Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism

368 Pages·2020·5.563 MB·English

by  Dinyar Patel

NAOROJI

NAOROJI
Pioneer of Indian Nationalism
dinyar patel
Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts, and London, England 2020
Copyright © 2020 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Jacket photograph: Dadabhai Naoroji (1825–1917), circa 1890. Hulton Archive /
Stringer © GettyImages
Jacket design: Annamarie McMahon Why
9780674245372 (EPUB)
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Patel, Dinyar, author.
Title: Naoroji : Pioneer of Indian Nationalism / Dinyar Patel.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press, 2020. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035455 | ISBN 9780674238206 (cloth)
Subjects: LCSH: Naoroji, Dadabhai, 1825–1917. | Nationalists— India— Biography. |
Legislators— Great Britain— Biography. | India— Politics and
government—1857–1919. | Great Britain— Colonies— Asia.
Classification: LCC DS475.2.N354 P373 2020 | DDC 320.540954/092 [B]— dc23
LC rec ord available at https://l ccn . loc . gov / 2019035455
For Parinaz

contents
A Note on Terminology and Style ix
Introduction 1
1 Young Dadabhai, Young Bombay 13
2 Of Poverty and Princes 46
3 Turning toward Westminster 87
4 An Indian Emissary in the Heart of Empire 123
5 The Central Finsbury Campaign 160
6 Member for India 190
7 Swaraj 220
Conclusion 255
Timeline 271
Key Individuals 279
A Note on Sources 291
Abbreviations 297
Notes 299
Acknowl edgments 337
Index 343

a note on terminology
and style
The spellings of nineteenth- century Indian names vary widely. In this
book, I have tried to adopt the most commonly used spellings for par tic-
u lar individuals. Parsis and many other Indians did not adopt a standard-
ized use of surnames until the late nineteenth century; therefore, some
individuals, such as Navrozji Fardunji, are referred to by their given name
(Navrozji, in this case) in subsequent references.
The name Dadabhai Naoroji pre sents a conundrum. Naoroji was his
father’s name, and the family’s surname, which they occasionally used,
was Dordi. In India, he was regularly referred to by his given name, often
as “Mr. Dadabhai.” In Great Britain, Naoroji was increasingly recognized
as his surname, and he often went by “Mr. D. Naoroji.” It is a good example
of the hybrid world that Dadabhai Naoroji inhabited. In this book, I have
treated Naoroji as his surname. His children and grandchildren eventu-
ally adopted Naoroji as their surname, dispensing with Dordi.
To avoid confusion, I have retained the colonial spellings for Indian
cities; therefore, Mumbai remains Bombay, Kolkata remains Calcutta,
Chennai remains Madras, and so on. I have employed the term “Anglo-
Indian” to mean Britons resident in India. To describe individuals of mixed
Indian and Eu ro pean heritage, I have used the term “Eurasian.”
Naoroji’s correspondents, who wrote their letters in a tearing hurry,
frequently abbreviated common words. For clarity, I have lightly edited
quotations and fully spelled out such abbreviations. For example, “yr” has
been rendered as “your,” and “shd” has been rendered as “should.”
ix