The early years (1885- 1905) saw the evolution of Indian National Congress. During this period the Congress was dominated by moderate leaders. The Early Nationalists had full faith in the British sense of justice, fair play, honesty, and integrity while they believed that British rule was a boon for India. The Early Nationalists were staunch believers in open-minded and moderate politics.

Raja Rammohun Roy views on reforming Hindu religion and society earned him many enemies, but he remained true to his conviction that these would be to the benefit of India. The development of modern thought can be traced back to the Raja Rammohun Roy.

Roy in his initial years fought to reform India’s superstition and its religious divisions, both within Hinduism and between Hinduism and other religions by providing evidences from the Hindu texts and treatises.

Paradigm shift:

• In 1823, when the British imposed censorship upon the Calcutta press, Roy, as founder and editor of two of India’s earliest weekly newspapers, organized a protest, arguing in favour of freedom of speech and religion as natural rights.
• That protest marked a turning point in Roy’s life, away from preoccupation with religious polemic and toward social and political action.
• In his newspapers, treatises, and books, Roy tirelessly criticized what he saw as the idolatry and superstition of traditional Hinduism. He denounced the caste system and attacked the custom of Sati. His writings emboldened the British East India Governing Council to act decisively on the matter, leading to the prohibition of Sati in 1829.
• When the Bengal government proposed a more traditional Sanskrit college, in 1823, Roy protested that classical Indian literature would not prepare the youth of Bengal for the demands of modern life. He proposed instead a modern Western curriculum of study.
• Roy also led a protest against the outmoded British legal and revenue administration in India.
• Roy’s importance in modern Indian history rests partly upon the broad scope of his social vision and the striking modernity of his thought.
• Roy wanted the state intervention to protect the property of the individual. His article ‘Essay over the Rights of the Hindus over Ancestral Property was a pointer in this direction. One’s claim over the ancestral property was to be maintained.
• He advocated that the peasants should be protected by the government from the tyranny of the landlords. He was well aware of the dangerous consequences of the permanent settlement of 1793 introduced by Lord Cornwallis.
• Liberty and constitutionalism were the two important aspects upon which Raja Ram Mohan emphasized. He preferred a constitutional form of Government for every nation. Despotism or autocracy, he hated from the core of his heart.

The Moderates:

• Roy’s ideas of reforms ultimately provided the basis for the demands put forward by the early Congress.
• There were a lot of commonalities between the moderates and Roy – Both were England educated, believed in liberalism, use of Newspapers as a medium to reach people and spread their views, Advocation of western education.
• National leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozshah Mehta, D.E. Wacha, W.C. Bonnerjea, and S.N. Banerjea, who dominated the Congress policies during this period were also staunch believers in ‘liberalism’ and ‘moderate’ politics, which was a continuation of Roy’s efforts.
• Their political activity involved constitutional agitation within the confines of the law, and showed a slow but orderly political progress. Roy also led protests to make his points heard.
• As with Roy, so with the early Congress leaders, the presence of the British administration was important for continued political progress.
• The flowering of the Moderate thought was the culmination of a tradition which can be traced back to Roy, who stood for the rational, liberal tradition of contemporary Europe.
• As a liberal economic thinker, Roy was deeply concerned with the economic strangulation of the poor in the century. This idea was further carried over by Moderates through their Economic Drain theory.

However,

• With changing times, the Moderates also began to alter their position.
• By 1905 Gokhale had started speaking of self-rule as the goal and in 1906 it was Dadabhai Naoroji who mentioned the word Swaraj as the goal of the Congress

Conclusion:

                In true sense of the term, Raja RamMohan Roy acted as a bridge between the East and West. He was the ‘Father of Indian Renaissance’. He was an intellectual of a superb order and still simple and bold. His ideas and ideals inspired nationalism in India which acted as a strong foundation for the Moderates to take up the cudgels.