Through the Society as well as the Congress and other legislative bodies he served in, Gokhale campaigned for Indian self-rule and for social reforms.

Gopal Krishna Gokhale hailed from a Marathi Hindu Brahmin family of Ratnagiri, Bombay Presidency, now Maharashtra.

He was born in a Chitpavan Brahmin family[5] on 9 May 1866 of the British Raj in Kotluk village of Guhagar taluka in Ratnagiri district, in present-day Maharashtra (then part of the Bombay Presidency).

Gokhale's education tremendously influenced the course of his future career – in addition to learning English, he was exposed to Western political thought and became a great admirer of theorists such as John Stuart Mill and s Edmund Burke.

Gokhale became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889, as a protégé of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade.

Along with other contemporary leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dadabhai Naoroji, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Annie Besant, Gokhale fought for decades to obtain greater political representation and power over public affairs for common Indians.

[1][2][3][4] Gokhale had visited Ireland[1][3][4] and had arranged for an Irish nationalist, Alfred Webb, to serve as President of the Indian National Congress in 1894.

In many ways, Tilak and Gokhale's early careers paralleled –both attended Elphinstone College, both became mathematics professors and both were important members of the Deccan Education Society.

Gokhale was viewed as a well-meaning man of moderate disposition, while Tilak was a radical who would not resist using force for the attainment of freedom.

[1][3][4] Gokhale believed that the right course for India to get self-government was to adopt constitutional means and cooperate with the British Government.

Tilak wanted to put Lala Lajpat Rai in the presidential chair, but Gokhale's candidate was Rash Behari Ghosh.

However, the Viceroy Lord Minto did not listen to him and considered Tilak's activities as seditious and his arrest necessary for the maintenance of law and order.

[1][3][4][7] Gokhale's one major difference with Tilak centred around one of his pet issues, the Age of Consent Bill introduced by the British Imperial Government, in 1891–92.

[1][3][4] VG Kale has provided an account of the economic reforms pursued by Gokhale in the Vicerory's Legislative Council and outside till 1916.

For Gokhale, true political change in India would only be possible when a new generation of Indians became educated as to their civil and patriotic duty to their country and to each other.

"[1][2][3][4][14] The Society took up the cause of promoting Indian education in earnest, and among its many projects organised mobile libraries, founded schools, and provided night classes for factory workers.

[1][3][17][4] His contribution was monumental in shaping the Indian freedom struggle into a quest for building an open society and egalitarian nation.

[1][3][17][4] Gokhale's achievement must be studied in the context of predominant ideologies and social, economic and political situation at that time, particularly in reference to the famines, revenue policies, wars, partition of Bengal, Muslim League and the split in the Congress at Surat.

In 1908, Gandhi and finance minister J.C. Smuts agreed that compulsory registration would be withdrawn and Indians should be offered the opportunity to register themselves.

Gokhale witnessed a mounting number of suicides which resulted from the system, "innocent people preferring death with their own hands to life under it", "were a ghastly feature of indenture".

Through his connection to Gokhale, Andrews became aware of the maltreatment and exploitation suffered by Indian indentured labours across the British Empire.

As a young barrister, Gandhi returned from his struggles against the Empire in South Africa and received personal guidance from Gokhale, including a knowledge and understanding of India and the issues confronting common Indians.

Gandhi also recognised Gokhale as an admirable leader and master politician, describing him as "pure as crystal, gentle as a lamb, brave as a lion and chivalrous to a fault and the most perfect man in the political field".

[citation needed] The ancestral house was constructed by Gopal Krishna Gokhale for his family in Pune, and it continues to be the residence of the Gokhale-Dhavle descendants to this day.