Introduction
Dadabhai Naoroji, affectionately known as India's Grand Oldman, was an Indian politician, educator, and cotton dealer. Since its beginning, he has been a member of the Indian National Congress.
Dadabhai Naoroji laid the groundwork for India's current independence struggle.
Background and History
Dadabhai Naoroji is considered the first Asian to be elected to the British Parliament. In 1901, he published the book 'Poverty and Un-British Rule' in India, which focused on the colonial rule's exploitation of India's wealth.
He is also regarded as a founding member of the Indian National Congress. When the East India Company fractured the nationalistic cooperation of the princely states of India, a matchless patriot named Dadabhai Naoroji rose to prominence and defined the modern Indian freedom cause.
Dadabhai Naoroji (now Naoroji Palanji Dordi, a poor Parsi priest and Maneckbai) was born on September 4, 1825, in Bombay. He was a standout student at Elphinstone College, where he excelled.
One of his professors had referred to him as India's future.
Achievements Of Dadabhai Naoroji
Career
Dadabhai Naoroji started his academic career as a professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. However, in 1855, he abandoned the profession and joined the Parsi firm in London as a partner.
He started his own cotton selling firm in 1859 but eventually became a professor of Gujarati at University College London.
East India Association
In 1867, Naoroji aided the formation of the East India Association. In 1874, Dadabhai Naoroji was chosen Prime Minister of Baroda and took up the post of Diwan. He also joined the Indian National Association, which was founded by Sir Surendra Nath Banerjee of Calcutta (Kolkata) and later combined to form the Indian National Congress, with Naoroji as its President.
He returned to the United Kingdom and became the first Indian member of the House of Commons in 1892.
Naoroji served as President of the Indian National Congress, in 1886, 1893, and 1906.
Dadabhai Indian National Congress has had the same goals and objectives throughout his boyhood. Eventually, the two groups of his countrymen's socio-political situation. As a result, he was quite engaged in taking efforts for his countrymen's social and political benefit.
Education
In Bombay, he established the Dyan Prasarak Mandali and a Girls High School with the goal of educating women. In 1852, he also founded the Bombay Association. The Bombay Association was India's first political organisation.
During his extended tenure in London, he made every effort to raise awareness of Indian problems among the English.
In order to spread his views among Europeans, he founded the London Association and the East India Association. As a result, Dadabhai Naoroji was hailed as a national hero.
Political
In politics, Dadabhai Naoroji was well aware of the tremendous benefits that the British rule in India provided to Indians. He vowed his allegiance to the British crown's backbone and the "permanent continuation" of British rule in India. The Congress Movement desired Swaraj as it progressed through its early years.
Although Bal Gangadhar Tilak coined the slogan "Swaraj is my birthright," it was Congressman Dadabhai Naoroji who first demanded Swaraj from the platform. During his Presidential address in the Calcutta session, he emphasised the importance of self-government or Swaraj.
Way Forward
Dadabhai Naoroji, on the other hand, had enough faith in British justice and statesmanship.
Dadabhai Naoroji was the one who exposed the British ruler's exploitative behaviour in India. He was India's first ruler. He brought the drain of Indian riches to European countries to the public's attention, and he was the Indian who attracted the attention of both Indians and Europeans to the economic exploitation that resulted in the Indians' impoverishment.
Dadabhai Naoroji supported his theory of wealth drain logically in his book Poverty under British Rule in India. He pointed out that the government's relationship with the common people in India was akin to that of a master and slave.
The Indians were constantly plundered and oppressed. All of these issues were brought to the public's attention by Dadabhai during his presidency of the Indian National Congress legislature.