Jagat Seth family
House of Jagat Seth | |
---|---|
Etymology | 'Merchant/Banker of the world' |
Members |
|
Traditions | Jainism[1] |
Estate(s) | House of Jagat Seth (Museum) |
Jagat Seth was a wealthy merchant, banker and money lender family from
Though not at the same scale, but the influence exercised by this family in the finances of the Mughal Empire during the 17th and 18th century would be akin to that exercised by the Rothschild family in Europe.[5]
History
The house was founded by
In 1707, Manikchand helped PrinceRoben Orme, the official historian of the British East India Company described Jagat Seth as the greatest banker and money changer known in the world at that time.[10] The historian Ghulam Hussain Khan believed that "their wealth was such that there is no mentioning it without seeming to exaggerate and to deal in extravagant fables".[6] They built up their business towards the last quarter of the 17th century and by the 18th century, it was perhaps the largest banking house in the country. In the 1750s, their entire wealth was estimated to be 14 crores.[vague][2] Jagat Seth was extremely influential in financial matters in Bengal and had a monopoly of minting coins there.[9][6]
The Nawabs of Bengal such as
During the
Conspiracy against Siraj ud-Daulah
Siraj ud-Daulah, the new Nawab of Bengal, alienated figures important to the interest of his state- including the Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand. The Nawab demanded a lavish tribute of 30 million rupees from the banker. Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand refused, and a result, Siraj ud-Daulah hit him.[9][6] The Jagat Seth was[6] a co-conspirator of Robert Clive[4] against Siraj ud-Daulah, along with other alienated figures, among them prominent being- Mir Jafar, Krishnachandra Roy, Omichund, Ray Durlabh & other leading men.[13][14] The Jagat Seth and other wealthy bankers funded the British for the conspiracy.[3]
Any members of the conspiracy group had no intention to found British rule in India, instead they were just concerned about their political futures.[15]
Decline
After the Battle of Plassey, Mir Qasim became the new Nawab. He organised the killing of several member of the family including Jagat Seth Mehtab Chand and his cousin Swarup Chand, in 1763, and threw their bodies off the ramparts off Munger Fort.[7][4] Mahtab Chand's son, Kushal Chand, was granted the title of Jagat Seth, but with the transfer of the treasury and mint to Kolkata by the British, the need of a private banker at Murshidabad was vastly diminished.[1]
Kushal Chand was only 18 years old when he became the Seth. He lacked his father Mehtab Chand's political shrewdness and was a spendthrift. Thus the fortunes of the Jagat Seths began declining. Govindchand, the next Seth, died in 1864, succeeded by Gopal Chand and Gulab Chand respectively. By then, the fortunes of the family had declined by a considerable amount.[7] The last member of the family died in 1912, their fortunes being a thing of the past and surviving on a pension given by the British.[16]
Museum
The house of the Jagat Seths, complete with a secret tunnel as well as an underground chamber, where illegal trade plans were hatched, has been converted into museum. House of Jagat Seth Museum was established in 1980. It is privately managed. It contains personal possessions of the Jagat Seth family including coins of the bygone era, muslin and other extravagant clothes, Banarasi sarees embroidered with gold and silver threads.[17]
According to the Archaeological Survey of India the house, temple and ruins associated with the memory of Jagat Seth's house at Mahimapur are State Protected Monuments (Item no S-WB-94).[18]
See also
Further reading
- ISBN 9781942322061.
- Surendra Gopal (17 January 2019). Jains in India: Historical Essays (EBook). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429537370.
- William Dalrymple (12 November 2020). The Anarchy (EBook). Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 9781526634016.
External links
- The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Seths
- Bengal banker Jagat Seth who gave loans to East India Company, financial tips to Aurangzeb The Print
References
- ^ a b c "The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths". Joseph Rozario. Marwar India, 12 June 2015. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ ISBN 9781000194463.
- ^ a b "Jagat Seth". The Week.
- ^ a b c Silliman, Jael (28 December 2017). "Murshidabad can teach the rest of India how to restore heritage and market the past". Scroll.in. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-63557-395-4.
- ^ ISBN 9781526634016.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-942322-06-1.
- ^ ISBN 9780429537370.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-80904-7.
- ^ "Murshidabad Tour Guide – beyond Hazar Duari". 11. House of Jagat Seth and Pareshnath Temple. Offbeat Untold. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
- ISBN 9788447204441.
- ISBN 978-1-64324-746-5.
- ^ The Calcutta Review. University of Calcutta. 1874. p. 97. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ISBN 90-04-09497-0.
- ^ Ray, Rajatkanta (1994). Palashir Sharajantra O Sekaler Samaj.
- ^ The Rise and Fall of the Jagat Sheths | Marwar. 23 November 2021. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021.
- ^ "House of Jagat Seth Museum". Museums of India. Archived from the original on 26 November 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
- ^ List of State Protected Monuments as reported by the Archaeological Survey of India Archived 2013-05-23 at the Wayback Machine.