The political associations in the early half of the nineteenth century were dominated by wealthy and aristocratic elements, local or regional in character, and through long petitions to the British Parliament demanded.
- Administrative reforms,
- Association of Indians with the administration, and
- Spread of education.
The political associations of the second half of the nineteenth century came to be increasingly dominated by the educated middle class—the lawyers, journalists, doctors, teachers, etc. and they had a wider perspective and a larger agenda.
Political Associations in Bengal:
The Bangabliusha Praknsika Sabka was formed in 1836 by associates of Raja Rammohan Roy.
The Zamindari Association, more popularly known as the ‘Landholders’ Society, was founded to safeguard the interests of the landlords. Although limited in its objectives, the Landholders’ Society marked
- the beginning of organized political activity and
- the use of methods of constitutional agitation for the redressal of grievances.
The Bengal British India Society was founded in 1843 with the object of “the collection and use of information relating to the actual condition of the people of British India
In 1851, both the Landholders’ Society and the Bengal British India Society merged into the British Indian Association.
Associations Before Indian National Congress – Different Political Parties:
The following list is about the different Political Organizations Before the establishment of the Indian National Congress
Landholder’s Society (1838/Calcutta):
Dwarkanath Tagore Established the Zamindari Association along with Prasanna Kumar Tagore, Radhakanta Deb, Ramkamal Sen, and Bhabani Charan Mitra which was later known as Landholder’s Society.
It was the first organization of Bengal which had a distinct political objective British India Society (1839/London):
William Adams Established the British India Society (1839/London) Party.
This society was founded in England initially.
The first executive committee consisted of 15 members out of which 11 were Indians.
George Thompson was the president & GF Remfry and Ramgopal Ghosh were the Vice President and Peary Chand Mitra was the Secretary of the Executive Committee
Bengal British India Society (1843/Calcutta): George Thomson Established this Political Party.
British India Association (1851/Calcutta): Devendranath Tagore & Radhakant Deb
Madras Native Association (1852/Madras): Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty
Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty also founded” The Crescent”, which was the 1st Indian-owned newspaper in Madras.
Bombay Association (1852/Bombay): Naoroji Furdoonji
East India Association (1866/London): Dadabhai Naoroji
London Indian Society (1865/London): Feroz Shah Mehta, Badruddin Tyyabji,
W. C. Banerji and Manmohan Ghosh ( Under the Guidance of Dadabhai Naoroji
National Indian Association: (1867/London): Mary Carpenter
Poona Sarvajanik Sabha (1867/Poona): G. Ranade, G.V. Joshi, and Chiplankar
Indian Society (1872/London): Anand Mohan Bose
India League (1875/ Calcutta): Sisir Kumar Ghosh
Sisir Kumar Ghosh also founded the famous ” Amrit Bazaar Patrika” in 1868.
Indian Association (1876/Calcutta): Anand Mohan Bose and Surendra Nath Banerji
National Conference (1883): Viraghavacharya, G. Subramaniya Aiyar and P. Anand
Madras Mahajan Sabha (1884/Madras): Charlu Indian National Union 1884 A.O. Hume.