Dadabhai Naoroji was a Parsi economist and political leader who was born in 1825 in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai, India). He is considered to be the "father of Indian economics" and was one of the first Asian scholars to study and write about economics. Naoroji was a strong advocate for Indian self-rule and worked to promote education, industry, and economic development in India. He also served as a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, becoming the first Asian MP in British history. Naoroji's work on poverty and underdevelopment in India greatly influenced the Indian independence movement and the development of economic thought in India.
Dadabhai Naoroji is best known for his theory of "economic drain" or "drain theory," which he introduced in his book "Poverty and Un-British Rule in India" published in 1901. According to this theory, the British colonial government in India was systematically draining the wealth and resources of the Indian economy through various means such as trade policies, land revenue policies, and administrative costs.
Naoroji argued that the British government was exporting large amounts of capital and wealth from India in the form of profits, salaries, and pensions to Britain, while at the same time imposing heavy taxes and tariffs on Indian industry and agriculture. This economic drain, he argued, was the main cause of poverty and underdevelopment in India and was preventing the country from achieving its full economic potential.
Naoroji's theory of economic drain was influential in shaping the economic discourse and policy-making during the Indian independence movement, and it remains an important aspect of Indian economic history and thought.