The Bombay Presidency Association was established by Pherozshah Mehta, K.T Telang, and Badruddin Tyabji in 1885.  It was founded in response to Lytton's reactionary policies and the Ilbert Bill controversy. The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also known as Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in Bombay, the first mainland territory acquired in the Konkan region with the Treaty of Bassein (1802). The summer capital was Mahabaleshwar. In this article, we will learn about the Bombay Presidency Association which will be helpful for UPSC exam preparation.

Bombay Presidency Association (1885) - Background

• Following the establishment of the British Indian Association in Calcutta, a public meeting of Indian Citizens of Bombay was held at the Elephantine Institute, where the groundwork for the first political association in the Bombay Presidency was laid.
• People from all walks of life mingled freely and openly with Hindus, including Parsees, Jews, and Portuguese.
• The meeting was presided over by Jagannath Shankar Sheth, and it was decided that the Bombay Association would be the people's representative to the presidency, with an annual fee of twenty-five rupees set.
• Suddenly, a donation of thirty thousand rupees was received to launch the association.
• The first resolution stated that the association's goal was to "ascertain the wants of the natives of India in the Bombay Presidency."

Bombay Presidency Association (1885) - Features

• The Bombay Presidency Association was founded in January 1885 by three prominent Bombay leaders: Pherozeshah Mehta, K.T. Telang, and Badurddin Tyabji.
• The association has always had cordial relations with the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha.
• The Bombay Presidency Association, the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha, the Madras Mahajana Sabha, and the Indian Association of Calcutta sent a joint deputation to England in September 1885 to present India's case to the British electorate.
• The delegation was led by Bombay's N. Chandavarkar, Madras' Ramaswami Mudaliar, and Calcutta's Manmohan Ghosh.
• The first Congress was hosted three months later by the Bombay Presidency Association.
• Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Kashinath Telang were known as 'The Triumvirate' or 'The Three Stars' of Bombay's public life.

Bombay Presidency Association - Founders

Pherozeshah Mehta

• Sir Pherozeshah Merwanjee Mehta (August 4, 1845 – November 5, 1915) was a Bombay-based Indian Parsi politician and lawyer. The British Government in India knighted him for his services to the law.
• In 1873, he was appointed Municipal Commissioner of Bombay Municipality and served as its President four times: in 1884, 1885, 1905, and 1911.
• Mehta was a founding member and President of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta in 1890.
• When the Bombay Presidency Association was formed in 1885, Mehta was elected president and served in that capacity for the rest of his life.
• He urged Indians to pursue Western education and embrace Western culture in order to better India.
• He supported numerous social causes in the city and throughout India, including education, sanitation, and health care.

Pherozeshah Mehta

Badruddin Tyabji

• On October 10, 1844, Badruddin Tyabji (Tyab Ali) was born in Bombay. His father descended from an old Cambay emigrant Arab family.
• He joined the Middle Temple after passing the London matriculation, became a Barrister in April 1867 - the first Indian Barrister in Bombay - and rose quickly in the profession.
• Tyabji made his public debut after three years at the Bar. In July 1871, he was a leading figure in the campaign for an elective Bombay Municipal Corporation, and he was at the top of the list of those subsequently elected to that body.
• From then on, Badruddin Tyabji, Pherozeshah Mehta, and Kashinath Telang were known as 'The Triumvirate' or 'The Three Stars' of Bombay's public life (in that order).
• He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Council in 1882 but resigned in 1886 due to health concerns.
• He helped found the Bombay Presidency Association in 1885 and ran it almost entirely on his own.
• Soon after, the Indian National Congress held its first session in Bombay under its auspices, with Tyabji and his brother, Camruddin Tyabji, among its delegates.
• Their attendance was hampered by urgent business in Cambay, which their opponents exploited by alleging that Muslims were boycotting the Congress.
• He vehemently denied this, claiming to have "denounced all communal and sectarian prejudices."

Badruddin Tyabji

K.T Telang

• Kashinath Trimbak Telang was born in 1850 to a Marathi Brahmin family. He received his primary and secondary education in a Marathi school. He earned his M.A. and L.L.B. from Elphinstone College.
• K.T. Telang rose to prominence as a lawyer in Bombay in a relatively short period of time. In 1889, he was appointed as a judge in the Bombay High Court.
• His extensive knowledge of ancient Hindu scriptures, as well as his command of Sanskrit and English, made him a household name in Hindu law.
• He was a member of the Indian National Congress from its inception. He was appointed as INC’s first secretary.
• He was also a social reformer who advocated for women's education and the upliftment of the lower classes. He was a prominent leader of the INC's moderate faction.

K.T Telang

Conclusion

Political organizations emerged in the first half of the nineteenth century. They were initially dominated by the wealthy and educated intelligentsia. The Bombay Presidency was established in 1885 as a result of the reactionary policies of Lytton and Ilbert Bill. The Association advocated for Indian interests and hosted the first meeting of the Indian National Congress in Bombay in late 1885.