On 30 June 2017, many Indians will observe the hundredth death anniversary of Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917), an important figure in India’s struggle for independence from British colonialism and the first Indian to be elected to the British Parliament. Naoroji was a Parsi, a member of the tiny Zoroastrian community of India that today numbers only 60,000 in that country. Nevertheless, in the course of his five decades of political work, Naoroji played a vital role in uniting members of India’s diverse religious and ethnic communities into a movement for political reform and colonial emancipation.
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William Digby(1 May 1849 – 29 September 1904) was a British author, journalist and humanitarian. William Digby moved to the Indian subcontinent in 1871 and worked as a sub-editor in The Ceylon Observer., and as the editor of The Madras Times in 1877. He also worked as the editor of the Liverpool and Southport Daily News in 1880 and that of the Plymouth Daily Western Mercury in 1879.
Article by Dr. Dinyar Patel, Assistant Professor of History, University of South Carolina, and Chair, Research and Preservation Committee, FEZANA.
In 1825, when Naoroji was born in Bombay (today’s Mumbai), the British had been a colonial power in India for over eighty years, causing famine and economic disruption in many parts of the country. Naoroji was, himself, born in relative poverty: his parents migrated from southern Gujarat as its local textile economy collapsed. Through his academic performance, however, Naoroji managed to secure scholarships for attending Bombay’s best educational institutions. At the age of 28, he became the first Indian appointed as a full professor in a British-administered college, teaching mathematics and physics. He also began adopting extremely progressive positions on various social issues. At a time when most women in India lacked any form of education, he established some of the first schools in Bombay for girls. Naoroji also criticized the British government for not doing more to educate its Indian subjects.
By the late 1860s, Naoroji became deeply concerned about another matter: India’s worsening impoverishment under British rule. During the second half of the nineteenth century, India experienced an unusually devastating spate of famines that killed, by the most conservative estimates, over 28 million people.[1] While British authorities blamed these catastrophes on natural disasters alone, Naoroji pointed to another cause. He argued that there was a deliberate “drain of wealth” in India, whereby British policies were siphoning capital out of the country and thereby pushing Indian subjects to the brink of starvation. Collecting and tabulating a wide range of economic statistics—while also disproving the rosier statistics compiled by British officials—Naoroji calculated that the average Indian was, by the 1880s, too poor to buy enough food for a mere subsistence diet. Under British rule, he declared, India had become “the poorest country in the world.”[2]
Naoroji’s “drain theory” caused a great stir in both India and Great Britain: it provided concrete proof of colonialism’s devastating effects upon India, rubbishing British claims of benevolent imperial rule. His writings influenced a generation of Indian and British thinkers, including several prominent British socialists. In time, Naoroji’s writings reached a wider audience across Europe and North America, becoming important resources for incipient anti-imperial movements. For example, William Jennings Bryan, the American Progressive leader, cited Naoroji’s drain theory to explain why he opposed American annexation of the Philippines after the 1898 Spanish-American War.
Having laid out his economic critique of British colonialism, Naoroji forayed into politics. In 1885, he helped found the Indian National Congress, the political party that eventually led India to independence in 1947. Naoroji strove to make the Congress as inclusive as possible. As president of the organization in 1893, for example, he famously stated that, “Whether I am a Hindu, a Muhammadan [Muslim], a Parsi, a Christian, or of any other creed, I am above all an Indian.”[3]
Oct 24, 2018 'Prosperous' British India, more completely titled Prosperous' British India: A Revelation from Official Records, was a book published in 1901 by British author William Digby that described the economic conditions prevailing in British India in the latter half of the nineteenth century under British rule.It used official government statistics to illuminate the falling incomes and increasing impoverishment in India under British administration during that period. 'Prosperous' British India, more completely titled Prosperous' British India: A Revelation from Official Records, was a book published in 1901 by British author William Digby that described the economic conditions prevailing in British India in the latter half of the nineteenth century under British rule.It used official government statistics to illuminate the falling incomes and increasing impoverishment in India under British administration during that period.
But Naoroji did not just limit his political activity to India. Recognizing that imperial policy was formulated in London, he decided that the best way to influence this policy was to put pressure on the system from the inside. In 1886, he stood for election to the British Parliament as a member of the Liberal Party.[4] Although he lost the election, he generated widespread support among progressively-minded Britons, including suffragists, Irish nationalists, labor leaders, and socialists—individuals who lent their support for India’s political aspirations.
A few years later, in 1892, Naoroji stood for election once more, this time from the constituency of Central Finsbury in London. It was a grueling fight: Naoroji’s opposition lobbed racial barbs at the Indian candidate, while the Conservative prime minister of Great Britain, Lord Salisbury, urged voters not to send a “black man” to Parliament. In the end, Naoroji won the election—by a mere five votes (he earned the sobriquet “Dadabhai Narrow-majority”). Regardless, his victory generated headlines around the world, especially in India. When he returned to India in 1893, crowds in Bombay, Delhi, Allahabad, Lahore, and elsewhere celebrated him as a national hero.
Naoroji’s reception in the British Parliament, however, was much more frosty. He continued to face racist opposition. His pleas for Indian reforms fell upon deaf ears, and his efforts to legislate change garnered little support. In 1895, he lost his reelection bid. Disillusioned with parliamentary politics, Naoroji became more radical, pronouncing British policy in India as “evil” and “a curse,” especially in light of a new spate of famines afflicting the country.[5] In 1906, serving as president of the Indian National Congress once more, he declared that the time had come for Indians to work towards achieving swaraj or self-government. There could be no more time lost on incremental political reforms. Self-government, he stated, was the only way to stop the devastating drain of wealth that had crippled India.
Naoroji retired from politics the following year, at the age of eighty. He left behind a Congress party organization that, in spite of significant internal divisions, was growing more robust and politically confident. His analysis of Indian poverty, claiming that British imperialism was inherently exploitative, became a central tenet in India’s struggle for independence. In addition, he mentored and influenced a new generation of Indian leaders that finally brought an end to the colonial regime. One such leader was Mahatma Gandhi, who had received Naoroji’s assistance while campaigning for the rights of Indians in South Africa. A few months after Naoroji’s death, Gandhi summarized his legacy: “Dadabhai’s flawless and uninterrupted service to the country, his impartiality, his spotless character, will always furnish India with an ideal to follow.”[6]
Further Reading
Masani, Rustom P. Dadabhai Naoroji: The Grand Old Man of India. London: G. Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1939.
Mehrotra, S.R. and Dinyar Patel. Dadabhai Naoroji: Selected Private Papers. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Naoroji, Dadabhai. Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1901.
Patwardhan, R.P., ed. Dadabhai Naoroji Correspondence, parts I & II. New Delhi: Allied, 1977.
[1] These estimates were for the years 1854 to 1901. William Digby, ‘Prosperous’ British India (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1901), pp. 129-30.
[2] “Famine in India: Address by Mr. Dadabhai Naoroji,” India, 1 March 1901, p. 103.
[3]Speeches and Writings of Dadabhai Naoroji, ed. G.A. Natesan (Madras: G.A. Natestan & Co., 1917), p. 59.
[4] Due to the lack of clearly-defined policies on citizenship, it was possible, in those days, for a British colonial subject to stand for a seat in a British constituency, and several Indians did so from the 1880s onward.
[5] Private correspondence, Dadabhai Naoroji Papers, National Archives of India, New Delhi.
[6]Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 14 (Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 1965), p. 61.
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Economy before British Rule
To understand the present level of the Indian economy, it is important to understand the economic system of India during the British rule and post-independence economic development policies.
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Before the advent of British rule, India had an independent economy. It was largely primary sector economy and the major occupations were agriculture, handicrafts, and many other primary sector works.
The economy was full of resources and a prosperous one. Therefore, high quality agricultural products and handicrafts made by the Indians were traded across the world.
Economy during British Rule
During the British rule, India’s economy became a net raw material supplier and a net importer of finished products.
No British economist attempted to measure the per capita income and national income of India.
Some of the Indian economists Dadabhai Naoroji, V.K.R.V. Rao, R.C. Desai and British Findlay Shirras and William Digby attempted to measure India’s national income. Among all, V.K.R.V. Rao was the most successful.
Before independence, India’s economy was solely dependent upon agriculture.
85 percent of the Indian population were rural and their main source of subsistence was agriculture.
During the British colonial period, agriculture (in spite of being the main occupation) was suffering from many problems and hence the effective growth was zero percent.
Land settlement system was totally in favour of the British.
Agricultural system was stagnant; however, later there was a gradual growth, but that was not because of improvement and development of the agricultural system, but because of the expansion of agricultural land.
Zamindari System
Many parts of India (especially Bengal region of east India, today’s West Bengal and Bangladesh) were practising Zamindari system (Land-lordship).
The main work of the Zamindars was to collect the land tax/rent. They almost did nothing either to improve the agriculture system or the conditions of the farmers.
Zamindars’ inhumane attitude affected farmers’ lives very badly. Most of the regions of the country were facing famine and many other social issues and problems.
Some of the regions, during the Zamindari system, evidenced growth that was only because of the commercialisation of agriculture. In these regions, the farmers had been forced to produce cash crops instead of staple food crops.
Major Problems
The major problems were −
- Drought,
- Flood,
- Poor irrigation system,
- Desalination of soil,
- Absence of technology, and
- Poverty.
India did not undergo any industrialisation as all the raw materials were exported to the UK.
Handicrafts and other small-scale industries suffered badly.
The main intention of British rule was to make India, a market of their finished products.
In India, many industries developed even in the time of crisis. For example, the jute industry in West Bengal and the cotton textile industry in regions of Gujarat and Maharashtra.
The Industries
Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was incorporated in the year 1907.
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By the middle of the 20th century, some other industries such as cement, sugar, paper, etc. were established.
As all the above discussed industries were concentrated in some specific pockets of the country; therefore, there was no improvement in the condition of the farmers.
During the colonial period, India became the exporter of jute, cotton, sugar, indigo, wool, etc. and importer of finished products such as cotton and silk fabrics, woollen cloth, machinery, and other items.
More than 50 percent of India’s trade was directed to Britain; remaining 50 percent were traded in other countries including China, Sri Lanka, and Persia (Iran).
‘Muslin’ is a type of cotton textile which originated in Bengal, particularly, places in and around Dhaka (previously Dacca), now the capital city of Bangladesh. Hence, it was also popular as ‘Daccai Muslin’.
Because of its quality, Muslin earned popularity across the world. Sometimes, foreign travelers also used to refer to it as malmal shahi or malmal khas implying that it was worn by, or fit for, the royalty .
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The following image shows the dress made up of Muslin (the dress worn by the lady) and inset (image) shows the Muslin fabrics.
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Other Facts
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The surplus income of India was used in setting up the official infrastructure for the British officers.
During the British period, some of the infrastructure such as road, rail, telegraph, ports, water transport, etc. were developed, but all these were developed not for the benefit of Indians, but, rather to serve the interests of British officials.
The railway, which was developed in the 1850s broke the barrier of long distance travel and trade. It also fostered the commercialisation of Indian agriculture. But this could hardly be of any help to the farmers.
The regional disparity was high, as the Madras Presidency (entire South India) was more into manufacturing and services sector and rest of India was in the agricultural sector.