Moderate Phase of Indian National Movement

The early phase of the Indian National Congress (INC) from 1885 to 1905 is known as the Moderate Phase. During these two decades, educated urban professionals dominated the leadership and administrative direction of the national movement. Lawyers, journalists, academics, and merchants formed the main social base of this group. The leaders of this era were called “Moderates” because they believed in gradual administrative reform using constitutional, peaceful methods. They held strong faith in British sense of justice, fair play, and liberal traditions.

Key Leaders of the Moderate Phase

The Moderate leadership drew figures from various presidencies who laid the foundation for the national movement.

Prominent Moderate Figures

• Dadabhai Naoroji: Known as the “Grand Old Man of India.” He served as President of the INC three times (1886, 1893, and 1906). He was the first Indian elected to the British House of Commons in 1892 from Central Finsbury on a Liberal Party ticket.
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale: Considered the political guru of Mahatma Gandhi. He founded the Servants of India Society in 1905 to train young Indians for public service and national development.
• Surendranath Banerjea: Called the “Indian Burke.” He founded the Indian Association in 1876 and edited the newspaper Bengalee. He cleared the Indian Civil Service examination in 1869 but was later disqualified over an age dispute.
• Pherozeshah Mehta: A leading lawyer who dominated the Bombay Municipal Corporation for decades. He was known as the “Uncrowned King of Bombay” and established the newspaper The Bombay Chronicle in 1913.
• Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade: A founder of the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the Indian National Social Conference (1887). He was an authority on Indian economics.
• Dinshaw Wacha: An expert on public finance and imperial military expenditure. He served as the Secretary of the INC for two decades and presided over the 1901 Calcutta session.
• Badruddin Tyabji: The first Indian barrister at the Bombay High Court and the first Muslim President of the INC, presiding over the 1887 Madras session.

Ideology and Methods: Constitutional Agitation

The Moderates operated on the belief that British rule brought benefits like legal order and modern infrastructure, but required reform to correct administrative abuses.

Method of the 3Ps

The Moderates relied on a strategy summarized as Prayer, Petition, and Protest. They believed direct confrontation would provoke immediate imperial suppression.

• Constitutional Agitation: They operated strictly within the boundaries of existing colonial law. They passed resolutions during annual Congress sessions and submitted detailed memorandums to colonial authorities.
• Educating Public Opinion: They aimed to create national political consciousness in India while simultaneously informing the British public and Parliament about Indian grievances.
• British Committee of the INC: In 1889, William Wedderburn and Dadabhai Naoroji established the British Committee of the Indian National Congress in London. In 1890, the committee launched the monthly journal India to publish factual reports on Indian economic and administrative conditions.

Core Demands and Contributions

The Moderate phase created a theoretical critique of colonial rule and laid down foundational political demands.

Economic Critique and Drain of Wealth

The primary contribution of the Moderates was exposing the economic exploitation of India by Great Britain.

• Drain of Wealth Theory: Dadabhai Naoroji formulated this theory in his paper England’s Debt to India and his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901). He argued that unrequited exports, official pensions, home charges, and interest payments continuously drained Indian capital to London.
• Economic Analysis: Romesh Chunder Dutt authored The Economic History of India (1902), analyzing land revenue systems under British rule and showing how heavy taxation destroyed rural livelihoods.
• Industrial Protection: Moderates demanded the promotion of indigenous industries through state protection, abolition of salt duties, and reduction of military spending.

Constitutional and Administrative Demands

• Expansion of Legislative Councils: They demanded greater Indian representation in central and provincial councils through direct elections. Their persistent efforts led to the enactment of the Indian Councils Act of 1892, which expanded the non-official membership of councils and granted members the right to discuss the annual budget.
• Civil Service Reforms: They campaigned for simultaneous civil service examinations in India and England, as well as raising the maximum age limit for candidates to ensure fair entry for Indians.
• Separation of Powers: Moderates repeatedly petitioned for the separation of judicial and executive functions at the district level to prevent police and administrative abuse.

Limitations and Criticism

The Moderates faced criticism from younger nationalist leaders, known as Extremists, who emerged in the late 1890s under Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Lala Lajpat Rai.

• Narrow Social Base: The Moderates failed to involve rural peasant masses, urban factory workers, or the lower-middle class. Their proceedings were conducted almost exclusively in English.
• “Political Mendicancy”: Extremist leaders criticized the Moderate method of submitting petitions as “political mendicancy” or begging for political rights rather than demanding them as a matter of right.
• Limited Colonial Concessions: The Indian Councils Act of 1892 fell far short of expectations, as non-official members remained a minority and had no power to vote on budget items or move amendments.
• Hostility from the Colonial State: Despite their loyalty, Viceroy Lord Dufferin ridiculed the Congress in 1888 as a “microscopic minority.” Lord Curzon wrote in 1900 that his ambition was to assist the Congress to a “peaceful demise.”

Key Facts for Quick Revision

The Welby Commission (Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure) was appointed in 1895 to inquire into colonial financial management. Dadabhai Naoroji served as a member of this commission, becoming the first Indian to sit on a Royal Commission. Dadabhai Naoroji raised the demand for Swaraj (Self-Government) for the first time from the official Congress platform during his presidential address at the 1906 Calcutta session. The Indian National Social Conference was founded in 1887 by M.G. Ranade and Raghunath Rao. It met annually at the same venue as the INC session to focus on social issues like child marriage and widow remarriage. Gopal Krishna Gokhale served as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council starting in 1902, where he delivered annual budget speeches critiquing imperial military spending and demanding free primary education. The Moderate leaders organized opposition against the Age of Consent Act of 1891, though reformers like M.G. Ranade backed the law, while traditionalists led by Tilak opposed colonial interference in religious customs.