction in land revenue, abolition of salt tax, improvement of plantation labour conditions, reduction in military expenditure, tariff protection for Indian industry, direct government aid.

2. Constitutional Reforms and Propaganda in Legislature Legislative councils had no real power till 1920. Yet, nationalists used them effectively. In the thirty years from 1862 to 1892, only 45 Indians were nominated to the Imperial Legislative Council — mostly wealthy, landed, and loyalist.

From 1885–1892, nationalist demands centred on:

• Expansion of councils — greater Indian participation
• Reform of councils — more powers, especially financial control

The British had intended the councils to let vocal leaders 'let off political steam' in impotent forums. But nationalists transformed them into platforms for ventilating popular grievances, exposing bureaucratic defects, criticising government policies, and raising economic issues.

The Indian Councils Act of 1892 partially met nationalist demands but was severely criticised:

Main Provisions: Number of non-official members raised (governor-general could have 10–16 instead of 6–10); principle of representation introduced (nominations by Bengal Chamber of Commerce, universities, municipalities, zamindars); budget could be discussed; questions could be asked.

Limitations: Officials retained majority; the 'reformed' council met on average only 13 days a year with only 5 unofficial Indian members out of 24; budget could not be voted upon or amended; supplementary questions could not be discussed.

Nationalists then demanded: (i) majority of elected Indians; (ii) control over budget ('No taxation without representation'). Dadabhai Naoroji (1904), Gokhale (1905), and Tilak (1906) demanded self-government on the lines of Canada and Australia.

3. Campaign for General Administrative Reforms

• Indianisation of government service (economic, political, and moral grounds)
• Separation of judicial from executive functions
• Criticism of oppressive bureaucracy and expensive judiciary
• Criticism of aggressive foreign policy (annexation of Burma, attack on Afghanistan, suppression of tribals)
• Increase in welfare expenditure: health, sanitation, elementary and technical education, irrigation, agricultural banks
• Better treatment for Indian labour abroad in British colonies

4. Protection of Civil Rights The Moderates campaigned incessantly for the right to speech, thought, association, and a free press. Growing civil rights consciousness led to public outrage at the arrest of Tilak and others in 1897 and the arrest and deportation of the Natu brothers without trial.

Evaluation of Early Nationalists

Achievements:

• Represented the most progressive forces of the time
• Created a wide national awakening — feeling of belonging to one nation with common interests against a common enemy
• Trained people in political work and popularised modern ideas
• Exposed the exploitative character of colonial rule, undermining its moral foundations
• Political work based on hard realities, not religion or sentiment
• Established the basic political truth: India should be ruled in the interest of Indians
• Created a solid base for the more vigorous, militant, mass-based movement that followed

Limitation: Failed to widen their democratic base and the scope of their demands; failed to include the masses.

Role of Masses: The moderate phase had a narrow social base. Moderates lacked political faith in the masses, believing they had first to be welded into a nation before entering the political sphere. This prevented them from taking militant political positions.

Pattabhi Sitaramayya: Compared the Moderates to brick and mortar buried deep in the foundation of a building, making possible the superstructure storey by storey.

Bipan Chandra: "The period from 1858 to 1905 was the seed time of Indian nationalism; and the early nationalists sowed the seeds well and deep."

Lala Lajpat Rai (critically): "It was at best an opportunist movement."

Government Attitude

The British were hostile from the beginning despite Moderate loyalty to the Crown. After 1887, when the Congress became increasingly critical of colonial rule, the government resorted to open condemnation — calling nationalists "seditious brahmins" and "disloyal babus". Dufferin called the Congress a "factory of sedition". The government pursued a divide-and-rule policy, encouraging the United Indian Patriotic Association (with Syed Ahmed Khan and Raja Shiv Prasad Singh of Benaras) to counter Congress propaganda. It also used 'carrot and stick' to pit Moderates against Extremists.

Lord Curzon (1900): "The Congress is tottering to its fall, and one of my great ambitions while in India is to assist it to a peaceful demise."

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Why Militant Nationalism Grew

1. Recognition of the True Nature of British Rule The government was not merely failing to concede demands — it was actively taking away existing rights. A catalogue of repression:

• 1892 — Indian Councils Act criticised as insufficient
• 1897 — Natu brothers deported without trial; Tilak and others imprisoned for sedition
• 1898 — IPC Section 124A amplified with new provisions under Section 156A
• 1899 — Number of Indian members in Calcutta Corporation reduced
• 1904 — Official Secrets Act curbed press freedom
• 1904 — Indian Universities Act imposed greater government control over universities

Severe famines killed 90 lakh persons between 1896 and 1900. Bubonic plague devastated the Deccan.

2. Growth of Confidence and Self-Respect Tilak, Aurobindo, and Bipin Chandra Pal urged reliance on Indian character and capacity. The masses, they argued, were capable of making the immense sacrifices needed to win freedom.

3. Impact of Education Rising education → increased awareness AND rising unemployment among the educated → added discontent.

4. International Influences

• Japan's emergence as an industrial power after 1868 (an Asian country developing without external help)
• Ethiopian (Abyssinian) victory over Italy (1896) — demolishing European military invincibility myth
• Boer Wars (1899–1902) — British faced reverses
• Japan's victory over Russia (1905) — most electrifying for Indian nationalists
• Nationalist movements in Ireland, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, China

5. Reaction to Increasing Westernisation The new leadership sought to resist colonial designs to submerge Indian national identity. Intellectual inspiration: Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Dayananda's political message: 'India for the Indians'.

6. Dissatisfaction with Moderate Achievements Younger elements strongly criticised the "Three P's" — prayer, petition, protest — as 'political mendicancy'.

7. Reactionary Policies of Lord Curzon Curzon's seven-year rule: refused to recognise India as a nation; described nationalist activity as "letting off of gas"; passed the Official Secrets Act, Indian Universities Act, Calcutta Corporation Act; and above all, partitioned Bengal.

8. Existence of a Militant School of Thought Key figures: Raj Narain Bose, Ashwini Kumar Datta, Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin Chandra Pal (Bengal); Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak (Maharashtra); Lala Lajpat Rai (Punjab). Tilak was the most outstanding representative.

Basic tenets of militant school: hatred for foreign rule; swaraj as goal; direct political action; belief in mass capacity; personal sacrifice.

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Partition of Bengal

• December 1903: Decision made public. Two new provinces proposed — Bengal (Western Bengal + Bihar + Orissa; capital Calcutta) and Eastern Bengal and Assam (capital Dacca).
• Official reason: Bengal with 78 million people had become too large to administer.
• Real motive: Weaken Bengal — the nerve centre of Indian nationalism — by dividing Bengalis (i) by language (reducing Bengalis to a minority in Bengal proper: 17 million Bengalis vs 37 million Hindi-Oriya speakers) and (ii) by religion (western half: Hindu majority 42/54 million; eastern half: Muslim majority 18/31 million).
• Curzon tried to woo Muslims by promising Dacca would be capital of a new Muslim-majority province.
• July 1905: Partition formally announced. October 16, 1905: Partition came into force.
• Home Secretary Risley had stated bluntly (1904): "Bengal united is a power. Bengal divided will pull in several different ways... One of our main objects is to split up and thereby to weaken a solid body of opponents to our rule."

Anti-Partition Campaign Under Moderates (1903–05)

Leadership: Surendranath Banerjea, K.K. Mitra, Prithwishchandra Ray. Methods: petitions, public meetings, memoranda, propaganda through newspapers (Hitabadi, Sanjibani, Bengalee). Objective: build educated public opinion in India and England to prevent partition.

Formal Launch of Swadeshi Movement

• August 7, 1905: Boycott Resolution passed in a massive meeting at Calcutta Townhall — formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement.
• October 16, 1905 (partition day): Observed as a day of mourning — fasting, bathing in Ganga, barefoot processions singing Bande Mataram. People tied rakhis as a symbol of Bengal's unity.
• Rabindranath Tagore composed 'Amar Sonar Bangla' — later adopted as the national anthem of Bangladesh.
• Rs 50,000 raised within hours of the meeting.
• Movement spread: Poona and Bombay (Tilak), Punjab (Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh), Delhi (Syed Haider Raza), Madras (Chidambaram Pillai).

Congress Position

1905 Benaras session (Gokhale presiding): Condemned partition and Curzon's policies; supported anti-partition and Swadeshi Movement of Bengal.

1906 Calcutta session (Dadabhai Naoroji presiding): Goal of INC declared as 'self-government or swaraj like the United Kingdom or the colonies' of Australia and Canada — the word 'swaraj' was used for the first time but its connotation was left open, allowing Moderates and Extremists to interpret it differently.

Movement Under Extremist Leadership (post-1905)

Extremists (Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lajpat Rai, Aurobindo Ghosh) took over because:

1. Moderate-led movement had failed to yield results
2. Divisive tactics of both Bengal governments embittered nationalists
3. Government repression: corporal punishment of students; ban on public singing of Vande Mataram; restrictions on meetings; prosecutions; arrests and deportation

Extremist Programme: Passive resistance extending beyond swadeshi/boycott to include boycott of government schools, colleges, service, courts, legislative councils, municipalities, government titles. As Aurobindo put it: to "make the administration under present conditions impossible by an organised refusal." Goal: India's independence from foreign rule. "Political freedom is the lifebreath of a nation" — Aurobindo.

New Forms of Struggle

• Boycott of foreign goods: Public burning of foreign cloth; boycott of Manchester cloth, Liverpool salt, foreign sugar; priests refusing to ritualise marriages with foreign goods; washermen refusing to wash foreign clothes.
• Public meetings and processions: Major methods of mass mobilisation.
• Samitis (corps of volunteers): Swadesh Bandhab Samiti of Ashwini Kumar Dutta in Barisal; Swadeshi Sangam in Tirunelveli (V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Subramania Siva). Samitis spread political consciousness through magic lantern lectures, swadeshi songs, physical training, social work, schools, swadeshi crafts, arbitration courts.
• Traditional festivals and melas: Tilak's Ganapati and Shivaji festivals as vehicles for swadeshi propaganda in western India and Bengal. Traditional folk theatre forms used in Bengal.
• Self-reliance (atma shakti): Re-assertion of national dignity. Social reform — campaigns against caste oppression, early marriage, dowry, alcohol.
• Swadeshi/National Education: Bengal National College set up with Aurobindo Ghosh as principal (inspired by Tagore's Shantiniketan). National Council of Education set up on August 15, 1906 — literary, scientific and technical education on national lines, through vernacular medium. Bengal Institute of Technology for technical education; students sent to Japan.
• Swadeshi enterprises: Textile mills, soap and match factories, tanneries, banks, insurance companies, shops. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai's Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company at Tuticorin challenged the British Indian Steam Navigation Company.
• Cultural impact: Songs by Rabindranath Tagore, Rajnikant Sen, Dwijendralal Ray, Mukunda Das; Sudesha Geetham by Subramania Bharati in Tamil Nadu. In painting, broke the domination of Victorian naturalism — drew from Ajanta, Mughal, Rajput traditions. was the first recipient of a scholarship offered by the (founded 1907). In science: and pioneered original research.

Extent of Mass Participation

• Students: Active in Bengal, Maharashtra (especially Poona), and the South (Guntur, Madras, Salem). Government threatened disaffiliation, withdrawal of grants, disqualification from government jobs, and disciplinary action.
• Women: Urban middle-class women, traditionally home-centred, took active part in processions and picketing — marking a new and lasting involvement in the national movement.
• Muslims: Some participated (Barrister Abdul Rasul, Liaqat Hussain, Maulana Azad). But most upper and middle class Muslims stayed away, or supported partition (Nawab Salimullah of Dacca). The All India Muslim League was formed on December 30, 1905 as an anti-Congress front, propped up by the government.
• Labour: Bengali clerks of Burn Company, Howrah (250+, September 1905); East Indian Railway workers (July 1906 — formation of Railwaymen's Union); jute mill strikes (1906–08); Subramania Siva and Chidambaram Pillai in Tuticorin; Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh in Rawalpindi. Labour unrest subsided by summer 1908 under strict government action.

Annulment of Partition (1911)

Partition was annulled in 1911 primarily to curb the menace of revolutionary terrorism — a rude shock to the Muslim political elite. Capital shifted to Delhi as a sop to Muslims. Bihar and Orissa taken out of Bengal; Assam made a separate province.

Why the Swadeshi Movement Fizzled Out (by 1908)

• Severe government repression
• No effective organisation or party structure; techniques thrown up but not given disciplined focus
• Movement left leaderless — most leaders arrested or deported by 1908; Aurobindo and B.C. Pal retired from active politics
• Internal squabbles magnified by the Surat Split (1907)
• Aroused people but could not channel the newly released energy
• Largely confined to upper and middle classes; failed to reach peasantry
• Non-cooperation and passive resistance remained mere ideas

Why the Movement Was a Turning Point

• "A leap forward" — hitherto untouched sections participated (students, women, workers, urban/rural sections)
• All major trends of later national movement emerged: conservative moderation to political extremism, revolutionary activities to incipient socialism, petitions to passive resistance and non-cooperation
• Richness extended to art, literature, science, industry
• People learned to take bold political positions
• Swadeshi campaign undermined colonial ideological hegemony

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Run-up to Surat

• Benaras session (1905, Gokhale presiding): Moderate-Extremist differences came to the fore. Extremists wanted to extend Boycott and Swadeshi beyond Bengal; Moderates opposed. A mild compromise resolution passed, averting split.
• Calcutta session (1906, Dadabhai Naoroji presiding): Swaraj declared as goal; word used for the first time but connotation left open. Extremists wanted Tilak or Lajpat Rai as president; Moderates proposed Dadabhai Naoroji (widely respected). After Calcutta, Extremists gave call for wide passive resistance; Moderates moved to tone down the Calcutta programme after council reforms were signalled.

The Split

• Extremists wanted: 1907 session at Nagpur with Tilak/Lajpat Rai as president; reiteration of swadeshi, boycott, national education resolutions.
• Moderates wanted: Session at Surat (Tilak's home province, so he could not be president by convention). They proposed Rashbehari Ghosh as president and sought to drop the swadeshi/boycott/national education resolutions.
• Both sides adopted rigid positions; split became inevitable. Congress after Surat was dominated by Moderates who recommitted to self-government within the British Empire and constitutional methods only.

Errors of both sides: Moderates failed to see that council reforms were meant to isolate Extremists, not reward Moderates. Extremists failed to see that Moderates could serve as their front line of defence against state repression. Neither side grasped that only a broad-based nationalist movement could succeed against British imperial power in a vast country.

Government Repression After Surat

Between 1907–1911, five laws were brought into force:

• Seditious Meetings Act (1907)
• Indian Newspapers (Incitement to Offences) Act (1908)
• Criminal Law Amendment Act (1908)
• Explosive Substances Act (1908)
• Indian Press Act (1910)

Tilak was tried in 1909 for sedition (for writing in Kesari about the Muzaffarpur bomb throwing). Sentenced to 6 years' transportation and Rs 1,000 fine; sent to Mandalay (Burma) jail. Aurobindo and B.C. Pal retired from active politics; Lajpat Rai left for abroad. After 1908, the national movement declined. Tilak was released in 1914 and picked up the threads.

Government strategy: 'Carrot and stick' — repression-conciliation-suppression.

1. Mildly repress Extremists (frighten Moderates)
2. Placate Moderates with concessions and hints of more reforms
3. With Moderates on its side, suppress Extremists with full force; then ignore Moderates

The Surat split suggested this strategy had brought rich dividends to the British.

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Background

In October 1906, the Simla Deputation — a group of Muslim elites led by Agha Khan — met Lord Minto and demanded separate electorates for Muslims and representation in excess of their numerical strength. The same group quickly took over the Muslim League, which had been initially floated by Nawab Salimullah of Dacca along with Nawabs Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Waqar-ul-Mulk in December 1906. The League intended to preach loyalty to the empire and keep the Muslim intelligentsia away from the Congress.

Gokhale also went to England to meet John Morley (Secretary of State) to put Congress demands for self-governing colonies.

Key Provisions

• Elective principle recognised for non-official membership of councils (based on class and community).
• Separate electorates for Muslims for election to the central council — a most detrimental step (Nehru called it a 'canker' that corrupted the entire system).
• Number of elected members in Imperial and Provincial Legislative Councils increased; non-official majority introduced in provincial councils but not elected, so overall non-elected majority remained.
• As per Sumit Sarkar: Imperial Legislative Council had 69 total members: 37 officials; 32 non-officials (5 nominated, 27 elected — of whom 8 Muslim under separate electorates, 4 British capitalists, 2 landlords, 13 under general electorate).
• Elections were indirect — local bodies → electoral college → provincial legislature → central legislature.
• Muslim voters given lower income qualification than Hindus; representation in excess of Muslim population's numerical share.
• Legislatures could now pass resolutions, ask questions and supplementaries, vote on separate items in budget (budget as a whole could NOT be voted upon).
• One Indian to be appointed to the Viceroy's Executive Council — Satyendra Sinha was the first (1909).

Evaluation

Lord Morley made clear that colonial self-government was NOT intended for India: "If it could be said that this chapter of reforms led directly or indirectly to the establishment of a parliamentary system in India, I, for one, would have nothing at all to do with it."

The 'constitutional' reforms were actually aimed at:

• Dividing nationalist ranks by confusing the Moderates
• Checking growth of Indian unity through the separate electorates
• Rallying Moderates and Muslims against the tide of nationalism

The system of election was too indirect — 'infiltration of legislators through a number of sieves'. Parliamentary forms introduced but no responsibility conceded. What the people demanded was self-government; what they got was 'benevolent despotism'.

The Montford Report later concluded: "The reforms of 1909 afforded no answer, and could afford no answer to Indian problems."

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• Moderate Phase → Extremist Phase → Gandhian Mass Movement (each phase correcting the limitations of the previous)
• Swadeshi Movement ↔ Make in India concept (indigenous enterprise and economic self-reliance)
• Morley-Minto Reforms (separate electorates) ↔ Partition of India 1947 (the constitutional seed of communal division)
• Surat Split ↔ Reunification at Lucknow Pact 1916 (the movement's capacity to learn from its errors)
• Drain Theory ↔ Nationalist economics ↔ Nehruvian economic planning
• Tilak's sedition trial ↔ Colonial sedition law ↔ IPC Section 124A debates in contemporary India

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• GS Paper I: INC founding, Moderate vs Extremist approaches, Swadeshi Movement, Morley-Minto Reforms — all directly examined.
• Constitutional History: Indian Councils Act 1892 → Indian Councils Act 1909 → Government of India Act 1919 — a progression from impotent councils to partial responsibility that UPSC traces chronologically.
• Communalism and Partition: The introduction of separate electorates in 1909 is the foundational constitutional moment for the eventual partition of India — crucial for both history and polity papers.
• Economic Nationalism: The drain theory and Swadeshi enterprises represent the first organised anti-colonial economic thinking — relevant to questions on Indian economic history and development discourse.
• Mass Mobilisation: The Swadeshi era prefigured every technique Gandhi would later systematise — boycott, non-cooperation, passive resistance, constructive programme, filling jails. Understanding Swadeshi explains the Gandhian method.

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1. INC first session venue: Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay — not Calcutta or Madras. 72 delegates, Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee as first president.
2. Safety Valve Theory: Associated with Lala Lajpat Rai (believer); Bipan Chandra gave the 'lightning conductor' counter-theory. The Conspiracy Theory is R.P. Dutt's. Don't mix these up.
3. Indian National Conference (1883, 1885) ≠ Indian National Congress (1885). The Conference was Banerjea and Ananda Mohan Bose's initiative; the INC was Hume's. They are often confused.
4. Indian Councils Act 1892: Budget could be discussed but NOT voted upon. Questions could be asked but supplementaries and answer discussions were not allowed. Frequently tested with wrong statements.
5. Boycott Resolution: August 7, 1905 at Calcutta Townhall — this is the formal start of the Swadeshi Movement. Partition came into force on October 16, 1905.
6. 'Swaraj' first used at Calcutta session (1906), not Benaras (1905) or Surat (1907). The word was used by Dadabhai Naoroji as Congress president.
7. Surat Split (1907): Moderates wanted session at Surat (not Nagpur); Extremists wanted Nagpur. Rashbehari Ghosh was the Moderate candidate for president.
8. Tilak sentenced: 6 years' transportation + Rs 1,000 fine, sent to Mandalay (Burma) — not the Andamans. Released in 1914.
9. Morley-Minto Reforms / Indian Councils Act 1909: Separate electorates for Muslims — NOT yet for Sikhs or other communities (that came later). First Indian on Viceroy's Executive Council: Satyendra Sinha.
10. by Nawab Salimullah of Dacca + Mohsin-ul-Mulk + Waqar-ul-Mulk. The preceded the League's founding and was led by .

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• INC 1885: Bombay; 72 delegates; Bonnerjee president; Hume organiser.
• Safety Valve (Lajpat Rai) / Conspiracy (R.P. Dutt) / Lightning Conductor (Bipan Chandra / credited to Gokhale in Spectrum).
• Moderates (1885–1905): Petition and prayer; Drain Theory; Indian Councils Act 1892 (inadequate).
• Swaraj demanded: Naoroji (1904), Gokhale (1905), Tilak (1906).
• Partition announced July 1905; effective October 16, 1905; Boycott Resolution August 7, 1905.
• Swadeshi: Tilak (Bombay), Lajpat Rai (Punjab), Chidambaram Pillai (Madras), Syed Haider Raza (Delhi).
• 'Swaraj' first used at Calcutta Congress session 1906.
• Surat Split 1907: Rashbehari Ghosh (Moderate candidate); Tilak/Lajpat Rai (Extremist choice).
• Repression laws: Seditious Meetings Act 1907; Indian Newspapers Act 1908; Criminal Law Amendment Act 1908; Explosive Substances Act 1908; Indian Press Act 1910.
• Tilak: 6 years, Mandalay; released 1914.
• Partition annulled 1911; capital shifted to Delhi.
• Morley-Minto (Indian Councils Act 1909): Separate electorates for Muslims; first Indian on Viceroy's EC: Satyendra Sinha; Muslim League founded December 1906 (Salimullah + Mohsin-ul-Mulk + Waqar-ul-Mulk); Simla Deputation October 1906 (Agha Khan).