INC Formation, Moderates vs Extremists & Swadeshi Movement

Introduction

The period from 1885 to 1919 marks the formative decades of organised Indian nationalism. The founding of the Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 gave educated Indians a single platform to articulate political demands. Within a generation, however, the Congress fractured along ideological lines — the Moderate–Extremist divide — and the Partition of Bengal in 1905 catalysed the most significant mass agitation India had seen before Gandhi. Understanding this arc, from petition politics to the Swadeshi Movement and Surat Split, is essential for UPSC GS Paper I.

Pre-Congress Organisations: Setting the Stage

Before the INC, several regional associations demonstrated the emergence of a politically conscious middle class.

Key insight: Surendranath Banerjea's Indian Association (1876) came closest to an all-India political organisation before the INC — but was confined to the educated Bengali middle class.

Indian National Congress: Founding (1885)

The Founding Session

• Date: December 28, 1885
• Venue: Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, Bombay (venue changed from Pune due to a cholera epidemic)
• Delegates: 72
• First President: Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee (Calcutta lawyer)
• Founder-organiser: Allan Octavian Hume — a retired ICS officer who served as General Secretary

Prominent founding delegates: Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjea, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Kashinath Telang.

Why A.O. Hume?

Hume believed a "safety valve" for Indian discontent was necessary to prevent revolution. Indian nationalists co-opted the INC to push for constitutional reform. Both groups found the arrangement useful — though later nationalist historiography would debate the "safety valve" theory critically (Bipan Chandra argued INC was genuinely nationalist from the start).

The Moderate Phase (1885–1905)

Ideology and Methods

The Moderates believed in the essential justice of British rule and sought reform through constitutional means: petitions, memorials, resolutions, public speeches, and journalism.

Core belief: Indians and the British shared interests; good governance required Indian participation in administration.

Key Moderate Leaders

Three Core Moderate Demands

1. Expansion of Legislative Councils: More Indian representation in central and provincial councils
2. Civil Service Exam in India: ICS exam held simultaneously in India (not only in London) to increase Indian access
3. Separation of Judiciary and Executive: Ensure impartial justice free from administrative pressure

Drain Theory (Dadabhai Naoroji)

Naoroji's most enduring intellectual contribution — articulated in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901):

• British rule drained India's wealth through: home charges (salaries, pensions to British officials), guaranteed returns on railway investment, unfavourable terms of trade
• This "drain" impoverished India, not natural factors
• Estimated drain: £30 million per year in late 19th century

Exam relevance: The Drain Theory shifted the debate from administrative reform to economic exploitation — a conceptual bridge to the later Extremist-Swadeshi critique.

Moderate Achievements

• Indian Councils Act 1892: Enlarged councils; introduced "nomination" with limited element of election; Indians could ask supplementary questions on budget
• Established INC as a legitimate annual all-India platform for political opinion
• Popularised drain theory and economic nationalism
• Built a cadre of politically trained Indians

Moderate Limitations

• Demanded, but did not agitate
• Restricted to educated English-speaking urban elite
• No mass mobilisation; "politics of prayer, petition, and protest"
• Depended on British goodwill — which was steadily eroding

Partition of Bengal (1905): The Turning Point

Context

Bengal in 1905 was the largest British Indian province: 78.5 million people, covering modern Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, and Assam. Lord Curzon (Viceroy, 1899–1905) announced its partition on October 16, 1905.

Administrative vs Political Logic

Official justification (Curzon): Bengal was too large to administer efficiently; creating East Bengal (Muslim-majority) and West Bengal (Hindu-majority) would improve governance and give Muslims in the east a province where they were the majority.

Nationalist interpretation: The partition was a deliberate attempt to:

1. Split the Bengali Hindu and Muslim communities
2. Weaken Bengali nationalism — the intellectual centre of the Indian freedom movement
3. Divide the INC's most effective regional base

Structure of the Partition

• East Bengal and Assam: Capital Dhaka; Muslim majority; population ~31 million
• West Bengal (residual): Capital Calcutta; Hindu majority

Immediate Reaction

The announcement provoked outrage across Bengal. October 16 was declared a day of mourning (Rakhi Bandhan — people tied threads on each other's wrists as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim solidarity). Rabindranath Tagore composed Amar Sonar Bangla (later Bangladesh's national anthem) during this period.

Swadeshi Movement (1905–1908)

Programme

The Swadeshi Movement was the first genuine mass movement in Indian history — a response to the Partition. Its four pillars:

1. Swadeshi (own country's goods): Buy Indian-made goods; boycott British-manufactured products
2. Boycott: Burning of foreign cloth, refusal to buy British goods
3. National Education: Establish schools and colleges outside British control (Bengal National College, 1906; Jadavpur)
4. Swadesh Samiti / Samiti movement: Local self-help groups, arbitration courts, volunteer bodies

Economic Impact

• Bengal's textile mills, soap factories, weaving workshops saw a boom
• Sales of British cotton goods fell by 25% in some years
• Inspired early industrialisation (e.g., Tata's investment in Indian industry)

Cultural Dimensions

• Rabindranath Tagore's songs galvanised the movement
• Abanindranath Tagore's Bengal School of Art revived Indian artistic traditions against Western academic art
• Journals: Yugantar, Sandhya (radical), Kal (Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Marathi press)

The Extremists: Lal-Bal-Pal

Leaders

Tilak's Mass Mobilisation Methods

Ganesh Chaturthi Festival (from 1893): Tilak transformed a private religious celebration into a 10-day public festival — using it to spread nationalist messages, circumventing colonial restrictions on political meetings.

Shivaji Festival (from 1895): Glorified Maratha warrior-king Shivaji as a Hindu hero and opponent of tyranny — building a mass Hindu cultural nationalist identity.

These innovations took politics from elite halls to village squares.

Extremist Ideology

Tilak's famous declaration: "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it" — captured the Extremist spirit perfectly.

Sedition Cases Against Tilak

1. 1897: Tilak prosecuted for articles in Kesari allegedly inciting the murder of British officials after the Plague Commissioner was killed; sentenced to 18 months' rigorous imprisonment
2. 1908: Prosecuted for articles sympathetic to revolutionaries Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki; sentenced to 6 years' transportation to Mandalay (Burma)

The colonial government called Kesari and Mahratta "factories of sedition." Tilak used the trials as platforms — his court speeches became political manifestos.

Surat Split (1907)

Background

The Moderates and Extremists had co-existed uneasily within the Congress. The Swadeshi Movement had dramatically raised the Extremists' mass following, but the Moderates retained control of the Congress organisation.

The central issue at the Surat Session (December 1907): Election of Congress president. The Extremists proposed Lala Lajpat Rai; the Moderates backed Rashbihari Ghosh.

The Split

The session descended into chaos — chairs and shoes were thrown on the floor of the hall. The police had to be called. The Congress effectively split into two:

• Moderate Congress (retained the INC name and organisation)
• Extremists led by Tilak — excluded from the Congress for the next nine years

Significance

1. Weakened both factions — Congress lost mass momentum
2. Allowed the colonial government to selectively repress Extremists while accommodating Moderates (Morley-Minto Reforms followed in 1909)
3. India's nationalist movement stagnated until Gandhi's arrival (1915–1919) reunited the two traditions in a new synthesis

Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909)

Key Provisions

Separate Electorates: The Poison Pill

The introduction of communal representation (separate Muslim electorates) was the most fateful aspect:

• Muslim League had demanded it at Shimla Deputation (1906) — Lord Minto gave assurances
• INC condemned it as "divide and rule" — an attempt to split the nationalist movement along religious lines
• Historians (Bipan Chandra, Sumit Sarkar) view it as a major contributor to the long-term trajectory toward Partition (1947)

Morley himself (Secretary of State) insisted: "I am no friend of representative government for India in the Western sense."

Annulment of Partition of Bengal (1911)

Delhi Durbar (December 12, 1911)

King George V, during his Coronation Durbar in Delhi, announced:

1. Annulment of Partition of Bengal — Bengal reunited; Assam and Bihar-Orissa separated as distinct provinces
2. Transfer of Capital from Calcutta to New Delhi

Why was the Partition Reversed?

• The Swadeshi agitation had made Bengal ungovernable
• The partition had demonstrably failed to stem Bengali nationalism
• Reunification was an attempt at political appeasement

Muslim Reaction

Muslims of Bengal were shocked — they had come to regard the Muslim-majority East Bengal as a recognition of their political interests. The reversal deepened Muslim estrangement from the Congress and British government simultaneously.

Home Rule Leagues (1916)

When WWI began, Tilak was released from Mandalay (1914) and returned to nationalist politics. He and Annie Besant established separate but coordinated Home Rule Leagues:

Demand: Home Rule within the British Empire — a responsible government for India, similar to the Dominion status of Canada and Australia.

The movement was significant for: involving women (Annie Besant became INC President in 1917), reviving mass politics, and creating the organisational infrastructure that Gandhi would later inherit.

Lucknow Pact (December 1916)

The Lucknow Congress session of December 1916 produced a historic double agreement:

1. Congress-League Pact: INC and All-India Muslim League agreed on a joint scheme of constitutional reforms to present to the British government — including INC acceptance of separate electorates for Muslims in exchange for Muslim League support for self-government
2. Moderates-Extremists Reunification: Tilak's Extremists were readmitted to the Congress

Significance:

• The first and only time INC and Muslim League presented a united political front to the colonial government
• Tilak and Jinnah both played key roles — representing different visions of what Hindu-Muslim unity meant
• The concession on separate electorates by Congress was later viewed as having entrenched communal politics

Comparative Table: Moderates vs Extremists

Timeline of Key Events

Previous Year Questions (PYQs)

Prelims

1. With reference to Indian National Congress, consider the following statements: (1) The first session of INC was held in Bombay in 1885. (2) Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee was the first president of INC. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2

2. The Drain of Wealth theory was propounded by: (a) Dadabhai Naoroji (b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale (d) Lala Lajpat Rai

3. With reference to the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909, which of the following was its most significant provision? (a) Introduction of dyarchy (b) Separation of judiciary from executive (c) Separate electorates for Muslims (d) Provincial autonomy

4. The Surat Split of 1907 divided the Indian National Congress between: (a) Moderates and Extremists (b) Hindus and Muslims (c) North Indians and South Indians (d) Revolutionaries and Constitutionalists

Mains

1. [GS1 2016] Discuss the role of the Swadeshi movement in stimulating indigenous enterprise and reshaping the cultural identity of Bengal during 1905–1911.

2. [GS1 2013] The period 1905–1919 witnessed a fundamental shift in the methodology of Indian nationalism. Critically examine the ideological differences between the Moderates and Extremists in the context of this transformation.

3. [GS1 2021] Assess the significance of the Lucknow Pact (1916) as a moment of Hindu-Muslim unity and evaluate why its concessions on separate electorates proved contentious in subsequent years.

Exam Strategy

High-frequency UPSC themes from this chapter:

• Drain Theory — Prelims MCQs frequently test who propounded it (Naoroji) and its core argument
• Surat Split (1907) — often asked as MCQ on year and the split between Moderates/Extremists
• Partition of Bengal (1905) and its annulment (1911) — date, lord, and significance
• Morley-Minto Reforms — separate electorates for Muslims is the key provision; often compared with later Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms
• Home Rule Leagues — which league was founded first (Tilak, April 1916), who founded the second (Besant, September 1916)
• Lal-Bal-Pal — identification of the trio and their regions

For Mains (GS1 answer writing):

• 150-word answers: Focus on one factor — e.g., "role of Tilak in transforming Congress from elite to mass movement"
• 250-word answers: Use the comparative table (Moderates vs Extremists) as a framework; end with a linking statement to Gandhi's synthesis
• Quote to use: Tilak's "Swaraj is my birthright and I shall have it" — anchor for answers on Extremist ideology

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Do not confuse the Indian Councils Act 1892 (Moderate achievement) with the Indian Councils Act 1909 (Morley-Minto)
• The Lucknow Pact was 1916, NOT 1917 or 1915
• Besant founded the All India Home Rule League — Tilak's was the Indian Home Rule League (Maharashtra-focused)