By Dorab Erach Mistry
President, Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (Inc), London.
When HRH Prince Edward visited the New Zoroastrian Centre for Europe in
Harrow on 26th June 2002, it was the first visit by a member of the Royal Family
to the Zoroastrians. On that splendid occasion, celebrating the Golden Jubilee
of Her Majesty, the Prince said “I am sorry it took us 141 years to get here,
but the next visit will not be so long in coming". He had just been hearing of
the enormous contribution of the Zoroastrian community towards Britain.
It was a Zoroastrian Rustom Maneck Sett who obtained from the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb for the British East India Company the license to trade in India. In
1724, his son Nowroji became the first Asian as well as the first Zoroastrian to
visit the UK. It then took over a 100 years for the first Asian firm and also
the first Zoroastrian firm to be established in the UK. That happened in 1855
when Cama & Co was set up by Mr. Mancherjee Hormusjee Cama. His family was the
illustrious Cama family who owned and ran Asia's oldest newspaper The Bombay
Samachar in India and indeed still do so today. It is not insignificant that the
Bombay Samachar has always been published in Gujarati, sealing the bonds between
the Parsees of India and their hosts on the West Coast of India - the local
Gujarati population.
The Zoroastrians (popularly known as Parsees in India) traveled to distant
lands during the early 19th century and became pioneers in the trade of goods
such as cotton, silk, opium and also made a name as bankers and land developers.
The Zoroastrians in the UK during the period 1890 to 1935 also enjoyed great
success in Britain's political life with no less than 3 Zoroastrians ( also the
first 3 Asians ) getting elected to the House of Commons - Dadabhai Naoroji (
Liberal ), Sir Muncherjee Bhownaggree ( Conservative ) and Shapurji Saklatvala (
Labour & Communist ). However, this success in the political field was never
replicated in the field of business in the UK. The Zoroastrians who achieved
Baronetcy in the UK did so on account of their successes in India, Pakistan,
Hong Kong or Aden.
IRAN
There was also a Golden Age of Zoroastrian success in Iran during the reign
of the Pahlavi dynasty which gave rise to the legendary Irani-Zoroastrian
businessmen whose families are now settled in the UK or more prominently in
North America. Amongst these are the Zartoshty Family -the brothers Mehraban and
the late Faridoon whose philanthropy extends across the continents and who can
truly be called the Greatest Zoroastrian philanthropists of our times. Other
prominent Zoroastrian families from Iran include the late Arbab Rostam Guiv and
the late Arbab Jamsheed Jamsheedian.
Hong Kong
The achievements of the Zoroastrians of Hong Kong are particularly
spectacular. Small Parsee settlements in China with “fire temples” and "mobeds”
have been mentioned by historians in the 8th and 9th centuries during the Tang
Dynasty. More recently, from 1756, as the monopoly of the East India Company
gradually eased, Parsee merchants engaged in a thriving trade with China. Canton
was the hub of the China trade with firms such as Cowasjee Pallanjee &Co
establishing warehouses there as early as 1794. Early 19th century "taipans"
such as Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebjoy, the first Indian Knight Bachelor & Baronet and
Pestonjee Cowasjee Sethna were known as the princes of Eastern Merchants. The
first Parsee family to trade with China were the Readymoney’s (later known as
the Baronets Cowasjee Jehangir). The Banaji families were very large shippers,
owning over 30 ships in 1840. Perhaps the greatest Parsee trader of all times
was Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy who dominated the opium trade shipping it from
India to his agents Jardine Matheson and Company in Hong Kong. Some of these
Parsee merchants were even present when the British landed in Hongkong on 26th
January 1841.
In the first 25 years of Hong Kong's history, as many as a quarter of all
foreign firms in Hong Kong belonged to Zoroastrians. Sir Hormusjee Nowrojee Mody
was one of the principal founders of the Hong Kong University and the Kowloon
Cricket Club. He helped reclaim Central Praya, activate the Hong Kong share and
bullion markets and owned and developed large parcels of land in Kowloon. Mody
Road is named after this outstanding philanthropist and Bisney Road (named after
Dhunjibhoy Bisney) and Kotewall Road also commemorate such stalwarts. Dorabjee
Naorojee Mithaiwalla accelerated Sir Hormusjee Mody's development of Kowloon by
starting in 1888 the first regularly scheduled cross-harbour ferry service known
as Star Ferry. Both owned famous racing stables and Dorabjee also owned most of
the top luxury hotels of that time in Hong Kong.
Jehangir Ruttonjee built and donated the Ruttonjee Sanatorium (now Hospital)
and founded Hongkong's first brewery, later sold to San Miguel. Cowasjee
Pallanjee & Co helped to start and was star players of the Yarn market in the
late 1800s. Other Parsees brought banking and insurance from India to Hong Kong
and were founding committee members of the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank in 1865 and
of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce in 1861. In the twentieth century
the Jokhi family achieved huge success through the efforts of the late Shapurji
Jokhi who came to Hong Kong from Navsari and went on to become one of the
largest philanthropists in the mother country.
Aden & Africa
As the Parsees of Surat and Bombay ventured Eastward, several of their
brethren set sail westward to Aden and to East Africa. The most prominent name
in Aden was that of Cowasji Dinshaw Adenwalla (1827 to 1900) who developed Aden
from a sleepy town into a thriving port city. He spread his influence to the
flourishing settlements of Zanzibar and later to Mombasa. He was best known for
his amazing guts and business acumen to import an entire Floating Dock from
Britain to Aden in 1895 and this was known locally as the Dinshaw Pontoon.
Today, in the Middle East, the Motiwalla families are the most prominent being
engaged in shipping, retail, distribution and services. In Mozambique the
Ginwalla family developed agro industries and in neighboring South Africa, Freny
Ginwalla went on to become the first Speaker of the Parliament of South Africa
under President Nelson Mandela.
Pakistan & Sri Lanka
Nearer home, the Parsees moved from Gujarat to the fishing village of Karachi
and developed it into the prosperous city that it has now become. Edulji Dinshaw
was Karachi's biggest landowner and philanthropist. The prominent families were
the Soparivalas who founded the famous Bai Virbai Soparivala School, the family
of Ardeshir Hormusji Mama, Hirji Jamshedji Behrana, Dossabhai Meherwanji Wadia,
and Sir Jehangir Hormusji Kothari. Modern day industrialists in Karachi include
the Avaris, the Minwallas and the Bhandaras in Hotels, Real Estate, Travel and
Brewing, the Cowasjees (shipping) and the Kandawallas in manufacturing. In Sri
Lanka the current Finance minister is Kersi Choksey who hails from a family of
Sri Lanka's most reputed barristers.
United Kingdom
In the UK, the most prosperous Parsee family was Lady Freny and Sir
Dhunjishaw Bomanji Kalfati. The family lived in opulent luxury in a large estate
along the banks of the Thames at Windsor named appropriately as The Willows. The
current seat of the family is at Harrogate in Yorkshire. Britain's most famous
Zoroastrian was undoubtedly Freddie Mercury of the Rock Bank QUEEN. His family
hails from Zanzibar. Britain's most famous Zoroastrian businessman is Keki
Dadiseth an executive director of the multi billion Pound conglomerate UNILEVER.
In sport, the cricketer Ronnie Irani captains Essex and dons the colors of the
MCC. The Zoroastrian community in the UK is largely into the professions though
a few have ventured into businesses such as hospitality and catering. Karan
Bilimoria, founder of COBRA Beer, was recently voted Asian of the Year 2002.
North America
The Zoroastrian community in North America is relatively young with most of
the migration having taken place post 1960s. There is a large proportion of
Iranian Zoroastrians who have brought with them great business and trading
skills. Apart from the philanthropic Zartoshty family, other prominent
Zoroastrian businessmen in North America are Tahamton Arresh (real estate),
Alayar Dabestani (theatres & film distribution) and Edul Daver (engineering).
The most prominent Zoroastrian is of course the music conductor Zubin Mehta
followed by the writer Rohinton Mistry.
Conclusion - From Cama to COBRA!
Here in the UK, the most prominent Zoroastrian businessman of our recent
times is undoubtedly the young entrepreneur Karan Bilimoria who’s COBRA Beer has
propelled him into the select league of one of Britain's best known brand names.
This 41 year old chartered accountant and Cambridge graduate has spurned the
security of a professional career in order to follow in the entrepreneurial
footsteps of more famous Zoroastrians. COBRA Beer Ltd now extends into General
Bilimoria Wines and Karan Bilimoria is fast building up a publishing business
too.
The Zoroastrian community in the UK is organized under its Anjuman called The
Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe which was founded in 1861 by Mancherjee Cama,
Dadabhai Naoroji and others. The ZTFE has seen amongst its membership a galaxy
of stalwarts from the Camas, the Tatas, the Cowasjee Jehangirs, the Godrejs, the
Wadias and the Zartoshtys. It can truly be said that From Cama to Cobra has been
an exciting odyssey of enterprise, courage and success. Mother India can be
proud of her Zoroastrian diasporas.
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