Who of the following was/were economic critic/critics of colonialism in India?

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

All three were economic critics of British rule. Naoroji and R. C. Dutt used official British figures to show that India's wealth was being drained away. G. Subramania Iyer, the journalist who co-founded The Hindu and founded Swadesamitran, wrote 'Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India' (1903).

• ✓ 1. Dadabhai Naoroji's book 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' sharply criticised the economic impact of British rule. In it he used official statistics to estimate the wealth drained from India. He is the best-known author of the drain theory.
• ✓ 2. G. Subramania Iyer (1855–1916) co-founded The Hindu and founded the Tamil paper Swadesamitran. In 1903 he published 'Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India', an economic critique of colonial rule. Do not confuse him with Sir S. Subramania Iyer, the judge, who was also an early Congress leader.
• ✓ 3. Romesh Chunder Dutt, a historian, did a similar exercise to Naoroji's in his 'Economic History of India'. He showed how colonial policies took wealth out of India.

Remember · Economic critics of colonialism: Naoroji ('Poverty and Un-British Rule in India'), R. C. Dutt ('Economic History of India') and G. Subramania Iyer ('Some Economic Aspects of British Rule in India', 1903).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1), Ch 4 (practise this chapter)

Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2015, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). · Report an error