Who Was Dadabhai Naoroji?

• He was born on 4 September 1825 in Bombay, in a Parsi family.
• He believed that India’s growing poverty was closely connected with British colonial economic policies.
• He advocated political representation, administrative reforms and self-government through constitutional methods.
• He was popularly known as the “Grand Old Man of India” and “Unofficial Ambassador of India.”

• He argued that a substantial amount of India’s wealth was transferred to Britain without an equivalent economic return to India.
• Major channels of the drain included salaries and pensions of British officials, remittances, profits and payments made outside India.
• His arguments challenged the British claim that colonial rule was economically beneficial to India.
• His economic ideas were elaborated in his famous book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.
• He conducted one of the earliest systematic assessments of poverty in India.
• He was among the earliest Indians to estimate India’s national income and per capita income.

• He was a founding member and three-time President of the Indian National Congress:
  • 1886 – Calcutta Session
  • 1893 – Lahore Session
  • 1906 – Calcutta Session
• His 1906 Calcutta Session was particularly significant, as the Congress adopted Swaraj as a major political objective.
• He consistently raised issues related to India’s economic condition, political representation and administrative reforms.

• In 1892, he was elected to the British House of Commons from Finsbury Central.
• He became the first Indian to be elected as a Member of the British Parliament.
• He represented the Liberal Party.
• As an MP, he continued to raise India’s economic and political concerns.

• Became the first Indian Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Elphinstone College.
• Founded the Rast Goftar newspaper to promote social reform.
• Co-founded Rahnumai Mazdayasan Sabha (1851) for Parsi social reform.
• Founded the London Indian Society (1865).
• Established the East India Association in London in 1866; its Bombay branch was established in 1869 under the presidency of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad.
• Served as a member of the Welby Commission (1895), which examined Indian expenditure.

• Born on 4 September 1825 in Bombay, in a Parsi family.
• Known as the “Grand Old Man of India” and “Unofficial Ambassador of India.”
• Dadabhai Naoroji was a businessman and a great publicist who settled in London.
• First Indian Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Elphinstone College.
• Founded the Rast Goftar newspaper to promote social reform.
• Co-founded Rahnumai Mazdayasan Sabha (1851) for Parsi social reform.
• Founded the London Indian Society (1865).
• Dadabhai Naoroji established the East India Association in London in 1866, and its Mumbai (Bombay) branch was established in 1869 under the presidency of Dr. Bhau Daji Lad.
• Founding member and three-time President of the Indian National Congress — 1886 (Calcutta), 1893 (Lahore), and 1906 (Calcutta).
• Developed the Drain of Wealth Theory, explaining the economic drain of India under British rule.
• Authored Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.
• Became the first Indian elected to the British House of Commons in 1892.
• Elected from Finsbury Central on the Liberal Party ticket.
• Served as a member of the Welby Commission (1895), which examined Indian expenditure.
• Dadabhai Naoroji divided the Indian economy into two parts: primary sector and secondary sector.
• In his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, Dadabhai Naoroji conducted one of the earliest assessments of poverty.
• Dadabhai Naoroji was the first to estimate India’s national and per capita income. In his economic analysis (later elaborated in Poverty and Un-British Rule in India), he calculated the per capita income to be about Rs. 20 and used it to support his Drain of Wealth Theory.
• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan did not accept Dadabhai Naoroji’s Drain Theory.