Dadabhai Naoroji | |
|---|---|
 Dadabhai Naoroji,c. 1889 | |
| Member of Parliament (UK) forFinsbury Central | |
| In office 1892–1895 | |
| Preceded by | Frederick Thomas Penton |
| Succeeded by | William Frederick Barton Massey-Mainwaring |
| Majority | 5 |
| 2nd, 9th, and 22ndPresident of Indian National Congress | |
| In office 1886–1887 | |
| Preceded by | Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee |
| Succeeded by | Badruddin Tyabji |
| In office 1893–1894 | |
| Preceded by | Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee |
| Succeeded by | Alfred Webb |
| In office 1906–1907 | |
| Preceded by | Gopal Krishna Gokhale |
| Succeeded by | Rashbihari Ghosh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dadabhai Naoroji Dordi (1825-09-04)4 September 1825 |
| Died | 30 June 1917(1917-06-30) (aged 91) |
| Nationality | British subject (British India) |
| Political party | Co-founder of theIndian National Congress |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal |
| Spouse | Gulbaai |
| Alma mater | University of Bombay |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Co-founder and 2nd, 9th, 22nd President ofIndian National Congress |
| Signature |  |
| Nickname | Grand Old Man of India |
Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who played a prominent role in both Indian and British public life. He was among the founding members of theIndian National Congress and served as its President on three occasions, from 1886 to 1887, 1893 to 1894 and 1906 to 1907. Naoroji's early career included serving as theDiwan of Baroda in 1874. Subsequently, he moved toEngland, where he continued to advocate for Indian interests. In 1892, he was elected to theHouse of Commons as aLiberal PartyMember of Parliament, representingFinsbury Central until 1895. He was the second person of Asian descent to become aBritish MP followingDavid Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who was anAnglo Indian MP.[1][2][3]
Naoroji is particularly known for formulating the "drain theory", which argued that economic exploitation underBritish rule led to the transfer of wealth from India to Britain. He detailed these views in his 1901 publicationPoverty and Un-British Rule in India,[3] which contributed to emerging debates on colonial economics and political representation. His work was influential among early nationalists and reformers, and he remained a key figure in shaping early Indian political thought. Naoroji also took part in international socialist networks and was a member of theSecond International, alongside figures such asKarl Kautsky andGeorgi Plekhanov. While Naoroji himself maintained a moderate stance, his engagement with transnational political groups reflected his broader concern with issues of labour, empire and global inequality.
In later years, Naoroji received posthumous recognition in both India and the United Kingdom. In 2014, the British government introduced the Dadabhai Naoroji Awards, launched by then Deputy Prime MinisterNick Clegg, to honour contributions toUK-India relations.[4]India Post commemorated him with postal stamps issued in 1963, 1997 and 2017.[5][6] His legacy continues to be studied in the context of Indian nationalism, colonial critique and the early history of Asian participation in British politics.
Naoroji was born inNavsari in aGujarati-speakingParsiZoroastrian family, and educated at theElphinstone Institute School.[7] His patron was the Maharaja of Baroda,Sayajirao Gaekwad III, and he started his career as Dewan (Minister) to the Maharaja in 1874. Being anAthornan (ordained priest), Naoroji founded the Rahnumai Mazdayasan Sabha (Guides on the Mazdayasne Path) on 1 August 1851 to restore theZoroastrian religion to its original purity and simplicity. In 1854, he also founded a Gujarati fortnightly publication, theRast Goftar (The Truth Teller), to clarify Zoroastrian concepts and promote Parsi social reforms.[8]
Around this time, he also published another newspaper calledThe Voice of India. In December 1855, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy inElphinstone College in Bombay,[9] becoming the first Indian to hold such an academic position. He travelled to London in 1855 to become a partner in Cama & Co, opening aLiverpool location for the first Indian company to be established inBritain. Within three years, he had resigned on ethical grounds. In 1859, he established his own cottontrading company, Dadabhai Naoroji & Co. In 1861 he also foundedThe Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe alongside Muncherjee Hormusji Cama.[10]
In 1865, Naoroji directed and launched theLondon Indian Society, the purpose of which was to discuss Indian political, social and literary subjects.[11] In 1867, he also helped to establish theEast India Association, one of the predecessor organisations of theIndian National Congress with the aim of putting across the Indian point of view before the British public. The Association was instrumental in counter-acting thepropaganda by theEthnological Society of London which, in its session in 1866, had tried to prove the inferiority of the Asians to the Europeans. This Association soon won the support of eminent Englishmen and was able to exercise considerable influence in theBritish parliament. The organisation soon had branches in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.[12]
In 1874, he became Prime Minister ofBaroda and was a member of theLegislative Council of Bombay (1885–88). He was also a member of theIndian National Association founded by SirSurendranath Banerjea fromCalcutta a few years before the founding of the Indian National Congress in Bombay, with the same objectives and practices. The two groups later merged into the INC, and Naoroji was elected President of the Congress in 1886. Naoroji publishedPoverty and Un-British Rule in India in 1901.[13]
Naoroji moved to Britain once again and continued his political involvement. Elected for theLiberal Party inFinsbury Central at the1892 general election, he was the first British Indian MP.[14][15] He refused to take the oath on the Bible, as he wasZoroastrian. He was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of God on his copy of theKhordeh Avesta. During his time he put his efforts towards improving the situation in India. He had a very clear vision and was an effective communicator. He set forth his views about the situation in India over the course of the history of the governance of the country and the way in which the colonial rulers rule. In Parliament, he spoke onIrish Home Rule and the condition of the Indian people. He was a notableFreemason.[16]
In 1906, Naoroji was again elected president of the Indian National Congress. He was a staunch moderate within the Congress, during the phase when opinion in the party was split between the moderates and extremists. Such was the respect commanded by him that assertive nationalists could not oppose his candidature and the rift was avoided for the time being. Naoroji'sPoverty and Un-British Rule in India influencedMahatma Gandhi.[17][1]
He was married to Gulbai at the age of 11. He died inBombay on 30 June 1917, at the age of 91. TheDadabhai Naoroji Road, a heritage road of Mumbai, is named after him, as are the Dadabhai Naoroji Road inKarachi, Pakistan and Naoroji Street in theFinsbury area ofLondon. A prominent residential colony for central government servants in the south ofDelhi is also named Naoroji Nagar. His granddaughters,Perin andKhurshedben, were also involved in theindependence movement. In 1930, Khurshedben was arrested along with other revolutionaries for attempting to hoist theIndian flag in a Government College inAhmedabad.[18]
Naoroji's work focused on the drain of wealth from India to Britain during the period ofBritish rule in India.[1][19][20] One of the reasons that the Drain theory is attributed to Naoroji is his decision to estimate the net national profit of India, and by extension, the effect that colonial rule had on the country. Through his work with economics, Naoroji sought to prove that Britain was draining money out of India.[21]
Naoroji described six factors that resulted in the external drain.
His bookPoverty and Un-British Rule in India estimated a 200–300 million pounds drain of India's revenue to Britain that was not recirculated into India.[23]
When referring to the drain, Naoroji stated that he believed some tribute was necessary as payment for the services that Britain brought to India such as thenewly constructed railways. However, the money from these services were being drained out of India; for instance the money being earned by the railways did not belong to India, which supported his assessment that India was sending too much to Britain. According to Naoroji, India was paying tribute for something that was not bringing profit to the country directly. Instead of paying off foreign investment, as other countries did, India was paying for services rendered despite the operation of the railway being already profitable for Britain. This type of drain was experienced in different ways as well, for instance, British workers earning wages that were not equal with the work that they have done in India, or trade that undervalued India's goods and overvalued outside goods.[19][22]
British workers in India were encouraged to take on high paying jobs in India, and the British government allowed them to take a portion of their income back to Britain. Furthermore, theEast India Company was purchasing Indian goods with money drained from India to export to Britain, which was a way that the opening up of free trade allowed India to be exploited.[24]
When elected to Parliament by a narrow margin of five votes, his first speech was devoted to the issue of questioning Britain's role in India. Naoroji explained that Indians would either be British subjects or their slaves, depending on how willing Britain was to give India control over the institutions that Britain presently operated. By giving these institutions to India it would allow India to govern itself and as a result all revenue would stay in India.[25]
Naoroji identified himself as a fellow subject of the Empire and was able to address the economic hardships facing India to a British audience. By presenting himself as an imperial subject he was able to use rhetoric to show the benefit to Britain that an ease of financial burden on India would have. He argued that by allowing the money earned in India to stay in India, tributes would be willingly and easily paid without fear of poverty; he argued that this could be done by giving equal employment opportunities to Indian professionals who were consistently forced to take jobs that they were over-qualified for. Indian labour would be more likely to spend their income within India preventing one aspect of the drain.[23]
Naoroji also found it important to examine Anglo-Indian trade to prevent the premature dissolution of budding industries to unfair valuing of goods and services.[24] By allowing industry to grow and develop in India, tribute could be paid to Britain in the form of taxation and the increase in Indian interest for British goods. Over time, Naoroji became more inflammatory in his comments as he began to lose patience with Britain over the seemingly lack of progress regarding reforms. He rhetorically questioned whether or not the British government would be willing to award French youths all the high ranking posts in the British economy. He also pointed to historical examples of Britain being opposed to the "wealth drain" concept, including theEnglish objection to the wealth drain to thepapacy during the 1500s.[26]
Naoroji's work on the drain theory was the main reason behind the creation of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure in 1896 in which he was also a member. This commission reviewed financial burdens on India and in some cases came to the conclusion that those burdens were misplaced.[27]
Dadabhai Naoroji is regarded as one of the most important Indians during the birth of thenascent independence movement. In his writings, he came to the conclusion that the exertion of foreign rule over India was not favourable for the nation, and thatindependence (or at the very least, responsible government) would be the better path for India.
Further development was checked by the frequent invasions of India by, and the subsequent continuous rule of, foreigners of entirely different character and genius, who, not having any sympathy with the indigenous literature – on the contrary, having much fanatical antipathy to the religion of the Hindus – prevented its further growth. Priest-hood, first for power and afterwards from ignorance, completed the mischief, as has happened in all other countries.[28]
Naoroji is often remembered as the "Grand Old Man of Indian Nationalism."
Mahatma Gandhi wrote to Naoroji in 1894, saying that "The Indians look up to you as children to the father. Such is really the feeling here."[29]
Bal Gangadhar Tilak admired him; he said:
If we twenty eight crore of Indians were entitled to send only one member to theBritish parliament, there is no doubt that we would have elected Dadabhai Naoroji unanimously to grace that post.[30]
Here are the significant extracts taken from his speech delivered before the East India Association on 2 May 1867 regarding what educated Indians expect from their British rulers:
The difficulties thrown in the way of according to the natives such reasonable share and voice in the administration of the country as they are able to take, are creating some uneasiness and distrust. The universities are sending out hundreds and will soon begin to send out thousands of educated natives. This body naturally increases in influence...
"In this Memorandum I desire to submit for the kind and generous consideration of His Lordship the Secretary of State for India, that from the same cause of the deplorable drain [of economic wealth from India to Britain], besides the material exhaustion of India, the moral loss to her is no less sad and lamentable . . . All [the Europeans] effectually do is to eat the substance of India, material and moral, while living there, and when they go, they carry away all they have acquired . . . The thousands [of Indians] that are being sent out by the universities every year find themselves in a most anomalous position. There is no place for them in their motherland . . . What must be the inevitable consequence? . . . despotism and destruction . . . or destroying hand and power. "
A plaque referring to Dadabhai Naoroji is located outside theFinsbury Town Hall onRosebery Avenue, London. On 10 August 2022English Heritage unveiled ablue plaque in his honour at the site of his former home,[31] 72, Anerley Park, Bromley, London where he lived between 1897 – 1904 or 1905.[32][33][34][35]
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Naoroji has been portrayed on commemorative stamps released byIndia Post (by year):
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | MP forFinsbury Central 1892–1895 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Indian National Congress 1886 | Succeeded by |
| President of the Indian National Congress 1893 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | President of the Indian National Congress 1906 | Succeeded by |
