The Indian League, a political association of Bengal that preceded the Indian Association, was founded in Calcutta by Sisir Kumar Ghosh in:

The Indian League was founded in Calcutta in 1875 by Sisir Kumar Ghosh.

About the Indian League:

• It was one of the early political associations of Bengal, formed to stimulate the sense of nationalism among the people and to encourage political education.
• It aimed to represent the interests of the middle classes, rather than only the landlords, who dominated the older British Indian Association (1851).
• It was short-lived; the following year, many of its members joined a new association founded by younger leaders.

About Sisir Kumar Ghosh:

• He was born in 1840 at Magura village in Jessore (now in Bangladesh).
• He was a journalist and writer.
• He founded the famous newspaper "Amrita Bazar Patrika" in 1868, along with his brothers, including Motilal Ghosh.
• The newspaper was named after their village, Amrita Bazar, in Jessore.

"Amrita Bazar Patrika":

• It began as a Bengali weekly, and became one of the most influential nationalist newspapers of India.
• It criticised British policies and the oppression of peasants by indigo planters and landlords.
• According to a popular story, it turned into an English-language newspaper overnight in 1878 to escape the Vernacular Press Act, which applied only to Indian-language newspapers.

Sisir Kumar Ghosh's other work:

He was also a devoted Vaishnava, and wrote "Lord Gauranga", a biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Other associations in Bengal:

• The British Indian Association (1851), dominated by landlords.
• The Indian Association, founded soon afterwards by younger leaders, which became the leading political body of Bengal before the Congress.

Why not the other options?

• ✗1851 was the year of the British Indian Association.
• ✗1866 and 1885 were the years of other events.