How many of us would be knowing that the ancestors and relatives of some of the famous names in Indian history were “Opium Smugglers”? Opium traders would have been a milder term but since most of the opium that was exported went to China and it was illegal to sell opium in China, this trade was more of a smuggling rather than trade.
The business house of Tata, the famous space scientist Vikram Sarabhai and the Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore had a relation to this infamous trade. Ratanji Dadabhai Tata ran an opium importing business in China under the name Tata & Co. He was the father of the noted businessman J.R.D. Tata. Although Rabindra Nath Tagore was against the opium trade and he had great affection for the Chinese, his family had a long historical involvement in the opium trade. His grandfather Dwarka Nath Tagore was involved in the opium trade. At the height of the opium trade, he became one of the leading business leaders.
Above examples have been quoted to show the involvement of Indians in this lucrative trade. It is a well-established fact that opium trade was crucial for the survival of the British Empire. Scholars like Carl Trocki and Amar Farooqui have argued that without opium there would not have been any British Empire. I agree to this view as during the peak of the opium trade in the 1880s it contributed nearly 17% of the total revenue.
Opium was the most important commodity in the trade triangle that existed between India, China and Britain during most part of the 19th century. And the reason behind opium being such an important product is also interesting. During the peak of industrial revolution in England, tea had become a national obsession and the only way to get it was from China. And in return Britain had nothing to offer back to China. This led to huge trade deficit and transfer of valuable bullion from Britain to China. So, a commodity was to be discovered to tackle the situation and Opium provided the solution.
After the battle of Plassey and Buxar, Britain got hold over the most fertile regions of India, where opium was cultivated forcefully, and it was primarily meant for export to China.
Many Indians were involved in the entire process. To begin with it were the Indian peasants who were forced to cultivate opium. But our focus is on the Parsis who were involved in this trade and how it positively the rise of this community.
The Parsis migrated to India during the medieval times after the Arab conquest of Iran. They mostly settled in the regions of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The rise of the Parsi community in many ways coincided with the advent of Europeans and the growth of opium trade. During the 18th century they were mostly seen as hawkers, contractors, traders etc, but by the 19th century they were involved in ship building, worked as guarantee brokers and agents.
Along with the Armenians, Indian Jews, the Parsis were the dominant body of Indian merchants involved in the opium trade. Bombay, Calcutta, Karachi and Daman were the primary ports through which China trade was conducted and it was in these very parts the Parsis became dominant.
Bombay became their headquarters from the 18th century. Parsis became business partners with notable firms like Jardine Matheson & Co. They also owned their own shipping fleets. Heerji Sivanji and his brother Manekji were the first Parsis to go to China and establish a firm in Canton. The affinity of the Parsis to Britain can be imagined from the fact that in 1838, Framji Cowasji, a Parsi opium trader had sent well preserved mangoes to Queen Victoria in celebration of her coronation.
The Tata family entered the trade later in 1883 with their branches in Hongkong and Shanghai. The foremost Parsi merchant was Jamshetji Jejeebhoi, who grew from rags to riches. Initially he collected and sold empty bottles which also got him the title of baatliwala. By 1818 he founded Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy & Co. He was the chief supplier of opium to Jardine Matheson & Co. and emerged to be its chief business partner.
The most famous Parsi in the modern Indian context is undoubtedly the Grand Old Man of India, Dadabhai Naoroji. He was also born in the same town, Navsari (Gujarat), where Jamsetjee was born. He was the first Indian to become a professor. He also tried his hand at business and became a partner in a Parsi firm Cama & Co. This firm traded in both liquor and opium. But Naoroji refused to accept profits derived from any of these two products. Eventually his business career collapsed but his poltical career was a huge success.
When Commissioner Lin burnt chests of opium in 1839, more than two thousand chests belonged to Parsis, who were never adequately compensated by the British Government after the Opium War.
Nevertheless, opium trade brought numerous benefits to the Parsis. The first one was of course the financial benefits. Secondly the political benefits of commercial collaborations and opium trade was also significant for Indians. For e.g. In 1834, 13 Shetias of Bombay including four Parsis were named justices of peace, thus involving them in the administration of the city. Lastly, they did great public charity, built schools, libraries, hospitals, which improved the civic environment. The most famous charity work was the J.J. hospital built in 1842 by Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy. He was also the man who funded the J.J.School of Arts, which later produced a genius painter like M.F.Hussain. In 1857 J.J was named the first Indian Baronet.
By the end of the 19th century most of the Parsi opium traders were moving away from this trade and ventured into diverse businesses and also pioneered new industries. J.N.Tata the son of Nusserwanjee Tata, opened mills, a polytechnic university and laid the foundation of steel production in India.
In conclusion, it can be said that the wealth earned from the opium trade provided the material foundation for the diversification of Parsi business which ultimately provided for the rise of many charitable foundations of the Parsis and larger Indian civic culture. It gave them advantageous position within imperialism.
Featured image is for representational purposes only.