Q. Who was the leader of the Defense Association established to oppose the Ilbert Bill?
Answer: J.H. Branson
Notes: The European and Anglo-Indian Defence Association was established by the Anglo Indian Community to oppose the Ilbert Bill. The association's leader was J.H. Branson, a barrister from Calcutta. The association's founder and president was John Johnstone Jardine Keswick, an industrialist. The association was known for opposing the Ilbert Bill and was criticized as a "Defiance" Association. The Ilbert Bill was drafted by Sir Courtenay Ilbert on February 9, 1883. The bill proposed to empower Indian judges to try Europeans at the Sessions Court. The bill was enacted by the Legislative Council on January 25, 1884. The opposition to the bill created a bitter controversy between the Britishers and Indians.