Rajasthan Study Notes: Political & Socio-religious Organization before INC

Political & Socio-religious Organization before INC (Indian National Congress) is a very important topic in modern history. In every exam which contains general awareness section, there are 2-3 questions asked from this topic.

Political & Socio-religious Organization before INC

Political & Socio-religious Associations began to take shape in the first half of the nineteenth century. Initially, they were dominated by the rich and educated intelligentsia. They were not at the pan-India level but regional in their operations. They had general demands like increasing the representation of Indians in administration; to bring out educational and military reforms; to work for the development of modern industries in India; etc. They used to send long petitions to the government in this regard.

Pre-Congress Political organizations in Bengal

Name of Organization	Year of formation	Founder/associates	Objectives/ Remarks
Bangabhasaha Prakasika Sabha	1836	Associates of Raja Ram Mohan Roy	· Promotion of Bengali education and build public opinion · Demanded for freedom of press; entry of Indians to higher offices; etc.
Zamindari Association/ Landholders’ Society	1838	Dwarkanath Tagore	· To safeguard the interests of landlords. · Only legal machinery was used to raise their demands.
British India Society*	1839 (England)	William Adam, Friend of Raja Ram Mohan Roy	· To make general public of England familiar with the condition of Indians. · Also used legal machinery to raise their demands.
The Bengal British India Society	1843	George Thomson. Members included ‘Young Bengal’ group	· to present the actual condition of people of British India.
British Indian Association	1851		· It is the merger of Zamindari Association and the Bengal British India Society. · raised many demands like separate legislative council, abolition of stamp duties, etc.
The East India Association*	1866 (London)	Dada Bhai Naoroji	· Welfare of Indians. · To make general public of England familiar with the condition of Indians. · It had branches in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
The Indian League	1875	Sisir Kumar Ghosh	Instigate the feelings of nationalism.
The Indian Association of Calcutta (Indian National Association)	1876	Surrendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose	· To unify public opinion on key political issues. · Voice was raised for civil services reform · It was later merged with Indian National Congress.

*It was established in England (not in Bengal).

Pre-Congress Political organizations in Bombay and Madras:

Organizations	Year of formation	Founder/Associates	Remarks
Bombay Association (Bombay Native Association)	1852	Jagannath Shankersheth, Sir Jamshedji Bhai, Naoroji Fardonji, Dadabhai Naoroji	· They used to take up public grievances through constitutional means.
The Poona Sarvajanik Sabha at Pune	1867	Mahadeva Govind Ranade	· They fought for legal rights of peasants and farmers. · Connected common people with the British Government. · B. G. Tilak was also a member of this Sabha.
The Bombay Presidency Association	1885	Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozshah Mehta and K. T. Telang	· It was aimed at opposing Lord Lytton’s policies and the controversial Ilbert Bill.
Madras Native Association	1849	Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty	· It was first of such type in Madras.
The Madras Mahajan Sabha	1884	M. Viraraghavachari, B. Subramaniya Aiyer and P. Ananda Charlu	· It was formed to oppose government policies through peaceful ways.

Pre-Congress Socio-Religious Organizations:

Organizations	Year of formation	Place of operation	Founder/Associates	Objectives/ Remarks
Atmiya Sabha	1814	Bengal	Raja Ram Mohan Roy	It was formed to attack social evils of Hinduism and spread of monotheism. It campaigned against caste rigidities, idol worship, social evils like Sati, etc.
Brahma Samaj	1828	Bengal	Raja Ram Mohan Roy	The long-term agenda of Brahma Samaj was to purify Hinduism from evils of idolatry, meaningless rituals and to preach monotheism.
Dharma Sabha	1830	Bengal	Raja Radhakant Deb	To counter the propaganda of Brahma samaj. Even he was the supporter of ‘Sati System’. However, it was in favour of the promotion of western education (including women).
Tattvabodhini Sabha	1839	Bengal	Maharishi Debendranath Tagore	The systematic study of India’s past with rational outlook and to propagate the ideas of Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
Young Bengal movement/ Derozians	1830s	Bengal	Henry Vivian Derozio	To foster the ideals of equality, fraternity, liberty and freedom; to question all authority; political and social reforms.
Prathna Samaj	1867	Bombay	Founder: Atmaram Pandurang Associate: M. G. Ranade, R. G. Bhandarkar and N. G. Chandavarkar	Women education, widow remarriage, denounce caste system and raising the age of marriage for both boys and girls.
Brahma Samaj of India	1866	Bengal	Keshav Chandra Sen	To promote inter-caste marriages; denounce caste system; assimilate ideas from all religions
Arya Samaj	1875	Earlier Bombay; then shifted to Lahore	Dayanand Saraswati	Establish a casteless and classless society in India. It propagated the infallibility of Vedas; Encouraged inter-caste marriages and Widow remarriage; Strongly criticized the Hindu belief system regarding Maya and moksha.
Sadaran Brahma Samaj	1878	Bengal		After the split of 1878, the disgusted followers of Keshav Chandra Sen established this new organization. It was based on the original ideals of Brahma Samaj.
Tayyuni	1839		Karmat Ali Jaunpuri	Based mainly on the teaching of Shah Walimullah movement.
Indian Reform Association	1870	Bengal	Keshav Chandra Sen	To organize people against child marriage and improve women’s social condition
Satya Sodhak Samaj (Truth seeker’s society)	1873	Bombay	Jyotibha Phule	Social service; upliftment of women and lower caste by providing them education
Deccan Educational Society	1884	Bombay	M.G Ranade	Spread of education in Western India
Theosophical Society	1875 (In 1882, headquarters were shifted to Adiyar)	United States	Madame H. P. Blavatsky and M. S. Olcott. Annie Besant took charge after the death of Olcott.	Accepted the Hindu beliefs of incarnation and transmigration of the soul. Aimed to work for the universal brotherhood of humanity without any discrimination based on religion, race, caste, creed or colour.
Seva Sadan	1885		Behramji M. Malabari	This organization took care of exploited and discarded women of society. It was not caste or class specific and was open to all.
Rehnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha (Religious reform Association)	1851	Bombay	Dada Bhai Naoroji, K. R. Cama, S. S. Bengalee	It was a socio-religious reform movement of Parsis. The main objective of this organization was- upliftment of women, removal of the purdah system, promote western education in the Persian community. It also aimed at restoration of the Zoroastrian religion.