The founding in 1885 of the Indian National Congress, the first all-India political organisation, which became the principal vehicle of the Indian freedom struggle.
- Founded in December 1885 at Bombay (the session was held at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College) with Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee (W.C. Bonnerjee) as its first president.
- Allan Octavian Hume, a retired British civil servant, played a central organising role; the "safety valve" theory holds that he intended it as an outlet for discontent, though historians debate this.
- The first session was attended by 72 delegates from across the provinces, representing the emerging Western-educated Indian middle class.
- In its early "Moderate" phase (1885 to 1905) it used petitions, resolutions, and constitutional methods, seeking reforms such as greater Indian representation in the councils and the services.
- The Congress later split into Moderates and Extremists at the Surat session (1907) and was reunited at the Lucknow session (1916).
The founding year, first president, and Hume's role are bedrock objective facts, and the Moderate phase frames the entire later freedom struggle.
W.C. Bonnerjee was the first president (1885); A.O. Hume was the organiser and general secretary, not the first president.
1885: Indian National Congress founded at Bombay; W.C. Bonnerjee first president; A.O. Hume the key organiser.