Growth of Liberalism in Maharashtra – I | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


 GROWTH OF LIBERALISM IN
MAHARASHTRA - I
INTRODUCTION :
We have reviewed the work of Jambhekar who is regarded as a
pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. Another reformer T arkhadkar
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
Page 2


 GROWTH OF LIBERALISM IN
MAHARASHTRA - I
INTRODUCTION :
We have reviewed the work of Jambhekar who is regarded as a
pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. Another reformer T arkhadkar
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.
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.
Student’s 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


 GROWTH OF LIBERALISM IN
MAHARASHTRA - I
INTRODUCTION :
We have reviewed the work of Jambhekar who is regarded as a
pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. Another reformer T arkhadkar
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.
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.
Student’s 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 indepth 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.
Page 4


 GROWTH OF LIBERALISM IN
MAHARASHTRA - I
INTRODUCTION :
We have reviewed the work of Jambhekar who is regarded as a
pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. Another reformer T arkhadkar
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.
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.
Student’s 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 indepth 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 diarnond  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 T eller). 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.
Page 5


 GROWTH OF LIBERALISM IN
MAHARASHTRA - I
INTRODUCTION :
We have reviewed the work of Jambhekar who is regarded as a
pioneer of Renaissance in Maharashtra. Another reformer T arkhadkar
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.
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.
Student’s 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 indepth 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 diarnond  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 T eller). 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 enthnologists.
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