<p>In 1994, your columnist waiting for a meeting with Sir Alasdair Morrison, then Taipan of Jardine Matheson, in Hong Kong, could not help but reflect on the company’s past. Paintings of clipper ships adorned the visitor’s lounge, with the harbour beyond. Jardines, founded in 1832 and long controlled by the Keswick family, was a quintessential “Hong”, one of the foreign trading houses that built fortunes exporting opium to China. Its history, like Hong Kong’s, has been entwined with the Middle Kingdom. What is less remembered, however, is the role of an Indian merchant, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, whose capital, cargoes and connections helped William Jardine, the “Greed Eyed Devil”, build what became the “Noble House.” A portrait of Sir Jamsetjee still hangs in Jardine’s headquarters, an understated reminder of the firm’s Indian roots. </p><p>The Parsis of Bombay were active participants of trade between India, China and Britain. From the late 18th century, Parsi merchants built large fortunes by dealing in cotton, textiles and above all, opium. They operated by cultivating networks that spanned Bombay, Canton and London. Their reputation for acumen gave them privileged access to both colonial authorities and Chinese traders. Sir Jamsetjee, born in 1783, rose from modest beginnings to become the first Indian baronet. Apprenticed to a Parsi trader, he began by shipping cotton to China and returning with tea and silk. By his twenties he was sailing on his own account, investing in vessels and building the riches that would tie him to Jardine Matheson’s rise. Sir Jamsetjee’s relationship with William Jardine was synergetic. Mr Jardine needed cargo, capital and connections. Sir Jamsetjee provided all three. His firm financed shipments, arranged opium deliveries from Malwa and Bengal and secured markets in Canton. The profits from these ventures underpinned Jardine Matheson’s early growth, just as they cemented Sir Jamsetjee’s wealth in Bombay.</p><p>The Parsi footprint extended well beyond the Jeejeebhoys. Families such as the Readymoneys, Banajis and Wadias developed their own links with China, trading in tea, cotton yarn and opium. Many invested in shipbuilding, insurance and banking, creating the commercial infrastructure that allowed Bombay to flourish as a port. Parsi cosmopolitanism was remarkable. They spoke Gujarati at home, conducted business in English and negotiated in Cantonese across the table from Chinese Hong merchants. They became, in effect, the human connectors of a globalising economy, bridging India and Asia. Their presence lingered in Hong Kong too. Jehangir Ruttonjee, a Parsi entrepreneur who built a fortune in textiles and brewing, left his name on the Ruttonjee Centre, once a prominent commercial building in the Central district and on the Ruttonjee Hospital, endowed by his family. For decades the Parsi diaspora in Hong Kong remained small but influential. Their contribution was less visible than that of the Keswicks or the Swires, but no less real.</p><p>Jardine Matheson evolved into a sprawling conglomerate, still one of Hong Kong’s leading firms with interests in retail, real-estate, hotels, shipping, construction and automotives. The Parsis, for their part, invested their China fortunes in Bombay’s growth, endowing universities, hospitals and public works. Their philanthropy outlived their trade. The community’s numbers have dwindled, but its imprint on commerce remains. Few remember today that one of the most important Asian trading houses of the 19th century carries within its walls a portrait of an Indian partner. Yet that painting is a reminder that globalisation was never solely a Western project. It was enabled, in great measure, by Indian merchants whose foresight and enterprise stitched India into the fabric of world trade.</p>
<p>In 1994, your columnist waiting for a meeting with Sir Alasdair Morrison, then Taipan of Jardine Matheson, in Hong Kong, could not help but reflect on the company’s past. Paintings of clipper ships adorned the visitor’s lounge, with the harbour beyond. Jardines, founded in 1832 and long controlled by the Keswick family, was a quintessential “Hong”, one of the foreign trading houses that built fortunes exporting opium to China. Its history, like Hong Kong’s, has been entwined with the Middle Kingdom. What is less remembered, however, is the role of an Indian merchant, Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, whose capital, cargoes and connections helped William Jardine, the “Greed Eyed Devil”, build what became the “Noble House.” A portrait of Sir Jamsetjee still hangs in Jardine’s headquarters, an understated reminder of the firm’s Indian roots. </p><p>The Parsis of Bombay were active participants of trade between India, China and Britain. From the late 18th century, Parsi merchants built large fortunes by dealing in cotton, textiles and above all, opium. They operated by cultivating networks that spanned Bombay, Canton and London. Their reputation for acumen gave them privileged access to both colonial authorities and Chinese traders. Sir Jamsetjee, born in 1783, rose from modest beginnings to become the first Indian baronet. Apprenticed to a Parsi trader, he began by shipping cotton to China and returning with tea and silk. By his twenties he was sailing on his own account, investing in vessels and building the riches that would tie him to Jardine Matheson’s rise. Sir Jamsetjee’s relationship with William Jardine was synergetic. Mr Jardine needed cargo, capital and connections. Sir Jamsetjee provided all three. His firm financed shipments, arranged opium deliveries from Malwa and Bengal and secured markets in Canton. The profits from these ventures underpinned Jardine Matheson’s early growth, just as they cemented Sir Jamsetjee’s wealth in Bombay.</p><p>The Parsi footprint extended well beyond the Jeejeebhoys. Families such as the Readymoneys, Banajis and Wadias developed their own links with China, trading in tea, cotton yarn and opium. Many invested in shipbuilding, insurance and banking, creating the commercial infrastructure that allowed Bombay to flourish as a port. Parsi cosmopolitanism was remarkable. They spoke Gujarati at home, conducted business in English and negotiated in Cantonese across the table from Chinese Hong merchants. They became, in effect, the human connectors of a globalising economy, bridging India and Asia. Their presence lingered in Hong Kong too. Jehangir Ruttonjee, a Parsi entrepreneur who built a fortune in textiles and brewing, left his name on the Ruttonjee Centre, once a prominent commercial building in the Central district and on the Ruttonjee Hospital, endowed by his family. For decades the Parsi diaspora in Hong Kong remained small but influential. Their contribution was less visible than that of the Keswicks or the Swires, but no less real.</p><p>Jardine Matheson evolved into a sprawling conglomerate, still one of Hong Kong’s leading firms with interests in retail, real-estate, hotels, shipping, construction and automotives. The Parsis, for their part, invested their China fortunes in Bombay’s growth, endowing universities, hospitals and public works. Their philanthropy outlived their trade. The community’s numbers have dwindled, but its imprint on commerce remains. Few remember today that one of the most important Asian trading houses of the 19th century carries within its walls a portrait of an Indian partner. Yet that painting is a reminder that globalisation was never solely a Western project. It was enabled, in great measure, by Indian merchants whose foresight and enterprise stitched India into the fabric of world trade.</p>
