British India Society

The British India Society was founded in 1839, with William Adam, who was a friend of Rammohun Roy, and George Thompson, an acquaintance of Dwarkanath Tagore, spearheading the initiative. The organization was a lobbying group in Britain for better living conditions for India’s ‘native population’ and ‘fellow-subjects’. The organization sprang from the abolitionist movement and drew its inaugural membership committee from the Aborigines Protection Society. The British India Society held its first formal meeting on 6 July 1839 at the Freemasons’ Hall, London, including several Indians, such as Prince Imamuddin, son of Tipu Sultan, Mir Afzal Ali and Karim Ali, agents of the Rajah of Satara and the Nawab Eckbaloo Dowlah, Prince of Awadh, as well as Hirjeebhoy Merwanjee, Dorabjee Muncherjee and Ichangeer Nowrojee.

The Society subsequently published a series of tracts and speeches. The organization’s membership included Quakers and Anglo-Indians, as well as anti-slavery activists. The objective of the organization was to raise wider public awareness of the plight of the population of India, which at the time was severely impacted by famine. It subsequently launched an information campaign to distribute information on India and its governance, including vital statistics, which it published, for example, through the East-India Yearbook. During 1839–40 the British India Society established a wide network of branches across the country and in India, including cities such as Bolton, Bombay, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Durham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oldham, Perth, Rochdale, Salford and Wakefield. Leading voices in the organization linked the plight of India's local populations with the situation of Irish peasants. William Howitt, a co-founder, described India in his book Colonization and Christianity (1838) as the ‘Ireland of the East’.

The impact of the Society was limited – it nearly folded due to in-fighting in 1840 but managed to survive. A large-scale public meeting was held in Manchester in August 1840, and in January 1841 it started publishing the monthly newspaper British Indian Advocate, edited by William Adam and later George Thompson. In 1843 Thompson accompanied Dwarkanath Tagore to Calcutta and during Thompson's visit a Bengal branch was established. The British India Society was the first attempt to create a pressure group in Britain that campaigned on behalf of India in Britain, but it was unable to bring together a broader coalition, whilst internal squabbles further undermined its London committee. Nevertheless, it galvanized people through speeches and raised awareness through its agitation. It would be a template for later organizations, including the India Reform Society, East India Association and the British Committee of the Indian National Congress.