The Indian National Congress was founded in Bombay in December 1885. • The years from 1885-1905 were known as the period of the moderates because they dominated the Indian National Congress. • The Moderates used petitions, prayers, meetings, leaflets, pamphlets, memorandums, and delegations to present their demands to the British government. • Their only notable achievements were the expansion of the legislative council by the Indian Councils Act of 1892. • This created dissatisfaction among the people. Important Notes: The Surat Split was the splitting of the Indian National Congress into two groups - the Extremists and the Moderates - at the Surat session in 1907. • The 1907 INC meeting was to be held in Nagpur. • Gopal Krishna Gokhale moved the meeting place from Nagpur to Surat fearing that in Nagpur, Bal Gangadhar Tilak would win. • An INC meeting was shifted from Nagpur to Surat. Since Surat was in the home province of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, he could not preside over the meeting. • But what outraged the extremists was that he was not even given permission to speak. • This led to a violent altercation between the two factions and the meeting being canceled. Related Concepts: Surat Split: • The Surat split was a big jolt to the Indian National Congress. In fact, the difference between the moderates and the extremists presented an opportunity to the British. • The moderates were quite reluctant to pass the motion on the demand for Swaraj. The Arya-samaj notion of Swaraj and Swadeshi was the hallmark of the program of the extremists. • In the initial days, there were many Congress leaders who opposed the notion of Swaraj, the demand for Swaraj, and extremist politics, but at the beginning of the 20th Century, some of the veteran Congress leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, and G.K. Gokhale, had the word, ‘Swaraj’ in their minds. • In 1907, Surat Session: The two main objectives placed by the extremists were that: • Demand for the resolution of Swaraj • Lala Lajpat Rai to be made the President of the INC • These two demands were not acceptable to the moderates. Thus, instead of Lala Lajpat Rai (November 17, 1928), the moderates supported the idea of Rash Behari Ghosh as the President. • This was the first time that there was to be an election in the INC for Presidentship. • In between the election, the extremists were expelled from the INC, and the moderates had complete command over the affairs of the INC. • Rash Behari Ghosh became the President of the Surat session.