Biography

[b]Birth[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai Naoroji was born on September 4, 1825. He was universally popular as "the grand old man of India" because his style resembled a lot with that of William E Gladstone of England. Dadabhai's birth-date will remain a memorable day in the history as the birthday of a great son of India who was the Father of Indian Nationalism and the Herald of Self-governing in India.[br /]
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[b]Parsi Ancestral Origin[/b][br /]
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Several years ago, there lay seven desolate islets from where the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) sprang. Fishing villages dotted the coastline. One of these was Mandvi, known after the old Mandovim or customhouse, where several Parsis were settled.[br /]
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One of the inhabitants was a poor Parsi priest, Naoroji Palanji Dordi, who lived with his wife, Manekbai, in a modest house in Khadak. The ancestors of Dadabhai belonged to Navsari, a small town in the territory of the Gaekwad of Baroda. It was originally known as Nag-mandal meaning snake-land. It is stated that the early Parsi settlers found its climate to be as salubrious as that of the ancient city of Sari, in Iran, the country of origin of all Indian Parsis and so they called it Nao Sari i.e. "New Sari" or Navsari as known today.[br /]
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Navsari has been the birthplace of many great Parsis like Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy I, Jamsetjee Tata etc. Many a residents of Navsari claim that the town is the birthplace of Dadabhai also, but there is no evidence as such. Though it is true that his ancestors belonged to Navsari, they had an estate in Dharampore, about 20 miles from Navsari. Dadabhai's grandfather and father pursued agriculture as their occupation. The family record shows a long unbroken chain of priests tracing their descent from Zarthost Mobed,[br /]
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the oldest known ancestor, who was the first Parsi priest to arrive in Navsari from Iran.[br /]
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One of the ancestors of Dadabhai, Chandji Kamdin, made the best perfumes of the day. Abul Fazl, the historian says about the status of Navsari in the ancient age that "Gujarat is the 'Garden of India' and Navsari is the 'Garden of Gujarat' famous for its fragrant flowers and perfumes, the like of which is nowhere to be found." Chandji Kamdin was very popular for the perfumes he made. His popularity reached the ears of Nur Jahan Begum. Desirous to know the recipe, she induced her husband, the Emperor Jahangir, to send for Chandji with his perfumes. On receiving the invitation from the Emperor, Chandji left for Delhi with jars of four select varieties of attar, which he laid at the feet of the Emperor. The Emperor in return entertained Chandji as a royal guest and was granted a hundred bighas of land with the title of Mulla Jamasp.[br /]
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[b]Childhood & Youth Experiences[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai Naoroji was only four years of age when he lost his father. There are no nursery annals from where one can know about Dadabhai's childhood. Though Dadabhai's mother was illiterate, her natural intelligence and resourcefulness were remarkable. Inspite of the adversities, she took great care to send her son to school and toiled for his upbringing. Dadabhai Naoroji once wrote giving a brief account of his early life in "The Days of my Youth" column in O'Connor's journal M.A.P., in the year 1901 :[br /]
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"There is one who, if she comes last in this narrative, has ever been first of all, my mother. Widowed when I, her only child, was an infant, she voluntarily remained a widow, wrapped up in me, her everything in the world. She worked for her child, helped by a brother. Although illiterate, and although all love for me, she was a wise mother. She kept a firm hand upon me. She was the wise counselor of the neighborhood. She helped me with all her heart in my work for female education and other social reforms against prejudices of the day. She made me what I am."[br /]
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[b]Schooling[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai went to a school where free education was imparted because his poor mother could not pay for his fees. The school classes were conducted by the 'Native Education Society' founded by Mountstuart Elphinstone, the then Governor of Mumbai. He became an ardent advocate of free-education and of the principle that every child should have the opportunity of receiving all the education it is capable of assimilating, whether he is born poor or rich. He was good at multiplication tables and at mental arithmetic.[br /]
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Once Dadabhai exposed a classmate at a school exhibition. A fellow-pupil had already won prize for excelling at one of the school examinations. But when, at the prize distribution, questions outside the book were asked, he faltered and Dadabhai grabbed the opportunity, rushed out of the ranks and answered for which he was awarded a prize. Mrs Postans, a lady traveler who was present at the function, has made a special note of the incident in her book Western India.[br /]
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At school, Dadabhai was fond of playing gilli-danda, a domestic Indian game of willows of sticks. Dadabhai strongly disliked anybody using foul language and would chide anyone using fowl language.[br /]
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[b]Marriage[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai was married when he was just 11 years old to Gulbai, aged seven, daughter of Sorabji Shroff. Infant marriages were then widely prevalent among Parsis.[br /]
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[b]Condition of Schools[/b][br /]
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During Dadabhai's days of infancy, education in Mumbai was a haphazard affair. There was not a single Government School in the city. Only a few schools were run by the benevolent missionary bodies and the Mumbai Education Society on western lines. In addition to this, penurious Mehtajis or administrators ran schools in a very miserable way. The verandahs of the houses were used as school premises. Chairs and tables were unknown.[br /]
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Slates and pencils were novelties; students carried with them a portable patti i.e. wooden piece on which they wrote with a need pen dipped in a chalky fluid. As a part of the curriculum, the student was required to sweep the school premises and perform the teacher's household chores.[br /]
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[b]The Making of the Elphinstone Institute[/b][br /]
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While Dadabhai was an infant, a great educational movement took place. Although the prevailing official view was against Western education, and Macaulay had not yet raised his powerful voice in favor of teaching European sciences to Indians through the medium of English, Mountstuart Elphinstone, the then Governor of Mumbai sympathized with the aspirations of a few Indians for promoting higher education among the people. When he retired in 1827, the Princes and the people of India raised a large sum for perpetuating his memory through a foundation of professorships for teaching the youths of the country the languages, literature, sciences, and moral philosophy of Europe. The college classes were amalgamated with the school classes of The Native Education and the combination was named the Elphinstone Institute. Dadabhai completed his college studies from this college. Here, he experienced the consciousness of the debt he owed to society. At Elphinstone, all that was noble in him was illumined by the study of the life and labors of the heroes of the world. [br /]
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[b]The Books he Read[/b][br /]
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Among the books he read, the pride of place was given to Firdausi's Shahnameh, the great Persian epic. Another favorite book, a constant companion, was a Gujarati treatise, 'The Duties of Zoroastrians' the essence of which was 'Good Thought, Good Speech, Good Deed'. According to Dadabhai, the literature he most enjoyed and had most to do with was, English. Watt's 'Improvement of the Mind' settled his style and mode of thought - never two words when one was enough. This helped him in becoming an orator and an author always comprehensible to the simplest minds.[br /]
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[b]College Studies[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai received the Clare Scholarship in 1840. Two years later he was admitted to the newly opened class of Normal Scholars. He was an exemplary student at the Elphinstone Institution during his college days, the pride of his professors and fellow-students.[br /]
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As a young man, Dadabhai had a handsome personality. Academic honors crowned his career, giving unmistakable indication of a remarkable vigor of intellect and clarity of thought and judgment. His teachers had great faith in him and they rightly judged him to be the perfect gentleman and the high-souled patriot that he was, to be soon. He was called "The Promise of India" by Professor Orlebar, and the prophecy of this professor proved to be true by subsequent events. Dadabhai had several firsts to his credit in different fields.[br /]
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Ø The first Indian Professor,[br /]

Ø The first to launch several organizations for the uplift of the people of India in social, intellectual and political fields.[br /]

Ø The first Indian MP (Member of the Parliament)[br /]

Ø The first Indian to sit on a Royal Commission, appointed in response to his own demands to secure financial justice for his country, and above all,[br /]

Ø The first and foremost Indian to claim self-government for his countrymen.[br /]
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[b]Golden Opportunity Lost[/b][br /]
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As a student, Dadabhai was so brilliant that not only his professors but also the Chief Justice of Mumbai were impressed by his academic career. Sir Erskine Perry, Chief Justice of Mumbai, who also was the President of the Board of Education, impressed by Dadabhai's brilliance, suggested that Dadabhai be sent to England to qualify as a barrister.[br /]
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This being expensive, was difficult proposition for Dadabhai to carry out. Sir Perry offered to contribute half the expenses himself, provided the other half was borne by the elders of the Parsi community. Dadabhai looked forward eagerly to such a career but was miserably disappointed when he learnt that his orthodox elders smelt disaster in that generous offer. It was a common practice of the missionaries to offer free services to the poor and needy and in return, convert them to Christianity with a promise for providing more facilities. In 1839, the missionaries succeeded in inducing two Parsi lads, Dhanjibhai Naoroji and Hormusji Pestonji to embrace Christianity. As a result of this event, the whole Parsi community was up in arms against the two. The missionaries were considered 'devils in human shape' by the Parsis. The community was so much outraged at that time that disturbance of peace was apprehended.[br /]
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For the time being, it seemed as if Dadabhai had lost a golden opportunity. On completion of his academic career, he was offered the humble chair of "Head Native Assistant Master" of the Elphinstone School. The Assistant Master's place was a stepping-stone to the Assistant Professorship of Mathematics. Two years later, he was appointed Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. It was the first professorship ever held by an Indian at any prominent college in India.[br /]
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[b]Dadabhai's Family[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai had three children. His only son was named Ardeshir and was fondly called Adi by friends and family members. The first daughter was named Shirin and the second was called Maki.[br /]
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Adi was only five years of age when Dadabhai took him to England with him. For the first time, he took with him his mother, wife and daughter Shirin to England. There is no family record to show where they put up, but it is learnt from one Miss Cursetji's diary that he rented a house in Hornsey, with a splendid garden, and named it 'Parsee Lodge'.[br /]
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Adi passed his London Matriculation exam from there. After that, it was arranged that he qualify himself for the Indian Medical Service. When he was a student at Owens College in Manchester, he was a very active member of a volunteer corps. One day, by accident a gun carriage ran over his left leg and arm and the injury disqualified him from the Medical Service. He therefore returned to Mumbai and joined the Grant Medical College, where he obtained the Anderson Scholarship for proficiency in surgery and surgical anatomy.[br /]
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When Dadabhai was in England, his family was looked after by Muncherji Dadina, a friend and pupil of Dadabhai. He attended to all the personal affairs of Dadabhai's family. Both the families lived on such intimate terms that three matrimonial alliances were formed, while the brides and bridegrooms were still in their teens. Adi, Dadabhai's only son was engaged to Dadina's daughter Vir; his first daughter Shirin to Dadina's son Fram; and his second daughter Maki to Fram's younger brother Homi.[br /]
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Adi's marriage brought sunshine in his life. In the following year Dadabhai learnt with joy that he had become the grandfather of a baby girl. Two years later, Adi took his degree of Licentiate of Medicine and Surgery and was placed in charge of the Civil Hospital in Kutch Mandvi.[br /]
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Maki took her Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) in 1897 and FSPG of Edinburg and Licentiate of Medicine (LM) of Dublin, later. Dadabhai wished that she stay back in London and start her practice there. But she was wanted by her mother and so had to return to Mumbai. She got married to Homi in December of that year.[br /]
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[b]Change of Career's[/b][br /]
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The commercial firm of the Camas decided to open a business firm in London with a branch in Liverpool, in the year 1855. It was the first Indian commercial house to be established in England. Dadabhai was invited to join the company as a partner. Though he had no experience of business, his selfless labor and powers of organizations made him capable. This was aptly recognized by the Camas.[br /]
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Dadabhai readily accepted the offer. As a teacher and as a politician he had made "India for Indians" his slogan. He felt that intimate contact with England was needed to provide a home for Indian students. Then they could go there and compete for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) and other exams. This he thought could be achieved by going to England. Thus, the shift from mathematics to merchandise opened out a vast vista of patriotic service to the country, and what appeared a fall turned out to be a stepping-stone to his elevation to the unique position he attained later as a Peerless Patriot and the Father of Indian Nationalism.[br /]
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Dadabhai left for England on June 27, 1855 in the P & O Navigation Co.'s boat "Madras". On July 9, at Aden, the passengers were transferred to another steamer called "Oriental" bound for Suez. Thus, proceeding overland, they joined the "Sultan" at Alexandria and reached Southampton on August 22. The Camas who went with him were Muncherji Hormusji Cama and Khurshedji Rustomji Cama. The three together were to form a triumvirate.[br /]
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No action was to be taken unless they were unanimous in their decision. In case of difference of opinion, reference was to be made to the Head office in Mumbai.[br /]
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He felt it was his sacred duty to lay the foundations for the success of both Cama & Co. and business enterprise of Indian Community.[br /]
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Dadabhai's idealism led to differences of opinion in the triumvirate. Khurshedji Cama agreed to his idealism but Muncherji Cama was a shrewd businessman. Once it so happened that Dadabhai suspected the manufacturers with whom his firm had placed an order for reel and thread on behalf of a Mumbai firm, had not supplied reels of specified length. So in order to check he took the bundles of reels to his bedroom. He sat up till midnight, measured the thread and found that the length of the reels was less than the stipulated length.[br /]
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Some reels measured 80 yards instead of the stipulated 100 yards "We shall have to reject these reels" said Dadabhai to his colleagues.[br /]
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"Why ?" asked Mucherji Cama.[br /]

"Because of the shortage." [br /]

"That is not our concern", urged Muncherji. "Such discrepancies are not unusual; if our Mumbai friends feel aggrieved, they may prefer a claim for damages."[br /]
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Dadabhai was however upset with this. "What you say may be true, but having discovered the shortage, how can I be a party to the transaction ?"[br /]
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Khurshedji Cama agreed with Dadabhai. The matter was referred to the Head Office at Mumbai. The Head Office did not heed to Dadabhai's complains and rather ordered not to make much fuss about the shortage. Dadabhai was prepared for this rebuff. It seemed undesirable and impracticable for Dadabhai to continue with the business alliance after the expiry of his agreement with the firm.[br /]
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The firm of the Camas also dealt in commodities like opium, wine and spirits, but it was against Dadabhai's ideals to make earnings from such sources, which led to the ruin of human beings. Therefore, he wrote to the Head Office stating that he was not interested to take his share in the profits accruing from the business of such commodities. To this Khurshedji N Cama, head of the firm asked Dadabhai that :[br /]
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"Will you tell me from what sources Government gets funds for the payment of salaries to professors of colleges and other officers ? Did you not receive your salary as a professor from revenue derived from the traffic in opium and liquor ? If you retire from business and revert to Government service, will you not once more live on tainted revenue obtained from the same business that stinks in your nostrils ? If our firm ceases dealing in opium, will it put a stop to the traffic in that commodity? Will not others deal in what you taboo ?"[br /]
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[b]In England[/b][br /]
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In March 1856, Dadabhai was nominated Professor of Gujarati at the University College, London. He held that office till 1865-66, when he retired. He was also a member of the Faculty of Arts and Laws and a member of the Senate of the College.[br /]
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What kind of life did Dadabhai lead in England ? Where did he live and in what style ? Whom did he meet ? Whose friendship did he cherish ? What did he think of them and they of him ? Only a few particulars could be gathered from personal inquiries made of Dadabhai's nephew Framji Rustamji Desai. He was one among the batch of students whom Dadabhai took to England in 1859.[br /]
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The three partners lived in London in the traditional Parsi style. It appears from Dadabhai's correspondence with K R Cama, that he lived mostly in Liverpool, where the bulk of the cotton business was transacted. They had a Parsi cook and Parsi writers as Muncherji insisted on all the Zoroastrian rites being rigidly observed. He had no objection to knives and forks, but insisted on the Parsi butlers going round the table, at the end of each meal, with a jug of water in one hand and a basin in the other. He had reconciled himself to finger bowls. Whether their English guests joined in the customary ablutions is not known.[br /]
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In those days, Dadabhai went about in Liverpool and London, dressed in a costume of his own invention. He wore a long broadcloth coat, which was buttoned up chest high, a white silk handkerchief round the shirt collar which passed through a plain gold ring, black trousers to match and a light black velvet cap, from which flowed a blue silk tassel. Whenever he returned to India, he reverted to the orthodox Parsi costume.[br /]
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[b]Second Voyage to Europe[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai left for his second voyage for Europe on January 9, 1859. This time he was accompanied by Jamshedji Palanji Kapadia, who later on earned a name as a Persian scholar and historian, and Pestanji Ratanji Colah. He also took with him, as his protégés three students - his nephew Framji Rustamji Desai and two youths of the Cama family, Jamshedji Kharshedji Cama, and Hormusji Darabji Cama. After reaching Liverpool, he informed K R Cama about his shifting to his new house, at 63 Oxford Street.[br /]
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Dadabhai started his own business under the name of Dadabhai Naoroji Co. and he took Kapadia and Colah as his two partners. Later, in the middle of 1860, Edulji Nasarwanji Master joined him as an assistant.[br /]
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Now, there was nobody to interfere between him and his principles. The business ran smoothly and it was proved that successful trading could be done on principles of ethics and a thriving tradesman could remain a high-souled man too.[br /]
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[b]Dadabhai : The Philanthropist[/b][br /]
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Though his firm was in its infancy, it seems from the way he donated all that he had earned, was enough to keep him in fairly affluent circumstances in those days. He was a Director of the Queen Insurance Company and a guarantor of the Industrial Exhibition of 1862. He was always ready to provide financial help to several projects of public undertakings, among which were the movements to raise funds in Mumbai for perpetuating the memory of Mountstuart Elphinstone and Jagannath Shankarseth. He presented an address and a purse to Principal Harkness on his retirement and for the provision of a Library of Sanskrit books for the Elphinstone Institution. He contributed handsomely to the Zoroastrian Fund raised in Europe in 1861, for the Parsi Community in London and also to another fund raised in Mumbai for dispensing English education to Parsi girls.[br /]
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Dadabhai's varied and manifold activities in England are listed as below. He was an active member of : [br /]
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Ø The Liverpool Literary and Philosophic Society[br /]

Ø The Philomatic Society[br /]

Ø The Council of the Liverpool Athenaeum[br /]

Ø The Royal Institute of London[br /]

Ø The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland[br /]

Ø The Ethnological Society[br /]

Ø The Anthropological Society[br /]

Ø The Society of Arts [br /]

Ø The National Indian Association.[br /]
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He was one of the founders and the treasurer of the Lodge, 'The Marquis of Dalhousie'.[br /]
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In 1861, the London Zoroastrian Association was founded by him to cope with the problems concerning their welfare. He served as the President of the organization from its inception in 1861 till the date of his retirement from England in 1907.[br /]
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[b]"Rast-Goftar" - The Truth Teller[/b][br /]
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Dadabhai wanted to serve India as opportunity permitted. He wanted to start and run a newspaper in order to bring reforms, but had no means. There were five Gujarati journals in Mumbai, all owned by Parsis, but none had the independence or the impartiality needed for the cause of reform. Dadabhai approached Kharshedji Nasarwanji Cama and mentioned the difficulties to his public-spirited friend and found in him an enthusiastic counselor and helper. Both friends agreed that a fortnightly newspaper be started, named the Rast-Goftar or the Truth Teller. The funds would be provided by K N Cama and Dadabhai would run the paper without remuneration. The copies of the journal would be distributed among the members of the community free of charge. The general public of Mumbai looked upon Dadabhai as the sole founder and proprietor of the paper. The first number of the new journal saw the light on November 15, 1851. A thousand copies were printed for free distribution. There was not a single advertisement in it. It was a sheer labor of love. Dadabhai's literary output, even at that early date was considerable and estimable. He had edited the Gnyan Prasarak magazine and contributed numerous articles on social subjects.[br /]
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Dadabhai's connection with Rast-Goftar continued even after he left India in 1855 and made England his home. A syndicate was then formed to run the paper. It consisted of Dadabhai, K N Cama, K R Cama, Dossabhai Framji Karaka, Naoroji Furdoonji, Sorabjee Shahpurjee Bengalee and Pestanji Ruttonji Colah. Three years later, Karsandas Mulji, the well-known Hindu reformer, become the eighth member of this group.[br /]
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[b]Dadabhai and Early Politics[/b][br /]
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The East India Company had secured a 20-year lease of life by its charter of 1833. After 1833, the Company had ceased to be a trading corporation and had become a ruling body. When the Company's charter had been renewed, a clause was specially introduced in the Act of 1833 to the effect that no native of India, or natural born subject therein, should be disqualified from office for discriminatory reasons like religion, place of birth, descent or color. Although this clause made Indians eligible, it was rendered negatory by the distinction made between the covenanted and uncovenanted service. With the spread of Western education, Indians began to feel that they had a right to demand that the country should no longer be governed in the spirit of a commercial concern. The Bengalis took the lead and formed an association for sending representations to the British Government. In Mumbai too, youths followed the same trend. On August 26, 1852, a meeting of the 'native inhabitants' was held in the rooms of the Elphinstone Institution, and on the same evening the first political association was inaugurated in the Mumbai Presidency, named the Mumbai Association. Dadabhai was a government servant but still he participated in the proceedings and delivered a neat little speech.[br /]
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Dadabhai strongly opposed the renewal of the lease and organized large meetings and sent petitions to the British Government in England to deny the Company a renewal. Even though the Company's lease was renewed, his petitions dispelled a lot ignorance regarding India. He wrote several petitions to the Governors and viceroys regarding India's problems.[br /]
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When he went to England with the Camas in 1855, he wanted to win sympathizers for India. He joined several learned societies, delivered many speeches and wrote articles on the plight of India. He founded the East Indian Association on December 1, 1866. The association consisted of high-ranking officers from India and people who had access to Members of the British Parliament. Dadabhai had become the unofficial ambassador of India.[br /]
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In 1892, Dadabhai was elected to the British Parliament from Central Finsbury as the Liberal party candidate. This made him work for India from within the government. He got a resolution passed for holding preliminary exams for the ICS in India and England simultaneously and also got the Wiley Commission, the royal commission on India's expenditure, to acknowledge the need for even distribution of administrative and military expenditure between India and England.[br /]
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In 1896, Dadabhai's efforts were rewarded when the secretary of state for India agreed to appoint Indians out of 60 to the ICS by nomination.[br /]
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Dadabhai came in contact with the rich and wealthy people and rulers through his fund raising for various projects. One of them, Malharrao Gaekwad, the Maharaja of Baroda was always in trouble with the British because of misrule of his territory. Ironically, the Government had appointed an inquiry into his misdeeds. The Maharaja asked for Dadabhai's help and persuaded him to become the Prime Minister of Baroda in 1874. Within a year, entire administration was reformed and efficiency was brought into the system. Dadabhai resigned from his position in 1875, when his task was complete.

As the years passed, Dadabhai grew more and more disillusioned with the 'fair-minded' British. After spending years collecting statistics, Dadabhai propounded the Drain Theory : "The inevitable consequence of foreign domination is the drain of wealth of the subject nation to the country of the rulers."[br /]
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Dadabhai proved that the average annual income of an Indian was barely Rs 20. Examining the import and export figures for 37 years, he proved that India's exports exceeded its imports by Rs 50 crores (approximately $135 million) annually.[br /]
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In 1895, he was appointed to the Royal Commission on Indian expenditure. He was instrumental in propagating the view that India was too heavily taxed and its wealth was flowing to England. These views were summarized in his book Poverty and UnBritish Rule in India published in 1901.[br /]
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Dadabhai was key to the establishment of the Indian National Congress (INC) founded by A O Hume. More importantly, he averted a split in the Congress between the extremists like B G Tilak, B C Pal and A Ghosh and the moderates. The extremists advocated the boycott of British goods and asked for Swaraj (self-government). The moderates wanted to use constitutional methods to gain autonomy and not freedom. Both factions wanted an unbiased leader to chair the annual session of Congress at Calcutta in 1906. Both factions looked to Dadabhai who calmed both sides realizing that a fissure in the Congress would be a major setback to the freedom struggle that had already began. In his presidential speech, Dadabhai declared that the goal of the INC for India was Swaraj and the means to achieve the goal would be constitutional.[br /]
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Incidentally, Dadabhai Naoroji was present at the first meeting of the Indian National Congress in 1885 and was thrice elected to the post of the president, in 1886, 1893 and again in 1906.[br /]
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In 1915, Mrs Annie Besant was trying to form a Home Rule League in India. She announced that her organization, the Commonwealth, had decided to start the League with "Home Rule for India" as its only object. It was as an auxiliary to the National Congress in India and its British Committee in England. It stated its aim to educate the people and to give to the demand of the Congress for self-government. Dadabhai was asked to be its President. Most of the Congressman considered it outrageous that another organization should be formed for the same purpose for which Congress was formed i.e. self-government. They suspected that extremists would use it merely to wreck the Congress.[br /]
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Dadabhai finally consented to be the President but he kept certain conditions to ensure that Congress' future was not in danger. One of the conditions he imposed was that he should not be called upon for any active work or for speaking or writing, as he was not competent to undertake any such work at his age. He also asked Mrs Besant that the League must not be turned against the Congress. [br /]
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Wedderburn issued jointly with Sir Krishna Gupta, a note to Dadabhai that it was not favorable for Congress if he become the President of Home Rule League. But such protests were of no avail. Sir Dinshaw Wacha also tried his best to induce Dadabhai to change his mind but no positive result came of it. It was arranged that the question should be discussed about the time of the Congress Session in December, at a joint conference of the leading members of the Congress and of the All-India Muslim League. A conference was held accordingly, but it could not arrive at a definite understanding. Even during 1916, the scheme did not materialize. This delay saved Dadabhai from a very embarrassing situation. Before the League was duly constituted in the following year, his days of political activity were over. The quite eventide of rest had come to him at last.[br /]
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In 1916, the Mumbai University decided to confer on Dadabhai and Pherozeshah Mehta, the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws. Pherozeshah Mehta died before the day fixed for conferring the degree (January 18). Dadabhai mercifully went in person to receive the degree.[br /]
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Dadabhai's earnest wish was to live to see the inauguration of the reforms, which would place India securely on the road of self-government. He was, however, suddenly taken ill two months before the declaration of August 20, 1917. It guaranteed increased association of Indians in every branch of the administration and the gradual development of self-governing institutions.[br /]
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It was a case of general debility, but caused a grave concern. Dadabhai was removed from his house in Versova to Palitana House, Cumbala Hills, Mumbai, the residence of Mr Maneck Captain. Here, on June 30, 1917, the greatest of the great Indians of the day passed away peacefully, surrounded by all the members of his family, except his two daughters who were in Kashmir.[br /]
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After his body was consigned to the Tower of Silence, according to Parsi rites, Sir Narayenrao Chandravarkar paid a glowing tribute to his memory.[br /]
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Many a tribute poured in from the four corners of the Globe, many a public meeting was held, many a monument was raised and are still being raised to his memory. But alas, what monument could be befitting to perpetuate to his memory than a rejuvenated India that he left behind ![br /]
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