History & Background The Moderates, also known as 'Early Nationalists,' were a group of political figures that initiated India's first organised national movement. They dominated the affairs of the Indian National Congress from 1885 - 1909. The British groundwork for the establishment of an all-India organisation had been laid in the late 1870s and early 1880s. The final shape was given by AO Hume, a retired English civil servant who rallied major intellectuals of the time. T