Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


  
 
6 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC 
NATIONALISM 
Unit Structure 
  6.0 Objectives 
  6 .1  Introduction  
  6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism    
 6.2.1  Dadabhai Naoroji  
  6.2.2  M. G. Ranade and Economic Nationalism 
  6.2.3 Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi 
  6.3  Summary 
   6.4  Questions 
   6.5  Additional Reading 
6.0  OBJECTIVES : 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
       
         
        
    
  INTRODUCTION 
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. 
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a secular approach and was one 
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional Hindu religion. Deshmukh 
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal thought to merely one or two 
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These reformers were not received 
with open arms by the society which was drilled     and disciplined to preserve 
its social and spiritual values over centuries. Moreover, the traditional 
Maratha society had the privilege of witnessing the  rise of the Maratha 
political influence throughout India. The people of  Maharashtra whether 
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit of any change 
inspired by their British conquerers. 
Page 2


  
 
6 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC 
NATIONALISM 
Unit Structure 
  6.0 Objectives 
  6 .1  Introduction  
  6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism    
 6.2.1  Dadabhai Naoroji  
  6.2.2  M. G. Ranade and Economic Nationalism 
  6.2.3 Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi 
  6.3  Summary 
   6.4  Questions 
   6.5  Additional Reading 
6.0  OBJECTIVES : 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
       
         
        
    
  INTRODUCTION 
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. 
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a secular approach and was one 
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional Hindu religion. Deshmukh 
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal thought to merely one or two 
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These reformers were not received 
with open arms by the society which was drilled     and disciplined to preserve 
its social and spiritual values over centuries. Moreover, the traditional 
Maratha society had the privilege of witnessing the  rise of the Maratha 
political influence throughout India. The people of  Maharashtra whether 
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit of any change 
inspired by their British conquerers. 
  
 
                      
 
 
The second half of the nineteenth century was dominated by the activities 
of another three leaders of liberal thought. They were Dadabhai Naoroji, 
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Their ideas and 
activities were to influence not only Bombay and Maharashtra but the 
whole      country in general. In this connection Dr. K. Mukerji observes that 
Maharashtra never had a general renaissance in the sense that Bengal had 
one after 1815. Prof. J.V. Naik’s rejoinder that the predecessors of Ranade- 
Agarkar had done a substantial rethinking in response to the socio-economic 
life in the colonial situation and thus the work of Ranade-Agarkar had 
influenced the main stream of Maharashtrian thought deserves 
consideration. Although most of these enlightened reformers were 
confined to cities, their influence on the people of Maharashtra was 
profound which will be clear from the activities of the institutions and 
organisation that they established. We shall now discuss the achievements 
of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna 
Gokhale in the following pages. 
 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC NATIONALISM    
 DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917) : 
The manifold achievements of Dadabhai Naorojl the Grand old Man of 
Indian History cannot be justly compressed in a few pages. The story of 
his  long life reflects the several memorable epochs in the history of 
political life  of India. His ‘simple but heroic life devoutly dedicated to the 
service of humanity, cannot be properly represented by fixing attention 
only on fleeting        activities of his college days. It is therefore necessary to 
enumerate the important events of his life after discussing his contribution 
to the Students Literary and Scientific Society. 
Students Literary and Scientific Society 
Dadabhai was born in Bombay in a poor Parsi priest family on September 
4, 1825. He was educated in a free school conducted by the ‘Native 
Education Society’. The school had two branches English and Vernacular. 
The society was conducted under Government auspices. He received his 
college education in the Elphinstone Institution. The Elphinstone College 
and the school conducted by the Native Education Society were combined 
to form Etphinstone Institution. He received the Clare scholarship in 1840 
and in 1842 he was admitted to the newly opened class of Normal 
Scholars. 
Dadabhai was very active during his college days. In 1848 some of the 
members of the Native Literary Society assembled in the hall of the 
Elphinstone Institution and formed a new society. It was named as 
‘Students  Literary and Scientific Society’. Dadabhai was appointed as 
Treasurer of the  Society and, Professor Patton its President. From that time 
onwards Dadabhai devoted himself to the work of education and social 
reform. 
Page 3


  
 
6 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC 
NATIONALISM 
Unit Structure 
  6.0 Objectives 
  6 .1  Introduction  
  6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism    
 6.2.1  Dadabhai Naoroji  
  6.2.2  M. G. Ranade and Economic Nationalism 
  6.2.3 Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi 
  6.3  Summary 
   6.4  Questions 
   6.5  Additional Reading 
6.0  OBJECTIVES : 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
       
         
        
    
  INTRODUCTION 
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. 
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a secular approach and was one 
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional Hindu religion. Deshmukh 
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal thought to merely one or two 
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These reformers were not received 
with open arms by the society which was drilled     and disciplined to preserve 
its social and spiritual values over centuries. Moreover, the traditional 
Maratha society had the privilege of witnessing the  rise of the Maratha 
political influence throughout India. The people of  Maharashtra whether 
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit of any change 
inspired by their British conquerers. 
  
 
                      
 
 
The second half of the nineteenth century was dominated by the activities 
of another three leaders of liberal thought. They were Dadabhai Naoroji, 
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Their ideas and 
activities were to influence not only Bombay and Maharashtra but the 
whole      country in general. In this connection Dr. K. Mukerji observes that 
Maharashtra never had a general renaissance in the sense that Bengal had 
one after 1815. Prof. J.V. Naik’s rejoinder that the predecessors of Ranade- 
Agarkar had done a substantial rethinking in response to the socio-economic 
life in the colonial situation and thus the work of Ranade-Agarkar had 
influenced the main stream of Maharashtrian thought deserves 
consideration. Although most of these enlightened reformers were 
confined to cities, their influence on the people of Maharashtra was 
profound which will be clear from the activities of the institutions and 
organisation that they established. We shall now discuss the achievements 
of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna 
Gokhale in the following pages. 
 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC NATIONALISM    
 DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917) : 
The manifold achievements of Dadabhai Naorojl the Grand old Man of 
Indian History cannot be justly compressed in a few pages. The story of 
his  long life reflects the several memorable epochs in the history of 
political life  of India. His ‘simple but heroic life devoutly dedicated to the 
service of humanity, cannot be properly represented by fixing attention 
only on fleeting        activities of his college days. It is therefore necessary to 
enumerate the important events of his life after discussing his contribution 
to the Students Literary and Scientific Society. 
Students Literary and Scientific Society 
Dadabhai was born in Bombay in a poor Parsi priest family on September 
4, 1825. He was educated in a free school conducted by the ‘Native 
Education Society’. The school had two branches English and Vernacular. 
The society was conducted under Government auspices. He received his 
college education in the Elphinstone Institution. The Elphinstone College 
and the school conducted by the Native Education Society were combined 
to form Etphinstone Institution. He received the Clare scholarship in 1840 
and in 1842 he was admitted to the newly opened class of Normal 
Scholars. 
Dadabhai was very active during his college days. In 1848 some of the 
members of the Native Literary Society assembled in the hall of the 
Elphinstone Institution and formed a new society. It was named as 
‘Students  Literary and Scientific Society’. Dadabhai was appointed as 
Treasurer of the  Society and, Professor Patton its President. From that time 
onwards Dadabhai devoted himself to the work of education and social 
reform. 
 
 
 
 
The Rules of the Society 
The aim of the Society was to develop the interest in literary and scientific 
knowledge. In keeping with this aim one of the rules of the Society 
provided that two members should be nominated by the Secretary of the 
society to read papers on literary scientific or social subjects, The meeting 
of the Society was held twice a month. The Society was keen on activating 
the members to do independent thinking on these matters of public interest. 
The       Students and teachers should shoulder the responsibility of educating 
the people and therefore an in depth study of the current issues was 
also intended. The Society however did not encourage entanglement of the 
political matters and religious questions. 
The society maintained a strict discipline and therefore wished to weed out 
useless members or those who only accepted the membership as a sort of 
ornament. Those who failed to read a paper in the first instance were fined 
a rupee. The fine for second failure was two rupees and if the member 
failed  to read his paper on the subject offered by him the third time he was 
expelled. 
The questions that were made the subjects of the papers were discussed in  
the meetings of the Society. It was not to be merely an academic discussion  
to be confined within the four walls of the class room but the conclusions 
were to be exposed to the full view of the public through the columns of 
journals conducted by two vernacular branches of the society. One was the 
‘Gujarati Dnyan Prasarak Mandali’ and the other was a ‘Marathi Dnyan 
Prasarak Mandali’. The Gujarati journal was edited by Dadabhai Naoroji 
which published the debates. 
The work undertaken by the ‘Dnyan Prasarak Mandali under the guidance 
and direction of Dadabhai Naoroji was of far-reaching importance. In 
1849, a paper on female education was read by Behramji Kharshetji 
Gandbi. The discussion on this much-debated issue led to a practical 
operation. The students began to visit several Parsi and Hindu parents to 
allow them to sit on their verandahs and to teach their girls. In a few days 
after the decision about the propagation of education among the girls the 
students could get the consent of parents. In the seven schools they could 
register 44 Parsi girls and 24 Hindu girls. The move to educate women 
attracted the attention of some leaders of Bombay. Jagannath Shankar Sheth 
gave a cottage to be used as school-house. This inspired others to give 
concrete assistance for female education. Khershedji Nasanwanji Cama 
gave a substantial donation to the Society. This enabled the Society to 
maintain schools for girls both Hindu and Parsi. 
The social reform successfully undertaken by the Society encouraged some  
Parsi reformers to remove some pernicious customs from the Parsi society. 
In 1851 Naoroji Furdoomji the ‘Tribunal of the people’ was persuaded to 
found the ‘Rahnumae Mazdaysnam Sabha’ or ‘Guides on the Mazdayasnan         
Path’. Naoroji Furdoomji was appointed President and Dadabhai Secretary. 
Some of the reformers were zealous to reform the old Zorostrian faith 
according to the Western ideas. The Rahnumane Sabha achieved its goal 
Page 4


  
 
6 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC 
NATIONALISM 
Unit Structure 
  6.0 Objectives 
  6 .1  Introduction  
  6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism    
 6.2.1  Dadabhai Naoroji  
  6.2.2  M. G. Ranade and Economic Nationalism 
  6.2.3 Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi 
  6.3  Summary 
   6.4  Questions 
   6.5  Additional Reading 
6.0  OBJECTIVES : 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
       
         
        
    
  INTRODUCTION 
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. 
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a secular approach and was one 
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional Hindu religion. Deshmukh 
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal thought to merely one or two 
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These reformers were not received 
with open arms by the society which was drilled     and disciplined to preserve 
its social and spiritual values over centuries. Moreover, the traditional 
Maratha society had the privilege of witnessing the  rise of the Maratha 
political influence throughout India. The people of  Maharashtra whether 
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit of any change 
inspired by their British conquerers. 
  
 
                      
 
 
The second half of the nineteenth century was dominated by the activities 
of another three leaders of liberal thought. They were Dadabhai Naoroji, 
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Their ideas and 
activities were to influence not only Bombay and Maharashtra but the 
whole      country in general. In this connection Dr. K. Mukerji observes that 
Maharashtra never had a general renaissance in the sense that Bengal had 
one after 1815. Prof. J.V. Naik’s rejoinder that the predecessors of Ranade- 
Agarkar had done a substantial rethinking in response to the socio-economic 
life in the colonial situation and thus the work of Ranade-Agarkar had 
influenced the main stream of Maharashtrian thought deserves 
consideration. Although most of these enlightened reformers were 
confined to cities, their influence on the people of Maharashtra was 
profound which will be clear from the activities of the institutions and 
organisation that they established. We shall now discuss the achievements 
of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna 
Gokhale in the following pages. 
 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC NATIONALISM    
 DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917) : 
The manifold achievements of Dadabhai Naorojl the Grand old Man of 
Indian History cannot be justly compressed in a few pages. The story of 
his  long life reflects the several memorable epochs in the history of 
political life  of India. His ‘simple but heroic life devoutly dedicated to the 
service of humanity, cannot be properly represented by fixing attention 
only on fleeting        activities of his college days. It is therefore necessary to 
enumerate the important events of his life after discussing his contribution 
to the Students Literary and Scientific Society. 
Students Literary and Scientific Society 
Dadabhai was born in Bombay in a poor Parsi priest family on September 
4, 1825. He was educated in a free school conducted by the ‘Native 
Education Society’. The school had two branches English and Vernacular. 
The society was conducted under Government auspices. He received his 
college education in the Elphinstone Institution. The Elphinstone College 
and the school conducted by the Native Education Society were combined 
to form Etphinstone Institution. He received the Clare scholarship in 1840 
and in 1842 he was admitted to the newly opened class of Normal 
Scholars. 
Dadabhai was very active during his college days. In 1848 some of the 
members of the Native Literary Society assembled in the hall of the 
Elphinstone Institution and formed a new society. It was named as 
‘Students  Literary and Scientific Society’. Dadabhai was appointed as 
Treasurer of the  Society and, Professor Patton its President. From that time 
onwards Dadabhai devoted himself to the work of education and social 
reform. 
 
 
 
 
The Rules of the Society 
The aim of the Society was to develop the interest in literary and scientific 
knowledge. In keeping with this aim one of the rules of the Society 
provided that two members should be nominated by the Secretary of the 
society to read papers on literary scientific or social subjects, The meeting 
of the Society was held twice a month. The Society was keen on activating 
the members to do independent thinking on these matters of public interest. 
The       Students and teachers should shoulder the responsibility of educating 
the people and therefore an in depth study of the current issues was 
also intended. The Society however did not encourage entanglement of the 
political matters and religious questions. 
The society maintained a strict discipline and therefore wished to weed out 
useless members or those who only accepted the membership as a sort of 
ornament. Those who failed to read a paper in the first instance were fined 
a rupee. The fine for second failure was two rupees and if the member 
failed  to read his paper on the subject offered by him the third time he was 
expelled. 
The questions that were made the subjects of the papers were discussed in  
the meetings of the Society. It was not to be merely an academic discussion  
to be confined within the four walls of the class room but the conclusions 
were to be exposed to the full view of the public through the columns of 
journals conducted by two vernacular branches of the society. One was the 
‘Gujarati Dnyan Prasarak Mandali’ and the other was a ‘Marathi Dnyan 
Prasarak Mandali’. The Gujarati journal was edited by Dadabhai Naoroji 
which published the debates. 
The work undertaken by the ‘Dnyan Prasarak Mandali under the guidance 
and direction of Dadabhai Naoroji was of far-reaching importance. In 
1849, a paper on female education was read by Behramji Kharshetji 
Gandbi. The discussion on this much-debated issue led to a practical 
operation. The students began to visit several Parsi and Hindu parents to 
allow them to sit on their verandahs and to teach their girls. In a few days 
after the decision about the propagation of education among the girls the 
students could get the consent of parents. In the seven schools they could 
register 44 Parsi girls and 24 Hindu girls. The move to educate women 
attracted the attention of some leaders of Bombay. Jagannath Shankar Sheth 
gave a cottage to be used as school-house. This inspired others to give 
concrete assistance for female education. Khershedji Nasanwanji Cama 
gave a substantial donation to the Society. This enabled the Society to 
maintain schools for girls both Hindu and Parsi. 
The social reform successfully undertaken by the Society encouraged some  
Parsi reformers to remove some pernicious customs from the Parsi society. 
In 1851 Naoroji Furdoomji the ‘Tribunal of the people’ was persuaded to 
found the ‘Rahnumae Mazdaysnam Sabha’ or ‘Guides on the Mazdayasnan         
Path’. Naoroji Furdoomji was appointed President and Dadabhai Secretary. 
Some of the reformers were zealous to reform the old Zorostrian faith 
according to the Western ideas. The Rahnumane Sabha achieved its goal 
  
 
                       
 
 
of restoring the ancient religion to its pristine purity. 
Dadabhai lived to witness the diamond Jubilee of the Society and the 
Dnyan  Prakash Mandali. The Society had also undertaken the work of 
translating books into Marathi and Gujarati. The work of the Society was 
also getting wider publicity as Elphinstonians of the first generation were 
interested in journalism. Among the Marathi speaking alumni journalism 
had become a favourite tool to propose social and religious reforms. 
Dadabhai also felt an  urgent need of an independent journal for the cause 
of reform. Dadabhai and Kharshedji Cama decided to start a fornightly 
journal ‘Rast Goftar’ (Truth 
Teller). Cama agreed to provide the necessary funds and Dadabhai agreed    
to run it without remuneration. The new journal was issued on November 
15, 1851. This was incidently the sixth journal in Gujarati but the only one 
with an independent ideology. The journal was started in the wake of 
Muslim- Parsi riot which broke out on October 7, 1851. Within two months 
the journal with progressive views found favour with the readers and in 
January 1852 the fortnightly was converted into a weekly. Dadabhai was 
fully supported by the Society boys and his connection with the journal 
continued even after        he left India in 1855 and made England his home. 
The Students Society had a wider acceptance and its activities were 
assuming larger dimensions under the able leadership of Dadabhai. On 
September 2,1852 a meeting was held in Elphinstone College to perpetuate 
the memory of Framji Cowasji Benaji, the great philanthropist and patron 
of  education. It was decided at the meeting that the fund collected for 
helping the zorostrians in Iran was to be now utilised for the formation of a 
museum  in connection with the Students Literary and Scientific Society 
and named the Framaji Cowasji Institute. Here was a professor setting a 
great ideal before his students. Several students of the Elphinstone College 
joined in the work of collecting funds for a noble cause. R.P. Masani 
remarks. “It is a  teacher’s office to lead as well as to teach and by the 
spark of his personal example to set the heart of his pupils on fire. 
Dadabhai fulfilled that mission,    not only in regard to his college pupils but 
also in regard to his disciples through- out his Iife. 
Important Events In his life 
It would not be out of place if some important events in the life of the 
‘Grand  Old Man’ of Indian history are mentioned here in the context of 
his all-out efforts for building a new India and from such discussion 
regional history cannot be separated. He was appointed Professor of 
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1852. He was the first Indian to 
hold, such a high position in any prominent colleges in the country. He left 
India in 1855 to settle in England. He joined the Cams Company and after 
a few years he started his own trading company. During the first decade he 
tried to educate  the British public opinion on the Civil Service 
Examination. He stressed the Importance of Sanskrit and the Arabic the 
two classical languages and the London Indian Society was able to force 
the British Government to give up the proposal of reducing the marks 
Page 5


  
 
6 
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC 
NATIONALISM 
Unit Structure 
  6.0 Objectives 
  6 .1  Introduction  
  6.2 Contributions of thinkers of Maharashtra to Economic Nationalism    
 6.2.1  Dadabhai Naoroji  
  6.2.2  M. G. Ranade and Economic Nationalism 
  6.2.3 Ganesh Vyankatesh Joshi 
  6.3  Summary 
   6.4  Questions 
   6.5  Additional Reading 
6.0  OBJECTIVES : 
After the study of this unit, the student will be able to: 
       
         
        
    
  INTRODUCTION 
Jambhekar who is regarded as a pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. 
Another reformer Tarkhadkar represented a secular approach and was one 
of the sponsors of reforming the traditional Hindu religion. Deshmukh 
alias Lokahitawadi did not confine his liberal thought to merely one or two 
fields but applied it to all walks of life. These reformers were not received 
with open arms by the society which was drilled     and disciplined to preserve 
its social and spiritual values over centuries. Moreover, the traditional 
Maratha society had the privilege of witnessing the  rise of the Maratha 
political influence throughout India. The people of  Maharashtra whether 
in the cities like Bombay or Pune would hardly admit of any change 
inspired by their British conquerers. 
  
 
                      
 
 
The second half of the nineteenth century was dominated by the activities 
of another three leaders of liberal thought. They were Dadabhai Naoroji, 
Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Their ideas and 
activities were to influence not only Bombay and Maharashtra but the 
whole      country in general. In this connection Dr. K. Mukerji observes that 
Maharashtra never had a general renaissance in the sense that Bengal had 
one after 1815. Prof. J.V. Naik’s rejoinder that the predecessors of Ranade- 
Agarkar had done a substantial rethinking in response to the socio-economic 
life in the colonial situation and thus the work of Ranade-Agarkar had 
influenced the main stream of Maharashtrian thought deserves 
consideration. Although most of these enlightened reformers were 
confined to cities, their influence on the people of Maharashtra was 
profound which will be clear from the activities of the institutions and 
organisation that they established. We shall now discuss the achievements 
of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna 
Gokhale in the following pages. 
 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THINKERS OF 
MAHARASHTRA TO ECONOMIC NATIONALISM    
 DADABHAI NAOROJI (1825-1917) : 
The manifold achievements of Dadabhai Naorojl the Grand old Man of 
Indian History cannot be justly compressed in a few pages. The story of 
his  long life reflects the several memorable epochs in the history of 
political life  of India. His ‘simple but heroic life devoutly dedicated to the 
service of humanity, cannot be properly represented by fixing attention 
only on fleeting        activities of his college days. It is therefore necessary to 
enumerate the important events of his life after discussing his contribution 
to the Students Literary and Scientific Society. 
Students Literary and Scientific Society 
Dadabhai was born in Bombay in a poor Parsi priest family on September 
4, 1825. He was educated in a free school conducted by the ‘Native 
Education Society’. The school had two branches English and Vernacular. 
The society was conducted under Government auspices. He received his 
college education in the Elphinstone Institution. The Elphinstone College 
and the school conducted by the Native Education Society were combined 
to form Etphinstone Institution. He received the Clare scholarship in 1840 
and in 1842 he was admitted to the newly opened class of Normal 
Scholars. 
Dadabhai was very active during his college days. In 1848 some of the 
members of the Native Literary Society assembled in the hall of the 
Elphinstone Institution and formed a new society. It was named as 
‘Students  Literary and Scientific Society’. Dadabhai was appointed as 
Treasurer of the  Society and, Professor Patton its President. From that time 
onwards Dadabhai devoted himself to the work of education and social 
reform. 
 
 
 
 
The Rules of the Society 
The aim of the Society was to develop the interest in literary and scientific 
knowledge. In keeping with this aim one of the rules of the Society 
provided that two members should be nominated by the Secretary of the 
society to read papers on literary scientific or social subjects, The meeting 
of the Society was held twice a month. The Society was keen on activating 
the members to do independent thinking on these matters of public interest. 
The       Students and teachers should shoulder the responsibility of educating 
the people and therefore an in depth study of the current issues was 
also intended. The Society however did not encourage entanglement of the 
political matters and religious questions. 
The society maintained a strict discipline and therefore wished to weed out 
useless members or those who only accepted the membership as a sort of 
ornament. Those who failed to read a paper in the first instance were fined 
a rupee. The fine for second failure was two rupees and if the member 
failed  to read his paper on the subject offered by him the third time he was 
expelled. 
The questions that were made the subjects of the papers were discussed in  
the meetings of the Society. It was not to be merely an academic discussion  
to be confined within the four walls of the class room but the conclusions 
were to be exposed to the full view of the public through the columns of 
journals conducted by two vernacular branches of the society. One was the 
‘Gujarati Dnyan Prasarak Mandali’ and the other was a ‘Marathi Dnyan 
Prasarak Mandali’. The Gujarati journal was edited by Dadabhai Naoroji 
which published the debates. 
The work undertaken by the ‘Dnyan Prasarak Mandali under the guidance 
and direction of Dadabhai Naoroji was of far-reaching importance. In 
1849, a paper on female education was read by Behramji Kharshetji 
Gandbi. The discussion on this much-debated issue led to a practical 
operation. The students began to visit several Parsi and Hindu parents to 
allow them to sit on their verandahs and to teach their girls. In a few days 
after the decision about the propagation of education among the girls the 
students could get the consent of parents. In the seven schools they could 
register 44 Parsi girls and 24 Hindu girls. The move to educate women 
attracted the attention of some leaders of Bombay. Jagannath Shankar Sheth 
gave a cottage to be used as school-house. This inspired others to give 
concrete assistance for female education. Khershedji Nasanwanji Cama 
gave a substantial donation to the Society. This enabled the Society to 
maintain schools for girls both Hindu and Parsi. 
The social reform successfully undertaken by the Society encouraged some  
Parsi reformers to remove some pernicious customs from the Parsi society. 
In 1851 Naoroji Furdoomji the ‘Tribunal of the people’ was persuaded to 
found the ‘Rahnumae Mazdaysnam Sabha’ or ‘Guides on the Mazdayasnan         
Path’. Naoroji Furdoomji was appointed President and Dadabhai Secretary. 
Some of the reformers were zealous to reform the old Zorostrian faith 
according to the Western ideas. The Rahnumane Sabha achieved its goal 
  
 
                       
 
 
of restoring the ancient religion to its pristine purity. 
Dadabhai lived to witness the diamond Jubilee of the Society and the 
Dnyan  Prakash Mandali. The Society had also undertaken the work of 
translating books into Marathi and Gujarati. The work of the Society was 
also getting wider publicity as Elphinstonians of the first generation were 
interested in journalism. Among the Marathi speaking alumni journalism 
had become a favourite tool to propose social and religious reforms. 
Dadabhai also felt an  urgent need of an independent journal for the cause 
of reform. Dadabhai and Kharshedji Cama decided to start a fornightly 
journal ‘Rast Goftar’ (Truth 
Teller). Cama agreed to provide the necessary funds and Dadabhai agreed    
to run it without remuneration. The new journal was issued on November 
15, 1851. This was incidently the sixth journal in Gujarati but the only one 
with an independent ideology. The journal was started in the wake of 
Muslim- Parsi riot which broke out on October 7, 1851. Within two months 
the journal with progressive views found favour with the readers and in 
January 1852 the fortnightly was converted into a weekly. Dadabhai was 
fully supported by the Society boys and his connection with the journal 
continued even after        he left India in 1855 and made England his home. 
The Students Society had a wider acceptance and its activities were 
assuming larger dimensions under the able leadership of Dadabhai. On 
September 2,1852 a meeting was held in Elphinstone College to perpetuate 
the memory of Framji Cowasji Benaji, the great philanthropist and patron 
of  education. It was decided at the meeting that the fund collected for 
helping the zorostrians in Iran was to be now utilised for the formation of a 
museum  in connection with the Students Literary and Scientific Society 
and named the Framaji Cowasji Institute. Here was a professor setting a 
great ideal before his students. Several students of the Elphinstone College 
joined in the work of collecting funds for a noble cause. R.P. Masani 
remarks. “It is a  teacher’s office to lead as well as to teach and by the 
spark of his personal example to set the heart of his pupils on fire. 
Dadabhai fulfilled that mission,    not only in regard to his college pupils but 
also in regard to his disciples through- out his Iife. 
Important Events In his life 
It would not be out of place if some important events in the life of the 
‘Grand  Old Man’ of Indian history are mentioned here in the context of 
his all-out efforts for building a new India and from such discussion 
regional history cannot be separated. He was appointed Professor of 
Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in 1852. He was the first Indian to 
hold, such a high position in any prominent colleges in the country. He left 
India in 1855 to settle in England. He joined the Cams Company and after 
a few years he started his own trading company. During the first decade he 
tried to educate  the British public opinion on the Civil Service 
Examination. He stressed the Importance of Sanskrit and the Arabic the 
two classical languages and the London Indian Society was able to force 
the British Government to give up the proposal of reducing the marks 
 
 
 
 
gained by the Indian candidates in one of these languages as optional 
subjects. 
In February 1866 John Crawford, President of the Ethnological Society of 
London read a paper in which he sought to prove that the Asians as a race 
were inferior in intellect compared to the Europeans. In the following 
month       Dadabhai gave a fitting rejoinder to Crawford’s thesis. Dadabhai’s 
spirited defense of the Asiatic contribution to literature and science silenced 
arrogant        European ethnologists. 
Dadabhai’s achievements in the political field are many. He became the 
first      Member of the British Parliament. He worked as a Diwan of Baroda. 
He worked for the establishment of the Indian National Congress of 
which he was elected President thrice in his career. His greatest 
contribution to the intellectual field was his book ‘Poverty and Un-British 
Rule in India’ published in 1901. In 1876 when he was a Municipal 
Councilor of Bombay. He read a paper on the subject of the poverty of 
India before the Bombay branch of East India Association. 
Dadabhai’s achievements are put in a nutshel by Lokmanya Tilak when 
the efforts’ of Tilak’ were frustrated by Moderates in the Congress to be 
elected      President at the Calcutta Congress in 1906. He writes, ‘‘Why do we 
respect Dadabhai so much? We do not consider that late Mr. Mandalik, 
Bhau Daji or Mr. Naoroji Fardumji were in any way inferior in their 
contribution to the national welfare to Dadabhai. Even if we point out that 
he was the first Indian  to be elected the Member of British Parliament, 
subsequently Bhavnagari also achieved that distinction. These events do 
not explain why Dadabhai enjoys a unique place in the hearts of Indian 
people. The explanation is so obvious. His greatness does not lie in the 
number of institutions he started, or a number of lectures he delivered on 
different subjects or his work in this      capacity or that. His greatness rests on 
his ‘theory of drain’ that he propounded not merely by guess-work but by 
indefatigable industry to collect the statistics and prove, his thesis. In the 
mildest of psychophants eulogising the blessings’’ the British rule after the 
fall of the Peshwa regime, here was a man brave enough to prove to the 
British masters that they were  responsible for the poverty and the 
miserable conditions of the Indian people. He thrust on the attention of the 
people of India that the outward appearance of the British Rule may be 
attractive but it acts as a disease to destroy the national interest of India. 
The ‘drain theory’ that he developed created a consciousness among the 
educated Indians, throughout the country that self-rule has no substitute. 
Although he spent most of his life in England he never missed any 
opportunity to uphold the national honour. He had the good fortune to 
enjoy a long life. His political hopes of a better deal from the British rulers 
at the outbreak of World War I were very high. Gopal Krishna Gokhale was 
another  leader who laid implicit faith in the benevolence of the British 
rulers. Dadabhai did not live long enough to see the constitutional changes 
after World War I.