Dadabhai naoroji

Dadabhai Naoroji was born in Bombay on 4th

September 1825, the son of Maneckbai and Naoroji
Palanji Dordi, a poor Athornan (priestly) Parsi family.
At the age of 4, Dadabhai's father died and his mother
was left the difficult task of bringing up the family, and
she managed admirably. According to prevailing
customs, she arranged the marriage of Dadabhai to
Gulbai at the early age of 11. For the rest of her life,
Maneckbai remained a close companion and mentor to
Dadabhai. "She made me what I am" noted Dadabhai in
1901 when he gave an account of his early life in "The
Days of my Youth."

He did his MA in mathematics . Dadabhai became a scholar at the Elphinstone

Institution (now Elphinstone College, Bombay) and had a brilliant academic
career. In 1850 at the early age of 25, he was appointed Assistant Professor, and
4 years later, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the
Elphinstone Institution. Professor Orlebar of the college called him "The
Promise of India". Dadabhai, being an Athornan (ordained priest), founded the
Rahnumae Mazdayasne Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1st August
1851. The ethos of the Rahnumae at its inception was to restore the Zoroastrian
religion to its original purity and simplicity. The society is still in operation in
Bombay.

On 27th June 1855, Dadabhai sailed for England to join the first Indian business
firm of the mercantile Cama family. In 1859, Dadabhai established his own
business firm under the name of Dadabhai Naoroji & Co. In 1866 he along with
NC Banerjee found the East India Association in England.This siciety was
successful in counter-acting the propoganda of the London Ethnological Society
which believed that the Europeans were superior to Asians and Africans.By this
he wanted the British public to know what the British were doing in India.

In 1892 he was the first Indian to be elected to the British House of Commons.
He was given a ticket by the Liberal party. He put forward a resolution in the
House of Commons regarding the Indian Civil Services examination. But this
resolution was not passed.He did great service to the cause of Indians and
Africans. He was one of the founder members of the Indian National Congress.

He was known for his moderate views but he changed the aims and objects of
the Congress by declaring swaraj as its ultimate goal. He was the first to tell that
we should ask for Swaraj. The methods he adopted for swaraj were boycott ,
swadeshi and national education . Swadeshi gives a flip to the Indian economy.
This was the time when most of the Indian industries were started. Dadabhai
edited a newspaper called Rast Goftar (speaker of the truth). He also edited a
magazine called dharma marg darshan.

He believed that the British rule was not evil. The British rule would be better
for India. He felt western education was good for India. He was in favor of all
reforms and scientific inventions that came to India. He believed that the British
were economically exploiting India.

The “Drain of wealth” theory was his and he even published a book “Poverty
and Un-British rule in India”. He said that there are so many british officials
working in India and they send all their money back to England. The salary of
the people of the Indian Council is paid from the Indian revenue, though it is in
England. After retirement of the British their pensions are given from India.
There are so many British soldiers in India, but they are being paid by the
Indian revenues. There are so many British companies in India and their profit
was given to England.

Dadabhai was one of the moving spirits and founder of the Indian National
Congress. He took part in the inauguration of the Indian National Congress that
was held in Bombay in 1865, before his departure to England. Dadabhai was
thrice elected President of the Congress.

Dadabhai Naoroji had attempted to keep the Freedom movement on a moderate

path during the formative years of the Congress. He had put his faith in the
British. He believed that if they were informed of India's problems, they would
reform their method of rule. However, his experience of the British political
system and years of dealing with British officialdom led to increasing
disillusionment. Dadabhai began to despair when even moderate claims were
not considered. Dadabhai said "Indians were British citizens with a birthright to
be free" and that they had "every right to claim an honorable fulfillment of our
British pledged rights". -"It is futile to tell me that we must ait till all the people
are ready. The British people did not -wait for their parliament". "Self-
government is the only and chief remedy. In self-government is our hope,
strength and greatness". "I am a Hindu, a Muslim, a Parsi, but above all an
Indian First".
Contributions
Dadabhai naoroji was parsi indian political and social leader. He was the first
asian to be a member of british parliament.
Naoroji was a prominent figure and play a significant role in indian national
movement.
He was the founder of, indian national congress, along with A.O.hume and
dinshaw wacha.
His unearthing of colonial economic exploitation is the most important
contribution to indian national movement.
In his book, poverty and unbritish rule in india, he expose the economic
exploitation of india under british rule. He present, drain of wealth theory
,which refers to unilateral transfer of wealth from india to Britain resulting in
widespread poverty and severe famines.
The use of word, unbritish, in title of book refers to exploitive nature of british
rule in india which was not the case in britain, where it was progressive.
Naoroji was an economic critic and his work on economic exploitation gave a
boost to indian national movement and unmasked the real face of imperial
rule.
Some historians use the term, economic colonialism , for the first phase of
indian national movement(1885-1905) on the basis on revelations by dadabhai
naoroji.

1. India's Unofficial Ambassador in England: In 1866 Dadabhai founded

the East India Association in London. Its object was to inform the British of the
true state of affairs in India. During his long stay in England, he made friendship
with eminent Englishmen like Gladstone, Bradlaugh and Bright. He was the first
Indian to have won a seat in 1892 in the British House of Commons. As member
of British Parliament he rendered admirable service to the cause of India and
the people of Indian origin in South Africa. It was due to the efforts of Dadabhai
and Bradlaugh that the British House of Commons passed a resolution
recommending that the ICS examination be held simultaneously both in England
and in India. The Resolution, however, could not become an Act.
2. One of the Founder-Members of Indian National Congress: Dadabhai
was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress. Thrice he presided over
the sessions of the Congress in 1886,1893 and 1906. His Presidentship of the
Congress in 1906 was memorable in many ways. The partition of Bengal in 1905
had very sadly disillusioned the early nationlists. Their power and prestige were
on the decline. They, therefore, persuaded Dadabhai to preside over the Kolkata
session of the Congress in 1906. Dadabhai's name and fame made it difficult for
the assertive nationalists to oppose his candidature, although they would have
liked Tilak to hold that office.

3. His Historic Address to the Kolkata Session of Congress in 1906:

Dadabhai's historic address, read out by Mr. Gokhale due to Dadabhai's ill
health, laid stress on attainment of "SWARAJ". He said as in the United Kingdom
"all taxation, legislation and all powers of spending the taxes were in the hands
of representatives of the people, so should it be in India. We do not ask for any
favours. We want JusticeThe Congress Session of 1906 passed resolutions on
Swaraj, Swadeshi, Boycott and National Education.
4. His Enunciation of the Nature of British Imperialism and Cause of
Poverty in India (His Famous Drain Theory and Views on Indian Economy):
Dadabhai edited 'Rast Goftar' (Speaker of Truth). He also started a magazine
'Dharma Marg Darshak'. He was a great thinker and writer.
Dadabhai's views on Indian economy and exploitation of India could be gathered
from his classic work 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'. Through his famous
'Drain Theory' he explained how India's wealth was being taken away to England
in these forms: a) Salaries payable to the members of the India Council, (b)
Dispatch of savings to England by British personnel posted in India, (c) Pensions
to British Officers, (d) Payments to the War Office for the maintenance of British
troops in India, and e) Profits of the British Trading Agencies. The Hindu, an
English daily, stated that “as an authority on Indian economics there is none
equal to Dadabhai in all India."
5. His Advocacy of a Just Political System: Dadabhai believed that justice
and union of heart and feelings constituted the real basis of political power, and
not brute force.
Dadabhai passed away in 1917. His was a great life nobly lived, spanning more
than nine decades. As a professor, legislator, tanker and statesman his life was
a glorious i saga of devotion to duty. He was, indeed, "a Path-finder of Indian
nationalism".

Dadabhai Naoroji’s theory of the Drain of Wealth

Dadabhai Naoroji was the first man to say that internal factors were not the
reasons of poverty in India but poverty was caused by the colonial rule that was
draining the wealth and prosperity of India. In 1867, Dadabhai Naoroji put
forward the ‘drain of wealth’ theory in which he stated that the Britain was
completely draining India. He mentioned this theory in his book Poverty and
Un-British Rule in India. Further in his book , he stated the loss of 200-300
million pounds of revenue to Britain. Dadabhai Naoroji considered it as a major
evil of British in India. On the footsteps of Dadabhai Naoroji, R. C. Dutt also
promoted the same theory by keeping it as a major theme of his book Economic
History in India. The drain of wealth was the portion of India’s wealth and
economy that was not available to Indians for consumption.

Dadabhai Naoroji gave six factors that caused external drain. These are:

 External rule and administration in India.

 Funds and labour needed for economic development was brought in by
immigrants but India did not draw immigrants.
 All the civil administration and army expenses of Britain were paid by
India.
 India was bearing the burden of territory building both inside and outside
India.
 India was further exploited by opening the country to free trade.
 Major earners in India during British rule were foreigners. The money
they earned was never invested in India to buy anything. Moreover they
left India with that money.

Not only this, but through different services such as railways, India was giving a
huge amount to Britain. On the other hand, trade as well as Indian labour was
deeply undervalued. Along with this, the East India Company was buying
products from India with Indian money and exporting it to Britain.

Dadabhai Naoroji was respected both in Britain as well as India for his loyalty
towards British and services for Indians. For this reason, he was elected as the
President of the Indian National Congress, not once or twice but for three times
i.e. in 1886, 1893 and 1906.

Dadabhai Naoroji was a greater supporter of free education especially to women

and children in India as his mother had to struggle a lot to provide the same to
him. He was very keen in providing education and making it free. He also
wanted to uplift the condition of women in India. For this, he laid the
foundation of Jyan Prasarak Mandal, the only girls’ high school in Bombay
(present day Mumbai).

His contribution to politics were also immense. He was the founder of Bombay
Association and established it in 1852. Further, the London Indian Society was
established by him along with N.C. Banarjee for the betterment of relationships
between Indian and Englishmen. His entire life was dedicated to the cause and
betterment of India. Dadabhai Naoroji died in 1917 at the age of 92.
Self Government
This dissertation traces the thought and career of Dadabhai Naoroji, arguably
the most significant Indian nationalist leader in the pre-Gandhian era. Naoroji
(1825-1917) gave the Indian National Congress a tangible political goal in 1906
when he declared its objective to be self-government or swaraj. I identify three
distinct phases in the development of his political thought. In the first phase of
his career, lasting from the mid-1860s until the mid-1880s, Naoroji posited the
“drain of wealth” theory, which argued that British colonialism was
dramatically impoverishing India by siphoning off its resources. Naoroji
embedded a political corollary into his economic ideas, arguing that
empowering Indians through political reform was the only way to stop the
drain. As early as 1884, Naoroji declared that the ultimate objective of such
reform was Indian self-government. Naoroji contended that the best chance
for achieving political reform lay through influencing the British Parliament. In
the second stage of his career, beginning in 1886, Naoroji took up this task by
contesting a parliamentary seat. He constructed a broad alliance among
various progressive British leaders—Irish home rulers, socialists, and women’s
rights activists—and relied upon them and Indian allies to win election to the
House of Commons in 1892. In Parliament, Naoroji pushed for the
implementation of simultaneous civil service examinations, which he
envisaged as the first step toward Indian self-government. Naoroji’s time in the
Commons, however, was brief and disappointing, and in the third and final
phase of his career, beginning in 1895, he radicalized considerably. He
propounded his views on Indian poverty with renewed force while
strengthening his ties with socialists and anti-imperialists in Britain and abroad.
Concluding that imperialism was inherently economically exploitative, Naoroji
declared that only swaraj could stop the drain of wealth.