Seth Edulji Dinshaw
By the end of the nineteenth century, Seth Edulji Dinshaw had expanded his business to Bombay from Karachi. He had started his entrepreneurial career in Karachi as a trader, making money by providing supplies to the British army during the Second Afghan War in the 1870s. Over time his business grew and diversified into other areas. Bombay at that time was already home to a number of rich men who had made their money from selling opium, spices, silk and flesh – and, more recently, from producing cotton textiles. The life-stories of these first-generation businessmen are colourful sagas of cunning, aggression and competitiveness – generally lauded as wisdom, courage and hard work in popular history. Seth Edulji joined the ranks of these pioneers of Bombay and became part of the urban lore of the city. Their stories were of inspiration not only to the younger turks in the game, but also to people who lived more mundane lives and day-to-day existences. In turn, the public adulation these
