Who Founded the Indian National Congress?

The Indian National Congress was founded by Allan Octavian Hume (A.O. Hume), a retired British civil servant.

• When: It was officially founded in December 1885.
• Where: The very first session of the Congress was held in Bombay (Mumbai) at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College, attended by exactly 72 delegates from across India.

There is a famous historical theory called the 'Safety Valve Theory'.

• Thirty years earlier, in 1857, Indians had violently rebelled against the British (The Revolt of 1857).
• A.O. Hume noticed that anger was building up among educated Indians once again. He believed that if this anger exploded, it would destroy the British Empire.
• Therefore, he created the Congress as a peaceful 'Safety Valve'—a legal platform where educated Indians could respectfully write letters and petitions to the British government about their problems, preventing another violent rebellion.

While A.O. Hume founded the party and acted as its General Secretary, he did not become its president.

• The very first President of the Indian National Congress was an eminent Indian lawyer named Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee (W.C. Bonnerjee).