Naoroji Furdunji (1817–1885) was a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

reformer from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. He was born at

Bharuch Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District. The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...

and educated at Bombay, becoming a teacher. During the 1840s, he defended the

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

of the Parsis, at that time under pressure from Christian missionary activity, in ''Fam-i-Farshid'' which he edited. He was a founder of the Student's Literary and Scientific Society in 1845, with

Dadabhai Naoroji Dadabhai Naoroji (4 September 1825 – 30 June 1917) also known as the "Grand Old Man of India" and "Unofficial Ambassador of India", was an Indian political leader, merchant, scholar and writer who served as 2nd, 9th, and 22nd President of t ...

Bhau Daji Ramachandra Vitthal Lad (1824–1874), commonly known as Bhau Daji Lad was an Indian physician, Sanskrit scholar, and an antiquarian. Early life and education Lad was born in 1822 in a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family in Mandrem (Manjari) Goa. A ...

Laad, Jagannath Shankar Shet, Vishwanath Mandlik and

Sorabji Shapurji Bengali Sorabji is a surname. It may refer to: *Alice Maude Sorabji Pennell (1874–1951), Indian physician and writer *Cornelia Sorabji (1866–1954), first woman barrister from India, social reformer and writer *Francina Sorabji (1833–1910), Indian educ ...

. In 1851, with backing from K. N. Kama and in company with other like-minded Parsis, he founded the Rahnumai Mazdayasnan Sabha, becoming its president for the rest of his life. As secretary of the Parsi Law Association from 1855 to 1864 he worked for legal codification. When the Bombay Association was set up in 1852, Naoroji Furdunji took the major part in drafting its petition, made in 1853, to the British Parliament. He was one of the Association's secretaries, with Bhau Daji, whose investigative activities directed at British governance caused alarm, and a withdrawal of support by the Association's leadership at the time of the petition. Naoroji Furdunji visited Europe three times, being sent in 1873 by the Sabha and the Bombay Association to London, to give evidence to a parliamentary committee on Indian finance. He worked with the British authorities as an interpreter, for a period from 1836 with

Alexander Burnes Captain Sir Alexander Burnes (16 May 1805 – 2 November 1841) was a Scottish explorer, military officer, and diplomat associated with the Great Game. He was nicknamed Bokhara Burnes for his role in establishing contact with and expl ...

, and for the Bombay court from 1845 to 1864.

Notes

1817 births 1885 deaths Parsi people from Mumbai Scholars from Mumbai Indian Zoroastrians 19th-century Indian lawyers {{India-academic-bio-stub