RAS question
The All India Muslim League was founded in 1906 at:
Correct answer: (D) Dhaka.
The All India Muslim League was founded at Dhaka on 30 December 1906 during the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference.
Explanation
The All India Muslim League was founded at Dhaka, not at Lahore, Lucknow or Aligarh. The event took place on 30 December 1906 during the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, with Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk presiding and Aga Khan III becoming the first president. eGyankosh / IGNOU, Unit 8: Towards Radical and Mass Politics - Swadeshi Movement records that Muslim leaders met at Dacca in 1906 to form the All India Muslim League. The timing is important because the Simla Deputation of 1 October 1906, led by Aga Khan to Lord Minto, had already demanded separate electorates for Muslims, and the League's formation reflected that move towards separate political organisation under British divide-and-rule politics.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Lahore is linked to the 1940 Lahore Resolution, not to the League's founding in 1906.
- (B) Lucknow points to the 1916 Lucknow Pact, which came ten years after the League had been founded.
- (C) Aligarh was the centre of the Aligarh Movement, but the League itself was founded at Dhaka.
Concept
The origins of the Muslim League belong within modern Indian political history, especially the shift from social-educational mobilisation to separate political organisation. The topic recurs in RAS because the League, separate electorates and British divide-and-rule politics sit at the centre of early twentieth-century constitutional and communal developments.