Mumbai was shaped into a modern city by many communities. While Parsis, Jews, Marwaris, and Banias are well-known for their contributions to the city’s history, there are several lesser-known communities whose roles were equally significant. Among these are the Khojas, Bohras, and Memons.
These communities have been heavily involved in trade and commerce, often specializing in particular lines of business. All three engaged in commerce related to cotton, opium, shipping, and silk, alongside other communities like Parsis, Bhatias, and Banias. Numerous partnerships were forged across community lines, making the Khojas, Bohras, and Memons important players in Mumbai’s commercial landscape.
Members of these communities were disproportionately involved in trade across the Indian Ocean, which was pivotal in establishing Mumbai as an important trade center. Beyond commerce, some families also contributed to technological advancement. For example, the Chinoys ushered in India’s communication revolution by introducing the beam wireless system. The Currimbhoy family owned a dozen cotton mills, while Sir Ismail Yusuf’s family operated one of the most successful shipping companies of their time.
Sir Fazal Curimbhoy Ebrahim was one of Mumbai’s most prominent businessmen and philanthropists. Rabindra Hazari, an advocate of the Bombay High Court and historian, notes, “Today, where Mukesh Ambani’s Antilia stands, was once the Ismaili Khoja orphanage endowed by one of the most important Ismaili Khojas of the turn of the 19th Century, Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim, first Baronet, who lived from 12th October 1839 to 26th September 1924.”
Hazari adds, “Sir Curimbhoy Ebrahim was so important that during the visit of the Prince of Wales to India in 1905, Currimbhoy Ibrahim was knighted by the British Indian Government. The Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Act of 1913 was passed, vesting vast properties in a trust to maintain the Baronetcy. However, there was extensive litigation after Partition, as the third and fourth baronets migrated to Pakistan, and the Baronetcy properties were declared ‘Evacuee Properties’.”
The Gujarati Muslim communities were also actively involved in India’s freedom struggle and political life. Hazari shares, “From May 1862 to June 1942, Ebrahim Rahimtulla was a politician and legislator in British India who served as Mayor of Bombay, Chairman of the Fiscal Commission, and President of the Central Legislative Assembly. He was one of the founders of the Indian National Congress in 1885 and was elected from the Mandvi ward of the Bombay Municipal Corporation.”
Mumbai endured a vicious plague epidemic in 1896–97, and Rahimtulla was among those who warned the British government about the impending danger. He and Sir Phiroze Shah Mehta worked tirelessly with the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) to combat the plague.
Researcher Sameera Khan, who has studied Muslim mohallas in Mumbai, points out, “Members of the community were involved in the formation of the Congress party and even in setting up the BMC. Most notable among them was the Suleimani Bohra barrister Badruddin Tyabjee, who contributed to establishing Anjuman Islam.”
Khan also highlights the colonial context: “In colonial India, voting rights were restricted to individuals paying a certain amount of tax and owning property. As members of these three communities were wealthy, they participated in elections in much higher numbers, despite constituting a small percentage of the city’s Muslim population.”
The community’s contributions to the freedom struggle were immense. “Umar Sobhani, whose family owned Elphinstone Mills, went out of his way to finance and collect funds for Gandhi, which ultimately led to his financial ruin. Abid Ali Jafferbhai, Yusuf Meherally, Abdul Rehman Mitha, and many others were jailed for opposing the British,” says Khan.
Women from these communities were also active in social services and the freedom movement. Khan notes, “Kulsum Sayani, mother of radio personality Ameen Sayani, was quite close to Gandhi. Similarly, Fathema Ismail established India’s first polio hospital in Mumbai, with help from Dr. Gulabano Premji, mother of Azim Premji. Women from the Tyabji and Currimbhoy families were also very active in the freedom struggle and social reform.”
Several women achieved higher education despite societal challenges. Sameera Khan mentions, “Atiya Fyzee, a Bohra intellectual and writer, was possibly the first South Asian woman to study at Cambridge University.”
In summary, the Gujarati Muslim communities of Mumbai made significant contributions not only in trade and commerce but also in social services, politics, and India’s struggle for independence. Their multifaceted roles helped shape Mumbai into the vibrant metropolis it is today.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/untold-story-of-gujarati-muslims-who-transformed-mumbai
