200th Birth Anniversary of Dadabhai Naoroji

On 4th September 2025, the nation paid tribute to Dadabhai Naoroji on his 200th birth anniversary.

He is remembered as the “Grand Old Man of India”, a pioneer socialist, a major nationalist thinker and one of the earliest critics of colonial economic exploitation.

Aspect	Details
Early Academic Role	Dadabhai Naoroji became the first Indian professor at Elphinstone College in 1845.
INC Leadership	He served as President of the Indian National Congress in 1886 at Calcutta, 1893 at Lahore and 1906 at Calcutta.
Demand for Swaraj	In 1906, he declared the demand for Swaraj, meaning self-rule, as a central goal of India’s national movement.
East India Association	He founded the East India Association in London in 1867 to spread awareness of Indian issues among the British public.
British Parliament	In 1892, he became the first Indian MP elected to the British Parliament from Finsbury Central.
Drain Theory	He developed the Drain Theory, a major concept in anti-colonial economic discourse that highlighted the transfer of India’s wealth to Britain.
Literary Contributions	His important works include Poverty of India, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, The Wants and Means of India, The European and Asiatic Races and The Parsee Religion.
In Brief: Battle of Adwa	The Prime Minister of India recently laid a wreath at the Adwa Victory Monument in Addis Ababa, honouring Ethiopia’s victory in the 1896 Battle of Adwa. The battle was fought between the Ethiopian Empire, then known as Abyssinia, and Italy near Adwa, Ethiopia. It concluded the First Italo-Ethiopian War and secured Ethiopian sovereignty.

PT Facts

Popular Title: Grand Old Man of India.
Birth Anniversary: 200th birth anniversary observed in 2025.
First Indian Professor: Elphinstone College, 1845.
INC President: 1886, 1893 and 1906.
Major Theory: Drain Theory.
Important Book: Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.

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