Rise of Modern Nationalism

Rise of Modern Nationalism
and
Birth of Congress
Part I
Rise of Modern Nationalism
Introduction to Factors for Growth of Modern
Rise of Modern Rise of Modern Political Associations
Nationalism Nationalism (Pre INC Associations)
Introduction
There was a Rise of Modern Nationalism in India in the
second half of 19th century and early 20 th century.
It was in response to the increasing British consolidation of
India– that included creation of colonial institutions and
introduction of colonial policies.
Bharat Mata by Rabindranath

Tagore-Symbol of Nationalism
Factors
French Revolution
o Rise of concept of nationalism and idea of self
determination in the international arena.
o A surge in ideas of national liberation
movements across Europe and America
(Germany, Italy, Spain etc.). Depiction of French Revolution
o Had major influence upon Indian national

thoughts.
Factors
Indian Renaissance and Evolution of

National Consciousness
o Progressive ideas within the 19 th century socio-religious
reform movements sought to remove social barriers
among Indians.
o This left a “unifying effect” to an extent within the
national consciousness.
Factors
Modernization efforts of British

o Western Education imparted the liberal and
radical western thoughts of justice, equality,
self-determination etc. among the newly
educated classes of Indians.
o English Language helped Indians from varied
linguistic backgrounds to connect with each
other and share thoughts. University of Bombay's Fort Campus
in the 1870s
o Political-administrative developments.
Factors
o New, English educated middle class

intelligentsia emerged and provided political
leadership.
o Railway Networks and Telegraph enabled
connectivity, exchange of ideas and
mobilization.
o Economic Unification unified the associated The first railway lines.
economic distress.
Factors
Reactionary Colonial Policies and Racial

Arrogance
o British colonialism was based upon the idea of racial
supremacy. This reflected in their deliberate policies of
discrimination and segregation,
For example:
• Reduction of maximum age limit for
I.C.S Examinations by Lytton.
• Delhi Durbar (1877). Delhi Durbar
• Vernacular Press Act (1878).

• Arms Act (1878).
• Ilbert Bill Controversy (1883-84).
Factors
Rise of middle-class intelligentsia:

o Infused a sense of national hope and provided leadership.
Factors
Role and contribution of press

o Workhouse for propagation of nationalist ideas
and values.
o Surge in number of Indian-owned nationalist
newspapers during the second half of 19 th century
Kesari was one of the first
newspapers of India.
o Effective platform for criticism of official policies.
o Major tool for nationalist leadership in

propagation of political ideas among masses
across different regions of India.
Factors
Vernacular Press Act (1878): Lord Lytton

o To curtail the nationalist narrative of the Vernacular
Press.
o To control seditious writing in 'Publications in Oriental
languages' across India.
o Excluded ‘English Newspapers’.
Robert Bulwer-Lytton,
o Criticized as ‘Gag-Act’– incident highlighted the racial 1st Earl of Lytton
arrogance of British.
o Withdrawn by Lord Ripon Administration in 1881.
Factors
Ilbert Bill Controversy

o Ilbert Bill sought to allow the persons of
European descent to be tried by Indian
magistrates.
o Resisted by members from the Anglo Indian –

European Community. Eventually, provisions of A meeting in Town Hall, Bombay in
support of the Ilbert Bill.
the bill were amended.
o Made the English educated middle class

intelligentsia lose their sense of justice and
fairness in the British administration.
Pre-INC Associations
British India witnessed emergence of modern political

associations
in the early 19th Century.
INC was not the first nationalist political organization in India.

Journal of the East
India Association.
Features of Political Associations- First Half of 19th Century:

o Domination by Aristocratic elements and English
educated Middle Class Intelligentsia.
o Regional/Local in Character.
o Main Political Agenda: articulation and petitioning on

matters related to education, trade, administrative
reforms and association of Indians with administration.
Features of Political Associations- Second Half of 19th Century:

o Domination by English educated middle class
intelligentsia, lawyers, teachers, journalists etc.
o Comparative wider political perspective and agenda.
Bengal Bombay Madras London
1838 1867 Madras Mahajan Sabha 1866

Zamindari Association Poona Sarvajanik M.Vijayaraghavachariar; East India Association
Landholders Society Sabha M G Ranade Subramanyam Aiyer, Dadabhai Naoroji
Anand Charlu
1843 1885
The Bengal British Bombay Presidency
India Society Association
Badruddin Tyabji,
1851 Ferozeshah Mehta,
British Indian K. T. Telang
Association
Part II
Birth of Congress
Introduction to Objectives of Moderate Phase of
Indian National Indian National Indian National
Congress (INC) Congress (INC) Congress (INC)
Introduction
1st Session of INC: 28 December 1885 (72 Members)

–
Bombay (Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College).
President of 1st Session: W.C. Bonnerjee.
Prelude to INC: All-India National conference (1883)

Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee
–
By: S.N. Banerjee and A.M. Bose (President).
Introduction
Allan Octavian Hume

o Considered as the father of Indian National
Congress.
o Was also the founder of ‘Indian National Union’
and
Convinced Lord Dufferin to encourage the
a retired
formation of ICS officer. Allan Octavian Hume (A.O. Hume)
Father of Indian National Congress
INC as a ‘safety valve’ (against any mass upheaval
against British Administration) for the nationalist
voices
and mobilization.
Theory of
Safety Valve- Analysis
Debate around the formation of INC is largely because of

varied
interpretation of the idea behind its formation.
Some disgruntled Moderates and Extremists conformed to

the ‘Theory of Safety Valve’.
According to them, INC was a ‘Safety Valve’ to let out the

nationalist discontent and thus act as a safeguard against
any surge of Indian nationalism.
Theory of
Safety Valve- Analysis
Lala Lajpat Rai in Young India, 1916
o INC was “a product of Lord Dufferin’s brain”.
o “The Congress was started more with the objective of
saving the British Empire from danger than with that of

winning political liberty for India”.
Lala Lajpat Rai
Congress
A Conspiracy Theory
Marxist Historian R. Palme Dutt (India Today)

Congress was an outcome of conspiracy of Indian bourgeois
to
avoid any popular mass uprising in India.
Concurred with ‘Safety Valve Theory’ and argued that
formation of
INC was an attempt to defeat, or rather forestall, an R. Palme Dutt
impending
revolution.
Congress
A Conspiracy Theory
M.S. Golwalkar– “We” (1939)
Held formation of INC as an anti-national conspiracy.
Golwalkar considered “Congress as a ‘safety valve’
to
‘seething nationalism’, as a toy which would lull the
awakening giant into slumber, an instrument to
destroy M.S. Golwalkar
national consciousness”.
Not a Safety Valve, But a
“Lightning Conductor”
Modern Indian Perspective - Rejects the ‘Safety

Valve
Theory’.
Formation of INC as an expression of nationalist

urge
The first Indian National Congress Meeting,
1885
among politically conscious Indians who used
A.O.
Hume as a ‘Lightning Conductor’ against official
oppression and INC as a catalyst to bring
Aims and Objectives
WC Bonnerjee-1st Congress President laid out following

o The promotion of personal intimacy and friendship amongst the
objectives:
countrymen.
o Eradication of all possible prejudices to race, creed or provinces.
o Consolidation of sentiments of national unity.
o Recording the opinions of educated classes on pressing problems of

the day.
o Laying down of lines of future course of action in the public interest.

Moderate Phase of Congress
(1885 – 1905)
Initial years of Congress were influenced by the Moderate
leadership –
Liberal opinionated.
Moderate method of its functioning, as it was aimed at `Un-British

Rule’.
Made appeals through “Petitions, Speeches and Articles

professing
loyalty to the Raj”.
Had faith in the British sense of justice.
Sought reforms within the framework of British rule.

Prominent Moderate Leaders
Dadabhai Naoroji Pherozeshah Mehta S.N. Banerjee Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Demands of the Moderates
Economic Demands centered around the general poverty of India

and theme of Drain of Wealth.
o Demands for enquiry into India’s growing poverty and

famines.
o Demands for cuts in home charges and military expenditure.
o Promotion of technical education.

Economic Demands
o An end to unfair tariffs and excise duties.
o Reduction of land revenue, extension of irrigation and

development of agriculture banks which would free the
agriculture from clutches of the money lenders.
o Improvement of the condition of workers in plantations.
o Abolition of the salt tax.

Political Demands raised were mostly constitutional reforms-

From
1885 to 1892, and
o Expansion the nationalist
Reforms. demands were centered around-
o This included expansion of their size, introduction of an
elected elements of their composition and enlargement of
their conditions.
Military Demands
o Appointment of Indians to Commissioned ranks in the
army.
o Reduction of expenditure on Army and utilizing the same
amount for the public.
Administrative Reforms
o Indianization of government service.
o Repeal of Arms Act.
o Separation of judicial from executive functions.
o Criticism of an oppressive and tyrannical bureaucracy.

Reasons for Moderates not demanding Swaraj

o Faith in British Rule among Moderates.
o Early Phase and Restricted Nature.
o Lack of Mass Participation.

Contributions of Moderates
Economic contributions
o Economic demands of Moderates were radical and anti-
imperialist in nature.
o Moderates laid bare the exploitative machinery through
which the British state functioned and demanded for basic

changes in the economic relations between India and
England.
o Appointment of Welby Commission (1895) on Indian
expenditure.
Constitutional Reforms
o Passing of the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which provided
some powers to elected local bodies. Although it was highly
unsatisfactory, the act was partly a result of the pressure put
by the moderates.
Political contributions
o Laid an approximate 20 years of effective Political Base for
further phases of the National Movement.
o Politicized local Issues at national levels– Enhancing the feelings

of nationalism.
o Was successful in politicizing the minds of Indians upon ideas such

as Democracy; Self Rule etc.
o Moderates also significantly contributed to protecting the civil

and political rights including Freedom of Speech, Expression and
Press.
Drawbacks of Moderates
Confined Democratic and political space:

o Urban centers– Limited to Bombay, Madras, Calcutta etc.
o Upper Caste and domination of upper caste and sections like
Zamindars; Lawyers etc.
o Neglect and lack of connect with Rural Masses; Workers and
Peasants.
Lack of belief in the capacities of masses, Lack of radical and
militant
political approach, Lack of Pan-India organizational impact.
Neglect of role of youth and women.

1998
Q."The congress is tottering to its fall and one of my great
ambitions while in India, is to assist it to a peaceful demise."
The statement is attributed to:
a Lord Dufferin
b Lord Curzon
c Lord Lytton
d None of these
2005 Q.Who among the following repealed the Vernacular Press
Act?
a Lord Dufferin
b Lord Ripon
c Lord Curzon
d Lord Hardinge
2012
Q.Consider the following statements:
The most effective contribution made by Dadabhai Naoroji to
the cause of Indian National Movement was that he:
a) Exposed the economic exploitation of India by the British.
b) Interpreted the ancient Indian texts and restored the self-
confidence
c) of Indians.
Stressed the need for eradication of all the social evils before
anything else.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a 1 only b 2 and 3 only
c 1 and 3 only d 1, 2 and 3

2013
Q.The Ilbert Bill controversy was related to the:
imposition of certain restrictions to carry arms by the

a
Indians.
imposition of restrictions on newspapers and

b
magazines published in Indian languages
remov al of disqualifications imposed on the Indian

c
magistrates with regard to the trial of the Europeans
d remov al of a duty on imported cotton cloth

2017
Q.Consider the following pairs:
1. Radhakanta Deb- First President of the British Indian Association
2. Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty- Founder of the Madras Mahajana
Sabha
3. Surendra Nath Banerjee- Founder of the Indian Association
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
a 1 only b 1 and 3 only
c 2 and 3 only d 1, 2 and 3

1994
Q.What were the contributions of the Moderates in the
formative stage of the Indian National Congress? (75
words)
1998
Q.Why did the moderates lose appeal with the Indians and
failed to elicit a desired response from the British? (150
words)
2001
Q.Discuss the main objectives of the Indian National
Movement up to 1905. What were its basic weaknesses
during this period? (250 words)
2017
Q.Why did the ‘Moderates’ fail to carry conviction with the nation
about their proclaimed ideology and political goals by the end
of the nineteenth century? (150 words)
2019
Q.Examine the linkages between the nineteenth century’s ‘Indian
Renaissance’ and the emergence of national identity. (150
words)
End of Session

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Rise of Modern Nationalism

Bharat Mata by Rabindranath

o Had major influence upon Indian national

Indian Renaissance and Evolution of

Modernization efforts of British

o New, English educated middle class

Reactionary Colonial Policies and Racial

• Vernacular Press Act (1878).

Rise of middle-class intelligentsia:

Role and contribution of press

o Major tool for nationalist leadership in

Vernacular Press Act (1878): Lord Lytton

Ilbert Bill Controversy

o Resisted by members from the Anglo Indian –

o Made the English educated middle class

British India witnessed emergence of modern political

INC was not the first nationalist political organization in India.

Features of Political Associations- First Half of 19th Century:

o Main Political Agenda: articulation and petitioning on

Features of Political Associations- Second Half of 19th Century:

Bengal Bombay Madras London

1838 1867 Madras Mahajan Sabha 1866

1st Session of INC: 28 December 1885 (72 Members)

President of 1st Session: W.C. Bonnerjee.

Prelude to INC: All-India National conference (1883)

Allan Octavian Hume

Debate around the formation of INC is largely because of

Some disgruntled Moderates and Extremists conformed to

According to them, INC was a ‘Safety Valve’ to let out the

Lala Lajpat Rai in Young India, 1916

o INC was “a product of Lord Dufferin’s brain”.

o “The Congress was started more with the objective of

saving the British Empire from danger than with that of

Marxist Historian R. Palme Dutt (India Today)

Modern Indian Perspective - Rejects the ‘Safety

Formation of INC as an expression of nationalist

WC Bonnerjee-1st Congress President laid out following

o Eradication of all possible prejudices to race, creed or provinces.

o Consolidation of sentiments of national unity.

o Recording the opinions of educated classes on pressing problems of

o Laying down of lines of future course of action in the public interest.

Moderate method of its functioning, as it was aimed at `Un-British

Made appeals through “Petitions, Speeches and Articles

Had faith in the British sense of justice.

Sought reforms within the framework of British rule.

Dadabhai Naoroji Pherozeshah Mehta S.N. Banerjee Gopal Krishna Gokhale

Economic Demands centered around the general poverty of India

o Demands for enquiry into India’s growing poverty and

o Demands for cuts in home charges and military expenditure.

o Promotion of technical education.

o Reduction of land revenue, extension of irrigation and

o Improvement of the condition of workers in plantations.

o Abolition of the salt tax.

Political Demands raised were mostly constitutional reforms-

o Repeal of Arms Act.

o Separation of judicial from executive functions.

o Criticism of an oppressive and tyrannical bureaucracy.

Reasons for Moderates not demanding Swaraj

o Early Phase and Restricted Nature.

o Lack of Mass Participation.

o Moderates laid bare the exploitative machinery through

which the British state functioned and demanded for basic

o Appointment of Welby Commission (1895) on Indian

o Politicized local Issues at national levels– Enhancing the feelings