Who is known as the 'Grand Old Man of India'?

Dadabhai Naoroji is known as the "Grand Old Man of India", because of his long and dedicated service to the cause of India and his role as a founder and elder statesman of the national movement.

About Dadabhai Naoroji:

• He was born on 4 September 1825 in Bombay, in a Parsi family.
• He was educated at the Elphinstone Institution, Bombay, and became a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy there, the first Indian to hold such a post.
• He spent many years in England, where he worked for Indian causes.

His contributions:

• He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress (1885), and was its President three times.
• He was elected to the British House of Commons in 1892 from Central Finsbury, as a Liberal, becoming the first Asian member of the British Parliament.
• He took his oath on the Avesta (the Zoroastrian scripture).
• In Parliament, he spoke about India's poverty and the need for reforms.
• He was a member of the Royal Commission on Indian Expenditure (Welby Commission, 1895).

His "drain theory":

• He argued that British rule was draining India's wealth to Britain through "home charges", salaries and pensions of British officials, and profits of British companies.
• His book "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India" (1901) set out this theory.
• He was one of the first to estimate India's per capita income.

His demand for Swaraj:

At the Calcutta session of the Congress (1906), he declared that the goal of the Congress was "Swaraj".

His influence:

• He was respected by both Moderates and Extremists, and guided younger leaders such as Gokhale and Gandhi.
• He died on 30 June 1917.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjea and Pherozeshah Mehta had other titles.