Dadabhai Naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji , 1825-1917, Indian nationalist leader. The son of a Parsi priest, at 27 he became professor of mathematics at Elphinstone Institution, Bombay (now Mumbai). At 30 he left for England to start a career in business. He worked for an improvement in British policies toward India. He was particularly concerned about the economic consequences of British rule for India, and he wrote and lectured extensively on the "drain" of wealth, or unilateral transfer of resources from India to Britain, which he regarded as the principal cause of Indian poverty. His writings on this subject, especially his classic study, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901), played a major role in arousing and stimulating economic nationalism in India. Active for more than 60 years in Indian social and political causes, he served three times as president of the Indian National Congress (1886, 1893, 1906). He was the first Indian to be elected a member of the British Parliament—in 1892, as a Liberal. As a member of Parliament he was instrumental in securing the appointment of a royal commission on Indian expenditure, the Welby Commission, and served on it as its sole Indian member. The younger generation of nationalist leaders, including such men as Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mohandas K. Gandhi , regarded him as their mentor, and he was affectionately hailed as the Grand Old Man of India.

Bibliography: See biography by R. P. Masani (1939).

Naoroji, Dadabhai (1825–1917) Indian nationalist leader. He was the first Indian to be elected to the British House of Commons, serving as Liberal Member of Parliament for Central Finsbury (1892–95). His campaign against the drain of wealth from India to Britain, defined in his classic study Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901), stimulated economic nationalism in the subcontinent. Active in promoting Indian social and political causes, he was a founder of the Indian National CONGRESS, serving as its President (1886, 1893, and 1906).

Naoroji, Dadabhai (b. 4 Sept. 1825, d. 30 June 1917). Indian politician Born in Bombay, he became professor of mathematics in 1854. He was an ardent social reformer, promoting women's education and criticizing the caste system. He went to London in 1855, and subsequently shuttled back and forth between the two countries. He was the first Indian to be appointed professor at the Elphinstone College (Bombay), and in 1856–66 was professor of Gujarati at University College, London. He worked tirelessly for better British understanding of India, founding the British India Society in 1865, over which he presided until 1907. He was a founding member of the Indian National Congress, whose president he was in 1886, 1893, and 1906. He was also the first (Liberal) Member of Parliament in Britain (1892–5), sitting for Finsbury, to represent the case of India at Westminster. To this end, he gave evidence to a variety of Royal Commissions, and was himself Member of the Welby Commission (Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure) from 1897. Known as the Grand Old Man of India, he was one of the outstanding Indian public figures from 1845 to his death. The most important outline of his views was published as Poverty and Un-British Rule in India (1901).