The formation of the Indian National Congress: A British manoeuvre?

Abstract

One of the thorniest issues that contemporary scholars of British India are faced with is that of the genesis of the Indian National Congress (1885). While some of them believe that the foundation of this first major political party on an all-India basis was an inevitable corollary of the circumstances that prevailed in the South Asian Sub-continent as a result of British Raj, others have held opposing views. In fact, the latter, while championing the "safety-valve" theory, are convinced that the birth of this political organization was nothing more than a British stratagem aimed at forestalling an imminent popular uprising among the colonial subjects. Thus, the aim of this article is to set out the views and arguments of both camps of scholars.