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| Biography of DADABHAI NAOROJI |
Born on: 04 Sep 1825, Mumbai
Died on: 30 Jun 1970 , Mumbai
Dadabhai Naoroji was a Parsi intellectual and educator, and an early
Indian political leader. The "Grand Old Man of India" and the "Father of Indian Nationalism" who
worked with perseverance and unshakeable faith towards the goal of
swaraj was the first Indian to claim self-government for his people.
Dadabhai Naoroji was also the first Indian to show that India was being
drained of its wealth under the British rule and thus was fast
succumbing to poverty. He played a key role in founding the Indian
National Congress in 1885 and was associated with the organisation till
his death. The pains suffered by his mother in the process of ensuring that Dadabhai received good education made this great leader a zealous supporter of free education especially to children. He stepped out of his college days at the Elphinstone Institution with a host of academic honours and became a partner of the first Indian commercial company set up in Britain. In England itself, he began the task of exposing the miseries India was suffering under the British administration. To further his aims, he joined W.C. Banerjee to found the London Indian Society
He was a Member of Parliament in the Parliament
of the United Kingdom between 1892 and 1895, and the first Asian to be a
British MP. The son of Maneckbai and Naoroji Palanji Dordi, a poor
Athornan Parsi family,It was a resplendent life of multi-faceted faculties. Born in Bombay to
Parsy parents. Elected to the British Parliament from a constituency in
England (1892). Played an active role in the formation of the first
political organization in Bombay (1852). Assuming the editorship of
‘satyvadi’, a Gujarati newspaper.
Being the first Indian professor at an
Indian college for modern education (1854, Bombay’s Elphinston College,
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy). Running a trading partnership firm
in London (1860). Being professor of Gujarati in the University of
London (1856). Setting up in Bombay diverse organizations like Native
General Library, Scientific and Literary Society, Parsy Physical
Training School, Society for the Widows, Victoria Museum. Playing an
important role with A.O. Hume and W.C. Banerjea in the formation of the
Indian National Congress (1885). Elected as the President of Congress
Party thrice. Becoming the founder President of the Home Rule League of
Annie Besant (1915) -- Dadabhai Naoroji was considered in his times as
the “greatest, finest and the bravest of all the Indians”.
Dadabhai’s father was Naoroji Palanji Dorji, a Parsy priest, and mother
Manakbai. When he was 11, he married 7-year old Quilbai (Those were the
times of child marriage, an Indian custom). The Cama family, celebrated
traders, decided to open their branch in London and made Dadabhai a
partner; and it was how he went to London to supervise the business. It
was England’s first company set up by an Indian or an Indian group.
After a couple of years, he returned to India only to go back again, and
it was then that he set up a company of his own, styled ‘Dadabhai
Naoroji Compani’.
In London, he tried his best to bring to the attention of the Britons
the problems of Indians and the prospects. He set up London Indian
Association’ for this purpose and this was followed up with the
formation of ‘East India Association’. But in 1873 he had to go back to
India accepting an offer from the King of Baroda to take charge as the
Dewan (chief secretary) of the kingdom. He was not happy with the job
and so returned to London in 1875 only to wind up his company and to
come back to India to work with A.O. Hume and the others for the
formulation of the Congress Party. He traveled back and forth several
times, between London and Bombay. While in London he worked for the
Indians and their politics. While in India he worked the Indian National
Congress.
He was of the opinion that an Indian voice is required in the
British Parliament to raise India’s concerns and needs there and it
received widespread support and this made Dadabhai to go back to London
to contest there for the parliament. It was how he got elected to the
British Parliament in 1892. It was Dadabhai who used the term ‘Swaraj’
for the first time (1906). He returned to India in 1907. And in 1917 he
died, at the age of 91, leaving a brilliant trail of hard work in India
and England for the sake of India and the Indians.
Naoroji was educated at Elphinstone College and
later became a teacher. By 1855 he was Professor of Mathematics and
Natural philosophy. He moved to England in 1855, first working in
business, later becoming professor of Gujarati at University College
London. In 1867 Naoroji helped establish the East India Association. In
1874 he became Prime Minister of Baroda and was also a member of the
Legislative Council of Bombay (1885-88).
He also founded the Indian
National Association from Calcutta 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 moved to Britain once
again and continued his political involvement. Elected for the Liberal
Party in Central Finsbury in July 1892, he was the first British Indian
MP.
In 1867, he called for admitting Indians to the civil service. He also
suggested that the civil service examinations should be held in India
also. His "Evidence relating to the Efficiency of Native Agency in
India" upheld the capability and integrity of Indians when appointed to
posts of trust and responsibility. His labours proved fruitful with the
government's decision to include Indians in the civil service. In 1876,
he published his paper titled "Poverty of India"—a prelude to Poverty
and Un-British Rule in India, published in 1901. He held the British
government responsible for India's poverty.The drain of India's wealth
to England was taking place at a time when the country was in dire need
of industrialization and other economic reforms, he pointed out.
He refused to take the oath on the Bible as he was not a
Christian, but was allowed to take the oath of office in the name of
God on his small book of Avesta. In Parliament he spoke on Irish Home
Rule and the condition of the Indian people. In his political campaign
and duties as an MP, he was assisted by Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the future
Muslim nationalist and founder of Pakistan. In 1906, Naoroji was again
elected president of the Indian National Congress. Naoroji was a staunch
moderate within the Congress, during the phase when opinion in the
party was split between the moderates and extremists.
To secure justice for India, Dadabhai brought out the monthly, The Voice of India. He was a key factor behind the introduction of the Ilbert or Criminal Jurisdiction Bill that allowed courts in India to try Europeans under Indian judges.
To secure justice for India, Dadabhai brought out the monthly, The Voice of India. He was a key factor behind the introduction of the Ilbert or Criminal Jurisdiction Bill that allowed courts in India to try Europeans under Indian judges.
By the time of his death in 1917, Naoroji was known as the 'Grand Old
Man of India', a mentor to Mahatma Gandhi. He was married to Gulbai
from the age of eleven.
" One of the great legend "
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| DADABHAI |
