ABSTRACT
In Bengal, Anglo-Vernacular schools were established in the districts by official agency, while in other provinces, although there was a time lag, missionaries and philanthropists co-operated enthusiastically with the Government in founding new educational institutions. By the middle of the nineteenth century the ground was prepared for the growth of the various political associations which preceded the Indian National Congress. The Indian National Congress was about to usher in a new epoch of Indian history, and from this stage onwards the history of Indian nationalism is the history of Indian political parties and in particular of the Congress and the Muslim League. The ground had been prepared for a more effective national organisation which would appeal not only to the English-educated and to the heterodox, but to the Indian gentry of the old school and in due course to the masses.
