Dadabhai Naoroji

THE FIRST INDIAN member of the British Parliament, Dadabhai Naoroji was born on September 4, 1825 in a priestly Parsi family.
The grand old man of India. Dadabhai Naoroji studied at Elphinstone College, Bombay, won the Clare Scholarship and graduated in 1825, At 25 Naoroji wa appointed Assistant Professor of Mathematics and natural philosophy at Elphinstone College, But after a six- year stint, he left for UK to manage the historic Parsi firm Cama & Company of which he was a partner.. Four years later, on his return toIndia, he started his own firm. In 1886, he went to the UK to contest the parliamentary elections. While in Bombay he did various things; he organized the Students Literary and Scientific Society, pioneered women’s education, took an active interest in establishing various organizations including the Bombay Association, the Framji Institute, the Irani Fund, the Parsi Gymnasium, the Widow Marriage Association and the celebrated Victoria And Albert Museum.
Naoroji’s forays into publishing peaked when he became the Founder-Edition of Rast Goftar, a Gujarati weekly at the young age of 26. He authored a critical book, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, and in 18183 started a news paper called Voice of India. In addition, he frequently contributed articles to various newspapers.
With age and maturity the laurels lietally feel into Naoroji’s lap: he was aooiunted Dewan of Baroda in 1874 but resigned later and returned to Bombay. He was elected Member of Pariliament in England in 1902 as a member of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons, representing Central Finsbury, a parliamentary constituency in England.
Naoroji presided over the Congress session thrice in 1886, 1893 and 1906 and was the first to make the demand for swarajya which went on to become the watchword of the freedom struggle. In his Presidential speech at the Indian National Congress at Lahore in 1893, he said: “Whether I am a Hindu, a Mohammedan, a Pasi, a Christian or any other creed, I am above all an Indian. Our country is India: our nationality is Indian”.
A product of Western liberalism, Naoroj’s circle of friends included Sorabjee Bengali the social reformer K.R. Cama the orientalist; F.G.Bhandarker, the Orientalist; N.G.Chandavarkar, the nationalist reformer; Pherozeshah Mehta; Gopal Krishna Gokhale; Dinshaw Wacha; Jamshedji Tata and Gandhi.
Naoroji founded various organizations, both in India and the UK, includeing the Indian National Congress, the East India Association of London, the Royal Asiatic Society of Bomaby among others.
A leading social reformer, Naoroji did not believe in caste restrictions and pioneered women’s education. Being a moderate, he believed in constitutional methods. A pregressive, he championed the cause of swadeshi, but did not oppose the use of machines in industry. In fact, he urged J.N.Tata to raise Indian capital for his iron and steel plants. But the time he died on June 30, 1917, he had come to be known as the father of Indian politics.