MEDAILLE UNIQUE délivrée à Sir JAMSETJEE JEEJEBHOY nommé CHEVALIER en honneur à sa munificence et à son patriotisme et remise en main propre par la Reine d'Angleterre VICTORIA l'an 1842. Poids : 75,9 gr, diamètre 55mm.

Delivered SINGLE MEDAILLE with Sir JAMSETJEE JEEJEBHOY KNIGHT in honor with its munificence and its patriotism and handing-over in own hand by the Queen of England VICTORIA the year 1842. Weight: 75,9 gr.,

Jamsetjee, le plus jeune fils du tisserand Jeejeebhoy marchand de tissu et son épouse, Jeevibai, sont nés dans le ` Yatha Ahu Vairyo Mohalla 'près du marché de Crawford à Bombay le 15 juillet 1783. Il a perdu ses parents tôt dans la vie, et n'a pas eu les bénédictions d'un enseignement conventionnel, quelque chose qu'il a considérablement manqué et qui aurait dû lui permettre de rentrer dans des écoles de garçons et filles et universités dans la ville, quand il est devenu un homme riche en années postérieures. Mais la vie était dure pour le jeune Jamsetjee. Il a commencé un apprentissage non scolarisé avec son oncle, Framji Baltivala (notez la convenance du nom de famille !), qui vendait des bouteilles en verre vides hors d'un magasin à Fort. Pendant les trois années qu'il a travaillées avec son oncle, il a obtenu sa propre expérience de vente et de commerce, et a également étudié la comptabilité de Gujarati, anglaise et élémentaire par la force de ses propres efforts. Contes des accomplissements et des exploits de Hirji Readymoney (nom de famille notez de ` bawaji le 'encore !), il fut le premier commerçant de Parsi pour visiter la Chine en 1756, Jamsetjee était nspiré pour entreprendre un voyage en Chine de lui-même. C'était les voyages suivants qui lui ont apporté l'immense richesse. Tels étaient les jours où la contrebande répandue de la soie et de l'opium par les commerçants sans scrupules avait lieu, mais au commencement, Jamsetjee a montré son intégrité. Bien qu'il ait été agé seulement de 17 ans, les hommes d'affaires de Bombay ont aidé ses finances et son degré de solvabilité jusqu'à la somme de 40.000 roupies (une somme grande en ces jours), dans la responsabilité du jeune génie de Parsi pour le commerce. Par des voyages dangereux en avant et en arrière, il a amassé de grandes fortunes, mais une tragédie le frappe le 18 février 1803, quand le grand feu de Bombay, qui a brûlé la moitié de la maison de Fort, de Jamsetjee réduit sa richesse en cendres. Pendant ces jours d'essai quand les centaines de personnes étaient sur le pavé rendus, deux hommes d'affaires de Parsi sont venus à leur délivrance. Le pavé de Naoroji a ouvert les portes de son pavillon à la maison le sans-abri, et Pestonji Bomanji Wadia a donné la nourriture aux centaines à son palais chez Parel.Jamsetjee n'était pas un à se recroqueviller sous le malheur. Il a entrepris ses voyages en Chine encore, et a réparé ses pertes. Par l'âge de 40, il avait fait plus de deux million roupies , une somme confortable en ces jours. Davantage de richesse est venue à lui du commerce de coton pendant les guerres napoléoniennes. Il a acheté sa propre flotte de bateaux. Ledit seigneur Elphinstone, puis gouverneur de Bombay, de Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, "par intégrité stricte, par industrie et exactitude dans toutes ses transactions commerciales, il a contribué pour soulever le caractère du négociant de Bombay sur les marchés les plus éloignés." Tout le long, l'associé de Jamsetjee était son oncle par qui il a commencé sa carrière humble en tant que vendeur de bouteilles, Framjee Batlivala, dont la fille, Avabai, est devenu l'épouse de Jamsetjee quand il avait 20 ans, et elle dix. Ils ont apprécié le bonheur pendant 56 années, ont eu sept fils et trois filles, dont quatre fils et deux filles morts dans la petite enfance. Après la mort de son oncle (et de beau-père), Jamsetjee a pris Motichand Amichand (un hindou) et Mohomedali Rogay (un musulman de Konkani) en tant que ses associés dans le Jamsetjee ferme Jeejeebhoy et Cie., et leurs efforts avaient énormément réussis. Côte à côte avec ses activites d'affaires, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy a entrepris plusieurs projets charitables, tout le caractère cosmopolite. Il a dépensé 145.403 roupies pour installer monsieur J. J. Dharamshala à la route de Bellasis, et jusqu'à de vieilles d'aujourd'hui et indigentes personnes en nombre reçoivent la nourriture, l'habillement, l'abri et les médecines libres. Tous leurs besoins de 150 dernières années, indépendamment de caste, de foi ou de religion, ont été occupés par le Dharamshala, la première maison libre pour les personnes âgées en Asie.Jamsetjee plus tard a fondé J. J. Hospital et l'université médicale de Grant (baptisée du nom de son monsieur Robert Grant, puis gouverneur d'ami de Bombay). Il institua également, pour une somme de18.000 roupies, monsieur J.J. Books, chargé des prix et des médailles afin d'encourager les étudiants en médecine, et en 1851, au profit de pauvres femmes, il a ouvert l'institution d'obstétrique Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Il était également un grand champion pour les droits des femmes. Le 9 Mars 1840, pour la première fois, les dames de sa famille sont apparues en public parmi les hommes des différentes communautés quand il a donné un banquet pour célébrer le mariage de la Reine Victoria et du prince albert. Avant 1845, il n'y avait aucune communication de terre entre Bandra et Mahim et les gens ont dû être transportés en bac au-dessus de la crique de Mahim. Il était dangereux, et pendant les moussons, les personnes innombrables perdraient leurs vies aux services de bac douteux et non fiable. Jamsetjeepaye 155.800 roupies afin de construire la Chaussée de Mahim, cela a été juste baptisé du nom de son épouse, Madame Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Non seulement a-t-elle sauvé les vies innombrables sans compter, mais ce fut également une mâne pour tous ceux qui vivaient dans les faubourgs. Cependant, telle est la mesquinerie misérable de nos politiciens de nos jours que la Chaussée de Mahim a été récemment renommée par quelqu'un de beaucoup moins digne. Honte, déshonneur, comment tout à fait pathétique de ces politiciens.Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy a dû son degré de solvabilité 126 charités publiques notables, y compris monsieur J. J. School des arts, monsieur J. J. School d'architecture, monsieur J. J. School d'art commercial. Par la diffusion de sa renommée, les résidants de Poona l'ont approché pour construire une digue afin de contenir les eaux faisant rage des fleuves de Mulla et de Mutha, et l'homme aimable s'est senti obligé. Il a construit des puits et des réservoirs partout dans Bombay, des hôpitaux et des écoles à Surat et Navsari, Agiaries à Bombay et à Poona. Sa charité n'était pas simplement confinée aux êtres humains. Il a contribué à hauteur de80.000 roupies à un Panrapole pour les animaux, distribué l'argent pour l'alimentation des chiens erants,établit des endroits avec de l'eau pour des bétails et les chevaux. Pour tout son bon travail, il est devenu le premier Indien sur qui Knighthood a été conféré. Son fils, Rustomjee, était le deuxième Indien pour recevoir cet honneur. Dans sa liste d'honneurs d'anniversaire du 24 mai 1857, la Reine Victoria a conféré la dignité de baronnet au premier chevalier indien, monsieur Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy qui était agé de 74 ans à ce moment-là. Il est mort deux ans après, et jamais après que monsieur Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy ait Bombay n'a jamais avant eu un fils avec un si grand coeur. Ses seules charités sont estimées à 100 million de roupies, Dieu bénissent son âme. La raison pour laquelle nous racontons son histoire dans un tel détail est que, peut-être, elle pourrait inspirer un autre jeune homme ou une jeune femme (pourquoi pas une femme ?), qui pourrait émuler l'exemple de ce pauvre orphelin qui a fait fortune et partagé parmi ses citoyens et camarades. Oui, Bombay, dans le prochain millenieum, a besoin d'un autre monsieur Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy

Jamsetjee, the youngest son of cloth weaver Jeejeebhoy and his wife, Jeevibai, was born in the `Yatha Ahu Vairyo Mohalla' near the Crawford Market in Bombay on July 15, 1783. He lost his parents early in life, and did not have the blessings of a formal education, something he greatly missed and which prompted to open several boys and girls schools and colleges in the city when he became an affluent man in later years. But life was hard for the young Jamsetjee. He began as an unschooled apperentice to his uncle, Framji Baltivala (notice the appropriateness of the surname!), who sold empty glass bottles out of a shop at Fort. During the three years that he worked with his uncle, he obtained his first hand experience of trade and commerce, and also studied Gujarati, English and elementary accountancy by the dint of his own efforts. Tales of the achievements and exploits of Hirji Readymoney (notice the `bawaji' surname again!), the first Parsi trader to visit China in 1756, inspired Jamsetjee to undertake a voyage to China himself. It was the subsequent voyages that brought him immense wealth. Those were the days when widespread smuggling of silk and opium by unscrupulous traders was taking place, but from the beginning, Jamsetjee displayed his integrity. Although he was then only 17 yearsold, Bombay businessmen extended finance and credit to the extent of Rs. 40,000 (a grand sum in those days), in recognition of the young Parsi's genius for commerce. Through hazardous voyages to and fro, he amassed great fortunes, but tragegy struck him on February 18, 1803, when the great fire of Bombay, that burnt half of Fort, reduced Jamsetjee's home and wealth to ashes. During those trying days when hundreds of people were rendered homeless, two Parsi businessmen came to their rescue. Naoroji Sett opened the doors of his bungalow to home the homeless, and Pestonji Bomanji Wadia gave food to hundreds at his palace at Parel. Jamsetjee was not one to cower under misfortune. He undertook his voyages to China again, and made good his losses. By the age of 40, he had made over two crore rupees, a staggering sum in those days. Further riches came to him from cotton trade during the Napoleonic Wars. He bought his own fleet of ships. Said Lord Elphinstone, then Governor of Bombay, of Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, "By strict integrity, by industry and punctuality in all his commercial transactions, he contributed to raise the character of the Bombay merchant in the most distant markets." All along, Jamsetjee's partner was his uncle with whom he began his humble career as an bottle-seller, Framjee Batlivala, whose daughter, Avabai, became Jamsetjee's wife when he was 20, and she ten. They enjoyed wedded bliss for 56 years, had seven sons and three daughters, of which four sons and two daughters died in infancy. After the death of his uncle (and father-in-law), Jamsetjee took Motichand Amichand (a Hindu) and Mohomedali Rogay (a Konkani Muslim) as his partners in the firm Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy and Co., and their efforts were enormously successful. Side by side with his business activites, Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy undertook several charitable projects, all of a cosmopolitan nature. He spent Rs. 145.403 to set up the Sir J. J. Dharamshala at Bellasis Road, and till today immumerable old and destitute people receive free food, clothing, shelter and medicines. All their needs for the past 150 years, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, have been looked after by the Dharamshala, the first free home for the elderly in Asia. Jamsetjee later founded the J. J. Hospital and the Grant Medical College (named after his friend Sir Robert Grant, then Governor of Bombay). He also insituted, for a sum of Rs. 18,000, the Sir J.J. Books, Prizes and Medals Fund in order to encourage medical students, and in 1851, for the benefit of poor women, he opened the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Obstretics Institution. He was also a great champion for the rights of women. On March 9, 1840, for the first time, ladies of his family appeared in public amongst men of different communities when he gave a banquet to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert. Before 1845, there was no land communication between Bandra and Mahim and people had to be ferried over the Mahim Creek. It was dangerous, and during the monsoons, countless people would lose their lives on dubious and unrealiable ferry services. Jamsetjee spent Rs. 1,55,800 in order to build the Mahim Causeway, that was justly named after his wife, Lady Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Not only did it save countless lives, but even today, it is a boon to all of us who live in the suburbs. Yet, such is the wretched pettiness of our present day politicians that the Mahim Causeway was recently renamed after someone much less worthy. Shame, disgrace, how utterly pathetic of these politicians. Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy had to his credit 126 notable public charities, including the Sir J. J. School of Arts, the Sir J. J. School of Architecture, the Sir J. J. School of Commercial Art. As his fame spread, the residents of Poona approached him to build a bund in order to contain the raging waters of the Mulla and Mutha rivers, and the kind man obliged. He built wells and tanks all over Bombay, hospitals and schools in Surat and Navsari, Agiaries in Bombay and Poona. His charity was not just confined to human beings. He contributed Rs. 80,000 to a Panrapole for animals, distributed money for the feeding of stray dogs, built water places for cattle and horses. For all his good work, he became the first Indian upon whom Knighthood was conferred. His son, Rustomjee, was the second Indian to receive this honour. In her birthday honours list of May 24, 1857, Queen Victoria conferred baronetcy on the first Indian knight, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy who was 74-years-old at that time. He died two years later, and never before and never after Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy has Bombay had a son with such a large heart. His charities alone are estimated at over Rs. 100 crore, God bless his soul. The reason we are telling his story in such detail is that, perhaps, it just might inspire some other young man or young woman (why not a woman?), who could emulate the example of this poor orphan who made a fortune and disbursed it amongst his fellow citizens. Yes, Bombay, in the next milleneum, needs another Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.

“Though thou art young in years, thou art old in wisdom...SOW NOT THE SEEDS OF THAT TREE TODAY WHICH TOMORROW MAY INJURE THEE IN ITS FRUITS.... to thy care I entrust the whole family....”, Jamsetjee’s dying father is reputed to have said to him (Karanjia 1998). Jamsetjee was but sixteen years old then, the youngest of three orphans, they having lost their mother (who also had immense faith in young Jamsetjee) only a few months before this.

Welcome, dear reader, to a continuation of our conversations about our past heroes. In Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy we have one of the best known of our most illustrious forebears, a pioneer, arising out of a “rags to riches fairy tale” who blazed a path, in a rapidly changing world, from extreme poverty to fame and glory. He set the stage, as it were, (for the three heroes discussed by us earlier, Dadabhai, Bhikaiji and Jivanji), through his integrity, vision and philanthropy to make the name of the Parsis, as a community, respected and loved by others.

Born on 15 th. July 1783, in Mumbai (then Bombay) to a poor weaver Jejeebhoy and his wife, Jeevibai, Jamsetjee was the youngest of three surviving children, out of their initial brood of five. After the age of five, Jamsetjee spent his early years in Navsari, playing with his neighbours, his parents being unable to afford to send him to even primary school. On his parents’ death, in 1799, he went to live and work with, and for, his maternal uncle, Framji Battliwala in Bombay, selling old empty bottles for a living. There he taught himself (to read and write) Gujarati, elementary accounting, and a smattering of English.

During Jamsetjee’s early years, colonial Bombay, (Britannica 1995) was already a buzzing, thriving, and exciting place, with many shops, rich with goods, thriving industries and a bustling harbour teeming with ships. Jamsetjee’s young eyes would have feasted on these, while he would have simultaneously, ruefully contemplated his own poverty. As with some of their predecessors [like Banaji Limji circa 1690, (Godrej, P., & Punthaki-Mistree, F., 2002) and Hirji Jivanji Readymoney circa 1754], Jamsetjee, his Uncle Framji and cousin Tabak turned their eyes initially Eastward to China, to seek their fortune, in the lure of the legal opium trade.

In all Jamsetjee made five voyages to China and back, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. During these five voyages, Jamsetjee rose from being his cousin Tabak’s accountant at sixteen, to being his Uncle Framji’s manager at eighteen, and then by age nineteen trading in his own right. Starting at first, with his own very meagre savings, he made and lost more than one fortune, mainly trading Indian cotton for Chinese tea and silk, and Malwa/Malava opium (via Daman) for Chinese silver. He survived enemy gun-fire, starvation, high-jacking by enemy ships, and came close to losing his life, but ended by becoming immensely rich, well known and highly respected, all by the tender age of twenty-four years. In anybody’s book that is some achievement. What were the qualities of heart and mind that overcame his early lack of education or fortune, and made him so successful?

His parents had noticed his personal integrity, loyalty to friends, and a benign care for those around him. But perhaps even they could not have known fully his great strength of purpose, a great determination to succeed, the self-discipline which made him educate himself, the ability to envision the future, a tremendous capacity for organisation, and his incomparable shrewdness and wisdom in business affairs, which his contemporaries came to respect, and made a mighty colonial power like Britain acknowledge and reward.

The Voyages & Marriage : The first voyage (1800–1801) was exploratory and uneventful. *The second voyage (1801-1802) was exciting, full of adventure, but ultimately successful and immensely profitable. Jamsetjee had begun establishing links with other ports like Madras, Calcutta and overseas. * Soon after returning from his second voyage, he lost his house and half his profits, in a fire on Feb. 17 th 1803, when a third of the city of Bombay (approximately 1000 houses) burned, and there were many fatalities. *Three weeks later he married, in March 1803, his childhood friend and cousin, Framji’s daughter Avabai, when he was nineteen and she only ten. As was the custom, the bride returned to her father’s home till she was older (fifteen being the minimum acceptable marriage age according to Zoroastrian custom) coinciding well, five years later, with the end of his voyages. *Jamsetjee’s third voyage (1803–1804) was successful and uneventful, a recovery from the losses in the fire, and a consolidation of his network of contacts, adding Siam, Singapore, and Sumatra, to the Indian ports. He now seemed set for a successful future, but felt he should make at least one more voyage. *He set sail on his fourth voyage (1805) with all his merchandise on board, to make a final ‘killing’. But in the Sunder Straits, disaster struck in the shape of a French man-of-war. Jamsetjee lost everything, and almost died of starvation when set ashore from the French ship in Cape Town, S. Africa. He finally returned to Bombay, via Calcutta, almost given up for dead by then. *Undaunted, within months, he set sail again, for a fifth and final voyage (1806-1807). In this most successful voyage, he extended his commercial contacts and communications network in the East, and added Egypt and England in the West, seeking new markets in the export of Indian pearls in exchange for cassia and silk from China, with opium still the main money earner. On his return he was worth a sizeable fortune, and his integrity raised the status of Parsis in India and later in Europe.

Family: Jamsetjee and Avabai had ten children altogether, of whom only four of the youngest survived. These were three boys, Cursetjee, Rustomji and Sohrabji and one girl, Pherozebai, all of whom, following in their parents footsteps, went on to also make their own mark in society.

Continuing Opulence: Seven years after returning from his last voyage, Jamsetjee’s shrewd business-sense, saw in 1814, further opportunities for exporting Indian cotton. He bought six ships to avoid paying freight charges to British ships and thousands of bales of raw Indian cotton, which he supplied to foreign countries, making colossal profits. Another seven years later, by 1821, Jamsetjee had cornered, with the partnership of Messrs. W. Jardine & Matheson, in Hong Kong, the entire very important China trade, which continued with some alterations, till the 1839-1842 ‘Opium Wars’.

New Directions: Jamsetjee now turned his attention to giving back to his city and community (Zoroastrian and Non-Zoroastrian alike), in two ways. First, he took on voluntary public works and duties, working with other young patriots, for their rights to jury duty, (very important in a colonial setting for justice and fairness), to be made “Justices of Peace” (JJ was the first Indian to be accorded these rights), collecting of public subscriptions for statues to those who championed the Indian cause, donations to commemorate the marriage of Victoria and Albert and the birth of the Prince of Wales. He was voted the first Honorary President of the, politically very important, Bombay Association, where Dadabhai Naoroji was also making his mark. He became a trustee of the Parsi Panchayat, from 1823-1859, and revolutionised its former sloppiness. He wrote a book, Kholaseh-i-Panchayat, in which he castigated the priesthood for their ignorance of their own religion, and for preying on the superstition of women. Secondly, he espoused the idea of “wealth earned, becoming wealth shared for the common good”. There are scores of his acts of philanthropy too numerous to list here. Suffice it to say, if anyone was in need, they did not have to ask. Jamsetjee would send donations from a few hundred rupees, to thousands of pounds, ships laden with goods, offering his own home to friends in need, donations to public feasts, etc. He built many wells, the Poona Bund and Waterworks, several dozen schools via his Sir J.J Benevolent Institution, Agiaries & Atash Adarians, the Mahim Causeway (to provide a fitting approach for the Mahim Creek Bridge built by his wife Avabai) and finally the two magnificent crowning glories of his philanthropy, the Sir J. J. Hospital (the first, properly equipped, civil Hospital in Bombay), and the Sir J. J. School of Art (now with the three divisions, of Fine & Commercial Art & Architecture) to which people come from all over India.

He was a visionary in many respects, e.g., the importance of the education of women, (his own daughter was not only educated, but her early portraits show her with an imposing pagri/turban on her head, giving her an equal status with men) which he shared with Dadabhai. He allowed his wife the independence of a private income. He set up a family Trust, to manage the hereditary Baronetcy for future generations, which included a magnificent residence befitting a baronet. He kept detailed accounts of all his business deals, which he donated to the nation, and which are housed in the University of Bombay Library to this day.

In India Jamsetjee had had the confidence and friendship of the Governors of Bombay and other British dignitaries, with whom he had many dealings involving business and pleasure alike, over the decades of his busy life. He was now holding a hereditary title, an honour, indeed, for the son of a poor weaver.

But his acts of benevolence did not just involve the rich, the well connected, or the just struggling. Towards the end of his life, wishing to reach out to the poorest of the poor, Jamsetjee took to getting into his horse-drawn carriage each day at dusk, and driving along the Esplanade from the Fort to Back Bay. There were two bags of money, constantly replenished, one on his left and one on his right. He would take fistfuls from each, and distribute them indiscriminately, to the poor, ragged, hungry souls lining the road with outstretched hands. This became a daily routine till he passed away on April 15 th. 1859. His family declined the offer of a military funeral from the Government. The entire city of Bombay came to a standstill, with flags at half-mast, and the longest cortege known to its inhabitants. The Uthamna ceremonies were observed all over India and Hong Kong, as befitted “Parsi-Lok-Na Motta Seth”.

Avabai, may be said to be a minor hero in her own right, being not only a devoted and diligent wife and mother, but also with her own private fortune, which she used to ameliorate the living and working conditions of country dwellers, educating Bombay youth in general and Zarthustrian studies, becoming in later years a prominent public benefactor herself, chiefly for erecting the bridge over the Mahim creek, which has a dedication to her in four languages.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 1995.
Godrej, P. & Punthaki-Mistree, F. Eds. Zoroastrian Tapestry, Mapin Publishing 2002.
Karanjia, B. K. Give Me A Bombay Merchant - Anytime!, University of Mumbai, 1998.