Provincial Associations from Bombay Presidency

 

 

Provincial Associations from Bombay Presidency

18^th century witnessed the establishment of various Associations in different provinces of British India. The lead was taken by Bengal in this respect.

In Bengal Presidency the first Provincial Association to be formed by Indians was Bangabhasha Prakasika Sabha in the year 1836. The credit for establishing this Association goes to the followers of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, the pioneer of social reforms in modern India.

Another Provincial Association from Bengal Presidency was Zamindari Association which was also known as Landholders Society. Dwarkanath Tagore had played an important role in the formation of this Association which wanted to protect the interests of the Zamindars. This Association was formed in the year 1838.

In 1843 Bengal British India Society was established.

In 1851 British India Association came into existence after the merger of Zamindari Association or Landholders Society and Bengal British India Society. Now the purview of the demands of this Association was broadened and it started demanding administrative reforms as well.

Two more Associations formed in Bengal were Indian League founded in 1875 and Indian Association established in 1876. Sisir Kumar Ghosh had taken a lead to form Indian League and Anand Mohan Bose and Surendranath Banerjee played crucial role in the formation of Indian Association.

The above mentioned were important Provincial Associations from Bengal Presidency.

In Madras Presidency the Madras Mahajan Sabha was established in the year 1884. The leading lights of Madras Mahajan Sabha were P. Anandacharlu, M. Viraragharcheri and G. Subramaniya Iyer.

As far as the leading Provincial Associations from Bombay Presidency were concerned they were as following:

Bombay Association

In 1852 the Bombay Association was established. Some of the objectives of Bombay Association were- to urge the government to remove the negative existing things, to make the laws for promoting and protecting the interests of the people at large, to appoint Indians as the members of Legislative Councils and to appoint Indians on the higher posts in Indian Administration which was not done by the British government deliberately.

Poona Sarvajanik Sabha

Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was formed in the year 1867. It was mainly active in Pune and areas around it. Justice Mahadev Goind Ranade and Ganesh Vasudev Joshi took the lead in the formation of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha among others. The membership of this Association was quite impressive. The Poonam Sarvajanik Sabha not only worked for creating awareness among the political and administrative matters but also helped the farmers during famines. Ganesh Vasudev Joshi was popularly known as ‘Sarvajanik Kaka’ meaning the Public Uncle. It shows the devotion of Ganesh Vasudev Joshi for the public cause. Justice Mahadev Goind Ranade even though was judge still played crucial role in the social and political space of Maharashtra or Marathi speaking areas of Bombay Presidency. He was also associated with other organisations like Prarthana Samaj which promoted social reforms and Indian National Congress, the first all India level Political Organisation or Association in the real sense of the term. He used to convene the meetings of National Social Conference for promoting the cause of much needed social reforms. The main objective of Poona Sarvajanik Sabha was to act as a bridge between the people and the government.

Bombay Presidency Association

Bombay Presidency Association was formed in 1885 the same year in which the Indian National Congress was established. Three leading lawyers from Bombay city viz. Sir Pheroze Shah Mehta, Kashinath Tryambak Telang and Badruddin Tyabji established the Bombay Presidency Association. These three belonged to three different communities i.e. Parsi, Hindu and Muslim respectively. They were popularly known as the Brothers-in-Law as they were lawyers, rather very successful and reputed lawyers from Bombay city. Kashinath Tryambak Telang became the Judge of Bombay High Court in 1889 and Badruddin Tyabji went on to become the Judge of Bombay High Court in 1894. It proves their scholarship of law.

Bombay Association, Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and Bombay Presidency Association were three important Provincial Associations from Bombay Presidency. All these three played an important role in the public life of Bombay Presidency. They not only created awareness among people but conveyed the condition of people to the government authorities.

The above mentioned Provincial Associations went into background and a new all India level Political Organisation came into existence in 1885. This Organisation as mentioned above was known as the Indian National Congress. It was formed in the city of Bombay in the month of December 1885. Seventy Two delegates from different parts of India had attended the first or maiden session of Indian National Congress in 1885.