Dadabhai Naoroji (1825 - 1917)- After a brilliant academic career he was appointed Professor of Mathematics at the Elphinstone College, Bombay. He founded a school for Parsi girls as also several other organisations for the social, intellectual and political uplift of the people of India. He took part in forming the Bombay Association, the first political association in the Presidency of Bombay. He started and for some time edited a newspaper, the 'Rast Gofter' (i. e. Truth-teller).
In 1856 he joined the first Indian business-firm in England his home. While there, along with W. C. Bonnerjee, he established the Indian Society in London (1865). Giving evidence before the Fawcett committee he pointed out that the average annual income of an Indian was only Rs. 20. He served as the Dewan of Baroda from 1874 to 1876. In 1885 he became the member of the Bombay legislative Council and in that year helped in organising the first session of the Indian National Congress.
In 1892 he became the first Indian member of the British Parliament. He again presided over the Indian National Congress at its Lahore session in 1906. his efforts led to the appointment of a Royal Commission, the Welby Commission, to enquire into the financial policy of the India Government. His book - Poverty and Un-British Rule in India- revealed his deep knowledge of the conditions in India and his great love for the country. He was fondly called the Grand Old Man of India. |
