Currimbhoy Ebrahim

Sir Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim, 1st Baronet CBE (25 October 1839 – 26 September 1924)^[1] was a mid 19th century businessman based in Bombay. He is credited with founding E. Pabaney & Co, the family held trading and ship owning company whose trading interests extended as far as the Arabian Peninsula, the African coast and China.

The family was based in Bombay, and had been active in Canton (the capital city of the Guangdong Province in southern China) before the Opium War. They had a virtual monopoly on India's overseas merchandising. They continued to maintain a considerable stake in the opium trade through E. Pabaney & Co, with branch offices springing up in Hong Kong and Shanghai during the latter half of the 19th century.^[2]

Personal life

Fazalbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim was born into a Gujarati Sunni Muslim family in Bombay on 25 October 1839. His father was an established ship owner and their family had been active traders for generations.

At the age of 16, Currimbhoy started E.Pabaey, a trading company, with the help of his father and extended family. He married twice, and had 10 children through his first marriage with Bai Foolbai Gangji and 11 children through his second marriage to Bai Foolbia Sajan.^[3]

Career and E. Pabaney

Currimbhoy established E. Pabaney in 1856 in Bombay as a trading company. In 1857, it opened an office in Hong Kong on Duddell street for trading in opium, yarn, cotton, silk and tea, and soon set up offices all over the far east.^[4]

Ships belonging to their company, E. Pabaney & Co., traded between India, Africa, China, Hong Kong and the far East. In Shanghai, the company was listed as the "8 Bali Foreign company (八巴利洋行 / bā bālì yángháng).^[5] In 1903, the company established itself in Singapore for the trading of opium and yarn.^[6]

(It is important to note that the current E Pabaney company, registered in India, is entirely unrelated to this history.)

Honours and Philanthropy

Currimbhoy was knighted during the Prince and Princess of Wales's Indian tour of 1905^[7] and created a baronet in 1910^[8] and further granted lands to support that dignity by the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy Act 1913^[9] following the precedent set by the Cowasji Jehangir Baronetcy Act.

Between 1947 and 1949, due to the partition of India, this descendants, namely the third and fourth baronets migrated to Pakistan. The Currimbhoy Ebrahim Orphanage trust started by him, continue to own large pieces of land in and around Mumbai,^[10] including Currimbhoy Manor (Bhulabhai Desai Road, Bombay) and the Poona bungalow (Pune).^[11][12]

An orphanage, Currimbhoy Ebrahim Yateemkhana, on Altamount Road, Cumbala Hill, Bombay, founded by him in 1895 and run by the trust, was sold to Mukesh Ambani in 2002 for the building of a 27 storied residence for the Ambani family, called Antilia.^[13]

References

1. Charles, Mosley (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition. Wilmington, Delaware, USA: Genealogical Books. p. 1266.
2. Ina Baghdiantz McCabe; Gelina Harlaftis; Ioanna Pepelasis Minoglou (11 January 2005). Diaspora Entrepreneurial Networks: Four Centuries of History. Berg Publishers. p. 227. ISBN 1-85973-880-X.
3. Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
4. Wright, Arnold (1 May 1908). Twentieth Century Impressions of Hong Kong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China/Oriental Mercantile Community. London: Lloyds publishing company. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
5. Henriot, Christian. "A glossary of Shanghai company names in Chinese and English". www.virtualshanghai.net. Virtual Shanghai. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
6. "Advertisements - Page 1, Column 1 - Pobell Robinson, Pabaney & Esmalbhoy". The Straits Times. 24 November 1903. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
7. "No. 27913". The London Gazette. 15 May 1906. p. 3326.
8. "No. 28451". The London Gazette. 30 December 1910. p. 9706.
9. Ilbert, Courtenay (1 January 1915). "British India". Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation. 15: 7–13. JSTOR 752375.
10. "FAZALBHOY CURRIMBHOY versus OFFICIAL TRUSTEE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS". Supreme court cases - 1979 AIR 687 1979 SCR (2) 699 1979 SCC (3) 189. Supreme Court of India. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
11. Desai, V. "Currimbhoy Ebrahim Baronetcy ... vs Commissioner Of Income-Tax, ... on 16 August, 1962". Mumbai Court. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
12. "FAZALBHOY CURRIMBHOY versus OFFICIAL TRUSTEE OF MAHARASHTRA & ORS - Supreme court cases - 1979 AIR 687 1979 SCR (2) 699 1979 SCC (3) 189". rishabhdara.com. Supreme court India. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
13. "Centre wants CBI to probe Mukesh Ambani home deal". Hindustan Times. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2021.

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Pabaney Villa) 1910–1924	Succeeded by Mahomedbhoy Currimbhoy Ebrahim