Jamsetji Tata
Also called: J.N. Tata, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata · Topic: Colonial Economy: Land Revenue, Drain, Deindustrialisation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 4 "The Age of Industrialisation"
Meaning
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (1839–1904) was a Parsi industrialist from Bombay. Like many Indian businessmen of his time, he first made money in the China trade and in shipping raw cotton to England. He then put it into cotton mills. He planned India's first iron and steel works. He matters because his plans laid the base for heavy industry in India under colonial rule. Even so, India still imported most of its machinery and locomotives, so industries that make machines never really grew before Independence.
Example
After Jamsetji Tata died, his sons founded the Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) in 1907 at Jamshedpur. It began producing steel in 1912. Its steel was in heavy demand during the First World War.
Don't confuse with
- Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy: he was also a Parsi merchant from Bombay. He traded with China and owned ships, but he had sold his fleet by the 1850s. He did not found the steel works.
Related concepts
- Bombay cotton mills
- Dwarkanath Tagore
- Opium trade with China
- Tata Iron and Steel Company
- Managing agency
- Jobber
- Cotton excise duty 1896
- Discriminating protection