RAS question
The phrase 'Un-British Rule in India' was used by:
Correct answer: (D) Dadabhai Naoroji.
Dadabhai Naoroji used the phrase "Un-British Rule in India" in the title of his 1901 book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.
Explanation
Dadabhai Naoroji is the correct answer because the phrase appears in the title of his book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, published in 1901. Naoroji used the phrase to argue that British rule in India violated Britain's own professed principles of justice and fair play. NCERT, Our Pasts III: Chapter 8, The Making of the National Movement: 1870s-1947 names Naoroji among the early Congress leadership and states that Naoroji's book Poverty and Un-British Rule in India offered a scathing criticism of the economic impact of British rule. In RAS terms, the phrase is therefore tied not to a general slogan of the extremist phase, but to Naoroji's moderate-era economic critique of colonial rule.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bal Gangadhar Tilak is not linked to the specific phrase "Un-British Rule in India" by Naoroji's 1901 book or the NCERT chapter.
- (B) Gopal Krishna Gokhale may belong to the broader moderate tradition, but the phrase here is identified with Naoroji's 1901 book, not with Gokhale.
- (C) Surendranath Banerjee appears among early nationalist leaders, but NCERT, Our Pasts III: Chapter 8, The Making of the National Movement: 1870s-1947 connects Poverty and Un-British Rule in India specifically with Dadabhai Naoroji, not Banerjee.
Concept
This tests early Indian nationalism, especially the moderate economic critique of colonial rule. RAS repeatedly asks such phrase-book-person links because they connect personalities, texts and ideological strands in the national movement.